Hindu Man Alleges Forced Conversion To Islam After Marrying A Muslim Woman
New Age Islam News Bureau
18 July 2025
The man said they registered their marriage in November 2024 (ND TV)
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· Hindu Man Alleges Forced Conversion To Islam After Marrying A Muslim Woman
· Tablighi Jamaat Covid Case: Living In Markaz Did Not Amount To Violating Government Orders, Says Delhi HC
· Israel Has Refused To Renew Visas For Heads Of At Least 3 UN Agencies In Gaza
· CAIR Says Deadly Bombing of Gaza Church Shows Israel’s ‘Brutal Disregard for Religious Sites’
· Paramilitary Shelling On Camp Kills 8 In Sudan’s Darfur: Rescuers
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India
· Maharashtra Government Renames Islampur To Ishwarpur After Hindutva Group Lobbying
· Madhya Pradesh School Teacher Detained For Burning Pictures Of Bharat Mata, Religious Deities
· Maharashtra CM Orders Cancellation Of Fraudulent Scheduled Caste Certificates For Non-Hindu, Buddhist And Sikhs
· UP Religious Conversion Racket: ED Raids 2 Places In Mumbai Linked To ‘Associate’ Of Chhangur Baba
· 'Communal' Finger At NCERT History Book, Historians Question Evidence For Interpretations Of Events
· US designates Lashkar offshoot as terrorist organisation over Pahalgam attack that killed 26
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Mideast
· Mothers Of Israeli Soldiers Fighting On All Fronts To Stop Gaza War
· UK MP Jeremy Corbyn Announces ‘Independent Gaza Tribunal’ To Investigate The UK’s Involvement In Israel’s Military Operation
· Europe’s Largest Missile Maker Supplying Parts To Israel For Bombs Used In Gaza
· Hamas Warns Of Severe Famine In Gaza, Urges Arab &Islamic Nations To Act Immediately
· British surgeon in Gaza describes wounded Palestinians dying due to malnutrition
· Foreign ministers of Middle Eastern countries affirm support for Syria’s security, stability, and sovereignty
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North America
· Texas Republican Sen. Cruz Wants Terrorist Tag On Muslim Brotherhood
· Trump threatens to sue WSJ over ‘bawdy letter to Epstein’
· White House says Trump diagnosed with vein condition after questions about bruises
· White House Denies Reports Of Trump Visit To Pakistan
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Africa
· France shuts down last military base in Senegal after 65 years
· Islamic, Christian clerics hold prayers for Buhari in Katsina
· Your Statement On Nigerian Healthcare An Insult – NMA Knocks Femi Adesina
· ‘It Is Free’ – NAF Speaks On Commencing Fresh Recruitment
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South Asia
· Blasphemy Charge Leads to Death Sentence to Abdul Aleem Khamoosh in Eastern Afghanistan
· Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan to Sign Railway Study Deal
· Islamic Emirate Condemns Israeli Airstrikes in Syria
· Islamic Emirate Restructures Provincial and Ministry Roles
· Nahid calls for building discrimination-free Bangladesh
· Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar Arrives in Kabul for Trilateral Talks
· Khelafat names 223 candidates for next polls
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Southeast Asia
· Indonesian Govt Urges Islamic Schools To Help Cut Poverty By 2026
· Malaysia’s economy seen growing 4.5pc in Q2 2025 on strong domestic demand
· Anwar says new CJ appointment clears him of judicial interference claim
· PM: Malaysia to follow diplomatic process on Nick Adams’ ambassadorship
· Anwar says ready to meet Umno leaders over Najib royal addendum but won’t pre-empt courts
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Arab World
· Umbrella Thorn Acacia Is Vital Ecological Asset In Tabuk
· Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli strike on Gaza Catholic church
· Saudi youth engineer their way to STEM Racing triumph
· Saudi surgeons successfully separate conjoined 7-month-old twins in 15-hour operation
· How quantum computing and AI can accelerate and improve drug development
· Saudi jazz singer is hitting all the right notes
· Saudi crown prince welcomes measures announced by Al-Sharaa to contain clashes
· First Saudi relief plane arrives in Syria with aid for those affected by fires
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Europe
· Staffordshire Professor Honoured At Prestigious Muslim Awards
· The challenge of bringing Sharia-compliant finance to the UK
· It’s time, Ukraine: Kiev braces for a final reckoning
· Trump’s ultimatum isn’t an ultimatum – and Moscow knows it
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hindu-man-islam-marrying-muslim-woman/d/136215
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Hindu Man Alleges Forced Conversion To Islam After Marrying A Muslim Woman
Jul 17, 2025
The man said they registered their marriage in November 2024 (ND TV)
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Gadag: A man from the Hindu community, who married a woman from the Muslim community, has charged the latter's family with forcing him to convert to Islam. He filed a complaint at Town police station on Wednesday.
Vishalkumar, a resident of the Gandhinagar settlement area, in his complaint, said that he was in a relationship with Tahashin of Kurahatti Pete for three years. He did not inform his parents about the affair, fearing disapproval from them because of the inter-religious relationship. However, Tahashin revealed their relationship to her mother.
Meanwhile, they got married at the registration office on Nov 26, 2024. Upon hearing of their marriage, Tahashin's mother and family members compelled Vishal to marry Tahashin as per their tradition, to which he agreed, hoping to live happily forever. He married Tahashin according to the tradition of her religion at a mosque in Gadag on April 25, 2025. Later, they forced him to embrace Islam, but he did not heed them. When videos of the marriage in the mosque circulated on social media, his family members also decided to conduct their wedding as per Hindu tradition in front of his house on June 5, 2025. Initially, Tahashin also agreed to it. However, when she came under pressure from her family, she refused to marry him as per Hindu tradition, and her family members also opposed it, he alleged.
In his complaint, he also alleged that Tahashin's family put pressure on him to convert to Islam. Later, he came to know their intention behind his marriage at the mosque and consistently refused their conversion demands. "As I suffered a lot mentally, I am filing this complaint against my wife, her mother, and others for forcing me to embrace Islam, seeking justice," he said.
Rohan Jagadeesh, SP of Gadag, told TOI that both Vishalkumar and Tahashin were in love for three years and got married in Nov 2024 under the Special Marriage Act in Gadag, and they were living happily. However, now Vishalkumar filed a complaint alleging that Tahashin's family is forcing and harassing him to convert to Islam. Based on his complaint, the SP confirmed that they would investigate the matter thoroughly to uncover additional details.
Source: indiatimes.com
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hubballi/man-alleges-forced-conversion-after-marrying-woman-from-another-community/articleshow/122665096.cms
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Tablighi Jamaat Covid Case: Living In Markaz Did Not Amount To Violating Government Orders, Says Delhi HC
by Sohini Ghosh
July 18, 2025
The Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters at Nizamuddin in New Delhi. (Express Archives: Amit Mehra)
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Merely living in a markaz did not amount to a violation of government-issued prohibitory orders curtailing movement during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi High Court has ruled while quashing 16 FIRs and consequent chargesheets against 70 Indians associated with the Tablighi Jamaat.
The Jamaat, an international Islamic religious group, was accused of spreading Covid by organising an international congregation in Delhi, at the Nizamuddin Markaz, between March 13 and 15.
Ruling that no offence is “even prima facie made out in the chargesheets”, the HC, in its July 17 order made public on Friday, has observed that the “continuation of these chargesheets would tantamount be abuse of the process and also is not in the interest of justice”.
Noting that the accused were rendered “helpless” with the announcement of a sudden lockdown, the court also observed that they had congregated before the issuance of prohibitory orders, and had not violated any of the conditions thereafter.
The court recorded that “merely because they were living in a Markaz, it did not amount to a violation” of the conditions of prohibitory orders.
Tearing into the Delhi Police’s and the prosecution’s allegations, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna recorded, “In the present case… there is not a whisper in the FIRs or the chargesheets that petitioners (accused) were found COVID-19 positive or they had moved out negligently or unlawfully with intent or knowledge to spread the disease of COVID-19, which was dangerous to human life.”
“There is not a whisper in the entire chargesheet that any of these petitioners… had stepped out of the Markaz after 24.03.2020 or that they were likely to spread COVID-19. Also, there is not a single averment of them not having rendered any assistance to the surveillance personnel,” the court further observed.
The accused were charged under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 269, 270 (negligent, malignant act to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and Sections 51 and 58 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The FIRs were registered at the Chandni Mahal, Sarai Rohilla and Krishna Nagar police stations between March 31 and April 2, 2020. It had accused them of allegedly accommodating foreign nationals in mosques and their homes during the pandemic from March 24-30, 2020.
While seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings, the defence had asserted that “the allegations have been manufactured only to bring them within the four corners of criminal offence, even though they are patently false and unsubstantiated”.
It was pointed out that the congregation was scheduled well before the pandemic. Thereafter, they were left “remediless” with imposition of prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144, a janta curfew banning movement of people on March 22, 2020, followed by a 21-day lockdown from March 25, 2020 — leaving them with no recourse but to continue staying inside the masjid, until taken into institutional quarantine.
The court also took into consideration that “all cases that were registered during the COVID-19 period” under similar provisions before various courts across the country “have ended either in acquittal or discharge of the accused persons”.
The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch initially registered an FIR under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, various IPC sections, along with provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005, against seven Indians.
The Crime Branch then filed 48 chargesheets and 11 supplementary chargesheets, including under Section 14(b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, against 955 foreign nationals, of whom 908 entered plea bargains before the magistrate court.
Eight of them were discharged in August 2020, and 36 others acquitted in December 2020. No action was taken against three others who were identified as foreign national juveniles.
The government began a crackdown on Tablighi members after an Indonesian man who had allegedly attended the gathering in Nizamuddin was detected with Covid in Telangana. Over 950 foreign nationals, including diplomats, were subsequently blacklisted and accused of contravening emergency rules.
In September 2021, the then Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, while hearing a batch of petitions against news channels for their presentation of news on the Tablighi meeting, had orally remarked: “The problem is everything in this country is shown with a communal angle by a section of the media… The country is going to get a bad name ultimately.”
‘Ingredients for the offences not made out’
While granting relief to the accused, the Delhi HC, in its order, dissected how the ingredients for the offences were not made out.
Here’s what it said:
-IPC Section 188
Noting that “it cannot be overlooked that with the imposition of the lockdown, w.e.f. 25.03.2020, the entire world came to standstill and no person was permitted to step out of the house,” and the nationwide lockdown also meant that the distribution of newspapers, handbills, etc. was also prevented, the court held that it cannot be said that prohibitory orders were duly “promulgated”.
“There is no averment whatsoever to show that any information was actually conveyed to the petitioners (regarding the prohibitory orders)… The essential ingredient of promulgation to constitute an offence under Section 188 IPC has, therefore, not even been established. Even if, entire prosecution case is admitted, no offence is made out under Section 188 IPC,” Justice Krishna held.
“The congregation had not been (held) subsequent to the notification under Section 144 CrPC. They were helpless people, confined on account of the lockdown… It is also significant to note that merely because they were living in a Markaz, it did not amount to a violation of any of the five activities which were prescribed by the notification under Section 144 CrPC… None of the activities prohibited under Section 144 CrPC had been undertaken by any of the petitioners after the date of its promulgation,” the court held.
-IPC Section 269, 270
Quashing these charges, the court observed that the prosecution produced no material on record to prove that the accused had indulged in any act which was likely to spread Covid. “No material was produced in the chargesheet and no evidence was placed on record to substantiate the fulfilment of ingredients of Sections 269 and 270 IPC… Even if all the evidence as put forth in the chargesheet is admitted, no offence under Sections 269 and 270 IPC has even prima facie been made out…,” the court held.
-Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005
The court recorded, “… there is no averment of any government official being obstructed or there being any refusal to comply with any directions issued by the government. No offence under Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has therefore, been made out… There is no averment about which order taken out under the Disaster Management Act has been violated. It is not shown that there was any criminal act, whether under the Disaster Management Act or the Epidemic Diseases Act, committed by the petitioners. The FIRs under these two sections are also liable to be quashed.”
Source: indianexpress.com
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/tablighi-jamaat-covid-case-delhi-hc-10134547/
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Israel has refused to renew visas for heads of at least 3 UN agencies in Gaza
July 17, 2025
A Camp of Tents Housing Displaced Palestinians extends Acress Gaza City, Thursday, July 17,2025(Ap Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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UNITED NATIONS: Israel has refused to renew visas for the heads of at least three United Nations agencies in Gaza, which the UN humanitarian chief blames on their work trying to protect Palestinian civilians in the war-torn territory.
Visas for the local leaders of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA; the human rights agency OHCHR; and the agency supporting Palestinians in Gaza, UNRWA, have not been renewed in recent months, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed.
Tom Fletcher, UN head of humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council on Wednesday that the UN’s humanitarian mandate is not just to provide aid to civilians in need and report what its staff witnesses but to advocate for international humanitarian law.
“Each time we report on what we see, we face threats of further reduced access to the civilians we are trying to serve,” he said. “Nowhere today is the tension between our advocacy mandate and delivering aid greater than in Gaza.”
Fletcher said, “Visas are not renewed or reduced in duration by Israel, explicitly in response to our work on protection of civilians.”
Israel’s UN mission did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment about the visa renewals. Israel has been sharply critical of UNRWA, even before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack in southern Israel — accusing the agency of colluding with Hamas and teaching anti-Israel hatred, which UNRWA vehemently denies.
Since then, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies have claimed that UNRWA is deeply infiltrated by Hamas and that its staffers participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. Israel formally banned UNRWA from operating in its territory, and its commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, has been barred from entering Gaza.
At Wednesday’s Security Council meeting, Fletcher called conditions in Gaza “beyond vocabulary,” with food running out and Palestinians seeking something to eat being shot. He said Israel, the occupying power in Gaza, is failing in its obligation under the Geneva Conventions to provide for civilian needs.
In response, Israel accused OCHA of continuing “to abandon all semblance of neutrality and impartiality in its statements and actions, despite claiming otherwise.”
Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, political coordinator at Israel’s UN Mission, told the Security Council that some of its 15 members seem to forget that the Oct. 7 attacks killed about 1,200 people and some 250 were taken hostage, triggering the war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation.
“Instead, we’re presented with a narrative that forces Israel into a defendant’s chair, while Hamas, the very cause of this conflict and the very instigator of suffering of Israelis but also of Palestinians, goes unmentioned, unchallenged and immune to condemnation,” she said.
More than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half were women and children.
Ravina Shamdasani, chief spokesperson for the Geneva-based UN human rights body, confirmed Thursday that the head of its office in the occupied Palestinian territories “has been denied entry into Gaza.”
“The last time he tried to enter was in February 2025 and since then, he has been denied entry,” she told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately, this is not unusual. Aid workers, UN staff, journalists and others have been denied access to Gaza.”
Israel has accused a UN-backed commission probing abuses in Gaza, whose three members just resigned, and the Human Rights Council’s independent investigator Francesca Albanese of antisemitism.
Albanese has accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, which it and its ally the US vehemently deny. The Trump administration recently issued sanctions against Albanese.
Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, told the Security Council that Israel also is not granting “security clearances” for staff to enter Gaza to continue their work and that UN humanitarian partners are increasingly being denied entry as well.
He noted that “56 percent of the entries denied into Gaza in 2025 were for emergency medical teams — frontline responders who save lives.”
“Hundreds of aid workers have been killed; and those who continue to work endure hunger, danger and loss, like everyone else in the Gaza Strip,” Fletcher said.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608476/middle-east
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CAIR Says Deadly Bombing of Gaza Church Shows Israel’s ‘Brutal Disregard for Religious Sites’
July 17, 2025
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said a deadly Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in Gaza shows “Israel’s brutal disregard for religious sites and the indiscriminate nature of its genocide.”
Israel attacked the Holy Family Church in Gaza killing two people and injuring others. The parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis, was injured. Christians and Muslims were sheltering at the church, including children with disabilities. A child, two women, and an elderly person were among the wounded.
[NOTE: A report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, said Israel has destroyed more than half of all religious and cultural sites IN Gaza, including more than 90 percent of school and university buildings in Gaza.]
Pope Leo offered prayers for the recovery of the injured and the consolation of those who grieve.
Israel has slaughtered more than 58,000 people in Gaza – and possibly many more – mostly women and children.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“This attack on a church – and all the other deadly attacks on Gaza mosques, schools, universities, historic and cultural sites, cemeteries, medical facilities and personnel, civilian infrastructure, journalists, first responders, women, children, the elderly, and the disabled – once again demonstrates Israel’s brutal disregard for religious sites and the indiscriminate nature of its genocide.
“People of all faiths must speak out against Israel’s genocide, and our government must end its complicity with Israel’s slaughter, mass destruction, forced starvation, and ethnic cleansing.”
Yesterday, CAIR condemned the massacre of some 20 starving Palestinians after guards of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) reportedly threw stun grenades and used pepper spray at an aid concentration site.
So far almost 900 people have been slaughtered and thousands have been wounded while trying to access food.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR also condemned the seizure of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli government.
Earlier this week, CAIR condemned an attack on CNN journalists covering the murder of Saif Musallet in the occupied West Bank.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
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Source: cair.com
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Paramilitary shelling on camp kills 8 in Sudan’s Darfur: rescuers
July 17, 2025
Paramilitary forces shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said. (AFP/File)
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PORT SUDAN: Paramilitary forces shelled a displacement camp in Sudan’s Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.
The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.
El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan’s western Darfur region not under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023.
“The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people,” the camp’s Emergency Response Room said in a statement.
In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under paramilitary siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.
Thursday’s offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.
More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN’s children agency.
“No child should ever experience such horrors,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now.”
On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.
Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.
Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement crisis.
In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.
Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.
In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.
The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country’s largest camps for the displaced.
Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.
“Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan.”
He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army’s attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying “at all costs” to maintain.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608419/middle-east
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India
Maharashtra government renames Islampur to Ishwarpur after Hindutva group lobbying
18 Jul 2025
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Government on Friday announced that Islampur in Sangli district is being renamed as Ishwarpur. The announcement was made in the state legislature on the last day of the monsoon session.
The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting on Thursday, food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal told the legislative assembly. He said the state government will send the cabinet decision to the Centre for approval.
The move came after a Hindutva organization, Shiv Pratisthan, sent a memorandum to the Sangli collectorate demanding that Islampur's name be changed to Ishwarpur.
Shiv Pratishtan is headed by Sambhaji Bhide whose supporters have said that they would not rest until the demand is met.
A Shiv Sena leader from Islampur said that the demand for a change in name has been pending since 1986.
Source: newindianexpress.com
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https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Jul/18/maharashtra-government-renames-islampur-to-ishwarpur-after-hindutva-group-lobbying
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Madhya PradeshSchool Teacher Detained For Burning Pictures Of Bharat Mata, Religious Deities
18 Jul 2025
BHOPAL: A teacher of a government school has been taken into police custody in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district for allegedly tearing and burning the pictures of Bharat Mata and Hindu gods and goddesses. He is also accused of asking Hindu students to read the Quran and learn to offer Namaz.
A case was registered under BNS Sections 298 and 351(3) -- which deal with defiling a place of worship or objects held sacred by a particular religious group and criminal intimidation -- at Ujjain’s Jharda police station on Wednesday, and the accused teacher Shaqil Mohammad Nagori was taken into custody by the police.
The case was lodged on the complaint by Nagpura village resident Rohit Rathore, whose cousin Anurag Rathore studies in Class VI at the government secondary school in Nagpura, where the accused is one of the teachers.
The complainant alleged that his cousin told him on Wednesday morning that the concerned teacher, Shaqil Mohammad Nagori, had torn and burnt pictures of Bharat Mata and Hindu gods and goddesses before school children on July 11.
“On reaching the school on Wednesday, I found a half-burnt picture of Bharat Mata in front of the school,” the complaint alleged in the complaint.
The complainant further alleged that his cousin and other Hindu students at the concerned government school have told him that the Muslim teacher often asks them to read the Quran and learn to offer Namaz.
The school children told the complainant that the teacher had threatened to kill them if they made the matter (tearing and burning pictures of Bharat Mata, Hindu gods and goddesses) public.
While confirming the development, additional SP (ASP-Ujjain) Mayur Khandelwal said, “A case has been registered on the complaint and the concerned teacher has been taken into custody.”
Meanwhile, as per the latest reports, the concerned teacher has been suspended by the Ujjain district education officer, following the incident.
Source: newindianexpress.com
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https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2025/Jul/17/madhya-pradesh-government-school-teacher-detained-for-burning-pictures-of-bharat-mata-religious-deities
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Maharashtra CM Orders Cancellation Of Fraudulent Scheduled Caste Certificates For Non-Hindu, Buddhist And Sikhs
18.07.25
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that if a person belonging to a religion other than Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism has obtained a Scheduled Caste certificate fraudulently, it will be cancelled.
Action will be taken against such a person if he or she has secured reservation benefits, such as government jobs. If such a person has won an election using a fraudulently obtained SC certificate, their election will be declared null and void, Fadnavis said in the legislative council.
Replying to a calling attention motion, he also said the state government intends to bring in strong provisions to deal with cases of religious conversion through coercion and cheating.
Amit Gorkhe (BJP) had claimed that freedom of religion was being misused by "crypto Christians", and some people benefit from reservations under the SC category while professing other religions.
"Crypto Christians" was an apparent reference to people who discreetly follow Christianity while belonging to a different religion on paper.
On the face of it, they belong to an SC community and get reservation benefits like government jobs, he had said.
Fadnavis said that the Supreme Court, on November 26, 2024, gave a verdict in which it made it clear that the Scheduled Castes category reservation can be availed only by Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs, and not by those belonging to other religions.
"If anyone from religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism has availed an SC certificate or reservation, their validity certificates and caste certificates will be cancelled with due procedure. If anyone has availed benefits like government jobs, action will be taken against them," he said.
"Recovery (of monetary benefits) will be recommended from those who have availed benefits using fraudulently obtained caste certificates," he said.
BJP leader Chitra Wagh said there have been cases where women were duped into marriage by hiding the husband's religion.
She cited a case in Sangli where a woman married into a family which secretly followed Christianity. The woman suffered torture and was forced to change her religion, leading to her death while she was seven months pregnant, Wagh said.
A person can follow any religion and convert another person with consent, but law does not permit the use of force, cheating or enticement for conversion, the chief minister said.
"Complaints of coercion or inducement for conversion will lead to investigation and action against the concerned organisation," Fadnavis added.
The state government had formed a panel headed by the Director General of Police (DGP) to make recommendations to deal with such cases, and it has submitted its report, he said.
The government will study it and bring in new (legal) provisions so that conversions do not happen by force or cheating, he said.
"Action can be taken under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in such cases. But a panel was formed to suggest strict provisions. The state government intends to bring in strong provisions to deal with such cases, and we will take a decision on this soon," he said.
On Monday, Pankaj Bhoyar, Minister of State for Home, said that the state will bring an anti-conversion law during the winter session of the legislature, and it will be more stringent than similar legislations in other states.
Pravin Darekar (BJP) claimed a secret campaign to lure people into converting was being carried out in poor localities and slums.
Fadnavis acknowledged that such things take place in slums. He, however, said the government has no intention to ban religious conversions that take place consensually.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/maharashtra-cm-devendra-fadnavis-orders-cancellation-of-fraudulent-sc-certificates-for-non-hindu-buddhist-and-sikhs/cid/2113786
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UP religious conversion racket: ED raids 2 places in Mumbai linked to ‘associate’ of Chhangur Baba
July 17, 2025
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday began raiding two places in Mumbai belonging to Shahzad Sheikh, a suspected associate of Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, the mastermind of an alleged religious conversion racket based in Uttar Pradesh.
ED is raiding Sheikh’s two houses, one in Mahim West and another in Bandra (East). The agency is likely to share details of the seizure made from the house search after the action is concluded.
The action is part of ED’s crackdown on the alleged conversion racket under which the agency is also raiding 12 places in the Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. The agency is investigating the money laundering and foreign funding aspects of the racket, which is suspected to have carried out dozens of financial transactions using bank accounts in foreign countries.
Sources in the agency said that while Chhangur Baba’s financial dealings were examined, investigators discovered transactions exceeding Rs 1 crore involving Sheikh. They noted Naveen alias Jamaluddin, another suspected close associate of Chhangur Baba, allegedly transferred this money into Sheikh’s account.
Naveen’s wife Neetu alias Nasreen is the owner of the house in Uttar Pradesh where Chhangur Baba had been living for the past few years. The couple, who hailed from Mumbai and were allegedly converted into Islam by Baba, have been arrested along with Baba and are currently in judicial custody.
The Uttar Pradesh Police, while acting on the complaint of a suspicious foreign funding racket to buy properties in India, unearthed the alleged religious conversion racket run by Chhangur Baba, who was living in the Madhpur area in the Rampur district.
According to the UP Police, the racket targeted non-Muslims from a financially weaker background. Victims, including widows, were systematically coerced into converting through allurements, financial aid, and false promises of marriage, as per the police.
The police also stated that none of the racket’s victims would dare to go against them, as they would be warned of direct legal consequences. They would charge around Rs 8-16 for the conversions, depending on the person’s religion, caste, and financial background.
During the inquiry, after finding sufficient material indicating a cognisable offence, the police registered a case last year at the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) police station in Lucknow, and a hunt for Baba was launched as he had gone into hiding. Earlier this month, Baba and Nasreen were arrested by the Lucknow ATS team from a hotel.
Police sources report that members of the alleged racket have travelled to Islamic countries multiple times in the past and opened numerous bank accounts, either under their own names or in the names of various organisations. Transactions involving these accounts have been found to total around Rs 100 crore.
Source: indianexpress.com
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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/up-religious-conversion-racket-ed-raids-mumbai-linked-associate-chhangur-baba-10132581/
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'Communal' finger at NCERT history book, historians question evidence for interpretations of events
Basant Kumar Mohanty
18.07.25
Central Asian invaders came to India to spread, "by force of violence if necessary, their own versions of their religion", the NCERT’s Class VIII history textbook says.
The book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, says the jizya, a tax paid by non-Muslims towards protection and exemption from military service, incentivised conversion to Islam.
Some historians questioned the evidence for these "communal interpretations" of historical events.
Central Asian invaders "were drawn to India not only for her reputed riches and for territorial ambitions, but also often to spread, by force of violence if necessary, their own versions of their religion", the book says.
It says Delhi sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji attacked Hindu centres such as those in Srirangam, Madurai, Chidambaram, and possibly Rameswaram.
"This period (Delhi Sultanate) also witnessed numerous attacks on sacred or revered images in Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples… motivated not just by plunder but also by iconoclasm," the book says.
On the jizya, it says: "In practice, depending on the ruler, this discriminatory tax would be a source of economic burden and public humiliation, and formed a financial and social incentive for subjects to convert to Islam."
It cites the memoirs of Timur, who invaded India in 1398, to say his twofold objective was to wage "war with the infidels and to gain something by plundering the wealth of the infidels".
Mughal emperor Akbar’s rule is portrayed as a blend of brutality and tolerance. At Chittor fort, the book says, Akbar ordered the massacre of some 30,000 civilians, and the surviving women and children were enslaved.
It says Akbar’s message of victory read: "We have succeeded in occupying a number of forts and towns belonging to the infidels and have established Islam there. With the help of our bloodthirsty sword, we have erased the signs of infidelity from their minds and have destroyed temples in those places and also all over Hindustan."
The book adds that Akbar later welcomed Rajput and regional leaders into his court, abolished the jizya, and promoted the doctrine of sulh-i-kul — "peace with all" or the tolerance of all faiths.
The book adds a word of caution: "…It is important to keep in mind that we, today, bear no responsibility for actions of individuals hundreds of years ago."
Jitendra Meena, assistant professor of history at Shyam Lal College, Delhi, said: "The writers have given communal interpretations to historical events that cannot be established by facts. Where is the evidence that spreading religion was the intention of the Central Asian invaders?"
He said Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked mosques apart from temples, and contested the claim that jizya incentivised conversion to Islam. He said there was no evidence that Akbar’s Chittor massacre had religious motives.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/communal-finger-at-ncert-history-book-historians-question-evidence-for-interpretations-of-events-prnt/cid/2113761
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US designates Lashkar offshoot as terrorist organisation over Pahalgam attack that killed 26
18.07.25
The U.S. government designated The Resistance Front, considered an offshoot of the Pakistani extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a "foreign terrorist organization" over the April 22 Islamist militant attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Thursday. The Resistance Front, also known as Kashmir Resistance, initially took responsibility for the attack in Pahalgam before denying it days later.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, listed as a "foreign terrorist organization" by the United States, is an Islamist group accused of plotting attacks in India and in the West, including the three-day deadly assault on Mumbai in November 2008. TRF's designation by Washington as a "foreign terrorist organization" and "specially designated global terrorist" enforced President Donald Trump's "call for justice for the Pahalgam attack," Rubio said.
Rubio called TRF a "front and proxy" for Lashkar-e-Taiba. It is considered an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a Delhi-based think tank. TRF emerged in 2019.
The attack sparked heavy fighting between nuclear-armed Asian neighbors India and Pakistan in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry as New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan. Islamabad denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation. Washington condemned the attack but did not directly blame Pakistan. On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border that New Delhi described as "terrorist infrastructure," setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery that killed dozens until a ceasefire on May 10. The ceasefire was first announced by Trump on social media after Washington held talks with both sides, but India has differed with Trump's claims that it resulted from his intervention and threats to sever trade talks.
India's position has been that New Delhi and Islamabad must resolve their problems directly and with no outside involvement.
India is an increasingly important U.S. partner in Washington's effort to counter China's rising influence in Asia, while Pakistan is a U.S. ally.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/us-designates-lashkar-offshoot-as-terrorist-organisation-over-pahalgam-attack-that-killed-26/cid/2113747
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Mideast
Mothers of Israeli soldiers fighting on all fronts to stop Gaza war
July 17, 2025
HOD HASHARON, Israel: “We mothers of soldiers haven’t slept in two years,” said Ayelet-Hashakhar Saidof, a lawyer who founded the Mothers on the Front movement in Israel.
A 48-year-old mother of three, including a soldier currently serving in the army, Saidof said her movement brings together some 70,000 mothers of active-duty troops, conscripts and reservists to demand, among other things, a halt to the fighting in Gaza.
Her anxiety was familiar to other mothers of soldiers interviewed by AFP who have refocused their lives on stopping a war that many Israelis increasingly feel has run its course, even as a ceasefire deal remains elusive.
In addition to urging an end to the fighting in Gaza, Mothers on the Front’s foremost demand is that everyone serve in the army, as mandated by Israeli law.
That request is particularly urgent today, as draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews have become a wedge issue in Israeli society, with the military facing manpower shortages in its 21-month fight against the militant group Hamas.
As the war drags on, Saidof has become increasingly concerned that Israel will be confronted with long-term ramifications from the conflict.
“We’re seeing 20-year-olds completely lost, broken, exhausted, coming back with psychological wounds that society doesn’t know how to treat,” she said.
“They are ticking time bombs on our streets, prone to violence, to outbursts of rage.”
According to the army, 23 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza over the past month, and more than 450 have died since the start of the ground offensive in October 2023.
Saidof accuses the army of neglecting soldiers’ lives.
Combat on the ground has largely dried up, she said, and soldiers were now being killed by improvised explosives and “operational mistakes.”
“So where are they sending them? Just to be targets in a shooting range?” she asked bitterly.
Over the past months, Saidof has conducted her campaign in the halls of Israel’s parliament, but also in the streets.
Opening the boot of her car, she proudly displayed a stockpile of posters, placards and megaphones for protests.
“Soldiers fall while the government stands,” one poster read.
Her campaign does not have a political slant, she maintained.
“The mothers of 2025 are strong. We’re not afraid of anyone, not the generals, not the rabbis, not the politicians,” she said defiantly.
Saidof’s group is not the only mothers’ movement calling for an end to the war.
Outside the home of military chief of staff Eyal Zamir, four women gathered one morning to demand better protection for their children.
“We’re here to ask him to safeguard the lives of our sons who we’ve entrusted to him,” said Rotem-Sivan Hoffman, a doctor and mother of two soldiers.
“To take responsibility for military decisions and to not let politicians use our children’s lives for political purposes that put them in unnecessary danger” .
Hoffman is one of the leaders of the Ima Era, or “Awakened Mother,” movement, whose motto is: “We don’t have children for wars without goals.”
“For many months now, we’ve felt this war should have ended,” she told AFP.
“After months of fighting and progress that wasn’t translated into a diplomatic process, nothing has been done to stop the war, bring back the hostages, withdraw the army from Gaza or reach any agreements.”
Beside her stood Orit Wolkin, also the mother of a soldier deployed to the front, whose anxiety was visible.
“Whenever he comes back from combat, of course that’s something I look forward to eagerly, something I’m happy about, but my heart holds back from feeling full joy because I know he’ll be going back” to the front, she said.
At the funeral of Yuli Faktor, a 19-year-old soldier killed in Gaza the previous day alongside two comrades, his mother stood sobbing before her son’s coffin draped in the Israeli flag.
She spoke to him in Russian for the last time before his burial.
“I want to hold you. I miss you. Forgive me, please. Watch over us, wherever you are.”
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608469/middle-east
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UK MP Jeremy Corbyn Announces ‘Independent Gaza Tribunal’ To Investigate The UK’s Involvement In Israel’s Military Operation
July 17, 2025
LONDON: British MP Jeremy Corbyn has announced an independent “Gaza tribunal” to investigate the UK’s involvement in Israel’s military operation in the territory.
The former Labour Party leader, who now sits in parliament as an independent, has been one of the most prominent voices in the UK against Israel’s war.
He previously called for the government to set up an inquiry into British involvement in the conflict, but his bill was rejected at its second reading earlier this month.
Corbyn said on Thursday he would hold a Gaza tribunal in September because “the public deserves to know the full scale of their government’s complicity in genocide.
“Just like Iraq, the government is doing everything it can to protect itself from scrutiny,” he said, referring to the UK’s ill-fated decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. “Just like Iraq, it will not succeed in its attempts to suffocate the truth.”
The left-wing politician added: “We will bring about justice for the people of Palestine.”
The UK suspended 30 arms export licenses to Israel in September last year in response to its Gaza operations.
But Corbyn and pressure groups say the UK is still supplying other weapons, including parts for F-35 fighter jets.
The Royal Air Force is also accused of flying surveillance flights over Gaza and supplying Israel with intelligence.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the International Development Committee on Wednesday that he was “very certain” no weapons were being used against civilians and aid workers in Gaza.
Corbyn said the tribunal would hear from expert witnesses including Palestinians in Gaza, journalists, and health and aid workers who have worked in the territory.
Legal experts and UN officials will also be called upon to provide evidence.
The tribunal will begin by outlining the scale of human suffering in Gaza, where more than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
It will go on to outline Britain’s legal responsibilities under domestic and international law, and then probe Britain’s role in the campaign.
The British government has come under increasing pressure from MPs, including many from its own Labour Party, to take a tougher line against Israel.
Last week, almost 60 Labour MPs sent a letter to Lammy demanding the UK immediately recognize Palestine as a state.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608462/middle-east
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Europe’s largest missile maker supplying parts to Israel for bombs used in Gaza
July 17, 2025
LONDON: Parts made by Europe’s largest missile maker are being used in bombs launched by Israel in airstrikes on Gaza, an investigation has found.
A joint report by The Guardian, Disclose and Follow the Money discovered that components produced by MBDA are used to construct the GBU-39 bomb.
Wing-like parts, called Diamond-Blacks and manufactured at MBDA’s plant in Alabama, are fitted to the 250 lb GBU-39, which is made by Boeing, allowing the bomb to manoeuver mid-air toward targets.
The GBU-39 is sent to Israel as part of the US military aid program, bought directly from Boeing and transferred from American military stocks.
Deployed aerially from fighter jets over combat zones, an estimated 4,800 have been sent to Israel since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
Open-source analysis found that the weapon has been deployed at least 24 times in Gaza in incidents where civilians, including children, were killed.
The attacks often came at night, targeting shelters including school buildings, camps and a mosque. At least 500 people have been killed in the identified cases, including more than 100 children.
The UN and Amnesty International have both raised concerns that a number of incidents involving GBU-39s amount to war crimes.
Donatella Rovera, a senior investigator at Amnesty, told The Guardian: “Those launching attacks have a legal duty to take precautions so as to avoid harming civilians — even in cases where there may be a military target at the location — including by not striking locations full of civilians.”
Last year, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended a number of arms export licenses to Israel over fears that UK-made equipment could be used to commit “serious violations” of international law in Gaza.
But campaigners told The Guardian that the use of Diamond-Black wings, manufactured in the US, shows the limits of the UK government’s measures, which cannot ban the export of items made overseas by sister companies of British firms.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a report last month that numerous private sector firms continue to arm Israel despite warnings of human rights violations, war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
“The present report shows why the genocide carried out by Israel continues: because it is lucrative for many,” she added.
Sam Perlo-Freeman, research coordinator at Campaign Against the Arms Trade, told The Guardian: “We would support the UK government taking all actions that are within their powers to stop the genocide.
“Beyond an arms embargo, this includes sanctions on companies arming Israel, banning UK investments in such companies.”
MBDA’s code of ethics states that it is “committed to taking the utmost care in identifying and preventing negative direct and indirect impacts our activities may have on human rights, fundamental freedoms and people health and safety.”
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608411/middle-east
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Hamas Warns Of Severe Famine In Gaza, Urges Arab &Islamic Nations To Act Immediately
17 Jul 2025
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) stated on Thursday that famine in the Gaza Strip has reached dangerous levels, calling on Arab and Islamic countries to take urgent action to break the siege and allow humanitarian aid in.
In a statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (SABA), Hamas said: "The fascist Zionist enemy government has employed starvation and the deprivation of basic life necessities in Gaza as one of its ongoing tools of genocide for over 21 months, reflecting a deliberate escalation in committing the most heinous crimes of the modern era against innocent children and civilians."
The movement added: "The international community’s silence, including the UN Security Council, in the face of this humanitarian catastrophe and the horrific crimes committed daily by the Zionist enemy army—documented in audio and video—sets a dangerous precedent, entrenching a logic of lawlessness and violation of international and humanitarian law."
Hamas urged Arab and Islamic nations, along with the United Nations, to take immediate action and pressure for the lifting of the blockade, the entry of food supplies and humanitarian aid, and an end to this vicious cycle of killing, genocide, and starvation in the Gaza Strip.
Source: saba.ye
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https://www.saba.ye/en/news3518215.htm
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British surgeon in Gaza describes wounded Palestinians dying due to malnutrition
July 17, 2025
LONDON: Palestinians being treated in one of Gaza’s few remaining hospitals are dying from their wounds because they are so malnourished, a British doctor working in the territory said.
Professor Nick Maynard, a consultant gastrointestinal surgeon, who is on his third stint volunteering in the territory since the war started, said he is seeing unprecedented levels of severe malnutrition.
“The malnutrition I’m seeing here is indescribably bad. It’s much, much worse now than a year ago,” Maynard, who is based at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, said.
UNICEF chief Catherine Russell told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that acute malnutrition among children in Gaza had almost tripled after Israel imposed an 11-week blockade on food aid to the territory in March.
Maynard said malnutrition levels were directly contributing to preventable deaths among patients receiving surgery. He said those injured in Israel’s military attacks were dying because being malnourished prevents proper healing.
“The repairs that we carry out fall to pieces; patients get terrible infections and they die,” Maynard, who is volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, said. “I have had so many patients die because they can’t get enough food to recover, it’s distressing to see that and know that it is preventable and treatable.”
Maynard said babies in Nasser’s neonatal unit have been particularly affected, with four recent infant deaths blamed on malnutrition.
The surgeon said he had been reduced to tears by the state of the children he has seen.
“I saw a seven-month-old who looked like a newborn,” Maynard said. “The expression ‘skin and bones’ doesn’t do it justice. We have almost no liquid or intravenous feeds — children are being given essentially 10 percent sugar water, which is not proper nutritional support.”
Maynard said he had even seen the effects of malnutrition in his Palestinian colleagues, who were barely recognizable from when he had worked with them a year ago. He said many had lost 20-30kg due to the food shortages.
Israel’s blockade of Gaza lead to widespread warnings that the territory could descend into a state of famine.
In her briefing to the security council, UNICEF’s Russell said that of the more than 113,000 children screened for malnutrition in June, almost 6,000 were found to be acutely malnourished — an 180 percent increase in acute malnutrition cases compared to February.
“Children in Gaza are enduring catastrophic living conditions, including severe food insecurity and malnutrition,” she said.
Maynard, who is usually based at Oxford University Hospital, has been traveling to volunteer in Gaza with MAP for more than 10 years.
While on his current posting, he has witnessed the daily arrival of Palestinians who have been shot while trying to access food aid through distribution hubs set up by the new Israeli- and US-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“We have hundreds of trauma casualties coming in every day, it’s relentless,” he said. “This is not only from Israeli military airstrikes and attacks, but we are also treating multiple gunshot wounds every day.
“These are mainly from the militarized distribution points, where starving civilians are going to try and get food but then report getting targeted by Israeli soldiers or quadcopters.”
The surgeon said he had mostly been operating on boys aged 12 or 13 who had been sent to the aid hubs to get food for their families.
“A 12-year-old boy I was operating on died from his injuries on the operating table — he had been shot through the chest.”
Maynard called on the international community to force Israel to allow the full flow of food and aid into Gaza, and to end the “collective punishment” of the territory’s population.
“The enforced malnutrition and attacks on civilians we are witnessing will kill many more thousands of people if not stopped,” he said.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2608442/middle-east
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Foreign ministers of Middle Eastern countries affirm support for Syria’s security, stability, and sovereignty
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: The foreign ministers of Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, affirmed their support for Syria’s security, unity, stability, and sovereignty in a joint statement issued on Thursday.
The Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his counterparts from Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkiye held intensive talks on developments in Syria during the last two days.
The talks aimed to come up with a unified position and coordinate efforts to support the Syrian government in its efforts to rebuild Syria on foundations that guarantee its security, stability, unity, sovereignty, and the rights of all its citizens.
Prince Faisal spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday to emphasize the importance of respecting Syria’s independence and sovereignty, the need to halt Israeli aggression on Syrian territory, and the importance of uniting efforts to support the Syrian government’s measures to establish security and uphold the rule of law across its entire territory.
The foreign ministers welcomed the ceasefire reached to end the crisis in Sweida Governorate, and stressed the necessity of its implementation to protect Syria, its unity, and its citizens, prevent the shedding of Syrian blood, and ensure the protection of civilians and the rule of law.
They also welcomed Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s commitment to hold accountable all those responsible for violations against Syrian citizens in Sweida Governorate.
The ministers expressed support for all efforts to establish security and the rule of law in Sweida Governorate and throughout Syria.
They also condemned and rejected repeated Israeli attacks on Syria and said they are flagrant violations of international law and a blatant assault on Syria’s sovereignty which destabilizes its security, stability, and unity and undermines the government’s efforts to build a new Syria that achieves the aspirations and choices of its people.
They added that Syria’s security and stability are a pillar of regional security and stability and a shared priority.
The ministers called on the international community to support the Syrian government in its reconstruction process and called on the Security Council to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to ensure Israel’s full withdrawal from occupied Syrian territories, the cessation of all Israeli hostilities against Syria and interference in its affairs, and the implementation of Resolution 2766 and the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
Source: arabnews.com
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North America
Texas Republican Sen. Cruz Wants Terrorist Tag On Muslim Brotherhood
July 17, 2025
Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced legislation that designates the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
The Texas Republican, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, introduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act on Wednesday.
It would implement a modernized strategy against the group.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a global Islamist movement founded in Egypt in 1928 and known for its advocacy of a state governed by Sharia law through religious, political and social action.
Mr. Cruz said the Muslim Brotherhood provides support to offshoots that are terrorist organizations.
“One of those branches is Hamas, which on Oct. 7 committed the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which included the murder and kidnapping of at least 53 Americans,” he said of the 2023 raid.
Companion legislation to Mr. Cruz’s bill was introduced by fellow Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina in the House last month.
Mr. Cruz said the 97-year-old Islamist organization is committed to overthrowing and destroying the U.S. and other non-Islamist governments across the globe while posing a threat to American national security interests.
“American allies in the Middle East and Europe have already labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and the United States should do the same, and do so expeditiously,” he said.
Countries that have labeled and outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization include Austria, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Cruz introduced other versions of the Muslim Brotherhood Designation Act in 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2021.
Other Republican senators backing the legislation are Tom Cotton and John Boozman of Arkansas, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody of Florida and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.
Source: washingtontimes.com
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jul/17/ted-cruz-wants-terrorist-tag-muslim-brotherhood/
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Trump threatens to sue WSJ over ‘bawdy letter to Epstein’
18 Jul, 2025
US President Donald Trump has threatened legal action against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company News Corp., and media mogul Rupert Murdoch after the newspaper claimed that he authored a lewd letter to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The alleged letter was reportedly part of a leather-bound album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 and included a crude drawing of a nude woman, according to an exclusive report the Journal published on Thursday.
“A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly Donald below her waist, mimicking pubic hair,” the report described, without explaining how the outlet obtained what it claimed was a previously unreleased Department of Justice file.
The paper acknowledged that Trump strongly denied the allegation, but went ahead with publication. “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women… It’s not my language. It’s not my words,” the Journal quoted him as saying.
Several hours after the story broke, Trump accused Murdoch and WSJ Editor Emma Tucker of deliberately spreading “defamatory lies.”
“The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter… was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He described the “once great” paper as a “disgusting and filthy rag” that was desperately trying to “stay relevant.” Trump vowed to sue the WSJ, News Corp., and Murdoch “shortly,” citing his history of successful lawsuits against major media outlets.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and charged with trafficking minors for sex. He allegedly hanged himself in his New York jail cell before standing trial. His longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was later convicted of conspiring to sexually abuse underage girls and is now serving a 20-year sentence. Although Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide, it has long been the subject of public skepticism.
Earlier this week, Trump responded to growing criticism over his administration’s handling of the Epstein case, claiming that only “stupid people” still demand access to the sex offender’s alleged “client list.”
Source: rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/news/621635-trump-epstein-letter-lawsuit/
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White House says Trump diagnosed with vein condition after questions about bruises
Bernd Debusmann Jr
July 17, 2025
Donald Trumpis suffering from a chronic vein condition, the White House announced on Thursday, after days of speculation regarding photographs showing bruising on the US president's hand.
After recently experiencing swelling in his legs, Trump underwent a "comprehensive exam" including vascular testing, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt said Trump's bruised hand was consistent with "tissue damage from frequent handshaking" while taking aspirin, which she said is "part of a standard cardio-vascular prevention regimen".
Trump, 79, has regularly touted his good health and once described himself as "the healthiest president that's ever lived".
The president's recently discovered vein condition is called chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when leg veins fail to pump blood to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs, which can then become swollen.
Veins and valves "propel the blood up and out of the leg" and back toward the heart, Dr Meryl Logan, assistant professor of vascular surgery at the University of Texas at Austin told the BBC.
Blood flowing from the legs to the heart is moving against gravity, which can make that process more difficult.
"So what chronic venous insufficiency is, is when those veins and valves don't work and blood goes backwards down the legs," she said.
Oldest US president ever inaugurated
Leavitt said that there was "no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease" and that all results from the test were "within normal limits".
According to a note from White House physician Sean Barbabella released to reporters, the condition is "benign and common", especially in people over age 70.
Additional testing showed "no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness" in Trump, Barbabella said in the note, which confirmed the information from Leavitt's earlier briefing.
Overall, Trump is in "excellent health", the doctor wrote.
Photographers captured what appeared to be Trump's swollen legs during the Fifa Club World Cup final in New Jersey on 13 July, with subsequent photos taken earlier this week showing his bruised hands during a meet with Bahraini Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the White House.
A bruise on the president's hand had previously been photographed during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in February.
His swollen legs and bruising prompted online speculation and rumours that the president may have been experiencing an illness that hadn't been made public.
Following an annual physical exam in April, Barbabella wrote that Trump "exhibits cognitive and physical health".
Trump was 78 years and seven months old when he was sworn in for his second term in January, making him the oldest president to ever be inaugurated as US leader.
What to know about chronic venous insufficiency
Doctors told the BBC they agree with Barbabella's assessment on the severity of chronic venous insufficiency.
"It can be associated with serious conditions, but in and of itself it is not a serious condition, and one that is very common," Dr Matthew Edwards, chair of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Wake Forest University, told the BBC.
"People in his age (group), I would say probably somewhere between 10 and 35% of people would have this."
Experts say other risks include being overweight, having a history of blood clots, and having jobs that require patients to be on their feet for long durations.
Wearing custom-made medical-grade compression stockings can help manage the condition, and experts also recommend patients elevating their legs at night.
"I tell my patients to use a good creamy lotion all over their legs and feet every day, and then controlling other potential risk factors such as obesity," Dr Logan said.
The president's bruised hand
Chronic venous insufficiency only affects the lower part of the body, so the condition is unrelated to the bruising seen on the president's hand, which generated speculation in recent days.
The president's doctor said the bruising was a result of handshaking and a side effect of him taking aspirin, a medication which can help prevent heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.
Dr Edwards said he agrees with the White House doctor's explanation that Trump's aspirin intake along with his age could be responsible for the bruising.
"We are all more prone to bruising as we get older, and you see that a lot in people that take aspirin and other blood-thinning agents."
"I'm sure it could if someone squeezes your hand hard enough, (you could get a bruise)," Dr Edwards said.
"That would be a pretty stiff handshake."
Source: bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jw1pdyp0jo
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White House denies reports of Trump visit to Pakistan
July 18, 2025
The White House on Friday dismissed reports circulating in Pakistani media that claimed U.S. President Donald Trump is planning an official visit to Pakistan later this year.
“A trip to Pakistan has not been scheduled at this time,” a senior White House official confirmed, refuting speculation that had emerged earlier in the day from various Pakistani television channels.
These reports, which cited unnamed sources, suggested that President Trump would visit Islamabad in September prior to a scheduled trip to India. The reports were later withdrawn.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office also stated it had no information regarding any upcoming visit by the U.S. President. “We have no information about this matter,” said Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan while addressing the media.
While denying the Pakistan-related reports, the White House detailed President Trump’s upcoming foreign travel plans. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the President will travel to Scotland from July 25 to 29, where he will visit Turnberry and Aberdeen as part of trade negotiations with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “President Trump will refine the great trade deal between the U.S. and the UK during this trip,” Leavitt said.
Later this year, from September 17 to 19, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will return to the United Kingdom for a second official state visit. During the visit, the First Couple is expected to meet King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
The last sitting U.S. President to visit Pakistan was George W. Bush in 2006. Despite recent diplomatic engagements, including a visit by Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to the White House last month, no announcement has been made regarding a presidential visit to Pakistan.
Source: nation.com.pk
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https://www.nation.com.pk/18-Jul-2025/white-house-denies-reports-of-trump-visit-to-pakistan
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Africa
France shuts down last military base in Senegal after 65 years
July 17, 2025
France returned its last two military bases to Senegalese forces Thursday morning amid a wave of anti-French sentiment in West Africa.
General Mbaye Cissé and Chief of the French command in Africa, Pascal Ianni, oversaw the official handover ceremony in Dakar, which marks the end of France’s 65-year presence in Senegal.
"This is an important turning point in the rich and long military history between our two countries." General Cissé said in his speech during the event.
He noted that the French and Senegalese armies had "defined new objectives" to "give new meaning to the security partnership" between the two countries.
"The Senegalese armed forces are looking forward to consolidating the many achievements made in the quest for strategic autonomy," he concluded.
The French army has had a permanent base in Senegal since the country’s independence from France in 1969. Camp Geille, where around 350 French soldiers are stationed, is the last base to return to Senegalese command after several other military installations have been shut down since March last year.
Senegal pushes to end French influence
In December, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared that his government would work towards ending foreign military presence on Senegalese soil by 2025.
The announcement followed growing criticisms of neo-colonial influence in Senegal, which culminated in several French-owned businesses being torched and looted during mass demonstrations in 2021.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye said to AFP.
Several scandals have soured the relationship between Senegal and its former colonial ruler. Faye announced the closure of French military bases on the 80th anniversary of the mass killings of West African soldiers by French forces.
Members of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit, who fought in France’s war against Nazi Germany, had been protesting delays in salaries and poor living conditions when colonial soldiers shot them.
President Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to President Faye this year, admitting that France committed a “massacre”.
France's waning diplomatic influence in West Africa
The closure of the Senegalese military operation is just the latest diplomatic blow to France as a wave of French-critical governments have ascended to power in West Africa.
Coups in France’s former colonies, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali from 2020 to 2023 have resulted in the ejection of 4,300 French soldiers, with military leaders cutting ties with France in favour of new allies, including Russia.
In 2022, France pulled out of the Central African Republic, and earlier this year, France handed over its last bases in Ivory Coast and Chad. The base in Djibouti remains France's last permanent mission in Africa, with approx. 1500 soldiers stationed.
Source: africanews.com
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https://www.africanews.com/2025/07/17/france-shuts-down-last-military-base-in-senegal-after-65-years/
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Islamic, Christian clerics hold prayers for Buhari in Katsina
17th July 2025
Faith Maji
Prominent Islamic and Christian clerics, alongside top government officials, gathered in Daura, Katsina State, on Thursday for a special prayer session in honour of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The interfaith session, held at Buhari’s residence, followed the three-day Fidau prayers held on Wednesday and drew dignitaries from across Nigeria and beyond.
Among the clerics present were the National Chairman of Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah, Sheikh Bala Lau; Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir; Sheikh Kabiru Gombe; Sheikh Ali Pantami; and the Catholic Bishop of Katsina Diocese, Bishop Gerald Musa.
Also in attendance were the Emir of Katsina, Dr Abdulmumini Kabir Usman; Emir of Daura, Dr Faruk Umar Faruk; and other traditional rulers.
Sheikh Lau described the late president as “a man of integrity and honour,” noting that his contributions to Nigeria’s development were significant and enduring.
Pantami said the prayers for Buhari should not be restricted for days but be a permanent exercise for Muslim faithful as captured in the Holy Quran.
Pantami, who was the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy under Buhari, used the event to urge Nigerians to continue to pray for the deceased and remember him in all their daily supplications.
“Prayers for our father, the former President Muhammadu Buhari should not be restricted to three or seven days only.
“Our prayers for him should be permanently until our time, and it is indeed very important.
“In Islam, prayers for the deceased are not restricted to certain days or time but rather for life. I want to beg each and everyone of us here to please remember him in our daily supplications,” Pantami said.
In his prayers, the Catholic Bishop of Katsina Diocese, Bishop Musa, described the former Nigerian leader as a man of discipline and selfless devotion and urged Nigerians, especially political leaders, to emulate his character.
Musa said, “While he was alive, I learned so much from him. He was incorruptible, particularly during his time as a military leader.
“I remember as a student, we admired his policies, especially the War Against Indiscipline.
“No human being is perfect, but Buhari’s legacy of discipline and simplicity is powerful. We are praying not only for God to reward him for his good deed but also to forgive his imperfections.”
Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, in his vote of thanks, appreciated Nigerian leaders for attending the funeral rites and prayer sessions for the repose of the soul of the late former President.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government delegation and Vice President Kashim Shettima departed Daura, Katsina State, alongside the family of the deceased for Abuja for the State House valedictory session in honour of Buhari as instructed by President Bola Tinubu.
Source: punchng.com
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https://punchng.com/islamic-christian-clerics-hold-prayers-for-buhari-in-katsina/
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Your Statement On Nigerian Healthcare An Insult – NMA Knocks Femi Adesina
July 18, 2025
By Justina Otio
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has berated former presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, over his comments on the Nigerian healthcare sector.
Recall that Adesina, during a Television interview, had stated that late former President Muhammadu Buhari would have died earlier if he had not sought medical care abroad.
He explained that Nigerian healthcare facilities lacked the equipment and expertise needed to manage Buhari’s condition, hence the decision to seek treatment in London.
Reacting to the statement, during an interview with Daily Post, Chairman of the NMA, Rivers State chapter, Dr. Diamond Tamunokuro, described Adesina’s remarks as deeply disrespectful to millions of Nigerians who depend on the same health system for everything from basic care to specialised treatment.
He asserted that Adesina comment reflects the failure of the administration Adesina served,
He called on Nigerians to hold political leaders accountable and question whether they genuinely have the country’s best interests at heart or are simply in government for personal enrichment.
According to him, “It’s an insult on well meaning Nigerians to hear such statements from politicians and political appointees.
“I mean, there are Nigerians in this country who receive healthcare from the same healthcare system that Mr. Femi Adesina just completely abused and ridiculed.
“And they receive all kinds of treatments from basic medical treatment to specialist treatment. And they have lived even longer than the late president lived.
“So, for him to make such a statement, it means that he has clearly said that himself and the administration he served under was a complete failure, particularly in terms of healthcare.
“Nigerians should actually rise up and begin to ask politicians whether they mean well for the country or they are there for just feeding fat and just extend their pockets.”
He added that doctors in Nigeria are sacrificing everything daily to improve the country’s health system.
Tamunokuro emphasized that rather than constantly seeking treatment abroad, Nigerian leaders should channel public resources into strengthening the country’s healthcare infrastructure.
“Just for emphasis, doctors in Rivers State and doctors in Nigeria are sacrificing everyday to improve on the health of Nigerian citizens.
“And healthcare is expanding. And the scope of care received is increasing by the day, and people are receiving quality healthcare, and they’re living quality lives.
“What we need to get from government is to create the needed environment for our healthcare to improve from where it is today.
“Rather than running abroad to receive care, politicians should invest money in healthcare and see how the quality of care received by Nigerians is better than what it is today. And that is what we expect to hear from them.
“We expect that going forward, Nigerians should ask politicians clearly what their interests are when it comes to healthcare and the quality of healthcare that Nigerian citizens should get,” he added.
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/07/18/your-statement-on-nigerian-healthcare-an-insult-nma-knocks-femi-adesina/
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‘It Is Free’ – NAF Speaks On Commencing Fresh Recruitment
July 17, 2025
By Richard Ogunsile
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has warned job seekers and the general public to be cautious of online scammers exploiting the eagerness of applicants, stressing that it does not charge any fees during its recruitment process.
The NAF, however, dismissed a widely circulated message on social media claiming it has commenced recruitment for its 2025/2026 Basic Military Training Course (BMTC) and Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC), describing it as false, misleading, and fraudulent.
In a statement issued on Thursday, July 17, the Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, urged Nigerians to disregard the message, stating emphatically that no recruitment exercise is currently underway.
“The attention of the Nigerian Air Force has been drawn to fraudulent messages circulating online, falsely claiming that the NAF has commenced recruitment for the 2025/2026 BMTC and DSSC.
“The Nigerian Air Force wishes to state that no such recruitment exercise is currently ongoing. The public is therefore advised to disregard these messages in their entirety,” the statement read.
“The NAF recruitment process is free, transparent, and strictly merit-based. We do not charge applicants at any stage of the process, nor do we engage third-party agents or middlemen,” Ejodame clarified.
The Air Force spokesperson further assured that any legitimate recruitment exercise would be formally announced via credible platforms, including national newspapers, the official NAF website, and the Force’s verified social media handles.
“We therefore urge members of the public to be wary of online scams and exercise extreme caution when coming across unofficial recruitment advertisements,” Ejodame stressed.
The NAF advised all interested candidates to stay informed through verified sources and report suspicious messages to the appropriate authorities.
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/07/17/it-is-free-naf-speaks-on-commencing-fresh-recruitment/
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South Asia
Blasphemy Charge Leads to Death Sentence to Abdul Aleem Khamoosh in Eastern Afghanistan
By Fidel Rahmati
July 17, 2025
A man in Paktika province has been sentenced to death by a local court for allegedly insulting the Prophet and Islamic sanctities.
The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced that a man has been sentenced to death in Paktika province for alleged blasphemy.
According to ministry spokesperson Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, the man—identified as Abdul Aleem Khamoosh, a resident of Janikhel district—was arrested and tried by the Taliban’s primary court.
Khyber stated that after an investigation, the court ruled that Abdul Aleem had insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, which led to the death sentence.
In a post on social media platform X, the spokesperson claimed that the accused had committed a “major sin” by offending Islamic sanctities.
He added that insulting religious values weakens the morale of the Islamic community and constitutes a grave violation of Sharia law.
The ruling has raised concerns among human rights observers and legal experts about the lack of transparency and due process under Taliban judicial proceedings.
International organizations continue to monitor the Taliban’s justice system, especially in cases involving capital punishment and allegations of religious dissent.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/blasphemy-charge-leads-to-death-sentence-in-eastern-afghanistan/
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Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan to Sign Railway Study Deal
2025-07-17
KABUL(BNA): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has confirmed that high-level delegations from Uzbekistan and Pakistan, led by their respective foreign ministers, are visiting Kabul today for bilateral and trilateral meetings.
The delegations also include Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport and Pakistan’s Minister of Railways. The visit aims to strengthen political dialogue and cooperation among the three nations.
The Foreign Ministry stated that a trilateral political consultation will be hosted by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, focusing on regional political understanding and solutions to common challenges. The Islamic Emirate will also present its views on political coordination, economic cooperation, and regional stability.
Following the consultations, officials from all three countries will sign a feasibility study agreement on the Trans-Afghan railway project. The agreement will be signed at the Arg (Presidential Palace) by Afghanistan’s Minister of Public Works, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport, and Pakistan’s Minister of Railways.
The delegations are also scheduled to hold separate bilateral meetings with senior officials of the Islamic Emirate.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/afghanistan-uzbekistan-and-pakistan-to-sign-railway-study-deal/
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Islamic Emirate Condemns Israeli Airstrikes in Syria
2025-07-17
In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
KABUL (BNA): The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns the recent airstrikes carried out by the Israeli regime on Syrian territory, particularly in Damascus and other areas.
Such acts of aggression not only violate the sovereignty of an independent nation but also represent a systematic crime aimed at further destabilizing the region and spreading chaos.
The Islamic Emirate calls upon influential countries and regional organizations to fulfill their responsibilities by taking a firm stance against these violations, urging an immediate end to Israeli transgressions. The sovereignty and national independence of the Syrian people and their legitimate government must be respected.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/islamic-emirate-condemns-israeli-airstrikes-in-syria/
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Islamic Emirate Restructures Provincial and Ministry Roles
2025-07-17
KABUL (BNA):The Deputy Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced a series of new appointments across government institutions, based on a directive from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate.
According to the statement, the following appointments were made:
1. Mawlawi Ziaur Rahman Madani, former Governor of Logar, as Deputy Minister for Professional Affairs at the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs.
2. Mawlavi Gul Zarin, former Director of Nomad Affairs at the Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs, as Deputy Minister for Housing, Construction, and Regional Development at the Ministry of Urban Development.
3. Mawlavi Mahmood Shah Zahid, former Deputy for Finance and Administration at the Office of Administrative Affairs, as Deputy Director for Policy and Oversight at the General Directorate of State-Owned Enterprises.
4. Mawlavi Sayed Hassan Shah Agha, former Deputy for Orders and Decrees in Kandahar, as Deputy for Finance and Administration at the Office of Administrative Affairs.
5. Qari Salahuddin Ayoubi, former Police Chief of Zabul, appointed as the new Governor of Logar.
6. Mawlawi Qudratullah Amini, former advisor at the Ministry of Interior, appointed as Deputy Governor of Kabul.
7. Mawlawi Abdul Haleem Halimi, former district chief of Gurbuz in Khost, appointed as Police Chief of Zabul.
8. Mullah Mohammad Younus Mukhles, former Deputy Governor of Kabul, appointed as advisor to the Ministry of Interior.
9. Mawlawi Jamaluddin Wahaj, former Intelligence Director of Uruzgan, appointed as Head of Security for the Baghlan Provincial Police Command.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/islamic-emirate-restructures-provincial-and-ministry-roles/
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Nahid calls for building discrimination-free Bangladesh
18 Jul 2025
MANIKGANJ, July 17, 2025 (BSS) – National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam today called for building a new Bangladesh free from discrimination and exploitation.
“In the new Bangladesh, power will not be concentrated in the hands of any individual,” he said while addressing a road march programme at Rafiq Chattar in the district town this evening.
Nahid Islam alleged that the Awami League government oppressed the people, students, and Islamic scholars by branding them as fundamentalists.
He also claimed that Awami League activists looted land and houses belonging to the Hindu community during their authoritarian rule.
NCP leaders Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, Akhtar Hossain, Nasir Uddin Patwari, Samanta Sharmin, and Dr Tasnim Jara also spoke at the event.
Source: bssnews.net
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https://www.bssnews.net/news/293327
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Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar Arrives in Kabul for Trilateral Talks
By Fidel Rahmati
July 17, 2025
Pakistan’s FM Ishaq Dar arrives in Kabul for trilateral talks with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to boost regional cooperation.
Pakistani Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar arrived in Kabul on Thursday afternoon to attend a trilateral meeting involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.
According to Taliban officials, Dar will take part in the trilateral dialogue aimed at boosting regional cooperation and discussing trade, connectivity, and security.
Dar is accompanied by Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, and Mohammad Hanif Abbasi, the country’s Minister of Railways, indicating the significance of infrastructure and economic discussions on the agenda.
Earlier the same day, an Uzbek delegation led by Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov also arrived in Kabul, reinforcing Uzbekistan’s commitment to enhancing ties with both neighboring nations.
This meeting follows earlier trilateral summits held in Islamabad in May 2023 and in Kabul and Beijing during May 2025, reflecting the continuity of high-level regional engagement.
The trilateral platform aims to enhance regional connectivity through strategic railway and trade corridor development, including discussions on the Trans-Afghanistan Railway linking Uzbekistan and Pakistan via Afghanistan.
Beyond economic issues, the participants are expected to discuss border management, counterterrorism cooperation, and the evolving political landscape in Afghanistan, especially in the context of cross-border movements and stability.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/pakistani-foreign-minister-ishaq-dar-arrives-in-kabul-for-trilateral-talks/
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Khelafat names 223 candidates for next polls
Jul 18, 2025
Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish has announced the names of possible party candidates in 223 constituencies in the first phase, aiming to participate in the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad election.
The announcement was made yesterday at a press conference held at the party's central office in Purana Paltan by its Ameer Mamunul Haque.
This is the first time any political party has announced the names of its candidates to participate in the next polls, likely to be held early next year. According to the list, party Secretary General Jalaluddin Ahmed will contest from the Shariatpur-1 constituency.
In the second list, the constituencies from which Mamunul and other top leaders will contest will be announced.
Party leaders said in the upcoming national parliament, Khelafat supports a bicameral constitutional structure with partial proportional representation in the lower house and full proportional representation in the upper house.
Mamunul said, "We must all unite against fascism. Unfortunately, it is being seen recently that even the anti-fascist parties are using aggressive language against one another. This mutual conflict is encouraging the allies of fascism. They are even daring to attack the revolutionaries of July-August. Now is the time to build a united resistance."
Source: thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/khelafat-names-223-candidates-next-polls-3942146
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Southeast Asia
Indonesian govt urges Islamic schools to help cut poverty by 2026
July 17, 2025
Cirebon (ANTARA) -
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, has called on Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) to enhance their role as hubs of community empowerment to help accelerate poverty reduction.
"Pesantren must upgrade their roles, not only as educational institutions, but also as centers of community empowerment," he said during a visit to Pesantren Gedongan in Cirebon, West Java, on Thursday.
Iskandar noted that pesantren have historically played a key role in alleviating poverty by offering non-discriminatory access to education, especially for underprivileged communities.
"For centuries, Islamic boarding schools have proven to be accessible to all segments of society, both the wealthy and the poor," he said.
He expressed confidence that strengthening pesantren as inclusive educational institutions can be a powerful way to break the cycle of poverty.
Iskandar praised Pesantren Gedongan's initiative to open a job training center aimed at equipping local communities with vocational skills for greater economic independence.
He added that such initiatives align with Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 8/2025 on the Acceleration of Poverty Alleviation, which emphasizes collaboration across sectors.
"Let's continue to expand these efforts so that both students and surrounding communities can benefit from improved quality of life," he said.
Iskandar reaffirmed his ministry's commitment to supporting pesantren in community empowerment efforts, calling it essential to the national target of reducing extreme poverty to zero percent by 2026.
"We are pursuing various development efforts. Industries must grow, unemployment must not rise, and job opportunities must increase," he emphasized.
Source: antaranews.com
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https://en.antaranews.com/news/367069/indonesian-govt-urges-islamic-schools-to-help-cut-poverty-by-2026
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Malaysia’s economy seen growing 4.5pc in Q2 2025 on strong domestic demand
2025-07-18
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Malaysia’s economy is forecast to grow by 4.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 (2Q 2025) based on advance gross domestic product (GDP) estimates, slightly outpacing previous quarter’s 4.4 per cent.
Growth is expected to be driven by robust domestic demand amid global headwinds, according to the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM).
In a statement today, DOSM said growth momentum was sustained in April and May, with a stronger performance anticipated in June.
“Overall, the economy is estimated to have grown moderately by 4.4 per cent in the first half of 2025,” it said.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said domestic consumption remained the key driver, significantly boosted by the lingering effects of public sector wage adjustments, school holidays and seasonal spending during both Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Aidiladha.
A stable labour market, together with low unemployment and inflation rates, further reinforced household spending.
“Cash assistance programmes such as Sumbangan Asas Rahmah and Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah also contributed to sustaining household consumption during the quarter,” he said.
Mohd Uzir noted that the manufacturing sector experienced varied performance in 2Q, growing by 5.6 per cent in April and moderating to 2.8 per cent in May.
“This growth was largely attributed to sustained activity in the electrical and electronics sub-sector and robust demand from domestic-oriented industries, as indicated by the Industrial Production Index.
“Similarly, distributive trade sales, reflecting consumer and business activities, rose by 4.4 per cent in May, easing from 4.7 per cent in April, supported by steady performances in wholesale and retail trade,” he added.
Nevertheless, the external trade sector was mixed, significantly slower in May, influenced by weaker demand for goods exports.
“Overall, while domestic consumption was a strong pillar. The external components of the economy remained challenging, weighed down by surrounding tariff developments and continued global political uncertainties,” said Mohd Uzir.
Sector-wise, he said services remain the primary driver of economic growth in the 2Q 2025, registering a 5.3 per cent growth (Q1 2025: 5.0 per cent), with key contributions from wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, and business services sub-sectors.
The manufacturing sector also recorded a growth of 3.8 per cent (Q1 2025: 4.1 per cent), largely supported by production in electrical, electronic and optical products as well as vegetable and animal oils and fats and food processing, he noted.
Mohd Uzir said the construction sector recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth at 11.0 per cent (Q1 2025: 14.2 per cent), supported primarily by non-residential buildings and specialised construction activities.
“The agriculture sector posted a two per cent rise (Q1 2025: 0.6 per cent), driven by the oil palm sub-sector.
“Meanwhile, the mining and quarrying sector declined further to -7.4 per cent (Q1 2025: -2.7 per cent), reflecting lower production across all sub-sectors,” he concluded. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/07/18/malaysias-economy-seen-growing-45pc-in-q2-2025-on-strong-domestic-demand/184333
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Anwar says new CJ appointment clears him of judicial interference claim
By Muhammad Yusry
18 Jul 2025
PUTRAJAYA, July 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the appointment of a new Chief Justice has vindicated him over claims he wanted former attorney general Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh named to the role.
The PM acknowledged the speculation but insisted that this was baseless and stemmed from unnamed members of the legal fraternity whom he accused of “politicking”.
“The complaints and grievances that were hurled at me for weeks, the criticisms, the slander, but now, it turns out that those claims were completely off the mark,” he told reporters after performing Friday prayers at Surau Al-Istiqlal in Presint 14 here.
“There were names being thrown around, I can say it, including a former attorney general who served with distinction and is now a Federal Court judge.
“However, because he still has many years ahead of him, his name was never proposed in the first place. His name was not brought up by me, nor was it discussed by the Conference of Rulers.”
Anwar then said he hoped that the matter would now be put to rest, and stressed that he had never interfered in the judicial process, nor exercised any prerogative to remove judges.
“Those who insulted, slandered, and contributed to the judicial crisis, let it be clear, I did not remove any judge, I did not transfer any judge at will, and I did not interfere with any decision. I did not issue instructions to the Chief Justice or to any Court of Appeal judges, as had happened in the past.
“We have not done any of that, because we must uphold the independence and dignity of the judiciary,” he said.
Court of Appeal Judge Wan Ahmad Farid will be sworn in as the country's 17th Chief Justice on July 28, succeeding Tengku Maimun, who retired on July 2.
Datuk Abu Bakar Jais has been appointed as the new president of the Court of Appeal, while Datuk Azizah Nawawi has been appointed Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak.
Source: malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/07/18/anwar-says-new-cj-appointment-clears-him-of-judicial-interference-claim/184359
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PM: Malaysia to follow diplomatic process on Nick Adams’ ambassadorship
By Muhammad Yusry
18 Jul 2025
PUTRAJAYA, July 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said it is premature to comment on the nomination of controversial Australian-American commentator Nick Adams as the next US ambassador to Malaysia.
He said Malaysia would abide by existing diplomatic protocols when the time arrives.
“As for the matter concerning Nick Adams, we will follow due process.
“It is still too early, and of course, the government will give it due consideration while maintaining good relations between Malaysia and the United States,” he told reporters after performing Friday prayers at Surau Al-Istiqlal in Presint 14 here.
Last week, US President Donald Trump announced on social media that he will nominate Adams to the role, after praising the latter as “an incredible Patriot and very successful entrepreneur” whose devotion to America serves as an inspiration.
Last Tuesday, Communication Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the Cabinet has yet to receive an official memorandum from Wisma Putra regarding the reported nomination of Adams.
The nomination has sparked debate, with former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin stating that Malaysia has every right to reject Adams’ appointment, citing Article 4 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which stipulates that a receiving state may refuse any diplomatic envoy without having to justify.
Under diplomatic protocol, no country may send an ambassador without the host nation’s prior consent, which is a key principle in international relations.
Source: malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/07/18/pm-malaysia-to-follow-diplomatic-process-on-nick-adams-ambassadorship/184361
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Anwar says ready to meet Umno leaders over Najib royal addendum but won’t pre-empt courts
By Muhammad Yusry
18 Jul 2025
PUTRAJAYA, July 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said he is ready to meet Umno leaders to discuss the alleged royal addendum decree involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Speaking to reporters after performing Friday prayers in Presint 14 here, Anwar however said that the matter is now before the courts and should not be pre-empted.
“Yesterday, several Umno division chiefs raised the issue and requested a meeting with me, urging for the implementation of the addendum decree,” he said.
“There are two points I want to emphasise. First, the matter is already before the courts, and I cannot act ahead of the judicial process.
“Second, I have informed the Umno president, deputy president, and leadership that I am ready to hold discussions with them, to provide some clarification before taking any further steps,” he added.
Yesterday, several Umno division chiefs have reportedly urged Anwar to stop delaying the implementation of a royal addendum that would allow Najib to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Reports said that 160 out of 191 Umno division leaders present at a meeting had endorsed a statement calling for the matter.
Last week, Anwar said his government respects the views of all parties regarding the addendum issue, but emphasises that the document is subject to judicial process.
Anwar said that the matter is still under court proceedings.
Earlier this month, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) conceded the existence of an addendum or “supplementary order” issued by a former King permitting Najib to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
The confirmation came during a Federal Court hearing on the AGC’s appeal against a lower court decision to grant Najib leave to proceed with his court case seeking house arrest.
In a 2-1 majority decision in January, the Court of Appeal remitted the case on Najib’s claim of the existence of an additional document — purportedly allowing him to serve the remainder of his six-year prison sentence under house arrest — to the High Court to be heard on its merits.
Source: malaymail.com
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Arab World
Umbrella thorn acacia is vital ecological asset in Tabuk
July 18, 2025
UMLUJ: In Saudi Arabia’s northwestern region of Tabuk, Acacia tortilis, commonly known as umbrella thorn acacia, thrives in the coastal plains, providing significant ecological and aesthetic benefits, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
Highly adaptable to harsh climatic conditions, the umbrella thorn acacia grows around wadi estuaries, forming shaded canopies that moderate temperatures and provide shelter for wildlife.
With gnarled, reddish-brown trunks and dense branches, these trees create a striking visual spectacle. Their shadows on the sand offer excellent photographic opportunities, attracting enthusiasts and explorers.
As a vital plant species, the umbrella thorn acacia stabilizes soil and combats desertification. It also serves as a food source for bees, enhancing the production of high-quality wild honey.
Environmental authorities prioritize the preservation of these trees to maintain diversity and improve vegetation cover, aligning with the Saudi Green Initiative and national sustainability efforts, the SPA reported.
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli strike on Gaza Catholic church
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia condemned on Thursday an Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church that killed three people.
The Kingdom strongly condemns Israel’s continued attacks against innocent civilians and places of worship, the Foreign Ministry said.
The Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic Church killed three people and injured several others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees the small parish, said on Thursday.
In the shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza, the church compound was also damaged, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the 21-month Israel-Hamas war.
The Kingdom said that such repeated attacks in the region, without any deterrent, require a serious stance from all countries to put an end to Israeli crimes which threaten the security and stability of the region.
It reiterated its call for the international community, especially the United Nations Security Council, to confront Israeli practices and activate international accountability mechanisms for these violations.
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi youth engineer their way to STEM Racing triumph
WAAD HUSSAIN
July 17, 2025
DHAHRAN: Cheers and confetti filled the stage at Ithra’s theater in Dhahran on Wednesday night as four teams of Saudi students were crowned national champions in the 2025 STEM Racing competition.
All four teams earned the honor of representing the Kingdom at the Aramco STEM Racing World Finals 2025, supported by Formula 1, in Singapore from Sept. 27 to Oct. 2.
The fourth edition of STEM Racing Saudi Arabia, held under the umbrella of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), brought together finalists from six cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran, Dammam, Al-Ahsa, and Abha.
From regional qualifiers to wind tunnel testing, digital simulations, enterprise planning, and brand building, students spent months building mini Formula 1-style race cars and pitching their ideas in front of judges and mentors.
First place nationally was claimed by Team Rimah from Dhahran, a returning competitor who missed out on a qualifying spot the previous year. Second place went to Giddam from Riyadh, followed by Sadeem from Dhahran in third, and YLA Accelerate from Jeddah in fourth.
Team Rimah member Fares Al-Garaawi said the team’s experience has been all about growth. “This wasn’t my first year. I competed last year, too, but we didn’t qualify. I took that lesson and came back stronger,” he said.
Fajer Al-Ameer from Giddam, who also won the Best Pit Display award, said the competition helped her to rebuild after setbacks.
“Last year, I didn’t win. But I came back with a clear goal. I wanted to win — not just make memories or enjoy the events. And this time, I did both,” she said.
More than 1,000 students took part in this year’s edition, with finalists selected through a series of rigorous regional qualifiers. The program blends engineering and enterprise with creative branding, public speaking, digital marketing, and sustainability.
Alongside the four winners, 14 special awards were made to recognize outstanding achievements in areas such as speed, design, sustainability, branding, and communication.
Using advanced tools such as CAD modeling, 3D printing, and wind tunnel simulations, each team was tasked with building a high-performance miniature race car powered by compressed carbon dioxide, and refined for aerodynamics, branding, and data precision.
Held under the theme “Engineering the Future,” the final ceremony celebrated not only winners, but also resilience, creativity, and collaboration. Students shared stories of failure turned into learning, and learning turned into leadership.
The top four teams will now represent Saudi Arabia in Singapore at the F1 in Schools World Finals, where students from over 30 countries will compete. Past Saudi teams have gained global attention, and expectations are high for this year’s delegation.
The initiative is part of Ithra’s broader mission to empower young Saudis through experiential learning that aligns with Vision 2030. By combining technical training with soft skills and national representation, STEM Racing is turning passion into purpose.
As the lights dimmed on the ceremony, students stood smiling with their medals, trophies, and mentors. The cars may be small, but their dreams are running full speed ahead.
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi surgeons successfully separate conjoined 7-month-old twins in 15-hour operation
HAJAR ALQUSAYER
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: Surgeons in Saudi Arabia successfully separated 7-month-old conjoined twins during a 15-hour operation at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh on Thursday.
Muaid Al-Shehri, the father of the twins, Yara and Lara, described the operation as a profound and emotional moment for his family.
“The support has been great,” he said. “Honestly, the joy after the separation of the twins is indescribable; it’s a completely different kind of happiness.
“There was absolutely no hesitation when we were told the twins could be separated — it was pure joy. It was truly something extraordinary. We thank God and are deeply grateful for our great nation.”
The twins were joined at the lower abdomen and pelvis. They had separate upper and lower limbs but shared some organs in the lower abdomen and pelvis.
Speaking to Arab News before the operation was completed, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, an adviser to the Royal Court and general supervisor of Saudi aid agency KSrelief, said that one of the main difficulties surgeons faced was working in a small space where several critical anatomical features overlapped.
“The big challenge here is that we are working in a narrow space where many structures join,: he said. “We’re talking about a joint rectum, joint parts of the urinary bladder.
“This case is complex. It involves many doctors, specialists and technicians. We are expecting 38 members to participate in this surgery, from consultants, specialists (to) technicians, nurses.
“It is a delicate surgery. We expect to lose some blood but I am confident in my colleagues and their experience. We have done similar cases in the past with success, and I’m sure that (God willing) this case will be another achievement for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
The surgery was the 65th operation of its kind in the 35-year history of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program. Al-Rabeeah said that the work of the program continues far beyond surgery.
“The case does not end with the separation,” he explained. “First of all, immediately after separation they will need a lot of extensive care in the pediatric intensive care unit to ensure that they recover very well.
“When they recover from surgery, they will be subjected to an intensive rehabilitation and physiotherapy program so that they will be able to be active and will be able to sit and stand outdoors.”
Cases such as this one reflect the broader transformation of the Kingdom’s healthcare sector in line with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification, Al-Rabeeah said.
“This is one of the most complex surgeries that are done worldwide, and Saudi Arabia is leading the world,” he added.
“So this is actually a reflection of the (Vision 2030) that the healthcare of Saudi Arabia will not only be of a high standard but also filled with capable young boys and girls from Saudi Arabia.”
Dorrah Alsaadoon, a social worker assisting the family at the hospital, told Arab News that the provision of support is essential to help prepare relatives for the separation surgery.
“Psychological and social support helps the family cope with fear and anxiety, strengthens their ability to adapt, and gives them the emotional strength to face the challenges of surgery and beyond with resilience and hope,” she said.
“My role, as a social worker responsible for conjoined twins, is to provide emotional and psychological support to the family, prepare them mentally for the surgery, help them understand the medical process, and ease their anxiety before and during the operation.”
She also highlighted the fact that the care provided to the family will continue long after the operation.
“Post-surgery support systems include psychological and social support, sessions to help parents emotionally prepare for reconnecting with their children after the changes, and guidance to help them adjust to the new demands of daily life,” Alsaadoon said.
She added that the twins themselves will also require physical and psychological support.
“After surgery, the twins need physical rehabilitation to strengthen their muscles and learn independent movement, and psychological support to help them adjust to their new bodies, build a sense of identity and develop independence.”
Source: arabnews.com
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How quantum computing and AI can accelerate and improve drug development
TAMARA ABOALSAUD
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: Using traditional discovery processes, a staggering 90 percent of drug development trials are unsuccessful. But what if there is a future in which quantum technologies could revolutionize that process to achieve unprecedented efficiency?
The race to develop quantum computers has been surging worldwide. In April, IBM announced a $150 billion investment plan to strengthen US technologies and innovation over the next five years, including a push for quantum computer development.
Additionally, the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme has invested more than £1 billion in quantum technology since its establishment in 2014, with facilities such as the National Quantum Computing Centre.
PASQAL in France is also a leading company in quantum research. In 2024, Saudi Aramco signed an agreement with PASQAL to deploy the first quantum computer in the Kingdom, scheduled to be up and running by the end of this year.
If the promise of quantum computing holds, the pharmaceutical industry could be looking at faster, more accurate, and less costly drug discovery and development.
The World Health Organization predicts that antimicrobial resistance to existing drugs will lead to 10 million human deaths by 2050. To stop the timer, the pharmaceutical industry must adopt new and innovative technologies.
Artificial intelligence has already had a huge impact on the efficiency and success of clinical trials, generating new materials and computationally predicting their performance rather than relying on scientists’ intuition for molecular hypotheses that then must be synthesized and tested repeatedly.
Quantum computing, however, has the potential to take it one step further. It uses special units called qubits (quantum bits), which can exist in multiple states at once and can link together in unique ways, to perform computations much more efficiently than classical computers.
In layman’s terms, quantum computers solve complicated problems quicker while AI simplifies the problem and then solves it. Quantum computers understand the problem. AI does not.
A research scientist focusing on computational catalysis with a doctoral degree in chemical engineering spoke to Arab News about the current feasibility of this tool.
“We are talking about mature technology (AI) versus very immature technology (quantum),” he said.
According to the World Economic Forum, in synergy, quantum computing and AI can lead to enhanced molecular understanding.
Although our expert heeds that “we are not at the stage where we can actually do that, we can only do it on very specific problems because there are many physical limitations… you need to be able to manipulate atoms in a very precise way that we currently cannot do.”
Quantum physics allows scientists to predict the behavior of electrons in molecules, producing detailed three-dimensional structural insight into new drug designs.
Rather than adopting traditional laborious methods such as X-ray crystallography, quantum principles and AI provide virtual simulations.
AI further accelerates this process by quickly analyzing datasets and clinical outcomes to pin down favorable drug targets and predict a compound’s efficacy.
A novel tool called quantum machine learning combines AI’s power of data analysis and pattern recognition with quantum computing’s ability to simulate complex molecular behavior throughout trillions of possibilities.
This paves the way to more accurate and faster predictions in drug binding orientation, absorption, and metabolic pathways.
QML makes it possible to sift through vast chemical spaces holding trillions of potential drug candidates in weeks or days in contrast to the years that classical computers would need.
With the integration of quantum computing and AI, compound screening traditionally executed “in vitro,” meaning outside of a living organism, can be done “in silico” instead, meaning carried out in virtual simulations.
A new quantum-AI model developed by Qubit Pharmaceuticals with Sorbonne University and announced in May of this year called FeNNix-Bio1, reportedly leverages unprecedented computational power and very accurate molecular databases.
Employing the principles of quantum mechanics (such as superposition and entanglement), quantum computers can model molecular and atomic behavior with great accuracy and speed.
This is critical to understanding relevant properties such as molecular stability, binding affinity, and how drugs could interact with target proteins in real-world conditions.
Structural optimization and docking — determining how a drug candidate fits into a biological target, can be simplified using QML and quantum-powered algorithms.
These algorithms rapidly evaluate orientations of molecules against target structures to identify optimal configurations, and which molecules will bind most effectively. This enhances drug absorption and metabolic stability.
Quantum computing and AI models are then able to streamline the preclinical phase, delivering only the most promising compounds to laboratory validation, significantly reducing tedious lab work and enabling researchers to conduct faster and cheaper work.
And with more accurate early-stage predictions, overall success of clinical trials is boosted, lab to market time is reduced, and the possibility of delivering targeted treatments for unmet patient needs is increased.
“You do patient trials to reduce the risk of anything going wrong with the patient, imagine if you are able to accurately predict how the drug will affect people without doing a trial. This will create a leap in how we produce drugs and how we can commercialize drugs,” our expert said.
Meeting specific patient needs based on their biological profiles rather than producing drugs for a wide demographic can drastically change our healthcare systems and how we consume products.
Patients will be able to get a drug for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer, and more without having to wait ten years for a trial to decide their fate.
You can also anticipate what conditions or illnesses people are at high risk of developing later in life and treat them early on, such as joint pain and hair loss.
It comes down to significant time reduction and improved chances of success.
“A quantum computer can significantly increase my accuracy. My chances of success are very dependent on my prediction of the performance.
“The quantum computer can make more accurate calculations that can make my predictions of the performance much more accurate. By doing that, my chances of success will be higher.
“Another way is that a quantum computer will be much faster in performing tasks, generating structures and predicting their performance than AI, and by that I will reduce my time further.”
Although we are still a long way from achieving this, the functionality of quantum computing and AI theorizes that personalized medicine and treatments for patients is possible.
“If (specific patient information) becomes accessible to those companies… then they match that information to their database, hypothetically speaking it is possible.”
Although this all sounds like the realms of sci-fi, there have been significant strides in this area of quantum research.
Pfizer and its partner XtalPi, a US-China pharmaceutical tech company, reportedly used quantum-inspired algorithms and AI cloud computing to reduce 3D structure prediction time of new molecules from months to days, enabling rapid assessment of candidate molecules and their drug-likeness.
Additionally, it is said that Qubit Pharmaceuticals’ FeNNix-Bio1 quantum AI model could be used for QML applications such predicting toxicity, side effects, and drug metabolism with greater speed and accuracy.
Taking it into perspective, our expert said: “Three years ago, no one would have thought we would have a large language model that can perform as well as ChatGPT does today, it came out of left field. A breakthrough could happen.”
However, WEF warns that before this technology can become the new commercial norm, certain guardrails need to be put in place to ensure the safe, effective, and responsible use of this novel tool.
Data integrity and avoiding bias, ethical and regulatory oversight, workforce readiness training, and a shared vision for applying best practices all must be upheld industry wide.
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi jazz singer is hitting all the right notes
HUSSAM AL MAYMAN
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: From soulful Hijazi oud melodies to renditions of smoky jazz and blues tunes, Loulwa Al-Sharif is crafting a sound, shaped by personal loss, that is uniquely her own.
The self-taught singer, also known as Lady Lou, left journalism to pursue her heart’s yearnings, she said during her appearance recently on Arab News’ The Mayman Show.
“I knew that I loved, like, music since I was a little kid. I used to love to perform just for my family and myself, but then I stopped for a long time.
“And while I was working in the newspaper and in other jobs before that, I used to do music … part-time.”
Al-Sharif sang Arabic songs when she was young.
“When I was 15 years old, when I discovered that I liked to sing, I used to sing Khaleeji (Gulf) and Tarab (classical Arabic music) such as songs from prominent Egyptian singer Mohammed Abdel Wahab.
“But then when I started learning (to sing) in English, the first song I learned, with my blues brother — his name is Moez — it was ‘Ain’t No Sunshine.’”
“So just simple, you know, it’s a very simple song with him because he encouraged me, like, you have soul, and you need to do that more,” she said.
The death of her father was a pivotal moment in her life. At the time, she had not been performing and was still quite “shy” and lacked confidence.
“I believe that was my — I don’t know what to call it — escape or something, I don’t know. But all my emotions and my feelings were, ya’ni (like), driven into the music.
“Even, to be honest, it helped me a lot because my father was a musician, and so believing that, oh, wow, I’m doing what my father used to do and putting all my emotions into, ya’ni … it was healing.
“Saraha (honestly), so it was healing for me. Pursuing music and just creating and singing.”
Al-Sharif learned her craft at jam sessions, often late at night, supported by members of the Jeddah music community.
“First, I chose rock. I started singing, like, rock covers, you know, like Evanescence and things like that.”
She then focused on jazz and blues tunes, including from the late English singer Amy Winehouse.
“To be honest, I feel like I was, like, a little bird, and now I’m just, like, flying.
“It’s helped me a lot. Because I didn’t have that confidence back then, and I was, ya’ni, when I performed, I used to perform in front of, like, a few people.”
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi crown prince welcomes measures announced by Al-Sharaa to contain clashes
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call from Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The crown prince welcomed the arrangements and measures announced by Al-Sharaa to contain recent events in Syria, expressing the Kingdom’s confidence in the ability of the Syrian government to achieve security and stability in the country.
Prince Mohammed also praised efforts exerted by Al-Sharaa to ensure that Syria continues on the right path, which would in turn ensure the preservation of Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, the strengthening of its national unity, the solidarity and cohesion of all segments of the Syrian people, and the prevention of any signs of sedition aimed at destabilizing security and stability in the country.
The crown prince also stressed the importance of continuing steps that Syria has taken at all levels to achieve the progress and prosperity to which the Syrian people aspire.
He reiterated the Kingdom’s firm position in supporting Syria, standing by its side, and rejecting any action that would undermine civil and social peace in its entirety.
Prince Mohammed reiterated the Kingdom’s declared position condemning Israeli attacks on Syrian territory and interference in its internal affairs.
He also stressed the need for the international community to support the Syrian government in confronting these challenges and preventing any foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs under any pretext.
Al-Sharaa expressed his gratitude to the Kingdom for its supportive stance toward Syria and the role and efforts undertaken by the crown prince to promote security and stability in Syria and the region.
Source: arabnews.com
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First Saudi relief plane arrives in Syria with aid for those affected by fires
July 17, 2025
RIYADH: The first Saudi relief plane carrying urgent relief aid for those affected by wildfires in Syria’s Latakia Governorate has landed at Aleppo International Airport, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
The plane marks the beginning of the Saudi air bridge operated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, SPA said.
Supervisor General of KSrelief Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah noted that the humanitarian assistance reflects the spirit of humanitarian solidarity that is characteristic of the Saudi government.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah stressed that the Kingdom prioritizes humanitarian work as a core mission stemming from its values and long-standing generosity, and out of its belief that human dignity is a fundamental right for every individual on earth.
KSrelief also signed a cooperation agreement on Wednesday with the Syrian Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management to provide essential equipment, supplies, and machinery needed to combat wildfires in the town of Kassab, Latakia Governorate.
The agreement aims to enhance rapid and effective response capacity through technical and logistical support for field firefighting teams.
Syria’s civil defense agency on Sunday said wildfires in the country’s west, which have burned vast tracts of forest and farmland and forced evacuations, had been brought under control after 10 days.
In a statement on Facebook, the agency said that “with the spread of the fires halted and the fire hotspots brought under control on all fronts” on Saturday, teams on the ground were working to cool down the affected areas while monitoring any signs of reignition.
The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region and the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said they destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland.
Source: arabnews.com
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Europe
Staffordshire professor honoured at prestigious Muslim awards
17 July 2025
Pro Vice-Chancellor at University of Staffordshire Professor Raheel Nawaz has been awarded the Award for Excellence in Education at The Muslim News Awards for Excellence 2025.
Hosted by the UK’s largest independent Muslim newspaper, the annual ceremony recognises outstanding individuals and organisations, across a range of fields, from the British Muslim community.
This award recognises Professor Nawaz’s role as a global leader in education and AI. His innovative degree apprenticeship model has outperformed top UK universities – including Oxbridge – in graduate outcomes and influenced programmes worldwide from Canada to Spain, and Pakistan to New Zealand.
A National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he has published more than 200 research articles (h-index = 51) and secured £14M+ in grants. He is among the top-10 most cited scholars in the world in 5 fields: Applied AI, Digital Education, Workbased Learning, Future of Education, and Skills Policy.
Professor Nawaz has advised heads of state and governments across the world, shaping national policy on education, skills development, digital transformation, and AI. A former Pakistani army officer turned academic; he is renowned for combining academic rigour with social impact. He is also a trustee of JISC and UVAC. He passionately believes that kindness is the most impactful leadership trait and being an intrinsic giver in life is the most sustainable route to happiness. This was also the topic of his TEDx talk.
Winners were announced at a prestigious gala dinner in London this week, attended by senior politicians, diplomats, dignitaries, and business leaders, including West Streeting, Sir Ed Davy, Lord Wajid Khan, Domin Grieves, Stephen Flynn, and Sir Hamid Patel.
Professor Nawaz said: “It’s a profound honour to receive this recognition from the Muslim community. Education has the power to transform lives – not just academically, but socially and economically. This award is not just a personal milestone, but a reminder of the responsibility we all share to uplift others through knowledge, opportunity, and compassion.”
Accepting the award, Professor Nawaz spoke passionately about the shared values between British and Islamic identities: “Democracy, rule of law, respect for differing beliefs, and individual freedom – these aren’t just British values; they’re Islamic values too. I’m proud to be a British citizen and proud to be a Muslim. And proud of my identity as a British Muslim.”
He added: “Let’s not to forget about the importance of education, especially higher education, when we are thinking of the future of our communities, nations, and the world.”
Source: staffs.ac.uk
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The challenge of bringing Sharia-compliant finance to the UK
By Simon Meadows
17 Jul 2025
A provider of Sharia-compliant Islamic finance has described the challenge of bringing a new form of lending to the UK and the task of educating borrowers about how it can be beneficial for society. Sagheer Malik (pictured), group chief commercial officer and managing director of retail finance at Offa, said the provider even faced a backlash from some in the Muslim community.
With 3.8 mn Muslims living in the UK, Malik passionately believes that they should not be excluded from accessing finance due to their faith and ethics. “Bringing something completely new to the market, Islamic home finance, has been a major challenge,” Malik told Mortgage Introducer. “This has meant trying to educate the general public about how Islamic finance can be a great force for good in society. Being Sharia-compliant means not charging interest and not investing in sectors deemed harmful to society such as the arms trade, animal testing, gambling, alcohol and tobacco.
“There was an initial backlash from some members of our own Muslim community who did not realise that these were truly Sharia-compliant financial products with no interest being charged, but we overcame that by consulting scholars to confirm this was the case. There is still more work for us to do on education the community, however it is much better than it was in the early days.”
He continued: "We are providing a service for Muslims who could otherwise be excluded from having access to property finance. However, it is not only Muslims who benefit from this. We have also found that other non-Muslims are highly attracted to our ethical stance, indeed 44% of our bridge finance customers are non-Muslims.”
Another challenge Malik identifies is creating financial products which can compete with conventional finance. “We have overcome that at Offa with a modern, tech-led and paperless approach. In traditional Islamic finance, modernity and innovation are often viewed with suspicion, so patience and education has been crucial.” he said.
Unlocking equity and providing generational wealth
These are exciting times for the business that Malik is leading. Offa has recently received FCA authorisation to provide a home purchase plan (HPP) - the Islamic equivalent to a mortgage – and launched its new Sharia-compliant bridge-to-let product - a combination of its ultra-fast bridge finance with its paperless buy-to-let (BTL) product. “Acquiring bridge and BTL finance separately can take many months, but by combining both simultaneously, our bridge-to-let can provide finance within weeks instead of months, depending on credit rating and risk criteria,” he explained. “This allows aspiring landlords or seasoned property investors to buy and upgrade below-value properties, releasing equity. Our bridge-to-let is the first financial product of its kind in the Islamic finance sector, allowing both Muslims and non-Muslims to save huge amounts of money, unlocking equity and providing generational wealth for their families.”
As one of the most experienced Islamic property finance executives in the UK, Malik began his career in Islamic finance more than 20 years ago at the first Islamic bank in the UK, Islamic Bank of Britain, later known as Al Rayan Bank. “I got into financial services because it was my first job straight out of university,” he recalled. “It was a junior role but the interview process was for a more senior role, because they saw potential for rapid promotion. I found the role really interesting because this was the first bank of its kind in the West. It was also the first time in 50 years that a new bank received a banking licence. We were on a mission, pioneering something new, and it was in line with my own faith. My first exposure to the financial industry was extremely positive and I knew this was what I wanted to do.”
Malik has extensive experience in retail banking and specialising in asset products such as HPP, buy-to-let, expat, bridging finance, premier, and overseas HNW home finance. He has built, developed, and overseen direct, intermediary, business development channels, and an operations team that has originated more than £1bn of home finance. “I have learned not to try to do everything, not to try to sell every product,” Malik shared. “It is far better to focus on particular areas and make sure you are extremely good at that. So at Offa, for example, we focus on speed, modernity and high-quality service whilst also being Sharia-complaint. Now we’ve got that right, and we have many happy customers, we can start to expand into other areas.”
Key to all of this, it seems, is the finance provider’s intermediary relationships. “Offa’s relationship with brokers is extremely important,” Malik emphasised. “In fact, the majority of our business comes from them. I was an Islamic home finance adviser myself, equivalent to a mortgage adviser, so I am in a good position to give advice. I would say it’s best to make sure you are reliable, consistent and honest with customers, making sure you always follow up with them, and being aware of everything that is happening in the market. That means knowing the criteria of the different providers, building a relationship with underwriters, and getting a good reputation with them so that they trust you. If you get all of that right, then you submit better quality cases. Also, networking is hugely important. Build up relationships with estate agents, lawyers and other lead providers. Make sure you’re well known in the community so that people come to you for advice.”
He added: “Finally, it’s ideal to build your own niche. For example, most mortgage advisers don’t have permissions from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to advise on HPP but this is a great niche to build. You could be among the few brokers out there who can advise on an Islamic HPP, which is an under-served niche.”
Source: mpamag.com
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https://www.mpamag.com/uk/mortgage-types/bridging/the-challenge-of-bringing-sharia-compliant-finance-to-the-uk/542856
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It’s time, Ukraine: Kiev braces for a final reckoning
17 Jul, 2025
In our previous pieces, we examined Donald Trump’s half-hearted attempts to cast himself as a deus ex machina, descending to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Peace did not follow. Trump, boxed in by political inertia, continued Biden’s policy of disengagement while trying to dump the Ukrainian problem on Western Europe – just as we predicted back in January.
Its leaders weren’t prepared. While Macron and Starmer formed coalitions of the willing and delivered lofty speeches, Germany quietly picked up the tab. Berlin, under its new chancellor, has shown more flexibility, but the broader Western European strategy remains unchanged: keep Washington bankrolling Ukraine at all costs. That plan is now crumbling. Trump is slipping away, and without a dramatic turn of events, no new major aid packages should be expected from the US.
This is not hard to understand. Other global crises are emerging, and the depleted American arsenal cannot serve everyone at once. In both Ukraine and across Western Europe, people are adjusting to what once seemed unthinkable: a slow but steady US withdrawal. These European leaders must now decide whether to carry the burden alone or accept a settlement on Moscow’s terms – conceding Ukraine from their sphere of influence.
But neither Kiev nor its immediate sponsors is ready for serious negotiations. Why would they be? Ukraine believes it can hold without American backing. Russian oil revenues have dipped, the ruble is under pressure, and Moscow has taken hits in the Middle East and Caucasus. Perhaps, they reason, Putin will come begging in another year or two.
Let’s fight, then.
Amid this political theater, the war itself has faded into the background. For many observers, the front lines seem frozen in time – village names flicker in and out of headlines, lines shift, but the broader picture holds.
It’s a difficult situation for military analysts. They are forced to generate drama from attritional warfare. One day, headlines declare the Lugansk Peoples Republic fully liberated (a few villages remain contested). The next, we hear of Russian forces entering the Dnepropetrovsk region (true in a narrow sense – they crossed a small corner in a broader encirclement maneuver around Pokrovsk).
None of this, however, alters the core dynamic. Both sides are largely following the same strategies as a year ago. For Russia, the aim remains clear: exhaust Ukrainian forces until they can no longer defend. The goal isn’t to seize a specific line, but to break the enemy’s army.
Russia has pursued this with steady, grinding pressure. Last winter, Moscow shifted from large mechanized thrusts to small, flexible assault groups. Instead of smashing through defenses, these units infiltrate after prolonged bombardment from artillery, drones, and air power. The results aren’t flashy, but the goal is cumulative. The summer campaign began in May; we’ll see its full effect by late summer or even winter.
This mirrors the pattern of 2024, when Russian forces made their biggest gains in October and November, capturing several cities in Donetsk with minimal resistance – Novogrodovka, Ugledar, Selidovo, Kurakhovo.
The key question now is scale: can Russia turn these tactical wins into a full collapse of Ukrainian lines?
The answer depends in part on the weakened state of Ukraine’s forces. By spring, Kiev had fewer armored vehicles, fewer Western shipments, and fewer elite units. The best troops were spent in the failed Kursk push and are now stuck holding Sumy. But the gravest issue is manpower. The supply of volunteers has dried up. Ukraine’s army now relies on forced conscription – the so-called “busified.”
And the results are telling. In just the first half of this year, Ukraine recorded over 107,000 criminal cases for desertion – 20% more than in all of 2024, and nearly half of the total since the war began. That’s only the official count; the real number is undoubtedly higher.
Desertion is now the Ukrainian army’s leading cause of losses. Draft officers are hated, and civilians fear being dragged into vans and thrown to the front. Power outages have lessened, and life behind the lines is almost normal. But the threat of forced mobilization looms. In a telling detail, real soldiers now mark their cars with “not TCR” to avoid attacks from angry civilians.
So how does Ukraine still hold the line?
The answer is drones.
As we’ve reported before, the drone war is reshaping military doctrine. Both sides now operate in a battlefield dominated by constant aerial surveillance – Mavic or Matrice drones scouting every move, FPV drones striking within minutes.
In such conditions, defense holds the upper hand. Any movement in the “zero zone” or rear is dangerous. No one has yet found a reliable way to break through such defenses quickly. It’s a slow war of attrition.
While Russia refines its assault tactics, Ukraine has focused on entrenching its drone defenses. Its latest move is the introduction of “kill zones” – defensive belts 10 to 15km deep, controlled primarily by UAVs, not artillery. The idea is to neutralize Russia’s air and artillery superiority, turning Ukrainian defenses into no-go areas.
This strategy requires fewer troops. All Ukraine needs is a small, motivated core and a huge stock of drones – and in this area, they’ve seen success. Defense Express reports Ukraine’s domestic drone output has increased tenfold over the past year and may hit 2.4 million units in 2025.
But there’s a catch. For all their talk of modern warfare, Kiev still craves spectacle. What we call “military actionism” has become a political necessity. To maintain Western support and boost public morale, Ukrainian leaders pursue headline-grabbing offensives. Last year’s incursion into the Kursk region is a prime example – an operation that ultimately drained resources from the Donbass and weakened Ukraine’s main front.
If Kiev avoids such distractions this year and focuses on defense, it will strengthen its position. But that’s a big “if.”
As of mid-July, the 2025 summer campaign is in full swing. Ukraine withstood the initial May assaults, but the front is still moving. Russian strikes on rear infrastructure have intensified. The rate of Ukrainian attrition is now estimated to be three times higher than a year ago.
In the coming months, we’ll see which model prevails: Russia’s methodical offensive, or Ukraine’s drone-based defense. If the front stalls, Kiev lives to fight another year. But if Russian forces punch through, 2025 may mark the end of Ukraine as we know it.
Source: rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/russia/621632-its-time-ukraine-kiev-braces/
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Trump’s ultimatum isn’t an ultimatum – and Moscow knows it
16 Jul, 2025
US President Donald Trump has finally issued his much-anticipated “important statement” on Russia. For days, speculation swirled, particularly among pro-Ukrainian circles, that the long-awaited U-turn was coming. Trump, they hoped, would finally get tough – perhaps inspired by the increasingly hawkish rhetoric of Senator Lindsey Graham (who, incidentally, is designated a terrorist and extremist in Russia). Even skeptics began to believe that Trump was gearing up to show Moscow “Kuzka’s mother,” a famous idiomatic expression of aggression used by Nikita Khrushchev during the Cold War
But in classic Trump fashion, expectations were dashed.
The supposedly “extremely tough ultimatum” turned out to be something else entirely. Trump threatened tariff sanctions against Russia and its trading partners – but scrapped Graham’s extreme proposal of 500% duties. Instead, he floated the idea of 100% tariffs that would only take effect after 50 days, if he chooses to enforce them, and if Russia fails to strike a deal.
Trump also announced new arms deliveries to Ukraine. But these aren’t gifts – they’ll be sold, not given, and passed through European intermediaries. Supposedly, Ukraine will receive 17 Patriot systems. Yet we soon learned the first of these deliveries won’t arrive for at least two months – again, 50 days. And even now, basic questions remain unanswered.
What exactly did Trump mean by “17 Patriots”? Seventeen batteries? Launchers? Missiles?
If he meant 17 batteries, that’s simply not plausible. The US itself only operates around 30 active batteries. Germany and Israel combined don’t have anywhere near that many available systems. Such a figure would significantly boost Ukraine’s air defenses – but it’s almost certainly exaggerated.
Seventeen missiles? That would be laughable – but not unthinkable. Washington recently sent just 10 Patriot missiles in a “military aid” package so modest it wouldn’t suffice for a single battle.
Seventeen launchers? That seems more realistic. A typical battery consists of six to eight launchers, so this would amount to two or three batteries – more than what Germany and Norway have promised to purchase for Ukraine. Yet even the Pentagon can’t confirm the details. And one suspects Trump himself may be fuzzy on the specifics. His role, after all, is to make the pronouncements; others are left to clean up the mess.
The so-called “14 July ultimatum” has already become a textbook example of Trump’s diplomatic approach. In fact, a new phrase has emerged in American political slang: “Trump Always Chickens Out” or TACO. The acronym speaks for itself. It refers to the president’s habit in trade and security talks of making grandiose threats, only to backtrack or delay implementation.
This appears to be another case in point. The negotiations are at an impasse. Trump still craves a Nobel Peace Prize. And he’s reluctant to become too entangled in the Ukrainian conflict. So he’s reached for the oldest trick in his playbook: the non-ultimatum ultimatum.
This allows him to sound tough while giving Moscow space – and perhaps even time – to act. It also offers cover with his MAGA base, many of whom are frustrated by distractions like Iran or the Epstein scandal and aren’t eager to see America dragged further into Ukraine.
The genius of it, from Trump’s perspective, is that it promises everything and nothing at once. No clear strategy. No detailed demands. Just an open-ended threat backed by ambiguous timelines. It’s pressure without posture. Leverage without leadership.
What’s striking is that the White House didn’t even ask Russia to de-escalate. There were no appeals to halt the almost daily strikes on Ukraine or curb battlefield activity. In effect, Russia has been handed a 50-day window – intentionally or not – to do as it sees fit. A quiet concession to the Kremlin? Perhaps. A careless side effect? Possibly. Either way, Moscow gains.
America, too, comes out ahead – at least financially. Under the new arrangement, Western Europe picks up the tab for Ukraine’s defense, while US companies get paid to offload ageing equipment. Trump’s famed “art of the deal” may amount to little more than selling junk with a smile. But if so, he’s done it masterfully.
Still, as a political maneuver, the outcome is more uncertain. Trump may believe he’s found the sweet spot between hawks and doves, between NATO allies and nationalist critics. But trying to be all things to all people rarely ends well. Appeasement disguised as firmness satisfies no one for long.
And while Trump plays for time, Russia holds the initiative. That’s the real story here.
Source: rt.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.rt.com/news/621589-trumps-ultimatum-isnt-ultimatum/
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