Pakistan’s Hindus End Holy Sawan Month with Prayers for Their Flood-Affected ‘Brothers, Sisters’
New Age Islam News Bureau
29 August 2022
Thousands of Hindus from
all over Pakistan visit the Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir in Karachi in the month
of Sawan and Mahashivaratri (Image: Reuters)
----
• New York Court ‘Terminates’ President Joe Biden’s
Executive Order to Split Afghans Frozen Asset
• Afghan Cinemas to Reopen After 1-Yr Hiatus, Roles of
Women Actors Suppressed Under Taliban
• US-Backed Syrian Kurdish Forces Move To Halt ‘Brutal
Torture’ At ISIS Camp
• Hindutva Groups, VHP and Bajrang Dal Call For
Protest against State Govt, Police For They • Failed In Stopping Anti-Hindu
Forces in Telangana
Pakistan
• Pakistan rejects Taliban claim that US used its
airspace to kill Al Qaeda leader: Report
• Pak Court Issues Notice to Police for Booking PML-N
Leader Maryam Nawaz over ‘Contemptuous Remarks’ Against SC Judges
• Pak Journalist Booked For Misquoting Imran Khan Over
'Disrespectful' Religious Remarks
• ‘Seminaries Fortresses of Islam, Legacy of Suffa
(RA): Amir Muttahida Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith
• Pakistan monsoon flooding death toll rises to 1,061
• Relief goods for flood-hit pour in from several
countries
• More planes with relief goods from UAE, Turkiye to
reach soon: Marriyum
--------
North
America
• Israeli spy chief to meet US officials on Iran deal
• US calls for talks between Libyan rivals amid
Tripoli clashes
• US military commander praises Saudi Arabia for
security cooperation
• Saudi royal family should compensate 9/11 families,
not Afghanistan: Analyst
• US spy agency threaten Turkish businessmen over
Russia trade
--------
South
Asia
• Taliban Blames Pakistan for Allowing Its Airspace to
Be Used by US Drones
• Taliban demands return of helicopters that flew to
Central Asia before Kabul fell
• Ex-Afghan president admits blame for trusting ‘key
partner’ US
--------
Arab
World
• Iraq: How life under Islamic State impacted Mosul's
deaf community
• Saudi pilgrimage complex developer Jabal Omar
converts $1.4 bln debt to equity
• Iraq’s Sadr proposes ‘all parties’ leave government
posts
• Turkey says it ‘neutralised’ nine PKK members in
northern Iraq
• Kuwait to hold parliamentary election on September
29: Report
• UAE president orders relief aid to flood-hit
Pakistan
--------
India
• Hijab Ban Case: Supreme Court Issues Notice To
Karnataka Govt; Next Hearing On September 5
• Pakistan May Import Tomato And Onion From India Amid
Huge Surge In Vegetable Prices Due To Floods
• Hyderabad: Muslim man booked for allegedly
threatening to kill Raja Singh
--------
Southeast
Asia
• In Hadi’s Presence, Gerakan Chief Urges Respect For
All Races, Religions
• PAS’ regressive policy a threat to Malaysia, says
Kuching MP
• Malaysia's key political parties hold meetings amid
signs of imminent general election
• Indonesia's Cardinal Suharyo gets titular church in
Rome
• Bukit Aman probing Hadi over non-Muslims comment
--------
Mideast
• Hezbollah Chief Meets Hamas Officials Days after
Sit-Down With Islamic Jihad Leader
• Palestinians condemn Israeli settlers’ unprecedented
storming of al-Aqsa mosque through Lions’ Gate
• Houthis slammed for torturing abducted journalists
• Palestinian toll mounts as Israel steps up West Bank
raids
• Palestine serves as key to regional stability,
security: Iranian deputy FM
• Jordan calls for halting Israeli violations at
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa complex
• Iran Showcases New Precision-Striking Drone
• Iran Calls for Cessation of Hostilities in Libya
--------
Africa
• Libyan Defence Ministry Issues Arrest Warrant for
Parliament-Appointed Prime Minister
• Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque Seeks Synergy
among Muslim Leaders, Scholars to Enhance Quality Leadership
• Inuwa, Shehu Of Borno, Pantami Urge Muslims To “Use
Mosque To Preach Peace, Unity”
• Clashes in Libya leave 32 dead before tentative calm
• Sudanese journalists form independent union to
defend freedoms
• Military convoy linked to Libya’s Bashagha heads
toward Tripoli amid clashes
• Sudan journalists vote for new syndicate after
boycotting union for more than 3 decades
--------
Europe
• Sweden’s NATO Talks with Türkiye Strained by Party
Members Posing with PKK/YPG Flags: Foreign Minister
• Pope calls for international cooperation to help
flood-hit Pakistan
• Netherlands temporarily suspends reception of asylum
seekers from Türkiye: Justice and Security Ministry
• Türkiye calls Macron's remarks in Algeria
'unacceptable'
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/pakistan-hindus-sawan-prayers-flood/d/127829
--------
Pakistan’s Hindus End Holy Sawan Month with Prayers
for Their Flood-Affected ‘Brothers, Sisters’
Thousands of Hindus from
all over Pakistan visit the Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir in Karachi in the month
of Sawan and Mahashivaratri (Image: Reuters)
----
Naeem Sahoutara
August 29, 2022
KARACHI: Monishka Sharma wakes up at 4am in the
morning, performs ablutions, covers her head with scarf and reads her holy
book, the Bhagavad Gita. Lastly, she sings prayers and goes back to sleep. When
she wakes up later in the day, she doesn’t eat anything till dusk.
“I have been observing a 24-hour fast for the last one
month. I have observed 30 fasts during our holy fasting month of Shravan,” the
teenage girl tells Dawn.
“I break my fast at sunset with simple food. There is
no special one to break the fast. That’s it. With this meal, the fast starts
again till the evening the next day,” she explains.
“My mother and father have also observed all the 30
fasts of Shravan,” she adds smilingly.
Like Muslims, Christians and Jews, the Hindus also
have a fasting month in their religious calendar.
Shravan or Sawan Maas is the fifth month in the solar
calendar followed by the Hindus during which they observe fasts for 30 days
every year.
The religious events during the month mark the special
event of the birthday of their Supreme Lord Shiva, who, according to the Hindu
mythology, creates, protects and transforms the universe.
The religious minority community celebrated the
birthday of the Lord Shiva on 19th of this month – the core of the whole month
of fasting, praying and seclusion. And this is the month of seeking one’s
wishes fulfilled too.
“There had been some problems in my family, so I
observed the fasts with a wish to our Lord Shiva to resolve them,” says Sharma.
“I also prayed for Sukh and Shanti (peace and
prosperity) as there had been the incidents of killings of our community
members over petty issues and kidnappings of the Hindu girls,” she added.
Indirectly, the girl referred to the incidents of
forced conversion of the Hindu girls, many of her age, and torture or lynching
of the members of her community over the allegations of blasphemy.
Ms Sharma, along with her family, heads to the
historic Shri Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir in Clifton, where special puja was
being held to mark the end of the fasting month.
Her third wish is for her future. “I also prayed for
my studies,” says the Grade-VIII student,” adding: “I also want to do my own
business of computers, so I also prayed for this as well.”
Lord Shiva’s eye on sea disasters
The Hindu community believes that the third eye of the
Lord Shiva watches the sea and prevents sea disasters like floods from
happening.
It is believed that Lord Shiva used to live in this
cave, and also that Guru Nanak used to meditate there, where the Shri
Ratneshwar Mahadev temple is made.
Special puja at the end of the month was being held at
the temple, which is said to have been built around 300 years ago in a cave,
which still exists.
The staircase leads down to the cave and opens up to
the Arabian Ocean, which is why this temple has also significance since the
prayers at the sea are considered more important.
On the first floor, the special puja was held with a
big Hawan (bonfire) in the middle.
Hundreds of worshippers, mostly fasting, attend the puja,
where they break their fast as well.
Parsad is considered a sacred edible made from wheat
loaf mashed with sugar or gur and asli ghee is distributed at the end.
“This is the first or probably the second largest
temple in the metropolis,” young worshipper Ravi Waghela told Dawn, who
supervises a live streaming of the puja on Facebook.
During the puja, the temple’s priest Maharaj Ram Nath
delivered a sermon highlighting the significance of the month.
“I pray for our people, especially our youngsters, to
spend their lives according to the teachings of our religion,” the priest told
Dawn, sitting at the corner of the big bonfire.
Also, he pleads the Lord Shiva to control the gushing
water, which is causing floods and disasters across the country.
“We offered special prayers to our Lord Shiva, who
controls the sea disasters, to help our brothers and sisters affected by the
floods in our country,” the priest told Dawn.
In the cave, the worshippers pour milk on the
Shivling.
Hours-long puja comes to an end with the distribution
of Bhandara (free food) among the worshippers so that they can break their
day-long fast.
Sharma and hundreds of other worshippers leave for
their homes, content that their Lord Shiva has taken up all their worries and
threats of any disasters in the future.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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New York Court ‘Terminates’ President Joe Biden’s
Executive Order to Split Afghans Frozen Asset
A man rides a bike in
front of the Da Afghanistan Bank in Kabul, Afghanistan October 8, 2021.
REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo
-----
By Arif Ahmadi
29 Aug 2022
KABUL, Afghanistan – A New York court has denied the
request to compensate 9/11 victim families from Afghanistan’s frozen foreign
reserves, terminating President Joe Biden’s executive order to split the $7
billion in Afghan asset between poverty-stricken Afghanistan and families of
9/11 victim.
The decision came a week after at least 77 family
members of victims of 9/11 in a letter to United States President Joe Biden
wrote “the Afghanistan central bank funds currently being kept in New York
belong to the Afghan people,” urging the court to reconsider the case.
United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn made the
recommendation that still is under review for a final decision. The court
letter was tweeted by the Chargé d’Affaires of Afghanistan’s Permanent Mission
to the United Nation Naseer Ahmad Faiq.
“The Taliban’s victims have fought for years for
justice, accountability and compensation. They are entitled to no less,” the
posted letter said. “But the law limits what compensation the court may
authorize, and those limits put the DAB’s assets beyond its authority.”
“The court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the
turnover motion because the Judgment Creditors have not overcome DAB’s immunity
from jurisdiction,” the letter elaborated. “And even if they had, the Court
cannot find that DAB is an agency or instrumentality of the Taliban under TRIA
§ 201 without infringing on the President’s constitutional recognition
prerogative.”
Fair said they coordinated with some government and
non-government organizations to maintain the Afghan assets, as the court has
given a 14-day period for the opposition to register their complaints should
they have any.
“The decision denied the mentioned claim and appeal of
the 9/11 victims based on legal rights,” he said, as TOLOnews quoted. “The
other side had been given a 14-day period of time to register their complaints
in case they oppose this decision.”
Meanwhile, Islamic Emirate leadership welcomed the
court’s decision, saying Afghans were not involved in 9/11 attack and that they
will be benefiting the asset as it should be.
“We welcome this. It is a good step. It is obvious
that the Afghans were not involved in the 9/11 attack. The assets which are
frozen now will hopefully be released,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for
the Islamic Emirate.
Netburn’s recommendation will be reviewed by US
District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan, who also oversees the litigation
and can decide whether to accept her recommendation, said Reuters.
In February, President Biden signed an executive order
to free $7 billion in Afghan assets now frozen in the US, splitting the money
between humanitarian aid for poverty-stricken Afghanistan and a fund for
families of 9/11 victims still seeking relief for the attacks that killed
thousands.
The US State Department spokesman Ned Price at a recent
press conference said that $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves were
preserved for the benefit of the Afghan people, seeking a mechanism that will
ensure transparency throughout the process.
“What we are focused on right now are the ongoing
efforts to enable those funds, the $3.5 billion in licensed Afghan central bank
reserves, to be used for the benefit of the Afghan people,” Price told the
press conference.
“And we’re seeking to find the best mechanism to
ensure that those funds can go to the Afghan people in a way that doesn’t risk
their diversion from the Taliban or other forces, including to potentially
terrorist groups or terrorist actors.”
Da Afghanistan Bank (also known as the Afghan central
bank) funds have been frozen in thirteen banks and eight countries since the
collapse of former government, paralyzing its operations that regulate all
banking and money handling in Afghanistan.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.khaama.com/court-terminates-executive-order-to-split-afghans-frozen-asset/
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Afghan Cinemas To Reopen After 1-Yr Hiatus, Roles Of
Women Actors Suppressed Under Taliban
Representative Image
-----
28 August, 2022
Kabul [Afghanistan], August 28 (ANI): After a hiatus
of one year since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul last August, Cinemas in the
country are all set to screen movies however the roles for women artists were
severely limited, media reports said.
While many are rejoicing the reopening of Afghan
cinemas after a year of being closed others are voicing grave concerns about
the violation of women’s rights in the process.
37 movies and documentaries are lined up to be
screened but it must be noted that Atifa Mohammadi is the only women actor who
played a role in one of these recently-made movies, reported Khaama Press.
The actors in the movies are happy about the reopening
of cinemas and they said they had to provide funds for the films to be made.
“After one year, the doors of the cinema have been reopened. We are happy,”
said Abdul Sabor Khinji, an artist.
‘We have spent from our own pocket money on the
movies. We were happy just to do our work,” said another artist Fayaz Iftikhar,
as per the media portal.
Zahra Murtazawi, a resident of Kabul while giving out
an important message said, “Women should not be prohibited in this field
because this is the right of women. I don’t think a movie would sound good
without the presence of women.”
When the Taliban announced last month that women and
girls should not leave their homes unless necessary and should do so only with
their whole bodies including their faces covered, only a few were surprised.
Others, who lived through the last period of Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001,
were not.
They abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and
replaced it with the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which issued the most recent
order. The outlawed Taliban also banned secondary education for girls and
banned women from almost all jobs.
The group also dismantled the system to protect women
and girls from violence and made it difficult for them to get health care. They
issued new rules for how women must dress and behave while enforcing these rules
through violence.
The list of Taliban violations of the rights of women
and girls is long and growing, said Heather Barr, Women’s Rights Division at
Human Rights Watch (HRW), as she raised growing concerns about the violation of
the rights in the country.
She said Afghan women’s rights activists warned all
along that the Taliban’s promises to respect women’s rights were false. Afghan
rights activists warned in the days after the Taliban took the capital, Kabul,
on August 15, 2021, that the group would intensify its crackdown on women.
(ANI)
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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US-Backed Syrian Kurdish Forces Move To Halt ‘Brutal
Torture’ At ISIS Camp
DELIL SOULEIMAN /
AFPKurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State
fighters, in the northern Raqqa region of Syria, September 14, 2021.
----
28 August, 2022
US-backed Syrian Kurdish security forces have launched
a new operation targeting ISIS sleeper cells in a large northeastern detention
camp where violence has reached record levels.
At least 44 people including 14 women have been killed
this year in the al-Hol camp, which holds internal refugees and families of
suspected ISIS fighters.
“We launched the campaign at this time because of the
urgent need brought on by the escalation and increase in violent cases by IS
cells in al-Hol camp,” said Ali Hassan, a spokesperson for the internal
security forces operating in Syria’s semi-autonomous northeast.
He told Reuters the victims showed signs of “brutal torture,”
were often killed with silenced pistols or rifles and their bodies hidden in
sewage pipes.
“Compared to last year, there is an increase in the
pace of operations within the camp, especially during and after the attempted
prison break,” Hassan said.
He was referring to a January riot in a northeast
Syrian prison, where ISIS suspects attempting a jailbreak took over part of the
detention facility and dozens escaped.
Hassan said perpetrators of the violence in al-Hol
likely had contact with ISIS units still roaming free.
Al-Hol houses around 55,000 people, including Syrians,
Iraqis and other nationals who fled ISIS-held areas as the extremists faced an
onslaught by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
The UN refugee agency in June described the situation
at the camp as “catastrophic” saying that an additional “safe space” should be
created to protect women and girls from attacks.
The agency said humanitarian organizations had had
their facilities vandalized and equipment looted and that repeated lockdowns
due to security incidents in the camp meant aid workers had reduced access to
people in need.
Source: Al Arabiya
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original story:
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Hindutva Groups, VHP and Bajrang Dal Call For Protest
against State Govt, Police For They Failed In Stopping Anti-Hindu Forces in
Telangana
Representative Image
-----
28th August 2022
Hyderabad: Hindutva groups – Bajrang Dal and the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) – have called for a statewide protest on Monday, in
Koti at 10 am. They alleged that the state government, as well as the state
police, failed completely in stopping anti-Hindu forces.
The Hindutva groups referred to the recent protests by
the Muslim community demanding the arrest of suspended BJP MLA T Raja Singh for
making a controversial video where insensitive comments on Prophet Muhammed
were made.
T Raja was arrested by the Telangana police under the
PD Act (Preventive Detention Act) on August 26 after days of protests by
Muslims in the city.
In a statement released on Sunday, they blamed the
police for remaining “unresponsive” and alleged that Muslims were provoked to
harass the Hindus.
“A conspiracy is afoot to engulf the peaceful
Bhagyanagara with riots. This is completely denied by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (VHP),” the statement said.
They demanded action against MP Assauddin Owaisi, who
according to the right-wing groups, ‘took away about 100 criminals from the
police stations in the Old City.’ They also demanded the arrest of Congress leaders
Rashid Khan and Feroze Khan for their statements made during the unrest.
“IT minister K T Rama Rao should be stripped off from
his ministerial position as he allowed the ‘Hindu traitor’ Munawar Faruqui to
perform in Bhagyanagar before Vinayak Navratri,” the statement said.
“Let’s not forget that we are all Hindus. Tomorrow the
whole state should know what is our capacity. These governments should know
that if we are Hindus we can do anything. If you are a Hindu, participate in
tomorrow’s program and protect your dharma,” the statement concluded.
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.siasat.com/telangana-bajrang-dal-vhp-call-for-statewide-protest-on-monday-2400260/
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Pakistan
Pakistan rejects Taliban claim that US used its
airspace to kill Al Qaeda leader: Report
Aug 29, 2022
Pakistan has rejected the Taliban's claims about
Islamabad's airspace being used for the US strike that killed Al Qaeda leader
Ayman al-Zawahiri in July.
The reaction comes after the Taliban blamed the
Pakistani government for allowing its airspace to be used by US drones.
Acting Defence Minister of Afghanistan, Mullah Yaqoub,
on Sunday said that illegitimate use of drones to patrol Afghanistan's airspace
is a transgression of the country's borders.
The statement was made during a press conference held
on Sunday noon by Mullah Yaqoub and the Chief of Staff of the Taliban's
military forces, Khaama Press reported.
"Our information shows that they (US drones) are
entering into Afghanistan from Pakistan, using the airspace of Pakistan,"
Mujahid told reporters when asked where the drones were coming from, as per
Dawn newspaper.
During the Press Conference, the Taliban's acting
Defence Minister strongly claimed that US used Pakistan's airspace as a medium
to enter and attack Afghanistan.
Previously, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was
killed in a CIA drone attack in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, according to US
President Joe Biden, who broke the news in a live broadcast.
According to the US, two Hellfire missiles fired from
a drone killed the al-Qaeda chief while causing little damage elsewhere, preventing
non-combatant fatalities.
The Taliban's acting Defense Minister's remarks come
at a point of time when the terror group has mediated peace talks between the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), aka Pakistani Taliban, and the government of
Pakistan.
TTP, popularly known as Pakistan Taliban, recently set
alarm bells ringing in Islamabad after the outlawed group reappeared in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa's Swat valley.
Taliban militants reportedly had occupied hilltops of
Swat district's Matta subdivision a few months ago, creating panic in several
neighbouring districts.
The Taliban's unexpected appearance led to anger among
the people and caused damage to tourism as the day Taliban were reported to
have arrived in the valley.
Talks between the two sides began in October 2021 to
seek a political solution to the issue. The talks that were held at the request
of the Afghan Taliban led to a one-month ceasefire in November. However, the
truce could not last long as differences emerged soon.
The ongoing peace talks between the TTP and Pakistan
government reached a stalemate as the outlawed group refused to give in on its
demand for the reversal of the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered
Tribal Areas (FATA) with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Source: Hindustan Time
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of the original story:
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Pak court issues notice to police for booking PML-N
leader Maryam Nawaz over ‘contemptuous remarks’ against SC judges
28 August, 2022
Lahore [Pakistan], August 28 (ANI): A Pakistan Court
on Saturday issued notice to the police on a petition seeking registration of a
case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz
for allegedly using contemptuous language against the Supreme Court judges.
Lahore Session court sought a reply from the police
after Mohammad Nawaz, a citizen, filed a petition asking the court to order the
police to register a case against the PML-N leader for scandalising the
institution of the judiciary, Dawn reported.
In the petition, filed through Advocate Umair Saeed
Butt the petitioner claimed that the PML-N leader had held press conferences
against SC judges on July 25 and 28.
He alleged that the respondent used contemptuous
language against the judges, which amounted to ridiculing the judiciary.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Liaqat Ali
Ranjha sought a reply from the police on the petition by September 3.
Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court denied the police
physical remand of two PML-N workers in a 2020 case of attacking a police team
outside the office of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) when Nawaz
appeared in an inquiry into a matter pertaining to the land allotment, Dawn
reported.
A clash broke out between law-enforcement agencies and
the PML-N party workers outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office
in August 2020 after Maryam Nawaz reached the NAB office in a case pertaining
to the illegal transfer of 180 acres of land in Raiwind.
Activists in the PML-N caravan pelted stones at
police, who responded by using batons, water cannons, and tear gas on the
rioters.
After the clash, Maryam Nawaz and nearly 60 PML-N
workers were booked for attacking the NAB office in Lahore and torturing NAB
officials.
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Pak journalist booked for misquoting Imran Khan over
'disrespectful' religious remarks
Aug 29, 2022
A Pakistani journalist was booked for allegedly
attributing "disrespectful" statements about Islam to former Prime
Minister Imran Khan, according to local media.
Rawalpindi police have registered a case against
journalist Waqar Satti at RA Bazar police station on Saturday, Dawn newspaper
reported on Sunday.
The case was registered on the complaint of a cable
operator, Chaudhry Nasir Qayyum, under Sections 295-A and 500 of the Pakistan
Penal Code.
According to the first information report (FIR) cited
by Dawn, the complainant told the police that while he was at his office on
August 24, he came across a tweet in which a man, identified as Waqar Satti,
explained why he "hates" Imran and reasons of him going against the
former prime minister.
FIR mentioned statements that, according to the
complainant, "disrespected" Islam.
"Imran Khan has not mentioned any such words
mentioned in Waqar Satti's tweet -- in any of his speeches," the FIR
quoted the complainant as saying.
He added that Satti's actions had hurt his religious
sentiments, "as well as that of thousands of other Muslims".
In Pakistan, freedom of the press continues to
deteriorate, a senior journalist was shot dead by unidentified assailants on
Saturday.
The incident took place in the Toba Tek Singh province
of Pakistan's Punjab when the deceased journalist, Muhammad Younis was on his
way to his farmland at Mouza Manganwala on his motorcycle when two men hiding
in a field opened gunfire, according to Dawn.
The shooting incident left the journalist dead on the
spot and the attackers then fled the scene.
Taking notice of the brutal murder, the Punjab
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Faisal Shahkar has sought a report from
Faisalabad Regional Police Officer (RPO) Babar Sarfraz Alpa.
Moreover, Jhang District Police Officer (DPO) Rashid
Hidayat ordered the immediate arrest of the journalist's killers, constituting
a team consisting of Shorkot deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and other
expert officers to probe the incident, Dawn reported.
The curb on media freedom in Pakistan has highlighted
that media freedom has been under serious question in the South-Asian country.
The everyday hardships faced by journalists who risk
their lives in mostly low-paid jobs to fulfil a critical role in Pakistan
continue to be subjected to incessant violence and abductions.
Media workers, both field reporters and desk staff are
increasingly experiencing either harassment or financial hardship or both. They
are being threatened, silenced and squeezed. Be it a prime-time TV anchor or a
beat reporter, the threats exist for everyone.
Even media group owners are not immune to such
harassment.
Notably, Pakistan has been ranked the fifth most
dangerous place for the practice of journalism, according to the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Source: Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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‘Seminaries
Fortresses of Islam, Legacy of Suffa (RA): Amir Muttahida Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith
August
29, 2022
LAHORE:
President of Minhajul Quran International (MQI) and Minhaj University Lahore
BoG deputy chairman, Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that religious
seminaries are the fortress of Islam and the protectors and inheritors of the
scholarly legacy of Suffa (RA), a sheltered raised platform set up by the Holy Prophet
(PBUH).
Speaking
on the occasion, Syed Ziaullah Shah Bokhari, Amir Mutthidda Jamiat
Ahl-e-Hadith, said if we make Seerat-un-Nabi (PBUH) our practical role model,
we will be rid of all the social and moral scourges that have bedeviled our
lives. Syed Tahir Raza Bokhari, Director Aukaf Punjab, thanked Shaykh-ul-Islam
Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri for including Seerat-ur-Rasool (PBUH) as a proper
subject in the syllabi of Nizam-ul-Madaris Pakistan.
Jamaat-i-Islami
senior leader Dr Farid Paracha said that there is great desire and thirst for
modern religious education. He said that we are thankful to Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri
who quenched this scholarly thirst by including Seerat-un-Nabi (PBUH) in the
curriculum of Nizam-ul-Madris Pakistan as a proper subject. Allama Toquir Abbas
said that the combination of modern and religious education in the syllabi of
Nizam-ul-Madaris Pakistan is its unique feature. General Secretary
Nizam-ul-Madaris Pakistan Allama Mir Asif Akbar said that such a feat was
achieved after 300 years.
Source:
The News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/986381-seminaries-fortresses-of-islam-legacy-of-suffa
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Pakistan
monsoon flooding death toll rises to 1,061
Aug
29, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The death toll from monsoon flooding in Pakistan since June has reached 1,061,
according to figures released Monday by the country's National Disaster
Management Authority.
It
said 28 people had died in the previous 24 hours, but authorities were still
trying to reach cut-off villages in the mountainous north.
The
annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams
across the Indian subcontinent, but each year it also brings a wave of
destruction.
Officials
say this year's monsoon flooding has affected more than 33 million people - one
in seven Pakistanis - destroying or badly damaging nearly a million homes.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Relief
goods for flood-hit pour in from several countries
Amin
Ahmed | Syed Irfan Raza
August
29, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Humanitarian assistance and solidarity messages from different parts of the
world continued to pour in, with Canada, France, Qatar, the UAE, Turkiye and
Azerbaijan among the leading countries to pledge support in response to
Pakistan’s call for help in the wake of devastation caused by flood.
Also,
Pope Francis during his visit to the city of L’Aquila in central Italy on
Sunday called on the international community to help Pakistan and said he was
praying for the victims, AFP reported.
The
Canadian government allocated $20,000 to the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies for flood relief operations in Pakistan,
Canada’s International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement
on Saturday.
Canada
is also a donor to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF),
which has allocated $3 million for flood response.
Canada
allocates $20,000; Turkish Red Crescent, Qatar Charity begin operation; first
flight from UAE carrying over 3,000 tonnes of relief goods arrives
Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement the country was providing
support through UNCERF to provide food, clean water and other essential
services as quickly as possible. Mr Trudeau said he was thinking of “everyone
affected by the devastating flooding in Pakistan”.
Pakistan
High Commissioner to Canada Ambassador Zaheer Janjua thanked the Canadian prime
minister and its citizens for the live-saving efforts in Pakistan.
Canadian
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly described the images of floods in Pakistan as
“absolutely heart-breaking” and said her country remained “deeply concerned
about the situation and will continue to support the people of Pakistan”.
Pakistani-Canadian
Member of Parliament Salma Zahid said in a statement the situation in Pakistan
was dire. “I am reaching out to our ministers to urge them to send Canadian
relief to help the people of Pakistan in this state of emergency,” she said.
Qatar
Charity
Meanwhile,
Qatar Charity, a humanitarian and development non-governmental organisation,
has delivered urgent relief aid to flood-affected Afghan refugees and the
underprivileged members of the host community in Balochistan, in collaboration
with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The aid benefited
more than 9,000 Afghan refugees and individuals from the host community.
Assistance
from Turkiye
On
Sunday, the first Turkish plane with relief goods for flood victims landed at
around 8pm on Sunday. Another plane from Turkiye also landed in Karachi some
two hours later with 14 tonnes of relief goods.
Similarly,
the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS), in collaboration with the PRCS, is
providing cash assistance of Rs16,000 and 300 hygiene kits, 600 jerry cans, and
1,500 mosquito nets to 300 families in Jafferabad.
Moreover,
100 tents and 1,000 blankets will be sent by air cargo along with humanitarian
aid by the Ministry of Interior, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency
of Turkiye.
French
President
France
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Sunday offered condolences on the
devastation caused by floods in Pakistan and also offered assistance during a
telephone call with her counterpart Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
According
to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, FM Bhutto-Zardari thanked Ms
Colonna for “France’s expression of solidarity and offer of assistance to
Pakistani people in this hour of need”. The FO said that the foreign minister
briefed his French counterpart on the widespread destruction caused by
unprecedented floods across the country.
He
also informed that the floods have caused extensive loss of human lives,
livelihoods, livestock, crops, and infrastructure and that the situation was
likely to deteriorate further as heavy rains continued to batter areas already
inundated by more than two months of rainfall.
The
minister apprised the French foreign minister of the government’s humanitarian
response, including establishing a relief fund. Mr Bhutto-Zardari shared that a
“UN Flash Appeal” would be launched on August 30, 2022 and expressed the hope
that the international community would contribute towards meeting the funding
requirements of the appeal.
On
his Twitter handle, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed solidarity with
flood victims of Pakistan and said his country was ready to help Pakistan.
“Our
thoughts go out to the Pakistani people facing terrible floods, to the families
of the countless people missing and to the populations affected. France stands
ready to provide help,” he posted.
UAE
relief goods arrive
The
first flight from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), carrying over 3,000 tonnes of
relief goods arrived at the PAF Base Nur Khan on Sunday. At least 15 planeloads
of relief goods from the UAE would land in the country in the coming days.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1707317/relief-goods-for-flood-hit-pour-in-from-several-countries
--------
More
planes with relief goods from UAE, Turkiye to reach soon: Marriyum
August
28, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said
fifteen more planeloads of relief goods from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
would arrive in Pakistan in the coming days.
She,
in a series of tweets, said the first consignment of relief goods from the UAE
would arrive at Nur Khan Airbase on Sunday. Marriyum said the first consignment
from UAE for flood affectees is being sent on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s
appeal to the UAE authorities in the wake of sever flood in the country.
The
relief goods included tents, food, medicine and other items, she added.
Two
aircrafts with relief goods from Turkiye arrive today
Minister
for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said that two aircrafts
from Turkiye carrying relief goods would arrive in Karachi on Monday (today).
“The Consul General of Turkiye in Karachi will hand over the relief goods to
the Pakistani authorities at the airport,” she said in a series of tweets on
Sunday.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
North
America
Israeli
spy chief to meet US officials on Iran deal
28 August,
2022
The
head of Israel's Mossad spy agency will visit the US in early September for
talks on the possible revival of the Iran nuclear deal, an official said
Sunday.
The
announced visit is the latest in the Jewish state's push to sway Western powers
from a deal to return to the landmark 2015 deal with Tehran.
Israel
says a deal would facilitate the funding of Iran-supported militants, while not
preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon -- a goal Iran has always
denied.
Mossad
chief David Barnea will “be visiting Washington in a week to participate in closed
door meetings in Congress on the Iran deal,” a senior Israeli official told AFP
on condition of anonymity, without providing further details.
Earlier
Sunday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that Israel's “diplomatic fight” against
the deal included its national security advisor and defence minister holding
recent meetings in the US.
“We
are making a concerted effort to ensure the Americans and Europeans understand
the dangers involved in this agreement,” Lapid said, stressing what was signed
in 2015 was “not a good deal,” and that the one currently being formulated
entails “greater dangers.”
In
2018, then-US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement
designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
His
successor Joe Biden has sought to return to the deal, and after almost a
year-and-a-half of talks, recent progress has put the Jewish state on edge.
According
to Lapid, a new agreement would have to include an expiration date, and tighter
supervision that would also “address Iran's ballistic missile program and its
involvement in terrorism throughout the Middle East.”
“We
can reach such an agreement if a credible military threat is put on the table,
if the Iranians realise that their defiance and deceit will exact a heavy price,”
Lapid said, adding that the army and Mossad had “received instructions from us
to prepare for any scenario”.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US
calls for talks between Libyan rivals amid Tripoli clashes
28.08.2022
The
United States has called for an immediate cease-fire between conflicting
parties in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and to engage in talks facilitated by
the UN.
In
a statement, US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland condemned the "surge in
violence in Tripoli."
Norland
called for allowing "humanitarian corridors to evacuate casualties and
civilians caught in crossfire," and to put an end to the violence in
Tripoli "before things get even worse."
"All
Libyan leadership figures have an urgent role to play in this process and we
call on them at this time to put the interests of the Libyan people
first," he said.
At
least 32 people were killed and dozens injured in clashes between rival
militias in several districts in Tripoli.
The
situation calmed in the capital on Sunday, one day after heavy clashes between
forces backing Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and forces loyal to his rival
Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed by the Tobruk-based parliament as a prime
minister.
The
violence, the worst since reaching a cease-fire in 2020, came amid military
buildups by forces affiliated with Dbeibeh and Bashagha, as both figures claim
power and authority in the capital.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US
military commander praises Saudi Arabia for security cooperation
RAY
HANANIA
August
28, 2022
CHICAGO:
The newly appointed commander of US military forces in southwest Asia on Sunday
praised Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the support they provided in the fight against
Daesh, Iran, and international terrorism.
Lt.
Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, commander of the Combined Forces Air Component and
US Central Command, Southwest Asia, also said the US continued to maintain its
military readiness and strength in the wake of providing more than $5.3 billion
in military support to defend Ukraine.
The
southwest Asia region includes most of the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, and
North Africa, and Grynkewich emphasized that the US worked in close cooperation
with all of its southwest Asia partners in deterring Iran, maintaining regional
security, and countering violent extremists.
“I
just returned from Saudi Arabia where I met with Lt. General Turki (bin Bandar
Al Saud), the air chief. I spent some time at our base just outside of Riyadh.
We looked at ways we could enhance our cooperation across the board with shared
exercises, shared intelligence, shared information,” he told a media briefing.
“The
Kingdom remains one of our most important regional partners. So, General Turki
and I agreed we will continue to push the bounds of the cooperation that we
have in the defense of the Kingdom and the defense of US forces that operate
here in the region.”
Grynkewich
also said the US relationship with Saudi Arabia was “a really solid relationship”
with very clear guidance and support from President Joe Biden.
“We
are committed to this partnership. We are committed to regional stability,
whether that means deterring Iran, countering violent extremist organizations,
or ensuring that we can compete with our competitors on a global scale.
“This
area is critical to global security, and I could not be more proud to be
serving here alongside the other men and women from so many different nations
in doing what small bit we can to contribute to that.”
Grynkewich
responded to a question from Arab News about the impact of US military support
of Ukraine on all of the military regions, including southwest Asia, saying it
had not reduced US resources in the region or security efforts.
“We
have adequate forces in the region to defend ourselves as required. There has
been an intentional decision to maintain those sufficient forces here.
“That's
because we know again that threats from violent extremists, and the
destabilizing activity we see from Iran, and the need to continue to work with
our partners in the region doesn't go away just because there is something else
going on or something very important going on in another area. We have
sufficient forces here for all the tasks we have been given. The overall posture
has not been affected by things going on elsewhere, just because the entire
United States government recognizes the importance of the region.”
Grynkewich
said recent US airstrikes in Syria, following rocket attacks that injured
several US soldiers, were “disconnected” from other events, including Israel's
recent strike against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces in Syria or the
continuing negotiations with Iran over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
in Vienna.
“We
of course maintain a tight relationship with all of our partners in the region.
The actions that CENTCOM and AFCENT took for self-defense are entirely
disconnected from any other actors, whether it be the Israelis or anyone else,
and purely based on self-defense. We are certainly aware of the reports that
you are referring to but no connection between those and the actions we took.”
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2152081/world
--------
Saudi
royal family should compensate 9/11 families, not Afghanistan: Analyst
28
August 2022
Real
accomplices, such as the Saudi royal family, ought to compensate the victims’
families of the September 11, 2001 attacks, not Afghanistan, according to an
American political analyst and activist.
A
US judge on Friday ruled that the victims’ families should not be allowed to
seize billions of dollars of Afghanistan's central bank assets to satisfy court
judgments against the Taliban.
US
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan stated that Da Afghanistan Bank
(DAB) was immune from jurisdiction and that allowing the seizures would
effectively endorse the militant group as the Afghan government, a call that
can only be made by the US president, local news outlets reported.
"The
Taliban's victims have fought for years for justice, accountability and
compensation. They are entitled to no less," Netburn wrote. "But the
law limits what compensation the court may authorize, and those limits put the
DAB's assets beyond its authority."
Netburn's
recommendation is to be reviewed by US District Judge George Daniels in
Manhattan, who also oversees the litigation and can overturn her
recommendation.
The
ruling marks a defeat for four groups of creditors that waged legal action
against a variety of defendants, including the al-Qaeda terrorist group that
they hold responsible for the September 11 attacks, and obtained default
judgments after the alleged defendants failed to show up in court.
In
an interview with Press TV on Sunday, Myles Hoenig, a former Green Party
candidate for Congress, asked, “So did the courts argue that holding the banks
accountable for 911 legitimizes the Taliban government or that the Taliban
government was responsible in part for 911?”
“No
country recognizes the Afghan government, yet the Taliban government before
9/11 was wined and dined in halls of DC’s elite. The only thing that has
changed in 20 years is, like all other empires, the US got its butt kicked
while trying to occupy it. I would never argue that we should have normal
relations with the Taliban. They are a misogynistic, conservative, intolerant
government. But so many other countries are as well, and countries that the US
has strong, cordial relationships, such as Saudi Arabia. Recognizing a
government should not be the equivalent of approving of it,” he said.
“The
other question is how much should we hold the Taliban accountable for 911?
Should relations with the US be suspended by other countries because the US
does not recognize the KKK as a terrorist group? Or that so many in law
enforcement are its members? Other countries should take a hard look at who
does what in the US and perhaps even have an effect on its relationships, but
the US has enormous military and economic powers to prevent a real
re-evaluation. Enough has been documented that the Taliban was willing to give
up Osama bin Laden, but the US government under George W. Bush rejected all
approaches. War with Afghanistan was inevitable, and encouraged,” he
added.
“The
US has placed sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine. And for the US and
those who support the military-industrial complex (MIC), Putin is the 21st
century Hitler. Yet relations with Russia remain intact. It all depends on
whose ox is being gored. So far more than 14000 Russian Ukrainians have been
killed by the Ukrainian government in Eastern Ukraine but instead of condemning
this, the US and its NATO allies continue to arm the murderers,” he noted.
“The
victims’ families of 9/11 should be compensated, but by the perpetrators and
their willing accomplices, such as the Saudi royal family,” he concluded.
Families
of victims of the attacks have for years pushed the US government to declassify
and make public more information about 9/11, which was a series of strikes that
killed nearly 3,000 people and caused about $10 billion worth of property and
infrastructure damage in the United States.
US
officials assert that the attacks were carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists
but many experts and independent researchers have raised questions about the
official account.
They
believe that rogue elements within the US government, such as former Vice
President Dick Cheney, orchestrated or at least encouraged the 9/11 attacks in order
to accelerate the US war machine and advance the Zionist agenda.
Certain
documents related to the FBI's investigation of 9/11 reportedly contain
evidence of Saudi involvement in the strikes.
Successive
US administrations have refused to release the classified documents because
they reportedly could expose a potential link between Saudi Arabia and the 9/11
attacks. Fifteen out of 19 alleged 9/11 attackers were Saudi nationals.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US
spy agency threaten Turkish businessmen over Russia trade
28
August 2022
Local
offices of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Turkey have “openly”
threatened Turkish businessmen for trading with Russia while snooping into
their real estate deals over concerns about possible evasion of US-led
sanctions against Moscow, local news outlets reported.
CIA’s
Turkey station chief has allegedly contacted high-ranking construction-company
employees in the country, inquiring about transactions and other confidential
details of recent real-estate purchases involving Russian entities or
individuals, local daily Yeni Safak reported Friday, citing business sources.
According
to the report, the senior CIA officer questioned local businessmen under the
guise of monitoring the US-imposed anti-Russia sanctions, expressing particular
interest in learning about the exact number of “houses sold to Russians,” the
channels and currency, as well as the form of payment used in the transactions.
Another
instance of what the Turkish media outlets have slammed as “interference” in
[internal] affairs outside the authority of US government agents, was a letter
reportedly sent on August 22 to the Turkish Industry and Business Association
(TUSIAD) by US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, threatening to impose
sanctions on members involved in conducting business with Russia.
TUSIAD
confirmed receiving Adeyemo’s letter in a press release published on Tuesday
without revealing its content, noting that it had shared it with Ankara’s
foreign and finance ministries.
“Any
individuals or entities providing material support to US-designated persons are
themselves at risk of US sanctions,” Adeyemo wrote in his letter, as its
contents were first reported by The Wall Street Journal last week.
“Turkish
banks cannot expect to establish corresponding relationships with sanctioned
Russian banks and retain their corresponding relationships with major global
banks as well as access to the US dollar and other major currencies,” he added.
Since
Russia began an ongoing military operation in neighboring Ukraine on February
24, the US and its European allies imposed rafts of sanctions against Moscow,
warning other countries against doing business with Russia’s sanctioned
companies and individuals.
Turkey,
despite being a member to the US-led NATO, maintains good relations with Russia
even after the onset of the operation, enraging Washington, which remains
increasingly alarmed that Moscow and Russian businesses are allegedly using
Turkey to evade Western financial and trading restrictions against the Kremlin.
Earlier
this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin reached an agreement to boost economic cooperation at a summit
in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
According
to official figures, the value of Turkish exports to Russia between May and
July climbed by nearly 50 percent from last year’s figure.
Turkey
has doubled its imports of Russian oil this year as Russia pivots away from
Europe. Ankara and Moscow have also agreed to transition to ruble payments for
the natural gas exported by the Kremlin-tied giant Gazprom.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
South
Asia
Taliban
Blames Pakistan for Allowing Its Airspace to Be Used by US Drones
By
Saqalain Eqbal
28
Aug 2022
The
Taliban’s acting Defense Minister said on Sunday that Pakistan had allowed its
airspace to be used by US drones to enter and attack Afghanistan, a claim
Pakistan has since refuted in the wake of an airstrike by the US in Kabul, the
Afghan capital.
Before
noon on Sunday, August 28, Mullah Yaqoub and the Chief of Staff of the
Taliban’s military forces held a press conference during which the Defense
official claimed that US drones were using Pakistan’s territory and airspace to
attack Afghanistan.
He
emphasized that the use of drones to patrol Afghanistan’s airspace is a clear
transgression of the country’s borders.
“We
[the Taliban] ask Pakistan, don’t use your airspace against us,” Mullah Yaqoub
said.
Pakistani
officials, on the other hand, have denied any involvement in or knowledge of a
July drone operation in Kabul that the US claimed killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman
al-Zawahiri.
Previously,
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was purportedly killed in a CIA drone attack
in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, according to US President Joe Biden, who broke
the news in a live broadcast.
The
US stated that two Hellfire missiles fired from a drone killed the al-Qaeda
chief while causing little damage elsewhere, preventing non-combatant
fatalities.
Source:
Khaama Press
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--------
Taliban
demands return of helicopters that flew to Central Asia before Kabul fell
28
August, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], August 28 (ANI): Claiming that the helicopters, which had been
transferred to Central Asian nations following the fall of Kabul last year,
belong to Afghanistan, in a renewed call, Taliban on Sunday asked for their
return.
Afghan
air force personnel flew almost 50 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to
Uzbekistan in mid-August as former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the
country and Taliban forces overran the capital, Kabul. Several more aircraft
and Black Hawk helicopters were taken to neighbouring Tajikistan to prevent
them from falling into Taliban hands.
At
a press conference in Kabul, Taliban appointed Defense Minister Mawlawi
Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid once again asked for these helicopters. Mohammad Yaqoob
Mujahid emphasized that these helicopters are the property of the Afghans, and
that efforts are being made to bring them back to the country, reported Tolo
News.
“They
say that the issue is that the Americans don’t let us transfer these
helicopters back to Afghanistan. We have spoken with Americans about it and informed
them that they belong to the nation, and it is Afghanistan’s right, not someone
else’s personal property. As a result, it ought to be returned to Afghanistan,”
the Talibani leader said.
Meanwhile,
the US announced that it would not provide the Islamic Emirate with any
military aircraft from the previous administration. Additionally, a Russian
official has raised concern that the helicopters may have been transported to
Ukraine.
“Under
no circumstances can these countries, whether Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, hand
over the helicopters to the Taliban. An international guarantee has not been
granted,” said Fahim Kohdamani, former diplomat.
Sadiq
Shinwari, a political analyst said, “The mentioned helicopters should be
unconditionally returned to Afghanistan in accordance with international
rules.”
As
per another statistic quoted by the media outlet, during the collapse of the
country, more than 60 military helicopters of the prior government were
transported to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Source:
The Print
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of the original story:
--------
Ex-Afghan
president admits blame for trusting ‘key partner’ US
27
August 2022
Former
Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has accepted “shared” responsibility for the fall
of the country into Taliban hands, blaming himself for trusting the US which
negotiated a deal with the militant group that brought about his ouster.
“One
has to take responsibility for trusting a partner that then trampled our
sovereignty and imposed the release of 5,000 [Taliban] prisoners, among them,
the largest drug dealers in history in the region,” Ghani said in an interview
with state-financed US broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
“Responsibility
is shared, and where I take responsibility for is to have trusted our key
partner that signed our withdrawal agreement -- and for one full year -- its
(US) forces were not attacked by the Taliban, but our forces paid the highest
price,” he further emphasized, referring to Washington’s deal with the militant
group not to attack US and allied occupation forces across Afghanistan while
leaving them free to wage terror attacks against Afghan government forces and
civilians.
The
deal – known as the Doha agreement signed between the administration of former
US president Donald Trump and the Taliban – did not involve the official Afghan
government, provided a date for total withdrawal of American forces from
Afghanistan and forced the Washington-sponsored Ghani administration to release
5,000 Taliban prisoners.
Ghani
further slammed the US-Taliban deal, insisting that Washington’s “assumptions
regarding the Taliban were highly flawed” and “based on wishful thinking.” He also promised that the preparation and
implementation of the pact “will go down in the history as one of the worst
agreements ever concluded.”
“The
US propped up the Taliban… The Trump administration — without the Trump
administration's role, the Taliban would not be here today,” the ex-president
of Afghanistan then underlined.
Ghani
went on to blast Washington for establishing what he described as “false
assurance systems,” saying, “We were assured that a cease-fire would take place
and political negotiations regarding the future government will be an
indispensable part of the agreement, which they were not.”
He
also blamed successive US administrations and their agents and contractors in
Afghanistan for the widespread and growing corruption across his impoverished
Asian nation.
“Where
did corruption start from?,” he asked. “It started with a — with buying of the
warlords by the Bush administration. The scale of corruption in Afghanistan is
a confluence between your new barons, which represent Beltway contractors, and
military industrial contractors, and Afghan new and old warlords.”
“My
agenda was to deal with this corruption and to contain it,” he also claimed,
describing it as “a cancer.”
“But,
simultaneously, you need to see our sacrifices. We were losing between 200 and
400 soldiers and officers a day,” Ghani noted. “A time comes when even steel
has a snapping point, and that's the point it came, because the cities and the
provinces where a lot of fighting took place could not receive sustained
support.”
The
former Afghan leader further accused Washington and the US-led NATO military
alliance of not sticking to their pledged withdrawal date of 2024, suggesting
that their hasty pullout contributed to his government’s inability to better
plan for security measures.
“We
need to understand, 20 years of engagement had been building systems based on
the premises of 2024 departure,” he pointed out. “There was an agreed date with
NATO and with the international community. It was 2024.”
“Key
was predictability,” Ghani insisted. “Had the US decided to tell us in the — on
January 2019 that it will withdraw by 2021, we would have been able to plan.”
The
US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 following the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks in the United States, despite the fact that no Afghan
national was involved in the attacks. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have
been killed as a result of the US war of aggression on the country.
American
forces had occupied the country for about two decades under the pretext of the
so-called “War on terror.” But as the US forces left Afghanistan, the Taliban
stormed into the capital Kabul in August last year, weakened by continued
foreign occupation.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Arab
World
Iraq:
How life under Islamic State impacted Mosul's deaf community
By
Azhar Al-Rubaie
28
August 2022
Between
2014 and 2017, people living in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, endured
their toughest ever living conditions under the reign of the Islamic State.
Thousands
were killed by the extremist group, some still live in refugee camps, while
others fled home to seek a better life abroad.
For
people with disabilities, living under IS rule doubled their hardship.
Using
sign language, deaf Iraqis in Mosul told Middle East Eye how their lives were
impacted at the time.
"Frankly,
we were living in a giant prison or even worse," said Mosul-based resident
Mohammed Taha.
Their
lives after IS, however, have not significantly improved, and they still feel
neglected by the Iraqi government.
Taha,
28, who is deaf, established a local civil society group called Mosul al-Hadbaa
Association, which seeks to empower the deaf community to obtain their rights.
The
group was founded after the city was freed from IS in 2017, but was officially
registered in March 2020.
The
NGO seeks to support deaf Iraqis in Mosul by establishing connections between
them and other local and international organisations to facilitate support or
job search.
Its
volunteer interpreter provides them with free sign language interpretation in
government agencies or courts.
Their
Mosul-based headquarters, located in the Al-Hammam area, consists of a small
flat that costs about $100 per month to rent. According to Taha, the flat is
not just a headquarters but also a social place where deaf people meet up.
Ahmed
Khudr Noah, a sign language expert, volunteered for the NGO to provide
free-of-charge interpretation services.
"After
liberation of the city from IS, there was a huge need for sign language
interpretation, especially when they [the deaf or hard of hearing] wanted to
visit a government institution or court," Noah told MEE.
Like
many Iraqis who suffered under the rule of IS, Taha recounted many incidents
when the ousted ruling militants sought to enforce their rules using violence
and intimidation.
"IS
fighters treated us like other people, without paying any attention to our
disability," he said.
"For
instance, they lashed me many times for not going to the mosque on time,
although I could not hear the call for prayer," he added, using his
fingertips, with an interpretation by Noah.
In
another incident, he was stopped by an IS militant on his way home with a
friend while he was carrying a shisha, or waterpipe, banned under IS
regulations.
The
only thing that saved him from punishment was that his friend explained to the
militant that they intended to use the shisha as a vase for roses.
"We
were so lucky at that moment," said Taha.
In
August 2014, IS enforced a set of rules, including that women must be fully
covered; gatherings were not allowed; drugs, alcohol and smoking shisha or
tobacco were banned; and performing the five prayers on time in mosques was
obligatory.
Recruited
by IS
Taha,
who was working as a porter in a shop, said that IS tried many times to
convince him to join them, but he turned down their requests, explaining that
he was deaf.
A
video that went viral on social media in September 2015 showed two deaf IS
fighters wearing black jumpsuits and carrying weapons while standing at a
traffic light in Mosul. Using sign language, one of them asked fellow Muslims
to join the group, saying that disability was not an excuse.
In
the video, the IS fighter said: "I work in the traffic sector with my
brother Abdulrahman. Muslims in the city live in comfort under the
caliphate."
Marwan
Yassin Ahmed, a 60-year-old Mosul native who is deaf, said that IS rule was
lenient at the beginning but then started to get more stringent a few months
after their takeover of Mosul.
"At
the beginning, IS treated us very well. We were allowed to smoke and wear
whatever we liked. But much changed after a couple of months of their
rule," he told MEE.
"We
did not realise that IS was cheating us in this way."
IS
banned use of the internet at home, as well as using smartphones and electronic
devices, for fear of information being leaked to the Iraqi government or others
outside the city.
Many
people told MEE that IS beheaded some residents after suspecting that they used
smartphones or chatted with their friends or relatives in other cities via the
internet.
Ahmed
said that IS members stormed his house in 2015, damaged his TV and satellite,
and threatened to kill him if they found any digital device in the house.
Punished
for violating dress codes
Weeks
after that incident, Ahmed was jailed in an IS prison for a "silly"
reason but a "big mistake" according to IS, he said.
"As
an IS soldier noticed my 10-year-old daughter watering flowers in the house
garden without wearing niqab [face covering], they accused me of violating
Islamic rules and then sent me to jail," he said.
"I
stayed a couple of days there without food, in a poor health environment.
"How
can I force my daughter to wear a niqab when she was only 10? It is
incomprehensible to force our kids to do things they do not like or even
understand," Ahmed said.
Women
rarely went outside the home to avoid being reprimanded by IS police, he said.
IS
did not allow women to go out without being accompanied by a guardian.
Uday
Hammoudi, a 41-year-old deaf Iraqi, upheld that rule, but he was still
punished.
"My
wife and I were walking in Bab al-Toub, [a] local old market," Hammoudi
told MEE, using sign language interpreted by Noah. "She was fully covered
with niqab and gloves; the market was crowded so I lost her.
"While
looking for her, by mistake I spoke with a woman who was not my wife. She
screamed and called IS to arrest me, then I found my wife. All women looked the
same due to the clothes that IS forced them to wear.
"People
who knew me well in the market told IS that I was deaf, but they were not
convinced. They only left us when they saw my wife come to me. IS treated us as
harshly as they treated all other people," he said.
"My
wife was telling me all the time that she had difficulty breathing, but I did
not have the liberty to let her take off the niqab, in winters or in hot
summers."
Men
were also expected to abide by IS dress codes.
"Once,
an IS militant stopped me while I was heading back home and beat me on my neck
because I was wearing normal clothes different from their uniform," said
Hammoudi.
"I
told him that I could not speak nor hear, but he thought I was a liar. He
lashed me 45 times and then left me."
The
end of IS rule
For
Hammoudi, the end of IS rule was his biggest relief. "It was a historic
moment seeing our city empty of IS fighters," he said.
Likewise,
Taha said: "There is no comparison between life under IS and today. At
least we feel more freedom, we can wear what we like, travel wherever we want,
do lots of things that IS forbids. There is food, and Mosul is safer than
before."
However,
both Hammoudi and Taha believe that the Iraqi government can do more to support
them.
"In
most countries, there is special care for deaf people, but in Iraq there is
zero care by the government," he said.
"The
government should offer a monthly salary for us, help us find jobs, and
more."
Hammoudi
said that, unlike under IS, he can have access to politicians. But he regrets
that the politicians only "make promises" with no real action.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-deaf-islamic-state-mosul-government-support
--------
Saudi
pilgrimage complex developer Jabal Omar converts $1.4 bln debt to equity
28
August, 2022
Jabal
Omar Development Company , one of Saudi Arabia’s largest listed property
developers, said on Sunday it has reached an agreement with one of its debt
holders to convert 5.3 billion riyals ($1.41 billion) of debt into new shares.
Jabal
Omar Development (JODC) said it will issue more than 225 million new shares
“and in exchange will extinguish all debts” it owes to the Alinma Makkah Real
Estate Fund and “settle all rights and obligations related to the Fund.”
The
company operates the Jabal Omar complex of hotels and residential and commercial
property within walking distance of the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of
Mecca. It was hard-hit when the pandemic curtailed pilgrimages.
“This
is the largest and most significant transaction within our comprehensive
capital structure optimization plan,” JODC’S CEO Khaled al-Amoudi said in a
statement.
“It
will free up SAR 540 million in cash and allocate it to more productive,
value-enhancing use. We have turned a critical corner and are on an accelerated
journey towards our next phase of growth.”
JODC
in October agreed to restructure a 4.7 billion-riyal loan from Saudi British
Bank and Samba Financial Group, which is now Saudi National Bank (SNB) after
its merger with National Commercial Bank. The facility was increased to 5.9
billion riyals and its maturity extended to 2030.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Iraq’s
Sadr proposes ‘all parties’ leave government posts
27
August, 2022
Iraq’s
Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday said “all parties” including his own
should give up government positions in order to help resolve a months-long
political crisis.
Since
the aftermath of the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq
has been governed under a power-sharing system.
But
since elections in October last year, political deadlock has left the country
without a new government, prime minister or president, due to disagreement
between groups over forming a coalition.
Sadr
and his supporters have been calling for parliament to be dissolved and for new
elections, but on Saturday he said doing so was not “so important.”
Instead,
it is “more important” that “all parties and figures who have been part of the
political process from the American occupation in 2003 until now no longer
participate,” Sadr said on Twitter.
“That
includes the Sadrist movement,” he added.
“I
am ready to sign an agreement to this effect within 72 hours,” he said, warning
that without such a move, “there would no longer be anymore room for reforms.”
He
did not indicate who he expected would lead a future government.
Sadr’s
supporters have for weeks been staging a sit-in outside Iraq’s parliament,
after initially storming the legislature’s interior, to press for their
demands.
On
Tuesday, they also pitched tents outside the judicial body’s headquarters in
Baghdad for several hours.
Sadr’s
rivals in the Coordination Framework want a new head of government to be
appointed before any new polls are held.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Turkey
says it ‘neutralised’ nine PKK members in northern Iraq
27
August, 2022
Turkey’s
military and intelligence unit “neutralized” nine members of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) in operations in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry and
state-run media said on Saturday.
Turkey
regularly carries out air strikes in neighboring Iraq as part of its offensive
against PKK militants based there.
“Our
operations will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized,” the ministry
said on Twitter, adding that the military targeted seven PKK members. It
typically uses the word “neutralized” to mean killed.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Kuwait
to hold parliamentary election on September 29: Report
28
August, 2022
Kuwait
will hold a parliamentary election on Sept. 29, state news agency KUNA
reported, after the Gulf state’s crown prince moved to dissolve parliament in a
bid to resolve a political standoff between the government and the elected
legislature.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
UAE
president orders relief aid to flood-hit Pakistan
28
August, 2022
Urgent
relief and humanitarian assistance will be provided to Pakistan on the orders
of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed after the south Asian country was hit
with deadly monsoon flooding, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Saturday.
WAM
said that the relied aid "includes some 3,000 tons of food supplies, as
well as tons of medical and pharmaceutical supplies, in addition to tents and
shelter materials."
The
UAE president also ordered that humanitarian relief services are secured to
help those displaced by the floods in order to face the challenges before them,
WAM reported.
"The
UAE relief teams will also provide all kinds of humanitarian support to
Pakistani cadres and institutions concerned with efforts to secure the safety
of the affected and their food, medical and logistical needs," the agency
added.
The
UAE assistance to Pakistan comes as the country was hit by devastating floods
that killed over 1,000 people and affected more than 33 million people.
The
UAE aid also came as Sheikh Mohamed offered his condolences to the victims of
floods and torrential rains during a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif, WAM said in a separate report.
"His
Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed wished a speedy recovery for the injured and
quick return of the displaced to their areas, praying to Allah Almighty to
protect Pakistan," WAM said, adding the president underscored UAE's
solidarity with Pakistan and its people.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
India
Hijab
ban case: Supreme Court issues notice to Karnataka govt; next hearing on
September 5
Aug
29, 2022
NEW
DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Karnataka
government on pleas challenging the high court verdict refusing to lift the ban
on hijab in educational institutions of the state.
A
bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to the state
on the pleas and posted them for hearing on September 5.
The
bench also pulled up the petitioners, who sought adjournment in the matter, and
said it would not permit "this kind of forum shopping".
Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta said he would accept notice in the bunch of petitions and
added, there is no need for a response affidavit.
Mehta
said since the case involved a pure question of law, no reply affidavit from
Karnataka govt is needed. He told SC petitioners had mentioned 6 times seeking
urgent hearing.
Petitioners
through Mohd Nizamuddin Pasha said urgent hearing was sought when exams were
round the corner.
Pasha
and other advocates said they need to prepare with the case. The SC said
"you were mentioning for urgent hearing without being prepared with the
case?"
One
of the appeals in the top court has alleged "step-motherly behaviour of
government authorities which has prevented students from practising their faith
and resulted in an unwanted law and order situation".
The
appeal said the high court in its impugned order "had vehemently failed to
apply its mind and was unable to understand the gravity of the situation as well
as the core aspect of the Essential Religious Practices enshrined under Article
25 of the Constitution of India".
"Wearing
of hijab or headscarf is a practice that is essential to the practice of
Islam," it has added. Karnataka high court in March had held that the
prescription of uniforms is a reasonable restriction that students could not
object to and dismissed various petitions challenging a ban on hijab in
education institutions saying they are without merit.
The
hijab row had erupted in January this year when the Government PU College in
Udupi allegedly barred six girls wearing the hijab from entering. Following
this, the girls sat in protest outside college over being denied entry. After
this, boys of several colleges in Udupi started attending classes wearing
saffron scarves.
This
protest spread to other parts of the state as well leading to protests and
agitations in several places in Karnataka. As a result, the Karnataka
government said that all students must adhere to the uniform and banned both
hijab and saffron scarves till an expert committee decides on the issue.
On
February 5, the pre-University education board released a circular stating that
the students can only wear the uniform approved by the school administration
and that no other religious attire will be allowed in colleges.
The
order stated that in case a uniform is not prescribed by management committees,
then students should wear dresses that go well with the idea of equality and
unity, and do not disturb the social order.
A
batch of appeals was filed against the government's rule in the Karnataka High
Court by some girls seeking permission to wear the hijab in educational
institutions.
On
February 10, the high court had issued an interim order stating that students
should not wear any religious attire to classes till the court issues the final
order.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
may import tomato and onion from India amid huge surge in vegetable prices due
to floods
Aug
28, 2022
LAHORE:
Amid massive surge in the prices of various vegetables and fruits in Lahore and
other parts of Punjab province due to devastating floods, the Pakistan
government may import tomato and onion from India, according to the market
dealers here.
"On
Sunday, per kilogram of tomato and onion were available in Lahore's markets at
around Rs500 and Rs400 respectively. However, in Sunday markets both commodities
were available at Rs 100 per kg less than that of those available in regular
markets," Jawaad Rizvi, a wholesale dealer of Lahore market, told PTI.
He
said that in the coming days the prices of commodities will increase further as
the supply of vegetables from Balochistan, Sindh and south Punjab has badly
been affected because of floods.
"In
the coming days, onion and tomato per kg prices may cross Rs700. Similarly,
potato price has increased from Rs40 per kg to Rs120kg," Rizvi said.
In
the markets, the short supply of vegetables is because of destruction of the
crops on thousands of acres by the floods in Balochistan and Sindh.
It
is learnt the federal government is considering the option to import onion and
tomato from India through Wagah border.
Currently,
Lahore and other cities of Punjab are getting the supply of tomato and onion
from Afghanistan via the Torkham border.
"One
hundred containers of tomato and around 30 of onion are being received at
Torkham border daily, out of which two containers of tomato and one of onion is
being brought to Lahore city on a daily basis and the number of containers is
absolutely too short to meet the demand in the provincial capital of Punjab,”
according to Lahore Market Committee Secretary Shehzad Cheema.
He
said vegetables like capsicum or bell pepper are also short in the market due
to the floods.
Cheema
said the government would eventually import onion and tomato from India.
He
said import of vegetables from Iran via Taftan border (Balochistan) was not
viable as the Iranian government had increased taxes on its imports and
exports.
He
said the prices of date palm and banana would also go up in the coming days as
most of the orchards in Sindh had been destroyed by the floods. Apple supply
from Balochistan or other areas had also been stopped due to flooding.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Hyderabad:
Muslim man booked for allegedly threatening to kill Raja Singh
28th
August 2022
Hyderabad:
A case is booked at Cyber crime police station against Mohammed Imran alias
Caller Imran for allegedly threatening to kill Goshamahal legislator T Raja
Singh and three others.
After
the MLA made derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed on Monday night, Imran
made a video and uploaded it on social media. In the video, he threatened to
teach a lesson to MLA Raja Singh, BJYM leader Laddu Yadav, Kalu Singh, and one
more person. A suo motu case is booked on him at Hyderabad cyber crime police
station under 153A and 505 Sections of IPC.
On
Saturday night, he was taken into custody and the police released him after
issuing a notice to him.
Imran
had gone to a rally near the Laddu Yadav house on Tuesday night during the
protest against Raja Singh, the rally was attacked and Imran was attacked
allegedly by associates of Laddu Yadav leading to bleeding injuries.
Imran
a resident of Kalapather in the old city of Hyderabad gained to sobriquet for
making phone calls to public representatives, government officials, and
religious leaders over public issues and making the audio of a conversation
viral on social media.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Southeast
Asia
In
Hadi’s presence, Gerakan chief urges respect for all races, religions
Jason
Thomas
August
27, 2022
SERDANG:
Gerakan president Dominic Lau has urged Perikatan Nasional (PN) members to show
respect for all races and religions.
In
a speech delivered in front of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who has come
under criticism for blaming non-Muslims for running Malaysia’s politics and
economy, Lau said that the country comprised people of various races, religions
and cultures.
He
made no reference to Hadi’s remarks in his speech, in which he said defending
the rights of one race should not come at the expense of other communities.
“This
is an understanding we must have,” he said at the PN Convention here.
“Can
we respect all races and religions?” he asked the delegates, receiving a
convincing “Yes!” in reply.
Gerakan
and PAS are part of PN, alongside Bersatu and Sabah-based parties STAR and
SAPP.
Last
week, Hadi said that it was a fact that the majority of those involved in
ruining the country’s politics and economy were non-Muslims and
non-Bumiputeras.
Several
parties, including the heads of Bersatu’s non-Muslim wing and STAR’s Youth
wing, have criticised Hadi for his comments.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
PAS’
regressive policy a threat to Malaysia, says Kuching MP
28
Aug 2022
KUCHING,
Aug 28 — Parti Islam Se-Malaysia’s (PAS) fixation with concerts in the midst of
a possible economic slowdown and rampant corruption in Malaysia shows how they
have their priorities confused and have nothing constructive to offer to
problems faced by Malaysians, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
In
response to the recent statement made by PAS Youth Chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari on
saying that PAS will hold a nationwide protest if the government do not cancel
international concerts, Dr Yii said PAS is not only lacking of ideas to move
the country forward, but he viewed it as a threat to a multicultural, plural
society like Malaysia.
“As
part of the government, all they can offer to address everyday Malaysians’
problems seems to be to protest against concerts in our country.
“Are
all these concerts by so-called overseas artists even the cause of the moral
collapse of the leaders in power, which have led to billions stolen and to
criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving millions of ringgit?
“Why
no nationwide protest for all these more serious matters especially against
blatant corruption, bad governance, inequality, discrimination, and oppressive
laws that are inflicting real damage to our country and its people?” he posed
these questions in a statement yesterday.
Dr
Yii opined that all these divisive rhetorics are merely smokescreen for their
leader’s incompetence in dealing with real issues that affect all Malaysians as
well as their deafening silence against their own partners in government who
are involved in grand corruption and kleptocracy.
“Such
‘Taliban-mindset’ to regress Malaysia into a somewhat medieval past has no
place in Malaysia and surely not conducive for development, thus leaving us
further trailing behind our other neighbouring countries.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Malaysia's
key political parties hold meetings amid signs of imminent general election
Amir
Yusof
28
Aug 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: Some of Malaysia’s key political parties held meetings on Saturday (Aug
27) amid growing signs that a general election may be called imminently.
On
Friday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
confirmed that Malaysia’s 2023 budget will be tabled on Oct 7, three weeks
earlier than the original date of Oct 28.
This
has fuelled speculation within local media that national polls may be called
soon despite Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob insisting that the decision to
bring forward the tabling was not unusual.
The
15th general election is not due until September next year, but United Malays
National Organisation (UMNO), a main component party in the ruling coalition,
has intensified its calls for the dissolution of parliament, a move that would
pave the way for the next general election.
HOLD
GE TO RETURN MANDATE TO THE PEOPLE: UMNO’S AHMAD ZAHID
During
a special briefing held at the UMNO headquarters at World Trade Centre Kuala
Lumpur on Saturday, party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi piled on the pressure
for Mr Ismail Sabri, an UMNO vice president, to dissolve parliament.
“The
call to hold a GE is not a new issue. It’s not a question of us being
power-crazy or desperate … We have been consistent in calling for the elections
to be held because we want a government built on the people’s mandate, rather
than by political machinations,” said Ahmad Zahid.
“We
are firm on our stance that the general election must be held immediately. The
UMNO supreme council has issued an advisory to the PM for the GE to be held
after herd immunity (from COVID-19) is achieved. Now that all this has been
achieved, the COVID-19 pandemic is over, so now when (will the GE be called)?”
he added, to roars of "bubar" (dissolve) from hundreds of UMNO
members in the audience.
Mr
Ismail Sabri and some UMNO cabinet ministers such as Health Minister Khairy
Jamaluddin, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa, and Federal
Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim were not at the briefing.
Three
Malaysian prime ministers have been appointed since the last general election
in 2018. Multiple instances of party switching have added to the political
upheaval, resulting in changes in the federal administration from Pakatan
Harapan to Perikatan Nasional (PN), and now a coalition made up of PN and
Barisan Nasional.
In
his speech, Ahmad Zahid also called for UMNO members to support a royal pardon
for former premier Najib Razak, who began his 12-year prison sentence on
Tuesday after the Federal Court dismissed his final appeal bid in the SRC
International case.
"We
must be ready to support a petition campaign to pardon (Najib) when the time
comes. We leave it to the wisdom of the king to assess and do it in
future," said Ahmad Zahid, who choked up as he thanked Najib’s wife Rosmah
Mansor and children for attending the briefing.
Later
on Saturday evening, an UMNO supreme council meeting was convened, with Prime
Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob among those who attended.
After
it ended, Sabah UMNO chief Bung Moktar Radin said that the focus of the meeting
was to strengthen the party, restore harmony and stand in solidarity with
Najib.
He
told reporters that that no date to hold the general election was discussed and
that it was the prerogative of the prime minister on when to dissolve
parliament.
WE
ARE READY FOR POLLS ANYTIME: PN’S MUHYIDDIN
Meanwhile
at Serdang, Selangor, the Perikatan Nasional coalition held a convention
attended by members of its component parties - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia
(Bersatu), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
(Gerakan) as well as Sabah-based entities Parti Progresif Sabah and Parti
Solidariti Tanah Airku.
During
his speech at the convention, PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said that it was
possible that the election would be announced immediately after this year’s
budget is tabled on Oct 7.
“While
we are gathered here today, the other side (UMNO) is also meeting, to pressure
the prime minister to hold a general election earlier. Based on an agreement
between PN and the prime minister, and when the PM is deciding on the date for
the national polls to be held, he has to discuss with us, because we are an
important part of the government. But I don’t know if the prime minister
remembers this agreement,” said Mr Muhyiddin.
“Regardless,
we are ready to face the general election at any time. If tomorrow the PM meets
the king to recommend that parliament be dissolved, we are ready to enter the
ring and win the polls,” added the former prime minister.
Mr
Muhyiddin resigned as prime minister on Aug 16, 2021 after he failed to command
the majority support of MPs, with Mr Ismail Sabri then taking over.
Mr
Muhyiddin added in his speech on Saturday that based on reports he had
received, support for UMNO and the Barisan Nasional coalition was waning.
“(Ahmad
Zahid says) if BN waits until next year (to hold the GE), they may lose. But if
it's this year, god willing BN will lose as well,” said Mr Muhyiddin.
In
his speech at the same convention, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang urged PN
component parties to shake off the coalition’s reputation as a “backdoor”
government by winning big in the upcoming polls.
He
also backed calls by other member parties to name Mr Muhyiddin as the
coalition’s prime minister candidate if PN wins.
“We
take over to strengthen the government, establish PN and make Muhyiddin become
PM,” he said in his speech.
WE
WILL BE READY BY OCTOBER: PKR’S ANWAR
Over
at Shah Alam, opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat held an election
convention attended by its members from across the country.
After
the event, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim told reporters that the party will be
ready for elections, whenever they are called.
“The
focus today is on the (general) elections. PKR’s election director has already
set several strategies in place, and we will be ready for elections to be
called either next month, or next year. We can see here that our comrades are
stoked and excited, and they are ready to (be) mobilised at any time,” said Mr
Anwar.
“We
will be fully ready by October (to face GE15) because Budget 2023 will be
tabled in October. As we know, that means elections will be called soon. Ismail
Sabri is too weak right now because he is under pressure from UMNO leadership.
“He
is not a prime minister who can make decisions on his own,” said Mr Anwar, who
is chairman of Malaysia’s main opposition bloc, the Pakatan Harapan (PH)
coalition.
PH
consists of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and
the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO).
When
asked if PH would be pursuing a “big tent” strategy - to work alongside
partners in the opposition to prevent the Barisan Nasional coalition from
winning the next general election - he said that the coalition will move away
from that and instead focus on building its own strengths.
Source:
Channel News Asia
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-umno-pn-bersatu-pkr-meetings-ge15-2905271
--------
Indonesia's
Cardinal Suharyo gets titular church in Rome
By
Katharina Reny Lestari
August
29, 2022
Indonesian
Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta has formally taken
possession of his titular church in Rome more than two years after Pope Francis
made him a cardinal.
Cardinal
Suharyo, 72, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, took
possession of the Spirito Santo Alla Ferratella Church during a ceremony on
Aug. 28.
The
event came a day after Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals including six from
Asia in a consistory on Aug. 27.
The
prelate told UCA News that the Covid-19 pandemic caused the delay in getting
his titular church.
According
to the Code of Canon Law, every cardinal is assigned a titular church upon his
elevation. A titular church serves as an honorary designation signifying the
relationship between the cardinal and the pope — the bishop of Rome.
The
cardinal, however, does not have any power to govern or interfere with matters
concerning the administration of his parish.
During
the ceremony on the day, Cardinal Suharyo led a Eucharistic celebration in
Latin in the Rome-based parish. Among those attending the Mass were Archbishop
Piero Pioppo, apostolic nuncio to Indonesia, Divine Word Father Markus Solo
Kewuta, director of the Vatican Interfaith Dialogue for Asia and Pacific of the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and dozens of members of the
Association of Indonesian Religious Men and Women in the Eternal City (IRRIKA)
and lay Catholics.
IRRIKA
head, Father Paulus Halek Bere of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of
Jesus and Mary, told UCA News that the ceremony consisted of three main parts.
“First,
the welcoming of Cardinal Suharyo in front of the parish church and the
blessing of Mass-goers by Cardinal Suharyo. Second, the reading of Pope Francis’
bulla and the welcoming speech,” he said, adding that Cardinal Suharyo
highlighted religious tolerance in Indonesia in his homily.
“Third,
the sharing session with members of IRRIKA, which was held in the Embassy of
the Republic of Indonesia to the Holy See.”
During
the sharing session, he said, Cardinal Suharyo called on all members of IRRIKA
to continue to enliven the spirit of the popular slogan “100 percent Catholic
and 100 percent Indonesian,” which was first coined by Jesuit Father Albertus
Soegijapranata — the first native Indonesian bishop — to Catholics.
“The
sharing session was very inspiring. Indeed, members of IRRIKA must always show
the characteristic of the Indonesian people in our missions here in Italy:
individuals who are friendly and who care for others,” said Father Paulus, who
studies Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.
Indonesia
has an estimated 8 million Catholics in the Muslim-majority nation of more than
267 million.
Source:
UCA News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesias-cardinal-suharyo-gets-titular-church-in-rome/98568
--------
Bukit
Aman probing Hadi over non-Muslims comment
08-
28- 2022
PETALING
JAYA: The Federal Police has confirmed that an investigation paper has been
opened against PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang(pix) over his recent
claim that non-Muslims were at the root of corruption in the country.
In
a statement, federal police headquarters said 28 reports had been received
against Hadi, who is Marang MP.
Investigations
are being conducted by D5, the classified criminal investigation unit.
“Police
also urge the public to be cautious and concerned about issues that touch on
religious and racial sensitivities that could threaten social harmony,” police
corporate communications head ACP Skandaguru Anandan said in a statement today.
The
matter is being investigated under Section 505 (c) of the Penal Code for intent
to incite or acts likely to incite any class or community of persons to commit
any offence against any other class or community of persons.
Source:
The Sun Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.thesundaily.my/home/bukit-aman-probing-hadi-over-non-muslims-comment-LB9740973
--------
Mideast
Hezbollah
chief meets Hamas officials days after sit-down with Islamic Jihad leader
By
TOBIAS SIEGAL
28
August 2022
Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah met with a delegation of senior Hamas officials in
Beirut Sunday, according to the Lebanese-based Akhbar Al Yawm news agency.
Nasrallah
met with notable decision-makers from the Gaza-based terror organization,
including Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the group’s political bureau,
and senior officials Khalil al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, the report said.
Hamdan
is based in Lebanon and serves as the senior Hamas representative in the
country. He served as the group’s official representative in Iran between 1994
and 1998.
During
their meeting, Nasrallah and the Hamas officials reviewed “the latest political
and field developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region, especially the
recent confrontations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem,”
according to a Hezbollah statement issued after the meeting.
The
meeting also focused on “the possible outcome of the situation in the region,
in light of [recent] developments.”
The
meeting comes days after Nasrallah discussed regional developments with
Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad Nakhaleh.
A
report by the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al Mayadeen suggested
that potential future cooperation between Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad was
brought up during that meeting, saying the pair discussed “the expected roles
of the various parties in the axis of resistance in the next stage.” The report
did not elaborate on what that “next stage” could entail.
Both
meetings come amid heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah — a
Lebanese proxy of Iran — over offshore fields thought to hold natural gas
deposits and repeated threats by Nasrallah that have raised concerns in Israel
over a potential flare-up on its northern border.
Israel
and Lebanon are said to be nearing an agreement over the maritime border
dispute. But Israeli officials have raised concerns that Hezbollah may seek to
carry out more provocations to create the impression that it is responsible for
any concessions Israel may agree to as part of the deal.
In
early July, Hezbollah sent several drones to Israel’s Karish gas field, which
were downed by the Israeli military. And earlier this month Nasrallah warned
that “any arm” reaching to steal Lebanon’s wealth “will be cut off.”
The
last known meeting between Hezbollah and Hamas leadership took place in June
last year, when Nasrallah met with Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh
in Beirut as part of a series of high-level meetings he held around the Arab
world.
Six
months earlier, the two discussed what they considered to be emerging threats
resulting in the normalization agreements signed between Israel, the United
Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September 2020, stressing the need to stabilize
the “axis of resistance” against Israel.
But
the two groups have not always been coordinated and have even found themselves
on opposing sides at times.
The
relationship between Hamas and Iran began shortly after the former was
established in 1987, mainly through financial support offered by Tehran,
according to a report by the Alma Research and Education Center.
However,
during the early days of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Hamas aligned itself
with the rebel camp fighting the radical Shiite axis led by Iran. This
eventually led Hamas to shift its alliance to the Muslim Brotherhood and
consequently abandon the radical Shiite axis, leading to ongoing friction with
Hezbollah, according to Alma.
This
continued for years, with Hamas regularly advancing its operational plans in
southern Lebanon independently, without considering Hezbollah’s objectives or
notifying it of its plans.
But
in 2017, Iran and Hezbollah agreed to put their differences with Hamas aside
and once again focus on their common goals — a united front against Israel.
Source:
Times Of Israel
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Palestinians
condemn Israeli settlers’ unprecedented storming of al-Aqsa mosque through
Lions’ Gate
28
August 2022
The
Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry has condemned Israeli settlers’
storming of al-Aqsa mosque through the Lions’ Gate, one of the gates leading to
the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of occupied East al-Quds.
In
a statement on Sunday, the ministry denounced as “unprecedented” the storming
of the mosque through the Lions’ Gate on the eastern side of the complex, which
is solely used by Muslims, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The
ministry described the storming as a blatant violation of the mosque’s status
quo aimed at perpetuating the temporal division of al-Aqsa Mosque pending its
spatial partition.
Over
the past years, Israel has only allowed settler groups to storm the holy site
through the Moroccan Gate, on the western side of the compound, but what
happened on Sunday was unprecedented as it was the first time that Israeli
police allowed settlers to use the Lions Gate since 1967.
According
to Sheikh Omar Kiswani, the director of the mosque, the storming on Sunday was
a serious violation of the status quo at the holy site and the agreements
signed between Israel and Jordan, the custodian of Islamic and Christian sites
in al-Quds.
Extremist
Israeli settlers regularly storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied
city, a provocative move that infuriates Palestinians. Such mass settler
break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple
groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds.
The
al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which purportedly sits just above the Western Wall
plaza, houses the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
The
Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted while non-Muslim worship at the
compound is prohibited under an agreement signed between Israel and the
Jordanian government in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds in
1967.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Houthis
slammed for torturing abducted journalists
SAEED
AL-BATATI
August
28, 2022
AL-MUKALLA:
Yemen government officials and rights groups have urged the Iran-backed Houthis
to stop torturing four abducted journalists held inside their prisons and to
urgently send them to hospital as they are suffering from life-threatening
diseases.
Yemenis
say that the Houthis have subjected the journalists to physical and
psychological torture in detention, throwing them into solitary confinement and
depriving them of vital medicine.
Tawfiq
Al-Mansouri, Akram Al-Walidy, Abdul Khaleq Omaran and Harith Hamid are among
nine journalists who were abducted by the Houthis from a Sanaa hotel in 2015.
Five
journalists were freed from Houthi detention during the largest successful
prisoner swap between the Yemeni militia and their opponents in 2020.
The
Houthis abused the incarcerated journalists, later put them on trial and
sentenced them to death on charges of being “cloak-and-dagger” activists for
the Arab coalition.
Yemen’s
officials and journalists’ families said that they developed severe health
problems due to the Houthi torture and are facing death if the Houthis do not
take to them to hospital or provide their medication inside cells.
Yemen’s
information minister, Muammar Al-Eryani, slammed the Houthis for exacerbating
the health conditions of the journalists and called for international action to
pressure the Houthis to set them free.
“We
hold terrorist Houthi militia of Iran fully responsible for the safety of
journalist Tawfiq Al-Mansori, &his fellow journalists who are under
forcible disappearance for 7 yrs, after his health deteriorated &
contracted chronic diseases due to torture & lack of basic necessities,”
the Yemeni minister said on Twitter, accusing the Houthis of using the abducted
journalists as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from the Yemeni
government during talks.
“We
call on intl community and UN & US envoys to observe their legal mandate
&pressure Houthi militia to provide urgent health care to journalist
Al-Mansouri, release him & his fellow journalists immediately &
unconditionally, & stop using them as political bargaining chips.”
International
rights groups echoed concerns about the worsening health conditions of the four
journalists and Houthi indifference to calls for the militia to treat them well
and release them.
The
Geneva-based SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties urged the UN and
international charity and right groups to put pressure on the Houthis to
immediately admit the journalists, mainly the critically ill Tawfiq
Al-Mansouri, to hospital.
SAM
calls on the United Nations and the Red Cross to pressure the Houthi group to
urgently transfer journalist Tawfiq Al-Mansouri to the hospital and
unconditionally release him and all his fellow journalists,” SAM said in a statement.
Due
to an intensifying crackdown by the Houthis, who militarily took over power in
Yemen in late 2014, hundreds of journalists, activists, politicians and
military and security figures have been forced into fleeing Sanaa and other
areas, and settled in government-controlled areas or into exile.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2152101/middle-east
--------
Palestinian
toll mounts as Israel steps up West Bank raids
August
29, 2022
TUBAS,
West Bank: At least 85 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year
as Israeli forces have carried out nightly raids in cities, towns and villages,
making it the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2016.
The
military says the vast majority were militants or stone-throwers who endangered
the soldiers. The tally, from the Palestinian Health Ministry, includes
Palestinians who carried out deadly attacks inside Israel.
But
it also includes several civilians, including a veteran journalist and a lawyer
who apparently drove unwittingly into a battle zone, as well as local youths
who took to the streets in response to the invasion of their neighborhoods.
The
length and frequency of the raids has pulled into focus Israel’s tactics in the
West Bank, where nearly 3 million Palestinians live under a decades-long
occupation and Palestinians view the military’s presence as a humiliation and a
threat.
Israeli
troops have regularly operated across the West Bank since Israel captured the
territory in 1967.
Israel
says it is dismantling militant networks that threaten its citizens, and that
it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians. Palestinians say the raids
are aimed at maintaining Israel’s 55-year military rule over territories they
want for a future state — a dream that appears as remote as ever, with no
serious peace negotiations held in over a decade..
Israel
stepped up the operations this past spring after a string of deadly attacks by
Palestinians against Israelis killed 17 people, some carried out by militants
from the West Bank. There have been no deadly attacks since May, but the
relentless military operations have continued.
The
Palestinian Health Ministry has reported 85 Palestinians killed by Israeli
security forces in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem since the
start of the year.
With
four months to go this year, that already is the highest number since 2016, the
tail-end of a previous wave of violence, when 91 Palestinians were killed,
according to yearly data compiled by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
The
ministry’s tally includes attackers and known militants, but also the veteran
Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and a 58-year-old man who was shot in
the head outside a bakery earlier this month. The Israeli military says both
might have been hit by Palestinian gunfire but has not provided evidence to
substantiate its claims.
The
dead include 17 teens under the age of 18, as well as six women, according to
the ministry. Israel says that teenagers and women are often involved in
violence, while critics accuse the army of using excessive force in many cases.
Israel
is also holding more than 600 Palestinians without charge or trial in what’s
known as administrative detention — the highest in six years.
Amir
Avivi, a retired Israeli general who now heads the Israel Defense and Security
Forum, said the heightened pace of operations is the result of the recent wave
of attacks and the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to crack down on militants
in the areas it administers.
The
Palestinian Authority is mired in a crisis of legitimacy largely stemming from
its cooperation with Israel on security matters. Palestinian officials say they
will not help police the occupation, especially if there is no hope that doing
so will lead to independence.
Rights
groups say that while some Israeli missions are aimed at combatting specific
threats, others are intended as a show of force, or to protect the growing
population of Jewish settlers.
Ori
Givati is the head of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group opposed to the
occupation that gathers testimonies of former Israeli soldiers. Some soldiers
recall carrying out mock arrests, in which fully armed soldiers raid a home in
the middle of the night — for training purposes.
Even
more common, Givati says, are so-called “stimulus and response” operations,
which he said he took part in himself when he served in the West Bank. In
those, Israeli troops roll through Palestinian areas, sometimes with lights and
speakers on, hoping to lure stone-throwers or gunmen into the streets so they
can arrest or confront them.
“The
way we occupy the Palestinians is by creating more and more friction, making
our presence felt,” Givati said. “We invade their towns, their cities, their
homes.”
In
a statement, the army denied the allegations, saying it acts “solely against
threats and terrorist operatives who pose a security threat” in Israel and the
West Bank.
Israel
says it investigates all cases in which Israeli troops are suspected of killing
civilians, but rights groups say most of those investigations are quietly
closed with soldiers rarely facing serious repercussions.
There
were two notable exceptions this year.
The
killing of Abu Akleh, a veteran on-air correspondent, prompted numerous
independent investigations that concluded she was likely killed by Israeli
fire. Israel denies targeting her and says it is still investigating.
There
was also the death in January of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old who died shortly
after Israeli soldiers bound and blindfolded him and left him in the cold. In
that case, senior officers were reprimanded and stripped of leadership roles.
Both
were American citizens, and the US raised both cases with Israel. Last week,
Israel discharged four soldiers after they were caught on camera beating and
kicking two detained Palestinians.
There
was no such uproar over Salah Sawafta, who was shot outside the bakery as he
returned from dawn prayers in the West Bank town of Tubas earlier this month.
Israeli troops, who had gone to arrest suspected militants, were engaged in a
firefight with Palestinian gunmen.
His
family believes he was killed by an Israeli sniper in a building across the
street. Zakreya Abu Dollah, the bakery owner who witnessed the shooting, said
he saw Israeli soldiers fanned out on the street but no Palestinian gunmen or
stone-throwers in the immediate area.
The
military says it is investigating and that Sawafta might have been hit by a
stray bullet fired by Palestinian militants.
Jehad
Sawafta said his late brother, who made a living trading animal feed, had no
connection to any political faction or militant group.
Salah
had a son and four daughters, one of whom was engaged to be married this past
Friday. The father of the bride was killed a week before the wedding.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2152361/middle-east
--------
Palestine
serves as key to regional stability, security: Iranian deputy FM
28
August 2022
Iran’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has described the Palestinian issue as
the key to establishment of stability and security in the Middle East, stating
that any initiative that overlooks the rights of the Palestinian nation causes
instability and disrupts the security of the region.
Bagheri
Kani made the remarks during a meeting with Qatar’s Deputy Foreign Minister for
Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi and the accompanying
delegation in Tehran on Saturday night.
The
Iranian diplomat termed attention to the Palestinian issue a humanitarian and
Islamic duty for all regional countries, emphasizing that the stability of the
region depends on full restoration of Palestinians’ rights.
Bagheri
Kani went on to point to efforts being made by the United States and the Tel
Aviv regime to wipe Palestine from the political geography of the region and the
world.
“Palestine
is the key to regional stability and security. Therefore, any initiative that
ignores the rights of the Palestinian nation is a source of instability and
disturbs the regional security,” he highlighted.
The
Iranian deputy foreign minister also praised the successful neighborhood policy
of Iran’s incumbent administration, stating that Tehran seeks to further
promote multilateral and regional cooperation in the next phase.
Bagheri
Kani lauded the enhancement of Tehran-Doha bilateral relations, saying, “We
welcome Qatar's effective role in advancing the second phase of Iran's
neighborhood policy and promoting multilateral regional cooperation.”
For
his part, Khulaifi pointed to the historical commonalities between Qatar and
Iran and hailed the growing bilateral relations between the two Muslim
countries in all spheres.
The
Qatari diplomat underlined that meetings and consultations between diplomats
from the two countries will provide the basis for further expansion of such
ties.
Palestinians
want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East
al-Quds as its capital.
The
last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014, with Israel’s
continued settlement expansion emerging as a key sticking point.
All
Israeli settlements are deemed illegal under international law as they are
built on the occupied land.
The
UN Security Council has time and again condemned the occupying regime’s
diabolic settler-colonialism project in its umpteen resolutions.
Between
600,000 and 750,000 Israelis occupy over 250 illegal settlements built since
the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East
al-Quds.
Khulaifi
also stressed the importance of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, stating
that its restoration is in the interest of the security and stability of the
region.
The
United States, under former president Donald Trump, abandoned the accord,
officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018
and reinstated crippling sanctions that the agreement had lifted.
The
talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in the Austrian capital in April last
year, months after Joe Biden succeeded Trump, to examine the potential of the
US return to the deal and removal of sanctions.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Jordan
calls for halting Israeli violations at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa complex
Laith
Al-Jnaidi
28.08.2022
Jordan
on Sunday called for an immediate end to Israeli violations at the flashpoint
Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.
Foreign
Ministry spokesman Haitham Abu Alfoul said settler intrusions into the holy
site “represent a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international law and
the historic and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its sanctities."
The
spokesman said the Jordan-run Jerusalem Endowment Department is the legal
entity responsible for administering Al-Aqsa affairs.
In
March 2003, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II
signed an agreement that gives Jordan the mandate to "defend Jerusalem and
its holy sites," and confirms Jordan's role as protector of the city's
holy sites.
Al-Aqsa
Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the
"Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in
ancient times.
Since
2003, Israel has allowed settlers into the compound almost daily.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Iran
Showcases New Precision-Striking Drone
2022-August-28
The
new drone was unveiled during a visit by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer
Qalibaf to an exhibition held by the defense ministry on Saturday.
The
Iranian Armed Forces’ latest achievement in the field of the unmanned aircraft
is a cruise missile carrying drone with hight destructive power.
The
aircraft has been outfitted with an optical seeker and a warhead capable of
detecting targets. It is also able to capture and relaying live images of the
targets, lock on terrestrial targets and destroying them with precision.
The
Iranian Army has recently staged large-scale drone wargames across the country
with the participation of different units and the involvement of more than 150
new advanced drones. The military exercises were participated by forces of four
units of the Army, namely the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense
Force.
Commander
of the Iranian Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi lauded the country's
achievements in developing different types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),
and said that the recent drone drills that covered all of the country's
territory has a clear message.
Major
General Mousavi stated that the Iranian people are pleased that they have their
armed forces on their side.
He
added that the drills are the most massive war games conducted by all four
branches of the Army across mainland Iran and in the Persian Gulf and the Sea
of Oman.
"Iran
has deployed all its drone and electronic warfare capabilities in the
exercises," the senior commander noted.
Maj.
Gen. Mousavi stressed that Iran’s friends are encouraged when they see the
Islamic Republic is pressing ahead forcefully on its path toward progress
despite enmities and heinous acts by the adversaries.
Iran
has in recent years gained significant progress in developing surveillance and
combat drones. Military officials say Tehran is self-sufficient in building
drones from their fuselage to various subsystems and engines, adding the
country’s Armed Forces are equipped and ready to carry out any type of drone
operations and missions. Tehran stresses its drone capability is
non-negotiable.
Back
in late May, Iran showed off an underground drone base where a range of
advanced drones were housed and operated for potential combat and other
missions.
During
his visit, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad
Baqeri underscored that the pilotless aircraft have enhanced Iran's deterrence
power.
He
underlined the significance of drones in defending the country's interests, and
added that they have found a special place in different defensive, offensive,
land, sea, air and air defense areas.
Noting
that deterrence is not possible with old methods and equipment and requires new
methods, Maj. Gen. Baqeri said that “the drones that we saw today can play such
a role”.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010606000138/Iran-Shwcases-New-Precisin-Sriking-Drne
--------
Iran
Calls for Cessation of Hostilities in Libya
2022-August-28
Voicing
deep concern about the recent deadly clashes in the Libyan capital, Kana'ani
underlined the need for an immediate end to the fighting in Tripoli.
He
urged that the warring sides should resolve their differences through
negotiations in order to protect the interests and security of Libyan people.
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran invites all warring sides to exercise self-restraint
and prevent an escalation of tensions, and calls on them to prioritize the
interests of the Libyan people,” the spokesperson underscored.
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran supports the process of political dialog and peaceful
solutions that secure the national unity, stability and territorial integrity
of Libya and ensure the rightful demands of the people of the country for
Libya’s development and prosperity,” the official added.
Intense
fighting broke out in Tripoli on Saturday night. The city has since been
engulfed by violence, according to witnesses.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010606000639/Iran-Calls-fr-Cessain-f-Hsiliies-in-Libya
--------
Africa
Libyan
Defence Ministry Issues Arrest Warrant for Parliament-Appointed Prime Minister
Ali
Semerci, Ebu Bekir Askin
29.08.2022
TRIPOLI,
Libya
The
Military Prosecutor's Office of Libya’s Defense Ministry issued an arrest
warrant Sunday for Tobruk parliament-appointed Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha
following clashes in the capital Tripoli.
The
prosecutor’s office made a written request to the police, intelligence services
and all security services in the country for the arrest.
It
also demanded the arrest of Bashagha’s major ally, Maj. Gen. Osama al-Juwaili,
the former head of the Tripoli-based military intelligence service; Bashagha’s
Minister of Health and his government spokesman Othman Abdel-Jalil; and Mohamed
Sowan, the chairman of Libya’s Democratic Party.
Bashagha
blamed Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and government officials for
the clashes in Tripoli.
Meanwhile,
Dbeibeh on Sunday made an address to the nation via the official Facebook
account of the Libyan government regarding the recent developments in the
capital.
"We
will bring those responsible for the attacks in Tripoli to justice," he
said.
At
least 32 people were killed and 159 others injured in clashes between rival
militias in several districts of Tripoli.
The
situation calmed in the capital on Sunday, one day after the heavy clashes
between forces backing Dbeibeh and forces loyal to his rival Bashagha, who was
appointed by the Tobruk-based parliament as prime minister.
The
violence, the worst since reaching a cease-fire in 2020, came amid military
buildups by forces affiliated with Dbeibeh and Bashagha, as both figures claim
power and authority in the capital.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Chief
Imam of Lekki Central Mosque Seeks Synergy among Muslim Leaders, Scholars to
Enhance Quality Leadership
By
Apata Oyeniran
Aug
28, 2022
The
Chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque, Imam Ridwanullahi Jamiu has advocated the
need for increased synergy among Muslim scholars and religious leaders for
increased cooperation and understanding.
Imam
Ridwanullahi gave the charge during a one-day workshop organised by Mamlakah
Multi-Services Limited in conjunction with Maktab for Da’wah and Charity for
scholars and sheikhs.
He
emphasised that collaboration and synergy among Muslim scholars would
strengthen coordinated leadership in the interest of the Muslim Ummah.
“Synergistic
relationships will lead to better but increased relationships among Sheiks and
scholars and this will lead to a coordinated Muslim Umah for the benefit of all
and sundry.
“Collaboration
will lead to quality leadership that will address issues that border on the
general wellbeing of the Muslim communities, manage matters like Fatwa, Zakat
and provide quality leadership that will adequately represent the concerns and
interests of the Muslim Ummah across the states,” he added.
Dr.
Muhammad Lawal Musa, the Proprietor of
The Arabian College Ibadan, Oyo State encouraged Muslims across the country to
be at the forefront of philanthropic projects like the building of social and
civil amenities like hospitals for the benefit of mankind and society at large.
In
his contributions, a lecturer in the Islamic Law Department of the Fountain
University, Osogbo, Mr. Idris Ibrahim Alao urged Muslims to know their rights
and remain committed to achieving the highest goals in society
“The
first thing is that Muslims must realise the need for them to be committed and
devoted towards achieving higher goals for the betterment of the Muslim
community”
“If
female Muslims are denied their rights at work, school and other establishments
or in the public sphere they are free to contact the Rights Advocacy Initiative
or MURIC, which are the leading voices in advocacy for the rights of Muslims in
Nigeria,” he added.
In
his remarks, one of the convener, Mr. Abeebulahi Jamiu Agbabiaka explained that
the programme was organised to bring Muslim scholars together on how to move
the Umah forward, deliberate, rally around paranoid religious issues that
affects Islam, discuss and sample their opinions on some matters of general
concerns.
Source:
Independent Nigeria
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Inuwa,
Shehu Of Borno, Pantami Urge Muslims To “Use Mosque To Preach Peace, Unity”
By
William Attah
Aug
28, 2022
The
Shehu of Borno State, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai and Minister of
Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Isah Ali Ibrahim Pantami, were among
other dignitaries that called on Muslims in Kaltungo, Gombe State, to use the
reconstructed Central Mosque to preach peace and unity of the people.
They
made the call at the commissioning of the reconstructed Kaltungo Central Mosque
built by the community at the cost of N269m.
Professor
Ibrahim Pantami, who was the guest speaker at the occasion said Mosque is an
important institution in Islam which serves several social functions adding
that history records the first Mosque built in the World served as a school and
other purposes such as counselling, teaching morals, and skills among others.
He
also stated that history has it that the Mosque gave birth to some of the
earliest universities in the world beginning in Morocco and Egypt.
He,
therefore, called on Muslims to ensure that the Mosque is not just used for
their five daily prayers alone but it should serve as a fountain of knowledge
where people acquire skills, and morals, get enlightened, justice and general
knowledge.
He,
therefore, called on the custodians of the mosque and the community to explore
other functions for maximum benefit.
Commissioning
the edifice, the Shehu of Borno who was the Special Guest of Honour, called on
the people to use the Mosque to preach peace and unity among people as well as
respect for constituted authorities.
He
commended Governor Inuwa Yahaya for creating an enabling environment for the
Mosque to be built and prayed for blessings, peace, love and unity among the
people.
In
his address, the Chairman of the occasion and Gombe State Governor, Alhaji
Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, congratulated the Kaltungo community for getting a new
central mosque with all the needed facilities, describing the event as
historic.
He
called on the community to make good use of the newly built place of worship
adding, “the Masjid is not only a place of worship; it is an educational
centre, a place to dispense justice, a reconciliation centre and a place to
bring social justice and ethical orientation to the people”.
He
used the occasion to call on the people of Kaltungo and Gombe State, in
general, to continue to live in peace and harmony for the overall development
of the state, maintaining that peace and unity are requisite for the
development of any society.
Earlier,
Secretary to Gombe State Government, Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, who is
also chairman, the building committee of the mosque, said the reconstruction of
the mosque became necessary due to the fact that the former structure could not
accommodate the people conveniently.
He
said, “the old mosque was built in 1968 with a capacity for 250 worshippers
which has now become grossly inadequate.
“The
construction project gulped the sum of two hundred and sixty-nine million Naira
(N269,000,000) and was completed within the period of three years.
“The
newly constructed mosque has the capacity for 2,500 worshippers, a women
section, a Library and toilets for both males and females; it has two minarets
on which are mounted public address systems with a capacity to transmit up to
5-7 kilometres of sound”, he stated.
Source:
Independent Nigeria
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Clashes
in Libya leave 32 dead before tentative calm
August
29, 2022
TRIPOLI:
Flights resumed and shops re-opened in Libya’s capital Tripoli on Sunday after
clashes between backers of rival governments killed at least 32 people and
sparked fears of major new conflict.
Armed
groups had exchanged fire that damaged several hospitals and set buildings on
fire starting on Friday evening, the worst fighting in the Libyan capital since
a landmark 2020 ceasefire.
A
cautious calm had set in by Saturday evening and the health ministry said on
Sunday morning that 32 people had been killed and 159 wounded during the
clashes.
The
fighting came after months of mounting tensions between backers of Abdulhamid
Dbeibah and Fathi Bashagha, whose rival administrations are vying for control
of the North African country which has seen more than a decade of violence
since a 2011 uprising.
Rival
administrations of Abdulhamid Dbeibah and Fathi Bashagha are vying for control
of Tripoli
Dbeibah’s
administration, installed in the capital as part of a United Nations-led peace
process last year, has so far prevented Bashagha from taking office there,
arguing that the next administration should be the product of elections.
Bashagha
was appointed by Libya’s eastern-based parliament earlier this year and is
backed by powerful eastern military chief Khalifa Haftar, whose 2019 attempt to
seize the capital by force turned into a year-long civil war.
Bashagha,
a former interior minister, had initially ruled out the use of violence to take
power in Tripoli but subsequently hinted that he could resort to force.
Libya
plunged into chaos following the 2011 overthrow and killing of its leader
Moammar Qadhafi in a Nato-backed uprising, with myriad armed groups and foreign
powers moving to fill the power vacuum.
Certain
armed groups seen as neutral in the latest crisis moved to back Dbeibah this
weekend to push back Bashagha’s second attempt to enter the capital.
Both
sides exchanged blame on Saturday while world powers appealed for calm.
Shifting
sands
The
UN’s Libya mission called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities”,
deploring “indiscriminate medium and heavy shelling in civilian-populated neighbourhoods”.
On
Saturday evening, Dbeibah posted a video of himself surrounded by bodyguards
and greeting fighters supporting his administration.
Wearing
a blue shirt and accompanied by his personal guard, he shook hands and took
selfies with supporters.
“We
won’t leave this country to the scoundrels,” he said in the video posted on his
Twitter account under the title “end of the aggression”.
He
said on Sunday he would create two committees to survey the damage from the
fighting.
Dbeibah’s
Government of National Unity said fighting had broken out after talks to avoid
bloodshed in the western city collapsed.
Bashagha
denied such talks had taken place, and accused Dbeibah’s “illegitimate”
administration of “clinging to power”.
Local
media reported late Saturday that a group of pro-Bashagha militias that had
been making their way to the capital from Misrata later turned back.
The
fighting prompted several airlines to cancel flights in and out of the only
working airport in the capital, and high school examinations set for the end of
August were postponed.
But
flights resumed and shops reopened on Sunday morning, while the University of
Tripoli announced that exams set for Monday would go ahead as originally
planned, annulling an earlier postponement.
On
Saturday evening, Dbeibah ordered the arrest of anyone involved in the “attack
on Tripoli”, both civilian and military.
A
pro-GNU force from Misrata — the hometown of both Dbeibah and Bashagha — said
on Sunday it had arrested several people involved in the attack.
But
analysts said the crisis was far from resolved, with the capital controlled by
a multitude of armed groups with shifting alliances described by analyst
Wolfram Lacher as “a never-ending story”.
Source:
Dawn
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of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1707296/clashes-in-libya-leave-32-dead-before-tentative-calm
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Sudanese
journalists form independent union to defend freedoms
28
August, 2022
Sudanese
journalists have formed the country’s first independent professional union for
decades, in what campaigners said was an important step towards re-establishing
freedoms after a military coup.
“The
victory is to regain our syndicate after more than 30 years in order to defend
the freedom and professionalism of the press,” said one journalist Waleed
Alnour, who waited hours in the sun to cast his vote in an election for the
union’s leadership on Sunday.
The
union has 1,164 members, 659 of whom took part in Sunday’s vote.
Shadow
unions that sprang up in opposition to autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who packed
unions with regime-friendly members, were instrumental in an uprising that
toppled him in 2019.
A
military coup last October ended a power-sharing arrangement with civilians
that followed the uprising.
The
coup also led to the suspension of a radio station, and some TV journalists
were subject to attacks, raids or arrests that they blamed on security forces
and loyalists of the former regime.
Journalists
aligned with Bashir had attempted to prevent Sunday’s vote going ahead by
raising an ongoing legal complaint, saying the syndicate could not replace the
pre-existing Bashir-era union.
However,
election committee head Faisal Mohamed Salih, who served as information
minister in a civilian-led government between the uprising and the coup, said
the vote “was executed in a completely democratic way... smoothly and with a
high turnout and excitement among the journalists.”
Civil
society observers, including some from opposition lawyers’ groups, attended the
election.
Abdelmoniem
Abu Idrees, a journalist working for international news agency Agence
France-Presse (AFP), was voted head of the syndicate. Votes were being counted
for the rest of the union’s 40-person leadership.
The
Bahri resistance committees, one of the groups leading ongoing protests against
military rule, said in a statement the election was an important step.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Military
convoy linked to Libya’s Bashagha heads toward Tripoli amid clashes
27
August, 2022
A
military convoy affiliated with the parliament-backed administration of Fathi
Bashagha was heading toward Tripoli on Saturday from Zlitan near Misrata, an
eyewitness said.
Fighting
erupted early on Saturday inside the capital, the seat of the Government of
National Unity which Bashagha and the parliament seek to replace.
Intense
fighting erupted in the Libyan capital overnight and lasted into Saturday
morning, with rival factions exchanging heavy gunfire and the sounds of several
loud blasts ricocheting around the city.
The
clashes took place in Tripoli’s city center after one of the capital’s
strongest groups assaulted the base of a rival force, witnesses said, leading
to hours of shooting that terrified locals and raised fears of a wider
escalation.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Sudan
journalists vote for new syndicate after boycotting union for more than 3
decades
Mohammed
Amin
28.08.2022
KHARTOUM,
Sudan
Hundreds
of Sudanese journalists voted Saturday for a new Journalists Syndicate after
boycotting the Sudanese Journalists Union for 33 years.
They
accused the union of belonging to the regime of former President Omer
Al-Bashir.
The
election committee that supervised the election said voting has ended and
counting has begun.
"The
process will end by the announcement of the initial results on Saturday and the
final results on the 1st of September," it said in a statement.
The
Sudanese Council for Press and Publication rejected the vote, describing it as
illegal, while journalists groups said they will continue the process to form
the syndicate.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Europe
Sweden’s
NATO talks with Türkiye strained by party members posing with PKK/YPG flags:
Foreign Minister
Atila
Altuntas
29.08.2022
STOCKHOLM
Sweden’s
negotiations with Türkiye on its bid to join NATO were made more difficult when
members of a local political party took a photo with flags of the PKK/YPG
terrorist organization, Foreign Minister Ann Linde said Sunday.
Linde
told the Swedish Aftonbladet daily that Turkish media constantly brings up this
incident and similar events.
She
said that although this was freedom of expression under Swedish law, it was a
“very inappropriate” situation for the government.
On
July 7, Left Party deputies Daniel Riazat, Momodou Malcolm Jallow and Lorena
Delgado Varas posed for a photo in the city of Visby with flags of the YPG/PKK
and shared it on social media.
Swedish
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson condemned the three deputies over the
incident.
Justice
and Interior Minister Morgan Johansson had declared that the PKK has the blood
of many innocent people on its hands.
Türkiye,
a NATO member for more than 70 years, made it clear that it will oppose Sweden
and Finland’s NATO membership bids if its security concerns have not been met.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Pope
calls for international cooperation to help flood-hit Pakistan
Faruk
Zorlu
28.08.2022
Pope
Francis Sunday called for international cooperation to help Pakistan which is
battered by heavy monsoon rains and massive floods.
"I
pray for the numerous victims, for the wounded and those forced from their
homes, and that international solidarity might be prompt and generous,"
the pontiff said in a statement issued by the Vatican press office.
He
added: "In this place that suffered a harsh calamity, I want to assure the
people of Pakistan, hit by floods of disastrous proportions, of my
nearness."
Pakistan
reached over 1,000 deaths in rain-related incidents, which have been triggered
by torrential rains and swirling floods across the country since mid-June.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Netherlands
temporarily suspends reception of asylum seekers from Türkiye: Justice and
Security Ministry
Faruk
Zorlu
28.08.2022
The
Netherlands has decided to suspend the reception of asylum seekers from Türkiye
despite a EU-Türkiye deal.
The
Netherlands will "no longer admit people under the EU-Turkey Statement
until the end of 2023," the Justice and Security Ministry said Friday.
The
Netherlands has admitted "a relatively large number of Syrians" since
2016 under the EU-Türkiye Readmission Agreement, it said.
The
agreement that was signed in March 2016, said Ankara is supposed to readmit all
irregular asylum-seekers who reach the Greek islands from Türkiye. In exchange,
the European Union agreed to resettle Syrian refugees from Türkiye.
The
Dutch government continues to consider "these agreements important and
will also start implementing them again from 2024. But in the current situation
that is irresponsible," it added.
"A
solid package of measures should improve our asylum reception and the situation
in Ter Apel as quickly as possible. With support from the region, we are taking
the necessary steps to handle asylum procedures in a humane and dignified
manner,” State Secretary for Justice and Security Eric van der Burg wrote on
Twitter.
-
Accommodation crisis
The
Cabinet decided to take measures to alleviate the reception of asylum seekers
amid the situation at the asylum application center in Ter Apel, which lasted
for months and turned into a national crisis.
While
the Dutch government was attempting to address the problem, the Dutch Red Cross
set up tents in the garden of the center because of the lack of beds but
removed them following backlash.
Despite
the removal of the tents, many refugees, including women, children and the
elderly, continued to sleep in the garden.
The
government has been struggling to find places for asylum seekers due to the
lack of space at asylum centers and the inability of municipalities to provide
shelter for refugees.
While
the government was attempting to facilitate the transfer of a hotel purchased
in the village of Albergen to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum
Seekers to accommodate 300 refugees, it faced protests from residents.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Türkiye
calls Macron's remarks in Algeria 'unacceptable'
Rabia
İclal Turan
27.08.2022
French
President Macron's remarks on Türkiye during his current visit to Algeria were
"unacceptable," said Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday.
"It
is extremely unfortunate that French President Emmanuel Macron made statements
targeting our country, along with some other countries, during his visit to
Algeria," ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a written response to
questions by reporters.
"It
is unacceptable that French President Macron, who has trouble confronting his
colonial past in Africa, especially in Algeria, tries to get rid of his
colonial past by accusing other countries, including ours," he added.
Bilgic
said Ankara hopes France will reach the "level of maturity" to face
its colonial past "without blaming other countries."
He
said that if France wants to understand why Paris faces a backlash from the
African continent, "it should look for the source of this in its colonial
past and its efforts to continue (colonialism) with different methods and try
to correct this."
"Claiming
that this backlash is caused by the activities of third countries, instead of
confronting and solving the problems related to their own past, is not only
denial of a sociological phenomenon and history, but also a reflection of the
distorted mentality of some politicians," he said.
Stressing
that Türkiye is developing its relations with both Algeria and other countries
in the African continent, he said that these relations are based on a
"mutual trust and win-win relationship."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkiye-calls-macrons-remarks-in-algeria-unacceptable/2670652
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