Right-Wing Trolls Target Ayodhya Mosque Ahead Of Ram Temple Consecration With Hashtag Masjid ko Hospital Banao
New Age Islam News Bureau
06 January 2024
Righ Wing Trollers Trend
#Masjidkohospitalbanao On X
------
·
Right-Wing
Trolls Target Ayodhya Mosque Ahead Of Ram Temple Consecration With Hashtag
Masjid ko Hospital Banao
·
Taliban
Graduates Over 150Religious Scholars From ‘Jihadist School’ In Panjshir For
First Time
·
Gaza Has
Become ‘Uninhabitable,’ UN Humanitarian Chief Says
·
Scotland
First Minister Humza Yousaf: Israeli Crimes In Gaza 'Tantamount To Ethnic
Cleansing'
·
Islamic Scholars
Canvass Peaceful Coexistence, Understanding of Shariain Nigeria And Other Parts
Of The World
----
India
·
Shahi Imam
Of Punjab Lays Foundation Of Gurdwara Prayer Hall In Punjab
·
Supreme
Court Poser To Uttar Pradesh Government On Decision To Ban Halal Certification
·
Varanasi Court
To Decide On Jan 24 Whether To Make Public ASI Report On Gyanvapi Mosque
Complex
·
FIR Registered
Against NCP MLA Awhad Over `Ram Was Non-Vegetarian’ Remark
·
Fire in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir forest spreads to Indian side, security forces on
alert
·
Ayodhya Dispute
Litigant Ansari Gets Invite For Consecration Ceremony
------
South Asia
·
Stop
‘Motivated, Biased’ Use Of Law To Harass Nobel Laureate Prof Yunus
·
Al-Qaeda
Leader’s Killing Highlights Afghanistan Oversight: US State Department
·
89 Afghans
released from prisons in Pakistan’s Sindh, says officials
·
Kabul Has
'Counterterrorism Commitments': Miller
·
Afghan
People's Fund Accumulated $155M: Mehrabi
·
UNHCR and
Islamic Development Bank sign three agreements on Afghanistan
-----
Mideast
·
Hezbollah
Pounds Israeli Aerial Surveillance Base With 62 Missiles
·
Hezbollah
conducted 670 operations against Israel in last 3 months: Nasrallah
·
Enemy
Prevented 15 Thousand Palestinian Worshipers Performing Friday Prayers In
Al-Aqsa Mosque
·
15
suspects jailed in Turkiye ahead of trial for spying for Israel
·
Blinken to
tackle Gaza, NATO expansion with Turkiye’s Erdogan
·
Iraqi
resistance targets three US bases in Syria, Iraq in solidarity with Gaza
·
Death toll
in Islamic State-claimed suicide blasts rises to 91
-----
Europe
·
Pope
Francis On Ideological Splits In Church: Focus On Poor, Not 'Theory'
·
Orphaned
boy’s statement read at sentencing for man who murdered Muslim family
·
Pope
deeply saddened by loss of lives in Kerman terror blasts
·
Ukrainians
told to ‘chill’ over US aid cuts
-----
Africa
·
Same
terrorists killing Christians, Muslims – Shehu Sani
·
Muslim
Clerics Commission Ultra-Modern Mosque, Seek Modernisation Of Religion
·
UN says
6.9M Somalis need humanitarian assistance in 2024
·
Sudan’s
Burhan rejects ‘reconciliation’ with paramilitary RSF
----
Pakistan
·
Sunni
Ulema Council's Maulana Masoodur Rehman Usmani Gunned Down In Islamabad
·
Pakistan: Anti-Terrorism
Court Summons Imran Khan In Case Related To May 9 Protests
·
PM Kakar Holds
UN Responsible For Kashmir Solution
·
Pakistan
will always support Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, Alvi
·
Pakistani
senator lauds Türkiye for standing by Palestinians
-------
North America
·
US, EU Top
Diplomats In Renewed Push To Halt Gaza War Spillover
·
CAIR-AZ,
Community Partners to Hold News Conference Responding to State Resolution
Supporting Israel
·
CAIR-Florida,
Islamic Community Centre of Gainesville Call for Hate Crime Probe of Vandalism
Targeting Worship Centre
·
Georgia Teacher
Who Allegedly Threatened To Behead Muslim Student Out Of Job
-----
Arab World
·
Houthis
Hold Mass Rally For Gaza In Yemen Capital
·
Guests of
Custodian of Two Holy Mosques Program Perform Friday Prayers at Prophet's
Mosque
·
More than
600% increase in green spaces in Makkah region over past 5 months
·
Latest
Saudi aid for Palestinians arrives in Egypt
-----
Southeast Asia
·
VP Amin
Plans To Build More Islamic Boarding Schools After Retirement
·
Police
launch Op Bantu to coordinate aid delivery to flood victims
·
Affidavit
by victims can be used in human trafficking cases, says Apex Court
·
MohdNa’im
to attend Haj and Umrah Conference 2024 in Jeddah
·
Palestine
solidarity picket: Police record statements from 13 individuals
·
Death toll
hits 126 in Japan earthquake, over 30,000 people in shelters
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/right-wing-trolls-ayodhya-mosque-temple/d/131468
------
Right-Wing Trolls Target Ayodhya Mosque
Ahead Of Ram Temple Consecration With Hashtag Masjid ko Hospital Banao
Righ Wing Trollers Trend
#Masjidkohospitalbanao On X
------
5th January 2024
The right-wing trolls on X have launched
a campaign against the construction a mosque in Ayodhya, also called the
Mohammad Bin Abdullah Masjid. With thousands of posts using the hashtag
#MasjidkoHospitalBanao, the trolls are demanding that a hospital be constructed
on the land that the Uttar Pradesh government has allotted for the mosque after
SC announced Babri verdict.
The development unfolded following the
interview of MananiyaDhirender Krishna Shastri, aka Bageshwar Dham Baba, with
ANI, which went viral on social media. The interviewer asked him, “How he would
react to people demanding the construction of a hospital instead of Ram
Mandir?”
In response, he said, “We are not
against the construction of schools and hospitals. However, why do they specifically
urge us to build a hospital at Ram Temple?” He added, “If required, why not
build hospitals on mosques and churches.”
Subsequently, the right-wing trollers
began trending #masjidkomandirbanao on X, calling out people to create a
movement against Babri Masjid.
Joining the chorus, a right-wing online
platform, The Jaipur Dialogues, wrote on X: “Why Waste So Much Money on Ram
Mandir? Make a hospital instead. Okay. Thank You. Lesson Learnt. But since
we’ve already made a temple, let’s use this advice for the mosque in Ayodhya.
Let’s create a movement. The proposed Babri Mosque, aka Mohammad Bin Abdullah
Masjid, should be made into a hospital. Tweet with #MasjidKoHospitalBanao.
Let’s see how these so-called progressives react to this trend.”
Another X user posted a picture of
Muslim men offering prayers on the road and wrote, “If Namaz can be offered on
the road, then what is the need for Masjid? #MasjidKoHospitalBanao.”
Meanwhile, another X user posted an old
NDTV clip clarifying that a hospital will also be built beside the mosque.
Notable, the online campaign against the
Ayodhya mosque comes at a time when preparations are in full swing for the
consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.siasat.com/right-wing-trolls-target-ayodhaya-mosque-ahead-of-ram-temple-consecration-2949945/
-----
Taliban Graduates Over 150 Religious
Scholars From ‘Jihadist School’ In Panjshir For First Time
Photo:
Khaama Press
-------
Fidel Rahmati
January 5, 2024
Taliban officials claim that “for the
first time,” 152 religious scholars and Hafiz have graduated from a jihadist
school in Panjshir.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of
Mines and Petroleum of the Taliban, in a veiled reference, posted on the social
media platform, mentioned that Panjshir was the same province where the group’s
opponents were once active.
Panjshir was the last province to fall
to the Taliban in 2021. It is known as a traditional stronghold of armed forces
opposing the Taliban.
The National Resistance Front of
Afghanistan, which declared its presence in Panjshir in August 2021 after the
escape of former President Ashraf Ghani, has continued its guerilla attacks
against the Taliban in various Afghan provinces.
However, a recent report on the group’s
military activities in the past six months indicates a decrease in their
operations in Panjshir.
After gaining full control of
Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has embarked on establishing religious schools
and mosques across the country.
Last year in April, the Taliban
announced the establishment of a “Jihadist School” in the Anaba district of
Panjshir. At that time, the group stated its intention to enrol a thousand
“religious students” in this school.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-graduates-over-150-from-jihadist-school-in-panjshir-for-first-time/
-----
Gaza Has Become ‘Uninhabitable,’ UN Humanitarian Chief Says
A picture
taken from a position in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip,
shows Israeli army vehicles in the Gaza Strip as smoke billows during Israeli
bombardment on January 5, 2024, amid continuing battles between Israel and the
militant group Hamas. | Photo Credit: AFP
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January 05, 2024
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations humanitarian
chief says Gaza has become “uninhabitable” three months after Hamas’ horrific
attacks against Israel and “a public health disaster is unfolding.”
Martin Griffiths said in a statement
Friday that “people are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever
recorded (and) famine is around the corner.”
And Gazans are “witnessing daily threats
to their very existence – while the world watches on,” he said.
The UN undersecretary-general for
humanitarian affairs said tens of thousands of people, mostly women and
children, have been killed or injured, families are sleeping in the open as
temperatures plummet, and areas where Palestinians were told to relocate have
been bombed.
The few partially functioning hospitals
are overwhelmed and critically short of supplies, infectious diseases are
spreading, and amidst the chaos some 180 Palestinian women are giving birth
every day, he said.
Griffiths reiterated UN demands for an
immediate end to the war and the release of all hostages, declaring, “It is
time for the international community to use all its influence to make this
happen.”
He said the humanitarian community is
facing an “impossible mission” of supporting more than 2 million people in Gaza
while aid workers are killed, communications blackouts continue, roads are
damaged, truck convoys are shot at, and vital commercial supplies “are almost
non-existent.”
Gaza has shown “the worst of humanity,”
Griffiths said, and it’s long past time for the war to end.
Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency said
most young children and pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are not able to meet
their basic nutrition needs.
“Children in the Gaza Strip face a
deadly triple threat to their lives, as cases of diseases rise, nutrition
plummets and the escalation in hostilities approaches its fourteenth week,”
UNICEF said in a statement.
“Thousands of children have already died
from the violence, while living conditions for children continue to rapidly
deteriorate, with increasing cases of diarrhea and rising food poverty among
children, raising the risk of mounting child deaths,” it added.
Only a trickle of humanitarian aid has
entered the Palestinian territory since Oct. 7, when Hamas’ deadly attack on
southern Israel ignited the war. Fewer than 200 aid trucks enter each day, less
than half the prewar level, and aid groups say the fighting hinders
distribution.
“Children in Gaza are caught in a
nightmare that worsens with every passing day,” said Catherine Russell,
UNICEF’s executive director. “Children and families in the Gaza Strip continue
to be killed and injured in the fighting, and their lives are increasingly at
risk from preventable diseases and lack of food and water. All children and
civilians must be protected from violence and have access to basic services and
supplies.”
A survey by UNICEF released Friday found
that 90 percent of children under the age of 2 are eating two or fewer food
groups each day, mainly bread or milk. A quarter of pregnant women said they
only eat from one food group per day.
UNICEF said it is particularly worried
about the nutrition of over 155,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers,
as well as more than 135,000 children under two, given their specific nutrition
needs and vulnerability.
UN officials previously said that one in
four Gazans were enduring famine-like levels of starvation.
UNICEF said cases of diarrhea among
children under 5 have risen from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting
Dec. 17, equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhea per day, an indication of
poor nutrition. Normally, only 2,000 cases of diarrhea are reported each month
in the Gaza Strip.
“This recent climb represents a
staggering increase of about 2,000 percent,” UNICEF said.
UN officials say aid operations are
hindered by the Israeli inspections, as well as fighting and road closures
within the territory, and have long been calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.
UNICEF called for the resumption of
commercial traffic so the shelves of shops can be restocked, and for an
immediate humanitarian ceasefire to help save civilian lives and alleviate
suffering.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436821/middle-east
-----
Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf: Israeli Crimes In Gaza 'Tantamount To Ethnic Cleansing'
First
Minister Humza Yousaf pictured last month
------
06 January 2024
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf
says Israel’s atrocities in the Gaza Strip are "tantamount to ethnic
cleansing" as Tel Aviv's war on Palestinians in the besieged territory
enters its fourth consecutive month.
Yousaf said in a statement on Friday
that the UK government should make clear to Israel that its actions in Gaza
have gone "way beyond a legitimate response" to the October 7
retaliatory operation by the Palestinian resistance groups.
Calling on UK ministers to use their
influence to push Israel for an end to hostilities, Yousaf said London should
make clear that Israeli officials, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and military commanders, must be held accountable for the deaths of Palestinian
civilians if Tel Aviv does not "immediately cease indiscriminate
attacks" in Gaza.
The British government's multiple
refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in the besieged territory is
"shameful”, he added.
"Frankly, my plea is one of
desperation. I mean, I am seeing the same images you are seeing and the same
images your viewers are seeing, day in and day out,” Yousaf said in an
interview with Sky News.
"And I think it's tantamount of
importance for every single person to raise their voice and say that what we're
seeing from Israel, the indiscriminate attacks we're seeing, go far beyond a
legitimate response. They look now like vengeance and have done, I have to say,
for quite some time.”
Yousaf said the UK government has to
make it clear that not only should there be an “immediate ceasefire” but also
the Israeli regime will be “held to account for any breaches of international
law."
The first minister also called for aid
to enter Gaza on the "scale needed to avert a humanitarian disaster"
as 1.9 million people in the besieged area have been displaced since early
October.
During the interview with Sky News,
Yousaf condemned recent comments by Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich,
who said the regime should "encourage migration" of Palestinians from
Gaza, which drew widespread international condemnation, including from the US.
“We have heard statements from senior
ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet … and they have made statements that the
population of Gaza should be resettled, moved out of Gaza, and gone as far as
saying that Israeli settlements should now be in Gaza. If that is not
tantamount to ethnic cleansing, then I don't know what is,” he said.
"And I think political leaders
should stop beating around the bush, [and] should call what they're seeing in
Gaza by what it is,” he added.
"We are seeing not only a
humanitarian crisis, but we're now seeing senior members of the Netanyahu
cabinet making statements that are, frankly, the textbook definition of ethnic
cleansing and that should be condemned in the strongest possible manner."
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/06/717694/Scotland-First-Minister-Humza-Yousaf-Gaza-Strip-Israel-ethnic-cleansing
-----
Islamic Scholars Canvass Peaceful
Coexistence, Understanding of Sharia in Nigeria And Other Parts Of The World
Photo: This
Day Live.com
-----
06-01- 2024
Raheem Akingbolu
Islamic scholars, lawmakers, and other
stakeholders have advocated peaceful coexistence and avoidance of
misinformation that could lead to conflict in Nigeria and other parts of the
world.
They disclosed this at the 15th annual
Islamic International conference organised by DaaruNa’im Academy for Sharia
Science of Nigeria with the theme, “The Link between Jurisprudence of Sharia
and Contemporary Issues.”
The Conference Supervisor and General
Director, DaaruNa’I’m Academy for Shariah Sciences of Nigeria, Sheikh Imran
AbdulmajeedEleha said that with the advancement in technology and other
changing realities in society it is important to know the position of Sharia to
avoid misinformation and misunderstanding. He pointed out that the conference
brought together scholars from around the world to dissect the link between the
jurisprudence of sharia and contemporary issues affecting Muslim communities.
He said, “The purpose of the conference
is for people to better understand Islam and understand the position of Sharia
on contemporary issues that involve human beings from marriage to finance and
others.”
He advised Islamic scholars to remain
committed to preaching the message of peaceful coexistence and also urged the
government to support religious institutions and organisations to achieve this
objective.
The speaker of the Lagos House of
Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, represented by Lawal Ridwan stated that the
discussions at the conference can help lawmakers make laws that will promote
peaceful coexistence.
“It is important to note that Islam
connects us to the ever-changing world. With the new technology advancement
affecting the economy, health, also with interest in economic transactions such
as online transactions to contemporary issues of DNA as it affects paternity
rights among others.”
He added, “Being a lawmaker and a
Muslim, this is of great interest to me as we constantly look forward to ways
to make visible and pragmatic laws that will impact positively, provide a
better life, safeguard well-being, ensure progress, and secure the future of
our people and enhance better understanding and peaceful coexistence in the
state.”
Deputy Minister, Ministry for Islamic
Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who spoke on behalf of the Minister for
Islamic Affairs in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Dr. AwwadSibtiy Al-Anaziy
said the conference underscores the importance of unity among Muslims, stating
that Islam preaches about coexistence, and therefore called on Muslims to be
good ambassadors of Islam.
In another vein, some of the Islamic
scholars who made their presentations at the conference pointed out that some
scholars misinform people on social media because of their lack of
understanding of the subject matter which might be IVF, knowing blood group
before marriage, and others. They therefore urged Islamic leaders to learn more
about topics before lecturing their congregations on them.
Source: thisdaylive.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2024/01/06/scholars-canvass-peaceful-coexistence-understanding-of-sharia
------
India
Shahi Imam Of Punjab Lays Foundation Of
Gurdwara Prayer Hall In Punjab
January 6, 2024
RaakhiJagga
Giving an example of communal harmony
and brotherhood, Shahi Imam of Punjab Usman Ludhianvi laid the foundation stone
for expansion of a Gurdwaras meant for the Ravidas community on Friday.
The Gurdwaras in Kherabad village of
Hoshiarpur district is being expanded and several communities had joined hands
at the ceremony. The Shahi Imam said, “There is a Gurdwaras for Ravidas
community already in the village and a new prayer hall is to be added. The
gurdwara management committee thus invited me, peachers from Ravidas community,
NihangSinghs and even district health officer of Hoshiarpur for this foundation
laying ceremony. So all of us laid the foundation stone one by one thus
spreading the message of peace, communal harmony and brotherhood.”
Dr Lakhbir Singh, district health
officer Hoshiarpur while speaking on the occasion said, “ A number of times
religion had been a reason of war in many parts of the world but if we
understand the real message of gurus, it is to stay united and treat humanity
as the supreme race. All religions teach us to respect each other. Now that
foundation stones have been laid by preachers of different communities, they
will also participate in their functions, festivals as well with equal
harmony.”
Gurdail Singh, from Ravidas Gurdwara
management committee of Kherabad village said that the idea was to take the
teachings of Sai Mia Mir, who had laid the foundation stone of Harmander Sahib
in Amritsar, and gurus ahead and to spread message of peace.
JathedarJagdev Singh, a representative
of NihangSinghs, said, “Allah is also happy with us today, It is indeed a happy
day.”
Source: indianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/shahi-imam-foundation-gurdwara-prayer-hall-9097595/
-----
Supreme Court poser to Uttar Pradesh
government on decision to ban halal certification
06.01.24
R. Balaji
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the
response of the Uttar Pradesh government on the decision to ban halal
certification issued by private accredited bodies like Halal India Pvt Ltd,
which has been challenged on the ground that it was targeted against a
particular community as no such restriction was imposed on the certification of
products as “Satvik”.
A bench of Justices B.R Gavai and
Sandeep Mehta issued formal notices on two separate petitions filed by Halal
India Private Limited (HIPL), an accredited body under the Union ministry of
commerce, and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra challenging the notification
issued by the state government in November last year and the FIR registered
against HIPL under various IPC provisions.
Justice Gavai initially asked senior
advocate Sidharth Agarwal, appearing for HIPL, why the organisation did not
approach Allahabad High Court instead of directly coming to the top court.
However, the senior counsel and another senior counsel, Raju Ramachandran
appearing for the Jamiat, said the issue had pan-India ramifications, besides
inter-state commerce relations. Further, it was contended that similar demands
had already been raised in Bihar and Karnataka.
The bench issued a formal notice to the
state and the commissioner, Food Safety and Standards, but refused to pass any
order on taking coercive action against HIPL pursuant to the FIR registered in
the matter. The apex court, however, said the question of granting any interim
relief against coercive action would be considered at the next hearing after
getting the state’s views.
HIPL submitted it was constrained to
move the apex court following the registration of an FIR last year at
Hazratganj police station in Lucknow against the company and a notification
issued by the commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Administration, government of
Uttar Pradesh, banning the production, storage, distribution and sale of
halal-certified products.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read the
full text of the
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/supreme-court-poser-to-uttar-pradesh-government-on-decision-to-ban-halal-certification/cid/1991887
------
Varanasi court to decide on Jan 24
whether to make public ASI report on Gyanvapi mosque complex
06.01.24
A Varanasi court on Saturday fixed
January 24 for deciding whether to make public the sealed ASI report on the
Gyanvapi mosque complex and provide copies to parties.
The order to this effect was given by
District Judge A K Vishvesh, Madan Mohan Yadav, counsel for the Hindu side,
said.
The counsel of the Hindu and Muslim
sides and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) were present in the court.
The court said it will decide the issue
after the hearing in the matter before the Civil Judge Senior Division Fast
Track Court takes place.
The Fast Track Court is scheduled to
take up the matter on January 19.
Except for the headline, this story has
not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a
syndicated feed.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/varanasi-court-to-decide-on-january-24-whether-to-make-public-archeological-survey-of-india-report-on-gyanvapi-mosque-complex/cid/1992002
-----
FIR registered against NCP MLA Awhad
over `Ram was non-vegetarian’ remark
5th January 2024
Marziya Sharif
Pune: A case for allegedly hurting
religious feelings was registered here on Friday against NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad
over his remark that Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian.
Based on a complaint filed by city BJP
chief DhirajGhate, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against
Awhad, a former Maharashtra minister, under Indian Penal Code section 295 (A)
(Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any
class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) at Vishrambag police
station, said an official.
Awhad, who belongs to the Sharad
Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, kicked up a row two days
ago when he said that Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian.
“He used to hunt and eat. He is ours, of
bahujans. You (an apparent reference to the BJP) are turning us into
vegetarians, (but) we are following the example of Ram and consuming mutton,”
he said at an NCP conclave at Shirdi on Wednesday.
The term `bahujan’ is used to denote the
non-Brahmin sections of society in Maharashtra.
The MLA later said he would express
regret if anybody’s sentiments were hurt.
Probe is on, the police official said.
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.siasat.com/fir-registered-against-ncp-mla-awhad-over-ram-was-non-vegetarian-remark-2949994/
------
Fire in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir forest
spreads to Indian side, security forces on alert
06th January 2024
MENDHAR/JAMMU: A fire that broke out in
a forest area in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir has spread to the Indian side and
security forces are on alert to thwart any infiltration bid under the cover of
the blaze, officials said on Saturday.
The fire has spread to the forest area
along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, they
said.
The fire broke out in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir (PoK) late Friday night and spread to the Balakote sector in the
Mendhar sub-division, the officials said.
They said an alert has been sounded
along the LoC given the raging fire to ensure there is no attempt of
infiltration by terrorists under the cover of the blaze.
Army troops guarding the LoC are making
efforts to put out the fire, the officials said.
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/jan/06/fire-in-pakistan-occupied-kashmir-forest-spreads-to-indian-side-security-forces-on-alert-2648507.html
-----
Ayodhya dispute litigant Ansari gets
invite for consecration ceremony
06th January 2024
LUCKNOW: Iqbal Ansari, a litigant in the
Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, on Friday, was invited for the consecration
ceremony of Ram Lalla in sanctum-sanctorum of upcoming temple in Ayodhya on
January 22.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad
office-bearers, led by Ganga Singh, visited Ansari’s house in KotiaPanjitola
and handed over the invitation on behalf of Shree Ram Janmabhoomi TeerthKshetra
Trust after the Juma Namaz on Friday.
Ansari was also invited to the
‘bhoomipujan’ ceremony of Ram Mandir performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on August 5, 2020. Ansari’s father Hashim Ansari, was the first and the oldest
litigant of the vexed title suit. After his death in 2016, Iqbal started
pursuing the case in court.
Ansari said that he was happy to get the
invite for PranPratishthha which was considered to be auspicious for Muslims.
“I am happy that the idol of Ram is going to be installed. We Muslims accept
Shri Ram as our ‘Imam-e- Hind’ and we are happy in the happiness of our Hindu
brothers,” he added.
Claiming that Ayodhya was the land of
Ganga -Jamuni Tahzeeb where Hindu and Muslims had been living together for
ages, Ansari expressed hope that the bonhomie between the two communities would
be there forever. He confirmed that he would attend the consecration ceremony.
“The Supreme Court gave a verdict on
November 9, 2019 and the Muslims across the country respected it. There was no
protest or demonstration anywhere. People of Ayodhya are happy, I am happy
too,” said Ansari.
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/jan/06/ayodhya-dispute-litigant-ansari-gets-invite-forconsecration-ceremony-2648422.html
-----
South Asia
Stop ‘Motivated, Biased’ Use Of Law To
Harass Nobel Laureate Prof Yunus
Jan 6, 2024
Fourteen eminent citizens yesterday
urged the authorities to stop "motivated and biased use of law" to
harass Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus.
"While law should follow its own
course, we, as citizens, call upon all concerned to follow the due process in
an objective, transparent and non-motivated way," they said in a
statement.
On Monday, a Dhaka court sentenced Prof
Yunus and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom to six months in prison
in a case filed by the government over labour law violations.
The case against Professor Yunus, as
Chair, two other board members and the managing director of Grameen Telecom on
workers' contractual and benefit issues was deemed to be a criminal offence
resulting in jail terms for them through expedited proceedings," reads the
statement.
"When the victims of Rana Plaza
still await justice but legal proceedings in this case are concluded in
incredible haste against a non-executive Chair of a board with no direct
involvement in daily operations, the same can hardly be seen as being motivated
by concern for workers.
"This is rightly perceived as
weaponizing public systems for harassment which only conveys a negative message
about the state of shrinking civic space in Bangladesh and shakes people's
confidence in the justice system which often is their last resort for redress.
"We also urge upon all to recognise
the importance of protecting the civic space and halt all ongoing harassing
actions against the civil society groups and their leadership for Bangladesh's
journey on inclusive prosperity," reads the statement.
The signatories to the statement are
economist Hossain Zillur Rahman; jurist Shahdeen Malik; rights activists
Hameeda Hossain, ZI Khan Panna, Khushi Kabir, Shaheen Anam, Shireen P Huq,
Shamsul Huda, Khairul Islam, Faruq Faisel, and SyeedAhamed; environmental
activist Syeda Rizwana Hasan; and educationists Rasheda K Choudhury and Shahnaz
Huda.
Source: thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/stop-motivated-biased-use-law-harass-prof-yunus-3511936
-----
Al-Qaeda leader’s killing highlights
Afghanistan oversight: US State Department
Fidel Rahmati
January 5, 2024
The spokesperson for the US State
Department said on Thursday that Washington holds the Taliban responsible for
the increase in terrorist group activities in Afghanistan.
Matthew Miller, about the killing of
Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, issued a firm warning, stating that America is
closely monitoring Afghanistan.
Mr. Miller made these remarks during a
press conference regarding the rise in terrorist activities in Afghanistan, emphasizing
that the Taliban must adhere to their commitments to prevent terrorism.
The spokesperson for the US State
Department has called on the Taliban to take action against terrorist and
quasi-military groups. Concerning the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader
of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, he indirectly warned that if necessary, the United
States would target these groups in Afghanistan.
He said, “We continue to monitor the
situation in Afghanistan.”
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of
Al-Qaeda, was killed in an American airstrike in Kabul on 31 July 2022. The
Taliban has denied the presence and death of Zawahiri in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda
has also remained silent on the circumstances of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death
despite the selection of a new leader.
Zawahiri had been in hiding for years,
and he had been the leader of the terrorist group since the death of Osama bin
Laden in a U.S. raid in 2011.
The Taliban does not consider groups
like Al-Qaeda as terrorists and has refrained from expelling them from Afghan
soil despite requests from Western and regional countries. The Taliban has
stated that it will not allow these groups to launch attacks on other
countries.
Regional countries, especially, are
concerned about the presence of these quasi-military groups in Afghanistan. The
government of Pakistan has stated in various statements that the Taliban is not
preventing attacks by TTP and its affiliated groups on Pakistani soil.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/al-qaeda-leaders-killing-highlights-afghanistan-oversight-us-state-department/
-----
89 Afghans released from prisons in
Pakistan’s Sindh, says officials
Fidel Rahmati
January 5, 2024
The Afghan Consulate in Karachi,
Pakistan, has reported the release of 89 Afghan citizens, including six
children, from prisons in Sindh province on Thursday.
These individuals have been successfully
transferred back to Afghanistan, marking a positive development in their
repatriation efforts.
It’s worth noting that there are still
279 Afghan nationals remaining in Sindh prisons, and ongoing efforts are being
made to secure their release as well.
Sayed Abdul JabbarTakhari, the Consul
General of Afghanistan in Karachi, highlighted the case of two Afghan girls named
Madiha and Marwa.
These two girls have been residing in
the Abdul Sattar Edhi orphanage in Karachi for the past 13 months, and their
situation has drawn attention.
The Consul General issued a plea to the
guardians of Madiha and Marwa, urging them to visit the consulate to facilitate
their reunion with the girls.
The release of Afghan citizens and the
plea for reuniting separated children with their guardians emphasize the
ongoing efforts to address the welfare of Afghan nationals in Pakistan.
Pakistani officials have recently
reaffirmed their commitment to deporting all 1.7 million undocumented Afghan
migrants from Pakistan. This decision is being carried out despite the
challenging conditions of a harsh winter and a severe humanitarian crisis in
the country.
The move to expel Afghan migrants is
part of Pakistan’s efforts to address issues related to undocumented
immigration and national security concerns. It has raised concerns about the
well-being of these migrants, especially given the current weather conditions.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/89-afghans-released-from-prisons-in-pakistans-sindh-says-officials/
----
Kabul Has 'Counterterrorism
Commitments': Miller
MitraMajeedy
January 5, 2024
Matthew Miller, spokesman for the US
Department of State, said Washinton continues to make clear to the Taliban that
they have counterterrorism commitments that it expects them to adhere to.
He made the remarks in a question about
terrorist activity in Afghanistan.
“We maintain our capabilities to monitor
the situation and respond to terrorist activity that we see despite the fact
that there isn’t a more US presence in Afghanistan,” Miller said. “We
demonstrated that when we took out the leader of al-Qaeda in July 2022, and we
will continue to act to protect Americans.”
The Islamic Emirate said that not
allowing Afghan soil to be used against other countries is the main strategy of
the interim government.
"This is the strategy of the
Islamic Emirate, to not allow the Afghan soil be used against other countries.
This is both the strategy and commitment,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, Islamic
Emirate spokesman.
The military analysts meanwhile said
that the Islamic Emirate should make more efforts to counter the terrorist
groups.
"To alleviate the allegations about
Afghanistan, it is better that a joint committee of the neighboring countries
including Afghanistan find the way of fighting the terrorists,” said Sarwar
Niazai, military analyst.
“The Islamic Emirate should improve its
relations with the neighboring countries in a bid to draw trust," said
Abdul Wahid Hakimi, a university instructor.
In August last year, US President Joe
Biden in a live address announced the death of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
But the Islamic Emirate’s officials said
that they have not found any details to prove that Ayman al-Zawahiri, former
leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in Afghanistan.
Source: tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186832
-----
Afghan People's Fund Accumulated $155M:
Mehrabi
Bibi Amina Hakimi
Shah Mohammad Mehrabi, Central Bank
supreme council member and board member of the Afghan Trust Fund in
Switzerland, said that the Afghan people's fund has experienced substantial
growth, with accumulated revenue totaling $155 million.
In a video clip to TOLOnews, Mehrabi
said:
"This significant advancement
underscores the steadfast commitment of the fund to its fundamental mission,
safeguarding, preserving and allocating its $3.5 billion in assets to support
foreign exchange rate and price stabilization objectives in Afghanistan."
According to him, the initiative
ultimately serves to enhance the well-being of the Afghan people.
Mehrabi also emphasized that the fund is
tailored for economic purposes and that it is not ear-marked for humanitarian
initiatives.
Meanwhile, economists said that the
revenue of the Afghan Trust Fund should be used for the stabilization of the
afghani and the economic improvement of Afghanistan.
"This money should be invested in
power improvement and the banking sector," said Mohammad Nabi Afghan, an
economist.
Some of the frozen Central Bank reserves
were transferred from Washington into the "Fund for the Afghan
People" last year where US officials said it will be shielded from the
Islamic Emirate, according to Reuters.
Source: tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/business-186831
------
UNHCR and Islamic Development Bank sign
three agreements on Afghanistan
January 6, 2024
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) have signed three agreements aimed at
bolstering access to education, health-care services, and livelihood
opportunities in Afghanistan.
The agreements were signed at the
headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, by the Special Advisor to the President of the Islamic Development Bank
and Coordinator of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund, Muhammad Jamal
Al-Saati, and UNHCR’s Senior Advisor and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
Representative, Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR said in a statement.
Through these agreements, UNHCR will
implement several projects to support education programmes, such as building 16
integrated schools for boys and girls, and creating information and inquiry
points to enhance and ensure access to education for more than 30,000
school-age children. In addition, it will improve and expand the health-care
service network in more than 34 regions by establishing eight health-care
centres, benefiting more than half a million people from returnee, displaced
and host communities. The agreements will also allow for the implementation of
programmes to enhance vocational skills and facilitate livelihood opportunities
through traditional crafts, such as beekeeping and wool spinning, according to
the statement.
“The decades-long conflict in Afghanistan has
had a devastating impact on all aspects of people’s lives, leaving more than
two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population in urgent need of assistance,” Khaled
Khalifa said. “With this generous contribution from the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia’s Fund for Development – through AHTF – UNHCR will be able to provide
critical services in several vital sectors, including health, education, and
livelihoods. We are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and AHTF for this
much-needed support.”
Approximately 28.3 million people are in
need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, according to UN.
Source: ariananews.af
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https://www.ariananews.af/unhcr-and-islamic-development-bank-sign-three-agreements-on-afghanistan/
------
Mideast
Hezbollah pounds Israeli aerial
surveillance base with 62 missiles
06 January 2024
Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance group
says it has hit an Israeli aerial surveillance base with scores of missiles in
its first response to Tel Aviv’s assassination of a deputy political leader of
Hamas.
“At 08:10 AM on Saturday, January 6,
2024, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted the Meron Aerial
Surveillance Base with 62 missiles of various types, inflicting direct and
confirmed hits,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
The movement described the operation “as
a preliminary response” to the Israeli assassination of “great leader Sheikh
Saleh al-Arouri and his martyr brothers” in the southern Beirut suburb of
Dahiyeh.
According to the statement, the base is
the sole center for administration, surveillance, and air control in the
northern occupied territories.
“It is one of two principal bases in the
entire usurping entity, the other being Mitzpe Ramon in the south,” it said.
Earlier, sirens were sounded in northern
Israeli cities, warning residents of incoming rockets, media reports said
Saturday.
The cities of Shtula, Abirim, Netu’a,
Karmiel, Safed were among 94 settlements in Galilee and the occupied Golan
Heights put on alert Saturday, they said.
The southern Lebanese border has seen
regular exchanges of fire, mainly between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since
Tel Aviv launched its ferocious invasion of Gaza in early October.
Arouri's assassination on Tuesday in
southern Beirut, which a US defense official has told AFP was carried out by
Israel, has raised fears of further escalation.
The Israeli military said it had
identified around 40 rocket launches from Lebanese territory on Saturday
morning.
Air raid sirens went off in towns and
cities across northern Israel, later also blaring in the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights.
In a speech Friday, Hezbollah Secretary
General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had warned Israel that the movement would
respond swiftly "on the battlefield" to Arouri's assassination.
Nearly three months of cross-border fire
have killed 175 people in Lebanon, including three journalists.
In northern Israel, at least 13 Israelis
including nine soldiers have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.
The secretary general of Lebanon’s
Hezbollah says Israel is concealing the “heavy losses” it has suffered in the
war on the southern Lebanese border as the resistance movement’s operations
against the occupying regime are “very exhausting.”
Nasrallah, however, said Israel is lying
about its true number of casualties.
“The enemy does not acknowledge either
fatalities or injuries, and this is part of its policy of general secrecy
regarding its losses since October 8,” he said, adding at least 2,000 Israeli
soldiers had been wounded on the Lebanese border.
The Lebanese resistance group has
carried out 670 operations against Israel over the past three months, he said
Friday.
“What is happening on the
Lebanese-Israeli border is unprecedented since 1948,” Nasrallah said in a
televised speech.
Israelis in the north, Nasrallah said,
should ask their leaders for a ceasefire if they wish to be safe.
The Lebanese front is there to alleviate
pressure on Hamas and Gaza, and to impose a ceasefire in Gaza, he added.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/06/717689/Israel-rocket-fire-Lebanon-Gaza-retaliation-
-----
Hezbollah conducted 670 operations
against Israel in last 3 months: Nasrallah
Rania Abu Shamala
05.01.2024
The Hezbollah chief on Friday said that
the Lebanese group carried out 670 operations against Israel over the past
three months.
“What is happening on the
Lebanese-Israeli border is unprecedented since 1948,” Hassan Nasrallah said in
a televised speech.
“The enemy (Israel) does not acknowledge
either fatalities or injuries, and this is part of its policy of general
secrecy regarding its losses since Oct. 8,” he added.
Nasrallah also pledged retaliation for
the assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri.
“The major violation of the southern
Daheih (the assassination of Al-Arouri) cannot pass and will not go without a
response or punishment. The decision lies on the battlefield,” he added.
Border tensions have risen between
Israel and Lebanon since the start of an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza
Strip that has killed at least 22,600 people, following a cross-border attack
by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7.
Tension has flared along the border amid
intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and the Lebanese group,
Hezbollah, in the deadliest fighting since the two sides fought a full-scale
war in 2006.
Source: aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/hezbollah-conducted-670-operations-against-israel-in-last-3-months-nasrallah/3101325
-----
Enemy Prevented 15 Thousand Palestinian
Worshipers Performing Friday Prayers In Al-Aqsa Mosque
[05/January/2024]
OCCUPIED QUDS January 5. 2024 (Saba) -
The enemy authorities continue to impose restrictions on the entry of
Palestinian worshipers to Al-Aqsa toda, for the thirteenth Friday in sequence,
and suppressed the worshipers in the streets of the city.
The Palestinian Ma'an Agency reported
that the enemy forces deployed their elements in the streets of Al_Quds and the
roads leading to the Old City and Al-Aqsa, and various teams were stationed at
the gates of Al-Aqsa and the Old City, arresting arrivals, checking identities,
and preventing thousands from entering.
"15,000 performed Friday prayers at
Al-Aqsa," The Islamic Endowments Department said
Today is considered the first day in
which the highest number of worshipers have been able to reach Al-Aqsa and
perform Friday prayers there since the war on Gaza. In the first two months,
the numbers ranged between only three to five thousand worshipers, while before
it was 40 thousand.
In the streets of Al_ Quds, enemy forces
suppressed worshipers in Wadi al-Jouzneighborhood with gas bombs, sound bombs,
and waste water, and pursued them from one place to another to prevent them
from praying in the streets.
Source: saba.ye
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https://www.saba.ye/en/news3293833.htm
-----
15 suspects jailed in Turkiye ahead of
trial for spying for Israel
January 06, 2024
ISTANBUL: A court in Istanbul has
ordered 15 of 34 people detained on suspicion of spying for Israel be held in
prison awaiting trial, Turkiye’s justice minister said late Friday.
The suspects were arrested Tuesday for
allegedly planning to carry out activities that included “reconnaissance” and
“pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping” foreign nationals living in Turkiye.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said in a
social media post that 26 suspects were referred to the court on a charge of
committing “political or military espionage” on behalf of Israeli intelligence.
Eleven were released under judicial control conditions and eight were awaiting
deportation.
Israel’s foreign intelligence agency
Mossad is said to have recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals inside
Turkiye as part of the operation against foreigners living in Turkiye,
state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The agency cited a prosecution document
as saying the operation targeted “Palestinian nationals and their families …
within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
One suspect allegedly collected
information about Palestinian patients recently transferred to Turkiye for
health care. Turkiye has accepted dozens of Palestinian patients from Gaza
since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The suspects were detained in raids on
57 addresses in Istanbul and seven other provinces. Weeks earlier, the head of
Israel’s domestic Shin Bet security agency said his organization was prepared
to target Hamas anywhere, including in Lebanon, Turkiye and Qatar.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned
Israel of “serious consequences” if it pressed ahead with its threat to attack
Hamas officials on Turkish soil.
Turkiye and Israel had normalized ties
in 2022 by reappointing ambassadors following years of tensions. But those ties
quickly deteriorated after the Israel-Hamas war, with Ankara becoming one of
the strongest critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Israel initially withdrew its diplomats
from Turkiye over security concerns and later announced it was recalling its
diplomats for political reasons, citing “increasingly harsh statements” from
Turkish officials. Turkiye also pulled out its ambassador from Israel.
Erdogan’s reaction to the Israel-Hamas
war was initially fairly muted. But the Turkish leader has since intensified
his criticism of Israel, describing its actions in Gaza as verging on
“genocide.” He has called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be
prosecuted for “war crimes” and compared him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Erdogan, whose government has hosted
several Hamas officials in the past, has also said the militant group —
considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the
European Union — is fighting for the liberation of its lands and people.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2437046/middle-east
-----
Blinken to tackle Gaza, NATO expansion
with Turkiye’s Erdogan
January 06, 2024
ISTANBUL: Washington’s top diplomat will
discuss the Gaza war with Turkiye’s mercurial leader on Saturday before flying
to Crete to address Greek worries about the looming sale of US fighter jets to
Ankara.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
arrived in Istanbul late Friday for the first leg of a trip that includes
visits to Israel and West Bank, along with five Arab states.
Blinken’s fourth crisis tour since the
start of the Israel-Hamas war three months ago comes with fears mounting that
the conflict will engulf swathes of the Middle East.
Istanbul served as a base for Hamas
political leaders until Hamas fighters raided Israel, killing around 1,140
people and triggering a reprisal offensive that the Gaza health ministry says
has claimed 22,600 lives — most of them women and children.
Turkiye asked the Hamas chiefs to leave
after some were captured on video celebrating the deadliest attack in Israel’s
history.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has since turned into one of the Muslim world’s harshest critics of the
scale of death and destruction happening in Gaza — and of Washington’s support
for Israel.
Erdogan has compared Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused the United States of
sponsoring the “genocide” of Palestinians.
He has also rebuffed US pressure to cut
off the suspected flow of funding through Turkiye to Hamas and defended the
group as legitimately elected “liberators” fighting for their land.
The US State Department on Friday
announced $10 million rewards for information about five alleged Hamas foreign
operatives — three of them believed to be based in Turkiye — thought to be
helping finance the Iran-backed group.
Turkiye this week countered by detaining
34 people suspected of planning attacks against Palestinians and spying for
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
Erdogan began to tone down his most
strident comments after US President Joe Biden last month called the Turkish
leader for the first time since the war broke out.
The call helped push along NATO member
Turkiye’s glacial progress in accepting Sweden into the US-led defense organization
in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
A parliamentary committee approved
Sweden’s application in late December.
Blinken will hope to win assurances in
talks with Turkish Foreign Minister HakanFidan and Erdogan that a vote by the
full chamber will happen soon.
Approval from all NATO states is
required for new members to join the defense bloc.
NATO has already doubled the length of
its border with Russia when Turkiye relented and accepted Sweden’s neighbor
Finland into the alliance last year.
Erdogan has been able to use Turkiye’s
veto power to impel Sweden into taking a tougher stance with Kurdish group in
Stockholm that Ankara views as “terrorists.”
He has also been trying to make Sweden’s
approval conditional on the US delivering 40 US F-16 fighters jets and nearly
80 modernization kits for Turkiye’s aging air force.
Biden’s administration officially backs
the sale, but has been unable to overcome resistance in Congress from lawmakers
who express alarm about Turkiye’s position on Sweden and its human rights
record, as well as past military standoffs with historic rival Greece.
“We have made clear that we do not
believe the sale... should be linked with Sweden’s NATO accession, but there
are members of Congress who have a different opinion and they have linked the
two,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said this week.
Blinken will travel to the Greek island
of Crete on Saturday evening for talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Greece has fiercely resisted the US jet
sales because of its longstanding territorial disputes with Turkiye in the
energy-rich eastern Mediterranean region.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436986/middle-east
------
Iraqi resistance targets three US bases
in Syria, Iraq in solidarity with Gaza
06 January 2024
Iraqi resistance forces target three
US-occupied military bases in Syria and neighboring Iraq in retaliation for
Washington’s support for the bloody Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an
umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, in a statement published on its
Telegram channel early on Saturday, claimed responsibility for the drone
strikes on the US-occupied base in Syria's al-Tanf region, near the borders
with Iraq and Jordan, as well as the US-run facility in al-Shaddadi town,
situated about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Syria’s northeastern city of
Hasakah.
Earlier, combat drones targeted al-Harir
Air Base, which houses US military forces in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan
region.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq noted
that the operation came in retaliation for US support of Israel’s devastating
military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
There were no immediate reports about
the extent of damage at the military facility, and possible casualties.
Two military facilities occupied by
American forces in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah are targeted by
drone strikes.
The United States, Israel’s biggest
ally, has provided the regime with a raft of arms and ammunition since the
initiation of the Gaza war.
Washington has also vetoed the United
Nations Security Council's peace resolutions that called on the occupying
regime to cease its aggression.
Iraq’s prime minister said on Friday
that the government will put together a bilateral committee to prepare for the
withdrawal of US troops from the country.
The announcement came a day after a US
drone strike killed the leader of a resistance group in Baghdad.
The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that
it carried out the strike which killed Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, a leader
of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, which forms part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization
Forces (PMF) umbrella group of paramilitaries.
“We are setting the date for the start
of the bilateral committee to put arrangements to end the presence of the
international coalition forces in Iraq permanently,” Prime Minister Mohammad
Shi'a al-Sudani said, according to a statement from his office published on the
social media platform X.
The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900
in Syria without a permit and an international mandate, having been involved in
killing of civilians and trafficking of the country’s resources.
“We stress our firm position in ending
the existence of the international coalition after the justifications for its
existence have ended,” Sudani said.
The prime minister made the comments
during a memorial event marking the fourth anniversary of the US assassination
of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the former deputy head of the PMF who was killed in a
US drone strike alongside Iranian general Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad airport
in January 2020.
Source: presstv.ir
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-----
Death toll in Islamic State-claimed
suicide blasts rises to 91
January 6, 2024
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The death toll from
a suicide bombing in Iran claimed by the Islamic State group has risen to at
least 91, state TV reported Saturday.
The TV quoted BabakYektaparast, a
spokesman for the country’s emergency services, as saying an 8-year boy and a
67-year-old man who were wounded in the attack have now died.
Yektaparast added that there are 102
people still being treated in hospitals, of whom 11 are in critical condition.
In Wednesday’s attack, one suicide
bomber detonated his explosives, then another attacked 20 minutes later as
emergency workers and other people tried to help the wounded.
The attack took place in Kerman, about
820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. It targeted a
commemoration for Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 by a U.S. drone
strike as he led its expeditionary Quds Force.
The intelligence ministry said Friday
that one of the two suicide bombers was a Tajik national and 11 people linked
to the attack have been arrested.
Source: yahoo.com
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https://news.yahoo.com/death-toll-islamic-state-claimed-091641429.html
----
Europe
Pope Francis on ideological splits in
Church: Focus on poor, not 'theory'
Jan 06, 2024
Pope Francis issued the call to abandon
“ecclesiastical ideologies” in his homily in St. Peter's Basilica during
Epiphany Day Mass.
Amid resistance to some Vatican policy
by more conservative factions of the Catholic church, Pope Francis on Saturday
cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups “based on our own
ideas."
He issued the call to abandon
“ecclesiastical ideologies” in his homily in St. Peter's Basilica during
Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday.
Francis also warned against “basking in
some elegant religious theory” instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.
Last month, Francis gave permission for
priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships,
as long as the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some
religious rite.
Some bishops who view Francis as a
dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the
Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings
don't constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the
practice.
Francis in his Epiphany homily didn't
cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from
the written text of the homily to cite the “need to abandon ecclesiastical
ideologies.”
Francis said the Church needed to ensure
that "our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious
devotions or mere outward appearance.”
“We find the God who comes down to visit
us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a
journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life," especially
in the faces of the poor, the pontiff said.
The pontiff, who turned 87 last month
and who battled health problems last year, held up well during the Epiphany
ceremony, which included singing of Christmas hymns. At the end of the
90-minute service, an aide wheeled Francis down the basilica's center aisle.
The pope has a chronic knee problem and uses a wheelchair to navigate longer
distances.
He has dedicated much of his nearly
11-year-old papacy to encouraging attention to marginalized people, including
the poor. While the Church teaches that homosexual activity in sinful, Francis
has made efforts to make LGBTQ Catholics feel welcome.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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Orphaned boy’s statement read at
sentencing for man who murdered Muslim family
January 5, 2024
A little boy who was just nine years old
when his parents, sister and grandmother were brutally murdered in a violent,
targeted attack against Muslims in London, Ont., outlined the drastic changes
to his life and the extreme loss that he has suffered since June 6, 2021.
A victim impact statement from the
now-11-year-old was read into court by relative Areeb Siddiqui, who was
surrounded by other family members acting as support at the London Courthouse
on Friday, the second day of sentencing proceedings for Nathaniel Veltman.
Veltman, 23, was found guilty in
November of four counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder for
driving his pickup truck into the Afzaal family on June 6, 2021. Veltman told
police hours later that he had decided he was “going to commit a terrorist
attack” and “hoped to inspire more young men.”
The attack killed Salman Afzaal, 46, his
44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna, and her
74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal.
In the boy’s statement, he said he was
left with a broken leg and collarbone and will eventually have to get a metal
plate taken out of his leg and have to re-learn how to walk.
He said since the attack, he’s had to
leave the family home he had lived in since he was three years old. He will
never again get to enjoy any of the wonderful food his mother would cook, nor
get to enjoy his father’s butter chicken, his sister’s pasta, or his
grandmother’s potato wedges.
He looked to the future, grieving all of
the family events like weddings that his family will not be at. Or when he one
day has children, that he “wouldn’t be able to see Ommi and Baba as
grandparents.”
“Me and Yumna had plans that when she
finally got her driver’s licence, she would drive me around. She said it would
cost 25 cents per drive,” he shared. Now, that won’t happen.
Before, he said, the mural designed by
Yumna was just “a cool art piece” but now “it’s in memory of her.”
He concluded his statement by addressing
other young kids, saying that he used to get annoyed when his parents would nag
him about homework when he just wanted to play video games.
“Once they leave you, you start to
really notice how much they cared about you,” the statement read.
“You may think your siblings are really
annoying — and to be honest I thought the same about Yumna — but when they
leave you, you’d love to fight with them one last time.”
The statement was the last of 71
statements entered into court over two days from family members, friends and
community members.
Thursday’s proceedings focused largely
on statements from family, with many of the boy’s aunts, uncles and cousins
sharing stories of pain, grief, loss, and fear but also of resilience and
renewed faith.
Friday’s proceedings began with friends
and schoolmates speaking to the void left in their lives because of the
offender’s actions that day.
Imtiaz Shah, a friend of the father’s,
told a story of the last potluck dinner at his house, when he chastised his
friend for still cutting up meat for his little boy, saying he should be doing
it himself.
“I did not know that the same boy will
be without parents next year,” he told court.
Some of the boy’s classmates spoke about
how the attack left them wondering for their own safety with one little boy
telling court, “I learned that the world wasn’t as good as I thought.”
Speaking on behalf of local imams, chair
of the London Council of Imams, Imam Abd AlfatahTwakkal, told court that many
in the local Muslim community expressed fears for their safety in the wake of
the attack.
“I know of many Muslim women young and
old who contemplated taking off their hijab, with some eventually doing so,
solely because they felt threatened by being visibly Muslim while walking out
in public spaces.”
He referenced a passage from the Quran,
saying whoever takes an innocent life, it’s as if they’ve killed all of
humanity.
“Not only once, but four times over.
That is the sense felt by our community through the loss of the four precious
souls representing three generations of the Afzaal family,” he said.
Then, continuing the verse, he concluded
that “through our actions, if we are able to save a single life, it will be as
if we have saved all of humanity.”
The local public board, the Thames
Valley District School Board, was also represented in court by its legal
counsel, Ali Chahbar.
“When our students ask about love and
sacrifice, we will teach them about the Afzaal family,” he said.
“When our students ask about hate and
discrimination, we will teach them that these concepts have no place in civil
society… that the purveyors and practitioners of hate will be forgotten by
history, existing only as a cautionary footnote for future generations.”
He said the TVDSB community will “always
walk in lockstep with the downtrodden” and that annually on June 6 they hold an
event to “finish the walk” that the Afzaal family took on June 6, 2021.
“These students represent the very best
of us and walk in repudiation of the very worst of us.”
He added that students will be taught
about Our London Family “so that the Afzaals will live forever with us
together,” and then — turning his gaze to Veltman — said, “while the hate will
die alone.”
Speaking on behalf of the Youth
Coalition Combating Islamophobia, which formed in the wake of the attack, Jenna
Khorshed told court that “the world we inherited let us down” and that they
have been unfairly tasked with “the responsibility of making the world safer”
for themselves and future generations.
“Muslim kids deserve to feel safe too.
Muslim kids deserve to live,” she said.
“June 6 forever changed our feelings of
safety, security and youthful naivety that others are afforded… we all walk knowing
that it could have been any of us (killed June 6).”
She said the local Muslim community,
“known for its warmth and openness,” now has an “air of caution.”
From a clinical perspective, a victim
impact statement from Dr. JaveedSukhera with Vanier Children’s Services, read
by Crown attorney Sarah Shaikh, discussed the widespread psychological impacts
of the attack.
Sukhera, who was the chair of the London
Police Services Board at the time of the attack, wrote in his statement that
the mental health impacts of Islamophobia are clearly demonstrated in empirical
literature and that when people experience anti-Muslim sentiment, they
experience physical symptoms of stress.
He added that this stress can lead to
Muslim children holding themselves back from participation and censoring
themselves and can lead to physical withdrawal, social isolation and difficulty
or anxiety when trying to access mental health services.
“When you are in fear, that sensitizes
you to perceive everything that happens” as a threat, that has left many afraid
to leave their homes.
Other religious communities also voiced
fears of being targeted simply for their faith.
Prabh Singh Gill with United Six, a
group associated with the United Nations, said the Sikh community shares “a
unique and respectful bond with the Muslim community.”
“The loss of the Afzaal family has
therefore been felt as a loss within our own community.”
He added that the fight continues for a
more just and compassionate society where we understand and acknowledge our
differences and celebrate similarities.
“We need to recognize the human race as
one.”
Rabbi Debra Dressler shared that the
attack “punctured the sense of security Jews in our community” had felt.
“For the first time in my memory, we
have thought twice about placing a Hannukah Menorah in our window.”
She said she has heard from multiple
young people who have felt afraid of wearing jewelry or clothing that could
identify them as Jewish.
“There is an old adage that what begins
with the Jews doesn’t end with the Jews. I believe this to be equally true for
Muslims. Before now, being victimized based on our religious identity seemed an
abstraction,” she said, adding that it now feels like a plausible threat.
Victim impact statements concluded
Friday afternoon, with sentencing submissions from the Crown and defence
expected at the next court date, Jan. 23.
Veltman was found guilty last November
following more than two months of proceedings in a historic trial that marked
the first time Canada’s terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree
murder trial.
However, the jury’s decision did not
reveal whether they concluded that Veltman’s actions reached the threshold for
first-degree murder due to terrorist activity, due to being planned and
deliberate or both.
The question of terrorism may be
answered during the sentencing portion of the trial, as the judge may make a
decision about whether the murders constitute an act of terror as part of
potential aggravating factors in the case.
Regardless, under the Criminal Code of
Canada, a conviction of first-degree murder comes with an automatic life
sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
Source: globalnews.ca
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https://globalnews.ca/news/10207013/afzaal-family-survivor-nathaniel-veltman-sentencing/
------
Pope deeply saddened by loss of lives in
Kerman terror blasts
Jan 6, 2024
TEHRAN, Jan. 06 (MNA) – Pope Francis has
expressed his “heartfelt sorrow” and extended condolences over the death of
dozens of people in terrorist attacks in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman.
The Pope conveyed his condolences on
Friday in a Telegram message sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro
Parolin on his behalf.
The Pope was "deeply saddened to
learn of the loss of life caused by the recent explosions in Kerman," and
sent "the assurance of his prayers for those who have died and for their
grieving families,” reported Vatican News, the official news portal of the
Vatican Holy See.
Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Orthodox
Bishop Patriarch Kirill sent a message of condolence to the Leader of the
Islamic Revolution and the president of Iran over the terrorist blasts.
The Russian bishop expressed deep sorrow
over the loss of lives, wishing peace for the families of the victims and a
speedy recovery for the injured.
Condemnations and messages of
condolences have been pouring in since Wednesday when two explosions targeted a
ceremony marking the fourth assassination anniversary of Iran’s top general
Qassem Soleimani in Kerman, with world leaders and religious figures expressing
sympathy with the Iranian people and government over the tragedy.
Source: mehrnews.com
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-----
Ukrainians told to ‘chill’ over US aid
cuts
6 Jan, 2024
Ukraine's foreign minister has urged
citizens not to be excessively worried about delays in US aid to Kiev, while
playing down warnings of a funding cut.
Dmitry Kuleba took to Instagram on
Friday after Ukrainian media quoted State Department spokesman Matthew Miller
commenting on an expected drop in military assistance.
“This is not about supporting Ukraine in
2024,” Kiev’s foreign minister insisted. “The State Department said that when
Ukraine is firmly on its feet and there are enough weapons and resources to
counter Russian aggression, then the amount of support can be reduced.”
“Chill. Don’t look for extra reasons to
worry that will bring you into a state of agony and depression,” he added.
During Thursday’s briefing at the State
Department, Miller told reporters the US intends to continue supporting Ukraine
“for as long as necessary,” but not with the amount of money and weapons
provided so far.
“This does not mean that we will
continue to support them at the same level of military funding as in 2022 and
2023,” Miller said.
“We don’t think that should be
necessary, because the goal is to ultimately transition Ukraine… to help
Ukraine to build its own military industrial base so it can both finance and
build and acquire munitions on its own,” Miller added.
Because such capacities not in place
yet, however, he urged Congress to approve additional funding that had been
requested by President Joe Biden. The White House sought over $60 billion in
emergency funding for Kiev back in October, but has encountered opposition in
the Republican-majority House of Representatives. The Pentagon said on Friday
it is authorized to spend $4 billion more, but cannot do so until the funds are
approved by Congress.
Since the outbreak of the conflict with
Russia, Kiev has become almost entirely dependent on Western money, weapons,
equipment and ammunition. The Russian Defense Ministry has documented over $203
billion worth of military aid supplied to Ukraine by the US and its allies so
far.
Speaking to CNN earlier this week,
Kuleba insisted that Kiev does not have a “plan B” if this aid dries up, but is
“confident in plan A” and continued Western funding. He has also brushed off
concerns about Biden’s possible election loss to former US President Donald
Trump in November, suggesting Kiev could “work with” a new administration.
Source: rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/russia/590175-ukraine-kuleba-explains-us-aid/
-----
Africa
Same terrorists killing Christians,
Muslims – Shehu Sani
January 6, 2024
SeunOpejobi
Shehu Sani, former Kaduna Central
Senator, on Saturday, said the same terrorists killing Muslims in Katsina,
Borno, and Niger State are the same people killing Christians in Southern
Kaduna, Benue, and Plateau States.
Sani said terrorism has no religious
affiliation, adding that they are only after their target.
Posting on X, the socio-political
activist wrote: “The terrorists killing Muslims in Katsina, Zamfara, Borno,
Yobe and Niger are the same terrorists killing Christians in Southern Kaduna,
Benue and Plateau States; terrorism has no religious preferences.
“They don’t even spare their members who
‘derail.’ It’s either you are with them or you are a target.”
This is coming after some terrorists
murdered residents of some communities in three Local Government Areas in
Plateau State on Christmas eve.
Source: dailypost.ng
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----
Muslim Clerics Commission Ultra-Modern
Mosque, Seek Modernisation Of Religion
Jan 6, 2024
LAGOS
– Muslim clerics have stressed the need to modernise the Islamic
religion and also rebrand their places of worship to one that beautifies the
religion.
The cleric made the call while speaking
at the commissioning of the Masjid Muhammad Rosulullah Islamic centre, a three
storey-building with a penthouse in Surulere area of Lagos.
His Eminence Sheikh Ahmad Bukhari
Almukhtar, founder and leader of Muhammad RosulullahIsamic Centre and
AlhudaAlmukhtariyah International Prayer Mission, while speaking, said building
the mosque in the ultra-modern form is a way to modernise the religion.
“We want every other Muslims around the
world, especially in Yoruba land, to have a motive to rebrand and rebuild their
mosques. Looking around, a lot of mosques need renovation, so seeing this today
will inspire them to do that.
“Islam is a beautiful religion and the
Holy Prophet encouraged us to beautify this religion as well as we can.
Anything you can do to beautify the religion is permitted and encouraged.”
Almukhtar stated that Islam is facing
the challenges of extremism around the world.
“We want to remodify that, so that we
have a balanced Islam where we see our brothers and sisters who are Christians
and other religions as humans and we see them as part of us regardless of their
faith and their religion.
“Muslims around the world are the
ambassadors of Islam and Islam is peace, it is a peaceful religion and wherever
we are we should bear it in our mind that this religion is a peaceful religion
and we should represent the symbol of the religion.”
The Muslim cleric added that there are
plans to have this kind of ultra-modern mosque in every state of the
federation, even in other parts of the world.
According to Imam ShefiuMajemu, Founder,
The Islamic Platform Society of Nigeria, “we have travelled far and wide and we
have seen the kind of commitment that Muslim globally give to Islam in terms of
building Masjid, so we are trying to make a statement especially in this part
of the world.
“Here we know that it is a hub of the
Muslim elite and if you look around we are trying to show that it is possible
to build a mosque in this kind of unique place with a good ambience.”
He said building a mosque is like
building a home for oneself in paradise and that one will be rewarded with an
unquantifiable reward.
He said it is not just a mosque that
various activities will be going on there, that the first International
Religious Moderation Centre will be housed there, an initiative of Prince
Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia which is trying to play down extremism and
building Muslim community that is tolerant, that accept other people and relate
with other faiths.
Fadilat Sheikh Sulaiman Abu-Nolla, the
Chief Imam of Lagos State said that religion is important and that Islamic
centre in a mosque is a major factor in Islam that all need to reckon with.
He stressed the importance of
maintaining such edifice, while appealing to Muslims to join hands with the
founder and the association in ensuring proper maintenance of the mosque.
His Royal Majesty, Oba WasiuOmogbolahan,
Oba Oniru of Iru Kingdom, who recalled that the project started on January 2,
2023 and was commissioned on January 3, 2024 commended the foundation that made
it happen.
He said that the project is a challenge
for all to do more. “We have been inspired by this project and a lot of us have
to do more to ensure that we have this kind of mosque across our different
kingdoms.”
The commissioning was witnessed by Grand
Mufti Of Ilorin, Sheikh Sulaiman Faruq OnikijipaAlmiskinubilahi, other Muslim
clerics, traditional rulers, community leaders among others.
Source: independent.ng
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UN says 6.9M Somalis need humanitarian
assistance in 2024
Mohamed Dhaysane
05.01.2024
The UN on Friday said Somalia will
experience a tough time in 2024 as millions will need humanitarian assistance
“just like the recent years.”
In a statement on X Friday, the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said an estimated 6.9
million people in the country will need assistance.
As the country recovers from its worst
and prolonged drought in four decades, which killed as many as 43,000 people
and displaced over 1.5 million people, rainfall exacerbated by the weather
phenomenon El Nino worsened the situation.
Abdullahi A. Hassan, executive director
for the Community Action for Climate Change (CACC), a local non-profit, said
towns such as Bardhere, in the region of Gedo that serves as a vital economic
and commercial hub for over 200 villages, has been one of the worst affected
areas and the humanitarian situation there is dire.
“Bardhere has been grappling with
numerous challenges posed by climate change. The city has been plagued by
frequent droughts and floods, which have severely impacted the local economy
and the lives of its inhabitants,” he told Anadolu.
Hassan said floods in October and
November had a devastating impact, affecting approximately 50,000 residents,
damaging their homes and disrupting their livelihoods.
In 2023, an estimated 8.25 million
people, nearly half of Somalia's population, needed life-saving humanitarian
and protection assistance.
Somalia declared a state of emergency in
October after extreme weather destroyed homes, roads, and bridges.
Source: aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/un-says-69m-somalis-need-humanitarian-assistance-in-2024/3101534
-----
Sudan’s Burhan rejects ‘reconciliation’
with paramilitary RSF
06 January 2024
Sudan’s army general and de-facto ruler
of Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has turned down the latest reconciliation
efforts with his rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), pledging to
carry on a nine-month war with the RSF.
“The whole world witnessed these rebel
forces (RSF) committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in West Darfur
and the rest of Sudan,” al-Burhan told troops gathered in Port Sudan in a video
released by his office on Friday, referring to the ethnic cleansing in and
around the West Darfur city of El Geneina.
“For that reason, we have no
reconciliation with them, we have no agreement with them,” he added.
He also stressed that the RSF “doesn’t
seek the good for the country,” and accused it of looting people’s properties.
Meanwhile, he welcomed dialogue with
Sudanese politicians while urging them to distance themselves from the RSF and
its chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Earlier this week, Dagalo, who is known
as Hemedti, agreed with a truce put forth by civilian groups, on the condition
that the military also agrees.
However, skeptics expressed doubt due to
the paramilitary force’s history of unkept commitments.
Last month, the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development, an African trade bloc, got Burhan and Dagalo to agree
to an in-person meeting.
However, on Friday, Burhan dismissed the
possibility and proceeded to label his opponent as a “clown,” “traitor,” and
“coward.” He also firmly declined to accept the ceasefire agreement that Dagalo
had signed in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, this week.
During his visits this week, he
criticized African nations such as South Africa, Ethiopia, and Kenya for
considering Dagalo as a statesman. He also expressed disapproval towards
Sudanese politicians who had meetings with him in Ethiopia.
“He is humiliating the Sudanese people,
he is killing them, insulting them, and some people are clapping for him and
laughing with him,” Burhan said.
Both the military and the RSF have been
accused by the United States of committing war crimes.
Ever since the conflict commenced on
April 15, at least 5,000 people have been killed, more than 7.5 million
individuals have been displaced and extensive areas of Sudan have been ravaged.
Not even a single truce effort, brokered
by Saudi Arabia and the US has succeeded in ending the violence.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/06/717692/Sudan-Burhan-rejects-reconciliation-paramilitary-RSF
----
Pakistan
Sunni Ulema Council's Maulana Masoodur
Rehman Usmani gunned down in Islamabad
January 05, 2024
Ahmed Subhan
ISLAMABAD: Prominent religious figure
and Sunni Ulema Council’s Maulana Masoodur Rehman Usmani was killed in
Islamabad’s Ghauri town area on Friday, reported Geo News.
The incident happened when unknown
assailants — on a motorcycle — opened fire on Usmani’s vehicle in the federal
capital’s Ghauri town area.
Meanwhile, the religious body’s
spokesperson Yasir Qasmi has also confirmed the death of the council’s central
deputy general secretary.
In a statement, the Islamabad police
said that one person was killed and another was injured after a vehicle was
fired upon within Khanna police station’s jurisdiction.
A heavy contingent of the police is
present at the crime scene, the statement from the Islamabad Capital Territory
(ICT) police stated.
“[The police] are tracing the
perpetrators with the help of [footages taken from] close circuit television
(CCTV) cameras.”
Those responsible will be soon brought
to justice, the police reassured.
Meanwhile, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner
Irfan Memon has reached the Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS) —
where the deceased’s dead body was transferred after the incident.
The incident comes days after former
member of National Assembly and National Democratic Movement (NDM) leader
Mohsin Dawar's convoy came under a gun attack by terrorists in Tappi village
North Waziristan.
However, the politician escaped unharmed
as the security personnel accompanying Dawar fired back at the assailants,
which forced them to flee from the scene, North Waziristan District Police
Officer (DPO) Rohan Zaib confirmed to Geo News.
Earlier, the convoy of Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman had also come under
attack a few days ago in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan.
Ever since the Taliban-led
administration took over neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan has witnessed a
notable surge in terror incidents across the country with terror attacks
reaching the highest level in 2023 since 2014.
Source: geo.tv
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https://www.geo.tv/latest/525857-sunni-ulema-councils-maulana-masoodur-rehman-usmani-gunned-down-in-islamabad
-----
Pakistan: Anti-Terrorism Court summons
Imran Khan in case related to May 9 protests
Jan 6, 2024
ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC)
of Rawalpindi has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in
a case related to May 9 protests, Pakistan-based ARY News reported.
According to details, former Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran Khan has been summoned on January 9 in cases related to an
attack on General Headquarters (GHQ). Notably, the PTI founder is the main
accused in all the cases related to the May 9 protests.
Protests erupted across Pakistan after
Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, 2023. The protests were held in remote and
major cities as the PTI workers were angry after Imran Khan's arrest. The
authorities in Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad asked the
armed forces to ensure law and order. Army installations, including the Corps
Commander's house in Lahore, were also attacked during the protests by PTI
workers. Imran Khan's party, in a post on X, formerly known as X, had urged Pakistanis
to come out and protest against his arrest.
"Pakistan, its your time now. It's
now or never an opportunity. People must come out to defend their country
now," PTI had posted on X. A number of PTI leaders and workers, including
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Yasmin Rashid, were arrested in
connection with the May 9 protests.
On Thursday, the Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approached the Supreme Court (SC) against the Peshawar
High Court's (PHC) decision to restore an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
ruling revoking the party's 'bat' electoral symbol over discrepancies in
holding intra-party elections, Dawn newspaper reported.
On December 22, the ECP revoked the
electoral symbol of PTI for the February 8 election, saying that it had failed
to hold intra-party polls, which saw Barrister Gohar Khan becoming the PTI
chairman in accordance with its prevailing constitution and election laws.
Earlier, the PTI had approached the PHC
against the decision of the ECP and on December 26, a single-member bench of
the high court ordered a temporary suspension of the ECP's decision,
instructing the commission to publish PTI's intra-party poll certificate on its
website and restore the party's election symbol 'bat'.
The ECP then filed an intra-court appeal
in the PHC against the verdict. The PHC had accepted the commission's review
plea and decided that the high court's interim order on December 26 was an
"ex parte order" as the same was passed without providing any
opportunity for a hearing to the commission.
The order said: "Under the election
laws, the whole exercise of holding and conducting an election i.e. right from
the issuance of notification of holding an election till the publication of
names of the successful; candidates in the official gazette, is a time-bound
exercise, therefore, the said order has prima facie created hindrance in the
smooth process of the election which is to be conducted by the ECP [...] on
February 8," according to Dawn report.
"In view of the above, the interim
order of this court passed in favour of the writ petitioner/ PTI is hereby
recalled/vacated and consequently the ECP is directed to proceed with the
election process as per its constitutional mandate as well as various orders of
the Supreme Court of Pakistan passed in respect of the ensuing election and it
shall ensure to conduct and hold free, fair and transparent election," it
added.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-anti-terrorism-court-summons-imran-khan-in-case-related-to-may-9-protests/articleshow/106588743.cms
-----
PM Kakar holds UN responsible for
Kashmir solution
January 6, 2024
Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul
Haq Kakar on Friday said the international community, especially the United
Nations, was responsible for ensuring that the people of Illegally Occupied
Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) exercise their inalienable right to
self-determination.
In a message on the occasion of
Self-Determination Day, the PM reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to continue to
extend its full political, diplomatic, and moral support to the valiant
Kashmiri people in their just struggle for their rights including the
inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant
resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
PM Kakar also met permanent
representatives of Pakistan in the UN Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Ambassador to US
Masood Khan and High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK Mohammad Faisal.
“Today, Kashmiris around the world are
observing the 75th anniversary of the Resolution adopted by the United Nations
Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), providing that the Jammu and Kashmir
dispute will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial
plebiscite under the UN auspices,” the PM stated.
Asks Pakistani diplomats to identify new
opportunities for economic cooperation at international level
In essence, he said, it was a
reaffirmation of the inalienable right of Kashmiris to self-determination,
which is enshrined in international law and upheld by international human
rights instruments. He regretted that despite more than seven and a half
decades, the oppressed people of India-held Kashmir had not been able to
exercise this fundamental right, as India continues to oppress the people of
occupied Jammu and Kashmir in attempt to break their will.
Since August 5, 2019, the PM added,
India was engaged in a vicious exercise, aimed at altering the demographic
structure and political landscape of India-held Kashmir, to turn Kashmiris into
a disempowered community in their land.
Mr Kakar pointed out the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA) annually adopts a resolution on “Universal Realization
of the Right of the People to Self-Determination” that draws international
attention towards the plight and rights of people living under situations of
forced occupation.
Also, permanent representative of
Pakistan to the UN, Munir Akram, called on caretaker PM Kakar and discussed
matters of mutual concerns.
During the meeting, the prime minister
appreciated Mr Akram for effectively representing Pakistan’s position on the
Palestine issue at the UN. He also directed him to frequently highlight
Pakistan’s position on the Kashmir issue in the UN.
“Identifying opportunities for the
economic welfare of the country at international level should be the first
priority of all diplomatic representatives of Pakistan,” the premier added. Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1803587/pm-kakar-holds-un-responsible-for-kashmir-solution
-----
Pakistan will always support Kashmiris’
right to self-determination, Alvi
2024-01-06
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has
said that Pakistan remained determined to playing its role in supporting the
right to self-determination of Kashmiris through a free and impartial
plebiscite as per the United Nations Security Council resolutions, said a press
release.
The President, in his message in
connection with the Right to Self-Determination Day being observed on January 5
said, “Our strong and steadfast moral, political and diplomatic support for the
Kashmiri people will continue till the realisation of this inalienable right.”
“Every year, on the 5th of January, we
renew our support for the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu
and Kashmir. On this day in 1949, the United Nations Commission for India and
Pakistan (UNCIP) unanimously adopted a resolution affirming the right to
self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a free and impartial
plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations,” he added.
“The right to self-determination is a
cardinal principle of international law, upheld in numerous core United Nations
treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”
President Alvi said, “For decades, it
has been reaffirmed by the UN General Assembly in its annual resolution on
self-determination. However, the last 76 years of India’s occupation of Indian
Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are a sad story of repression of
the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“India is trying to consolidate its
occupation of IIOJK. The Indian Supreme Court’s judgment of 11th December 2023
on the status of this disputed territory is the latest step in this direction.
India is striving to subjugate the Kashmiris through such oppressive tactics
further. It continues to deny their inalienable right to self-determination and
live with freedom and dignity,” he observed.
Source: brecorder.com
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https://www.brecorder.com/news/40282305/pakistan-will-always-support-kashmiris-right-to-self-determination-alvi
------
Pakistani senator lauds Türkiye for
standing by Palestinians
Islamuddin Sajid
05.01.2024
Pakistani lawmaker Mushahid Hussain
Sayed lauded President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish people for standing
with the oppressed people of Palestine, as he voted in News category of
Anadolu's Photos of the Year competition on Friday.
Sayed, who chairs the Senate’s standing
committee on defense, voted for Murat Kula's photograph titled Support to
Palestine, which shows thousands of people gathered in Istanbul for the Great
Palestine rally on Oct. 28, 2023. The event at the Ataturk Airport was
addressed by Erdogan.
"It's a sea of people and it's not
just a state policy, the policy of the people of Türkiye to support
Palestine," he told Anadolu in Islamabad.
The senator added that the Istanbul
rally shows “expression of support and solidarity with the oppressed
Palestinians today and this is a sentiment which is reflected in the Muslim
world and also in the West.”
While commenting on photos in Gaza:
Evidence category, he lauded Anadolu photojournalists for showing the
"real situation" and the "plight and suffering" of
Palestinians in the blockaded enclave to the world.
Israeli attacks in Gaza since the Oct. 7
Hamas incursion have killed more than 22,000 people, and has left the territory
in ruins.
"I would like to commend Anadolu
the way it has captured the human suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. And
the brutality, the barbarism of the Israeli occupation army, which has been
killing civilians, children, women and men," said Sayed, a former editor
and journalist.
Anadolu photojournalists captured the
use of lethal weapons by Israeli forces on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
South Africa, which has filed a genocide case against Tel Aviv at the
International Court of Justice, submitted photos by the Turkish news agency to
argue its case, which will be heard next week.
"The high costs of this aggression
by Israel has been presented brilliantly by Anadolu photographers," Sayed
said, adding: “This has been very well highlighted. So, it has given a human
face to the conflict."
He also voted for EminSansar's photo, In
the presence of Ataturk, in which a girl wearing a Turkish flag cape visits
Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern
Türkiye, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, in Ankara last
year.
"I feel that In the presence of
Ataturk is a powerful photograph because it shows the love respect and
adulation for the founder of modern Turkey," he said.
In the sports category, Sayed voted for
ElifOzturkOzgoncu's photograph, Is it over? Or should I continue?, in which
Spanish athlete Enrique Llopis gets injured while competing in the Men`s 60m
hurdles during the 2023 European Indoor Athletics Championships at the Atakoy
Arena in Istanbul on March 5, 2023.
"This is a very sharp photograph,
which is not just about sports, but it graphically captures that sports is a
very human element. There are winners there are losers," he said.
Source: aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/pakistani-senator-lauds-turkiye-for-standing-by-palestinians/3101565
-----
North America
US, EU top diplomats in renewed push to
halt Gaza war spillover
January 06, 2024
JEDDAH: The US and EU’s top diplomats
arrived in the Middle East on Friday in a renewed diplomatic push to prevent
Israel’s war on Gaza from spilling over to the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
will visit the West Bank during a week-long tour that will take in Saudi
Arabia, Turkiye, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt and Greece.
“It is in no one’s interest, not
Israel’s, not the region’s, not the world’s, for this conflict to spread beyond
Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We don’t expect every
conversation on this trip to be easy.”
JosepBorrell, the EU foreign policy
chief, was in Lebanon on Friday to discuss the situation at the Israeli border.
As he arrived, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the Iran-backed militia
had conducted about670 military operations on the border with Israel since Oct.
8, and had destroyed many Israeli military vehicles.
The diplomatic flurry comes almost three
months after Hamas militants from Gaza attacked Israel, triggering a
retaliatory offensive that has has killed 22,600 Palestinians and devastated
the enclave.
Israeli planes and tanks intensified
attacks on Friday on the densely populated areas of Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and
Al-Nusseirat in the center of Gaza. More than 160 people were killed in 24
hours. Four others were killed in an airstrike on a street in Al-Nusseirat, and
further south, to where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been
displaced, six were killed in a strike on Khan Younis.
“The Israeli government claims democracy
and humanity, but is inhumane,” Abdel Razek Abu Sinjar said as he cried over
the shrouded bodies of his wife and children, killed in an airstrike on his
house in Rafah on the border with Egypt.
There was renewed shelling near Al-Amal
hospital in Khan Younis, and aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said its
workers were cornered in southern Gaza and prevented from providing desperately
needed help.
In Jabalia in northern Gaza, which has
been heavily bombed, people picked their way through ruined streets filled with
sewage and garbage. Hunger and deadly diseases are spreading.
The World Health Organization said
hospitals and other medical infrastructure in Gaza had been attacked nearly 600
times since the conflict erupted. About 613 people had died in health
facilities, it said.
The war has also stoked violence in the
occupied West Bank. A 17-year-old boy was killed and four other Palestinians
wounded by Israeli army gunfire in the town of Beit Rima. About 300
Palestinians have died in the West Bank since the war began.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436966/middle-east
-----
CAIR-AZ, Community Partners to Hold News
Conference Responding to State Resolution Supporting Israel
Ismail Allison
January 5, 2024
On Mon, Jan 8th, the first day of the
Arizona State Legislature, the Arizona chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) and a diverse group of interfaith
Palestinian advocacy organizations plan to hold a press conference after the
House decided to introduce a resolution supporting the Israeli government with
zero regard to the Palestinians that are being slaughtered.
At the news conference, CAIR-AZ
Executive Director AzzaAbuseif will be available to answer questions and
discuss the concerns of the students and parents.
The demands of these organizations
include:
Call for an immediate and permanent
Ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages
Enable adequate humanitarian aid to
enter Gaza
Enable medical supplies to enter Gaza
and to rebuild hospitals and clinics.
Stop U.S. funding of Israel’s
unaccountable military and of Israel’s apartheid policies against the
Palestinians
End the Arizona State government’s
support to the Israel Defense Forces, including the purchasing of Israeli bonds
End efforts to deny Arizona supporters
of the Palestinians their rights to Freedom of Speech.
Other groups attending the Press
Conference include: Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Jewish Voice for
Peace, Common Defense, Arizona Palestine Network, Arizona Muslim Alliance and
Students for Justice in Palestine.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil
rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American
Muslims.
La misión de CAIR esproteger las
libertadesciviles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y
empoderar a losmusulmanesenlosEstadosUnidos.
Source: cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-az-community-partners-to-hold-news-conference-responding-to-state-resolution-supporting-israel/
-----
CAIR-Florida, Islamic Community Center
of Gainesville Call for Hate Crime Probe of Vandalism Targeting Worship Center
Ismail Allison
January 5, 2024
The Florida chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida), the state’s largest Muslim civil
rights and advocacy organization, and the Islamic Community Center of
Gainesville (ICCG) today condemned the vandalism on the Center’s place of
worship and called on law enforcement authorities to investigate the incident
as a possible hate crime.
CAIR-Florida is also urging the local
Muslim community and Islamic institutions to take extra security precautions by
using advice offered in CAIR’s booklet, “Best Practices for Mosque and
Community Safety.”
On Thursday Jan. 4, during early morning
hours, an unknown person or persons shattered windows, leaving the Islamic
Center’s sacred space covered in broken glass, and the Center’s community in
shock. CAIR-Florida and the Islamic Community Center of Gainesville call on the
Gainesville Police and the Alachua County Sheriff Office to conduct a full
investigation into a possible bias motive of those responsible for the hate
vandalism.
CAIR-Florida attorney Omar Saleh stated:
“Now more than ever, places of worship are being targeted by people acting out
of hate. Across the nation we are hearing of incidents ranging from mosque
vandalism less than 24 hours ago to the murder of an Imam in New Jersey 72
hours ago.”
Attorney Saleh added: “The Florida
Muslim Community expects law enforcement to protect all faiths and places of
worship equally.”
The ICCG’s Board stated: “We urge the
City of Gainesville’s leaders to take immediate and decisive steps to ensure
the safety and security of the Muslim minority in our city. This incident is
not just an attack on a building but on the values of diversity and tolerance.
We request enhanced protection and vigilance to prevent such hateful actions.
“
CAIR recently released updated civil
rights data showing that it has continued to receive a “staggering” increase in
complaints of anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bias.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil
rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American
Muslims.
La misión de CAIR esproteger las
libertadesciviles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y
empoderar a losmusulmanesenlosEstadosUnidos.
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cairflorida-islamic-community-center-of-gainesville-call-for-hate-crime-probe-of-vandalism-targeting-worship-center/
-----
Georgia Teacher Who Allegedly Threatened
To Behead Muslim Student Out Of Job
January 5, 2024
A middle school teacher in Georgia who
was arrested after allegedly threatening to behead a Muslim student over a
disagreement about an Israeli flag hanging in his classroom is no longer
employed by the school, Fox News Digital has learned.
Benjamin Reese, a former seventh-grade
social studies teacher at Warner Robins Middle School, was taken into custody
on December 8 on charges of making terroristic threats and cruelty to children
after he allegedly berated a female student who took issue with him hanging the
flag in his classroom. Reese was released on bond two days later.
Jennifer Jones, the director of school
and community affairs at the Houston County Board of Education, told Fox
Digital that Reese is now out of a job at the school.
"We cannot discuss the details of
personnel matters; however, we can confirm that Benjamin Reese is no longer an
employee of the Houston County School District," Jones wrote in an
email.
"The Georgia Professional Standards
Commission (PSC) is authorized to suspend or revoke teaching certifications.
When an employee violates the Code of Ethics for Educators, we submit a report
to the PSC for their review."
Jones went on to say that the board puts
student safety first.
"While we continuously reflect and
look for opportunities for growth, we remain committed to making all students
feel safe and nurtured. Our number one priority will always be the safety and
well-being of our students and staff."
According to an incident report, the female
student told a sheriff's investigator she went into Reese's classroom on
December 7 after spotting the flag and told him she found it offensive because
Israelis were killing Palestinians.
According to the student, Reese said he
was Jewish, got angry and accused her of being antisemitic.
Witnesses, including staff, claimed they
heard Reese use expletives and reportedly scream, "You motherf---ing piece
of s---t! I’ll kick your a--! I should cut your motherf---ing head off!"
Some students added they had even heard
Reese saying he would "slit her goddamn throat and drag her a-- outside
and cut her head off."
When questioned by a deputy about
threatening any students, Reese denied the allegations, the report said. He
said he told a student who was offended by the flag that she was being
antisemitic but denied saying anything racist to her.
Reese then said he had nothing further
to add and "invoked his civil rights," according to the report.
The district attorney previously said
that he plans to seek an indictment from a grand jury in January.
Source: foxnews.com
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------
Arab World
Houthis hold mass rally for Gaza in
Yemen capital
January 06, 2024
SANAA: Thousands rallied in support of
Gaza in the rebel-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, chanting anti-US
and anti-Israeli slogans.
The Houthis have launched more than 20
attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea in recent weeks, saying they are
acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the face of Israel’s war on Hamas.
Since the outbreak of the war on October
7, the Iran-backed rebels have organized weekly protests in Sanaa but Friday’s
demonstration was the “largest” so far, spokesman Mohammad Abdel Salam said.
“Millions of people” took part, he said
on social media platform X.
A photographer who collaborates with AFP
witnessed a flypast over the crowds by rebel helicopters and warplanes.
Aerial footage released by the Houthis’
Ansarullah Media Center showed a sea of protesters flooding the capital’s
Al-Sabeen Square, carrying Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.
“Allahu Akbar (God is greatest). Death
to America. Death to Israel,” they chanted.
The demonstrators also held up pictures
of Houthi fighters killed Sunday in a US strike on rebel vessels in the Red
Sea.
The US military said it had sunk three
Houthi boats following attacks on a container vessel run by shipping giant
Maersk. The rebels said 10 of their fighters were killed.
“We challenge you, America, to approach
our coasts,” Houthi supporter Abdulkarim Al-Marwani told AFP as he took part in
the protest.
“We will make the sea, as we made the
land, a graveyard for America and Israel. We will make the sea a sinking zone
and an incinerator for America and Israel,” he added.
The attacks on shipping by the Houthis,
who control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, have caused major disruption to a
waterway that carries about 12 percent of global trade.
Twelve nations led by the United States
jointly warned the Houthis on Wednesday of unspecified consequences unless they
immediately halt their attacks.
But Sanaa protester HazaaSarhan warned:
“Even if you unite the forces of the entire world and the forces of all the
European countries, they will never intimidate us.”
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436971/middle-east
-----
Guests of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques
Program Perform Friday Prayers at Prophet's Mosque
05 Jan, 2024
As many as 250 Umrah performers from the
15th batch of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Guests Program for Umrah
and Visit, which is supervised and implemented by the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs, Dawa and Guidance, performed Friday prayers at the Prophet's Mosque.
The guests, coming from 14 countries,
expressed their thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud for hosting them within the program to perform
Umrah and spend several days in Madinah and pray at the Prophet’s Mosque.
They also highlighted the high-quality
services they received since leaving their countries until arriving in Madinah.
The 15th batch of the guest program is now in
Madinah, where they pray at the Prophet’s Mosque and visit historic mosques and
sites, before heading for Makkah to perform Umrah.
Source: alriyadhdaily.com
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http://alriyadhdaily.com/article/c11d3f39b79f45fa8acf83dcaad02a6d
----
More than 600% increase in green spaces
in Makkah region over past 5 months
January 05, 2024
RIYADH: Areas of the Makkah region
covered by vegetation grew by more than 600 percent during the past five months
thanks to the rainy season, Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Vegetation
Development and Combating Desertification said. Total rainfall reached 200
millimeters in some places.
Analyzes of remote-sensing data revealed
the total vegetation cover stood at 3,529.4 square kilometers in August,
representing 2.3 percent of the region’s total area. This gradually increased
as a result of rainfall to reach 26,256 square kilometers by the end of the
year.
By December, up to 17.1 percent of the
region was covered by vegetation. It was concentrated in the mountainous areas
and highlands parallel to the Red Sea coast, with elevations ranging from 500
to 2,600 meters, in the governorates of Makkah, Taif, Al-Laith, Al-Jammoum,
Al-Kamil, and Khalis.
The center said it is studying the
status of these areas of vegetation, monitoring changes in afforestation
project sites, tracking land-cover changes, calculating volumes of rainfall and
vegetation density, and assessing plant health through the use of
remote-sensing techniques and artificial intelligence technology, to help
achieve the goals of afforestation projects and the Saudi Green Initiative.
The center works to protect vegetation
sites in the Kingdom, study the variables that affect green spaces, and develop
ways to prepare for drought and mitigate its severity, as part of the
initiatives of the National Transformation Program designed to help achieve the
goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 development and diversification agenda. It
operates within a framework of national efforts to reduce the effects of
desertification and drought, and safeguard land, pastures, forests and national
parks.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436871/saudi-arabia
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Latest Saudi aid for Palestinians
arrives in Egypt
January 05, 2024
EL-ARISH: A plane carrying aid from
Saudi Arabia for Palestinians in Gaza arrived at El-Arish International Airport
in Egypt on Friday.
The aircraft was carrying 23 tons of
food and medical supplies provided through the Saudi aid agency KSrelief. It is
the 37th such plane dispatched by the Kingdom since the outbreak of the current
war on Gaza.
This assistance is part of Saudi
Arabia’s ongoing support for the Palestinian people in times of crisis.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436811/saudi-arabia
----
Southeast Asia
VP Amin plans to build more Islamic
boarding schools after retirement
January 5, 2024
Jakarta (ANTARA) -Vice President Ma'ruf
Amin aspires to develop centers of civilization by building more Islamic
boarding schools, or pesantren, after concluding his term as the Indonesian
vice president later in October.
"I am planning to build more
pesantrens somewhere and designate them as educational centers. I want to build
centers of civilization in regions," he remarked during a dialogue with
journalists at the Vice Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Friday.
Amin noted that after completing his
duties, he will seek to go back to his pre-vice presidential life by focusing
on his role as an ulema.
"Yes, I will return to my 'habitat'
and habits. This country has been simply tasking me with vice presidential
duties. Next, I will once again play my role as an ulema and develop education
through pesantrens," he affirmed.
Amin then spoke about making
preparations to build a college within the An Nawawi Islamic Boarding School, a
pesantren managed by him that is located in Tanara Sub-district, Serang
District, Banten.
"In Tanara, Banten, I am currently
preparing for a college that will focus on fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Hence,
the pesantren will offer junior high, senior high, and college levels of
education. I will also collaborate with parties to provide vocational studies
at the college," he explained.
The vice president revealed that he also
plans to build new pesantrens in several regions in Indonesia.
"I will look for other places for
building educational centers, with the aim of helping local communities to
progress," he remarked.
Amin then noted that on January 14,
Tanara will host an environmental preservation event involving the Ministry of
Environment and Forestry and Indonesian Navy.
The event will feature a tree planting
and environment clean-up activities, he noted.
Source: antaranews.com
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----
Police launch Op Bantu to coordinate aid
delivery to flood victims
06-01- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Police
(PDRM) have launched Op Bantu to assist and coordinate aid delivery from
non-governmental organisations and other institutions to flood victims,
especially evacuees in relief shelters.
Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public
Order Department director Datuk Seri Hazani Ghazali (gambar) said his
department’s operations branch has been tasked with coordinating the operation.
“PDRM is always ready to mobilise its
operational strength to face floods and to cooperate with other security
agencies to ensure every aid and rescue mission can be done quickly,” he said
in a statement here yesterday.
Hazani said that overall, there are five
agencies, including PDRM, entrusted with operations during the north east
monsoon period with a total strength of 61,839 personnel.
The Malaysian Control Centre, Bukit Aman
would be the centre for information collection before it is channeled to
respective district police headquarters and will mobilise suitable personnel
and logistics according to situations.
He also advised those living in
flood-prone areas to cooperate and obey the authorities if asked to evacuate to
avoid untoward incidents. –Bernama
Source: thesun.my
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https://thesun.my/local_news/police-launch-op-bantu-to-coordinate-aid-delivery-to-flood-victims-DM11950030
------
Affidavit by victims can be used in
human trafficking cases, says Apex Court
05-01- 2024
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court here today
declared that the use of deposition (sworn evidence in an affidavit) by
smuggled persons can be admitted as evidence in human trafficking cases.
Chief Justice TunTengkuMaimun Tuan Mat,
in a unanimous decision, said Section 61A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons
and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) which stated that any deposition
of a trafficked person or smuggled migrant who has been deported shall, without
further proof, be admitted as prima facie evidence of any fact stated in the
deposition, is not violate the Federal Constitution.
“We find that Section 61A is objectively
fair given the unique circumstances presented by ATIPSOM cases which involve
foreign victims who are brought into the country via illicit means,” she said.
The panel comprised Chief Judge of
Malaya Tan Sri Mohamad ZabidinMohdDiah and Federal Court judges Datuk Harmindar
Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.
The panel also held that the right of
the accused charged under Section 12 of the ATIPSOM Act to a fair trial must
also take into account the rights of the victim and society at large.
The panel made the ruling after
dismissing a couple’s application to refer to the Federal Court on whether
Section 61A of ATIPSOM was unconstitutional, null and void as it violated the
doctrine of separation of powers under Article 121(1) of the Federal
Constitution.
Justice TengkuMaimun further said, the
right to cross-examine was an important aspect of any trial more so in a
criminal trial.
“The ability to cross-examine a witness
is not always present in every criminal trial such as when it comes to validly
admitted hearsay evidence or the ability can be restricted when it comes to
certain witnesses,” she added.
According to Justice TengkuMaimun, the
ATIPSOM regime in some respect, gives victims of human rights violations some
level of primacy by facilitating, in appropriate cases, their speedy return
home via deposition orders.
“A balance is therefore struck by enabling
the taking of their evidence without letting such victims languish pending
trial. A balance is also struck in the public interest in that the prosecution
gains an evidential advantage in terms of the deposition.
“Yet, at the same time, the accused is allowed
every latitude to question and challenge the evidence in the deposition by
calling rebuttal evidence and to otherwise cross-examine all the other
prosecution witnesses.
“We are convinced that Section 61A was
enacted for a legitimate legislative purpose and having sufficient nexus to the
Parliamentary aim and this section triangulates the rights of the accused, the
victims and the public,“ she added.
The apex court then remitted the case to
the High Court, in accordance with Section 85(2) of the Court Judicature Act
1964, for the lower court to make appropriate orders and directions in
accordance with this judgement, and otherwise, according to law.
Businessman Tan Sri K.Ketheeswaran and
his wife Puan Sri Vivienne Ketheeswaran were jointly charged in the Klang
Sessions Court in 2019 with three counts of trafficking Indonesian women
between 2012 and 2019.
Before the trial started, their lawyers
mounted a constitutional challenge, leading the sessions court judge to refer
the matter to the High Court which in turn sent it to the Federal Court.
Lawyers Datuk Seri K.Kumaraendran,
M.Athimulan, Teh See Khoon and ShaarvinRaaj represented the couple, while
deputy public prosecutor Datuk YusainiAmer Abdul Karim, NahraDollah,
DhiyaSyazwaniAzyanAkhir appeared for the prosecution. –Bernama
Source: thesun.my
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MohdNa’im to attend Haj and Umrah
Conference 2024 in Jeddah
05-01- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr MohdNa’im Mokhtar is
currently in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to attend the Haj and Umrah Conference 2024.
In a post on Facebook, MohdNa’im said
that he would update the Saudi Arabian government about efforts undertaken by
the management of Tabung Haji (TH) to improve the haj operations for Malaysian
pilgrims.
“I, along with TH chairman Tan Sri
Rashid Hussain and chief executive officer Syed Hamadah Syed Othman, will
participate in the Haj and Umrah Conference 2024 organised by the Saudi
Ministry of Haj and Umrah.
“I will also be holding several other
meetings to strengthen the relations between the governments of Malaysia and
Saudi Arabia, particularly to ensure the smooth haj operations for 2024,” he
said.
MohdNa’im also prayed that the affairs
of all haj pilgrims this year be eased. –Bernama
Source: thesun.my
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https://thesun.my/local_news/mohd-na-im-to-attend-haj-and-umrah-conference-2024-in-jeddah-MN11948598
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Palestine solidarity picket: Police
record statements from 13 individuals
05-01- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have completed
recording the statements of 13 individuals in connection with the organisation
of the 'Kepung Demi Palestin' picket which was held near the United States (US)
Embassy last week.
WangsaMaju district police chief Supt
Ashari Abu Samah said the individuals were interviewed at WangsaMaju police
headquarters (IPD) this morning to facilitate the investigation under Section
9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
“Several other individuals will also be
called to assist in the investigation,“ he said when contacted by Bernama.
Former Batu Member of Parliament Chua
Tian Chang, known as Tian Chua, who is also part of the Palestine Solidarity
Secretariat, gave his statement at 10.30 am.
Statements were also recorded from MCA
Youth deputy chief Mike Chong Yew Chuan; MUDA secretary-general Amir Hariri Abd
Hadi; lawyer Datuk AmbigaSreenevasan; Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Youth leader
MohdHasbieMuda; Sejagat president Syed Sheikh Al-Attas Syed Hassan, and social
activist HishamuddinRais.
Tian Chua said the secretariat fully
cooperated with the police and answered all questions related to the six-day
picket which started on Dec 26.
“I believe our action was perfectly
legal and protected under the law. It is up to the police to conclude, if they
think otherwise.
“They (police) are still collecting
evidence as to whether it is against the law or not. It is too early to say,“
he said at a press conference after giving his statement at the WangsaMaju IPD
today.
The picket was an initiative by
Malaysians concerned with the ongoing crisis in Gaza, which has so far killed
approximately 21,822 Palestinians as of Dec 31, as well as a sign for peace.
It symbolised the siege on Gaza and
demanded an immediate ceasefire and halt to the killing of Palestinians.
The gathering brought together 48
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) comprised of community, youth, and
student bodies as well as a diverse spectrum of political groups. –Bernama
Source: thesun.my
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Death toll hits 126 in Japan earthquake,
over 30,000 people in shelters
Jan 06, 2024
Japan Earthquake: The work of thousands
of rescue workers has been hampered by bad weather -- with snow forecast for
Sunday.
Rescuers and residents sifted through
rubble Saturday as their focus turned to recovering bodies and cleaning up
rather than finding survivors, five days after a huge earthquake struck central
Japan and killed at least 126 people.
The death toll from the New Year's Day
7.5 magnitude quake in the Ishikawa region of Japan's main Honshu island was
certain to rise, with 210 people still unaccounted for, authorities said.
The work of thousands of rescue workers
has been hampered by bad weather -- with snow forecast for Sunday -- and roads
torn apart by gaping cracks and blocked by an estimated 1,000 landslides.
Two elderly women were pulled from the
wreckage of their homes on Thursday in the badly hit city of Wajima on the Noto
peninsula, but since there has been no reason for cheer.
In Suzu, where dozens of homes lie in
ruins, a dog barked while an AFP team filmed the clean-up operation on Friday,
the signal of a grim discovery.
"Training for disaster rescue dogs
begins with something similar to a game of hide-and-seek," canine trainer
Masayo Kikuchi told AFP.
"Finally they are trained to bark
when seeing a person under the rubble."
Houses containing any fatalities that
are discovered are being marked and left alone until a coroner can come with
relatives to identify the body.
Fishing boats were sunk or lifted like
toys onto the shore by tsunami waves that also reportedly swept one person
away.
The coastal community of Shiromaru,
which was hit by a tsunami several metres high on January 1, was a tangled mess
of wooden, metal and plastic debris.
"The tsunami came from the cove of
Shiromaru through the river, and then ran up through the street," said
Toshio Sakashita, one of its roughly 100 residents.
"We have received no public support
here. Look, the main street is still blocked due to the rubble, which has been
left untouched," the 69-year-old told AFP.
"We cannot live in our house any
more," Yukio Teraoka, 82, told AFP as he and his wife shovelled heavy,
sodden sand brought by the waves out of their wrecked home.
Pray for souls
Local authorities said Saturday that 126
people were confirmed dead.
"We sincerely pray for the repose
of the souls of those who have passed away," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
said on social media.
In an emergency response meeting he told
ministers "urgently and swiftly" to repair roads to help hundreds of
people in cut-off areas.
Despite frosty ties with Japan, North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of "deep sympathy and
condolences", state news agency KCNA reported, echoing the United States,
China and other countries.
Around 23,200 households were without
electricity in Ishikawa and more than 66,400 were without running water.
Power and water outages have also
affected hospitals and facilities for taking care of elderly and disabled
people.
"We are facing extremely severe
situations" due to the water outage, Ishikawa governor Hiroshi Hase said
during a disaster management meeting.
Restoration of running water will take a
long time "as many water pipes have cracks", he said.
More than 30,000 people were in 366
government shelters.
Japan experiences hundreds of
earthquakes every year and most cause no damage, with strict building codes in
place for more than four decades. But many buildings are older.
The country is haunted by the monster
quake of 2011 that triggered a tsunami, left around 18,500 people dead or
missing, and caused a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima plant.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/right-wing-trolls-ayodhya-mosque-temple/d/131468