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UN Special Representative in Afghanistan Meets Women Religious Scholars in Kabul, Discusses Islamic Law, Women's Rights Issues

New Age Islam News Bureau

15 November 2021

 

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General Mette Knudsen met with women religious scholars in Kabul.

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• Taliban Hold Military Parade with US-Made Weapons in Kabul in Show of Strength

• Former Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi Wants to Be Cremated, Not Buried

• 27 Renowned Islamic Scholars, Physicians and Academics Granted Saudi Citizenship

• Turkish Man, Living In Germany, Pedals Around Globe to Fight Islamophobia, Racism

 South Asia

• ‘Afghanistan doesn’t want conflict with any country, including India’

• The string of Islamic state attacks that killed three generations of one Afghan family

• Taliban to reassess documents of residential towns, estate dealers

• ISIS-K claims responsibility for Saturday's explosion in Kabul

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North America

• Taliban Hold Military Parade with US-Made Weapons in Kabul in Show of Strength

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India

• Curfew in Amravati after Fresh Violence during the Saturday Bandh Call By Saffron Outfits

• Maharashtra Violence: VHP Seeks Ban on Muslim Organisation, Raza Academy

• President Kovind to Visit Bangladesh on December 16 to Attend Victory Day Celebrations: Reports

• Ganesh Kumar, the Army Man Held for ‘Sharing’ Intelligence Inputs with Pakistan Operative

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Arab World

• Saudi Arabia sees no purpose in engaging Lebanon at this time: FM

• Embraces and flowers greet Kuwaiti prisoners freed under amnesty

• Egypt Bans Donation Boxes in Mosques Nationwide: An Explainer

• Colombia says monitoring Lebanon's Hezbollah over ‘criminal’ acts

• Iraq to start repatriating citizens in Belarus Thursday: ministry

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Europe

• Polish Muslim Leader Helps Feed Migrants and Soldiers

• Hungary Will Not Leave EU, Wants To Reform It, PM Orban Says

• France denies handing over executed journalist Zam to Iran: Report

• UK counter-terrorist police arrest three after deadly car blast

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Pakistan

• Indian Sikhs Set Nov 19 as Deadline for Kartarpur Corridor Reopening

• 20 Indian fishermen released from Pakistani jail to return via Attari-Wagah border

• Opposition asks speaker to form new panel on poll reforms

• Opposition rejects Senate’s decision of including Fawad, Swati in ECP panel

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Southeast Asia

• Call It Dollah or Wahhab, PAS Minister Says Party Still Opposes Timah Whisky despite Cabinet’s Nod

' • Second chance': Family of Indian-origin man on death row in Singapore pleads

• Sabah Allows Funeral Rites at Non-Muslim Houses Of Worship from Tomorrow, Says State Minister

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Mideast

• Israel Denies Espionage Charge against Couple Arrested In Turkey

• Coalition Strikes Houthis In Support Of Yemeni Forces On West Coast

• Iranian Lawmakers Hail Army’s Massive ‘Zolfaqar 1400’ Drills

• MP Underlines Jewish Community’s Support for Iranian Athletes Abstaining Competition against Israeli Opponents

• Iran, Kyrgyzstan Vow to Broaden Economic Cooperation

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Africa

• Hundreds in Israel Protest for Rescue Of Ethiopia Jews

• Libya's Presidency Council calls for ‘simultaneous’ elections

• Tunisian protesters try to break through security barriers near parliament

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL:   https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/religious-scholars-kabul-un-afghanistan/d/125775

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UN Special Representative in Afghanistan Meets Women Religious Scholars in Kabul, Discusses Islamic Law, Women's Rights Issues

 

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General Mette Knudsen met with women religious scholars in Kabul.

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Nov 15, 2021

KABUL: A top UN Special Representative in Afghanistan on Sunday met with women religious scholars in Kabul and discussed different aspects of Islamic Law and the key issues concerning rights of girls and women in the country.

Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Mette Knudsen, has been holding several rounds of talks with all stakeholders in the country including Taliban to address various issues including need for humanitarian aid.

"UNAMA Dep-Head @Metknu hosted women religious scholars in Kabul today. They discussed different aspects of Islamic Law, the importance of girls being able to go to school and women being gainfully employed," UNAMA tweeted.

UNAMA Dep-Head @Metknu hosted women religious scholars in Kabul today. They discussed different aspects of Islamic… https://t.co/fXfblnxV4v

— UNAMA News (@UNAMAnews) 1636907155000

This meeting came the same day as Islamic clerics from several countries across the world, including India, held a virtual conference, where they called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

The participants, from India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Croatia, stressed the need to form a unified position on countering ISIS in Islamic countries, TOLOnews reported.

"Controlling the government by a certain ethnicity and ignoring other ethnicities is impossible. This will cause chaos in Afghanistan because it is obvious that all ethnicities have power and are looking for their rights," said Ayatullah Syed Yasin, a top Iraqi religious cleric. The meeting also highlighted the importance of human rights and women's rights.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai had called on the international community to cooperate with Afghanistan on the issue of counter-terrorism.

"If you are really concerned about the security of yourself and the world and remain committed to the pledges on Afghanistan, in such a critical and vital situation and to ensure peace and stability, help the people of Afghanistan," Karzai was quoted as saying by TOLOnews.

Two months have passed since the Taliban regained control of Kabul, as the US and its allies departed, wrapping up their 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.

Going against all promises of inclusive government, the Taliban have appointed an all-male cabinet. They abolished the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and handed over the women's ministry building to the reinstated Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which was responsible for some of the worst abuses against women during the Taliban's previous period in power from 1996-2001.

Source: Times of India

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/un-special-envoy-meets-women-religious-scholars-in-kabul-discusses-islamic-law-womens-rights-issues/articleshow/87708000.cms

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Taliban Hold Military Parade with US-Made Weapons in Kabul in Show of Strength

Nov 14, 2021

 

A military helicopter is pictured during the Taliban military parade in Kabul, Afghanistan November 14, 2021.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

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KABUL: Taliban forces held a military parade in Kabul on Sunday using captured American-made armoured vehicles and Russian helicopters in a display that showed their ongoing transformation from an insurgent force to a regular standing army.

The Taliban operated as insurgent fighters for two decades but have used the large stock of weapons and equipment left behind when the former Western-backed government collapsed in August to overhaul their forces.

The parade was linked to the graduation of 250 freshly trained soldiers, defence ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi said.

The exercise involved dozens of US-made M117 armoured security vehicles driving slowly up and down a major Kabul road with MI-17 helicopters patrolling overhead. Many soldiers carried American made-M4 assault rifles.

Most of the weapons and equipment the Taliban forces are now using are those supplied by Washington to the American-backed government in Kabul in a bid to construct an Afghan national force capable of fighting the Taliban.

Those forces melted away with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani from Afghanistan - leaving the Taliban to take over major military assets.

Taliban officials have said that pilots, mechanics and other specialists from the former Afghan National Army would be integrated into a new force, which has also started wearing conventional military uniforms in place of the traditional Afghan clothing normally worn by their fighters.

According to a report late last year by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), the US government transferred to the Afghan government more than $28 billion worth of defence articles and services, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, night-vision devices, aircraft, and surveillance systems, from 2002 to 2017.

Some of the aircraft were flown into neighbouring Central Asian Countries by fleeing Afghan forces, but the Taliban have inherited other aircraft. It remains unclear how many are operational.

As the US troops departed, they destroyed more than 70 aircraft, dozens of armoured vehicles and disabled air defences before flying out of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport following a chaotic evacuation operation.

Source: Times of India

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/taliban-hold-military-parade-with-us-made-weapons-in-kabul-in-show-of-strength/articleshow/87703227.cms

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Former Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi Wants to Be Cremated, Not Buried

15th November 2021

 

Wasim Rizvi says he wants his body to be cremated, Mahant Narasimhanand should light his pyre

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Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi has a penchant for controversies. He has now released a video-recorded message expressing his desire to be cremated according to Hindu rituals and not buried.

In the video released on Sunday, Rizvi mentioned that his body must be handed over to his Hindu friend, Mahant Narasimha Nanda Saraswati of the Dasna temple, and he should light his pyre.

Wasim Rizvi has earned the ire of his entire community after he challenged 26 ‘ayats’ of the Quran and then claimed to have written a new Quran.

He has reportedly received death threats from Muslim groups for filing a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking the removal of verses from the Quran, which he alleges “teach violence”.

Source: Daily Siasat

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:

https://www.siasat.com/wasim-rizvi-wants-to-be-cremated-not-buried-2225341/

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27 Renowned Islamic Scholars, Physicians And Academics Granted Saudi Citizenship

November 15, 2021

 

Sayyed Muhammad Al-Husseini (first on the left), Dr. Radwan al-Sayed (first on the right), Mustafa Ceric (second on the lift), Dr.Khaled Hamwi (second on the right).

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RIYADH — The preliminary lists of those who were granted Saudi citizenship following the issuance of royal orders by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman encompass all the vital fields of Saudi life.

Granting of the citizenship was in recognition of their distinguished services and outstanding contributions in all major walks of life through decades-long dedications and relentless efforts that qualified them to attain a distinguished status in the Saudi society.

The list of those who were granted citizenship included 27 renowned Islamic scholars, eminent physicians and well Known academics, according to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

The scholars included those who involved in framing and approving the historic Makkah Document. At the international conference of Islamic scholars, organized by Muslim World League (MWL) in May 2019, King Salman presented the document, which was signed by more than 1,200 Islamic scholars and 4500 intellectuals from 139 countries and 27 Muslim schools of thought.

President of the World Bosniak Congress and Former Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mustafa Ceric is one among the scholars who were granted citizenship.

The scholars include Hussein Al-Daoudi, chairman of the Scandinavian Council for Relations; Dr. Muhammad Nimr El-Sammak, secretary general of the National Islamic-Christian Committee for Dialogue, Lebanon and he is considered one of the leading Arab thinkers; Dr. Radwan al-Sayed, researcher in Islamic Thought Studies, and winner of the King Faisal International Prize in the field of Islamic studies.

All these scholars are members of the MWL Supreme Council and they ratified the Makkah Document. Other scholars are Abdullah Saleh Abdullah, a leading Iraqi academic and historian specialized in the history of the Kingdom and the Gulf in general, and Sayyed Muhammad Al-Husseini, secretary general of the Arabic Islamic Council of Lebanon, and an eminent Shiite scholar.

Saudi Arabia also granted citizenship to a group of distinguished medical personalities in their respective fields and they are:

Dr. Emad Muhammad Talijeh, renowned infectious diseases consultant, who published more than 87 scientific papers.

Dr. Farouq Oweida, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, who worked as a consultant for cardiac surgery at the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, and currently working as a consultant for heart surgery and head of the cardiac surgery Department at Saud Al Babtain Center. He performed more than 5,000 open-heart surgeries at Saud Al-Babtain Center.

Dr. Imad Uddin Najeh Ezzat Kanaan, head of the Department of Neurology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, and he is considered one of the most famous neurosurgeons in the world. He was nominated by the Canadian Academy as the 16 best surgeons in the world.

Dr.Khaled Hamwi: Deputy director for Clinical Excellence in the First Health Cluster in Sharqia, and served as director of the Organ Transplant Center at King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam.

Dr. Muhammad Ghayath Jamil: Medical director of the Intensive Care Unit for Organ Transplantation, medical director of the Telemedicine Unit, and former medical director of the Sleep Medicine Unit at King Faisal Specialist Hospital. He is former president of the Saudi Sleep Medicine Group and director of telemedicine program.

Dr. Walid Khaled Rashid: Consultant of hematology, stem cell transplantation and bone marrow transplantation at King Faisal Specialist Hospital.

Dr. Mustafa Abdullah Saleh: A renowned physician who presented 235 scientific papers in specialized international scientific fields.

Saudi citizenship has also been granted to a group of prominent academics and educational figures who have made significant contributions in their respective fields: They include several professors of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals who made outstanding contributions in various academic specializations.

They are Bekir Yilbas, Ansir Merah, Mohammed Abdel Aziz Mustafa Habib, Mohamed Abdel Karim Antar, Tawfiq Abdo Saleh Awad, Ali Hussein Muqaibel, Azzedine Zerkin, Samir Mekid, Ayman Helmy Al-Maleh, Bassam El-Ali, Salaheldin El-Katatny and Mohamed Ahmed Nasr Eldin Mahmoud.

Hadi Mohamed Aqoun and Musa Qari Syed were also granted citizenship. Aqoun is holder of doctorate in electrical engineering from Washington University and he presented 37 research papers in international conferences.

Musa Qari Syed is a nuclear scientist with master’s degree in radiochemistry from the University of Iowa, and doctorates in Radiological Sciences from Ohio Medical College in Toledo, and in Higher Education Administration from Pennsylvania University. He served as consultant of several world universities including those in Saudi Arabia.

Source: Saudi Gazette

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:

https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/613573/SAUDI-ARABIA/27-renowned-Islamic-scholars-physicians-and-academics-granted-Saudi-citizenship

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Turkish Man, Living In Germany, Pedals Around Globe to Fight Islamophobia, Racism

November 15, 2021

 

(Photo courtesy: aa.com)

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A Turkish man living in Germany has been pedalling his bike in various parts of the world since 2020 to raise awareness of the scourges of racism and Islamophobia.

Recai Karaca Pak is on the bike explaining that racist and Islamophobic news reports against Muslims and Turks in Europe are unfounded.

The 47-year-old engineer hit the road in August last year and reached Turkey in the sixth week of his journey. After visiting various Turkish provinces for a year, Pak came to Istanbul on Oct. 29.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency about his long journey, Pak said there is a smear media campaign against Muslims and Turks in Europe.

“This situation opens the door to racism. I jumped on my bike to raise awareness and set off from Europe to Turkey. I traveled to many European countries and told people that the propaganda against Muslims was wrong,” he said.

“Those Europeans know that Muslims are not against them. They have fraternal relations with Muslims. But those who do not know Muslims keep a distance because of the media propaganda,” he explained, adding: “I want to show our humanity and character to those who do not know us.”

“Muslims face racism and encounter difficulties in finding a job or renting an apartment in many places. Our mosques face over 400 attacks a year. The solution is to introduce and express ourselves,” Pak said, noting that he wanted to inform the whole world about being a Turk, as well as about the Turkish culture and the extent of racism against Turks and Muslims.

Source: ABNA24

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:

https://en.abna24.com/news//turkish-man-pedals-around-globe-to-fight-islamophobia-racism_1198549.html

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South Asia

 

‘Afghanistan doesn’t want conflict with any country, including India’

Nov 15, 2021

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s interim foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, in an interview to BBC Urdu, has said that his country does not want conflict with any other country, including India. He added that the Islamic Emirate now controls the entire country and Daesh (the militant Islamic State group) has been eliminated from most of Afghanistan.

“We do not want Afghanistan to have a conflict with any other country or have challenges arise that could affect our nation. When we participated in the Moscow conference, the representatives of India, Pakistan and several other countries were also present. We had a positive conversation with New Delhi and others,” Muttaqi responded when asked about relations with India.

Calling Daesh a threat, the Afghan minister said the Taliban government has eliminated it from a major part of the country.

“Previously, 70% of Afghanistan was under the control of the Islamic Emirate and the Daesh only had presence in areas ruled by the former Afghan government. After the Taliban took over, the government took effective measures to control them and confine them to certain areas,” he added.

The Afghan minister further said that his country has been acting as a mediator between Pakistan and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the desire of both parties.

“The two sides have not yet reached an agreement, but the process has had a good start, leading to the announcement of a month-long ceasefire,” Muttaqi said, adding that he was hopeful that the process would not face obstacles in the future and that relations between the Pakistan government and TTP would improve.

Dispelling the impression that women were being excluded from education and work in offices in Afghanistan, Muttaqi said: “Women have 100% inclusion in the health sector. They are also in the education sector. They are working in every sector where they are required. Our government has not fired any female official who had worked under the previous government.”

“We have no such policy to deny women of their rights in any field. Their salaries, as well as opportunities for education and employment, were also not affected,” he added.

Source: Times of India

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/afghanistan-doesnt-want-conflict-with-any-country-including-india/articleshow/87704609.cms

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The string of Islamic state attacks that killed three generations of one Afghan family

November 15, 2021

When Masooma Rajabi saw her relatives flooding into the family’s courtyard, she broke down in sobs.

Her family had congregated there twice over the past two weeks: First, to mourn the loss of her husband, who had been killed in a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan and then again after another blast ripped through a Shiite mosque in Kandahar, killing her father-in-law and lodging shrapnel in the skull of her 15-year-old son, Maisam.

She had clung to hope that Maisam would recover. But now, seeing her husband’s cousins and her mother quietly weeping, Masooma knew she had lost him, too.

“How is this possible?” asked Masooma, 32, burying her face in her damp head scarf.

For decades, violence has torn through Afghanistan’s Shiite community, perpetuated first by the Taliban — who consider Shiites heretics — and in more recent years by the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K.

When the Taliban, hard-line Sunni Muslims, seized power in August, they vowed to end decades of bloodshed and sought to reassure Afghan Shiites that they would not again be their targets, as they were during the group’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001. This time around, the Taliban have allowed Shiites to observe the holy holiday of Ashura; they dispatched a Shiite cleric to do outreach in Shiite communities; they visited Shiite mosques to demonstrate solidarity; and they vowed that the new government would keep them safe.

But two suicide bombings by Islamic State Khorasan at mosques in October, which together killed more than 90 people and injured hundreds of others, stoked fears that, in fact, the Taliban would allow the Islamic State’s campaign against Afghan Shiites to go unchecked. The attacks also fueled concerns in neighboring Iran, a Shiite Muslim theocracy and self-proclaimed defender of Shiite Muslims around the world, where officials have voiced concerns about the fate of Afghan Shiites under Taliban rule and the threat of a resurgent Islamic State Khorasan launching attacks on Iranian soil.

Now many Afghan Shiites fear the beginning of a new brutal chapter, one in which their security depends on the very movement that once targeted them.

Few understand that devastating new reality more than Masooma and her family. In the span of just two weeks, she and her relatives lost a grandfather, father and son — three generations of Afghan men who spent most of their lives in a country at war but died after the bloodshed was meant to be over.

“When the Taliban became in power, we were not expecting these things,” said Masooma’s uncle-in-law, Abdul Raziq Rajabi, 50, the morning after Maisam died. “But I can’t say now whether the Taliban will support our people or not.”

After the attack, an uneasy quiet enveloped their neighborhood of mud brick houses stitched together with narrow alleyways and electric wires dangling overhead. It is one of a handful of Shiite districts in Kandahar, the Pashtun heartland of the country. Some Shiites there are Hazara — an ethnic minority that has been persecuted for centuries — who migrated to the southern city for work or to flee violence. Others have lived in the south for hundreds of years.

Masooma’s father-in-law, Haji Nematullah Rajabi, 60, migrated from the central province of Ghazni to Kandahar nearly a half-century ago and lived a comfortable life in the relative calm of the city. He started selling agricultural equipment; married his wife, Sughra; and eventually had a daughter and two sons.

Ezzatullah Rajabi, 33, Sughra and Nematullah’s son, married Masooma, and they had three boys of their own. They moved to Kunduz, an economic hub of northern Afghanistan. The move made sense to expand the family business but terrified Ezzatullah’s mother. After the Taliban briefly seized the city in 2015 and 2016, Sughra called every week begging him to return to Kandahar.

Still, when the Taliban began their military offensive last summer, even Ezzatullah was on edge. After the group seized power and offered public pledges to protect Afghan Shiites, who make up 10% to 20% of the country’s population, Ezzatullah said his fears dissipated.

Then, Oct. 8, an Islamic State group suicide attack devastated Ezzatullah’s mosque in Kunduz, killing at least 43 people.

Masooma heard the explosion and sprinted to the mosque, knowing her husband had gone there to pray. She scoured the bodies being carried out in bloody scarves, looking for him. The next morning, Nematullah arrived from Kandahar and found Ezzatullah’s body — his limbs bent like a rag doll — in a hospital morgue. Seeing him, Nematullah nearly collapsed.

The family returned to Kandahar to bury Ezzatullah, and the following Friday — determined to show his unwavering faith — Nematullah went to his mosque to pray. He called Masooma three times that morning asking her to send his oldest grandson, Maisam, to join him.

Masooma relented. But about 1 p.m., she heard another blast — this time from two suicide bombers who barged into the mosque during Friday prayers. The explosion left bodies scattered across bloodstained carpets. Dazed survivors poured out of the building through broken windows, while others looked for loved ones.

Nematullah’s surviving son, Ahmad Zia, found him among the bodies — his right side bloodied, eyes closed and barely able to speak — and then spotted Maisam, whose head was wrapped in a bloodied scarf. He brought them both to the hospital where Maisam was put on life support and Nematullah died — one of at least 47 people killed that day.

The attack on Bibi Fatima Mosque was Islamic State Khorasan’s first in Kandahar, the Taliban’s historic stronghold, and it shocked the Shiite community there. For many, the week that followed was a blur of funerals and mourning. In one Shiite neighborhood, mourners poured into a cemetery for bombing victims each day, whispering prayers at the row of fresh graves.

By the cemetery gate, talk of security consumed a group of men as they passed around a pot of tea. The new, untested government could not confront the resurgent threat from Islamic State Khorasan, some said. Others questioned the Taliban’s professed intentions to protect Afghan Shiites — even wondering whether some Talibs might see the recent attacks as an invitation to freely kill Shiites.

“The Taliban are just saying they are trying to keep our security, but why should we believe them?” asked Khalil, 36, staring at the graves.

For Shiite community leaders, the implication of the bombing was clear: It was time to take security back into their own hands. Days after the attack, they met with Taliban officials at the mosque — the air still heavy with the smell of charred flesh — and demanded that the new government return seized weapons to the roughly 40 Shiite places of worship in Kandahar.

The Taliban agreed to return up to three weapons to every Shiite mosque and offered compensation to families of the bombing victims.

“It is the right not only of the Shia’s nation, but the right of all Kandahar’s people to be secure,” Haji Mullah Abdul Ghafar Mohammadi, 41, the Taliban police chief in Kandahar, said in an interview.

But weeks later, the Taliban had still not yet returned the weapons, prompting some Shiite leaders to take matters into their own hands.

As men poured into Bibi Fatima Mosque the following Friday, two men with Kalashnikov rifles manned the entrance while plainclothes security guards kept watch from behind nearby shop counters. Others were perched on nearly every roof in the vicinity, their bodies hunched over and weapons aimed at the pavement below.

Source: Indian Express

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/the-string-of-islamic-state-attacks-that-killed-three-generations-of-one-afghan-family-7623279/

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Taliban to reassess documents of residential towns, estate dealers

15 Nov 2021

The Justice Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said that they reassess the documents of residential towns, estate dealers, and car dealers in Kabul.

The ministry had asked the owners of all residential towns, estates, and car dealers to submit their documents to the ministry of justice for reassessment.

The spokesperson of the ministry Muhammad Bashar said that they have extended the time and added that the owners have another seven days to submit their license and documents to the relevant administrations or the ministry.

Muhammad Bashar warned of canceling the documents and licenses of the residential towns that have violated the city’s plan or have usurped the land.

Officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said that they have found up to 15 residential towns in Kabul that are either built illegally or have usurped the land.

Source: Khaama Press

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.khaama.com/taliban-to-reassess-documents-of-residential-towns-estate-dealers-25236/

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ISIS-K claims responsibility for Saturday's explosion in Kabul

Nov 15, 2021

KABUL: The Islamic State (ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for Saturday's explosion in the western part of Kabul.

The explosion in Dasht-e-Barchi of Kabul left three dead and six more wounded, Khamma Press reported,

Afghan journalist Hameed Saighani was among those who died in the explosion but sources have told Khaama press that Saighani was assassinated in the northern part of Kabul.

The Islamic Emirate spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the explosion reportedly was caused by a transport vehicle that caught fire. He said an investigation had begun into the incident.

The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15.ISIS has carried out several attacks including an attack on Kabul Airport during an evacuation by the US forces following the fall of Kabul.

Source: Times of India

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/isis-k-claims-responsibility-for-saturdays-explosion-in-kabul/articleshow/87711692.cms

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North America

 

Taliban Hold Military Parade with US-Made Weapons in Kabul in Show of Strength

15 November ,2021

Taliban forces held a military parade in Kabul on Sunday using captured American-made armored vehicles and Russian helicopters in a display that showed their ongoing transformation from an insurgent force to a regular standing army.

The Taliban operated as insurgent fighters for two decades but have used the large stock of weapons and equipment left behind when the former Western-backed government collapsed in August to overhaul their forces.

The parade was linked to the graduation of 250 freshly trained soldiers, defense ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi said.

The exercise involved dozens of US-made M117 armoured security vehicles driving slowly up and down a major Kabul road with MI-17 helicopters patrolling overhead. Many soldiers carried American made-M4 assault rifles.

Most of the weapons and equipment the Taliban forces are now using are those supplied by Washington to the American-backed government in Kabul in a bid to construct an Afghan national force capable of fighting the Taliban.

Those forces melted away with the fleeing of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani from Afghanistan -- leaving the Taliban to take over major military assets.

Taliban officials have said that pilots, mechanics and other specialists from the former Afghan National Army would be integrated into a new force, which has also started wearing conventional military uniforms in place of the traditional Afghan clothing normally worn by their fighters.

According to a report late last year by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), the US government transferred to the Afghan government more than $28 billion worth of defense articles and services, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, night-vision devices, aircraft, and surveillance systems, from 2002 to 2017.

Source: Al Arabiya

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/11/15/Taliban-hold-military-parade-with-US-made-weapons-armored-vehicles-in-Kabul

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India

 

Curfew in Amravati after Fresh Violence during The Saturday Bandh Call By Saffron Outfits

Nov 14, 2021

NAGPUR/NASHIK/AURANGABAD: As violence erupted in various parts of Amravati during the Saturday bandh call by saffron outfits, police imposed a four-day curfew and also shut down Internet there. Saturday’s bandh call was in response to Friday’s protest rallies by Muslim organisations to condemn the recent violence in Tripura. The rally witnessed stone pelting in which shops were damaged, leading to the bandh call.

Internet services will remain suspended for three days to prevent the spread of rumours that fuel violence, said city police commissioner Arti Singh. On Saturday, hundreds of people, many of them holding saffron flags and raising slogans, came out on the streets in Rajkamal Chowk area. Some people hurled stones at shops in Rajkamal Chowk and other places, police said, adding that the cops lathi-charged the protesters to bring the situation under control.

To aid the police force there, about hundred cops and 10 officers from Nagpur have been sent. Also, One or two companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) are expected to reach Amravati soon. Except for medical emergencies, people are not allowed to come out of houses. The Nashik rural police have so far booked close to 1,500 people on charges of rioting, robberies, attempt to murder and assault . Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the violence in Amravati and other places was aimed at destabilising the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said it was wrong to organise rallies in the state for an incident that “never occurred”.

Source: Times of India

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/curfew-in-amravati-after-fresh-violence/articleshow/87692043.cms

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Maharashtra Violence: VHP Seeks Ban on Muslim Organisation, Raza Academy

14th November 2021

Nagpur: Against the backdrop of recent incidents of stone-pelting in various cities in Maharashtra during the rallies taken out in protest against the purported communal violence in Tripura, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday demanded a ban on Muslim organisation, Raza Academy.

Addressing a press conference at the VHP office in the Dhantoli area of Nagpur in Maharashtra, VHP general secretary Milind Parande said the right-wing body will lodge FIRs in various police stations against the rioters.

If the police fail to register the offence, VHP will take action, he said, adding that a delegation of VHP leaders would meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in this regard.

He demanded that the Maharashtra government make rioters pay up for the damage caused to public and private property during the incidents of stone-pelting on Friday.

On Saturday, a curfew was clamped in Amravati city in east Maharashtra for four days and Internet services were shut down after a mob hurled stones at shops during a Bandh (shut-down) allegedly organised by local BJP workers in protest against the rallies organised by Muslim organisations the day before to condemn the recent violence in Tripura, police had said.

On Friday, stone-pelting was reported during rallies taken out by Muslim organisations in Amravati, Nanded, Malegaon (in Nashik district), Washim and Yavatmal.

Raza Academy had handed over a memorandum to the Maharashtra governor. Those affected by the violence in Tripura should be given compensation and the mosques which were damaged should be reconstructed, it had demanded.

Source: Daily Siasat

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https://www.siasat.com/maha-violence-vhp-seeks-ban-on-raza-academy-2225157/

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President Kovind to visit Bangladesh on December 16 to attend Victory Day celebrations: Reports

Nov 15, 2021

DHAKA: President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Dhaka on December 16 to attend the Victory Day celebrations, the media here quoted the Bangladesh Foreign Minister as saying.

President Kovind is visiting the neighbouring country on December 16 and 17 on the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid, the Daily Star newspaper reported on Sunday.

"This will be the first visit by the 14th President of India to Bangladesh," Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said.

Bangladesh and India are jointly organising a "Logo and Backdrop" designing competition, marking the Maitri Diwas on December 6, the report said.

According to a report in the Dhaka Tribune, Bangladesh and India are working together eyeing two mega events next month - Maitri Diwas and Victory Day of Bangladesh - on December 6 and December 16 respectively with exchange of high-level visits.

Apart from the Victory Day celebrations, the president will also take part in other key engagements, it said.

Bangladesh is commemorating Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of the country's war of liberation. The two countries are also celebrating 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

The Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 broke after the sudden crackdown at midnight on March 25, 1971 in the erstwhile East Pakistan by the Pakistani troops and ended on December 16.

Pakistan conceded defeat and unconditionally surrendered in Dhaka to the allied forces comprising the freedom fighters and the Indian soldiers.

Officially three million people were killed during the nine-month long war.

The two countries decided to commemorate December 6 as Maitri Diwas (Friendship Day), the day when India recognised Bangladesh in 1971, the report said.

Source: Times of India

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/president-kovind-to-visit-bangladesh-on-december-16-to-attend-victory-day-celebrations-reports/articleshow/87709524.cms

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Ganesh Kumar, the Army Man Held for ‘Sharing’ Intelligence Inputs with Pakistan Operative

Nov 15, 2021

PATNA: An Indian Army jawan posted at Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) in Pune was arrested at Khagaul in western Patna on Sunday for allegedly passing on sensitive information to a Pakistani intelligence operative (PIO) after falling prey to honey trap. The jawan, identified as Ganesh Kumar, who is currently on leave, belongs to Ashthawan in Nalanda district of Bihar.

The anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of the state police and intelligence agencies found some sensitive documents saved in his cellphone. City SP Ashok Kumar Mishra said Ganesh was working as a nursing staff at AFMC, Pune. Intelligence sources said Ganesh came in touch with a Pakistani operative over WhatsApp around two years ago and was honey-trapped to pass on information about order of battle, which means location of army units on ground.

Source: Times of India

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/armyman-held-for-sharing-intelligence-inputs-with-pakistan-operative/articleshow/87705969.cms

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Arab World

 

Saudi Arabia sees no purpose in engaging Lebanon at this time: FM

14 November ,2021

Saudi Arabia does not plan to engage with Lebanon’s government at the current time, reiterating a call on the political elite to end what it called the domination of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group on the country’s political system.

The recent comments were made by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan who spoke on the latest developments on the deepening political rift with Lebanon following critical comments about the Arab Coalition military intervention in Yemen by Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kordahi.

“We see no useful purpose of engaging with the Lebanese government at this point in time,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told France 24 television in an interview aired on Saturday.

“We think that the political class needs to step up and take the necessary actions to liberate Lebanon from the domination of Hezbollah, and through Hezbollah, Iran.”

Late last month, Prince Faisal told Al Arabiya that there was no crisis with but rather a crisis in Lebanon due to the hegemony of Iran’s proxies.

“The problem is even bigger. The problem in Lebanon is the continued Hezbollah dominance of the political system, and the continued inability of governments, political officials and political leaders in Lebanon to take a way out of this crisis and from this tunneled crisis,” he told Al Arabiya.

Source: Al Arabiya

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https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/11/14/Saudi-Arabia-sees-no-purpose-in-engaging-Lebanon-at-this-time-FM

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Embraces and flowers greet Kuwaiti prisoners freed under amnesty

14 November ,2021

Kuwait released a group of prisoners on Sunday pardoned by the emir in an amnesty intended to defuse a political row, including Shia Muslim Kuwaitis convicted in 2016 for spying for Iran and Lebanon’s Iran-allied Hezbollah.

The amnesty, which also included former MPs in self-exile abroad, was a key demand of opposition lawmakers locked in a dispute with the government over the prime minister’s refusal to be questioned in parliament. Earlier on Sunday the emir accepted the government’s resignation in another step to end the feud.

Women threw flower petals as more than 10 prisoners were seen exiting a bus in a parking lot outside the central prison, where more than 200 relatives and friends gathered to meet them, embracing amid chants of “There is no god but God.”

Authorities have so far not disclosed how many convicts were released on Sunday, but one lawyer said 20 had been freed.

“I feel as would anyone wrongly accused who has been released,” said Hassan Daoud, among those convicted in the ‘Abdali cell’ spying case.

The trial of the alleged cell, named for the place where a weapons cache was discovered in a 2015 raid, had been described as possibly unfair by Amnesty International and opened up rare sectarian divisions in the majority Sunni Gulf state, where relations with the minority Shi’ite community have been mostly amicable.

“This amnesty includes all sects in an equal manner,” Fawaz Alkhateeb, a lawyer of one of the men released on Sunday, said at the parking lot, where Shia clerics also gathered.

The emir on Saturday issued two decrees granting pardons and reduced sentences to 35 people, including former lawmakers in self-exile in Turkey sentenced for storming the parliament building in 2011 protests against corruption.

The decrees pardoned two members of the alleged cell, along with four convicted of covering for the group, and halved the sentences of 18 others, some of whom had already served the commuted term.

Source: Al Arabiya

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https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/11/14/Embraces-and-flowers-greet-Kuwaiti-prisoners-freed-under-amnesty

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Egypt bans donation boxes in mosques nationwide: An Explainer

Zeinab El-Gundy

14 Nov 2021

Egypt’s religious authorities have issued a decision banning direct donations in mosques nationwide, ending the long-time practice of putting charity in "donation boxes" at the worship houses.

Citizens can now donate directly to two-official accounts at the Central Bank of Egypt opened by the Religious Endowment Ministry. One of the accounts is dedicated to mosque maintenance while the other is for social charity.

Many Muslim worshipers like to donate cash at mosques, as a good deed, for the repairing of mosques or social services, including holding Quran recitation lessons or providing charity services for the surrounding community.

The country’s Ministry of Religious Endowment had ordered the mosques, particularly those that are not under its supervision, to remove the donations boxes within ten days that ended on 11 November 2021.

There are more than 140,000 officially registered mosques nationwide, Minister of Religious Endowment Mokhtar Gomaa said in September 2020.

However, the decision does not apply to mosques run by the Sufi orders.

Sufi “vows” donation boxes

Last week, the decision was met by rejection from Egypt’s Sufi orders, known for its “vows” donations boxes.

“Vows” simply means that a Muslim vows to make a donation to a mosque or a shrine of a Sufi saint or sheikh if God grants him his wish.

The practice of “vows” is very common in grand mosques like Al-Hussein Mosque or Al-Siyada Zeinab Mosque in Cairo. It historically goes beyond religion. It is not Muslims or Christians alone who donate “vows”, but the practice has its roots in ancient Egypt’s religious system.

Responding to the Sufi orders’ rejection, the Religious of Endowments Ministry said the “vows mosques” of Sufi orders’ mosques will be exempted from the decision.

The ministry also said it will issue a list of those excluded mosques within days with the names and the number of “vows boxes”.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of Sufism in Egypt Abdel Hady El-Kasaby, who is a member of parliament, said last week there are at least 200 mosques following the Sufi orders in Egypt with revenue generated from “vows donations” reaching EGP 30 million annually.

Even before the exception given to the Sufi orders’ mosques, there had been bylaws in place that regulated its vows donation boxes.

According to those bylaws, 10% of total annual vows donations go to the General Sheikhdom of the Sufi orders in Egypt while 90% of the donations go to the Ministry of Religious endowment.

Why to ban donations boxes in Mosques across Egypt

There are direct economic and security reasons behind the decision of the Ministry of Religious Endowment to scrap donations boxes.

Mokhtar Gamaa, Minister of Religious Endowment, said in media statements the new regulation aims to achieve transparency and ensure the money of donations will eventually go to the mosques’ maintenance and social services.

Gomaa added that the revenues of donation boxes reached EGP 6 million only before 2014, but since modern methods in operating those boxes were applied, their revenues reached more than EGP 30 million annually right before the coronavirus pandemic.

Security reason

Egypt has been fighting radical Islamist groups that have for decades used donation boxes in some mosques as a source of finance as there was no control or supervision on how those donations were used.

The ultra-conservative Salafi groups as well as the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated as a terrorist organization in Egypt, have used the boxes for financing their activities.

Also, the mosques’ donations boxes had been a target of theft for a very long time. Organized gangs will replace the original boxes filled with money with fake empty boxes, particularly in rural areas. Some Thieves use paper clips to lift small amounts of cash from the boxes.

Source: Ahram Online

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https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/439598.aspx

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Colombia says monitoring Lebanon's Hezbollah over ‘criminal’ acts

15 November ,2021

Colombia said Sunday it is monitoring the activities there of the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah, accusing it of having conducted criminal activities.

“Two months ago we had to deal with a situation where we had to organize an operation to capture and expel two criminals commissioned by Hezbollah with the intention of committing a criminal act in Colombia,” Defense Minister Diego Molano said in an interview with the daily El Tiempo.

He provided no details of the government operation.

But the newspaper, citing sources in Colombia's military intelligence services, said the Lebanese Shia movement was spying on American and Israeli businessmen in Colombia.

Colombia has a sizable Lebanese community.

Hezbollah has been reported to have a presence in Venezuela and other Latin American countries.

Molano said there was a “risk with Hezbollah in Venezuela and what its links to drug traffic or terrorist groups on the Venezuelan side (of the border) could generate for national security.”

Colombia has accused neighboring Venezuela of sheltering and supporting guerrillas fighting against Bogota. Relations between the two are tense, and the common border has been largely closed since 2015.

On November 8, while accompanying President Ivan Duque on an official visit to Israel, Molano said the two countries had a “common enemy in Iran and Hezbollah,” which he said not only operated against Israel but supported the leftist regime in Venezuela.

But on Sunday, Molano said he had spoken “hastily.”

Source: Al Arabiya

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https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/11/15/Colombia-says-monitoring-Lebanon-s-Hezbollah-over-criminal-acts

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Iraq to start repatriating citizens in Belarus Thursday: ministry

November 15, 2021

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government said it was organizing a repatriation flight this Thursday for its citizens stuck on the Poland-Belarus border on a “voluntary” basis.

“Iraq will carry out a first flight for those who wish to return voluntarily on the 18th” of November from Belarus, Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahaf told Iraqi television overnight Sunday to Monday.

He did not say how many people would be able to board the Minsk-Baghdad flight, but said Iraq had recorded 571 of its citizens stuck on the border who have said they are ready to return “voluntarily.”

Thousands of migrants from the Middle East, including many from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, are camped out on the EU-Belarus border, creating a stand-off between the EU and US on one side and Belarus and its ally Russia on the other.

Western countries accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s government of engineering the crisis by encouraging migrants to come to Belarus and then taking them to the border.

Regular air links between Baghdad and Minsk have been suspended since August, while Belarusian diplomatic missions in Baghdad and Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, have been closed for more than a week.

The measures “have reduced the trips by Iraqis (to Belarus) but the problem is that some are now taking indirect flights, passing through Turkey, Qatar, the UAE and Egypt,” Sahaf said.

On Friday, Turkey banned citizens of Syria, Iraq and Yemen from flying from its airports to Belarus, while private Syrian carrier Cham Wings Airlines on Saturday halted flights to Minsk.

Source: Arab News

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/1968131/middle-east

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Europe

 

Polish Muslim leader helps feed migrants and soldiers

November 15, 2021

BOHONIKI, Poland: Maciej Szczęsnowicz cried when he saw migrants at the border for the first time, hungry and exhausted from the ordeal of being stuck while trying to enter from Belarus.

The chairman of the local Muslim community in the eastern Polish village of Bohoniki, Szczęsnowicz saw people so tired they could no longer stand, so hungry that they picked mushrooms from the ground to eat and when given an apple, ate the seeds.

But what hurt him the most was hearing the sounds of their suffering.

“It’s the sound of the crying and screaming of the children,” he said. “It’s the worst thing.”

As Poland has seen migrants from the Middle East crossing from Belarus into an area of forests and swamps, Szczęsnowicz has gotten to work helping to collect clothing and prepare food for them.

A large number of migrants appeared this week at Poland’s border, intensifying a political standoff between the European Union and Belarus. With a buildup of forces on the border, Szczęsnowicz is also helping to feed soldiers and other service people protecting the country.

The AP visited him on Saturday in a restaurant where he and other volunteers were preparing a large pot of steaming chicken and vegetable soup. It was destined for soldiers and other guards on the border, but he hopes that some also makes its way to the migrants.

While the border zone is off-limits due a state of emergency in force since early September, his delivery of soup to the border has given him access others do not have — and a view of the suffering of the people just across razor wire fences in Belarus.

Thousands of migrants have been trying for months to slip through Poland’s eastern border from Belarus, hoping to make their way toward Western Europe.

To Polish and EU politicians, the arrival of the migrants, most of whom are Muslims from the Middle East, is viewed as a problem to stop.

But there is a significant number of Poles who simply see human beings in need of a helping hand and have been seeking ways to help them. Medics have been going into the woods to provide medical help to those who manage to slip through. They are often sick or injured. Meanwhile, people across the country have been donating money to organizations taking food and other help to the migrants in the forests.

Most of the volunteers are Roman Catholic, as is their country, but Szczęsnowicz heads the Muslim community in Bohoniki, where a tiny minority still lives that is descended from a population of Muslim Tatars who settled in the area 600 years ago.

Source: Arab News

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/1967991/world

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Hungary will not leave EU, wants to reform it, PM Orban says

November 14, 2021

BUDAPEST, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Hungary will not leave the European Union but will resist attempts from Brussels to erode its sovereignty, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told his Fidesz party on Sunday.

Nationalist Orban, who faces a close parliamentary election next year for the first time in more than a decade, was re-elected chairman of Fidesz on Sunday.

"After communist bureaucracy ... we don't want new dictates this time from Brussels," Orban told cheering party delegates, adding Hungary would reject western liberalism.

"We will not give up the right to defend our borders, to stop migrants ... we insist that marriage in Hungary is between a man and a woman, a father is a man and a mother is a woman ... and they should leave our children alone."

In power since 2010, 58-year-old Orban has cast himself as a defender of Hungary's cultural identity against Muslim migration into Europe and a protector of Christian values against Western liberalism.

That has won him domestic popularity, especially among core Fidesz voters, but brought criticism from rights groups and LGBT campaigners.

Orban said the EU must be reformed and Hungary's aim was to achieve change, not leave the bloc that it joined in 2004.

"We don't want to leave the EU at all, they can't get rid of us so easily," he said. "We want to keep our sovereignty and we don't want to find ourselves in a united states of Europe, instead of integration."

Source: Reuters

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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-will-not-leave-eu-wants-reform-it-pm-orban-says-2021-11-14/

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France denies handing over executed journalist Zam to Iran: Report

14 November ,2021

France has denied allegations it collaborated with Iran in the abduction of Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam, whom Tehran executed in 2020, BBC Persian reported on Friday, citing a French diplomatic source.

Akbar Khoshkushk, a former Iranian intelligence officer, claimed last week that France agreed to hand over Paris-based Zam in exchange for a French spy masquerading as an ISIS member who had been captured by Iran-backed militants in Syria.

“These allegations are completely baseless,” the BBC quoted an unnamed French diplomatic source as saying. “France has condemned in the strongest possible terms the abduction and execution of Ruhollah Zam.”

Iran executed Zam in December 2020 after convicting him of inciting violence during anti-government protests in late 2017.

From Paris, Zam ran Amadnews, a channel on popular messaging app Telegram which had over a million followers.

Source: Al Arabiya

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https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/11/14/France-denies-handing-over-executed-journalist-Zam-to-Iran-Report

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UK counter-terrorist police arrest three after deadly car blast

14 November ,2021

Counter-terrorism officers arrested three people after a vehicle explosion outside the Women's Hospital in Liverpool, northern England, left one person dead and another injured on Sunday, police said, adding that they were leading the investigation.

The police said a male passenger in the car was declared dead at the scene, while the driver, who was also a man, was injured and remains in hospital in a stable condition.

British interior minister Priti Patel said in a tweet she is being kept regularly updated on the incident.

Three men - aged 29, 26, and 21 - were detained in the Kensington area of the city and arrested under the Terrorism Act, the police said in a statement.

Police understood that the car involved was a taxi that pulled up at the hospital shortly before the explosion occurred.

Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said police were called to reports of a car explosion just before 1100 GMT on Sunday.

“Work is still ongoing to establish what has happened,” she told media.

Source: Al Arabiya

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https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/11/15/UK-counter-terrorist-police-arrest-three-after-deadly-car-blast

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Pakistan

 

Indian Sikhs set Nov 19 as deadline for Kartarpur Corridor reopening

November 14, 2021

As Pakistan issues visas to 3,000 Sikh pilgrims for the 552nd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, the Sikh community in India has given a deadline of November 19 to their government for reopening the Kartarpur Corridor.

“Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has issued around 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to participate in the 552nd birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak in Pakistan from November 17 to November 26, 2021. Thousands of Sikh pilgrims residing in countries other than India would also be visiting Pakistan to attend the event,” the Pakistan High Commission in India announced Friday.

During their stay in Pakistan, the Sikh pilgrims would pay obeisance at different Gurdwaras including Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

However, the Sikhs in India have formed a Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Sangarash Committee (SKSCSC) which had announced to take its movement for the cause on international platforms if the demand was not met by November 19.

The Indian media quoted SKSCSC member Surinderpal Singh Talibpur as saying they had formed a 13-member committee to demand the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor so that followers could travel to Pakistan and return on the same day after paying obeisance at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.

Another member of SKSCSC, Balwinder Singh Pakhoke, said they had offered prayers at the international border at Dera Baba Nanak for the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor at the earliest.

“If the government doesn’t accept our demand, then we will spread our movement across the state to generate pressure on the government,” said Pakhoke.

Talibpur claimed that they had received immense response from the foreign Sikh bodies who had assured them of throwing their weight behind the SKSCSC’s movement.

“After November 19, we will hold a meeting and also have virtual discussions with our supporters abroad to chalk out further course of action,” he said.

On Friday, the Foreign Office spokesperson said that the Corridor was open from the Pakistan side and India was also expected to allow the Sikh pilgrims desiring to join the upcoming celebrations.

“We are all set to welcome thousands of devotees from India and around the world coming to Pakistan for the upcoming birth anniversary celebrations … for which elaborate arrangements have been put in place,” he said in his weekly press briefing.

Pakistan also commemorated the second anniversary of the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor-dubbed the ‘Corridor of Hope’ by the UN Secretary-General.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019, the Corridor is a shining example of Pakistan’s efforts to promote interfaith harmony and reflected the primacy Pakistan accorded to religious minorities in the country.

On the second anniversary of the Corridor, Prime Minister Imran Khan had tweeted: “Today is the second anniversary of the Kartarpur Corridor – a corridor of interfaith harmony that allows India’s Sikh community special access to one of their holiest sites.”

He said Kartarpur Corridor reflected his government’s commitment to minority rights and interfaith harmony.

Source: Pakistan Today

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https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/11/14/indian-sikhs-set-nov-19-as-deadline-for-kartarpur-corridor-reopening/

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20 Indian fishermen released from Pakistani jail to return via Attari-Wagah border

Nov 14, 2021

KARACHI: At least 20 Indian fishermen have been released from a jail in Karachi on the completion of their sentences and would be repatriated via the Attari-Wagah border, reported local media.

Many of the fishermen who were released from Landhi District Jail, Malir, Karachi were arrested about four years ago and sentenced to imprisonment, reported Samaa TV.

They were released after the orders of the same were issued by the Sindh Home Department.

The authorities in India have confirmed the citizenship of the fishermen, reported the newspaper citing the jail superintendent.

The Indian fishermen are scheduled to leave for Lahore and thereafter will be taken to the Wagah border where they would be handed over to the Indian authorities.

Officials at Landhi Jail said that 588 Indian prisoners are still locked in the prison most of whom are fishermen.

India and Pakistan arrest each other's fishermen over the allegations of violation of maritime frontiers, reported the newspaper.

Meanwhile, India summoned a senior diplomat from the Pakistan High Commission on November 8 and lodged a strong protest on the incident of unprovoked firing at Indian fishermen by the Pakistan side, sources said.

They said that the senior diplomat from Pakistan High Commission was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Source: Times of India

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/20-indian-fishermen-released-from-pakistani-jail-to-return-via-attari-wagah-border/articleshow/87703614.cms

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Opposition asks speaker to form new panel on poll reforms

Amir Wasim

November 15, 2021

ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition in parliament has asked National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to constitute a new parliamentary committee to take up electoral reforms as a whole in the form of a “complete package”.

The demand was made by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif through a letter which he had written to the speaker on behalf of all the opposition parties in parliament after a meeting of the steering committee of the joint opposition on Sunday.

The meeting of the newly formed steering committee had been convened to review the letter written by the speaker on Nov 11 inviting the opposition parties for talks on the pending legislation, including bills regarding the use of electronic voting machine (EVM) and I-voting for overseas Pakistanis.

In his letter, the speaker had suggested to the opposition to activate the Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business which he had formed to consider 21 bills that had been bulldozed by the government in the National Assembly on June 10 in the absence of the opposition members.

However, the opposition parties rejected the speaker’s proposal, saying the committee had been formed “without following the required legislative procedure” and despite holding three meetings, it could not even finalise its terms of reference for its procedural jurisdiction due to lack of support by the government members.

“During this period, all the bills which were to be considered by this committee either lapsed or were rejected by the Senate and were referred to the joint sitting of parliament, thus completely negating the purpose for which the Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business was formed,” writes Mr Sharif in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media by the PML-N’s media office.

The speaker had constituted the committee on legislative business following the threat by the opposition members to boycott the budget session of the assembly after the treasury and opposition members disrupted the proceedings of the lower house of parliament when the former did not allow Shehbaz Sharif to deliver his opening speech for three days.

“The opposition believes that issues of national interest, especially legislation with wide-ranging long-term impact on the people of Pakistan, should be resolved through consensus-oriented consultation,” writes Mr Sharif.

The opposition leader proposed to the speaker that a parliamentary committee composed of the members from both the houses of parliament should be formed to consider and approve with consensus a complete package of electoral reforms that should also include the election bills which were passed by the National Assembly but could not sail through the Senate within the constitutionally stipulated 90 days.

Mr Sharif suggested that the composition of the parliamentary committee should be on the basis of a similar committee formed by the then speaker, Ayaz Sadiq, in July 2014 to consider and approve the electoral reforms package. He informed the speaker that the said committee had held 117 meetings and unanimously passed an electoral reforms legislative package on November 10, 2017. The previous committee on electoral reforms was headed by then finance minister Ishaq Dar.

The joint opposition has, however, suggested that the Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business could be allowed to function and it should consider the other bills passed by the National Assembly but not adopted by the Senate and had been referred to the joint sitting of parliament.

The opposition maintained that this process would be in consonance with parliamentary practice and precedence to achieve the required consensus on issues of national importance.

Meanwhile, PPP secretary general Nayyar Bokhari in a statement claimed that the option of bringing a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, the speaker or the Senate chairman was under consideration of the joint opposition. He said the joint opposition after consultation would decide the strategy as to how the present “unconstitutional government” could be sent packing and from where they should take a start for it.

Earlier, Speaker Asad Qaiser in his letter to the opposition leader had stated that both the government and opposition should proceed ahead with a view to building consensus beyond party politics on all reforms of common interest in the larger national interest. He had asked the opposition leader to play his role in reviving the consultation process on the “controversial bills” through the Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business. He was of the view that the consultation process had not been completed by the committee.

The speaker had written the letter to Mr Sharif on the demand of the joint opposition which had asked him to give them in writing the terms of engagements with them that should include a categorical statement that it was the government which was approaching them for a dialogue and an assurance that the recently promulgated controversial ordinances would also be discussed in the parliamentary committee.

The decision that the opposition would seek everything in writing from the speaker had been taken by the members of the steering committee of the joint opposition at a meeting on November 11.

The opposition parties had formed the steering committee on November 10 to devise a joint strategy inside parliament after the government put off the joint session of parliament within 24 hours of its summoning after struggling to ensure the presence of required number of members and due to reservations shown by its allies over the proposed electoral reforms bills regarding the use of EVM and introduction of I-voting for overseas Pakistanis.

Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had claimed that the joint session had been put off because the government wanted to once again engage the opposition on electoral reforms which was an issue linked to the country’s future. He had also declared that the government would not take back steps on poll reforms, even if they did not reach a consensus on it.

On the other hand, the opposition claimed that the joint session was cancelled by the government after becoming politically isolated and it did not have the numbers anymore to bulldoze their bills as their own people and allies had stepped back.

Meanwhile, Fawad Chaudhry through his official social media account on Twitter on Sunday said the issue of electoral reforms was not the agenda of Imran Khan or Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), it was a national agenda.

The minister said all political parties should move forward for creation of consensus on electoral reforms. He said it would be a great achievement of the political system if an electoral system was established under which all the political leadership could trust the elections results.

Source: Dawn

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1658162/opposition-asks-speaker-to-form-new-panel-on-poll-reforms

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Opposition rejects Senate’s decision of including Fawad, Swati in ECP panel

November 14, 2021

The joint opposition has refused to accept the changes in the panel on the appointment of the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after the Senate chairman included federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Azam Swati in the committee.

The Opposition took the decision on Sunday, during a virtual meeting of the opposition steering committee that was held to mull over the National Assembly speaker’s letter to the opposition seeking cooperation on important legislation.

The meeting had Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ayaz Sadiq, Sadiq Rafiq, Marriyum Aurangzeb; Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Yousaf Raza Gillani, Shazia Marri, Sherry Rehman; and Kamran Murtaza and Shahida Akhtar Ali of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) in attendance.

About the changes in the ECP panel, the opposition members said during the meeting that the government included two members – Fawad and Swati – who have in the past threatened the ECP chief. One of the members talked about setting the ECP on fire, they said, adding that now these people were being asked to decide on the appointment of the ECP members.

The opposition also expressed reservations over the government’s decision to remove Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) from the committee. The steering committee will also liaise with the PML-Q and MQM-P on the ECP issue.

It may be noted that Senator Kamil Ali Agha of the PML-Q had been replaced by Azam Nazir Tarar of the PML-N, while Senator Taj Haider of the PPP had replaced Khalida Ateeb of the MQM.

During the meeting, it was decided that the opposition will support the government on important legislation, but it will not help it tailor laws to facilitate individuals. The legislation should be in accordance with the constitution and the law, they concurred.

Source: Pakistan Today

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https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/11/14/opposition-rejects-senates-decision-of-including-fawad-swati-in-ecp-panel/

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Southeast Asia

 

Call It Dollah or Wahhab, PAS Minister Says Party Still Opposes Timah Whisky despite Cabinet’s Nod

15 Nov 2021

BY R. LOHESWAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — Islamist party PAS has said that it remains opposed to the local whisky brand called “Timah”, even as the Cabinet approved the name over the weekend.

Religious Affairs Minister Idris Ahmad was quoted saying nobody in the party agrees to the decision and the consumption of alcohol no matter what name is used for the brand.

“As far as this alcohol issue is concerned whether it be Timah, Dollah or Wahab PAS do not agree with it,” the PAS vice-president was quoted saying by Malay daily Sinar Harian.

Dollah and Wahab are Malay male names. No alcoholic drinks have been given those names.

“No one from the party supports the whisky brand Timah,” he reportedly added.

Last Saturday, the Cabinet allowed the whisky brand Timah to keep its name.

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong along with Domestic Trade and Cooperatives Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said the manufacturer will be required to include an additional label on the whisky bottle to explain its name refers to the Malay word for “tin”.

Last month, Idris had called for Timah whisky to immediately change its brand name and the picture used on the bottle.

Idris said such things should not happen as they are provocative while the use of the name could cause confusion to the community and religion.

Source: Malay Mail

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/11/15/call-it-dollah-or-wahab-pas-minister-says-party-still-opposes-timah-whisky/2021006

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'Second chance': Family of Indian-origin man on death row in Singapore pleads

Nov 15, 2021

The sister of a Malaysian man facing imminent execution despite concerns he is mentally disabled has pleaded with Singapore to give him a "second chance".

Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, sentenced to death in 2010 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into Singapore, was originally set to be hanged last week after losing a series of appeals.

The execution in the city-state, which has some of the world's toughest drugs laws, was postponed after the 33-year-old contracted the coronavirus, but campaigners fear the delay will be short.

His family are not giving up, however, with his sister Sarmila Dharmalingam urging the city-state to "give him a second chance".

"We hope the Singapore government will spare his life," the 35-year-old told AFP in an interview Sunday from the family home in Tanjung Rambutan, in the northern Malaysian state of Perak.

"He is suffering from an intellectual disability."

Nagaenthran's case has sparked a storm of criticism, with the European Union and United Nations rights experts speaking out against it, and a clemency petition getting around 85,000 signatures.

A last-ditch court challenge is being mounted and while chances of success look slim, Sarmila and her family are holding out hope.

"All our family members are holding prayers for his life to be spared," said the housewife, who is ethnic Indian and a member of the Hindu minority in mostly Muslim Malaysia.

"I believe in miracles... With God's grace, a miracle will happen."

Last-ditch challenge

Nagaenthran was arrested aged 21 as he tried to enter Singapore from neighbouring Malaysia with a bundle of heroin weighing about 43 grams -- equivalent to about three tablespoons -- strapped to his thigh.

Campaigners say he has an IQ of just 69, a level recognised as an intellectual disability, was coerced into transporting the drugs, and was struggling with an alcohol problem at the time.

But Singapore, which insists the death penalty is an effective deterrent against crime, has shown little sign of heeding calls for clemency.

The home affairs ministry said earlier this month that psychiatrists had stated during previous court proceedings that Nagaenthran was not intellectually disabled.

Legal rulings also concluded that he "clearly understood the nature of his acts", which were aimed at paying off debts, it said in a statement.

A written appeal from Malaysia's Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was also brushed off, with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong responding that Nagaenthran had been given "full due process under the law".

'He wants to come home'

Sarmila -- one of Nagaenthran's three siblings -- recalled the shock when her family received a letter from Singapore authorities on October 26 informing them her brother would be hanged on November 10.

Preparations for the Hindu festival of Diwali were halted so the family could figure out how his mother, who works as a cleaner, and other relatives could travel to Singapore to see him before the execution.

Naganethran's eldest sister, Sarmila struggles to accept her brother is a convicted drug smuggler and still has fond memories of playing childhood games with him.

He was a "lovable person. He was very caring", she said.

During more than a decade behind bars, Nagaenthran developed a passion for arts and crafts, making cards for his family back home to mark occasions such as Mother's Day.

His sister believes he was coerced into drug smuggling, as he was "timid and easily influenced by others".

Rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, say the planned execution would breach international laws against capital punishment for people with mental disabilities.

Source: Hindustan Times

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/second-chance-family-of-indian-origin-man-on-death-row-in-singapore-pleads-101636954947919.html

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Sabah allows funeral rites at non-Muslim houses of worship from tomorrow, says state minister

08 Nov 2021

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 8 — Funerals and last rites at non-Muslim houses of worship and funeral parlours will be allowed in the state, with a capacity of 50 per cent, starting tomorrow, said Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said that the period of operation allowed was from 6am to 8pm daily, and it must not exceed two hours per session, in adherence to regulations under Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN).

“However, the permission is only for fully-vaccinated individuals.

“According to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set, individuals or families who have yet to be fully vaccinated are strictly prohibited from entering houses of worship, except for children aged 12 and below whose parents have been fully vaccinated,” he said in a statement here tonight.

Commenting on the development of daily Covid-19 cases in Sabah, Masidi said the number of cases for Sabah continued the declining trend, at 364 cases today compared with 405 reported yesterday.

Source: Malay Mail

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/11/08/sabah-allows-funeral-rites-at-non-muslim-houses-of-worship-from-tomorrow-sa/2019378

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Mideast

 

Israel denies espionage charge against couple arrested in Turkey

14 November ,2021

Israel is working for the release of an Israeli couple being held in Turkey, denying allegations carried by Turkish state media that the two were spies, the Israeli prime minister said.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that he had spoken the family of the two Israelis, Natali and Mody Oknin, and updated them on the efforts being made to bring them back to Israel.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

The couple, Bennett said, “as has already been emphasized by officials, do not work for any Israeli agency.”

“The most senior echelons in Israel dealt with this issue throughout the weekend, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and will continue to work tirelessly with the aim of finding a solution as soon as possible,” he said.

A Turkish court arrested the Israeli couple on Friday on charges of espionage for taking photographs of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s residence from the Camlica Tower, a telecommunications tower in Istanbul with observation decks, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Source: Al Arabiya

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/11/14/Israel-denies-espionage-charge-against-couple-arrested-in-Turkey

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Coalition strikes Houthis in support of Yemeni forces on west coast

November 15, 2021

DUBAI: Saudi coalition forces launched airstrikes Sunday, killing more than 80 Houthi militia and destroying 19 vehicles in Sirwah, Al-Bayda and Al-Jawf in Yemen, TV news channel Al-Arabiya reported.

The strikes came in support of Yemeni forces on the west coast, sources said, adding that the coalition air forces also thwarted a Houthi attack on Al-Balaq, west of Marib.

Source: Arab News

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1968071/middle-east

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Iranian Lawmakers Hail Army’s Massive ‘Zolfaqar 1400’ Drills

2021-November-14

The massive Zulfiqar 1400 wargames were held in November for 3 days in the Southeastern regions of the country by the Army with strategic goals and creation of deterrence power through expansion of the depth of influence and detection and destruction of distant goals of enemies, resistance of Army equipment against enemy radars electronic warfare and development of multi-dimensional defense, as well as operational purposes of increasing combat power and defense of the country’s territorial integrity, strengthening the presence in international waters and strategic areas, monitoring energy lines, upgrading military readiness to stand against the enemies’ excessive demands and, if necessary, reciprocal measures to establish sustainable security for the shipping lines, supporting maritime transport and the sea-based economy, improving the readiness and efficiency of bases and secondary and mobile command and control centers, transferring know-how and experience of the young generation, utilizing existing capabilities in area of drone missions, evaluating speed of operation and agility of power combination and the strength of the four units of the Army in supporting each other in the presence of mobile attacking brigades and armored and artillery units, different types of reconnaissance planes, fighters and transport aircraft, different types of surface and submarine vessels, different types of reconnaissance and combat drones in different ranges and different types of surface-to-surface, land-to-air and coast-to-sea missile systems, electronic warfare systems, the statement said.

It added that during the drills, 132 exercises were planned and performed by the Army's four units in the form of joint, coordinated and simultaneous operations.

The Iranian MPs lauded and appreciated the tireless efforts of the commanders, officers, soldiers and personnel of the Army forces, specially Army Commander Major General Seyed Abdolrahim Mousavi.

The Iranian Army in a ceremony last Tuesday wrapped up the joint military drills, dubbed Zolfaqar 1400, in Makran region in the Southern parts of the country after achieving all planned objectives.

The Army had started the main phase of the Zolfaqar 1400 joint drills last Sunday with the Air Force's F-4 bombers destroying ground targets with optimized missiles.

The Iranian Army Air Force's F-4 bombers carried out long-range flights from their bases to the general zone of the exercises and conducted air refueling operations from the tanker aircraft, destroying ground targets of the hypothetical enemy with optimized missiles, including a new generation of optimized air-to-surface missiles in the general zone of the wargames.

The main phase of the joint drills began with participation of the infantry, armored and mechanized units of the Army Ground Forces, Air Defense Forces' defense systems, and naval surface vessels with the support of Army Air Force's fighters and drones in the general zone of Makran Coast.

The home-made cruise missiles of the Iranian Army destroyed several surface targets and vessels during the second day of Zolfaqar 1400 drills on Monday.

"In this stage of the exercises, the Iranian cruise missile, Qader, was fired from the Army Navy's tactical platform of coast-to-sea missiles in Makran coasts and hit a vessel 200km away," Spokesman of the drills Rear Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi said.

Also, destruction of a surface target by indigenized Nasr cruise missile fired from the Navy's missile launcher was another exercise conducted in this stage of the wargames, he added.

Meantime, the Iran-made long-range Qadir cruise missile destroyed a surface target 300km away from a missile-launcher warship.

"Unique capabilities, including effective warheads with high explosive power as well as ability to withstand the enemy's electronic warfare, are among the features of the Navy's cruise missiles, which proved to be effective in these exercises," Rear Admiral Mousavi said.

Meantime, the Iranian Army's Air Defense Force discovered two US drones flying in FIR and ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) areas of the country during the Zolfaqar 1400 drills, and forced them to leave the region.

Source: Fars News Agency

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000823000507/Iranian-Lawmakers-Hail-Army%E2%80%99s-Massive-%E2%80%98Zlfaar-400%E2%80%99-Drills

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MP Underlines Jewish Community’s Support for Iranian Athletes Abstaining Competition against Israeli Opponents

2021-November-14

“Today, abstention from rivalry against Zionist athletes is not limited to Iranian athletes, and athletes from other countries are not either willing to face the sports representatives of the child-killing regime,” Sameh Yah told FNA on Sunday.

“The Iranian Jewish Society approves the measure by Iranian athletes who withdraw from competitions against the athletes of the Zionist regime and supports this worthy and favorable behavior,” he added.

Sameh Yah also stressed the necessity for the government to increase legal and diplomatic support for the Iranian athletes who refuse to compete against the Zionists as emphasized by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

In September, Ayatollah Khamenei had called on the Iranian foreign and sports ministries as well as the judiciary to support the athletes, even foreign ones, who refrain from recognizing the Zionist regime of Israel.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks, addressing the medal winners from among the Islamic Republic of Iran's participants at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Ayatollah Khamenei described non-recognition of the criminal Zionist regime in sports fields as a very important issue, saying, "The illegitimate Zionist regime is trying to gain legitimacy by participating in international sports arenas, and the world arrogance is also helping it in this regard, but respected sports officials and athletes should not be passive in this area at all."

Source: Fars News Agency

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000823000420/MP-Underlines-Jewish-Cmmniy%E2%80%99s-Sppr-fr-Iranian-Ahlees-Absaining-Cmpeiin

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Iran, Kyrgyzstan Vow to Broaden Economic Cooperation

2021-November-14 

During the meeting in the Iranian capital, Khandouzi and Amangeldiev explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating mutual cooperation in different fields.

During the meeting, the Iranian economy minister pointed to the foreign policy of Iran's current administration under President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi and said that Iran's policy is prioritizing developing relations with the neighboring states.

Khandouzi also emphasized the need for creating necessary facilities for the promotion and improvement of the activity of traders and economic activists of the two countries.

Amangeldiev, for his turn, pointed to the necessity of development of trade and economic ties between Iran and Kyrgyzstan, and stressed the unique and unparalleled capacities of Iran in the field of transport of goods, specially via Bandar Abbas to the Caspian Sea, and the desire of Central Asian states for strengthening North-South Corridor.

Source: Fars News Agency

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000823000597/Iran-Kyrgyzsan-Vw-Braden-Ecnmic-Cperain

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Africa

 

Hundreds in Israel protest for rescue of Ethiopia Jews

14 November ,2021

Hundreds staged a protest in Jerusalem on Sunday to demand the Israeli government rescue Ethiopian Jews from the conflict-stricken country.

“Aliyah (immigration) now!” and “Rescue them!”, the demonstrators chanted outside Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office, carrying pictures of family members.

A year of fighting in Ethiopia between Tigray rebels and government forces has left hundreds of thousands in famine-like conditions.

Among the demonstrators was Ethiopian-born Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, a member of Bennett's diverse coalition government.

“I vow not to abandon this battle to bring our families to Israel,” she said.

According to a support committee, the interior and immigration ministries have agreed to assist in reuniting 5,000 Ethiopians with family members living in Israel.

But ministry officials, contacted by AFP, said no such decision has been taken.

Israel's Ethiopian Jewish community, known as Falashas, number more than 140,000. They often complain of discrimination and lack of government support.

In late 2020, the Israeli government authorized 2,000 Falashas with families in the Jewish state to immigrate.

Source: Al Arabiya

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/11/14/Hundreds-in-Israel-protest-for-rescue-of-Ethiopia-Jews

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Libya's Presidency Council calls for ‘simultaneous’ elections

Mohammad Erteima  

14.11.2021

TRIPOLI, Libya – Libya's Presidency Council on Sunday called for holding the parliamentary and presidential elections simultaneously.

In a statement, the council called for taking all measures to ensure a "comprehensive elections process" with a view to building confidence among the parties and ensuring "transparency and fairness of the polls."

The statement also underlined the importance of international efforts to secure and monitor the electoral process.

The council’s call comes amid differences and disagreements on electoral laws between the parliament, the High Council of State and the unity government.

On Friday, participants in an international conference in Paris on Libya threatened sanctions against parties seeking to obstruct or undermine political transition in Libya.

Libya’s transitional Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said at a news conference that participants in the conference agreed to sanction those who refuse to accept results of the elections.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/libyas-presidency-council-calls-for-simultaneous-elections/2420652

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Tunisian protesters try to break through security barriers near parliament

14 November ,2021

Tunisian police clashed with protesters, attempting to break through security barriers near the chamber of the suspended parliament on Sunday as demonstrators marched against President Kais Saied’s seizure of political power four months ago.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Hundreds of police had blocked off the area where thousands of protesters were gathering to demand that Saied restore parliament and normal democratic rule.

Increasingly vocal opposition, along with a looming crisis in public finances, may pose a new test of how Saied and the new government he has appointed will tackle threats to their authority.

“Shut down Kais Saied” and “Freedom! Freedom! End the police state!” protesters chanted as they pulled down barriers obstructing the roads leading to the parliament building at the capital’s Bardo palace, leading to clashes.

“We are under one-man rule since July 25... we will stay here until they open the roads and end the siege,” said Jawher Ben Mbarek, a protest leader.

Saied seized nearly all powers in July, suspending the parliament and dismissing the government in a move his critics called a coup, before installing a new prime minister and announcing he could rule by decree.

The president said his actions were needed to end governmental paralysis after years of political squabbling and economic stagnation, and has promised to uphold rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution that brought democracy.

His moves appeared to have widespread popularity and thousands of his supporters gathered for a rally to back him last month.

However, several prominent politicians have been arrested and hundreds have faced travel bans, while a former president living outside Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki, faces prosecution for his verbal attacks on Saied.

Source: Al Arabiya

Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/11/14/Tunisian-protesters-try-to-break-through-security-barriers-near-parliament

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