Saudi Court Sentences Islamic Preacher to 12 Years for Leading a Prayer in 2014 In Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, A Former Byzantine Basilica
New Age Islam News Bureau
20 October 2022
People wait in line to
attend a morning prayer as part of a collective prayer event at Hagia Sophia
Grand Mosque to wish peaceful New Year in Istanbul, Turkey on January 1, 2022
[Mehmet Eser/Anadolu Agency]
------
• Persistent Protests Put Survival of Iran’s
Theocratic Regime In Question
• US Says ‘World Will Be Watching’ Iran Treatment of
Unveiled Climber
• BJP MLA Sparks Controversy: "If We Get Wealth
Only By Worshipping Goddess Lakshmi, Then How Come Muslims are Billionaires and
Trillionaires”
• Pakistan Records 51% Rise in Terror Attacks in One
Year After Taliban Got Power in Afghanistan: Report
Arab
World
• Hamas Delegation Visits Syria, Meets Assad, First
Time since 2011 To Mend Ties
• Ancient Carvings Discovered At Iconic Iraq Monument
Bulldozed By Islamic State
• UAE seeks to lure tech firms in Asia, Europe with
long-term residency, financing
• Iran, Saudi Arabia must re-open embassies,
Khamenei's top adviser says
• Saudi Arabia releases detained Hamas leader
• Saudi ambassador to US reiterates Kingdom’s position
on Russia-Ukraine war
• France repatriates 40 children, 15 women from Syria
— foreign ministry
--------
Mideast
• Tehran: 5 Iranian Crew Members of Venezuelan Plane
Freed by Argentina
• FM: US Guarantees Needed to Ensure Iran's Economic
Benefits under JCPOA
• Diplomat Slams Violence, Sabotage against Iran's
Foreign Missions, Envoys
• Iran imposes sanctions on UK institutions,
individuals for ‘inciting riots’
• Iran arrests 14 foreigners over unrest: Fars news
agency
• Israel denies selling weapons to Ukraine
• Jewish settlers pepper spray Israeli soldiers in
West Bank
• Israeli forces kill another Palestinian near al-Quds
after 'shooting'
--------
North
America
• Retired US generals take top jobs with Saudi Arabia
amid repression, rights abuses
• Ethics lawyer's anti-Muslim tweets weighed at U.S.
appeals court
• Canada imposes new sanctions over human rights
violations in Iran
• State Department confirms detention of US national
in Saudi Arabia
--------
India
• A Mosque Was Attacked In Gurugram. Then, Muslims
Were Made To ‘Compromise’ With Hindus
• Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case: Allahabad high court
admits mosque committee’s plea
• BJP to give 1,200 tickets to Pasmanda Muslims in
Uttar Pradesh municipal elections
• New Gujarat airbase near Pakistan to enhance
security: PM Modi
• NIA files chargesheet against 12 in Sunjwan terror
attack case
• 26/11 Victims Heroes of Our World: UN Chief in Mumbai
• Hindu Activists Begin Door-To-Door Campaign against
Halal Products In Karnataka
• How NRI Muslims are finding perfect life partners in
India
• Indian billionaire Ambani spends $163 million on
Dubai villa last owned by Alshaya
--------
Pakistan
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Distances Itself from
Talks with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
• Pak Defence Minister raises concern over militancy
in Swat district
• SC to hear contempt plea against Imran today
• Nuclear disarmament, delivery systems linked, says
Pakistan
--------
South
Asia
• China Puts Hold on Proposal by India, US at UN to
Blacklist Pakistan-Based Let Terrorist Hafiz Talah Saeed
• Tajik President Says Security Belt Must Be Built
Around Afghanistan
• Suicide by Domestic Violence: Child Kills Self in
Northern Afghanistan
• Iranian FM and Pakistan’s Afghanistan Envoy meet to
discuss Afghanistan’s Status Quo
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Report Dubious Preachers to Religious Authorities,
Malaysian Minister tells Muslims
• Giant Dome of Jakarta Islamic Centre Grand Mosque Collapses
After Fire
• Malaysia to hold national elections on November 19
• BN will reject any overtures from PAS after GE15,
says Zahid
• Malaysia plans early polls as PM Yaakob’s party
seeks new mandate
--------
Africa
• Malawi Farmer Finds Mass Grave With Bodies Of
Suspected Ethiopian Migrants
• 2023: Lagos CAN Chairman Adegbite under fire for
backing Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket
• Chad announces state of emergency as floods affect
more than 1 million people
• Algeria, Russia hold joint military exercise in
Mediterranean
• Mali vows to defend nation against French intrusions,
meddling
--------
Europe
• Macron Tours Grand Mosque In Paris On Centenary
Visit
• France repatriates 55 from Syria camps, including 40
children
• Turkey-Greece tensions spiral into bigger crisis
over 92 naked refugees
• Ireland's leading university divests from arms
companies complicit with apartheid Israel
• Syrian photojournalist injured by police during
Paris protests
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/saudi-islamic-preacher-prayer-hagia--basilica/d/128227
--------
Saudi Court Sentences Islamic Preacher to 12 Years for
Leading a Prayer in 2014 In Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, A Former Byzantine
Basilica
People wait in line to
attend a morning prayer as part of a collective prayer event at Hagia Sophia
Grand Mosque to wish peaceful New Year in Istanbul, Turkey on January 1, 2022
[Mehmet Eser/Anadolu Agency]
10/19/2022
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – A Saudi court last week sentenced
an Islamic preacher to 12 years in prison for leading a prayer in 2014 in
Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, a former Byzantine basilica, now a mosque.
The sentence reflects, once again, the kingdom’s
repressive attitude towards activists, dissidents, and even clerics who are not
aligned with the regime or, more simply, disliked by the people in power.
According to Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi rights
NGO, Imam and Qur‘an reciter Abdullah Basfar was convicted and sentenced on 12
October but the news was reported only a few days ago.
The cleric was convicted “Because he accepted an
invitation to lead prayers in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia Mosque in
Turkey,” Prisoners of Conscience twitted. At the time, the basilica-cum-mosque
was still a museum. “We condemn the ruling,” the NGO said, “and we call on the
authorities to release him unconditionally”.
One of the kingdom's most influential clerics,
Abdullah Basfar taught Islamic and Sharia studies at King Abdulaziz University
in Jeddah.
Yet, even though he was a respected figure, in 2020 he
became one of the many targets of the repressive policy of Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammad bin Salman since the 2014 prayer in Hagia Sophia had gone viral online.
Basfar, who has been in pre-trial custody for the past
two years, was allegedly harassed and abused during questioning.
Saudi authorities have never clearly indicated the
reasons for his arrest, but it is suspected that they wanted to punish him for
leading a prayer in Turkey.
At the time (2014), relations between the two
countries were very tense, the more so following the killing in 2018 of Saudi
dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on bin Salman’s order. More recently
though, the two dominant Sunni countries have patched up their differences.
Like the Chora church, Hagia Sophia became a museum by
decree (in 1934) under then Turkish President Kemal Ataturk. In 2020, it was
turned back into a mosque. Last April, the first prayers for Ramadan were held in
the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is part of Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s Islamo-nationalist policies, especially at a time when he was trying
to divert public attention away from the country’s economic crisis and retain
power.
Following the decision by Turkey’s Council of State to
overturn the decree, Islamic authorities covered the images of Jesus, as well
as Christian frescoes and icons with a white curtain, triggering an
international political-religious controversy.
Source: Asia News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Persistent Protests Put Survival Of Iran’s Theocratic Regime In Question
Iran's
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei take part in a graduation ceremony for
IRGC cadets in Tehran in 2019. (AFP file)
-----
Alex
Whiteman
October
19, 2022
LONDON:
Following a month of nationwide protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old
Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police, there is
growing belief that the militant clerical regime, in place since the 1979
Islamic Revolution, is living on borrowed time.
Amini’s
death on Sept. 16 ignited a tinderbox of pent-up frustrations in Iran over
falling living standards and discrimination against women and ethnic
minorities, leading to the biggest wave of mass protests since the Green
Movement of 2009.
A
month on, the unrest has persisted, spreading to at least 80 cities despite a
“ruthless” crackdown that has left more than 200 dead.
Such
is the scale, fury and determination of the protests there are now many Iran
watchers and scholars of social movements beginning to talk openly about the
possibility of regime change.
It
certainly would not be unprecedented for a nonviolent protest movement of this
scale to succeed. According to research by Erica Chenoweth, a political
scientist at Harvard University, nonviolent protests are twice as likely to
succeed in this vein as armed conflicts.
Looking
at hundreds of campaigns over the last century, including in the Philippines in
1986, Georgia in 2003, and Sudan and Algeria in 2019, Chenoweth found it takes
around 3.5 percent of the population actively participating in such protests to
ensure serious political change.
Such
is the influence of Chenoweth’s work that the phenomenon has been dubbed “the
3.5 percent rule.”
Roham
Alvandi, associate professor of international history at the London School of
Economics, believes “something fundamental” has changed in the wake of the
protests, which may constitute “the beginning of the end of the Islamic
Republic.”
In
the immediate aftermath of Amini’s death, the protests primarily focused on the
morality police and their strict dress code for women. Videos of these early
demonstrations shared on social media showed women removing and burning their
headscarves in acts of defiance.
Soon,
however, the focus of the protests grew to include a whole range of other
grievances, from tumbling living standards as a result of crippling Western
sanctions, to the denial of basic rights for ethnic minorities.
However,
it was the decision by workers at the Abadan and Kangan oil refineries and the
Bushehr petrochemical plant to join the protests that galvanized the belief
that the regime could be on its last legs.
Strike
action played a critical role in Iran’s 1906 and 1979 revolutions, Alvandi told
Arab News, arguing that it could now serve to “paralyze the Islamic Republic
and show the powerlessness of the state in the face of this movement.”
Sanam
Vakil, deputy director and senior research fellow for the Middle East North
Africa program at Chatham House, concurs with this assessment, telling Arab
News a series of strikes comparable to those experienced in 1979 could be a
“key ingredient, crippling the economy and showcasing a broader base of
support.”
However,
Vakil says there are several factors that could determine the success of the
movement. Chief among them is leadership.
“The
strength and weakness of the movement is its lack of clear leadership,” Vakil
tld Arab News. “It is a strength because without a clear structural organization
and leader it will be hard to stamp it out completely, but those components are
also very necessary if this movement is going to be a real challenge to the
regime.”
And
although the protests of 2009 and 2019 may have been bigger in terms of numbers
taking to the streets, analysts have pointed to the cross-generational
character of the movement and the sheer number of cities and regions that are
taking part.
“It’s
not often you have schoolchildren telling the Iranian president to get lost,”
said Vakil.
Yassamine
Mather, an expert in Iranian politics at Oxford University and the editor of
the academic journal “Critique,” believes this wide base of support spanning
many segments of Iranian society is a key strength which raises the possibility
of regime change.
“It
is also a strength that they have gone beyond the hijab and are addressing
other issues — repression, political prisoners, the high price of basic foods,
unemployment or lack of secure employment, and corruption,” Mather told Arab
News.
“And
then there is support from oil workers in specific areas, such as Assalouyeh,
as well as support by Hafttapeh sugarcane workers, a syndicate of Iran’s
teachers, and sections of the legal profession. In Tehran, lawyers have been
demonstrating this week.
“Not
to mention that many of the protesters are young. In some cases they are
schoolchildren, so they are not easily scared. It helps that the regime has
failed to launch either sustained or successful pro-government counter
demonstrations.”
Mather
also pointed to an apparent sense of mounting disunity at the top following the
decision by former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani to publicly deviate from
the regime’s line that US and Israeli intelligence efforts had manufactured the
protests.
Speaking
to an Iranian news site, Larijani said an “extremist” government policy on the
hijab had engendered an extremist counterreaction among the Iranian public, and
called for greater tolerance.
“Reformists
within the regime trying to distance themselves from hardliners, some calling
on security forces to side with the ‘people who are protesting,’ have probably
come a little too late,” said Mather.
“The
fact is, protesters are distancing themselves from the regime itself and the
slogan ‘death to the dictator, be it Khamenei or the Shah’ is now very
prominent.”
Iranian
opposition groups in the diaspora are watching closely as events unfold in
Iran, but fear the regime is unlikely to collapse without putting up a fight.
Elham
Zanjani, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran Women’s
Committee, told Arab News it was “certainly possible” that the protests could
lead to regime change, but far from inevitable.
“The
vast majority of the Iranian people are against the regime, they are chanting
‘down with Khamenei,’ ‘We don’t want the mullahs nor the Shah,’ and they have
little doubt that what they are looking for, freedom and democracy, separation
of religion and state etc., won’t see the light with this regime in power,”
said Zanjani.
“But
one cannot underestimate the regime’s dreadful potential of repression, as they
showed in November 2019, killing over 1,500 protesters in five days.”
Indeed,
sheer brute force could well be enough to ultimately stifle the movement.
“There
is also the issue that there is neither an obvious alternative nor a strategy
about who or what would replace the current regime,” said Mather. “Mixed with
this you have the ability of the security forces to kill, injure and arrest
protesters.”
Help
from external powers is also likely to taint the movement and lend weight to
the regime’s claims of a foreign conspiracy.
“Support
by Western governments — this is also a potential weakness as it invokes ideas
of ‘color revolutions,’ and notions of foreign interventions with the aim of
dividing Iran into small regional states,” said Mather, referring to the
fragmentation of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s along predominantly
ethnolinguistic lines.
For
Zanjani, however, international support remains an important factor for the
ultimate overthrow of the regime. Such support ought to include punitive
measures to prevent the regime employing further oppressive measures against
peaceful protesters.
“We
must overcome, one way or another, this evil repressive power,” Zanjani told
Arab News.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2184406/middle-east
--------
US Says ‘World Will Be Watching’ Iran Treatment of Unveiled Climber
This
image grab from footage obtained from Iranian State TV IRIB on Wednesday shows
Elnaz Rekabi, an Iranian climber who competed abroad without a hijab, giving an
interview at Imam Khomeini International Airport. (AFP)
-----
October
19, 2022
WASHINGTON:
The United States on Wednesday criticized the Iranian government’s treatment of
climber Elnaz Rekabi, who competed abroad without a headscarf, and warned that
the world was watching.
“The
Iranian regime and its leaders have a long history of abusing the rights of
women and violating their freedom of expression, including through threats,
through intimidation and violence,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel
told reporters.
“Reports
of intimidation and threats to Elnaz Rekabi appear to be the latest inexcusable
example of such tactics. The world and the Iranian people will be watching how
she is treated,” he said.
Rekabi
competed in South Korea without wearing a headscarf, which is mandatory in the
clerical state and a target of nationwide protests after the death of
22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the notorious “morality police.”
Rekabi
was whisked back to Iran and, in an Instagram post and comments at the airport,
apologized and said her headscarf had slipped off accidentally.
Activists
fear her comments were made under duress and dozens of supporters gathered
outside the airport to cheer her on, with some chanting, “Elnaz is a hero.”
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2184346/world
--------
BJP
MLA Sparks Controversy: "If We Get Wealth Only By Worshipping Goddess
Lakshmi, Then How Come Muslims are Billionaires and Trillionaires”
An
artist gives final touches to idols of Hindu Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of
wealth, ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights in Hyderabad | AP
-----
20th
October 2022
PATNA:
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Bihar Lalan Paswan courted controversy by
making bizarre statements about Hindu deities.
Paswan's
statement sparked an outrage. People held a protest at Shermari Bazar in
Bhagalpur and burnt the effigy of the BJP MLA.
Paswan,
who is an MLA from Pirpainti Assembly constituency in Bhagalpur district raised
questions on Hindu beliefs and argued with evidence to prove his stance.
He
further raised questions on Lakshmi Puja on Diwali.
Paswan
said, "If we get wealth only by worshipping Goddess Lakshmi, then there
would have been no billionaires and trillionaires among Muslims. Muslims do not
worship Goddess Lakshmi, are they not rich? Muslims do not worship Goddess
Saraswati. Are there no scholars among Muslims? Do not they become IAS or
IPS?"
The
BJP leader said everything is people's belief. He said the affair of "Atma
and Paramatma" is just people's belief.
He
said, "If you believe then it is a goddess and if not then it is just a
stone idol. It is up to us whether we believe in Gods and Goddesses or not. We
have to think on a scientific basis to reach a logical conclusion. If you stop
believing, then your intellectual capacity will increase."
"It
is believed that Bajrangbali is a deity with power and bestows strength.
Muslims or Christians do not worship Bajrangbali. Are they not powerful? The
day you stop believing, all these things will end," added Paswan.
Earlier,
Paswan came to light when he allegedly leaked a personal conversation with
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav (ANI)
Source:
New Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Pakistan
records 51% rise in terror attacks in one year after Taliban got power in
Afghanistan: Report
Photo:
The Times of India
----
Oct
20, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan witnessed a record 51 per cent increase in terrorist attacks in one
year after the Afghan-Taliban got power in Afghanistan in August last year,
according to a local think-tank report.
The
rag-tag Islamist rebels swarmed the capital Kabul as the US prepared to leave
and took over the city without any resistance in a symbolic victory after the
world superpower failed to subdue them even after two decades of bloodshed.
“For
Pakistan, the perils of a militant regime in Kabul have become unmistakably
clear as the country has witnessed a mindboggling 51 per cent increase in the
number of terrorist attacks in a single year since the Taliban takeover,”
Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) noted in its report ‘Fallout of
Afghan situation and Pakistan's policy responses'.
As
per the PIPS report, 433 people were killed and 719 were wounded in 250
terrorist attacks in Pakistan between August 15, 2021- August 14, 2022.
Likewise,
there is a wave of fear and panic among residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
over the reported return of TTP militants from Afghanistan in recent months.
What's more concerning is that militants' movements in the heart of KP such as
Peshawar, Swat, Dir, and Tank have also been reported which points to a gradual
expansion of militants in the settled districts.
The
report says that recently, the police in Lower Dir issued advice to local
notables, asking them to take measures for their safety and security in view of
the emerging situation in the area. They were advised to reduce unnecessary
movements and keep licensed weapons.
Similarly,
on August 10, the Swat police issued a statement saying they were undertaking
search operations for militants in the mountains of Balasoor and Kabal as well
as in Khwazkhela tehsil.
The
purpose of these analytical papers is to expand the knowledge base of key
stakeholders on Pakistan's Afghan perspective, and its role and interest in
Afghan peace and reconciliation.
“The
mindless jubilation over Taliban victory is now turning into a rude shock
because the evolving security situation under the erratic Taliban rule
indicates Pakistan is about to face yet another ordeal viz-a-viz terrorism,”
the think-tank said.
It
also noted the UN warned that foreign terror groups based in Afghanistan take
the Taliban victory as a motivation to disseminate their propaganda in Central
and South Asia, and globally.
Key
terror outfits with active presence in Afghanistan include Al-Qaeda, Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM),
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K). So far,
the Taliban have acted only against the IS-K because it actively challenges the
group's rule.
The
publication while quoting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) said more than 300,000 Afghans have fled to Pakistan since the Taliban
takeover.
The
figure contests Pakistani authorities' claim that about 60,000 to 70,000
Afghans entered Pakistan since August last year.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Arab
World
Hamas
delegation visits Syria, meets Assad, first time since 2011 to mend ties
19
October 2022
A delegation
of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas met with Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad in Damascus on Wednesday in the first such visit in more than a decade
as the two sides seek to revitalize their ties.
The
deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya,
who headed the delegation, said the spirit of resistance was resurrected within
the Arab world following their historic visit to Damascus.
“God
willing, we will turn the old page and look for the future,” al-Hayyh said,
adding that Hamas is against any “Zionist or American aggression on Syria.”
He
said the decision to return to Syria was taken without consultations with any
group, adding that the Gaza-based resistance movement is determined to revive
ties with the Syrian government.
After
Wednesday's meeting, al-Hayeh said Assad was “keen on Syria’s support to the
Palestinian resistance” and hailed it as a “glorious day.”
"We
are ending any individual act that was not approved by the Hamas leadership,
and we agreed with President al-Assad to turn the page," he remarked.
"Our
meeting with al-Assad marked a glorious day today, and through it, we will
resume our presence in Syria and working with Damascus in support of our people
and Syria's stability," he said.
The
Hamas official also reiterated that the resistance movement told President
Assad that Hamas “will support Syria, its sovereignty, and territorial
integrity and the Palestinian factions are against any aggression targeting
Syrian soil.”
"Hamas
is resuming its relationship with our dear Syria. And this is a unanimous
decision taken by Hamas's leadership. It was taken with the conviction that
this is the right path and that we need to move on from the mistakes of the
past… The strength of the Arab World stems from Syria's strength," the
Palestinian official explained.
"The
relations with Syria will give strength to the Axis of Resistance and to all
the believers in the resistance," Hayya stressed, pointing out that
"Hamas did not hear any opposition from any state that was informed of its
decision to reconcile with Syria, including Turkey and Qatar."
Meanwhile,
the secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -
General Command - Talal Naji, expressed the Front's happiness with the restoration
of relations between Syria and Hamas.
Following
the meeting with Syria’s president, the Palestinian resistance factions noted
that Assad stressed that “the unity of the Palestinian ranks is the guarantee
for restoring the rights of the Palestinian people.”
In
a statement, the factions said the Syrian president reiterated Syria's support
for the Palestinian people in the face of Israeli aggression and underscored
that resistance is the only way to liberate the land.
Moreover,
the Palestinian factions affirmed in their statement that Syria's steadfastness
also strengthened the steadfastness of the Palestinian people.
The
visit comes after non-public negotiations between Hamas and the Syrian
leadership were mediated by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, in
which the attendees discussed the disagreements that led to a decade-long
rupture in ties.
Back
in September, Hamas announced in a statement that it would restore its
relations with Syria, which "has been supporting the Palestinian people
and the Palestinian resistance factions for decades."
Relations
between Hamas and the Syrian government were downgraded in 2011 following the
outbreak of foreign-sponsored conflict in the Arab country.
Hamas
vacated its headquarters in Damascus the following year and moved it to the
Qatari capital city of Doha.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ancient
Carvings Discovered At Iconic Iraq Monument Bulldozed By Islamic State
October
19, 2022
MOSUL,
IRAQ —
When
Islamic State extremists bulldozed the ancient monumental Mashki Gate in the
Iraqi city of Mosul in 2016, it was part of the group's systematic destruction
of cultural heritage.
Now,
U.S. and Iraqi archaeologists working to reconstruct the site have unearthed
extraordinary 2,700-year-old rock carvings among the ruins.
They
include eight finely made marble bas-relief carvings depicting war scenes from
the rule of the Assyrian kings in the ancient city of Nineveh, a local Iraqi
official said Wednesday.
Discovered
last week, the detailed carvings show a soldier drawing back a bow in
preparation to fire an arrow, as well as finely chiseled vine leaves and palms.
The
gray stone carvings date to the rule of King Sennacherib, in power from 705 to
681 BC, according to a statement from the Iraqi Council of Antiquities and
Heritage.
Sennacherib
was responsible for expanding Nineveh as the Assyrians' imperial capital and
largest city — siting on a major crossroads between the Mediterranean and the
Iranian plateau — including constructing a magnificent palace.
Fadel
Mohammed Khodr, head of the Iraqi archaeological team working to restore the
site, said the carvings were likely taken from Sennacherib's palace and used as
construction material for the gate.
"We
believe that these carvings were moved from the palace of Sennacherib and
reused by the grandson of the king to renovate the gate of Mashki and to
enlarge the guard room," Khodr said.
'Iconic'
When
they were used in the gate, the area of the carvings poking out above ground
was erased.
"Only
the part buried underground has retained its carvings," Khodr added.
ALIPH,
the Swiss-based International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in
Conflict Areas, said the Mashki Gate had been an "exceptional
building."
IS
targeted the fortified gate, which had been restored in the 1970s, because it
was an "iconic part of Mosul's skyline, a symbol of the city's long
history," it added.
ALIPH
is supporting the reconstruction of the Mashki Gate by a team of archaeologists
from Iraq's Mosul University alongside U.S. experts from the University of
Pennsylvania.
The
restoration project, which is being carried out in collaboration with Iraqi
antiquities authorities, aims to turn the damaged monument into an educational
center on Nineveh's history.
Iraq
was the birthplace of some of the world's earliest cities.
It
was also home to Sumerians and Babylonians and among humankind's first examples
of writing.
But
in the past decades, Iraq has been the target of artifacts smuggling. Looters
decimated the country's ancient past, including after the 2003 U.S.-led
invasion.
Source:
VOA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UAE
seeks to lure tech firms in Asia, Europe with long-term residency, financing
19
October, 2022
The
United Arab Emirates is trying to lure advanced technology companies away from
hubs in Asia and Europe by fast-tracking business licenses and offering
long-term residency for employees.
The
Gulf country is targeting more than 300 digital firms under a program launched
in July and about 40 companies are in the process of moving, Minister of State
for Foreign Trade, Thani Al Zeyoudi, said in an interview.
The
UAE’s nimble handling of the pandemic and liberal visa policies have already
made it an attractive destination for bankers and hedge fund managers to
commodity traders. Authorities now want to attract firms in sectors including
food technology, robotics and blockchain, and encourage them to set up global
or regional headquarters in the Middle Eastern business hub.
Dubai
and Abu Dhabi already host the Mideast headquarters of an array of global
financial firms. Still, there is competition from global hubs and from Saudi
Arabia, which is trying to get firms to move their regional headquarters there
by 2024.
“The
timing was very crucial because what we noticed from the beginning of the year
was that many companies would like to move because of inflation, the tighter
regulatory environment in many parts of the world, including Asia -- especially
Singapore and Hong Kong,” Al Zeyoudi said.
Under
the scheme, digital companies get faster business licensing and easier access
to banking and financing. Employees can be offered 10-year UAE residency
“golden visas” and in some cases the program -- which unifies government
bodies, freezones and institutions -- helps find accommodation and admissions
to schools.
The
so-called “golden visa” allows foreigners to work, live and study without
needing a UAE work sponsor in a country where expatriate residents make up nearly
90 percent of the population.
As
the UAE seeks to further diversify away from oil income, the aim is to create
more high-skilled jobs in futuristic industries, Al Zeyoudi said.
“We
want to make sure we are harnessing the fourth industrial revolution -- so the
latest technology, whether it’s the Internet of things, blockchain, AI,” he
said. “We are redefining the way FDI is usually done.”
The
program groups together freezones in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah. Lenders
connecting with businesses under the scheme include Emirates NBD, Sharjah
Investment Bank, and Wio -- a digital bank backed by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ.
Two
privately-held US companies are among those already in the process of moving --
Change Foods, a food-tech group that is working on technology to produce
natural milk in a lab and Gecko Robotics, a firm that designs, builds, and
operates robots, Al Zeyoudi said.
European
software development company Softserve is relocating technical staff, coders,
consultants, and executives to the UAE while two fintech firms, Currency.com
and Capital.com, are setting up a regional headquarters under the program.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran,
Saudi Arabia must re-open embassies, Khamenei's top adviser says
Syed
Zafar Mehdi
19.10.2022
A
top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader and former foreign minister has emphasized
the need to restore diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.
In
an interview on Wednesday, Ali Akbar Velayati said Iran and Saudi Arabia are
“neighbors” and must “co-exist with each other.”
The
former top Iranian diplomat, who is an adviser on international affairs to
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the embassies of the two countries must be
reactivated to “solve problems.”
The
two countries severed their diplomatic relations after a Saudi diplomatic
mission in Tehran was attacked by angry mobs in January 2016 over the execution
of Shia Saudi cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Since
last April, the two sides have been engaged in negotiations, brokered by
Baghdad, to restore diplomatic ties.
The
last few rounds of talks have eased tensions, with Amir-Abdollahian in July
hinting that the talks would advance from the security to the political level.
There
had also been speculation about a possible meeting at the level of foreign
ministers; however, no side has confirmed it yet.
Iran
recently resumed diplomatic ties with the UAE and Kuwait, the two close Saudi
allies who had snapped ties with Tehran after the attack on Saudi diplomatic
missions in 2016, in solidarity with Riyadh.
Among
the key sticking points in the marathon tension-easing talks is the devastating
war in Yemen, where Iran and Saudi find themselves on the opposite side.
Meanwhile,
in other remarks, Velayati termed recent events in Iran as “unfortunate,”
referring to protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old who died
in police custody for allegedly not wearing a headscarf properly.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Saudi
Arabia releases detained Hamas leader
19.10.2022
GAZA
CITY, Palestine
Saudi
Arabia has released Hamas leader Mohammed al-Khudari, the Palestinian group
confirmed on Wednesday.
Al-Khudari,
84, was detained by Saudi authorities in 2019 among 60 group members and
sympathizers.
Last
year, a Saudi court slapped al-Khudari with a 15-year jail term on charges of
“providing support to the resistance”, before the sentence was reduced to three
years in prison.
“We
hope the release will be a step towards settling the issue of all detained
group members and sympathizers in the kingdom,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif
al-Qanoua told Anadolu Agency.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/saudi-arabia-releases-detained-hamas-leader/2715352
--------
Saudi
ambassador to US reiterates Kingdom’s position on Russia-Ukraine war
October
19, 2022
LONDON:
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US on Wednesday issued a fact sheet
reiterating the Kingdom’s position on the war in Ukraine and its condemnation
of Russia’s attempts to annex occupied territory.
Princess
Reema Bint Bandar’s fact sheet was released following a call between Crown
Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which they
discussed Saudi opposition to referendums in areas controlled by Moscow on becoming
part of Russia.
“During
a call with President Zelensky on Oct.14, HRH the Crown Prince stressed that
the Kingdom’s vote for the resolution condemning the annexation emanates from
its commitment to the deep-rooted principles in the UN charter and international
law,” the fact sheet said.
It
added that Saudi Arabia was committed “to the respect of state sovereignty and
the principles of good neighborliness, and resolving conflicts by peaceful
means.”
The
UN General Assembly passed a resolution by a large majority on Oct. 12, calling
on countries not to recognize the four regions of Ukraine which Russia has
claimed, following so-called referendums held late last month. The resolution
demanded that Moscow reverse course on
its “attempted illegal annexation.”
The
Kingdom also voted in support of a UN resolution deploring Russian aggression
against Ukraine, demanding that Russia immediately ceases its use of force, and
withdraws all of its military from Ukrainian territory on March 2, “in line
with its moral position supporting international law, the UN charter, and the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, including Ukraine.”
The
crown prince also announced an additional $400 million humanitarian aid package
for Ukraine.
The
fact sheet also highlighted the crown prince’s mediation efforts, which have
resulted in the release of ten prisoners of war from five countries, including
two Americans.
“The
president of Ukraine expressed his thanks and appreciation for HRH’s readiness
to continue his mediation efforts aiming for the resolution of the crisis, and
thanked the Kingdom for its established position and its humanitarian
initiatives,” the fact sheet also said.
It
added that Saudi Arabia had extended the visas of Ukrainian visitors, allowing
tourists and residents in the Kingdom to remain there, and that Saudi Arabia
had further supported humanitarian relief efforts through the King Salman
Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, providing aid worth $10 million to
Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
The
fact sheet said that the crown prince had “affirmed the Kingdom’s support for
efforts to deescalate the crisis during calls to President Zelensky and
President Putin.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2184311/saudi-arabia
--------
France
repatriates 40 children, 15 women from Syria — foreign ministry
October
20, 2022
PARIS:
France said on Thursday it carried out a new operation to return French
nationals — 40 children and 15 women — from Kurdish-run camps in northeastern
Syria.
The
children were handed over to the child care services and will have medical and
social follow-ups, the foreign ministry said in a statement, while the women
would be transferred to the judicial authorities.
“France
expresses its thanks to local authorities... for their cooperation which has
made this operation possible,” the ministry added.
In
September, The European Court of Human Rights ruled that France must re-examine
repatriation requests from two French women who traveled to Syria with their
partners to join Islamic State. The requests were also for the children they
gave birth to there.
The
French citizens were among more than 40,000 foreign nationals, most of them
Iraqis, in detention, according to Human Rights Watch.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2184586/middle-east
--------
Mideast
Tehran:
5 Iranian Crew Members of Venezuelan Plane Freed by Argentina
2022-October-19
Kana’ani
made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday, noting the five Iranian
nationals were freed after 129 days of diplomatic efforts as well as joint
legal and consular campaigns conducted by Iran and Venezuela.
He
added the Argentinean investigating judge ultimately ruled that the documents
provided by the plaintiffs — namely DAIA, the umbrella organization of the
Zionist community in Argentina, as well as two Zionist members of Argentina’s
parliament — were insufficient and invalid, ordering the release of the plane’s
Iranian crew members and lifting their travel ban.
The
spokesperson also stated that the Iranian crew members of the Venezuelan plane
were heading back home.
A
Boeing 747 cargo plane owned by Venezuelan company Emtrasur with 19 crew
members on board has been grounded since it landed in Argentina in early June
over alleged violations of US sanctions.
On
Friday, Federal judge Federico Villena announced that there was no basis to
prosecute the remaining five people after the 14 other crew members had been
granted release in prior months, but the judicial investigation would remain
open.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
FM:
US Guarantees Needed to Ensure Iran's Economic Benefits Under JCPOA
2022-October-19
Amir
Abdollahian spoke in a TV documentary on Tuesday evening about the "untold
stories during the President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi government's foreign
diplomacy over last year".
Focusing
on the latest status of the nuclear talks, Amir Abdollahian said that Iran's
objective is reaching a good and sustainable agreement, but reliable
guarantees, too are needed.
The
senior diplomat added that Iran has not left the negotiation table, but is not
ready for accepting imposed losses instead of securing "our national
interests".
"One
of the problems is that the guarantees are clearly defined, but the details
about lifting the sanctions are not clearly defined yet," the foreign
minister stressed.
The
top diplomat stressed that Iran will use its entire potentials and capacities
to secure the nation's interests, either in the West, or in the East, and will
not abandon any effort.
Iran
stresses it has not quit the negotiating table with the world powers, but will
not put all its eggs in the negotiation basket and will not wait for the United
States to return to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. Iranian
officials stress that Tehran has not left the negotiating table with the world
powers, but arriving at a deal requires the US pragmatic attitude.
The
United States and Iran have traded responses via the EU to a proposal put
forward by the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell. Tehran submitted its initial
answer in mid-August and Washington replied to it about a week later.
Washington
claims that Tehran has taken "a step backward" with its latest
response to a European Union proposal, calling a near-term agreement
"unlikely".
Tehran
says its response to Washington's view regarding the EU's proposed draft text
was constructive and transparent. Officials stress that receiving guarantees
from the Western side is the most important issue in the talks and Iran wants
stronger guarantees from the US to clinch an agreement.
Tehran
says it will not be able to trust Washington as long as President Joe Biden
continues the wrong policy of maximum pressure and sanctions practiced by
Donald Trump against Iran. Iranian officials say the Biden administration has
yet done nothing but hollow promises to lift sanctions against Tehran. They
blast the US addiction to sanctions, and slammed the POTUS for continuing his
predecessor's policy on Iran.
Tehran
and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal have held several rounds of
negotiations since April last year to restore the agreement, which was
unilaterally abandoned by Trump in May 2018.
In
quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he
called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are
being enforced to this day by the Biden administration, even though it has
repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.
Iranian
officials say the ball is in the US' court, and the Biden administration should
assure Tehran that it will not repeat Trump's past mistakes.
Diplomats
have also criticized Washington for raising excessive demands from Tehran
during the nuclear talks, and blocking efforts to reach an agreement on the
JCPOA. They emphasized the Tehran's will to reach a good, strong and lasting
agreement, and stressed that the US should lift unilateral sanctions, and
assure Iran that it will not repeat its past mistakes.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Diplomat
Slams Violence, Sabotage Against Iran's Foreign Missions, Envoys
2022-October-19
Ershadi
said in a statement on Tuesday that some of the country’s diplomatic missions,
consular premises, and diplomats have been the target of acts of violence in
some European countries, including Norway, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Bulgaria,
the Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.
“My
delegation would like to express its condemnation of any acts of violence
committed against its missions and representatives, in particular, the
significant delays in intervention or failure to take any measures by receiving
states’ law enforcement forces in some cases,” the Iran’s deputy permanent
representative to the UN announced in a statement before the 6th Committee on
protection, security and safety of diplomatic missions and representatives.
“In
addition to being exceptional and significant, the scope and scale of this
well-organized violence against Iranian diplomatic and consular facilities, as
well as their representatives in Europe, are also a part of a larger campaign
that some states have been waging against Iran,” she added.
Ershadi
further said that acts of violence conducted against Iran’s diplomatic and
consular premises and their representatives also include the provocations among
local populations in some of our neighboring countries, such as Iraq and
Afghanistan.
She
noted that such acts are conducted by the diplomatic missions of a number of
specific countries accredited to those countries.
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran invites the respective states to engage in a
constructive dialog with the diplomatic missions in their territories with a
view to examining the most effective ways to ensure the full protection of
diplomatic and consular missions and representatives,” the diplomat added.
The
Iranian envoy also raised concerns over the “unlawful attempts” made by certain
states to misuse diplomatic immunities and privileges to “conceal operations
that would ultimately undermine the sanctity of the functions of diplomatic
envoys".
“Members
of the missions and the sending States are expected to fully respect Iran's
laws and regulations as the receiving state, including refraining from meddling
in its internal affairs,” she continued.
“Iran
remains willing to resolve any disputes in this respect peacefully and strongly
urges other states to uphold their obligations under the two Vienna
Conventions,” she stated.
Since
last month, assailants have on several occasions targeted Iran’s diplomatic
sites and the country’s ambassadors in European countries. The acts of violence
have occurred in the aftermath of the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini in
hospital three days after she collapsed at a police station in Tehran.
Protests
erupted in several cities across Iran over her death. The demonstrations soon
turned violent. A special committee has been established to investigate
different aspects of her tragic death.
Iranian
officials blame Western countries for orchestrating the riots to destabilize
the country.
Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei severely censured
the deadly riots, saying they were orchestrated in advance by the United States
and the Israeli regime.
“I
state it clearly that these developments were planned by America, the Zionist
regime and their acolytes. Their main problem is with a strong and independent
Iran and the country’s progress. The Iranian nation proved to be fairly strong
during recent events and will bravely come onto the scene wherever necessary in
the future,” he added.
In
recent days, Iranian officials have blamed the United States, the European
Unions, and several Western states for meddling in Iran's internal affairs over
the death of Mahsa. They advised the US and its allies against
"opportunism and instrumentalization of the issue of human rights" by
misusing the incident.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
imposes sanctions on UK institutions, individuals for ‘inciting riots’
19
October, 2022
Iran
designated several British people and institutions on Wednesday for their
“deliberate actions in support of terrorism, incitement of violence, and human
rights violations,” Iran's foreign ministry said.
The
sanctions, published on the ministry's Telegram page, include a ban on issuing
visas and other ineffectual moves such as the seizure of designated
individuals' assets in Iran, are a countermeasure to London's stance over
protests that have gripped Iran during the past month following the death of a
young woman in police custody.
“The
listed natural and legal persons have, among other things, carried out
activities that have led to unrest, violence and terrorist acts against the
Iranian nation,” the ministry said.
BBC
Persian, the intelligence organisation Government Communications Headquarters
(GCHQ), and people such as Conservative politicians Stephen Crabb and Tom
Tugendhat appear on Tehran's list of sanctions.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
arrests 14 foreigners over unrest: Fars news agency
19
October, 2022
Iranian
authorities have arrested 14 foreigners over unrest that has rocked the country
in recent weeks, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.
“Investigations
show that citizens of 14 countries, including the US, Russia, Austria, France,
the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan, have been arrested in recent riots in the
country, of which Afghan nationals are the most numerous,” Fars reported.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israel
denies selling weapons to Ukraine
Zain
Khalil
19.10.2022
JERUSALEM
Israeli
Defense Minister Benny Gantz has denied selling weapons to Ukraine amid the
Russian invasion of the European country.
"We
are not selling weapons to Ukraine," Gantz said in an interview with the
Jewish ultra-Orthodox Kol Chai radio.
The
defense minister said that Tel Aviv had not previously sold arms to Ukraine.
On
Monday, Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai called on the Israeli government
to send weapons to Ukraine in response to reports about sending Iranian
missiles to Russia.
Commenting
on Shia’s statements, Gantz said, "he is mistaken, I am the defense
minister who is responsible for exporting Israeli weapons."
In
response to Shai's statement, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned
Israel against arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-denies-selling-weapons-to-ukraine/2715205
--------
Jewish
settlers pepper spray Israeli soldiers in West Bank
October
20, 2022
JERUSALEM:
Jewish West Bank settlers stormed through a Palestinian town in the occupied
West Bank, the Israeli military said Thursday, throwing stones at Palestinian
cars and using pepper spray on Israeli troops who were trying to disperse the
settlers.
The
settler rampage late Wednesday comes days after a similar incident in the same
area and as Israeli-Palestinian tensions are surging over Israeli raids in the
West Bank and an uptick in shooting attacks by Palestinians.
Also
Thursday, Palestinian health officials said a 16-year-old Palestinian died
after being wounded in clashes with Israeli troops late last month. The
Palestinians called a general strike throughout the West Bank in response to
the spiraling violence.
The
rampage took place near Huwara, a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank
near the city of Nablus, where a group of disaffected youth has taken up arms
against Israel and in frustration with the Palestinian leadership’s close
security ties to it.
Palestinian
militants in the area have carried out several roadside shootings in recent
weeks. The area is home to a number of hard-line settlements, whose residents
often intimidate Palestinians and vandalize their property.
Critics
accuse Israel of turning a blind eye to settler violence against Palestinians
and treating them with impunity, while being heavy-handed with Palestinian
assailants or protesters. Settler violence has in the past also led to
confrontations with soldiers which often sparks condemnations from politicians
but rarely leads to a solution to the problem.
The
military said dozens of settlers ran through the town, throwing rocks at
Palestinian cars. The settlers used pepper spray on the battalion commander as
well as another soldier. The settlers sprayed another two soldiers at a nearby
checkpoint, the military said.
It
was not immediately clear why the settlers were allowed to continue to another
location after the initial incident.
In
a statement, the military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, condemned the
violence.
“This
is a very serious incident that embodies shameful and disgraceful criminal
behavior that demands strict and swift justice,” he said.
The
violence comes as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have surged in
recent months.
More
than 120 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the
West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, making 2022 the deadliest year since
2015.
Mohammed
Fadi Nuri, 16, was shot in the stomach last month by Israeli troops near the
city of Ramallah and died Thursday. The general strike called for Thursday was
to affect all sectors except for vital services like hospitals or bakeries.
The
fighting has surged since a series of Palestinian attacks in the spring killed
19 people in Israel and more in recent violence. The Israeli military says most
of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths
protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also
been killed.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2184631/middle-east
--------
Israeli
forces kill another Palestinian near al-Quds after 'shooting'
20
October 2022
Israeli
forces have killed another Palestinian claiming he was trying to attack
troopers at a West Bank checkpoint.
Udai
Tamimi was gunned down during a reported firefight with the forces at the
entrance of the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim in the east of the holy
occupied city of al-Quds on Wednesday.
Tamimi
"fired at the entrance of Maale Adumim towards security guards wounding
one of them in the hand before being neutralized by the other guards," the
Israeli police alleged in a statement.
He
was wanted by the Israeli military after killing an Israeli soldier, identified
as Noa Lazar, at a checkpoint near the Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp in al-Quds
on Oct. 8.
The
10-day search for Tamimi witnessed the Israeli military shutting down the
entrances to the camp and laying siege that paralyzed healthcare services and
schools there.
The
Israeli regime has intensified its deadly crackdown on Palestinians in the
occupied territories. More than 170 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli
attacks so far this year.
The
regime occupied the West Bank during a heavily-Western-backed war in 1967.
Ever
since it has dotted the territory with hundreds of illegal settlements that
have come to house more than 600,000 Israeli settlers.
All
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security
Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied
territories in several resolutions.
Palestinians
want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Jerusalem
al-Quds as its capital.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/10/20/691246/Israel-killing-Palestinian-al-Quds-West-Bank
--------
North
America
Retired
US generals take top jobs with Saudi Arabia amid repression, rights abuses
19
October 2022
Hundreds
of retired US military personnel have taken lucrative jobs with foreign
governments, mostly in countries known for political repression and human
rights abuses, according to a US media report.
In
Saudi Arabia, 15 retired US generals and admirals have worked for the kingdom's
defense ministry since 2016. The ministry is led by crown prince Mohammed bin
Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, who US intelligence agencies say approved
the 2018 brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as part of a
violent crackdown on political activists.
The
report said 25 retirees from the US air force, army, navy and marine corps were
granted permission to take jobs in Saudi Arabia.
The
Saudi-paid American advisers included retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, a
national security adviser to President Barack Obama, and retired Army Gen.
Keith Alexander, who led the National Security Agency under Obama and President
George W. Bush, according to The Washington Post.
Most
of the retired US personnel have worked as “contractors” for Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates and other Persian Gulf monarchies, playing a critical role
in upgrading their militaries.
The
employments come as the Persian Gulf Arab countries have continued to commit
human rights abuses at home and abroad. With the so-called advisors' helps, as
well as support from the US government, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have launched
a disastrous war on Yemen, triggering a humanitarian crisis and killing
thousands of civilians, according to the United Nations.
The
US report said foreign governments pay top dollar for such American military
expertise, with salary and benefit packages reaching six and, sometimes, seven
figures. At the top of the scale, active four-star generals earn $203,698 a
year in basic pay.
A
consulting firm owned by six retired Pentagon officials and military officers
negotiated a $23.6 million contract with Qatar, a Persian Gulf kingdom that
hosts a major US air base, though the proposal later fell through, the report
said. And, in Azerbaijan, a retired US air force general was offered a
consulting job at a rate of $5,000 a day.
Saudi
Arabia hired a former US Navy SEAL to work as a special operations adviser for
$258,000 a year. The UAE gave annual compensation packages worth more than
$200,000 to helicopter pilots and $120,000 to aircraft mechanics, it added.
Besides
paying Americans as lobbyists, lawyers, political consultants and think tank
analysts to advance their interests in Washington, these oil-rich Persian Gulf
monarchies have accelerated the hiring of retired US military personnel as part
of their plans to splurge on “defense spending” and strengthen their “security
partnerships” with the Pentagon.
‘After
Khashoggi, business as usual’
A
spokesperson for retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who owns two military
consulting firms that have held contracts to advise the Saudi defense ministry,
said, after Khashoggi’s brutal killing, that the retired Marine general was
“disturbed” by the Saudi journalist’s death, and downplayed his firms’ work in
Riyadh.
In
fact, Jones’s firms not only remained in Saudi Arabia but expanded their
partnership with Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s slaying, the report said.
In
an interview, Jones said one of his consulting firms applied for, and accepted,
more work from the Saudi defense ministry in 2019 because “we received
encouragement” from the Trump administration to do so.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/10/19/691210/US-army-Saudi-Arabia-top-jobs-Jamal-Khashoggi
--------
Ethics
lawyer's anti-Muslim tweets weighed at U.S. appeals court
By
Mike Scarcella
October
19, 2022
A
Tennessee state legal ethics attorney who was fired in 2020 over what the state
said were anti-Muslim tweets asked a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to revive
his legal challenge to his termination.
An
attorney for Gerald "Jerry" Morgan urged the Cincinnati-based 6th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel at a hearing to overturn a trial judge who
ruled that Morgan's former boss, the state's chief attorney disciplinary
counsel, could not be sued for firing Morgan based on immunity granted to
judicial-related activity.
Morgan
was fired from his post as a disciplinary counsel for the state Board of
Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court, where he had worked
since 2019.
Circuit
Judges John Bush and Stephanie Davis, sitting with Senior Circuit Judge Alice
Batchelder, weighed where to draw a line between an administrative act of
employee discipline that could open a door to liability and a judicial one that
might block Morgan's claims.
Davis
probed whether Morgan's firing was "really just a personnel matter, which
is typically an administrative function."
Morgan
was terminated over tweets, some from 2015 and 2016 before he was a lawyer for
the board, that were critical of the Democratic Party and Joe Biden. In one
tweet, he asked: "Where's the evidence that 'Islam is a religion of
peace'"?
A
lawyer who was under investigation for alleged misconduct found and complained
about Morgan's tweets. In terminating Morgan, the state said his speech
"has adversely impacted your ability to successfully perform" job
duties.
"Mr.
Morgan has never been accused of anything except exercising his First Amendment
rights," Morgan's attorney, W. Gary Blackburn, told the appeals court on
Wednesday.
Blackburn
told Reuters after the hearing that Morgan "had every right to his opinion
and every right to express it and needs to be vindicated."
Morgan
did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through his lawyer.
David
Rudolph of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, who represented the state,
did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
In
his argument before the court, Rudolph said that "it's the nature of the
functions being performed, not the identity of the actor" that determines
immunity.
"Disciplinary
counsel are the face of the board in the public and in the courts," he
told the panel judges.
Source:
Reuters
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Canada
imposes new sanctions over human rights violations in Iran
19
October, 2022
Canada
imposed sanctions on six individuals and four entities on Wednesday that it
said were among the worst offenders that have participated in or enabled “gross
human rights violations” in Iran.
“Canada
will continue to support them by using all tools at our disposal to respond to
the Iranian regime's violations of human rights and its threats to regional
peace and security,” Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a
statement.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
State
Department confirms detention of US national in Saudi Arabia
Michael
Hernandez
19.10.2022
WASHINGTON
The
State Department confirmed Tuesday the detention of Saudi-American dual
national Saad Ibrahim Almadi in the Kingdom, saying it has raised concerns
about his detention directly with Riyadh.
Spokesman
Vedant Patel said the US first raised concerns about Almadi's arrest in
December 2021 when it became aware that he was taken into custody in Saudi
Arabia, and last addressed the case Monday. Almadi was sentenced to 16 years in
prison on Oct. 3.
The
Saudi government offered no information to the State Department on the date of
Almadi's sentencing hearing until after it transpired despite "repeated
requests" from the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia, said Patel.
Almadi,
72, was taken into custody in November 2021 when he traveled to Saudi Arabia to
visit family, the Washington Post reported Monday. At issue are 14 tweets he
posted in the past seven years, including some that address Jamal Khashoggi,
the Post's contributor who was brutally murdered in the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul.
Almadi's
son, Ibrahim, said his father had been tortured while in Saudi custody and
imprisoned in deplorable conditions alongside extremist militants.
Patel
said the US is still working to determine whether Almadi was "wrongfully
detained," but maintained that "freedom of expression should never be
criminalized."
"As
it relates to a potential designation, that process is ongoing. We are looking
into it. There are a number of strict criteria that are involved in making that
designation. So I'm just not going to get ahead of that deliberative
process," he added.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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India
A
Mosque Was Attacked In Gurugram. Then, Muslims Were Made To ‘Compromise’ With
Hindus
Aishwarya
Iyer
Oct
20, 2022
Aas
Mohammad held up the lock. Days earlier, on October 12, a mob had used it to
lock the mosque where he had prayed since 2013. It is the only mosque in
Gurugram’s Bhora Kalan village. Almost a week later, tensions have not died
down despite a “faisla” – compromise – that was patched together between the
Hindus and Muslims.
Around
7.45 pm on October 12, Mohammad said, a mob of eight to 10 men forced open the
doors and entered the mosque where six men were praying. Mohammad was one of
them.
They
pushed the praying men against the wall, abused them and hit them with plastic
chairs and footwear, Mohammad said. All the while, he said, they kept saying,
“Ho gayi na namaz, bhago yahaan se [Done with namaz? Now get out of here]”.
As
the worshippers were pitched out, the mob locked the door to the mosque.
Mohammad and others called the police, who arrived in 10-15 minutes. “Women
from our families came out to help us – they [the mob] pushed them too,” he
said. “We caught some of the men, but the villagers forced us to let them go.”
The
Muslim men who had been praying at the mosque decided to file a police complaint.
That same night, a first information report was registered on the complaint of
one Nazar Mohammad at the Bilaspur police station. The accused were charged
with charges such as unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt,
criminal intimidation as well as “malicious acts intended to outrage religious
feelings”.
Incidentally,
the same day, 47-year-old Ravi Rustagi, a resident of the village, also filed a
complaint at the Bilaspur police station, saying the land on which the mosque
was built belonged to him. The complaint said that his ancestors had leased out
the land, in an oral agreement, to the Muslim family.
It
is a claim rejected by Aas Mohammad, who said the land had belonged to his
family for generations. He added the tomb behind the mosque, which belongs to
the family, is over 100 years old.
However,
within 24 hours, the “Faisla” was effected. A meeting between the two
communities was organised by the village elders and attended by the local
police. Muslim representatives had to let the matter rest. With only four
Muslim families in the village, they felt they had no choice.
Nazar
gave a signed declaration stating that, in the name of brotherhood, the matter
was being put to rest. Members of the Hindu community gave assurances that such
an incident would never happen again, although not in writing.
“They
only say that both sides are compromising,” said Mohammad Abid, who runs an
eatery on the highway. “In reality, only the Muslims are pushed against the
wall to bow to their demands.”
When
Scroll.in met members of the majority community, they seemed to shrug off the
matter. “You know when things like this happen, in anger people [referring to
the Muslims] overstate things. This should have never been highlighted,” said
sarpanch Yajvender Sharma, who is also standing for the panchayat elections
scheduled for November 12.
A
month before the elections, his home was teeming with mediapersons and workers
of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sharma said the boys who had stormed the mosque
were drunk, and had been spoken to.
“What
even happened? Was the mosque set on fire?” asked 84-year-old Bhani Singh, who
was part of a crowd close to Sharma’s home.
An
inspection
Nineteen-year-old
Nasir, who was in the mosque on October 12, outlined what had happened on the
morning of the attack. A crowd of about 200-250 people had gathered outside the
mosque to inspect what they claimed was construction work at the mosque, he
said.
According
to him, the crowd included three candidates in the approaching panchayat polls
– Rajesh Chauhan, Anil Bhadoria and Sanjay Vyas. “They wanted to go in and see
what construction work we were doing,” he said.
There
had been some repair work for seepage in the first floor of the mosque, soaked
by recent Delhi rains. To placate the crowd, some of the men were taken inside
the mosque and allowed to inspect the premises, said Nasir.
The
complaint in the FIR later lodged at Bilaspur police station also mentions the
morning’s intimidation. “They threatened us and spoke of throwing us out of the
village. We are only four Muslim families in the village. We often get harassed
like this,” wrote the complainant, Nazar Mohammad.
Forty-six-year-old
Mohammad Abid, who owns a restaurant on the nearby highway, echoed these
claims. “We [Muslims] are only four families here,” he said. According to him,
most Hindu families wanted them out of the village.
Chauhan
admitted they had gone to inspect the mosque on the morning of October 12 but
distanced himself from the attack later in the day, saying he had not been part
of the mob.
After
Chauhan and others were allowed a recce of the mosque premises, local Muslims
hoped the matter would end there. So when the mob turned up in the evening,
they were taken by surprise.
Apart
from the men who were roughed up in the mosque, Muslim women in the locality
are also shaken. Among those who had ventured out of their home to see what the
commotion was about was 80-year-old Asarfi. “They tried to pull my stick, but I
did not give in,” she said. “I kept asking them why they beat my husband up.
They pushed me and I fell down.”
Aasiya,
in her mid 70s, said she was kicked repeatedly in the torso. “What kind of
person hits old people?” she asked. “Why did they beat our husbands? Why did
they hit us? How are we to live here pretending like nothing has happened?”
They
hope the police will arrest the accused, who are all from the same village.
Most of them are in their mid-20 and unemployed, said Nasir. He added that at
least three of them had been named in the FIR.
A
history of compromise
Muslims
are a tiny minority in Bhora Kalan village. According to the sarpanch, the
village has a population of about 35,000 people, of whom 200-250 are Muslim,
belonging to four families.
At
one time, Abid recalled, there had been 12 Muslim families in the village but,
over time, they shifted to Pataudi town, about seven kilometres away. He
surmised it was because there were more mosques there, and the population was
more evenly divided between Hindus and Muslims. He also pointed out that the
town offered better job opportunities than the village, where most people own
shops or work as daily wagers.
Bhora
Kalan’s mosque, or as the Hindus would like to call it, “hall”, has triggered
controversy before.
Back
in 2013, when Muslims had started praying at the mosque, bikes belonging to
local residents had been stolen. Fingers were pointed at Muslims from other
villages who prayed at the mosque. Recalling the incident, Sharma said local
Hindus were uncomfortable with the fact that Muslims from other villages prayed
there. “Those bikes were also never found,” he said.
The
theft had led to a confrontation between the two communities. After that, two
rules were agreed on in the presence of the subdivisional magistrate. There
would be no cleric presiding over the prayers and only Muslims who lived in
Bhora Kalan could pray there.
This
arrangement lasted till October 12, when the mob stormed the mosque. Once
again, there was a “compromise” in which Muslims had to bury their grievances
despite the attack.
Another
rule has been added now. “Whenever people want to check what is happening
inside the mosque, the sarpanch will be accompanied by the station house
officer,” Abid said. This is apparently to stop a mob from storming the mosque
again. While local Muslims are uneasy with the idea that they must open up the
mosque for inspection whenever demanded, they hope the police presence will
prevent more violence.
“Then
also we compromised, now also we compromise,” said Abid. “That is what we have
to do to survive.”
Abid
was also concerned that only Muslims had given a written declaration at the
“Faisla”. All they had from Hindu representatives at the meeting were verbal
assurances.
“Why
do we need to give it in writing?” said Sharma, when asked. “They are the ones
who have the problem.”
When
Scroll.in contacted the police to ask if anyone had been arrested for the
assault on the mosque and the worshippers, Assistant Commissioner of Police
Harindra Kumar said, “The investigation is ongoing. A special investigation
team has been formed and I am heading it. Names have come up but no one has
been arrested yet.”
‘All
is well’
Hindu
residents of the village do not accept the mosque as a place of worship.
Sharma, who is busy campaigning door to door, said there was no need for a
mosque in the village. “This is not a mosque anyway,” he said. “We won’t let
them build one. It is just a hall that they have converted from within.”
If
Muslims wanted to pray, he said, they could go to a mosque in Pataudi. While he
went door to door, campaigning for the elections, he had already written off
the 250-odd Muslim votes in the village.
Other
Hindu residents of Bhora Kalan voiced similar sentiments. “They are doing all
this because they want to make a big mosque so that money from the Middle East
will come to them,” said 62-year-old Mange Ram, a tailor. “We will not let them
build anything.”
Singh,
the village elder, brushed off the matter: “Nothing happened, all is well.
These people are making a big deal out of absolutely nothing.”
Anand
Prakash, a 72-year-old shopkeeper, said the land on which the mosque was built
did not belong to Muslims; it was owned by Ravi Rustagi.
Aas
Mohammad, who rejected this claim, demanded, “If it was his land why would he
wait till after the incident to raise a complaint?”
Rustagi
claimed they had held off from filing a police complaint earlier because they
did not have registered land documents and there was an internal family
dispute. “Now I have the documents and the family dispute is settled. We will
file a case against them,” he said.
The
Muslims, he said, had committed an “offence” by offering prayers there. Once he
won the land back, Rustagi said, he would donate the land for a temple.
Source:
Scroll
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--------
Shringar
Gauri-Gyanvapi case: Allahabad high court admits mosque committee’s plea
Oct
19, 2022
The
Allahabad high court on Wednesday admitted the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid
Committee (AIMC) plea challenging the Varanasi district court’s September 12
order that had held as maintainable the suit filed by five women seeking the
right to have darshan, puja and perform all the rituals of Maa Shringar Gauri
and other deities within the Gyanvapi complex.
The
Allahabad high court further directed that the photocopies of all documents
related to the suit shall be sent to it by October 21. The high court passed
this order when senior advocate SFA Naqvi appearing for AIMC, after going
through the records received from the district court, requested that the entire
records of the suit were necessary for the proper adjudication of the issues
involved in this case.
Justice
JJ Munir fixed October 21 as the next date of hearing on the AIMC petition.
On
September 12, the Varanasi district court had rejected AIMC’s application
against the maintainability of the plea, which sought the right for daily
worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the
Gyanvapi Masjid. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee manages the Gyanvapi
Masjid in Varanasi.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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BJP
to give 1,200 tickets to Pasmanda Muslims in Uttar Pradesh municipal elections
Abhishek
Mishra
Oct
19, 2022
The
BJP is set to hand out 1,200 tickets to Pasmanda Muslims in the upcoming
municipal elections. Pasmandas are backward classes of Muslims and constitute
85 per cent of their total population in Uttar Pradesh.
The
BJP is organising Pasmanda conferences as part of its efforts to bring this
large section of Muslims into its fold. Qureshi, Ansari, Salmani, Shah,
Mansoori and Siddiqui are some of the castes part of the Pasmanda Muslim
community. The Persian word Pasmanda is used to denote caste-based
discrimination within the backward Muslim community.
Pasmanda
Muslims also make up an overwhelming majority among Indian Muslims, but they
are poorly represented in jobs, legislatures, and community organisations.
UP
Minority Morcha president Kunwar Basit Ali said that Pasmanda Muslims have
always been neglected.
"The
BJP government gave them their due share, offered them posts and now, by giving
tickets in the civic elections, they will also be given their share in
politics," he added.
Uttar
Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak told India Today that under Yogi
Adityanath's reign, the beneficiary schemes have directly impacted their lives.
Pasmanda Muslims are connected with the mainstream. The people of the
opposition made Muslims vote bank for politics, but the BJP has done the most
work for them, he added.
Source:
India Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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New
Gujarat airbase near Pakistan to enhance security: PM Modi
Oct
20, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of a
new airbase at Deesa in north Gujarat's Banaskantha near the Pakistan border.
Speaking
at the inauguration of the 12th edition of the Defence Expo, Modi said Indian
armed forces' increasing reliance on made-in-India equipment is as much a nod
to 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' as it is a testimony to India's improved standing in a
global defence sector dominated by a few. "We used to release pigeons, and
now we release cheetahs. These events may appear to be trivial at times, but
the underlying message is much bigger," he said.
"Despite
the monopoly of a few manufacturing firms, India has made inroads (into the
sector) and secured its place. The Army, too, has decided to procure 411 items
within the country, including 101 indigenised items recently added to the list.
This shows the potential of a self-reliant India," the PM said at Mahatma
Mandir in Gandhinagar. Modi said the Centre aimed to raise Indian defence
exports to worth Rs 40,000 crore in the immediate future, encouraged by an
eight-fold increase over the past few years.
"The
world is trusting Indian technology because our armed forces have proved their
capabilities. We are exporting defence material and equipment to over 75
countries. India has earmarked 68% of its defence budget for Indian
companies," he said.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
NIA
files chargesheet against 12 in Sunjwan terror attack case
Oct
20, 2022
SRINAGAR:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet
against 12 accused in the encounter case in which two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)
terrorists were killed at Sunjwan in Jammu.
A
spokesman for the agency said the chargesheet was filed in NIA special court,
Jammu, relating to the conspiracy hatched among Kashmir-based terror
operatives, Pakistan-based leadership/handlers and JeM terrorists. As part of
the conspiracy, two JeM terrorists had infiltrated into India through a tunnel.
This
tunnel had been dug on the International Border (IB) in the area falling under
BOP Chack Faqira in the Samba sector of J&K with the intention of
disrupting the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Jammu
region. The movement of the said terrorists was intercepted by security forces
and both the terrorists were killed in an encounter in Sunjwan area.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
26/11
Victims Heroes of Our World: UN Chief in Mumbai
Oct
20, 2022
MUMBAI:
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said fighting
terrorism must be a global priority. Speaking after paying floral tributes to martyrs
of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai at Taj hotel, Guterres also said that no
cause can justify terrorism of any kind.
"People
need to recognise the diversity and richness of cultures to stay
together," Guterres said. "Terrorism is absolute evil and has no
place in today's world. No cause and no incident can justify terrorism. One of
my first acts after becoming secretary general was to establish an office for
counter-terrorism to cooperate, guide and prepare countries in the fight
against terrorism," he added.
"This
office is fighting against the roots of violent extremism. Be it religion or
ethnicity or beliefs, no reason can justify violent extremism," he said.
Describing
the 26/11 terror attacks as one of the most barbaric acts of terrorism in history,
Guterres said the 166 victims of the attacks are "heroes of our
world".
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Hindu
activists begin door-to-door campaign against halal products in Karnataka
20th
October 2022
Bengaluru:
The Hindu activists here on Thursday started a door-to-door campaign in
connection with boycotting halal certified products during the Diwali
festivities.
The
activists said that they were also planning to distribute ‘halal jihad’
handbook to the people to create awareness among them. The campaign will be
taken up in Jayanagar and Basavanagudi Assembly constituencies of Bengaluru.
Jayanagar
Assembly constituency is represented by Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy and Basavanagudi
constituency is represented by BJP MLA Ravisubramanya. There are sensitive
pockets, especially the Jayanagar locality and the police are closely
monitoring the situation.
The
campaign has been taken up by the Hindu Jana Jagruthi Samithi, Sri Rama Sena,
Raastra Rakshana Pade and Vishva Hindu Sanatana Parishat.
The
auto-rickshaws will be used to spread awareness messages through mikes, loud
speakers, said the activists. They said that the meeting would be conducted
with hotel owners, industrialists, shop owners and Agricultural Produce
Marketing Committee (APMC) traders not to go for halal certification.
Hindu
organisations had given a call of boycott for halal certified products on
Tuesday (October 18). The organisations claim that they were also taking up a
campaign to get rid of halal certification. They have also alleged that through
the halal certification on products, one religion is riding over another
economically.
Source:
Siasat Daily
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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How
NRI Muslims are finding perfect life partners in India
Sameer
Khan
20th
October 2022
Hyderabad:
Indians for various reasons settle in foreign countries but when it comes to
marriage, they always prefer someone from their home country. Such NRI Muslims
are always in dilemma over the right way to search for perfect Indian life
partners.
In
the olden days, they used to rely on friends and family back in India to find
ideal life partners but this option no longer remains fruitful as nowadays
people are too busy in their lives.
Before
analysing the best way to search for perfect life partners in India, it is
important to know why Indian prefer their better half from India.
Why
do NRI Muslims prefer Indian life partners?
Though
Indian Muslims, in search of better employment or education, settle in foreign
countries, they prefer Indian life partners over foreigners because of multiple
reasons. A few of them are cultural differences, different lifestyles, and
upbringings, etc
Apart
from these reasons, Indian Muslims consider marriage as the union of two
families and in such a scenario their different lifestyles can sometimes become
a problem in the future.
Above
all, they always wanted life partners who are born and brought up in a culture
that they enjoyed in their home country.
How
to search perfect life partner in India?
As
the option of relying on friends and family no longer exists, people are left
with only one option i.e., ‘online matrimonial service’ but due to incompetent
service providers, people are losing faith in it too.
Though
most of the online matrimonial service providers are not capable enough to
understand the requirements of the prospective brides and grooms before
suggesting matrimonial profiles, there are few that are up to the mark.
The
question that comes to everyone’s mind is how to know whether a particular
matrimonial service provider can help you in finding a perfect life partner.
Checking a few details of the service provider will help you in deciding
whether to avail of the service or not.
Success
rate
Staff
dedication
How
quick its customer care responds
Their
approach to matching profiles
How
Siasat Matri can help you in finding life partner
Siasat
Matri is known for its high success rate in helping prospective brides and
grooms in finding life partners.
Its
dedicated team works round the clock to find perfect life partners for those
who avail of assisted service.
Their
approach to matching the profile is unique as they first carefully analyze the
requirement of the prospective brides and grooms before suggesting any profile.
Apart
from all these, the customer service team of Siasat Matri responds to queries
spontaneously during office hours.
Services
offered by Siasat Matri
Those
who become members of Siasat Matri not only get access to thousands of profiles
but also get services such as video matrimonial service, invite-only
matrimonial conclave, etc.
So
far, 45 episodes have been released. In each episode, profiles of alliance
seekers from all walks of life are showcased. Following is the latest episode
of the series.
Do
you want your profile to be showcased in next episode?
Persons
who want their profile to be showcased in episode 45 of the matrimonial video
series can register on siasat matri now (click here) and become a member (click
here to know membership plans).
So,
what are you waiting for? Now, it’s your turn to board the journey that starts
after Nikah.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/how-nri-muslims-are-finding-perfect-life-partners-in-india-2438002/
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Indian
billionaire Ambani spends $163 million on Dubai villa last owned by Alshaya
19 October,
2022
India’s
second-richest man is building upon his Dubai property empire with another
beach-side villa purchase, smashing his prior record for the city’s most
expensive residential real estate deal within a matter of months, according to
people familiar with the matter.
Mukesh
Ambani bought the Palm Jumeirah mansion last week for about $163 million from
the family of Kuwaiti tycoon Mohammed Alshaya, said the people, asking not to
be named as they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
Alshaya’s
conglomerate owns the local franchises for retail brands including Starbucks,
H&M and Victoria’s Secret. Ambani is chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd.,
India’s largest company by market value, and has a net worth of $84 billion.
The
billionaire has been snapping up properties overseas, increasingly looking
westward for second homes. Reliance spent $79 million last year to buy iconic
UK country club Stoke Park and Ambani is also scouting for a property in New
York, Bloomberg has reported.
Ambani’s
latest purchase in Dubai is a short stroll from the $80 million home he bought
earlier this year. That deal was the city’s biggest-ever residential sale until
another mansion on the palm-shaped island sold for $82.4 million.
The
Dubai Land Department reported a property deal worth $163 million on Palm
Jumeirah earlier this week, without disclosing the buyer’s identity. A
spokesperson for Reliance declined to comment, while representatives for
Alshaya didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Prices
surge
The
flurry of record deals underscores Dubai’s recent success at luring some of the
world’s wealthiest business executives.
The
city’s property market, which contributes around a third of its economy, is
recovering from a seven-year slump thanks to the government’s nimble handling
of the Covid-19 pandemic and initiatives aimed at giving expatriates a bigger
stake in the economy.
Foreign
residents make up more than 80 percent of the population of the United Arab
Emirates.
They’ve
been a mainstay of the economy for decades, primarily working in the private
sector and spending their money on property or shopping in some of the world’s
biggest malls. Indians, in particular, have consistently ranked among the top
buyers of Dubai real estate.
As
of the end of last month, the emirate’s prime property prices have surged more
than 70 percent over the past year, the biggest gain on Knight Frank’s global
index.
While
that’s outpaced gains elsewhere, there have been a few landmark deals globally.
In
the US, Joe Tsai’s Blue Pool Capital acquired a New York penthouse previously
owned by Dan Och for $188 million, while Asia’s most-expensive apartment per
square foot sold in Hong Kong for HK$640 million ($82 million) in November.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Pakistan
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Government Distances Itself from Talks with Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan
Fazal
Khaliq
October
20, 2022
SWAT:
Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif
said here on Wednesday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had nothing to do
with the negotiations with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Addressing
a news conference at Swat Press Club during his visit to the district, he said
that he was a representative of the state of Pakistan in the negotiations,
facilitated by the Afghan Taliban government.
He
said that talks were held with TTP within the jurisdiction of Constitution and
law of the land. However, he said that both parties were yet to reach any
decision. He said that negotiations with TTP were held to curb the menace of
terrorism in the country.
“Adviser
to Prime Minister Amir Muqam is also a member of the committee formed for
negotiations with TTP,” said Mr Saif.
Barrister
Saif says he represents ‘state’ in negotiations
He
said that provincial government had nothing to do with negotiations.
He
said that a false impression was created through social media that some areas
were handed over to Taliban under an agreement.
He
said that incidents of terrorism in Swat affected and delayed negotiations with
TTP.
He
said that the power of the decision rested with the parliament.
He
alleged that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) wanted to create chaos in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for political gains. “PDM does not want to eliminate
terrorism in Swat.
All
the member parties of PDM want unrest in Swat and Malakand division,” he said.
Mr
Saif said that chief minister was monitoring situation in Swat from the day
first.
He
said that chief minister was holding a meeting after every other day on the
security situation of Swat regularly.
“He
also talked to security agencies for durable peace and restoration of law and
order in Swat. He had made it clear that there will be no compromise on the law
and order in Swat,” he added.
He
said that provincial government was making no deal with TTP.
He
said that government was standing with the people of the province. “We are
happy that the people of Swat took to the streets for peace. Durable peace will
prevail in the valley with the support of provincial government,” he added.
However,
Mr Saif alleged that some federal institutions were not cooperating with
provincial government regarding situation in Swat.
“PTA
and other organisations including FIA and IB are not cooperating with the
province in preventing terrorism,” he said.
He
said that provincial government was aware of the telephone calls made by
unidentified persons to people for extortion in Swat. “But PTA and other
agencies have not provided information about the telephone calls to provincial
government even after passing of months,” he added.
To
a question, Mr Saif said that the bypass road incident on October 8 was a
criminal incident that was not linked with terrorism. “Investigation is under
way in the incident and soon everything will come out after completion of the
police investigation,” he added.
KILLED:
A lawyer, who was going home from the courts in Hazara area of Kabul tehsil,
was shot dead by unidentified persons on Wednesday.
Police
said that the incident was result of personal enmity.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1715919/kp-govt-distances-itself-from-talks-with-taliban
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Pak
Defence Minister raises concern over militancy in Swat district
19
October, 2022
Islamabad,
Oct 19 (PTI) Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday raised concern
over the threat of militancy in the country’s north-western district of Swat,
warning that the “fire” in the area can “reach everyone, including me”.
Swat,
a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is known as the ‘Switzerland of
Pakistan’ due to its lush-green valleys and snow-capped mountains. It went
through a grueling period of terrorism from 2007 and 2009 until the rebels were
defeated and expelled. Nobel Peace Prize lauriate, Malala Yousafzai, a child
rights activist then, was attacked by terrorists in 2012 in Swat.
But
instead of laying down arms, most of the militants fled to Afghanistan.
Now
there are disturbing reports of the return of militants to the district after
the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
The
residents in Swat are regularly taking to the streets to express their anger
against the failure of the government to stop the return of militants.
The
issue reverberated in the National Assembly when Asif expressed his concern
about the security situation in Swat with its grave consequences for the entire
country.
“The
same process has started in Swat after about a dozen years. The fire (of
militancy) there can reach everyone including me. The people of Swat have come
together. We should sit together to solve the issues,” Asif said.
The
minister said that still, the situation has not reached the “same gravity and
velocity” as more than a decade ago when people used to say that “those in Swat
may not be too far away from Islamabad”.
Asif
urged for measures to counter the threat of militancy while extolling the
people of Swat who had come out and were united against extremists without any
discrimination or political differences.
Climate
Change Minister Sherry Rehman lashed out at violent elements for “hiding their
nefarious designs behind religion” and posing a threat. “Sorry, it is only a
fight for power. It is not a fight for religion, and (you should) have the guts
to say it,” she said She also compared the situation in Swat with that in
neighbouring Afghanistan prior to the end of a 20-year-long war. “What is
happening in Pakistan is not an insurgency; it is terrorism,” she said.
She
demanded that “everyone should be taken into confidence on the progress of
operations” against terrorism as Pakistan paid a big price for its fighting
against terrorism in the past.
The
minister also criticised talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan under their
conditions and demanded that talks should be held only with those who lay down
arms.
The
TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of
several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of
Islam across Pakistan.
The
group, which is believed to be close to Al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several
deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in
2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in
Islamabad.
The
Pakistani government and the TTP agreed in June to extend a ceasefire
indefinitely while continuing negotiations to find an end to the nearly two
decades of militancy.
Though
the outlawed militant outfit agreed to a ceasefire, it had said that it would
not back down from its demand for the reversal of the merger of erstwhile
Federally Administered Tribal Areas with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.
The
issue of violence in Balochistan also came under discussion with Balochistan
National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal recounted various
incidents in which, he alleged, innocent people were killed and presented as
terrorists.
The
BNP-M leader said the issue had plagued Balochistan for a long, warning that
most of the youth in Balochistan had reached “a point of no return”.
“You
may be able to end who you call terrorists through such tactics, but the seeds
of hatred that you are sowing cannot be perished by any atomic power of the
world,” he said.
Source:
The Print
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
SC
to hear contempt plea against Imran today
October
20, 2022
The
Supreme Court is set to hear a contempt petition today (Thursday) filed by the
federal government against PTI Chairman Imran Khan for allegedly flouting the
top court’s May 25 order regarding the party’s “Azadi March”.
In
the same plea, the government has also sought a restraining order against the
former PM from creating a perceived law and order situation in the name of
“jihad” against the state through a planned long march, specifically at a time
when flood-affected people require urgent relief.
The
hearing is expected to start at 1pm.
The
federal government, through the interior ministry, had approached the Supreme
Court last week for initiating contempt of court proceedings against Imran for
violating its May 25 order, wherein the PTI was restricted from holding its
‘Azadi March’ near Peshawar Mor between the H-9 and G-9 areas of Islamabad.
However, Imran and his supporters made their way towards D-Chowk in alleged
contravention of court orders.
A
five-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar
Ata Bandial will take up the petition for hearing today. Apart from the CJP,
the bench will consist of Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice
Yahya Afridi and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi.
According
to the petition, the apex court had in its May order directed the PTI to hold a
gathering on a ground located between sectors H-9 and G-9 in view of the
categorical assurances on behalf of the party’s top leadership and their
counsel that their rally would not cause any inconvenience or blockage of the
Srinagar Highway or trouble the public and that the rally would be conducted in
a peaceful and lawful manner.
Despite
these assurances, the PTI top leadership, acting in blatant disregard for the
directions, exhorted its supporters to reach D-Chowk, falsely professing that the
court had allowed the march without any conditions, it added.
The
contempt petition pleaded for the implementation of the apex court order for
the protection of the fundamental rights of the public, particularly residents
of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
It
also requested that the Supreme Court should also issue comprehensive
guidelines for all future protests to be held in the federal capital that
should include prior intimation of the date, selection of the venue, assurance
of not causing any hindrance to public life and a commitment to ensure that the
protesters would not cause any damage to public or private property.
The
plea also claimed the tone and tenor adopted by the PTI chairman in his
speeches against the incumbent rulers and state institutions was “highly
inflammatory”, aimed at encouraging distrust and contempt and instigating
revolt.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1715989/sc-to-hear-contempt-plea-against-imran-today
--------
Nuclear
disarmament, delivery systems linked, says Pakistan
Anwar
Iqbal
October
20, 2022
UNITED
NATIONS: Pakistan on Wednesday underlined the need to have a balance between
addressing new risks and keeping open the route to new technologies for all
nations.
During
a week-long debate on weapons of mass destruction at the 77th session of UN
General Assembly (UNGA), Pakistan reminded the international community that
nuclear weapons and their delivery systems no longer exist in isolation; they
“co-exist with other advanced weapon systems in different domains”.
Therefore,
“the conversation on nuclear disarmament can no longer be oblivious to the
mutually reinforcing relationship of various weapon systems and their
collective impact on the security of states,” said Pakistani envoy Khalil
Hashmi.
Ambassador
Hashmi, who represents Pakistan at the UN office in Geneva, traveled to New
York to participate in the UNGA debate.
Warns
global community ‘prospects of nuclear war are back within realm of
possibility’
The
potential dual nature of the emerging technologies, he said, “should not be
used as a pretext for proscribing or restricting their availability to developing
countries.”
Participating
in the thematic debate on nuclear weapons, Mr Hashmi also emphasised “the need
for rebuilding a more enduring and equitable international security
architecture” that also addresses the lack of balance in conventional balance.
The
UNGA debate on nuclear weapons began on Oct 14 — a day after US President Joe
Biden made controversial remarks about Pakistan and its nuclear assets.
Addressing a Democratic fundraiser in California on Oct 13, President Biden
surprised everyone with his off-the-cuff remarks: “What I think is maybe one of
the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan.” And then he explained why
he thought Pakistan was dangerous: “Nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.
The
comments sparked outrage in Pakistan where it was denounced by both the
government and the opposition. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s senior military command
also issued an unusual statement reassuring the world that the country’s
nuclear weapons and materials were well secured in accordance with the international
standards.
Since
then, the White House and the US State Department have issued several
statements on the issue, assuring Islamabad that the United States has
confidence in Pakistan’s ability to defend its nuclear assets and was seeking a
strong partnership with the county to counter global terrorism.
At
the UNGA debate, Pakistan also assured the world that it had a robust command
and control system, and its nuclear weapons were completely safe.
But
Pakistan warned the global community that “nuclear dangers are rising and the
prospects of a nuclear war are back within the realm of possibility”.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1715951/nuclear-disarmament-delivery-systems-linked-says-pakistan
--------
South
Asia
China
puts hold on proposal by India, US at UN to blacklist Pakistan-based LeT
terrorist Hafiz Talah Saeed
Oct
20, 2022
UNITED
NATIONS: China has come to the rescue of Pakistan-based terrorists at the UN
again. On Wednesday, China put on hold a proposal by India and the US at the
United Nations to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Talah Saeed, the son
of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. It's the second such move by China within
two days.
Just
a day earlier, China had also blocked the listing of Shahid Mahmood, who had
been designated by the US in 2016 for facilitating LeT fundraising and other
support networks, by UNSC's Al-Qaeda (Dae'sh) and ISIL sanctions committee,
also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee.
For
the fifth time since June this year, China has put on hold a US-India proposal
for a UN ban on a Pakistan-based operative of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Who
is Hafiz Talha Saeed
Hafiz
Talha Saeed, 46, is a key leader of the dreaded terrorist group LeT and the son
of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
In
April this year, he had been declared a terrorist by the Indian government.
In
a notification, India's home ministry had said that Hafiz Talha Saeed has been
actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, and planning and executing
attacks by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in India and Indian interests in
Afghanistan.
He
has also been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan, and during
his sermons propagating for jihad against India, Israel, the United States of
America and Indian interests in other western countries, it had stated.
Hafiz
Talha Saeed is a senior leader of the LeT and is the head of the cleric wing of
the terrorist organisation.
China
on Tuesday put a hold on a proposal by India and the US at the United Nations
to list Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Shahid Mahmood as a global
terrorist.
Beijing
placed a hold on the proposal by India and the US to designate Mahmood, 42, as
a global terrorist under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN
Security Council.
China's
'double standards'
While
China's hold was a foregone conclusion, India is hoping it will again attract
international attention towards what the government routinely describes as
Beijing's "double standards" in the global war against terrorism. The
latest block also came at a time when UNSG Antonio Guterres is in India. Guterres
was paying homage to the victims of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai when news broke
about China's hold on the ban.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Tajik
President Says Security Belt Must Be Built Around Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
19
Oct 2022
In
his most recent remarks, Emomali Rahmon, the president of Tajikistan, once again
expressed concern over the security threats Afghanistan poses to the countries
in the region and stated that a security belt should be built around
Afghanistan.
The
capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, hosted a conference on “International and
Regional Border Security and Management Cooperation to Counter Terrorism and
Prevent the Movement of Terrorists” on Tuesday, October 18, at which the Tajik
president delivered a speech.
He
reiterated in this speech the growing insecurity, the re-emergence of terrorist
organizations, and the enablement of terrorism in Afghanistan and argued for
the need to surround Afghanistan with a security belt.
The
president of Tajikistan at the sixth summit of the CICA conference held in
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan on Friday stated that “thousands of
Mujahideen and suicide bombers” are trained in Afghanistan.
Rahmon
asserted that terrorists from the Middle East have been transported to
Afghanistan and that open dissemination of terrorist content and propaganda
also occurs in Afghanistan. He emphasized that Central Asia is threatened by
the presence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/tajik-president-says-security-belt-must-be-built-around-afghanistan-23674/
--------
Suicide
by Domestic Violence: Child Kills Self in Northern Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
19
Oct 2022
A
12-year-old child allegedly hanged himself to death in the Gurziwan district of
the Faryab province in northern Afghanistan after his father severely
reprimanded him, local sources reported.
According
to local sources, the young boy committed suicide as a result of domestic
violence on Tuesday, October 18, in the Sarchakan market region of the Gurziwan
district of Faryab province.
The
latest domestic violence victim, 12-year-old Noor Mohammad, according to the
sources resorted to ending his life by hanging after his father punished him.
Three
days ago, a young girl was killed by her family in the Dawlat Abad district of
the Faryab province in another instance of domestic violence.
Several
news reports of children killing themselves after receiving a reprimand from
their parents are found not only in Afghanistan but also after a quick Google
search for the news item.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/suicide-by-domestic-violence-child-kills-self-in-northern-afghanistan-43565/
--------
Iranian
FM and Pakistan’s Afghanistan Envoy meet to discuss Afghanistan’s Status Quo
By
Saqalain Eqbal
19
Oct 2022
Amir
Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of Iran, and Mohammad Sadiq Khan, the Special
Representative of Pakistan for Afghanistan, met and discussed the status quo
and recent developments in Afghanistan.
According
to a newsletter released by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released on
Tuesday night, both parties have placed a strong emphasis on enhancing their
mutual cooperation with regard to regional security.
According
to Amir Abdollahian, Tehran will host an extraordinary gathering of the foreign
ministers of the countries that border Afghanistan in an effort to find a
solution for the repatriation of Afghan refugees.
There
are currently 4.5 million Afghan citizens living in Iran, of whom 1.5 million
migrated after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, according to the
Iranian Foreign Minister.
“Iran
will use all its capacities to establish peace and tranquility in Afghanistan,”
the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated on its official Twitter page.
The
meeting’s focus on regional security was instead highlighted by Pakistan’s
special envoy for Afghanistan.
Due
to the massive influx of refugees, the decline in the standard of living for
the citizens of Afghanistan, the rise in insecurity, and the expansion of drug
trafficking, Mohammad Sadiq Khan claims that Iran and Pakistan are most
impacted by the happenings in Afghanistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast
Asia
Report
Dubious Preachers To Religious Authorities, Malaysian Minister tells Muslims
19
Oct 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Muslims in this country are advised to report to religious
authorities in their respective states if they find there are dubious preachers
from abroad.
Minister
in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad said
cooperation from all parties was crucial to ensure that the authorities can
carry out a detailed investigation and curb unrecognised preachers.
“According
to guidelines from Jakim (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia), we have
no problems with preachers who are not against Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, but
those who cause conflict and division, we do not allow.
“That
is why I advised those who wanted to seek knowledge to learn from teachers who
practice their knowledge and compare with those who have been accredited by the
authorities. If you find anyone dubious, immediately report to the religious
department to take action,” he told reporters after the thanksgiving ceremony
for the 1443H Haj operation at Menara Tabung Haji here today.
Meanwhile,
Idris expressed hope that the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Bill could
be tabled by the new government after the 15th General Election.
He
said the Cabinet had approved the proposed bill on August 26, and it is now at
the Attorney General’s Chambers, but was not tabled following the dissolution
of Parliament.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Giant
dome of Jakarta Islamic Centre Grand Mosque collapses after fire
Oct
20, 2022
JAKARTA:
The giant dome of the Jakarta Islamic Centre Grand Mosque in Indonesia
collapsed on Wednesday after a major fire broke out.
Dramatic
social media footage showed the moment the mosque's dome collapsed, however,
officials said that there were no casualties, reported Gulf Today.
The
dome was destroyed by a fire during its renovation. Firefighters were alerted
about the blaze shortly after 3 pm local time, with at least ten fire engines
being dispatched to the scene, Indonesia media reported.
Video
footage showed flames and smoke billowing from the mosque's dome just before it
collapsed.
The
cause of the fire is not yet known. Media reports suggest that the Islamic
Centre was undergoing renovations at the time.
No
one was injured in the fire or the ensuing collapse. Local media added that
police are investigating the cause of the fire and have questioned contractors
working in the building, reported Gulf Today.
Apart
from the mosque, the Islamic Centre complex also houses educational, commercial
and research facilities.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Malaysia
to hold national elections on November 19
Oct
20, 2022
PUTRAJAYA/
MALAYSIA: Malaysia will head to the polls on November 19, officials said
Thursday, after the prime minister called for a snap election to restore
political stability.
Prime
Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament earlier this month and called
for the vote a year ahead of schedule to shore up his slim majority in the
222-member legislature.
The
"election date is November 19", Election Commission chairman Abdul
Ghani Salleh said at a press conference.
Nomination
day for candidates will be on November 5, with 97-year-old former prime
minister Mahathir Mohamad among those expected to join the fray.
Ismail's
UMNO, the dominant party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, will contest
the polls head-on with its bitter rival Pakatan Harapan alliance led by veteran
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Others
in the fray include a host of Malay-based parties, including Pejuang which is
led by Mahathir, who has said he will be available to become prime minister for
the third time.
Ismail
is the third prime minister Malaysia has had in four years, underscoring the
political instability that followed the last general elections in 2018.
UMNO
-- which ruled the country for over 60 years -- had suffered a shock defeat
amid allegations of massive corruption linked to state fund 1MDB.
Then-prime
minister Najib Razak, embroiled in the scandal involving billions of dollars
allegedly pilfered from the sovereign wealth fund, was ousted, charged with
corruption and convicted after a lengthy trial.
In
August, he started serving a 12-year jail sentence for the initial batch of
charges, although he faces dozens more that could keep him in prison longer.
"This
is a crucial election because they are electing a government that will bring
Malaysia out of the pandemic and back to normality," said James Chin, a
Malaysia expert at the University of Tasmania.
UMNO,
which returned to power last year due to political infighting in the previous
governments, expects to win big and cement its rule.
But
while it has the political machinery, the party remains tainted with the 1MDB
corruption scandal.
There
are fears that if the party comes to power, Najib could be freed and efforts to
pursue corruption charges against other party members will slacken.
Among
those facing charges is UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"If
UMNO wins, there are concerns that the rule of law will not be honored in
Najib's conviction," Bridget Welsh of the University of Nottingham
Malaysia said.
"Voters
will be deciding effectively whether Najib and UMNO party president Zahid will
not face punishment for the criminal charges they face."
The
1MDB scandal triggered investigations in the United States, Switzerland and
Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder
the money, and battered Malaysia's global image.
The
US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB
between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates
and spent on everything from high-end real estate to pricey art.
The
economy and the rising cost of living will be key election issues with
inflation soaring and the local ringgit currency tumbling.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
BN
will reject any overtures from PAS after GE15, says Zahid
October
19, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Barisan Nasional (BN) will reject any overtures from PAS after the 15th
general election (GE15) as the Islamic party is “unfaithful”, says BN chairman
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid
said PAS leaders were often fickle in their stance and had a tendency to
manipulate Quranic verses and Islamic hadiths to suit their purpose.
“When
there are political changes, they (PAS) issue a new fatwa (religious edict) for
themselves. When they wish to blame others, they issue a new fatwa,” Berita
Harian quoted him as saying.
Zahid,
who is also Umno president, said PAS should make a firm decision on cooperation
ahead of GE15, adding that BN only wanted allies who were loyal to the
coalition.
He
claimed that PAS had told BN to wait until after the nationwide polls to
negotiate but the coalition refused to do so.
Last
week, PAS announced that it would stick with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in GE15,
forgoing cooperation with Umno and BN. However, its spiritual leader Hashim
Jasin said the party would continue to push for Muslim unity with Umno, via
Muafakat Nasional.
Zahid
previously said BN would be going solo in GE15 following PAS’ decision to stick
with PN in the nationwide polls.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Malaysia
plans early polls as PM Yaakob’s party seeks new mandate
20 October,
2022
Malaysia
will hold elections on November 19 with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s
party looking to capitalize on a string of victories from local polls and
consolidate power in the Southeast Asian country.
The
Election Commission fixed nomination day for November 5, Chairman Abdul Ghani
Salleh said at a briefing on Thursday. A total of 222 parliament seats will be
contested, plus the state seats for Perak, Pahang, and Perlis.
A
national vote is not due until September next year but key members of Ismail’s
United Malays National Organization wanted to bring forward elections to
capitalize on a weaker opposition and regain the mandate following a shock
defeat in 2018. UMNO clawed back into power after the collapse of Mahathir
Mohamad’s government but has led a very fragile coalition since.
The
elections will involve multi-cornered contests, with several coalitions
including UMNO-led Barisan Nasional and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s
Pakatan Harapan alliance vying for votes.
That
makes it tricky for any party to win an outright majority needed to ensure
political stability.
Adding
to the uncertainty is the impact 5.8 million new young voters would have in
shaping the outcome of the election, following the government’s move to lower
the minimum voting age to 18 from 21. There’s already widespread unhappiness
over holding polls during the annual monsoon season that starts in November and
could affect voter turnout.
Most
Malaysians are still angry with Ismail’s government for its slow response to
tackling the floodwaters last year, which left dozens dead and led to more than
6.5 billion ringgit ($1.4 billion) in losses.
Malaysia’s
shaky political situation has also been a sore spot for investors and credit
rating companies due to a series of short-lived coalitions that brought the
country three prime ministers since the last general election in 2018.
Pakatan
Harapan ousted UMNO in the historic vote that year but collapsed 22 months
later due to defections. That returned UMNO to power in alliance with Muhyiddin
Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional. The grouping didn’t last -- Muhyiddin was forced
to resign as premier in August 2021 after some UMNO lawmakers withdrew support,
paving the way for Ismail to take office.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Malawi
farmer finds mass grave with bodies of suspected Ethiopian migrants
Moses
Michael-Phiri
20.10.2022
LILONGWE,
Malawi
Police
in northern Malawi uncovered a mass grave Wednesday in a forest with 25 bodies
suspected to be illegal Ethiopian migrants.
“We
suspect the deceased were illegal Ethiopian migrants who were in transit to
South Africa,” National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya told Anadolu Agency.
A young
farmer discovered the bodies while collecting wild honey in a forest.
Officials
have exhumed the bodies, which were in a state of near decomposition, and have
packed them in body bags for reburial.
Kalaya
said preliminary assessments show that the bodies appear to be adult males
between 25 and 45 years of age.
“We
found a picture and a document which we are analyzing to know where they
actually came from,” said Kalaya.
Officials
suspect smugglers, often fuel tanker drivers, buried the bodies when the victims
died in transit.
The
Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services spokesman Pasqually Zulu
said Malawi is a common transit route for those traveling illegally to look for
jobs in South Africa.
Between
January and September, 221 illegal migrants were intercepted, said Zulu, with
186 Ethiopians, 17 from the Congo, 17 from Bangladesh and one from Pakistan.
“This
year alone, Malawi has deported 191 illegal migrants,” he said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
2023:
Lagos CAN Chairman Adegbite under fire for backing Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim
ticket
October
19, 2022
By
John Owen Nwachukwu
Human
Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Wednesday, called for the
sacking of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Lagos
State, Stephen Adegbite, over his endorsement of the presidential candidate of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu.
HURIWA’s
National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, called on CAN
National President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, and other leading members of the
Christian body to expunge Adegbite immediately as he has openly opposed the
stance of CAN on the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling APC.
The
group said Adegbite committed gross violations of the code of conduct of his
office, abuse of power, and insubordination of superior authority at the CAN
national centre in Abuja by going to the public to endorse Tinubu all for
stomach politics.
HURIWA
recalled that CAN, in September 2021, suspended the then Gombe State Caretaker
chairman, Rev. Sunday Congo, for writing a congratulatory letter to the
Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, without the
approval of the association’s National Executive Committee.
The
group asserted that disciplinary measures must be maintained and enforced with
more strictness towards the 2023 elections as desperate politicians and
proponents of APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket are trying to buy over some CAN members
and break the ranks of the body, and sabotage Christians for the next four
years.
Commenting,
HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) in Lagos State, Stephen Adegbite, must be removed with immediate effect for
compromise and for acting in flagrant contravention of the stance of the
national body of the Christian body.
“Adegbite’s
defense that his endorsement of Tinubu is based on his “wonderful relationship”
with the former Lagos State governor and that his approval of Tinubu is in a
personal capacity is total nonsense and should be told to his sabotaging lots
who masquerade as believers yet serve their stomachs and not the interest of
Christians.
“HURIWA
called on CAN National President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, to impeach Adegbite
and inaugurate a leader who is aligned with the position of Christians
collectively. Adegbite can’t address the press as CAN and return to say it was
personal. In any case, both excuses are inexcusable!
“HURIWA’s
position on APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket is sacrosanct and unchanging. The
permutation is a slap on millions of Christians in the country and an insult.”
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Chad
announces state of emergency as floods affect more than 1 million people
Aurore
Bonny
20.10.2022
DOUALA,
Cameroon
Chad’s
President Mahamat Idriss Deby announced a state of emergency late Wednesday,
deploring the human and material damage caused by massive flooding in the
country.
Heavy
floods in the Central African country are affecting 636 localities in 18 of its
23 regions, or more than a million people, causing tens of thousands to flee
and decimating thousands of hectares of cultivated land, according to Deby.
He
announced a state of emergency "to contain and manage" the disaster,
which he said is the result of climate change and one of the most severe the
region had seen in years.
"The
situation is becoming increasingly worrying," he said, lamenting
infrastructure that has not been designed on the basis of current
meteorological and hydrological data.
Deby
also warned that more damage than has already been observed could occur as the
floodwaters recede in the south of the country.
The
most exposed areas are the city of N'Djamena, the capital, and its
surroundings, he said.
"In
the current conditions, the city is only protected by the banks of the Chari
River," he noted, warning of an obvious risk of overflow if the rise in
water levels remains constant during this week.
He
called on friendly countries and technical and financial partners to support
the government's efforts, which include a response organized around the
reduction of impacts and assistance to the victims.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Algeria,
Russia hold joint military exercise in Mediterranean
Esat
Fırat
20.10.2022
ALGIERS,
Algeria
Algeria
and Russia kicked off a four-day joint military exercise in the Mediterranean
Sea, the Algerian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
A
group of warships belonging to the Russian fleet docked in the port of Algiers
on Tuesday to conduct the 2022 joint naval exercise, the ministry said in a
written statement.
The
exercise was carried out to strengthen military cooperation between the
Algerian and Russian navies, it added.
A
minesweeper belonging to the Russian navy docked in the port of Jijel on the
eastern Mediterranean coast in September to conduct joint exercises with the
Algerian navy.
Russian
and Algerian warships carried out joint naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean
last November, including various tactical and interceptive exercises.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/algeria-russia-hold-joint-military-exercise-in-mediterranean/2715904
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Mali
vows to defend nation against French intrusions, meddling
19
October 2022
Mali's
foreign minister has slammed France's continued attempts to undermine the
sovereignty and national security of his country, pledging that Bamako is
resolved to defend itself.
"The
government of Mali reserves the right to exercise its right to self-defense… if
France continues to undermine the sovereignty of our country and to undermine
its territorial integrity and its national security," Abdoulaye Diop said
at a Tuesday briefing of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New
York.
"There
needs to be a specific meeting of the Security Council which will make it
possible for us to bring to light evidence regarding duplicitous acts, acts of
espionage and acts of destabilization waged by France," Mali's top
diplomat said, while also pointing to allegations that France had violated its
airspace and provided weapons to militants north of the country.
France's
UN representative, who wields a veto power as a permanent member of the
Security Council, denied what he described as "defamatory"
accusations by the Malian foreign minister and defended Paris' intervention in
its former colony as fully transparent.
The
French envoy further insisted that his country had never violated Mali's
airspace.
During
the UNSC briefing, Diop also rejected allegations of human rights violations by
the Malian army reported by the UN. Several reports, including the latest UN
secretary-general assessment, accuse Malian troops and Russian advisers working
with the country's military government of abusing and killing civilians
suspected of colluding with foreign-backed militants in northern Mali.
Diop,
however, dismissed the allegations as "unfounded" and warned against
"instrumentalizing" human rights issues, a complaint raised
repeatedly in recent years by numerous countries, accused in UN reports of
human rights violations.
The
Malian minister also emphasized that the withdrawal of hundreds of French
troops from the country would not create a security vacuum, as claimed by Paris
and other allied governments.
Last
month, Mali's acting Prime Minister Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga censured France
over his country's deteriorating security situation, accusing Paris of having
stabbed the impoverished Sahel nation in the back with the withdrawal of its
troops.
Other
European countries have also ended their military involvement in Mali this
year, often complaining of its government's alliance with Russia.
Meanwhile,
four UN peacekeepers were killed in an attack in northern Mali on Monday.
The
West African country has faced instability since 2012, when Daesh-linked
terrorists hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the north. The French military
intervened in a purported effort to push the militants out. However, the Daesh-
and al-Qaeda-linked forces have since regrouped and spread across the Sahel and
further south toward coastal states.
The
war has so far left several thousands dead and more than a million people
displaced. There have been two military coups in roughly a year, and growing
protests against France's military presence.
Source:
Press TV
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Europe
Macron
tours Grand Mosque in Paris on centenary visit
Tim
Stickings
Oct
19, 2022
French
President Emmanuel Macron toured the Grand Mosque in Paris on Wednesday to mark
100 years since the laying of its first stone.
Mr
Macron was greeted by the mosque's rector, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, before
inspecting an exhibition about the history of the Paris landmark.
He
laid a wreath in a courtyard of the mosque, which was built to commemorate the
70,000 Muslim soldiers who died fighting in France's name during the First
World War.
By
Mr Macron's side were former president Nicolas Sarkozy and current Interior
Minister Gerald Darmanin, also among the guests at the centenary event.
The
mosque took four years to build, but its first stone was laid on October 19,
1922.
The
oldest mosque in mainland France, its architecture evoked that of Moorish Spain
and its minaret rises 33 metres above the Parisian streets. The National
visited the mosque last year.
An
important focal point for France's six million Muslims, the mosque's leadership
threw its weight behind Mr Macron in April when Mr Hafiz supported his bid for
a second term as president.
Mr
Hafiz was in July named an officer of France's Legion d'Honneur, in an honours
list released to coincide with Bastille Day celebrations.
Mr
Macron has had an uneasy relationship with France's Muslims, after spearheading
what he called a fight against Islamist separatism following a series of
terrorist attacks.
He
announced new restrictions on the financing and governance of mosques in order
to combat extremism, but insisted he had no grudge against French Muslims.
Last
year he praised the adoption of a charter of principles by French Muslim
councils as a "clear, decisive and precise commitment in favour of the
republic", and later stopped by the mosque on what it called an impromptu
visit.
When
the election's final round pitted the president against far-right candidate
Marine Le Pen, Mr Hafiz urged his followers to stick with Mr Macron.
Source:
The National News
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France
repatriates 55 from Syria camps, including 40 children
20 October,
2022
France
has repatriated 40 children and 15 women from camps in Syria holding family
members of suspected ISIS extremists, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
It
marked the largest such repatriation in three months and came a week after a
European rights court condemned France over its refusal to return two women
detained in Syria.
“The
minors have been transferred to child aid services,” the ministry said in a
statement. “The adults have been handed to judicial authorities.”
It
marked the largest such transfer since July when France, following pressure
from campaigners, returned 35 children and 16 mothers from the Syrian camps.
The
French government had long refused mass repatriations of the hundreds of French
children detained in Kurdish-controlled camps, dealing with them on a case-by-case
basis that rights groups criticized as deliberately slow.
Last
week the European Court of Human Rights condemned Paris over its refusal to
return two women and said it should promptly re-examine the request by the
women's parents to let them come home.
But
it did not issue a blanket ruling that France return all citizens held in Syria
since the fall of the ISIS “caliphate,” as sought by rights groups and Western
allies including the United States.
Western
countries have faced a dilemma over how to handle their citizens detained in
Syria since the end of military operations against ISIS there in 2019.
Thousands
of extremists in Europe decided to join the group as fighters, often taking
their wives and children to live in the “caliphate” declared in territory
conquered in Iraq and Syria.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Turkey-Greece
tensions spiral into bigger crisis over 92 naked refugees
19
October 2022
Turkey
and Greece have again traded barbs over the ill-treatment of refugees after
more than 90 asylum-seekers were found naked on the Greek side of the Evros
River earlier this week.
In
a series of recent social media posts, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi
laid the blame at Turkey's door, saying its "behavior" was a
"shame for civilization."
“I
have requested & will see the president of the UN General Assembly in New
York, I have informed the Commission & will show photos & videos,” the
minister said. “We expect Ankara to investigate the incident and protect at
last its borders with the EU.”
“[Turkey’s]
behavior towards 92 migrants whom we rescued at the borders today is a shame
for civilization.”
Responding
to the accusation, Turkey’s presidential office said Mitarakis, also known as Mitarachi,
“is once again conducting perception management tactics by using the photos of
stripped naked migrants for which there is no location, nor any date provided.”
The
Turkish government’s spokesman Fahrettin Altun said, “We warn Greece to abandon
its harsh treatment of refugees as soon as possible, to cease its baseless and
false charges against [Turkey], and to deliver the dignity of government.”
Turkey
also posted a lengthy statement on its official presidential website, accusing
Greece of regularly abusing refugees, and posting photos it alleged were
evidence.
Greek
police said they rescued the 92 men who were found naked, and some with
injuries, close to the northern border with Turkey on October 14. Greek police
and European border guards found them on the river bank in the morning,
“abandoned, completely naked, and completely unequipped.”
The
men, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, were found close to the frontier after
crossing the Evros River in rubber dinghies. Children were among the group. Some
have roots in Morocco, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Greek
police say the men told them Turkish authorities drove them to the border in
governmental vehicles, before boarding them onto rubber dinghies and telling
them to cross.
“They
told us it took the Turkish military police 24 hours to gather everyone at the
river’s edge, which apparently was an ordeal because the people had no food or
water at that time, and then after stripping them they pressed them to cross,”
said Manos Logothetis, head of Greece’s First Reception Service.
Turkey
was in a 2016 agreement with the EU to hold back refugees trying to cross into
Europe. But Ankara unilaterally abandoned the treaty obligation to hold back or
readmit asylum-seekers, accusing the EU of failing to live up to its own
obligations under the treaty.
Greece
and Turkey have been in a full-blown information war about who is mistreating
refugees since March 2020.
Greece
routinely accuses Turkey of pushing refugees forward to blackmail Europe for
more money to care for them. And Turkey routinely accuses Greece of pushing
refugees back without processing their asylum claims, which is illegal under
the Geneva Convention of 1951.
In
February, Greece rejected Turkish accusations that its border guards stripped
and summarily expelled 12 refugees who later died of exposure in Turkey, near
Greek borders. Turkey has also accused Bulgaria of similar tactics. The United
Nations’ refugee agency has called for an investigation and said it is “deeply
distressed by the shocking reports and images.”
Source:
Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/10/19/691235/Turkey-Greece-refugees
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Ireland's
leading university divests from arms companies complicit with apartheid Israel
19
October 2022
Trinity
College, Ireland's leading university, has announced that it no longer has
investments in arms and weapons companies that are complicit with the Israeli
apartheid regime.
According
to Trinity News, the move comes following a petition launched by the Trinity
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS), which had reached 446
signatures as of Tuesday, alongside Trinity College, Dublin Students’ Union
(TCDSU) last year.
The
petition called for Trinity to “divest from the war industry.”
In
a press release, Trinity BDS said, “Trinity has €2.5 million invested in arms
and weapons companies across the world, as revealed by a Freedom of Information
request made by the chairperson of Students4Change László Molnárfi last year.”
“This
includes companies which manufacture arms or security technologies used by ...
Israel to carry out ethnic cleansing and implement apartheid against the
Palestinian people, such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies and BAE
Systems,” the release continued.
One
of these companies, Lockheed Martin, plays a significant role in the military
affairs of the Israeli apartheid regime, producing F-35 fighter jets and other
weapons which have been used in the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians by
the Israeli occupation.
“The
signatories of this petition call on Trinity College Dublin to take a
principled stance against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation in
historic Palestine by endorsing the principles of the Boycott, Divestment, and
Sanctions movement”, the petition reads.
In
2018, Trinity students voted in a referendum for TCDSU to support the BDS
campaign.
In
September, Trinity BDS joined a protest outside Leinster House calling for an
investigation into apartheid in Israel.
Source:
Press TV
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Syrian
photojournalist injured by police during Paris protests
19
October 2022
A
Syrian photojournalist has suffered an injury above his eye after French police
intervened in a protest over wages and working conditions in the capital,
Paris, amid soaring inflation in the country.
Zakaria
Abdelkafi was injured as a result of a police charge during a demonstration by
thousands of people calling for higher wages, Reporters without Borders (RSF)
said on Tuesday.
The
Paris-based media watchdog said that the 38-year-old cameraman, who was
bleeding heavily, was reportedly quickly treated by “street medics” and
declared stable, with his eye not affected.
RSF
added that they were “actively investigating this incident,” and that the
journalist had previously covered the civil war in Syria.
Thousands
of protesters marched in Paris on Tuesday as part of a day of cross-industry
“mobilization and strikes” for higher wages, and to denounce the requisitioning
of strike at fuel refineries.
Dozens
of black-clad protesters clashed with police and broke shop windows on the
margins of the demonstrations.
According
to the French Interior Ministry, 11 people were arrested in Paris, and 107,000
people nationwide followed the protest call from left-wing parties and some
unions, including 13,000 in the capital.
Trade
unions in France also began a nationwide transport strike on Tuesday amid a
deadlock with the government over wages and working conditions that have in
recent weeks led to severe fuel shortages across the country.
However,
the strikes did not have as great of an impact as expected. Long-distance TGV
trains were only marginally affected.
The
massive strike came after workers at several refineries and oil depots operated
by TotalEnergies, French energy, and petroleum company voted to extend the
industrial action that has paralyzed the European country for more than three
weeks.
Thousands
of workers at refineries and depots voted against the government's move to end
the strike and to force strikers to re-open fuel depots.
French
President Emmanuel Macron, after a meeting with ministers on Monday, said he
wanted the crisis "to be resolved as quickly as possible."
Earlier,
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said it was necessary to use requisitioning
powers to reopen the refineries and depots.
The
strike action has severely disrupted fuel distribution across the country,
mostly affecting northern and central France and the Paris region.
It
has crippled fuel supplies by over 30 percent while more than 60 percent of the
country's refining capacity remains offline.
Strikes
have also affected work at 10 French nuclear power plants, with maintenance
delays at 13 reactors considerably reducing French power production.
Unions
are demanding a 10-percent increase in salaries, citing the high inflation rate
and the living crisis in the country.
Source:
Press TV
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