In Sindh, police killing of Muslim doctor accused of ‘blasphemy’ casts pall over Diwali festivities

New Age Islam News Bureau

01Nov2024

Civil society organisations protest in front of Umerkot Press Club against extra-judicial killing of Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar. | AB Arisar.

------------

·         In Sindh, police killing of Muslim doctor accused of ‘blasphemy’ casts pall over Diwali festivities

·         At least 46 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, hospital hit, says Gaza ministry

·         ‘Assault, torture of woman’ in Sialkot, Court orders case against six cops

·         Saudi humanitarian relief agency signs $10.4 million Ukraine aid deal

·         UK’s Islamic medics against assisted suicide as contravenes ‘Muslim moral compass’

·         JD Vance Says Anti-Muslim Policies Just ‘Common Sense’ In Joe Rogan Interview

·         Govt data shows sexual crimes involving children up 21pc in 2023 as Malaysia’s under-18 numbers 9.14 million

·         High-Level Islamic Emirate Delegation Probes Casualties Near Iran-Pakistan Border

·         Muslim community supports Aiyedatiwa

----

India

·         Kashmiri Muslims will regret exodus of Pandits one day: Union MoS Jitendra Singh

·         After Conversion to Hindiusm, Former Shia Waqf Board Chairman Wasim Rizvi Changes Caste Now

·         J-K MLA, BJP’s voice in Jammu region Devender Singh Rana passes away

·         Pollution will reduce by 50% in Delhi if roads repaired: BJP blasts AAP over air quality

·         JMM means Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia: BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla

·         Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Dalit, Muslim leaders meet Jarange for common minimum programme

-----

Mideast

·         Israel says another rocket barrage from Lebanon kills 2 in Israel, hours after 5 were killed

·         35 IS militants killed in Syria after US airstrikes hit many Islamic State camps

·         Israel fights a seemingly endless war in Gaza’s most devastated region

·         Islamic Resistance in Iraq targets Israeli sites with combat drones

·         Iraq tries to avoid regional fight as militias fire at Israel

·         Thousands displaced in Lebanon as Israel expands evacuation zones

·         Dead or alive? Scores missing after paramilitary group’s attacks in Sudan’s Al-Jazira state

·         Strikes hit south Beirut after Israeli evacuation orders: Lebanon news agency

·         Blinken says ‘good progress’ made toward Lebanon ceasefire deal

·         Houthis abduct another Yemeni employee of US Embassy in Sanaa

·         Islamic Health Organization mourns seven paramedics killed by Israeli attacks

·         Iraqi Parliament set to elect new speaker: Al-Halbousi, Al-Maliki back Al-Mashhadani amid high stakes

-----

Pakistan

·         Blast claims lives of four schoolchildren, one cop in Mastung

·         Govt warns of strong response to PTI's nationwide 'unusual' protests

·         PTI announces to launch new protest movement against 26th Amendment

·         New rules allow citizens to apply for passports from any city

·         President Zardari fractures leg while descending from plane at Dubai airport

·         Bill to raise number of judges off NA agenda

·         Prime suspect records statement in Karachi quadruple murder case

-----

Arab World

·         King Salman, crown prince offer condolences to Spain following deadly flooding

·         Saudi Arabia to host inaugural ImpaQ Forum for influencers, content creators

·         Head of Saudi FDA signs cooperation deal during China visit

·         Thousands of volunteers join Madinah’s green future drive

·         Horror in spotlight at Boulevard World

·         Saudi, Bahraini officials review King Fahd Causeway expansion plans

·         How AI and fintech are redefining the banking landscape in Saudi Arabia

·         AlUla event discusses effects of climate change on archeology

·         Mosques of the UAE: Jumeirah landmark's interiors are as beautiful as the outside

-----

Europe

·         Spain mourns as death toll passes 150 in catastrophic floods

·         Russia ready to help Türkiye build second nuclear power plant – Lavrov

·         Bradford mosque holds knife crime awareness event for teens

·         The US is almost done playing with Ukraine

·         Rachel Reeves doesn’t mind if you don't like her Budget

·         EU questions democracy if liberals lose – member state’s FM

·         Von der Leyen advised to create ‘EU CIA’

-----

North America

·         Different lives - Harris and Trump as you've never seen them before

·         Hanson tweet to Muslim senator 'ultimate racist slur'

·         Suspect sought in alleged hate crime against Muslim, GOP WA House candidate

·         BREAKING NEWS: CAIR to Release Final 2024 Election Poll of Muslim Voters

·         Musk can continue with election cash giveaways for now, judge rules

·         Young Thug released from jail after guilty plea on gang charges

-----

Southeast Asia

·         93 Rohingya Refugees Arrive in Aceh with Six Deceased Companions

·         PM calls for stronger action against bullying in educational institutions

·         Rely too much on AI and we risk becoming powerless, PM Anwar warns students

·         11 motorcycles destroyed in morning fire

·         Man with 35 drug, criminal records arrested in Jempol for burglary worth around RM2,500

·         PM Anwar congratulates Perak Ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah on 68th birthday

·         ‘I thought my son’s case was the last’: Father of murdered cadet Zulfarhan sad abuse still happens in UPNM

·         MACC chief confirms two more remanded in RM1.8b fertiliser procurement scandal

·         Bank Indonesia Governor Mentions Five Factors Supporting Progress of Islamic Financial Market

-----

South Asia

·         July Killings: ICT sends ex-addl SP Shahidul to jail

·         Aug 21 Attack: HC launches fresh hearing

·         Three Miners die in Gold-Washing site collapse in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan

·         Government Officials Pledge Full Efforts in Serving Citizens, Says Mawlawi Hanafi

·         Corruption Allegations: Govt removes CWasa MD

·         6 medical colleges renamed

·         Injil District Implements 21 Public Welfare Projects in Herat This Year

·         Deputy PM Mawlawi Hanafi Presides Over Regular Administrative Commission Meeting

·         Islamic Emirate’s Acting Ambassador Attends Qatar’s ‘One Book, One Community’ Exhibition

·         17,264 firearm licences issued during AL regime

·         Iranian Investor Expresses Strong Interest in Afghanistan’s Lead and Zinc Mining Sector

·         Travel ban on ex-MPs Habib, Nurul

-----

Africa

·         Without Tinubu, Buhari Wouldn’t Have Been President – Sunday Dare

·         Tinubu To Withdraw Controversial Tax Reform Bill

·         EFCC Moves Against Sirika, Yahaya Bello, Obiano, Two Other Former Govs, Ex-Ministers [Full List]

·         ‘Call Off Your Nationwide Strike’ – FG Meets SSANU, NASU

·         Breaking: Acting COAS, Oluyede Resumes Duty Tomorrow

·         Senate Suspends Plenary Till November 19

·         Guinea junta dissolves dozens of political parties, silent on elections

·         Kenyan Court approves new Deputy President

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/sindh-police-killing-muslim-doctor-blasphemy/d/133601

-----

In Sindh, police killing of Muslim doctor accused of ‘blasphemy’ casts pall over Diwali festivities

 Nov 01, 2024,

Civil society organisations protest in front of Umerkot Press Club against extra-judicial killing of Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar. | AB Arisar.

-------------

The brutal killing in mid-September by the Pakistani police of Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar, a physician accused of “blasphemy” in Umerkot in Sindh, cast a pall of fear in this Hindu-majority district on the border with India ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

Preparations for Diwali in this historic area known for its interfaith harmony typically begin a month ahead of the festival, which symbolises the victory of good over evil. Hundreds of shops sell fireworks, sweets, festive clothing and other items.

Although cases have been registered for the murder and many suspects taken into custody, only two fireworks shops opened here this year – with no customers. The shopkeepers refused to comment. It is a “sensitive” issue.

Hindus form just over half the district’s 1.15 million population, according to the 2023 census. But if a respected Muslim physician, one of the top ten in his class at medical college, someone who ran free health clinics for the poor, could be accused of “blasphemy” and killed by police, it makes members of the minority community feel even more vulnerable.

For Hindus, such accusations are “like a sword dangling on their heads, and many felt that they could be ‘next’”, wrote development expert Masood Lohar in Dawn.

The case of Kunbhar, 48, is horrific even by Pakistan’s standards. A local mosque leader filed charges against him on September 17 under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries a mandatory sentence of capital punishment for anyone found guilty of having disrespected the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). The cleric claimed that Kunbhar had posted such material on his Facebook page.

While the Pakistani state has never executed anyone convicted under 295-C, vigilante violence has claimed about some 100 lives since 1991, when the option of life imprisonment lapsed from 295-C.

Violence triggered by perceived “disrespect” (gustakhi in Urdu) of Islamic symbols has been escalating in Pakistan since military dictator Zia-ul Haq added sections to the initial Section 295 enacted by the British colonists in 1870. The original law was meant to deter people from “injuring” “religious sentiments” but was amended in 1927 to add the word “intent”.

Since the 1980s when the laws were amended to add more offences, there has been a sharp rise in the number of “blasphemy” accusations in the country.

Between 1948 and 1986, there were just 14 complaints of “blasphemy” across the country. After the law was amended, 44 cases were registered between 1987 and 1999. The year 2000 saw 52.

The Lahore-based Centre for Social Justice, which tracks “blasphemy”-related arrests, prosecutions, and killings, reports that at least 600 people accused of “blasphemy” are in prisons across Pakistan – Muslims: 52%, Ahmadis: 32%, Christians: 12%, Hindus: 2%, unconfirmed identity: 2%.

Around 1,500 such accusations and cases were registered in the country as of 2021, according to data published by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, cited by Lohar. Of these, 1,098 cases – more than 70% – were in Punjab. The total number of cases reported in Sindh was 173.

Like Kunbhar, many of the accused never get a trial or due process.

The most prominent victim of these accusations was Salmaan Taseer, governor of Pakistan’s largest and most powerful province Punjab. He was shot dead by his bodyguard in 2010. In a rare display of legal accountability, the bodyguard was found guilty and executed for the murder – but extremists have turned the killer’s grave into a shrine.

In April 2017, a mob at the Wali Khan University in Mardan, the second-largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, lynched and killed journalism student Mashal Khan after rumours of his alleged “blasphemy” surfaced.

In December 2021, a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot, Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, 48, was lynched and his body burnt on accusations of “blasphemy”.

Desecrating pages of the holy Quran also triggers mob violence. The offence does not carry capital punishment either in law or in religious tradition. But there have been countless cases of mob violence targeting individuals and even entire communities for this “crime”.

Such cases are routine in provinces like Punjab. But this extrajudicial killing by police and a mob burning a body are “dangerous precedents never before witnessed in the history of mystic Sindh”, development expert Masood Lohar told Sapan News.

When clerics brought Umerkot to a standstill in September with their protests against Kunbhar, he fled to Karachi from where he recorded a video, claiming his Facebook account had been hacked. The video, shared on Facebook, did not protect him.

He was arrested and taken to a police lockup in Mirpurkhas district bordering Umerkot. That night, he died in what police claimed was an “encounter”.

This was the second killing of a “blasphemy” accused within a week. On September 12, a policeman opened fire inside a police station in Balochistan province, killing a 52-year-old man who was held there after “blasphemy” accusations.

As Kunbhar’s father, a retired schoolteacher, tried to conduct his son’s funeral in their native village of Janhero near Umerkot, a mob of about 35 people snatched the body and set it ablaze.

Kunbhar’s driver Prem Kohli, a Hindu, tried to protect the body. His act of courage and his retrieving of the body after the mob left has given him the status of a hero in the eyes of many.

In a victory for the rights activists, a government-appointed Joint Investigation Team found the police guilty of custodial killing. A second autopsy confirmed torture, with Kunbhar’s ribs being broken before his death.

October 28 saw another win when the Sindh High Court dismissed the applications of a cleric and a policeman, Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan leader Pir Umar Jan Sarhandi and former Crime Investigation Agency in-charge Inayat Zardari who sought the quashing of the first information report against them for Kunbhar’s murder.

In addition, the Sindh High Court transferred the investigations of the case to the Federal Investigation Agency, which filed a new FIR against Kunbhar’s murder, nominating 46 accused including senior police officers like Zardari and clerics like Sarhandi.

Development expert Lohar credits these actions to pressure from “the people of Sindh” compelling the government to take action. He has been involved in this activism, including a call for a second round of funeral prayers for Kunbhar at Janhero. Kunbhar’s younger brother, a leric, led the prayers on September 23, attended by thousands.

There have been protests and vigils against “blasphemy” murders in the past, particularly high-profile cases like Salmaan Taseer, Mashal Khan and Priyantha Diyawadana. However, the massive crowds that came out in Sindh to protest against Kunbhar’s murder were unprecedented.

Sindhi nationalist leaders, physicians, lawyers, cultural activists and journalists have joined demonstrations across the province, describing the slain physician as a martyr. Protests in Janhero were followed by a large “Rawadari” (Tolerance) March on October 13 in the Sindh provincial capital of Karachi. But police cracked down on protestors, arousing further outrage.

Musician Azhar Hussain Samoon told Sapan News that those who are issuing certificates of death and faith neither pray nor read the Quran and are unaware of the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet). “These individuals are taking it upon themselves to judge others and to kill,” he said.

Rallies celebrating the policemen who killed Kunbhar have described the physician as a “blasphemer”. The extremists’ slogan is: “Only one punishment for blasphemers: beheading!” They openly boast that they will not go to police stations or the courts but will “decide the fate of blasphemers on the spot, sending them to hell”.

In this atmosphere, while Shahnawaz’s father and others were running to save his body, their women and children were seeking shelter with neighbours. But no one would let them in to hide, as all were in fear.

“One of my sons has gone, where will my family and the children find shelter when the sun rises the next day?” his father Mohammad Saleh Kunbhar asked me despairingly over the phone that night.

Civil society leaders calling for better sense include Islamic religious scholar Maulana Irshad Irfani of Panj Pir Imambargah in Umerkot. He told Sapan News that the growing anxiety in Umerkot threatens to tear apart the district’s social fabric and is making its residents insecure.

There is an urgent need for dialogue to prevent further escalation, says development expert Naseer Memon. However, any such dialogue “should be based on fundamental principles like the rule of law”, he told Sapan News.

“Everyone has the right to fair trial, enshrined in the constitution of Pakistan,” he said. “No individual or group has the right to enforce their own laws based on any interpretation. Such mobs fall in the ambit of extremism and terrorism.”

Meanwhile, accusations and counter accusations on social media are fuelling more fear. Users are posting Facebook statuses warning that if their account is hacked and “blasphemous” content posted, they should not be held responsible.

This case also highlights the importance of integrating mental health evaluations into blasphemy investigations.

Kunbhar had been under psychiatric treatment for mental and behavioural disorders for the past four years according to the psychiatrist treating him, who is his nephew. The psychiatrist’s letter dated September 18, shared with the investigation team, states that Kunbhar suffered severe psychotic symptoms due to cannabis use but refused medication.

He had religious delusions and auditory hallucinations where he believed he had direct contact with divine figures. There was no intent to commit any “blasphemy”.

He is not the first individual suffering from mental health issues to be accused of “blasphemy” and killed.

In June, Salman Aziz, a man from Sialkot, Punjab, with a history of mental health issues, was accused of “gustakhi” and killed by a mob while he was visiting Swat in north-west Pakistan. The police had taken Aziz, accused of burning pages of the Qur’an, into custody, but a mob overwhelmed the police station. They injured police officers, dragged out the accused, killed him and set his body on fire.

Due to limited resources, stigma, and cultural beliefs, mental illnesses are often misunderstood or go untreated in Pakistan Individuals with mental disorders may display behaviour that is seen as blasphemous – but the person may lack the cognitive ability to understand the implications of their actions or the potential consequences. Behaviours termed as blasphemous may stem from untreated mental health conditions.

Mental health professionals and human rights activists have been advocating to reform laws and protect those with mental health issues. They argue for more robust legal and mental health evaluations before proceeding with accusations, as well as training for law enforcement to identify and manage cases involving mental illness.

The intersection of mental illness and blasphemy accusations remains a critical human rights issue in Pakistan. Why do “blasphemy” accusations not take into account mental health issues? Should those suffering from mental disorders be punished for their symptoms?

Hyderabad-based psychiatrist Mujahid Hussain Shah said that Pakistan’s legal framework must be reformed to incorporate psychological evaluations in blasphemy cases. He argues for a compassionate approach that aligns with Islamic values of mercy and justice.

Kunbhar’s tragic end is a stark reminder of the dangers of neglecting mental health awareness.

Parshotam Khatri, a well-known lawyer in Umerkot, also recommends amending the outdated Section 464 of Pakistan’s Criminal Procedure Code that applies to “the accused being lunatic”. Additionally, anyone accused of “blasphemy” should receive a mandatory mental health examination by a psychiatrist in the presence of a judicial magistrate.

Extra-judicial killings by police or mob lynching is result of weak writ of the state, said lawyer Ali Palh who qualified as a barrister from the UK and practices in Hyderabad. He told Sapan News that mafias and “elements with ulterior motives” are misusing the “blasphemy laws” for their own social, political, religious and economic interests.

A dangerous trend of cases being registered against youth implicated through Facebook or WhatsApp groups “points to a conspiracy” that the state must seriously deal with, Palh said. This should include revising the educational syllabus, “to change the mentality of coming generations”.

Extra-legal pressures prevent the accused from getting access to justice, like bail or legal defence. Palh suggests that bail trials of such cases should be held inside jail in order to prevent pressure on the judges from extremists who flood the courtrooms. He also suggests removing the names of law firms and lawyers from the case files that are made public, in order to prevent threats to these lawyers.

Extremists have been known to threaten, beat, and even kill lawyers defending clients accused of “blasphemy”. Even judges who acquitted such cases have been killed.

Community fears

Umerkot’s Hindu population, already vulnerable in an increasingly polarised environment, is “living in a state of terror that a single mistake or slip of the tongue could cost them their lives”, Khushal Premee, a Hindu teacher, told Sapan News.

“Hindus and Muslims are one Sindhi nation,” he said. “No extremist can divide us.” We Hindus do not show disrespect towards the Kaaba. We do not even sleep with our feet pointed in that direction.” He listed other ways in which his community shows respect to their Muslim neighbours, such as participating in the mourning for the martyrs of Karbala and special foods to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Utam Sangrasi, a Hindu journalist, shared other examples of interfaith harmony in Umerkot: Hindu girls cover their heads out of respect at the time of the Muslim call to prayer, Muslims do not slaughter cows in the area out of respect for Hindu religious sentiment and Muslim musicians sing Hindu devotional songs. Muslim families even adopt as their own daughters newly-wedded Hindu girls from other villages who marry into their villages.

“We’ve always respected Muslim practices and lived peacefully with our neighbours,” said Municipal Committee Councillor Dileep Moolchandani. “But now, there’s a fear that anything we say or do might be misinterpreted, and we could be accused of blasphemy.”

The government must urgently act to bring people together, Hindus, Muslims, religious organisations and nationalists, he added. It must hold discussions on the Shahnawaz case and how it could have been handled differently. “This is necessary to restore the trust and heal the differences,” Moolchandani said.

Those eager to make “blasphemy” accusations have been active for years. The involvement of responsible religious leaders has helped keep matters under control in Sindh.

In 2009, on the day of Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, when residents of Umerkot had come out on the streets to shower colours on people, walls and roads, someone wrote the word “Mohan”, a Hindu name, in Sindhi, on the road. A rumour began that a Hindu had written the word “Mohammad” on the road, a desecration of the name of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

A frenzied crowd gathered at the Umerkot Press Club, ready to set petrol pumps and houses of Hindus ablaze.

But the imam of the Jama Masjid, religious scholar Maulana Abdul Rehman Jamali, took the podium to address them. Ge asked them to let him investigate before taking any action.

Such was the respect he commanded that the mob waited while Jamali went to the site with a few police officers, members of the city’s Peace Committee and journalists including this reporter.

Jamali returned to affirm that the name written on the road might be Mohan but it was not Mohammad. The accusation had been made by a rival business group, he said.

The crowd dispersed peacefully.

Maulana Jamali passed away in 2016. However, the tradition of “rawadari” he upheld, facing the forces of obscurantism, continues. This, after all, is Sindh.

Yet fear remains a tangible force. Umerkot’s legacy of peaceful coexistence is under threat. Unless the government takes swift action to restore trust and heal the differences, the district risks losing the harmony that has long defined it.

Source:scroll.in

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://scroll.in/article/1075140/in-sindh-police-killing-of-muslim-doctor-accused-of-blasphemy-casts-pall-over-diwali-festivities

--------

At least 46 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, hospital hit, says Gaza ministry

October 31, 2024

A Palestinian child sits next to the shrouded bodies of people killed in an Israeli strike. (AFP)

-------------

CAIRO: At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the enclave’s health officials said.

Israel’s military has accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said “dozens of terrorists” have been hiding there. Health officials and Hamas deny the charge.

Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on two houses in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians, medics at Al-Awda Hospital in the camp told Reuters. The dead included a paramedic and two local journalists, they added.

Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had dismantled Hamas’ command structure, is currently the main focus of the military’s assault in the enclave. Earlier this month it sent tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya to flush out militants it said had regrouped.

Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan — which is in Beit Lahiya — told Reuters some staff suffered minor burns after the Israeli strike hit the third floor of the hospital.

There were no reports of any casualties at the hospital, which Israeli forces stormed and briefly occupied last week. Israel said it had captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in that raid. Israeli tanks are still stationed nearby.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip called for all international bodies “to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the (Israeli) occupation.”

The Israeli military has said its forces are operating in the hospital area based on intelligence about the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the vicinity.

“During the operation, it was found that dozens of terrorists were hiding in the hospital, with some even posing as hospital staff,” said the military in a statement following Thursday’s strike.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Thursday that one of its doctors at the hospital, Mohammed Obeid, had been detained last Saturday by Israeli forces. It called for the protection of him and all medical staff who “are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.”

The Gaza war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble, Palestinian authorities say.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577605/middle-east

---------

‘Assault, torture of woman’ in Sialkot, Court orders case against six cops

 November 1, 2024

NAROWAL: An additional district and sessions judge has ordered registration of a first information report against six police officers, including a sub-inspector and an assistant sub-inspector, for the alleged sexual assault and torture of a woman in Sialkot.

Complainant ‘M’, a resident of Jinnah Gate, Pasrur, had moved the court seeking registration of a case against policemen of Pasrur City police station.

In her complaint, she alleged that on the night of June 24-25, 2024, several police officers, including SI Shabbir Anwar Cheema, ASI Ansir Ijaz, constable Ehsan Ali, and three unidentified officials, forcibly entered her home and demanded that she withdraw a complaint filed against them.

The complainant said when she refused to comply, the officials verbally threatened her, and ASI Ansir Ejaz allegedly put a gun to her head, threatening to shoot if she did not withdraw her complaint. She further alleged that SI Shabbir Anwar Cheema then forcibly assaulted her while the ASI and constable took pictures and recorded videos of the assault.

She also claimed that on May 1, 2024, Cheema and eight other policemen had forcibly entered her home, seized cash, her vehicle, other valuables, and detained her son. She later recovered her son after filing an application in court, which ordered his release.

Following a review of the complaint, AD&SJ Shahid Munir directed the Pasrur City station house officer to take strict legal action against the policemen.

Responding to the court order, police spokesman Malik Waqas Ali alleged that complainant’s husband Abdul Ghafoor is a known criminal with a record of involvement in drug-related and other serious offences.

He said inquiries had been conducted regarding the complainant across various platforms, including the police department and human rights organisations and assured that action will be taken in accordance with the law upon receipt of the court’s orders.

Source:dawn.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.dawn.com/news/1868996/assault-torture-of-woman-in-sialkot-court-orders-case-against-six-cops

---------

Saudi humanitarian relief agency signs $10.4 million Ukraine aid deal

November 01, 2024

Kelly Clements, UNHCR’s deputy high commissioner, and Ahmed bin Ali Al-Baiz, KSrelief’s assistant supervisor for operations and programs, sign the agreement as KSrelief chief Abdullah Al-Rabeeah looks on. (SPA)

-------------

RIYADH: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief has signed a cooperation agreement worth more than $10.4 million with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to provide shelter assistance to internally displaced people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

The funding will be used to provide 11,000 shelter kits, 2,400 rapid heating kits and a host of essential building materials to insulate homes during the winter. Almost 49,000 people are set to benefit.

The agreement was signed at the agency’s headquarters in Riyadh by Ahmed bin Ali Al-Baiz, KSrelief’s assistant supervisor for operations and programs, and Kelly Clements, UNHCR’s deputy high commissioner.

Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who heads KSrelief and is an adviser at the Royal Court, was also present.

The deal is part of the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to displaced people and refugees around the world.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577622/saudi-arabia

---------

UK’s Islamic medics against assisted suicide as contravenes ‘Muslim moral compass’

October 31, 2024

The British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) has issued a statement expressing its strong concerns with the proposed change to legislation on assisted suicide, highlighting that it goes against the “Muslim moral compass”.

The organisation also, strikingly, and in what may be a first among the various groups to speak out against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill being put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, cites the experience of minority groups during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns as offering further evidence of the inherent dangers posed by the legislative change for more marginalised communities and vulnerable people.

BIMA is an organisation representing almost 8,000 Muslim health care professionals in the UK serving in the NHS and amongst communities nationwide.

Its statement follows a “snap-shot survey” of Muslim healthcare professionals that “demonstrated a strong opposition to assisted dying based on ethical, practical and social concerns rooted in their professional ethical values, and lived experience and understanding of the wider healthcare context”.

As a result, BIMA says it “reinforces” its position of opposition to the introduction of “Assisted Dying” – which it notes as covering assisted suicide and euthanasia – across the UK.

“Care of the dying is a core responsibility within the health care professions represented by BIMA, and we view this as a hallmark of compassion within any society – this aligns strongly with the Muslim moral compass,” BIMA says.

“Assisted dying (umbrella term for assisted suicide and euthanasia) has paradigm-shifting implications for how healthcare is delivered in the UK, and our role as healthcare professionals.

“Alongside religious objection, many of us will have objections based on professional ethical code of conduct. We also see how this can be dangerous for vulnerable individuals and marginalised communities who already struggle to access healthcare, in a system that is not able to respond to complex healthcare needs efficiently.

“We have been closely following developments around the introduction of Assisted Dying into the UK, and are extremely concerned with the proposed change to legislation with the resultant risks to vulnerable patient groups who already suffer from poorer healthcare experiences, disparities and barriers around access to end-of-life care.”

BIMA also notes that the Covid-19 enquiry has highlighted the “reality” for ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups “who are least listened to”.

At the same time, and echoing recent comments from the UK Health Secretary and Catholic bishops, the organisation notes that the UK healthcare system and palliative care organisations are suffering from years of under-funding with significant shortages of healthcare staff.

“Hospices up and down the UK are in financial distress and cutting back services. Traumatic care experiences, particularly in marginalised communities and those with high socioeconomic deprivation, will contribute to the fear of suffering at the end of life.”

It concludes: “The solution is not to legislate state-endorsed assisted suicide and euthanasia that is delivered by a healthcare system in crisis.

“Instead, we must demand that healthcare staff and services are adequately supported and funded to deliver high quality, responsive healthcare and palliative care, and give patients and families the choice they deserve.”

Source:catholicherald.co.uk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://catholicherald.co.uk/britains-muslim-medics-come-out-against-assisted-suicide-that-goes-against-muslim-moral-compass/

----------

JD Vance Says Anti-Muslim Policies Just ‘Common Sense’ In Joe Rogan Interview

 1 November 2024

Sen. JD Vance unleashed a slew of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim rhetoric during a long conversation with podcaster Joe Rogan that aired Thursday, saying it was “common sense” to exclude people with certain backgrounds from the United States.

Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, spoke with Rogan for more than three hours, talking at length about the Trump campaign’s plans for the southern U.S. border while criticizing the Biden administration. At one point, Rogan described a “worst-case scenario” for people fearful of a state falling under Islamic law, pointing to a recent law in Minneapolis that allows mosques to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer.

“That starts getting real weird,” Rogan told Vance. “When you have people openly saying our goal is … to outbreed everyone who is not Muslim.”

“Scares the hell out of me,” Vance replied. “That’s what to me is so crazy … about some of the hyper left-wing reaction. Where you see actual religious tyranny is increasingly in Western societies where you’ve had a large influx of immigrants who don’t necessarily assimilate into western values but try to create, I think, a religious tyranny at the local level.”

“And if you think that will happen at a national level, you’re [called] crazy.”

Vance then lamented that those who want to exclude people from some nations — referencing the Trump travel ban on people from some majority-Muslim nations, an order that he has pledged to restore — were called racist.

“Somehow it’s fundamentally racist to say, well, we don’t want certain people of certain backgrounds to be in the United States of America,” the senator from Ohio said. “No, it’s just common sense.”

Vance went on to say that there is “something in the modern liberal mind that doesn’t even allow” people to ask how certain immigrants would benefit the country.

“If the answer is we don’t benefit,” he said, “then why would we bring them into the country?”

Trump has continued to fill his campaign rallies with striking anti-immigration rhetoric, stoking fears of an incursion along the southern border and blasting the Biden administration for what he describes as inaction on a migrant crisis.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, however, has pointed to Trump’s insistence earlier this year that Republicans block a bipartisan border deal that the White House had touted as an effective fix for border enforcement.

Source:yahoo.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jd-vance-says-anti-muslim-031606268.html

---------

Govt data shows sexual crimes involving children up 21pc in 2023 as Malaysia’s under-18 numbers 9.14 million

01 Nov 2024

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 1 — The incidence of sexual assault against children in 2023 saw a significant increase, of 21.1 per cent, with reported cases rising to 1,389, from 1,147 in 2022, said Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

In a statement released alongside the publication of the Children Statistics Malaysia, 2024, today, he noted that non-physical sexual offences and child pornography accounted for 91 and 67 cases respectively, in 2023.

Additionally, the number of sexual offences involving children reported to the Royal Malaysia Police surged by 26.5 per cent in 2023, totalling 1,567 cases, compared with 1,239 cases in the previous year.

“From a child protection perspective, the Social Welfare Department recorded a 26.1 per cent increase in the number of children needing care and protection, rising from 6,770 in 2022 to 8,536 in 2023,” he stated.

Mohd Uzir further revealed that, based on the estimated population statistics for 2024, there are approximately 9.14 million children under the age of 18 in Malaysia, representing 26.9 per cent of the country’s total population of 34.06 million.

“The population of children under the age of 18 in Malaysia is comprised of 4.72 million males and 4.42 million females. Children are vital assets for the nation, as they are essential for sustaining the pulse of our development in the future,” he said.

Regarding children’s health, it was noted that certain conditions arising during the perinatal period continue to be the leading medically confirmed causes of death for children aged five and younger in 2023.

Additionally, there has been an improvement in the coverage of all types of orphans, including infants, in terms of adoption, in 2023.

Furthermore, Hepatitis B has seen the most significant increase, rising by 10.6 percentage points to 107.7 per cent, compared with 97.1 per cent in 2022, he added.

The Children Statistics Malaysia, 2024 is available for free download on the Department of Statistics Malaysia portal (https://www.dosm.gov.my). — Bernama

Source:malaymail.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/01/govt-data-shows-sexual-crimes-involving-children-up-21pc-in-2023-as-malaysias-under-18-numbers-914-million/155510

---------

High-Level Islamic Emirate Delegation Probes Casualties Near Iran-Pakistan Border

2024-10-31

KABUL(BNA) The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has shared initial findings regarding the reported casualties of Afghan civilians along the Iran-Pakistan border.

Mullah Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokeman for the Islamic Emirate, announced that a high-level delegation led by Deputy Minister of Interior Security, Mullah Mohammad Ibrahim Sadr, including officials from the Ministries of National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Borders and Tribal Affairs, as well as the Intelligence Directorate has been deployed to investigate the incident.

Based on preliminary evidence,  Spokesman Fitrat stated that explosions and gunfire impacted several Afghan nationals in the Kalkan Valley within Iranian territory. The delegation has thus far recovered the remains of two deceased individuals and repatriated 34 eyewitnesses, some of whom sustained injuries in the incident.

Additional Afghan nationals affected by the incident are still in Iran and Pakistan, with the delegation actively working to locate and facilitate their return.

Spokesman Fitrat emphasized that the investigation is ongoing, and the delegation continues its work to gather comprehensive evidence. A detailed report with final findings will be released upon the conclusion of the investigation.

Source:bakhtarnews.af

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/high-level-islamic-emirate-delegation-probes-casualties-near-iran-pakistan-border/

---------

Muslim community supports Aiyedatiwa

1st November 2024

The Muslim community in Ondo State has declared support for Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, ahead of the November 16 governorship election.

Members of the community said they would be fully involved in the election and support Aiyedatiwa, who is also the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

At a meeting of members of the community held in Akure, the state capital, on Thursday, the Chairman of the League of Imams and Alfas in the state, Alhaji Ahmad Aladesawe, offered prayers for a peaceful election.

The Baba Adinni of Owo Kingdom, Chief Jamiu Ekungba, said the Muslim community, just as it supported President Bola Tinubu, and he won the election, would give similar support to Aiyedatiwa.

He said, “As we stood by President Bola Tinubu during the presidential election, we are ready to do the same for Governor Aiyedatiwa.

“Let the governor be rest assured that the Muslim community is behind him. People once thought Muslims stayed out of politics, but with Governor Aiyedatiwa, we are prepared to be fully involved.”

The Grand Mufti of Ondo State, Alhaji Surajudeen Batuta, said Aiyedatiwa’s leadership was divinely guided.

“I believe it is God’s plan that Governor Aiyedatiwa should lead this state during this period.

“This election will be the most peaceful election in the history of the state, by God’s grace, and I am confident that the governor’s decision to appoint Muslims into political offices will bring positive results. He will not regret it.”

Responding, Aiyedatiwa thanked the Muslim community for the endorsement and expressed appreciation for their steadfast support and prayers.

He noted that their prayers had strengthened the administration since its inception.

He promised that the Muslims across the state would not be deprived of their rights and privileges as he would operate an all-inclusive administration if elected.

“My administration values inclusivity and I am promising that everyone will be given equal rights, irrespective of religious differences,” Aiyedatiwa said.

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, the PROMAD Infotech Foundation, has urged the people of the state not to show apathy but to come out en masse to vote on November 16.

It said the plea was necessitated by findings that apathy and low voter turnout characterised three previous elections in the state.

Speaking at a meeting in Akure, the state capital, on Thursday, a member of the Board of Trustees of PROMAD Infotech Foundation, Mr Banjo Ayenakin, said apathy could reduce the chances of the emergence of a popular and credible candidate.

Speaking on “Promoting citizens’ participation in the 2024 off-cycle Ondo State governorship election through data, advocacy and civic education,” Ayenakin said the issue of apathy was a task to deal with by all stakeholders in the state.

He said some of the research findings of the organisation showed that the “Independent National Electoral Commission published that 2,053,061 voters have been registered and validated to vote in the election.

“This figure appears huge, but the state has a history of low participation and turnout during elections, at least in the last three governorship election cycles.

“Mobilising the electorate registered to vote, according to INEC, remains a huge task that needs to be done by stakeholders.

“In the three election cycles (2012, 2016 and 2020) analysed, just as the state’s population, the number of registered voters has moved from 1,638,950 in 2012 to 2,053,061 in 2024.

It said the plea was necessitated by findings that apathy and low voter turnout characterised three previous elections in the state.

Speaking at a meeting in Akure, the state capital, on Thursday, a member of the Board of Trustees of PROMAD Infotech Foundation, Mr Banjo Ayenakin, said apathy could reduce the chances of the emergence of a popular and credible candidate.

Speaking on “Promoting citizens’ participation in the 2024 off-cycle Ondo State governorship election through data, advocacy and civic education,” Ayenakin said the issue of apathy was a task to deal with by all stakeholders in the state.

He said some of the research findings of the organisation showed that the “Independent National Electoral Commission published that 2,053,061 voters have been registered and validated to vote in the election.

“This figure appears huge, but the state has a history of low participation and turnout during elections, at least in the last three governorship election cycles.

“Mobilising the electorate registered to vote, according to INEC, remains a huge task that needs to be done by stakeholders.

“In the three election cycles (2012, 2016 and 2020) analysed, just as the state’s population, the number of registered voters has moved from 1,638,950 in 2012 to 2,053,061 in 2024.

“Declining participation and voting our analysis indicates that while voter registration had increased in each election cycle, it didn’t translate into more turnouts and votes on election days as accredited voters and total votes cast kept reducing in each election cycle.”

Source:punchng.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://punchng.com/muslim-community-supports-aiyedatiwa/

----------

 

India

 

Kashmiri Muslims will regret exodus of Pandits one day: Union MoS Jitendra Singh

01 November 2024

Jammu: Asserting that the majority community in Kashmir will one day regret the "exodus" of Kashmiri Pandits, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said Kashmir is incomplete without their presence. Singh said that significant positive changes have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, and that deep down, common people, including Kashmir Muslims, are happy about it. "Kashmir is no longer Kashmir without the presence of Kashmiri Pandits. The composite culture that Kashmir is already known for has been possible because of the presence of the Kashmiri Pandit community there," Singh said addressing a function here. The minister, who inaugurated the Mata Saraswati Auditorium at the Gandhi Memorial College, said "I have no hesitation in saying this. Despite sounding orthodox or even rebellious, I have said that the day would come when the majority community in Kashmir would regret the exodus of Pandits. I believe this is going to happen soon." He said that the values of composite  upbringing, once imparted to children, are now fading. "This was not realised immediately, but after two or three generations, it is being felt," he added. The Union minister emphasised that Kashmir’s unique composite culture must be restored. Referring on man in the Kashmir Muslim community is supportive of its revocation," he said. The minister highlighted the government’s efforts to revamp India’s education sector in line with the needs of contemporary India. Discussing the key features of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, he emphasised that it aims to liberate students from choices imposed on them by parents or peers when selecting educational paths. He noted that with the NEP's implementation, students are now free to pursue higher courses that align with their talents. Singh urged teachers to recognise and nurture students’ inherent talents, guiding them to contribute to nation-building. He said India is on par with other nations, particularly in education, science, and technology, as well as i n start-ups. Singh said teachers had a crucial role in shaping students' futures and encouraged them to motivatestudents to utilise technology to gain knowledge. He added that affordable educational resources arereadily available today. Calling for the exploration of the Himalayan bio-resources, Singh remarked that they hold the potential for adding value to India’s economy. He encouraged teachers to inspire students to pursue start-up initiatives as new avenues for self-employment. The minister also informed that the government has decided to organise start-up exhibitions across the country to raise awareness. One such exhibition will be held in Srinagar soon, he added. Source:deccanherald.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/jammu-and-kashmir/kashmiri-muslims-will-regret-exodus-of-pandits-one-day-union-mos-jitendra-singh-3258020

---------

After Conversion to Hindiusm, Former Shia Waqf Board Chairman Wasim Rizvi Changes Caste Now

 Nov 01, 2024,

Former Shia Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi, who came into the limelight when he renounced Islam and converted to Hinduism in 2021, has now changed his caste. After his conversion, Rizvi, who was named Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, has now changed his name to Thakur Jitendra Narayan Singh Sengar. Rizvi joined the Brahmin community after his conversion to Hinduism. He has now taken the surname ‘Thakur’.

Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Narayan Singh Sengar said he has an old friendship with Gurukula Kangri University professor Prabhat Singh Sengar who had proposed to include him in his family, which he has accepted. Prabhat Sengar’s mother Yashwant Kumari Sengar has adopted him as her son through a legal affidavit, owing to which he has been able to keep this surname. However, he clarified that he will not have any right to the property.

It should be noted that Rizvi was expelled from Islam after he converted to Hinduism. Fatwas were also issued against him. There was a lot of upheaval in his family as well, following which his mother and brother severed all ties with him.

Rizvi had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court against 26 verses of the Quran. He had claimed that those particular verses promote terrorism and hence should be removed from the religious text. This drew his community’s wrath and the Muslim clerics expelled him from Islam for his “objectionable comments" against the religion.

Earlier, after his conversion ceremony, Rizvi had said: “Being Hindu is a lifestyle. Anyone can change his religion easily by legal means but it is not possible to become completely Hindu by going to the temple. For this, a complete process has to be adopted."

“From today onwards, I will only work for Hindutva," he had added and claimed that none of the other religions had so many qualities as Hinduism. “Muslims do not vote for any political party, they vote against Hinduism and to defeat Hindus," he had said.

He had also expressed his desire to get cremated after his death as per the Hindu religion. Rizvi had also said that he wants his pyre to be lit by Yati Narsimhananda. Rizvi said he is afraid that after his demise, people will not allow the burial of his body.

Source:news18.com/

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.news18.com/india/from-tyagi-to-thakur-former-shia-waqf-board-chairman-wasim-rizvi-changes-caste-now-9106039.html

---------

J-K MLA, BJP’s voice in Jammu region Devender Singh Rana passes away

by Arun Sharma

 November 1, 2024

Senior BJP leader and sitting Jammu and Kashmir MLA Devender Singh Rana passed away early on Thursday at a hospital in Faridabad in the National Capital Region of Delhi.

Rana (59), the younger brother of Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, had been elected to the J&K Legislative Assembly from Nagrota constituency after defeating his closest rival, Joginder Singh of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), by 30,472 votes. He was one of the key figures for the BJP in the recently held elections and was also a strong contender for the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

Rana was a strong voice of the Jammu region. A former close aide of Omar Abdullah, he was also a prominent Hindu during face of the National Conference before he switched sides and had won the Assembly election in Nagrota despite PM Narendra Modi’s wave in 2014.

His body is likely to reach Jammu on Friday.

Politicians and leaders, cutting across party lines, paid their condolences.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP’s national president J P Nadda paid their tributes.

“Shri Devender Singh Rana Ji’s untimely demise is shocking. He was a veteran leader, who worked diligently towards Jammu and Kashmir’s progress. He had just won the Assembly polls and had also played a noteworthy role in making the BJP stronger in J&K. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with his family and supporters. Om Shanti,” PM Modi wrote on X.

Home Amit Shah, while expressing grief, recalled Rana’s contributions in the development of Jammu and Kashmir, adding that he was always dedicated to peace, development and welfare of the public.

“Deeply saddened by the untimely passing of senior BJP leader and MLA from Nagrota, Shri Devender Singh Rana ji. His dedication to public service and contributions towards the development of the people of Jammu & Kashmir will be remembered. His departure is an irreparable loss to the party. My heartfelt condolences to his family and supporters. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” J P Nadda wrote.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha expressed his condolences via a post on social media platform X. “I am deeply grieved to learn of the untimely demise of Shri Devender Singh Rana Ji. In his passing away, we have lost a patriotic & widely respected leader, who was committed to well-being of the people of J&K. I extend my deepest condolences to his family & friends. Om Shanti,” he wrote.

Jammu and Kashnir Chief Minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said that the news hadn’t sunk in for him. “I know the last few years have been marked by our differences Devender but I prefer to focus on the fun times we shared together, the excellent work we did together & the memories. You have been taken from us all too soon & will be missed. May your soul rest in peace now DSR. My heart goes out to your family as I struggle to find the words to convey my condolences to them,” he wrote.

Democratic Progressive Azad Party chief Ghulam Nabi Azad also paid his condolences. “I am profoundly saddened by the untimely demise of Devender Singh Rana Ji, whose contributions to Jammu and Kashmir’s development and unwavering dedication to his constituency will be cherished forever. His leadership and vision brought hope and progress to countless people and his presence was a source of strength and guidance for many. In his passing, we have lost not only a devoted leader but also a compassionate soul who always prioritized the well-being of his people. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones during this moment of immense grief. I pray they find comfort in the countless lives he touched and in the legacy of service and commitment he leaves behind. May his soul find eternal peace,” Azad wrote on X.

Source:indianexpress.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/jammu-and-kashmir-bjp-mla-devender-singh-rana-death-9647935/

---------

Pollution will reduce by 50% in Delhi if roads repaired: BJP blasts AAP over air quality

01.11.24

The BJP on Friday claimed Delhi's air quality had worsened due to AAP and Arvind Kejriwal's failure to repair the city's damaged roads by October 31 and not the firecrackers burst on Diwali.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, who visited the Shastri Park area on Friday, claimed hundreds of roads in the city were lying in disrepair despite promises by former chief minister Kejriwal and his successor Atishi to repair them before Diwali.

"AAP should stop indulging in politics and blame game and focus on local sources of pollution such as dust that are more responsible for the hazardous air quality in Delhi," Gupta said.

He said the air pollution situation in Delhi was as bad as it was before Diwali and added that AAP and Kejriwal should stop "misleading" the people.

They said the rise in pollution was due to the firecrackers, indulging in politics over the issue, he charged.

"If all the damaged roads in the city are repaired and sanitation is improved, pollution can be cut down by 50 percent," he asserted.

The BJP's Delhi unit spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor claimed that comparative Air Quality Index (AQI) data from the past four days would show that pollution levels had not increased due to firecrackers.

The local sources and paddy stubble burning will cause it to shoot up in the coming days, he said.

A thick layer of haze blanketed Delhi, with the national capital's AQI plunging to 362 on Friday as people defied a citywide ban on firecrackers during Diwali celebrations.

Delhi also recorded its most polluted Diwali in three years.

On Diwali on Thursday, the city's 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 330, compared to 218 in 2023 and 312 in 2022, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

The national capital's AQI was recorded in the 'very poor' category with a reading of 362 at 9 am on Friday.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

Source:telegraphindia.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/bjp-blasts-aap-over-air-quality-says-pollution-will-reduce-by-50-in-delhi-if-roads-are-repaired/cid/2059818

---------

JMM means Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia: BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla

 Nov 01, 2024,

Amid the controversy over Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's age, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday said that JMM stands for 'Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia'. "JMM means 'Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia'. The JMM govt which has set new standards of corruption is now doing corruption in affidavits also. Mr Hemant Soren has aged 7 years in the last 5 years. Similarly, they did corruption and scams," Shehzad Poonawalla said in a self-made video.

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo targeted Hemant Soren, alleging discrepancies in his nomination papers. "There are a lot of differences between CM Hemant Soren's nominations of 2021 and 2024...in 2021, CM was 45 years old and after 5 years, he became 49 years old, how is it possible? so many assets about which he had mentioned in his 2021 affidavit, have disappeared now," Deo told reporters in Ranchi. The BJP has alleged that Hemant Soren's age increased by seven years in the last five years. Soren declared his age to be 42 in 2019, but this year, he mentioned in the affidavit that his age is 49. As the Assembly election nears, the BJP has intensified its attack against Hemant Soren. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will contest from the Barhait Assembly constituency. Kalpana Soren, the JMM leader, filed her nomination as her party candidate from the Gandey Assembly constituency earlier in the month. Elections for 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly will be conducted in two phases on November 13 and Nove mber 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23. A total of 2.60 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in Jharkhand, including 1.31 crore male voters and 1.29 crore female voters. The state has 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 66.84 lakh young voters. In the previous assembly election, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 and Congress won 16 seats. Source:telegraphindia.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/assembly-elections/jharkhand/jmm-means-jhol-muslim-appeasement-and-mafia-bjp-leader-shehzad-poonawalla/articleshow/114836225.cms

---------

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Dalit, Muslim leaders meet Jarange for common minimum programme

01 November 2024

Jalna: Several Dalit and Muslim leaders on Thursday met Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange in Antarwali Sarati in Jalna and announced their commitment to formulate a "common minimum programme" for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls. Addressing a gathering on the occasion, Jarange asked Dalits and Muslims to support candidates backed by him and also asked Marathas to do likewise for Dalit and Muslim candidates. "Our unity is needed to challenge the established power and defeat those who work against our communities," Jarange said.Islamic scholar Sajjad Nomani slammed the BJP for "dividing the nation on religious lines" and said a unified front was important to avoid splitting of votes"We have decided to issue a common minimum programme for the elections. Our unity is an example not only for Maharashtra but the entire country," Nomani said. Seconding his stand, Dalit leaders Rajratna Ambedkar and Anandraj Ambedkar also said unity was essential to throw out "entrenched power". 

Source:deccanherald.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/maharashtra/maharashtra-assembly-elections-2024-dalit-muslim-leaders-meet-jarange-for-common-minimum-programme-3257352'

----------

 

Mideast

 

Israel says another rocket barrage from Lebanon kills 2 in Israel, hours after 5 were killed

October 31, 2024

TEL AVIV: Israel’s rescue service said projectiles fired from Lebanon on Thursday killed two more people in northern Israel, raising death toll there to seven in what’s been the deadliest rocket barrage since the Israeli military’s invasion of southern Lebanon.

Magen David Adom, Israel’s main emergency medical organization, said its medics confirmed the deaths of a 30-year-old man and 60-year-old woman in a suburb of the northern city of Haifa. They also treated two other people who suffered mild injuries and were hospitalized.

The Israeli military said that roughly 25 rockets crossed into Israel from Lebanon as part of the volley that struck an olive grove where people had gathered for the harvest.

The deadly attack came just hours after officials in Metula, in northern Israel, said that five people were killed, including four foreign workers, in a rocket barrage Thursday that struck an Israeli agricultural area.

The back-to-back attacks made Thursday one of the deadliest days for civilians in Israel since the Israeli military invaded southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 as part of a widening campaign against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group.

The attack came as senior US diplomats were in the region to push for ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East in the Biden administration’s final months.

The Hezbollah militant group has been firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel, and drawing retaliatory strikes, since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of the Gaza Strip triggered the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies backed by Iran.

The conflict along the border escalated into a full-blown war last month, when Israel launched a wave of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his deputies. Israeli ground forces pushed into Lebanon at the start of October.

The Metula regional council reported Thursday’s attack, without detailing the number or type of projectiles used. The nationalities of the workers were also not immediately known.

Metula, Israel’s northernmost town which is surrounded by Lebanon on three sides, has suffered heavy damage from rockets. The town’s residents evacuated in October 2023, and only security officials and agricultural workers remain.

The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, an organization that advocates for foreign workers, said authorities had put them in danger by allowing them to work along the border without proper protection.

Agricultural areas along Israel’s border, where much of the country’s orchards are located, are closed military areas that can only be entered with official permission.

Hezbollah’s newly named top leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, said in a video statement Wednesday that the militant group will keep fighting Israel until it is offered ceasefire terms it deems acceptable. He said it has recovered from a series of setbacks in recent months, including attacks using explosive pagers and walkie-talkies that was widely blamed on Israel.

“Hezbollah’s capabilities are still available and compatible with a long war,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military warned people to evacuate from more areas of southern Lebanon, as airstrikes in different parts of the country killed eight people, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

Israel has warned people to evacuate from large areas of the country, including major cities in the south and east. Some 1.2 million people have been displaced since the escalation in September.

Thousands of people have fled from Baalbek, the main city in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, and surrounding areas after Israeli evacuation warnings and aerial bombardment on Wednesday.

Jean Fakhry, a local official in the Deir Al-Ahmar region, some 17 kilometers (10 miles) to the southeast, said the main highway “turned into a parking lot.” He said around 12,000 displaced people are staying in the area, with most being hosted in private homes.

At one of the shelters, families with luggage were still arriving on Thursday.

“Our homes were destroyed,” said Zahraa Younis, from the village near Baalbek. “We came with nothing — no clothes or anything else — and took shelter here.”

More than 2,800 people have been killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Lebanon since the conflict began last year, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

In Israel, rockets, missiles, and drones launched by Hezbollah have killed at least 68 people, about half of them soldiers. More than 60,000 Israelis from towns and cities along the border have been evacuated from their homes for more than a year.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577588/middle-east

---------

35 IS militants killed in Syria after US airstrikes hit many Islamic State camps

01.11.24

US airstrikes hit several Islamic State camps in the Syrian desert on Monday, killing up to 35 of the militant group’s operatives, US Central Command said in a statement on Wednesday.

The strikes targeted multiple senior leaders in the early evening, the statement said, and there were no known civilian casualties. US officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the identities of the officials targeted.

The US has dispatched warships and air defense systems to the region, where Israel is at war with Hezbollah and Hamas, backed by Iran, and Iran and Israel have exchanged blows directly. Syria, allied with Iran and Hezbollah, has also been entangled in the conflict, adding to international unease about the already unstable region.

The Pentagon warned in July that attacks in Syria and Iraq that were claimed by the Islamic State, known as ISIS, were on track to double the number last year, indicating a resurgence of the group. ISIS affiliates have also become increasingly lethal in other parts of the world, such as Africa’s Sahel region, exploiting political instability.

ISIS claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria in the first half of this year, according to a report by the military’s Central Command. In all of last year, it claimed 121 attacks in Iraq and Syria. In 2014, the group seized vast stretches of territory in Syria and Iraq, establishing a brutal regime there. Over the next five years, an array of ISIS adversaries, including the US, combined to take back the region, but thousands of the group’s fighters survived.

Source:telegraphindia.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/35-is-militants-killed-in-syria-after-us-airstrikes-hit-many-islamic-state-camps/cid/2059784

---------

Israel fights a seemingly endless war in Gaza’s most devastated region

November 01, 2024

JERUSALEM: More than a year into a war that has ricocheted across the Middle East, Israeli troops are still battling Hamas in the most heavily destroyed and isolated part of the Gaza Strip.

In northern Gaza, Hamas militants carry out hit-and-run attacks from bombed-out buildings. Residents say Israeli forces have raided shelters for the displaced, forcing people out at gunpoint. First responders say they can barely operate because of the Israeli bombardment.

Since its Oct. 7 attack into Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, Hamas has taken heavy losses. The recent killing of its top leader, Yahya Sinwar, was viewed as a possible turning point, yet the two sides do not appear any closer to a ceasefire, and Hamas, which still holds scores of hostages, remains the dominant power in Gaza.

The conflict has drawn in militants from Lebanon to Yemen, and their key sponsor, Iran, has inched closer to all-out war with Israel. But in northern Gaza, the war seems stuck in a loop of devastating Israeli offensives, followed by Hamas fighters regrouping.

Israel is once again ordering mass evacuations, severely restricting aid despite global outrage and raiding hospitals it says are used by militants.

In the northern border town of Beit Lahiya — one of the first targets of last year’s ground invasion — two Israeli strikes this week killed at least 88 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children. The military said its target was a spotter on the roof.

As the war grinds on, Israel is resorting to ever more draconian measures. There is even talk of adopting a surrender-or-starve strategy proposed by former generals.

On Monday, Israel passed legislation that could severely restrict the UN agency that is the largest aid provider in Gaza despite protests by the United States and other close allies. It accuses the agency of allowing itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the UN

Another offensive, as Hamas keeps filling the void

Israel launched its latest offensive in northern Gaza in early October, focusing on Jabaliya, a crowded, decades-old urban refugee camp where it says Hamas had regrouped.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted another 250 that day. Israel’s offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not say how many were combatants but say more than half were women and children.

Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence, and the United States says Hamas is no longer capable of mounting an Oct. 7-style attack.

But Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas where they had battled before — only to face renewed attacks. At least 16 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Gaza since the latest operation began, including a 41-year-old colonel.

Israel has yet to lay out a plan for postwar Gaza and has rejected a US push for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority to return and govern with Arab support. Plainclothes Hamas security men still patrol most areas.

“It’s endless war,” said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer who now leads a Palestinian studies program at Tel Aviv University.

He says Israel has only two options to break the cycle: Either completely reoccupy Gaza, which would require several thousand troops to be stationed there indefinitely. Or secure a ceasefire with Hamas that involves the release of its hostages in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails, and a full Israeli withdrawal — the kind of deal that has long eluded US and Arab mediators.

“We are in Jabaliya for the fourth time, and maybe in the next month we will find ourselves there for the fifth and the sixth.” he said.

‘Leave now’ if you care about the lives of your children

Around a million people fled the north, including Gaza City, when Israel ordered its wholesale evacuation at the start of the war. They have not been allowed to return.

Some 400,000 have remained, even as Israel has encircled the area and obliterated entire neighborhoods and critical infrastructure.

The UN says at least 60,000 people have fled to Gaza City in recent weeks from Jabaliya and the northern border towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.

Residents who remain describe being stuck in their homes for days at a time because of the fighting, with bodies rotting in the streets and rescue teams unable to venture out.

Amna Mustafa and her children were asleep before dawn in a crowded school-turned-shelter in Beit Lahiya last week when an Israeli drone hovering overhead ordered everyone to evacuate. “If you care about your life and the lives of your children, leave now,” it said.

She said men were ordered to strip down and taken away in trucks. The military says it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians, and that such procedures are used to search and detain militants who it says hide among civilians.

Women and children were ordered to walk to a nearby hospital, where Israeli soldiers searched them before allowing most to walk onward to Gaza City, several miles (kilometers) to the south. Mustafa said she spent two nights in the open before moving into a new tent camp in a soccer field.

“There is no food, no water, no blankets, no diapers and no milk for the children,” she said. “We are here waiting for God’s mercy.”

The Israeli military shared drone footage of a similar exodus, showing thousands of people walking down a plowed up road past tanks. It said Hamas had prevented them from leaving before its forces arrived, without providing evidence.

The UN human rights office warned earlier this month that Israel “may be causing the destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza’s northernmost governate through death and displacement.”

Israel restricts aid despite US warnings

Israel has severely restricted aid to Gaza in October, allowing in only about a third of the humanitarian assistance that entered the previous month.

Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Program, said Israel has not allowed UN agencies to deliver aid to the north outside of Gaza City since the latest offensive began.

Col. Elad Goren, a spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza, attributed the lack of aid in the first half of the month to Jewish holiday closures and troop movements.

At a briefing last week, he said there was no need for aid deliveries in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya because there was “no population” left in either town. That was before this week’s strikes on Beit Lahiya killed scores of people.

The Biden administration has told Israel to increase the supply of aid entering Gaza, warning it of US laws that could require it to reduce its crucial military support.

Does Israel plan to empty the north?

Palestinians fear Israel is carrying out a strategy proposed by former generals in which aid to the north would be cut off, civilians would be ordered to leave and anyone remaining would be branded a militant. Rights groups say the plan would violate international law.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited the region last week for the 11th time since the start of the war, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him that Israel had not adopted the plan. The military has denied receiving such orders.

But the Israeli government has not publicly repudiated the plan, even after Blinken’s visit.

Milshtein says the fact that Israel is even considering it is “a post-traumatic phenomenon” born of desperation.

“Many people in the (Israeli military) know it’s a bad idea... But they say: ‘OK, we don’t have any other plan, so let’s try it.”

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577644/middle-east

--------

Islamic Resistance in Iraq targets Israeli sites with combat drones

 31.10.2024

An Iraqi group backed by Iran on Thursday claimed five attacks against Israeli targets in support of the Palestinians and Lebanon.

According to separate statements, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq group said it attacked two vital targets in the occupied Golan Heights with combat drones.

The group also said it struck other vital targets, including military ones, in northern and southern Israel.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq affirmed its "continuation of operations to strike at the enemy's strongholds at an increasing pace."

A drone attack on Oct. 4 by the group targeting an Israeli army site in the Golan Heights killed two soldiers.

Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 43,100 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last year.

As the conflict spread to Lebanon with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country, over 2,800 people have been killed and more than 12,900 others injured in Israeli attacks since last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching on Oct. 1 a ground assault into southern Lebanon.

Source:aa.com.tr

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/islamic-resistance-in-iraq-targets-israeli-sites-with-combat-drones/3380141

---------

Iraq tries to avoid regional fight as militias fire at Israel

October 31, 2024

BAGHDAD: Nervously watching Israel’s destructive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, Iraq is working to avoid being drawn into the growing regional conflict as Iran-backed armed groups launch attacks on Israel from Iraqi soil, sources familiar with the matter say.

Two decades after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is experiencing relative stability with high revenue from oil sales funding a service-based agenda that has turned much of the country into a construction site.

Iraq does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s government is wary of regional conflicts that could affect its delicate balancing act between Washington and Tehran, both states it is allied with.

Spillover from regional conflict resulted in months of tit-for-tat attacks between Iran-backed armed groups and US forces stationed in Iraq and the region that only subsided after Iran intervened in February.

But Sudani’s government has not been successful in a push to convince the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — a coalition of Iran-backed armed groups — to stop firing rockets and drones at Israel, according to four sources in Iran-backed armed groups and two government advisers.

Two visits to Iran by Iraq’s top security officials in the past two months, seeking Tehran’s help to rein in its allied Iraqi factions, failed, the sources said.

“The Iraqi delegation received a cold reception in Tehran ... The answer was: those groups have their own decision and it is their call to decide how to support their brothers in Lebanon and Gaza,” said a senior Iraqi security official briefed on the visits.

Baghdad turned to Washington, asking US officials to intervene with Israel to prevent retaliation for the attacks, including one that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded more than 20 on Oct. 4, the sources said, the first time such an attack has been reported to cause fatalities.

“Washington was understanding of the repercussions of possible Israeli strikes in Iraq and pledged to help,” said an Iraqi foreign ministry official.

A spokesperson for the US embassy in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Four militia sources said the Kataib Hezbollah and Nujaba groups, which are leading the attacks on Israel, have warned the prime minister against pressuring them to halt their actions and vowed to continue their attacks as long as Israel continued its Gaza and Lebanon operations.

The issue has divided parties in Iraq’s ruling coalition, all of whom are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and view Israel as an enemy, though some differ over how involved Iraq should be in the regional confrontation.

Shiite leaders discussed the risk of repercussions from attacks on Israel and possible Israeli retaliation during two meetings in October, said Ahmed Kenani, a Shiite lawmaker from the ruling alliance.

Key players in the Shiite coalition view direct confrontation with Israel as counterproductive and potentially damaging to Iraq, according to four Shiite lawmakers.

“Those groups who have the rockets and drones should go to Gaza and Lebanon to fight Israel rather than pushing Iraq toward destruction,” said Iraqi PM adviser Abul Ameer Thuaiban.

Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful of the armed factions, said Israel and the US would have to pay a price for Israel’s strikes on Iran last week.

Senior Iraqi security sources told Reuters ahead of that attack that any strike by Israel against Iran outside what the sources called the established rules of engagement could prompt pro-Iran armed groups to significantly expand their attacks on Israel and US assets in the region.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577601/middle-east\

---------

Thousands displaced in Lebanon as Israel expands evacuation zones

NAJIA HOUSSARI

October 31, 2024

BEIRUT: Israel expanded its evacuation warnings to new areas of Lebanon on Thursday as Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned that the short-term outlook for his country “remains bleak.”

His comments came as US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Israeli orders for Lebanese civilians to evacuate large areas of Tyre and Baalbek were condemned by Mikati as an “additional war crime,” adding to the “series of crimes of killing, destruction and sabotage committed by the Israeli army.”

In response to Israel’s expansion of its air campaign, Mikati “requested increased pressure on Israel” from international and diplomatic bodies.

Hochstein reportedly told Mikati on Wednesday that he would urge Israel to end its campaign in return for a Lebanese commitment to implementing Resolution 1701.

As Lebanon awaited a diplomatic response, Israel’s Channel 12 said that the Israeli army is preparing to expand its ground operations in Lebanon “as negotiations might take time.”

Israeli attacks intensified in south Lebanon and the Bekaa region, with evacuation warnings extending to the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp in Tyre and civil defense centers in Baalbek.

The Israeli army warned residents of several southern towns, including the Rashidieh camp, to evacuate north of the Awali River.

The order sparked panic among the camp’s 323,000 residents, triggering mass displacement of people who had few options for shelter.

A similar event took place in the Baalbek region a day earlier as tens of thousands of Lebanese fled their homes following warnings of imminent Israeli bombardment.

This warning was repeated on Thursday, preventing the return of residents.

Many spent the night in their cars in harsh cold weather as nearby town shelters reached capacity from earlier evacuees.

Some residents sought shelter in the historic Baalbek Castle, assuming the site had international protection status, but Baalbek Gov. Bashir Khodr advised against this, warning that the castle fell within the “red zone” designated by Israel as a potential target.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, in a new warning posted on X to people in Baalbek, Ain Bourday and Douris, said that residents of the three areas “are staying in a combat zone in which the Israeli army intends to attack.”

Israeli strikes later hit border areas in northern Bekaa and across the Syrian border, a common route for illegal crossings.

An airstrike in Bodai destroyed a home and killed its four inhabitants.

About 10,000 airstrikes have hit Baalbek in the last two days, killing about 70 people and injuring more than 500 others.

Israeli raids targeted an Amal Movement ambulance in Zefta and a civil defense center affiliated with Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Organization on the highway between Dardagia and Arzoun in southern Lebanon.

The strike killed a paramedic and injured two others, bringing the death toll of health workers in Lebanon to 174, with 279 wounded.

Israeli drone attacks against cars and motorcycles in southern Lebanon and western Bekaa continued on Thursday.

A car on the Araya-Kahala road was struck, killing two and injuring one.

On Wednesday, an Israeli drone struck a car on the same road, killing its driver, who was transporting anti-tank missiles.

A drone also struck a car on the Al-Amariyeh-Naqoura road, killing its driver, a Lebanese Army soldier.

A motorcycle rider was killed in the town of Qaraoun located in the West Bekaa region.

Meanwhile, Israel’s air campaign escalated across south Lebanon, targeting residential homes and neighborhoods. A missile struck a man’s home in Ebel El Saqi, injuring his eight-year-old granddaughter.

The town of Chihine was hit with Israeli white phosphorous artillery shells, while the Israeli army blew up four houses in Alma Al-Shaab, a town adjacent to the Blue Line.

A residential building in Aita Al-Shaab was also struck from the air.

On Wednesday evening, the Israeli army destroyed the only mosque in the border town of Boustane, along with several houses in the border town of Al-Dahira.

A new video showing extensive destruction in the southern border town of Kfar Kila was shared. All of the town’s buildings and houses had been leveled.

In a statement, Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, warned: “At least one child is killed and 10 injured daily in Lebanon.

“Thousands more children who have survived the many months of constant bombings are now acutely distressed by the violence and chaos around them.”

Clashes on the ground between the Israeli army and Hezbollah continued on Thursday across the border region.

Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV reported that “violent clashes” took place east of Khiam, with militants repelling an Israeli incursion into the area.

Clashes near the border town have continued for three days following an Israeli assault.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that the international force had been targeted more than 50 times since the beginning of the conflict.

Seven of these attacks were “carried out deliberately by Israel,” he added.

Israel claimed it had killed Mohammed Khalil Alian, the commander of the anti-tank force affiliated with Hezbollah’s Nasr unit, in Burj Qallawiyah.

On Wednesday, Israel’s air force claimed the elimination of a Hezbollah air defense cell that had launched a missile at an Israeli aircraft in the region north of Tyre.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577521/middle-east

--------

Dead or alive? Scores missing after paramilitary group’s attacks in Sudan’s Al-Jazira state

November 01, 2024

NEW HALFA, Sudan: Khadir Ali and his family managed to survive a harrowing paramilitary attack in war-torn Sudan. But by the time they got to safety, he realized that one person was missing.

“We escaped in total chaos — there was gunfire coming from every direction,” said the 47-year-old civil servant of the October 22 Rapid Support Forces attack on Rufaa in Al-Jazira state.

“But once we got out of the city, we noticed my nephew wasn’t with us,” he said.

Mohammed, 17, suffers from a congenital skin condition and “needs special care.”

The teenager is among scores of people reported missing as the RSF stages major attacks across eastern Al-Jazira state after a high-ranking officer from the area defected to the army.

In retaliation, the RSF has been “killing people in their homes, in markets and on the streets, and looting property including from markets and hospitals,” rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

“Six days have passed, and we know nothing about him,” Ali said, speaking in New Halfa in Kassala state.

He and his family have taken refuge there after an arduous 150-kilometer (90-mile) journey.

At least 124 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the fighting in Al-Jazira state over the past 10 days, according to the United Nations.

The death toll for the whole month is at least 200.

War has raged in Sudan since April 2023 between the army under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The conflict has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. More than half the population — 25 million people — face acute hunger.

So many persons missing

The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that more than 119,000 people have fled from Al-Jazira state amid the recent surge of violence.

Mohamed Al-Obaid from Al-Hajjilij village in the state told AFP his story.

“So far, we’ve counted 170 missing from our village. Entire families are unaccounted for,” he said from New Halfa, where some children arrive unaccompanied by family members.

Since February, communications networks and Internet services have been almost entirely severed in the state, making it practically impossible to check on someone’s whereabouts.

Activist Ali Bashir, who helps people get away from villages in eastern Al-Jazira, said “the communications blackouts are making the missing persons crisis even worse.”

Sudanese social media are filled with posts about missing persons, with activists sharing the pictures and names, many of them children or elderly.

Earlier this month, intense clashes between the army and the RSF spread to Al-Jazira’s Tamboul city.

Just hours after the army said it had taken control of Tamboul, witnesses reported that the paramilitaries were continuing to operate there, causing thousands of civilians to flee.

Among them was trader Osman Abdel Karim, who lost track of two of his sons during fighting on October 19.

“Two of my sons, one 15 and the other 13, were outside when the attack began that Saturday night, and we had to leave without them,” the 43-year-old said.

“Ten days have passed, and we don’t know if they’re dead or alive.”

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577629/middle-east

---------

Strikes hit south Beirut after Israeli evacuation orders: Lebanon news agency

November 01, 2024

BEIRUT:  At least 10 strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs at dawn on Friday, Lebanon’s official news agency said, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for buildings in the area.

AFPTV footage showed explosions followed by clouds of smoke that rang out in the city’s suburbs after the Israeli army ordered several buildings in Hezbollah’s stronghold to evacuate.

“The raids left massive destruction in the targeted areas, as dozens of buildings were leveled to the ground, in addition to the outbreak of fires,” the National News Agency (NNA) said.

Israeli warplanes carried out 10 raids targeting the suburban areas of Ghobeiry and Al-Kafaat, the Sayyed Hadi Highway, the vicinity of the Al-Mujtaba Complex, and the old airport road, it added.

The Israeli military has repeatedly bombarded south Beirut in recent weeks, while also carrying out deadly strikes elsewhere in the capital and across Lebanon.

Friday’s strikes come a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met visiting US officials to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Lebanon, with the death toll mounting on both sides of the border.

At least 1,829 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel began an air campaign targeting Hezbollah strongholds on September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577628/middle-east

---------

Blinken says ‘good progress’ made toward Lebanon ceasefire deal

October 31, 2024

WASHINGTON DC: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that negotiators have made “good progress” toward a deal that would bring a ceasefire in Israel’s offensive in Lebanon.

The top US diplomat said that Washington was “working very hard” on concluding arrangements on a deal that would include the withdrawal of Hezbollah from the border region with Israel.

“Based on my recent trip to the region, and the work that’s ongoing right now, we have made good progress on those understandings,” Blinken told reporters.

“We still have more work to do,” he said, calling for a “diplomatic resolution, including through a ceasefire.”

Two senior US officials, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, met Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that any deal on Lebanon must guarantee Israel’s security.

Unlike in the year-old war in Gaza, the US has stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and has largely backed Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, while voicing concern for the fate of civilians.

Blinken called again for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, dating from 2006, which calls for the disarmament of non-state groups in Lebanon and a full Israeli withdrawal from the country.

“It’s important to make sure that we have clarity, both from Lebanon and from Israel, about what would be required under 1701 to get its effective implementation — the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from the border, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces, the authorities under which they’d be acting, an appropriate enforcement mechanism,” Blinken said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking alongside Blinken and their South Korean counterparts, said there was an “opportunity” in Lebanon.

“We’re hopeful that we will see things transition in Lebanon in a not too distant future,” Austin said.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577593/middle-east

---------

Houthis abduct another Yemeni employee of US Embassy in Sanaa

SAEED AL-BATATI

October 31, 2024

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthi militia has abducted a Yemeni employee of the US Embassy in Sanaa, becoming the latest known victim of the Houthis’ crackdown on aid and civil society workers in Yemeni areas under their control.

A group of armed Houthis, including Zaynabiyat policewomen, have stormed the house of Mohammed Abdullah Shammakh, an administrative officer at the US Embassy in Sanaa, and abducted him after searching it, according to his friend and Yemeni journalist Sami Ghaleb.

Ghaleb, who spoke with residents of Sanaa’s Al-Ziraah neighborhood, where the abducted man lived, told Arab News on Thursday that the Houthis raided the three-story building on Oct. 10 and instructed its occupants, including children and women, to go to the roofs.

They then confined them, before storming Shammakh’s apartment and conducting a search.

Shammakh was in a nearby market purchasing items for his family when the raid occurred and was taken aback when he observed the Houthis occupying his residence, his friend said.

When he returned home, the Houthis abducted him, leaving behind a chaotic house and a terrified family, according to Ghaled.

“He’s more like a family member than a friend. He is a great person, like his father, lovable and helpful, and he assists his neighbors,” said Ghaled, who published an article on his news site, www.alndaa.net, in which he urged the Houthis to release him and other abducted individuals.

“You are responsible for these heinous violations, and no one in the historic capital is willing to listen to your ridiculous argument. These are simply helpless employees,” Ghaled wrote on his website on Wednesday.

The US Embassy in Yemen, which is now based in Riyadh, responded to Arab News’ request for comment on the abduction of its employee in Sanaa by saying: “We are aware of that report but cannot confirm if it is true at this time.”

The US Embassy in Yemen has been closed since early 2015, and the diplomatic mission has been relocated to Riyadh, months after the Houthis seized power.

In 2021, the Houthis raided the US Embassy compound in Sanaa, abducting Yemeni employees from the building and also abducting other former and current embassy employees from their Sanaa homes.

According to lawyers in Sanaa, the Houthis recently referred six abducted US Embassy employees to court and intend to try them on espionage charges.

Over the past four months, the Houthis have abducted more than 70 Yemeni workers from UN agencies, international human rights and aid organizations, and foreign diplomatic missions, accusing them of spying for US and Israeli intelligence agencies.

Relatives of some of those abducted have told Arab News that the Houthis have denied their requests to visit them in detention, call them, or provide information about their conditions.

On Wednesday, the office of the UN Yemen envoy, Hans Grundberg, said that he discussed efforts to release the UN workers abducted by the Houthis with Nada Al-Nashif, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, and reiterated his appeal to the Houthis to release them.

“The UN remains steadfast in demanding their immediate and unconditional release,” Grundberg’s office said.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577574/middle-east

--------

Islamic Health Organization mourns seven paramedics killed by Israeli attacks

2024-11-01

The Islamic Health Organization issued a statement reporting that Israeli forces continue to launch daily assaults on emergency medical teams and centers, systematically targeting paramedics to hinder their humanitarian efforts.

In the latest incident, an ambulance carrying a medical team was targeted near Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital in Toul, southern Lebanon, on Wednesday night, causing damage to the vehicle, though no injuries were reported.

In Tyre, a medical station was struck, damaging three ambulances and a fire truck without causing injuries.

Oowever, an ambulance in the town of Deir El Zahrani was attacked, killing one paramedic and resulting in moderate injuries to others.

Another medical station in Derdghaiya suffered a strike, killing two paramedics and the destruction of an ambulance.

In contrast, a station in the town of Selaa saw an ambulance destroyed, though no injuries were reported. A second medical point in Tyre was also targeted, with four paramedics injured in the attack.

"We mourn our martyrs and wish for the speedy recovery of the wounded. We vow to continue our path toward inevitable victory soon," the statement concluded.

Source:lbcgroup.tv

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/lebanon-news/811609/islamic-health-organization-mourns-seven-paramedics-killed-by-israeli/en

-------

Iraqi Parliament set to elect new speaker: Al-Halbousi, Al-Maliki back Al-Mashhadani amid high stakes

2024-10-31

Shafaq News/ A source from the Taqadum bloc, led by Mohammed al-Halbousi, revealed, on Thursday, that al-Halbousi has reached an agreement with State of Law Coalition leader Nouri al-Maliki to support Mahmoud al-Mashhadani’s candidacy for Speaker of Parliament.

According to the source, the heads of political blocs convened a meeting, led by both al-Maliki and al-Halbousi, to discuss backing al-Mashhadani for the Speaker role, with participants affirming that today’s session will take place, regardless of timing, to finalize the Speaker's election.

The source also noted that political leaders are expected to arrive at Parliament in the coming hours to resolve the Speaker election issue.

Earlier, al-Mashhadani, who was parliamentary speaker from 2006 to 2008, confirmed to Shafaq News Agency, "I am the candidate of the Sunni majority for the role of Parliament Speaker," adding, "We seek support from the national blocs in today’s session."

He also expressed confidence that Parliament would finalize this matter today.

On the other hand, Independent MP Amer Abdul Jabbar confirmed that he remains a candidate for the Speaker role, despite what he described as an "inopportune timing" for today’s session.

Speaking to Shafaq News Agency, Abdul Jabbar noted that "the parliamentary session is expected to commence after 06:00 p.m.," expressing concern about the timing given "the violent clash that occurred in the previous session between members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Taqadum bloc."

"I remain in the race, aiming to break the traditional political and partisan routine," Abdul Jabbar stated.

He also disclosed that "numerous political factions have urged him to withdraw his candidacy," yet he declined, citing his opposition to "the entrenched system of political and party quotas."

The Iraqi Parliament has dedicated the session scheduled for this afternoon to elect a new Speaker, succeeding Muhammad al-Halbousi, whose term ended nearly a year ago.

On Wednesday, October 23, six Sunni forces, led by al-Halbousi, outlined two potential paths to resolve the selection of a new Speaker after an 11-month impasse.

In a joint statement from the parties involved—Taqadum, al-Jamaheer al-Wataniya, Al-Hasm, the Iraqi National Project, Al-Sadara, and Al-Mubadara—it was confirmed that there are two options available.

"The first option entails all competing parties withdrawing their candidates, with all present national forces agreeing to support Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who has gained the backing of the Sunni parliamentary and political majority. The second option involves initiating legal proceedings within the Parliament to nominate a new candidate from the Sunni political majority, supported by a substantial parliamentary majority, to uphold the rights of the Sunni majority in appointing their representative to this position," as per the statement.

Source:shafaq.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://shafaq.com/en/Iraq/EXCLUSIVE-I-am-the-Sunni-majority-s-candidate-for-parliament-speaker-says-al-Mashhadani

---------

 

Pakistan

 

Blast claims lives of four schoolchildren, one cop in Mastung

November 01, 2024

An explosion targeting a police vehicle in Balochistan's Mastung district Friday claimed the lives of at least four schoolchildren, one policeman and a passer-by near the Girls High School at the Civil Hospital Chowk, police said on Friday.

According to police, the blast that damaged the police vehicle also left at least 15 people injured.

Several other vehicles, including rickshaws, present near the blast site were also damaged, they added.

Most injured in the explosion are schoolchildren, said police, further stating that they have all been shifted to the District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) nearby.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Miandad Umrani said that a remote-controlled explosive device was planted in a motorcycle.

The ages of the deceased schoolchildren, which including girls and boys, are between 10 to 13 years old, while four policemen are among the injured.

In view of the blast, an emergency has also been declared across all Quetta hospitals including the Civil Hospital, BMC Hospital and Trauma Centre, said the provincial health department spokesperson, adding that all doctors, pharmacists, staff nurses and other medical staff have been summoned.

The spokesperson said that five people injured in the blast, among which the condition of one is critical, have been shifted to the Trauma Center in Quetta.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti condemned the blast expressing grief over the loss of lives. He extended condolences to the relatives of the martyred policeman and schoolchildren.

"Terrorists have now targeted innocent children along with labourers,” said Bugti, resolving to avenge the blood of innocent citizens including children.

He added that locals among the civilian population also have to keep an eye on the terrorists. "The monster of terrorism can only be fought together."

Acting President and Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani also condemned the incident and expressed deep grief over the loss of innocent lives.

"Terrorist elements are an enemy to humanity. The nation stands strong beside the security forces and law enforcement agencies against terrorism," he said.

Source:thenews.com.pk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1246191-blast-claims-lives-of-three-schoolchildren-one-policeman-in-mastung

---------

Govt warns of strong response to PTI's nationwide 'unusual' protests

November 01, 2024

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs, Rana Sanaullah Khan has said that the government is fully prepared to respond to any "unusual" protest strategies from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with equally "unusual" measures.

His remarks came on Thursday hours after the PTI announced a new nationwide protest campaign against the 26th Constitutional Amendment which it strongly opposed in both houses of the parliament during its passage on October 20.

The protest call was given by the Imran Khan-founded party's Secretary General Salman Akram Raja in Lahore yesterday, terming the 26th Amendment "an attack on the Constitution of Pakistan and the judiciary".

He said that his party would strongly resist the constitutional tweaks and added that a plan had been chalked out to organise a sit-in and a demonstration across the country.

Speaking on Geo News programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath", the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader said that PTI's protest call was meant to stop the economic progress and create uncertainty in the country.

Pointing towards the "low attendance" in the PTI's previous power shows and protests, Sanaullah was of the view that the former ruling party could not gather a large number of protesters which could be troublesome for the government to handle.

He, however, said that in case of any "unusual plan" by the former ruling party, the federal government would take "unusual measures" to handle the situation.

To a question, Sanaullah dispelled speculations of any deal between the PTI with the coalition government, which allegedly led to the release of PTI founder Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi from jail.

He categorically rebuffed the deal rumours, saying that striking a deal was not possible with the court.

Commenting on the former first lady's release, the politician-cum-lawyer stressed that the court always takes a lenient decision if a case is not concluded in six to eight months.

He was also questioned about the chances of the 26th Constitutional Amendment’s revocation via a Supreme Court's bench formed under Practice and Procedure law.

Sanaullah ruled out the possibility of the constitutional package being struck down by court, saying parliament has decided to "assert" its authority "and no one would try to violate Article 239 of the Constitution".

Source:thenews.com.pk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1246043-govt-warns-of-strong-response-to-ptis-nationwide-unusual-protests

---------

PTI announces to launch new protest movement against 26th Amendment

October 31, 2024

After failing to block passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment in both houses of parliament, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday unveiled a plan to launch a nationwide protest movement.

The announcement was made by the Imran Khan-founded party’s Secretary General Salman Akram Raja during a press conference in Lahore, terming the 26th Amendment “attack on the Constitution of Pakistan and the judiciary”.

He said that his party would strongly resist the constitutional tweaks and added that a plan had been chalked out to organise sit-in and demonstration across the country.

The major announcement for a protest movement came after a series of demonstrations and power shows led by the major opposition party organised to mount pressure on the incumbent government to step back from the judiciary-centric constitutional tweaks.

Earlier this month, the embattled opposition party had announced a protest at D-Chowk protest for October 15, however, its political committee deferred it due to the two-day SCO summit in Islamabad.

Raja also slammed the incumbent government for alleged mistreatment with jailed party founder Imran Khan in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail for more than one year.

He alleged: "Inhumane treatment is being meted out to the PTI founder," — an allegation denied by Adiala Jail authorities.

To a question related to Khan's wife's role after being released from jail, Raja clarified that Bushra Bibi has no intentions to play any role in the country’s politics.

Responding to a question related to Sher Afzal Marwat's recent statements in which he threw shade at the PTI leadership over ineffective protest movement and particularly criticised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

To this, the PTI secretary general hinted at disciplinary action against Marwat. "We are giving a chance to Sher Afzal Marwat. If he fails to maintain the party's discipline then we will take action against him," he said.

Reacting to Raja’s statement, Marwat expressed regret over the PTI secretary general's remarks, saying he "is always ready to work with him".

The PTI firebrand leader further said: "You [Salman Akram Raja] are neither my boss nor you have any authority to control me. PTI founder and [party chairman] Barrister Gohar Ali Khan are my bosses and I'm answerable to them. No other individual holds a value for me."

It is noteworthy to mention here that Marwat had described his party's protest as "not up to the mark" while meeting the incarcerated PTI founder a day ago. He also claimed that Khan had ordered to form a new protest committee and he (Marwat) would be a part of it.

Source:thenews.com.pk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1245962-pti-announces-to-launch-new-protest-movement-against-26th-amendment

--------

New rules allow citizens to apply for passports from any city

By Maryam Nawaz

October 31, 2024

ISLAMABAD: In a positive development, Pakistani citizens can now apply for passports from any city across the country irrespective of the residential address mentioned on their computerised national identity card (CNIC).

The passport department made these changes after the federal government made amendment to the passport rules, allowing the citizens to get their passports from any city in the country.

A notification of amendment in the passport rules has been sent to the passport regional offices to facilitate the citizens, according to officials.

Directorate General (DG) of Immigration and Passports Mustafa Jamal Qazi said the new decision by the federal government was made in light of the difficulties faced by the citizens.

An official statement said the citizens passports applications will not be refused if their residential address on CNIC is different from the area they are applying for the travel document.

Earlier in August, addressing prolonged delays in the issuance of passports leading to increasing complaints, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar informed the National Assembly that the issue would be resolved by the end of September after the installation of new machinery and software.

In response to a Calling Attention Notice regarding delays in issuing passports, the federal minister expressed optimism that the introduction of the new system would also help clear the existing backlog of passport applications.

He said that the new system will be installed soon which will increase the daily capacity for issuing passports from 26,000 to 60,000.

Source:thenews.com.pk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1245950-new-rules-allow-citizens-to-apply-for-passports-from-any-city

--------

President Zardari fractures leg while descending from plane at Dubai airport

October 31, 2024

DUBAI: President Asif Ali Zardari went on a four-week complete rest after suffering a leg fracture while coming out of plane at Dubai airport last night, a spokesperson of the President's House said on Thursday.

According to the spokesperson, the president was immediately shifted to a hospital for first aid and his leg was plastered by doctors following his check-up.

Zardari has been shifted to home and doctors advised him to complete a four-week rest due to his plastered leg, it added.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi prayed for President Zardari speedy recovery following his foot injury.

"During this time, may he find strength and resilience. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, and we look forward to his swift return to serve our nation," he wrote in a X post.

PPP leader Sehar Kamran also reacted to Zardari's injury and prayed for his speedy recovery and complete healing.

"He is an icon of strength & courage for all of us; his resilience and determination inspire us all. Allah Almighty may bless him with good health and long life, Aameen," she wrote.

In September 2022, Zardari, who is also the PPP co-chairman, was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi's Clifton area due to lung infection.

Subsequently, the same year in October, the former president was discharged from hospital and shifted to Bilawal House in the metropolis.

Back then, Zardari’s illness had sparked rumours of his precarious condition, however, his personal physician Dr Asim Hussain repudiated the reports circulating on social media platforms.

He had also contracted COVID-19 with mild symptoms in July 2022, his son and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had shared the update on X, adding that his father was not only vaccinated but had also received booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine.

Source:thenews.com.pk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1245951-president-zardari-fractures-leg-while-descending-from-plane-at-dubai-airport

---------

Bill to raise number of judges off NA agenda

Amir Wasim

 November 1, 2024

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to defer the introduction of a key bill — seeking to amend the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act — in parliament due to a lack of consensus among the coalition partners, sources told Dawn.

During the National Assembly’s sitting on Monday, a couple of treasury lawmakers had hinted that the government planned to table the bill in the lower house of parliament today (on Friday), but the bill was not included in the orders of the day issued by the National Assembly Secre­tariat on Thursday evening.

But Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar is set to table the Supreme Court (Pra­ctice and Procedure) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 in the Senate on Friday in the form of a bill, the agenda issued by the Senate Secretariat revealed.

President Asif Ali Zardari had promulgated the ordinance on September 20, following its approval by the federal cabinet. Under the previous version of the law, the three-judge body that deals with formation of benches was supposed to consist of three senior-most judges. The ordinance allowed the chief justice of Pakistan to pick any judge of the Supreme Court to be its third member.

Moreover, the government also wanted to increase the number of judges and make some more amendments, following the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment changing the procedure for the appointment of SC judges and the CJP.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Monday, PPP me­­mbers from Karachi — Nabil Gabol and Agha Rafiullah — had protested the governm­ent’s decision to drag the ongoing session while complaining about the absence of ministers in the house. They said it had become difficult for them to spend time in the federal capital and they wanted to visit their constituencies.

A government source told Dawn that the draft of the proposed law was not ready and would be shared with the ruling partners for consensus. The so­­urce said the government could easily get this bill passed as it required simple majority in the house, but it did not want to lose the confidence of the parties which had supported the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

Sources said that a number of MNAs had already left for their respective constituencies after adjournment of the sitting on Tuesday and they were not expected to return to Islamabad for Friday’s session after knowing that the legislation was not on its agenda. They said the government planned to get it pas­sed from parliament by Nov 6.

Talking to Dawn, JUI-F spo­kesman Aslam Ghouri said that so far, the government had not shared any draft or proposal related to the bill about the judiciary. “No one has even asked us about any new upcoming legislation, so how can we oppose it,” said the JUI-F spokesman.

According to the agenda issued for the NA’s Friday sitting, members belonging to the PTI would raise the issue of placing the names of several MNAs on the ECL, the PNIL, and the Passport Control List.

Source:dawn.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.dawn.com/news/1869027/bill-to-raise-number-of-judges-off-na-agenda

---------

Prime suspect records statement in Karachi quadruple murder case

Sumair Abdullah

 November 1, 2024

KARACHI: The prime suspect in the quadruple murder case confessed to killing four women of his family in a statement recorded before a judicial magistrate on Thursday.

The judicial magistrate sent the prime suspect and his friend to prison on judicial remand.

At the outset of Thursday’s hearing, the investigating officer (IO) produced two suspects, Bilal and Shehzad, before Judicial Magistrate (South) Kalsoom Mustafa Sahto after they had completed their police custody.

Meanwhile, the court allowed an application filed by the IO to record the confessional statement of prime suspect Bilal under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code.

In his statement before the magistrate, the suspect allegedly confessed that on the provocation of Shehzad, his friend, he had killed four women of his family, including an underage niece.

The prime suspect claimed that his friend asked him to kill his family members if he wanted to marry Shehzad’s sister.

But Shehzad in his statement before police denied the allegation, the IO told the court.

After recording the statement, the court remanded two suspects in the judicial custody.

In addition, the IO claimed that the prime suspect led the police to the crime scene and explained in detail how he had committed the crime.

The IO also revealed that he first slit his niece’s throat when she came to give him water. Then he went to his sister Madiha, who was recording a TikTok video in her room, and killed her with a knife. Afterwards, he went to the room of his mother, where she was cleaning the speakers, and killed her by approaching from behind.

Finally, when he entered his sister-in-law’s room, she noticed his blood-stained clothes and resisted which led to a scuffle in which the suspect also sustained injuries.

After killing his sister-in-law, the suspect wore his brother’s shirt and hid the murder weapon in his own shirt.

Later, the suspect went to his friend Shehzad’s house where he changed his shirt and shoes again. He then went to Native Jetty Bridge and disposed of the murder weapon which the police later recovered and sent for a forensic analysis.

The IO also revealed that he had planned to murder his family members more than two months ago and started watching the Indian TV show “Crime Patrol” to get ideas.

Earlier, the police apprehended the suspected abettor, Shezad, on charges of being accomplice, on the alleged confession of prime suspect Bilal.

A case was registered at the Baghdadi police station under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention).

Source:dawn.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.dawn.com/news/1868969/prime-suspect-records-statement-in-karachi-quadruple-murder-case

--------

 

Arab World

 

King Salman, crown prince offer condolences to Spain following deadly flooding

October 31, 2024

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have extended their condolences to King Felipe VI of Spain in the aftermath of catastrophic flash floods that have ravaged the country’s southeastern region, resulting in extensive loss of life and leaving many unaccounted for.

In separate cables to the Spanish monarch, both Saudi leaders expressed heartfelt condolences and deep sympathy to the Spanish people, the families of the victims, and those affected, offering their hopes for the safe return of the missing.

The flash floods, which occurred late Tuesday and into Wednesday, have claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 fatalities recorded in the Valencia region alone.

Spain, which has endured nearly two years of drought, saw its hardened ground unable to absorb the intense rainfall, causing severe flash floods that left vehicles and buildings inundated.

Search and rescue operations continued on Thursday as crews combed through stranded cars and flooded homes for victims.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente stated earlier, as the death toll spiked from 95 on Wednesday night.

Authorities warn that more victims may still be discovered as rescue efforts proceed.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577598/saudi-arabia

---------

Saudi Arabia to host inaugural ImpaQ Forum for influencers, content creators

October 31, 2024

RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Media announced on Thursday the launch of the ImpaQ Impact Makers Forum, set to take place on Dec. 18-19 in Riyadh.

The landmark event, announced by media minister Salman bin Yousef Al-Dosari, will be Saudi Arabia’s largest gathering for influencers, digital content creators and industry experts, aimed at redefining the role of influence in the rapidly evolving digital landscape, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The forum is expected to bring together more than 300 influencers from around the world, spanning diverse fields and specializations.

Designed to foster meaningful dialogue between local and international talent, the forum will explore ways to enrich societal values, promote purpose-driven influence and share expertise, SPA added.

In total, the event will feature more than 40 programs, workshops and discussions.

One prominent discussion area, “Who is an Influencer?”, will tackle the evolution of the term in today’s digital world, where influencers are now expected to use their platforms responsibly.

Another focus, the “Purposeful Influence” track, will highlight influencers who leverage their platforms to address pressing global issues, from social justice to environmental advocacy.

Experts will delve into the future of social platforms, discussing trends such as artificial intelligence, interactive media, emerging social networks and the integration of virtual and augmented reality. Several leading international companies in AI, digital marketing and media will also participate, offering attendees insight into industry advancements and potential collaborative opportunities.

The forum will offer 12 hours of programming daily and is expected to attract a wide range of attendees, from seasoned influencers to aspiring digital creators, as well as representatives from government and the private sector.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577587/saudi-arabia

---------

Head of Saudi FDA signs cooperation deal during China visit

October 31, 2024

RIYADH: The head of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement with China’s National Medical Products Administration during a visit to Beijing.

Dr. Hisham bin Saad Al-Jadhey, who will also attend the 8th Shenzhen Food Safety Forum while in China, was accompanied by Saudi Ambassador to China Abdulrahman Al-Harbi on a tour of several organizations, including the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The delegation also met officials from the National Institute for Food and Drug Control to examine their regulatory operations and visited its affiliated bodies, including the Institute for Biological Product Control.

Discussions covered collaborative projects on developing vaccine oversight, biological alternatives, and innovative therapeutic products, such as gene and cellular therapies.

The Saudi delegation also visited the National Institute of Biological Sciences, whose chairman, Dr. Xiaodong Wang, gave a presentation on its research initiatives, drug discovery work and other developments.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577579/saudi-arabia

---------

Thousands of volunteers join Madinah’s green future drive

November 01, 2024

MADINAH: Ayman bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, director general of the environment, water and agriculture branch in Madinah, has launched the “2024 National Planting Season” in the city.

The program extends the ministry’s nationwide campaign “We Plant for Our Future,” supporting sustainable environmental development and vegetation growth as part of the Saudi Green Initiative.

The regional campaign features 36 volunteer programs involving more than 1,800 female and male participants. Plans include planting 50,000 water-efficient and environmentally sustainable seedlings, comprising mesquites, thorn jujube and sweet acacia trees, alongside 20 other wild plant species, aiming to boost environmental and agricultural awareness.

The campaign’s first phase targets education facilities, Prince Sultan Military Medical City and the Saudi Authority for Industrial and Technology Zones, or Modon.

This effort focuses on expanding green spaces, streamlining planting processes, and encouraging community-wide participation in vegetation preservation and planting initiatives.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577626/saudi-arabia

---------

Horror in spotlight at Boulevard World

November 01, 2024

RIYADH: Boulevard World is offering an array of thrilling horror experiences, inviting visitors to embark on spine-chilling adventures filled with mystery and surprise.

One of its standout attractions, The Dolls' Trip, takes visitors into an abandoned doll factory hidden within an ancient Mexican pyramid. What starts as a school trip quickly turns into a nightmare as dolls come to life in the shadows, trapping visitors in dark, labyrinthine tunnels.

Along the way they encounter eerie scenes such as the abandoned bus and the doll workshop, in which the lifeless figures seem poised to awaken. This adventure accommodates groups of eight, ensuring an exhilarating experience.

In the Egypt zone, the Mystery of the Nile adventure plunges visitors into the depths of ancient Egyptian history.

Aboard a boat navigating a mystical river, guests face mummies that shake the boat violently. As they journey through narrow bridges and corridors filled with traps, hieroglyphic symbols light up the walls, accompanied by spine-tingling sounds. This experience features stunning visual and sound effects, keeping participants on high alert throughout.

Pyramid Trail, which is also in the Egypt zone, challenges visitors with puzzles and obstacles deep inside an ancient pyramid. The adventure begins in a laser-filled room in which participants must carefully maneuver to avoid detection.

They then board a conveyor belt adorned with hieroglyphic symbols, dodging moving obstacles. The journey concludes with leaps over circular trampolines above a snake-themed pit.

Meanwhile, The Vampire Hotel awaits visitors to the Italy zone, where an Italian-inspired design sets a dark and eerie atmosphere. The journey begins in a haunted elevator that leaves participants with an unsettled feeling.

As they navigate the dim corridors, visitors encounter sticky walls, with curtains and furniture moving mysteriously. The highlight of the experience is the coffin room, where guests are invited to lay inside coffins. The hotel also boasts a dining room resembling a chilling movie scene.

Boulevard World’s horror attractions promise unparalleled thrills during Riyadh Season 2024, offering visitors the chance to explore new levels of fear and excitement at every turn.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577624/saudi-arabia

---------

Saudi, Bahraini officials review King Fahd Causeway expansion plans

November 01, 2024

MANAMA: Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef and his Bahraini counterpart, Lt-Gen. Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, conducted a joint inspection on Thursday of the King Fahd Causeway connecting the two kingdoms.

The officials were welcomed by Eastern Province Deputy Gov. Prince Saud bin Bandar and Suhail Abanmi, who heads both the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and the causeway’s board of directors.

During the tour, Prince Abdulaziz and Sheikh Rashid reviewed ongoing development projects, focusing on expanded processing facilities and increased capacity measures designed to enhance cross-border travel efficiency, in line with Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council guidelines.

The 25-km long King Fahd Causeway is a series of bridges and causeways connecting AlKhobar in eastern Saudi Arabia and Al Jasra island in Bahrain. It was constructed in 1981 and opened to traffic in April 1985.

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577615/saudi-arabia

---------

How AI and fintech are redefining the banking landscape in Saudi Arabia

SULAFA ALKHUNAIZI

October 31, 2024

RIYADH: The financial industry is undergoing a seismic transformation, with artificial intelligence and fintech reshaping everything from regulatory compliance and customer experience to counter-fraud measures.

Across the globe, banks are adopting generative AI and machine learning to drive innovation, reduce costs, and enhance security. Saudi Arabia is emerging as a key player, with local tech companies like MOZN spearheading change.

Speaking to Arab News, Mohammed Alhussein, MOZN’s founder and CEO, highlighted the “enormous improvements in how financial institutions offer their services to customers” over the last decade.

“There are more products that reach more people. Those products are better, faster, and are being offered online,” he said. At the same time, however, the growth of online banking services has also “opened the door for fraudsters.”

Banks are rapidly integrating AI for a host of benefits, including predictive analytics, automated compliance, and fraud detection.

A key driver is the need for real-time, data-driven insights. The ability of AI to analyze vast amounts of data quickly is transforming how banks assess risk, manage assets, and engage with customers.

For instance, AI has enabled high-speed trading and personalized customer services by leveraging machine learning to identify individual preferences and optimize service offerings.

AI’s predictive capabilities also allow for better risk assessment, making it easier for banks to anticipate and mitigate potential financial risks.

Generative AI is also playing a significant role in areas like customer service and product development.

In the banking sector, it powers “intelligent banking” systems that enhance customer experience by summarizing customer conversations and improving support agent responses.

It also assists advisers in retrieving essential product information quickly, thereby reducing the response time and elevating service quality for clients.

Furthermore, AI-driven tools are automating compliance processes, making it easier for banks to adhere to evolving regulatory standards, potentially saving financial institutions from costly penalties and reputational damage.

With online banking services expanding, banks face an increased risk of fraud. AI is essential in developing sophisticated fraud detection systems that can identify anomalies in real time.

For example, fintech platforms now monitor large volumes of transaction data to identify potentially fraudulent activity instantaneously, helping mitigate risks before they escalate.

“Everything is digital. This means that financial institutions must now make identity-related decisions in real-time,” said Alhussein. “AI is really good at identifying anomalous behavior analysis patterns and doing it really quickly.”

Advanced AI-driven compliance systems are also evolving. These systems are designed to constantly adapt to regulatory changes and identify emerging threats.

The automation of regulatory compliance processes allows banks to operate more efficiently, focusing on growth without compromising security.

Such systems are critical in Saudi Arabia, where financial institutions are expanding their services rapidly to keep up with the country’s Vision 2030 goals of a diversified, innovation-driven economy.

MOZN’s flagship compliance platform, FOCAL, is a prime example of AI in action, tailored to combat financial fraud through a unique blend of real-time identity verification and anomaly detection.

FOCAL actively screens and analyzes both customer and transactional data, immediately flagging suspicious activity that may indicate fraud or compliance breaches.

“We work with the financial sector specifically on one challenge, which is navigating and protecting against the risks of financial fraud,” said Alhussein.

“FOCAL is an AI-powered risk and compliance platform that financial institutions use to help protect their assets and their customers’ assets.”

MOZN has also developed OSOS, a generative AI platform specifically designed for Arabic language users.

As Arabic content on the web grows, OSOS provides a culturally relevant solution, handling Arabic linguistic nuances and serving enterprises across the region.

Equipped with anti-hallucination features, OSOS minimizes bias and enhances accuracy by training on a diverse, balanced dataset. This feature is crucial as it ensures outputs are relevant and reliable, which is especially important for business and regulatory contexts.

“In developing OSOS, two of the main cornerstones of the values we are adding are minimizing both bias and hallucinations,” said Alhussein.

“OSOS has performed exceptionally well in different benchmarks that we’ve tested, and we’re very optimistic about where this is going.”

MOZN’s advancements have not gone unnoticed. The company was recently listed among the Top 250 Fintech Companies globally by CNBC and Statista — a testament to its influence in the fintech industry.

This achievement underscores the company’s success not only in technology but also in meeting the specific needs of financial institutions in the region.

By achieving a 350 percent increase in customer acquisition since 2022, MOZN exemplifies the upward trajectory of Saudi fintech.

Its success reflects a broader regional trend of fintech growth, as countries in the Middle East and North Africa increasingly embrace digital transformation in banking, and advances in AI across all sectors and industries.

“The future of AI in Saudi Arabia is extremely exciting,” said Alhussein.

“We’re incredibly fortunate to be a company born in Saudi Arabia and to witness the amazing transformation happening in the country, specifically regarding technology and artificial intelligence.”

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577599/saudi-arabia

--------

AlUla event discusses effects of climate change on archeology

JASMINE BAGER

October 31, 2024

ALULA: As part of the first AlUla World Archeology Summit Symposium, held in AlUla between Oct. 30-31, an in-depth talk on climate change was held as part of a dedicated workshop.

The results of the event will be published later this year in an upcoming white paper.

Seke Katsamudanga from the University of Zimbabwe presented insights from a cyclone that hit his home country in 2019 and impacted archeological sites.

Since the cyclone destroyed important sites that had not yet been fully researched, it is unknown what was lost, he said.

“We people from different parts of the world with different views at the workshop came together today to continue discussions over the common issues. It is all connected,” Katsamudanga told Arab News.

Hans-Georg Gebel from Freie Universitat Berlin also led the discussion.

“Man should not be going against nature but should go with nature, for a better future,” Gebel told Arab News.

“We cannot change climate change — only to a certain extent — it has to be united by all the nations,” he added, praising the AlUla symposium as a pioneering effort in the field.

He praised the new archeology-centric biennale format, and said that the event offered in hope in tackling the topic of climate change within the archeological context.

The workshop was attended by 30 experts in the field. They explored the challenges presented by climate change and natural disasters on mobile communities and mobility patterns up to the present day.

Arab News also spoke to participant Elinaza Mjema, chair of the department of archeology and heritage studies at the University of Dar es Salaam.

“The light of archeology somehow was fading in some parts of the world, but through the symposium I see that the other part of the world, in AlUla, is now coming up,” Mjema said.

“Here we are looking at climate change as a threat — we are using archeology as a tool to mitigate some of the problems that we are facing as humanity today. Climate change is cutting across — it is all connected, not localized,” he added.

Many of the ceramic artifacts scattered around the ground within the ruins of AlUla are similar to those found in Mjema’s native West Africa, which he assumes is the result of historical trading connections.

“This workshop and site visits have provided climate change discourse relevant to provide lessons from the past,” he said.

“Our ancestors are happy. We are meeting again.”

Source:arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577595/saudi-arabia

---------

Mosques of the UAE: Jumeirah landmark's interiors are as beautiful as the outside

Maan Jalal

November 01, 2024

At the start of Dubai's Jumeirah Beach Road, standing tall behind a modest iron fence is one of the UAE’s most celebrated mosques. Through the fence, a wooden pergola topped with a dome welcomes visitors down a pathway, before the sandstone mosque is revealed in full.

Elaborately decorated twin minarets frame a large central dome and two smaller ones mirror each other at the front. Jumeirah Mosque is humble at first glance, yet ornate once you step inside.

Its size is deceptive. Although it looks small when compared to grander mosques across the country, it can hold more than 1,000 worshippers at full capacity.

Now a recognisable landmark, it first opened in 1979 after four years of construction. Alongside its visual prominence and 45-year history, Jumeirah Mosque has an even greater significance to the Emirates, as it was a gift from the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, the former Ruler of Dubai, to his son Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.

The structure takes inspiration from two Islamic architectural styles – Fatimid and Egyptian Mamluk. Some of the characterisations of Fatimid architecture, a movement developed in the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa, which ended in the 12th century, include keel-shaped arches supported by columns, facade ornamentation with iconographic inscriptions, stucco decorations with intricate honeycomb-like vaulting known as muqarnas, and the extensive use of geometric patterns such as stars and interlocking polygons.

The Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled from Cairo over Egypt, the Levant and the Hijaz until the 16th century, developed a distinctive architectural language that included ornate minarets, carved stone domes, decorated entrance portals and interlaced geometric and floral patterns.

Jumeirah Mosque blends these influences seamlessly into the yellow-pink sandstone structure, where the minarets and dome are embellished with stunning deep relief carvings. These details are highlighted in sunset and in the evenings when the lights of the mosque shine on its exterior.

There are two entrances to the mosque. One on Jumeirah Beach Road solely for tourists and another on the opposite side of the building for worshippers. This entrance includes an inscription from Surah At-Tawbah, the ninth chapter of the Quran, which conveys the conditions for true repentance and forgiveness and focuses on the importance of daily prayer.

The interior includes columns arranged in a hypostyle design around the central dome, a composition used in Mamluk architecture. Beige, yellow, salmon pink and blue adorn the walls in ascending order and through Arabesque designs.

Blue is primarily used in the interior of the dome with Moroccan-influenced chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings and arched hallways. The mosaic lining of the dome is similar to traditional Islamic geometric design, however, the application of a variety of hues is a marked difference from the traditional use of bold primary colours.

Jumeirah Mosque is one of the few mosques in the UAE that offers guided tours to the public. There are 75-minute long sessions that occur six days a week at 10am where local mosque representatives cover aspects of the mosque, Islamic holidays, rituals, traditions, cuisines and customs.

Source:thenationalnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art-design/2024/11/01/jumeirah-mosque-design-interior-dubai-uae/

---------

 

Europe

 

Spain mourns as death toll passes 150 in catastrophic floods

November 01, 2024

At least 158 people have died in Spain's worst flooding disaster in generations as rescuers battle odds to find survivors.

On Thursday more than 1,200 workers, aided by drones, were deployed to the rescue mission as rains continued to threaten parts of the country.

"Right now the most important thing is to save as many lives as possible," Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told victims in a visit to affected communities.

But in some of the towns worst- hit in Tuesday night's floods, people were left to the task of recovering bodies from the mud and wreckage.

A least 155 deaths were recorded in Valencia, while another two have been recorded in Castilla-La Mancha to the province's west, and another, a British man, in Andalusia.

In the town of Paiporta, Valencia where a river burst its banks, at least 40 deaths have been recorded so far.

"We all know someone who has died," said pharmacist Miguel Guerrilla, standing outside his chemist shop which has been covered in thick mud.

"It's a nightmare."

On Thursday, the BBC saw undertakers and funeral vans retrieving bodies from the street, while on nearby roads, cars swept away by the storm surge were piled on top of each other.

Motorists have recounted the horror of being trapped by the surging tides on Tuesday which turned highways and streets into rivers - many who survived climbed trees or bridges to escape.

Officials haven't disclosed the number of people still missing but said there are "many", as the toll rose by about another 60 deaths on Thursday.

More than 90 deaths were recorded on Wednesday alone in the immediate aftermath of the torrential rains and flash floods, which largely affected Valencia, as well as Castilla-La Mancha and as far south as Malaga.

The town of Chiva near Valencia received the equivalent of one year's rainfall in just eight hours according to the Spanish meteorological agency Aemet.

As further rain warnings were issued for the south and east of the country on Thursday, King Felipe VI warned the emergency was "still not over" and PM Sánchez warned citizens to take shelter where necessary.

Meanwhile in flood-affected areas, hundreds are sheltering in temporary accommodation and beginning the slow, arduous task of clearing streets and recovering homes and businesses.

In the city of Jerez hundreds of families have been evacuated from their homes as heavy rain raises river levels.

Many roads and the rail network connecting Valencia to the rest of Spain remain cut off, while overnight in the La Torre area there was more rain overnight, with the streets once again covered in mud.

Spain began an official three-day national mourning period on Thursday with flags at half-mast on government buildings and minutes of silence held.

Public anger is growing over how a developed European country appeared to fail to warn many communities of the flood danger in time.

Questions have been asked over whether disaster management services issued warnings too late.

The civil protection agency, deployed during national disasters, did not issue an alert until 20:15 on Tuesday evening local time, by which time several places in Valencia had been flooded for hours.

Authorities have called the downpours and flooding "unprecedented".

Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.

Weather researchers have identified the likely main cause of the intense rainfall as a “gota fria” – a natural weather event that hits Spain in autumn and winter when cold air descends on warmer waters over the Mediterranean.

However, the increase in global temperatures had led to the clouds carrying more rain, scientists told the BBC.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

“No doubt about it, these explosive downpours were intensified by climate change," said Dr Friederike Otto, from Imperial College London, who leads an international group of scientists who try to understand the role that warming plays in these type of events.

The death toll is the worst from floods in Spain since 1973, when at least 150 people were estimated to have died in the southeastern provinces of Granada, Murcia and Almeria.

Source:bbc.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxrnlld95zo

----------

Russia ready to help Türkiye build second nuclear power plant – Lavrov

1 Nov, 2024

Russia and Türkiye will both benefit if Moscow receives the contract to build the planned Sinop Nuclear Power Plant on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Lavrov made the comments in an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet on Friday. “If it is possible to agree on the parameters of Russia’s participation, it will be a win for both sides. We already have a successful example of this cooperation: The construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant,” he said, adding that it is up to the Turkish authorities to make the final decision.

“Russia has adapted to the sanctions pressure and is developing successfully,” Lavrov said. “The Russian economy is expected to grow by 3.9% this year. We have the lowest unemployment rate among the largest world economies – 2.4%.”

The foreign minister went on to say that the US has been attempting to “restrict” the abilities of Türkiye and other countries to maintain joint projects and to do business with Russia. “The prospects for our practical cooperation depend on whether experts will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions in the near future.”

The Akkuyu plant is being built by a subsidiary of the Russian state-run nuclear corporation (Rosatom). Its first reactor is expected to be launched in 2025, after a delay due to difficulties in receiving equipment from German tech giant Siemens, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said in September.

All four reactors are expected to be launched by 2028. Once fully operational, the facility will be able to cover 10% of Türkiye’s energy needs, Bayraktar said.

The site of the Sinop plant was approved in April. Bayraktar said earlier this year that Rosatom was “ahead” in the bidding process, citing the company’s positive experience in working in Türkiye.

Source:.rt.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.rt.com/news/606826-russia-turkiye-nuclear-power-plant/

---------

Bradford mosque holds knife crime awareness event for teens

31st October

AROUND 20 young people attended an event which highlighted the dangers of knife crime.

Jamiyat Tabligh-Ul-Islam Mosque, on Southfield Square, held Sunday's event for those aged between 13 and 16.

It aimed to educate individuals about the harms of knife-related violence in our communities.

Youth worker Mohammed Azeem said: "It's important we create these safe spaces to have difficult conversations with young people, conversations that are led by grassroot professionals who work with young people in different settings from education, health and out on the streets."

A spokesperson from the mosque described the event as "crucial".

"Together, we can make a difference and create safer neighbourhoods for everyone," they added.

The Telegraph & Argus regularly reports on the devastating effects of knife crime in the area - and the work being done to combat it.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson described knife crime as a "scourge on our society".

They added that the Government is dedicated to halving knife crime within a decade.

Source:thetelegraphandargus.co.uk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/24690726.bradford-mosque-holds-knife-crime-awareness-event-teens/

---------

The US is almost done playing with Ukraine

31 Oct, 2024

Since the beginning of the first military phase of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, Kiev has been actively supported by the United States and its allies. The West’s strategy in the structural confrontation with Russia is aimed at inflicting a defeat on our country without getting directly involved in the conflict. The scenario of hybrid confrontation is not new for Washington. In the Middle East it uses hybrid tools against Iran; to oppose China it utilizes Taiwan and its other partners in the region – the Philippines, South Korea, Japan. In confronting Moscow, the US and its allies in Western Europe have also found a convenient instrument – Ukraine, a large state in close proximity to Russia with a large army. Western countries supply this instrument with arms and intelligence and send military advisers and trainers.

The ‘Ukrainian instrument’ will be used for several adventures and then, when its resources are exhausted, it will be abandoned as it will become useless. Such a scenario calls into question the state of Ukraine’s own future. However, this issue does not seem to be on the Kiev government’s radar. Dependent on Western support, it has effectively abandoned its real national interests. For this reason, the authorities in Kiev are unwilling or unable to take steps towards a real settlement. They believe that as long as the front holds, the crisis can continue – and they see the advantage of privileged relations with the US. The downside is that the United States sees Ukraine as an expendable resource for its own interests.

Either the authorities in Kiev do not understand that the interests of the US and those of Ukraine are different and will eventually diverge, or they are trapped because they’ve staked all their political capital on a war scenario. When a country becomes a tool, its authorities do not take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. It does not matter whether they win or lose: if they win, they will be convinced of their political foresight and superiority; if they lose, they will simply leave the country. If the conflict is not resolved, Ukraine faces the prospect of becoming a militarized, unstable enclave in Eastern Europe, constrained in its development and dependent on instructions from Washington.

We can see that there is a lot of hope for Ukraine in Western countries, even though its defeat is inevitable. That’s why the news obsesses about tales of the US authorizing Kiev to use some kind of new weapon or to provide fresh military supplies or intelligence.

For Russia, these are sensitive and painful steps that will cause human casualties on our side. But the overall dynamics of the conflict are extremely negative for Kiev. Ukraine’s own resources are limited, and the army divisions currently being formed, according to Ukrainian and Western sources, are not getting sufficient modern equipment. The pace of Russian troop advances is increasing by the day – even though Moscow is not inclined to make excessive efforts to achieve its goals in this conflict. All this points to a noticeable depletion of the ‘Ukrainian resource’.

The possibility of a radical change in the strategic situation cannot be completely ruled out: if the Ukrainian front collapses, the direct involvement of individual NATO countries in the conflict will be possible. At the moment, however, as Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said, Western European states have “no desire” to become directly involved.

The inevitable defeat of Ukraine will be a major blow to the reputation of the US, and Washington will do its best to avoid it. Sun Tzu, the author of the ancient Chinese treatise ‘The Art of War’, proposed the maxim that there are three types of war: the best option is to defeat the opponent’s plans, the second is to defeat his alliances, and the third is to defeat him on the battlefield. At the present stage, the military conflict is being fought in all three dimensions.

For the US, the situation on the battlefield in the Ukrainian theatre is not going well. In the midst of an election cycle, officials have no real success to speak of. The US strategy is to push Russia to make some indiscreet move that will upset our plans and destroy our alliances. Washington will constantly be looking for ways to inflame tensions and push Moscow up the escalation ladder.

In this context, the calm, firm line that Russia is now taking in international affairs is a demonstration of confidence and strength. This is how we will achieve our goals.

Source:.rt.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.rt.com/russia/606823-us-is-almost-done-playing/

---------

Rachel Reeves doesn’t mind if you don't like her Budget

Faisal Islam

November 01, 2024

Chancellor Rachel Reeves always knew she was going to spend many days explaining her Budget.

The reaction of those paying the bills for this near-record increase in taxes was always going to be harsh. For the chancellor, her political pain for now is a price worth paying.

The Budget is about the long game on the economy. This is not speed chess, to reference Reeves’s favourite pastime.

And in looking to reboot Britain’s economic model, the chancellor’s most helpful asset is the fact she has a landslide majority to credibly pass all of these policies in to law.

This is one of the many differences from Liz Truss’ mini budget and is sometimes underrated. During that budget in 2022, the markets were not just testing the economic credibility of a PM and chancellor, but their political credibility too, to get a rather different set of economic policies through the Commons.

Look at France right now, which is trying to rein in its levels of government borrowing, but has a minority government made up of the third biggest party, trying to pass tough measures.

The markets don’t have as much confidence in a minority government as they would in a government like the UK, which has a big majority.

Credibility

Two critical assets for a new chancellor (that eluded Kwasi Kwarteng) are political credibility to pass Budgets, and financial credibility with markets.

On the crucial government bond markets, which are a verdict on budgets, but also impact the rate of mortgage and business loans, it is fair to say there is more than an arched eyebrow now.

While at the time of the Budget speech there was no response, the publication of the plans for the increase in the sale of government bonds has set off a marked rise in interest rates. This is because the government is borrowing more than the markets expected. The reaction now is notable, but remains orderly.

This is partly a market repricing of the increased need for loans to the UK government, and the expectation that the Bank of England, facing more post-Budget inflationary pressures, will no longer cut interest rates quite as quickly.

Rates might not fall below 4% next year, as previously expected. The next words from the Bank of England, when it releases its new inflation forecast next week, will be closely watched.

Mammoth changes

The response has been modest given the mammoth changes seen in Wednesday's Budget, with £76bn a year in new spending, half funded by tax and half by borrowing.

The chancellor’s aides say the critical fact is that the borrowing is mostly for big long term UK investment in major capital projects.

The plans increase investment by £105bn versus previous Conservative plans for significant cuts, leaving borrowing at the highest sustained level in half a century.

This could be much better for long term economic growth, and not as inflationary. Clearly, it depends on what the money is spent on.

The sums are significant and suggestive of Joe Biden’s plans in the US which saw billions of government dollars invested into the economy.

The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was in the US last week visiting the key officials in charge of disbursing the record subsidies and loans made available in the $400bn Inflation Reduction Act. One lesson from the US is that it takes time to build up the pipeline of good government investments.

While the US's private sector took an immediate cue from the massive government announcements, it took one to two years to get the state machine ramped up.

The whole mammoth offer of Wednesday's UK Budget could be seen as a bet on the new government having the skills and the judgement to kick start high productivity investment and so get the growth that was lacking in the forecasts.

Of course it is plausible that the Biden US strategy might not last the week, should Donald Trump return to the White House.

But unlike Joe Biden, the PM, his chancellor and energy secretary have at least four years to try to deliver.

Long term economics is why they will be taking the political punches right now.

Source:bbc.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39nvkl47k9o

---------

EU questions democracy if liberals lose – member state’s FM

31 Oct, 2024

The EU would not be questioning the Georgian elections had the liberals won, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has told RT Arabic.

The ruling Georgian Dream party won 54% of the parliamentary votes in last Saturday’s election, but Brussels has sided with opposition parties that are claiming the contest was rigged.

“I understand that this is against the will of Brussels. This is against the intention of the liberals,” Szijjarto told RT Arabic on the sidelines of a security meeting in Minsk on Thursday.

“The Georgian Dream party is a sovereignist party, is a conservative party, is a pro-peace and pro-family party, so absolutely far away from [the] liberal mainstream,” he added.

“In case there’s a sovereignist conservative party to win the election, immediately the democratic nature of that given political system is being questioned. If the opposition parties had won, now you’d hear from Brussels that the democracy in Georgia is fantastic,” the Hungarian diplomat told RT.

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has faced similar criticism from the EU over the past 14 years, Szijjarto noted, describing it as “nothing new under the sun.”

Georgian Dream made building pragmatic relations with all neighbors, including Russia, a pillar of their campaign. Four opposition parties, including the one brought to power by a US-backed ‘color revolution’ in 2003, accused the government of “stealing” the election. Georgia’s president, the French-born Salome Zourabichvili, has sided with the opposition but failed to offer any evidence for the alleged irregularities, arguing that her feeling about it being a “Russian operation” is good enough.

Hungary currently presides over the EU Council. Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Tbilisi earlier this week to congratulate Georgian Dream, only to be denounced by 13 member states of the bloc who sided with the opposition.

Orban has pointed to televised exchanges in the European Parliament to accuse some EU leadership figures of plotting a “regime change” in Budapest so as to get rid of a government that does not toe the line.

Szijjarto was in Belarus for the 2nd Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security. He also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues and follow up on the July meeting between Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Source:.rt.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.rt.com/russia/606820-hungary-georgia-eu-democracy-szijjarto/

---------

Von der Leyen advised to create ‘EU CIA’

31 Oct, 2024

An EU report has called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to create a “fully fledged” intelligence agency to coordinate the clandestine activity of member states. However, even proponents of the idea admit it would be costly and unpopular.

Penned by former Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and published on Wednesday, the report outlines the EU’s readiness for war, and makes a multitude of vague recommendations. Officials in Brussels are advised, for example, to cultivate a “preparedness culture,” and to “strengthen civil-military coordination frameworks.”

One of the more concrete recommendations is that the EU create “a fully-fledged intelligence cooperation service, serving all EU institutions and member states.” The agency, the report states, would collect intelligence from national-level agencies in order to “serve both strategic and operational needs of EU-level policy-planning and decision-making.”

While the proposed agency was described by Politico as a “CIA-style spy service,” the report makes no mention of it carrying out clandestine operations outside the EU’s borders, which is the CIA’s role within America’s sprawling intelligence apparatus. Instead, such an agency would “coordinate specific counter-espionage tasks” and help member states “counter threats against them posed by hostile foreign intelligence services.”

Speaking at the launch of Niinisto’s report, von der Leyen admitted that member states will probably be reluctant to allow Brussels bureaucrats to oversee their intelligence sectors. For now, she said, the EU will focus on “strengthening information sharing” instead.

Niinisto also admitted that, while researching the report, he encountered “many critical voices” from member states concerned about increasing the bloc’s budget to fund this agency.

If adopted, the report’s recommendations would mark yet another expansion of the EU’s powers. Two years ago, the bloc adopted its first common defense strategy, which authorized the creation of a 5,000-strong “rapid deployment” force. Last month, von der Leyen named former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius as the EU’s first ever defense commissioner.

Earlier this month, Kubilius said he would work on ramping up arms production across the bloc, declaring that “we must be ready to meet Russia militarily in six to eight years.”

Kubilius has also called on the EU to pursue regime change in Moscow, and to sponsor “democratic forces” working to topple President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Source:.rt.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.rt.com/news/606814-eu-intelligence-agency-cia/

--------

 

North America

 

Different lives - Harris and Trump as you've never seen them before

 1 November 2024

Throughout an election campaign, US voters are bombarded with images of the two candidates - speaking from podiums, greeting rally crowds and stepping down aircraft stairs. Here's a different visual perspective of who they are and where they've come from.

Long before they even knew what the White House was... Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are pictured above both aged three.

Decades apart, Democratic presidential nominee Harris spent her early years in Oakland, California, and Republican nominee Trump was raised in the New York borough of Queens.

Harris (left in the left-hand image below) and her sister Maya (centre) were primarily brought up by their Indian mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher and social activist.

Trump's father Fred Trump was the son of German immigrants and his mother Mary Anne MacLeod Trump was born in Scotland. They enrolled him in the New York Military Academy at age 13.

Harris spent five years at high school in Montreal, Canada, where her mother took up a teaching job at McGill University. She later enrolled in the historically black college, Howard University in Washington DC.

Trump has said his five years at the academy, which began in 1959, gave him military training and helped shape his leadership skills. He later sat out the Vietnam War due to deferments - four for academic reasons and one due to bone spurs.

From an early age, Harris was taught by her mother the importance of the civil rights movement and she attended the annual Martin Luther King Jr Freedom March in Washington in 2004.

After earning a degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Trump became favoured to succeed his father at the helm of the family business.

Harris returned to California, where she rose swiftly to the top of the state's criminal justice system - taking a job as its attorney general - and used that momentum to mount a successful run for the US Senate in 2016.

At the same time as she entered Congress, Trump was stepping into the White House for the first time, having stunned the world to defeat Hillary Clinton.

Three years later Harris ran a lacklustre presidential campaign, but was picked by the victor of the Democratic race, Joe Biden, to be his running mate. They proved to be the winning ticket, defeating Trump and Mike Pence.

The end of the Trump presidency and the start of the Biden-Harris term were marked by Covid lockdowns, mask mandates and social unrest following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Harris struggled at times to make her mark as vice-president, but found her voice in 2022 when the US Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion.

President Biden was happy for her to become the White House champion for the pro-choice movement.

It was Trump who had made the Supreme Court more conservative, paving the way for the abortion ruling.

During his time in the Oval Office, he also took the US out of the Paris climate accord and took steps to reduce immigration.

Harris's debut international visit as vice-president was to Guatemala in 2021, as part of the responsibility she was given to reduce the numbers of Latin American migrants reaching America's southern border with Mexico.

Foreign policy issues that have dominated her time in office include the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the chaotic US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump's first visit overseas as president was to Saudi Arabia in 2017. Trump advocates isolationist policies that involve disentangling his country from foreign conflicts and promoting American industry.

Harris is married to Doug Emhoff (pictured below), who campaigns regularly on her behalf. She is stepmother - or "Momala", as she says - to Emhoff's children from his first marriage, Cole (left) and Ella (right).

Various members of Donald Trump's family have played roles in his political career, though appearances in the 2024 campaign by his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump, have been limited.

With his first wife, Ivana, Trump had three children: Donald Jr (second left in the lower picture), Ivanka (second right) and Eric (right). He had a daughter, Tiffany (left), with his second wife, Marla Maples. He married his third wife Melania (third left) in 2005, with whom he has one son, Barron.

Harris entered the 2024 presidential race relatively late in the process, replacing Joe Biden who pulled out.

She made history as the first black and Asian-American woman to lead a major party's presidential ticket, and went on to give a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

In the same election, Donald Trump earned the rare distinction of earning a third presidential nomination from his party. He spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - sporting a bandaged ear after surviving the first of two assassination attempts during the campaign.

Source:bbc.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce81g75lzplo

---------

Hanson tweet to Muslim senator 'ultimate racist slur'

 November 1 2024

By Miklos Bolza

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been slammed by a judge for decades of racist remarks, her loose relationship with the truth and a personal social media attack against a Muslim senator.

In a scathing judgment, Justice Angus Stewart found Senator Hanson engaged in "seriously offensive" and intimidating behaviour in a September 2022 tweet that told Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi to go back to Pakistan.

Senator Faruqi on Friday said the decision that her political opponent breached the Racial Discrimination Act vindicated not only herself but also those who bore the brunt of racism and "destructive racist language".

The day of Queen Elizabeth's death, Senator Faruqi took to Twitter, now known as X, to offer condolences to those who knew the monarch.

But she added she could not mourn the passing of the leader of a "racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples".

In a response, Senator Hanson said she was appalled and disgusted by the comments.

"When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country," she wrote.

"It's clear you're not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan."

Justice Stewart said this post was othering and exclusionary.

"It is a message that Senator Faruqi is, as an immigrant, a second-class citizen, and that she should be grateful for what she has and keep quiet," he said in his Federal Court ruling.

The phrase "go back to where you came from" was a racist, anti-immigrant and nativist trope traceable to the White Australia Policy, the judge noted.

Migrants and other Muslims would have been offended, insulted, humiliated and intimidated by the tweet, he said.

"It is a strong form of racism," Justice Stewart said.

He found Senator Hanson had a decades-long tendency to make negative, derogatory, discriminating or hateful statements against people of colour, migrants and Muslims.

Justice Stewart rejected the One Nation leader's claim she did not know her Greens rival was a Muslim at the time of the tweet.

Similarly he dismissed arguments the post was a fair comment in a political discussion about alleged hypocrisy from the Greens deputy in criticising the monarchy while benefiting from life in Australia.

Her submissions that sections of the Racial Discrimination Act went against the implied constitutional right of political communication were also shot down.

Justice Stewart said the law prevented some topics being discussed by politicians, but this limitation was only slight and served to protect the public from hatred and discrimination that could itself silence the vulnerable.

He was also highly critical of the One Nation leader as a witness, calling her generally unreliable, argumentative and unwilling to accept obvious truths.

"I was left with the distinct impression that Senator Hanson would say anything that came to mind if she thought that it would suit her at that time; she had little regard to whether what she said was true or false," he said.

Senator Hanson has been ordered to delete the tweet within seven days and to pay the Greens deputy leader's legal costs of running the lawsuit.

The judge declined to make orders proposed by Senator Faruqi that Senator Hanson pay $150,000 to a charity or undertake anti-racism training.

In a statement, the Greens deputy leader said the decision was a win for everyone who had been told to go back to where they came from.

"And believe me, far too many of us have been subjected to this ultimate racist slur far too many times in this country," she said.

She said the judgment set a precedent for how racism would be viewed in Australia, saying it was about time the One Nation leader faced consequences for her comments.

In a post on X after the judgment, a "deeply disappointed" Senator Hanson said she would appeal.

Source:northweststar.com.au

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/8808090/hanson-tweet-to-muslim-senator-ultimate-racist-slur/

---------

Suspect sought in alleged hate crime against Muslim, GOP WA House candidate

October 31, 2024

By Franque Thompson

MUKILTEO, Wash. - A local candidate’s campaign for office allegedly took a violent turn. Riaz Khan, running for Washington State House of Representatives, claimed he was a victim of a recent hate crime.

"Those people were trying to get me. I think they were trying to slow me down. They were trying to basically finish me up. I luckily survived. If hit on the head, I wouldn’t be here today. Lucky, I survived," said Khan.

The attack happened at the intersection of Highway 525 and Goat Trail Road in Mukilteo overnight on Tuesday.

"I feel like this is hate crime," said Khan.

Khan, a former Mukilteo City Council member, is Muslim. He is the Republican candidate for the state’s 21st Legislative District. Khan said many of his campaign signs have been stolen during this election cycle.

"This is a crime. Signs are expensive and also takes a lot of time," said the candidate.

Khan said overnight on Tuesday, he made stops in Everett, Edmonds, and Mukilteo to check on his signs and replace those that were missing. During his route, Khan said he noticed he was being followed. Still, Khan stopped at the Mukilteo intersection of Highway 525 and Goat Trail Road to install a new campaign sign with a hammer.

According to the Mukilteo Police Report filed, it was during those dark hours when two men approached Khan "from behind" with "tree branches" and hit him at least twice.

"So, these guys came, two guys came so fast. And he started cursing ‘Foreigner. SOB.’ You know, all those words ‘MF.’ So, one guy, other guys said, ‘You Trump supporter.’" Khan recalled. "But when they started hitting on me, I just turn around. I was holding hammer in my hand. I turn around, as soon as they see the hammer they started walking back."

Khan said after the two men left, he immediately got in his car and dialed 911. He filed a police report with the responding officer on scene. In the report, the officer wrote, "I observed black marks on the back of Riaz’s clothing. Riaz later showed me his bare back and I did not see any obvious marks or injuries."

Khan shared a picture with FOX 13 Seattle showing red marks on his bare back.

"I was so hurt when they hit me," said Khan. "I got a lot of spasms, swelling back, my neck is hurting, backlash."

The Mukilteo Police Department said it is actively investigating all aspects of the incident to determine if it was racially, religiously, or politically motivated. The department further stated it is working with federal partners on the investigation.

"Any acts or threats of violence will not be tolerated within this community. I am incredibly proud and thankful to the dedicated officers and detectives who are working on this case, and I am confident that they will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice," said Police Chief Andy Illyn.

"I want to make sure the people get caught and, you know, justice will be served. Should not be happening," said Khan.

Due to the time of day and location of the incident, police said the investigation presented some challenges, including lack of witnesses, surveillance videos, or pictures. Detectives said they must get creative and use time-consuming methods to gather information. Anyone with information that could help detectives is asked to contact crimetips@mukilteowa.gov or make an anonymous tip at https://www.mycrimereport.us/.

Khan’s opponent and incumbent candidate, Rep. Strom Peterson, said political violence is never okay. He wrote in a statement to FOX 13 Seattle, "Whether it’s rhetoric targeting Muslims, immigrants, LGBTQ, or any other group, we have to join together to push back. I have known Riaz for many years and my thoughts are with him and his family. We cannot normalize this behavior."

At this point in the election cycle, there was some speculation circulating on social media about Khan’s claim of the incident. Staying true to his report of the attack against him, Khan responded to the doubters.       

"I feel like elections come and go. People come and go, but the values are the same. We do not want to live in this hate world. We want to be leaving better world where we can prosper," said Khan. "We should not live in a fear world. Speak up. If you see unsafe, say something. Do something and follow up."

Source:fox13seattle.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/mukilteo-hate-crime-muslim-republican-candidate

---------

BREAKING NEWS: CAIR to Release Final 2024 Election Poll of Muslim Voters

October 31, 2024

On Friday, Nov. 1, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, plans to hold a virtual press conference to release the results of its latest and final poll of American Muslim voter preferences in the 2024 presidential election.

This updated poll will show who American Muslim voters currently plan to support heading into Election Day.

As the 2024 national general election approaches, America’s estimated 2.5 million Muslim voters are positioned to once again play a crucial role in shaping the political landscape. With their significant presence in key swing states, Muslim voters have the potential to influence the outcomes of not only the presidential race but also numerous congressional, state, and local elections. This report is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of Muslim voters’ political inclinations and voting intentions in this pivotal election year.

In August CAIR released the August 25-27 presidential election survey of American Muslim voters. That poll included a presidential poll of over 1,076 Muslim voters, verified and matched to a national voter file.

In September CAIR released a follow-up report featuring survey results showing which presidential candidates Muslim voters support more in the key battleground Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, indicating Muslim voters have the potential to impact the outcome of the November election.

Source:cair.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.cair.com/press_releases/dc-cair-to-release-final-2024-election-poll-of-muslim-voters/

---------

Musk can continue with election cash giveaways for now, judge rules

 1 November 2024

Ana Faguy

Elon Musk can continue to give away cash to registered voters - for now, a Pennsylvania state judge has said.

The Donald Trump supporter has, through his political group America PAC, been offering cash prizes to registered voters in swing states who sign a petition - something US officials suggest may break electoral law. Musk denies this.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner sued Musk this week over the $1m (£770,000) giveaways and said Musk "must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming presidential election".

At a hearing on Thursday, Judge Angelo Foglietta said the lawsuit will be put on hold while a federal court decides whether to take up the case.

If the federal court choses not to rule on the matter, the case will go back to the state court.

In a post on X, the platform Musk owns, he said the ruling was "American Justice FTW (for the win)".

It is unlikely the case will be resolved before Tuesday's election.

"We will proceed to federal court and we will address the issues there and seek to have the matter remanded back to the state court," John Summers, a lawyer working with Mr Krasner, told reporters after the hearing.

"After all, this is a case that involves state law issues," he added.

Musk did not appear at a Philadelphia court for the hearing.

The billionaire announced earlier this month that he would randomly award a $1m prize to people in battleground states - Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina - every day until 5 November.

These swing states suggest a particularly close contest between Trump and his Democratic rival for president, Kamala Harris.

Yet another winner was announced on Thursday. Musk's America PAC said Dacey from Fremont, North Carolina had won a $1m check.

To be eligible to win, the giveaway requires registered voters to release personal identifying information, like addresses and phone numbers. They are also required to sign a pledge that says they support the US Constitution.

The lawsuit filed against Musk claimed he was "running an illegal lottery".

“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens... to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million,” Mr Krasner said in the lawsuit. "That is a lottery. And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery."

The lawsuit also accuses the Tesla co-founder of violating consumer protection laws by using "deceptive, vague or misleading statements" that could create confusion.

But Musk's lawyers have argued otherwise.

"The complaint, in truth, has little to do with state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection," Musk’s lawyers wrote in federal filings, according to a CNN report.

"Rather, although disguised as state law claims, the complaint’s focus is to prevent defendants’ purported ‘interference’ with the forthcoming federal presidential election by any means."

Just a day before Judge Foglietta's ruling, the district attorney's team asked for enhanced security for the hearing after Musk retweeted a post insulting Krasner that led to threats against him.

"It immediately triggered an avalanche of posts from Musk’s followers. Many made antisemitic attacks on Krasner," Krasner's team wrote in a legal filing.

Before the case was filed, Musk's PAC was also warned by the US justice department that its lottery-style giveaway might violate federal election law.

The BBC has previously reached out to America PAC for comment.

Under US law, it is illegal to pay people to register to vote. But legal experts have told the BBC that whether the giveaway violates federal law is a grey area.

Musk could face a $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison if a court finds he broke the law.

Musk himself, who has been aggressively campaigning for Trump, has insisted voters who want to be eligible for the prizes do not need to register as Republicans or go ahead with casting a vote.

Source:bbc.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0en401330jo

---------

Young Thug released from jail after guilty plea on gang charges

Bernd Debusmann Jr and Sam Cabral

1 November 2024

US rapper Young Thug was released from jail Thursday evening after pleading guilty to gang, drug and gun charges, in a dramatic twist that ended the longest criminal trial in Georgia history.

The 33-year-old Grammy winner, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, has spent more than 900 days behind bars since his arrest on racketeering and gang-related charges.

In May 2022, prosecutors alleged the rap label he founded was a front for an organised crime syndicate responsible for "75 to 80% of violent crime" in Atlanta.

He was sentenced on Thursday to time served and 15 years of probation, and jail records show he was released later that night.

"I take full responsibility for my crimes, for my charges," Mr Williams told the court.

"To really everybody that has got something to do with this situation, I want to say sorry."

In a five-minute speech, he described himself as "a good guy with a good heart" who found himself "in a lot of stuff because I was just nice or cool".

"And I understand that you can't be that way when you reach a certain height because it could end bad... and it could fall on you."

Prosecutors had planned to recommend a sentence of 45 years, including 25 in custody and 20 on probation.

But the plea negotiations were unsuccessful, and Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker instead chose his punishment, commuting his sentence to the time he has already served, paving the way for his release.

“I want you to try to be more of the solution and less of the problem,” Judge Whitaker told him.

As part of the deal, Mr Williams pleaded guilty to one gang charge, three drug charges and two gun charges.

He also entered a no-contest plea to leading a gang and violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act, meaning that he decided not to contest those charges and accepts punishment for them.

Judge Whitaker additionally stipulated 100 hours of community service, a ban on contact with gang members or former co-defendants, and a prohibition from remaining in the metropolitan Atlanta area for the first 10 years of his 15-year probation period except under special circumstances - including weddings, funerals and the anti-gang and anti-gun presentations he is required to host four times a year.

Thursday's change of plea brings an end to a multi-defendant case that was plagued by multiple delays, courtroom disturbances and motions for mistrial.

When the man known to his fans as "Thugger" was arrested in May 2022, prosecutors charged him and 27 associates at his rap label - Young Stoner Life (YSL) Records - with conspiracy to violate the Rico Act, famously used in mafia prosecutions.

Arguing that YSL in fact stands for a criminal gang called Young Slime Life, they tied the men - including fellow rap superstar Gunna - to a series of felony offences, including murder, armed robbery and carjacking in the streets of Atlanta.

But the indictment drew widespread outrage over prosecutors' use of YSL rap lyrics as evidence of the gang’s actions and criminal intent. Critics argued the charges violated the rappers' freedom of speech and were part of a growing assault on a black-dominated art form.

Several of Mr Williams's co-defendants took plea deals or had their cases severed, and one even had his charges dropped after an unrelated murder conviction - and, by the time the trial began, only six defendants remained.

Jury selection began in January 2023 and lasted nearly 10 months.

In July this year, the trial was put on hold indefinitely after Mr Williams's lawyers asked a previous judge to recuse himself over misconduct allegations.

The lawyers said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville held an "improper" meeting on 10 June when he met privately with prosecutors and a key witness.

They claimed Judge Glanville sought to pressure the witness into testifying and the lawyers pressed him to recuse himself, motions which the judge had denied.

Mr Williams's lead attorney, Brian Steel, was also found in criminal contempt in June this year after refusing to reveal how he got to know about the meeting.

The trial also saw a number of unusual incidents, including the arrest of a Fulton County deputy for allegedly attempting to smuggle contraband to a defendant.

In another instance, the court's Zoom account was hacked into by an apparent supporter of Mr Williams who yelled "free Thug!".

Earlier this week, three of Mr Williams's co-defendants in the case took plea deals.

The remaining two defendants in the case, Shannon Stillwell and Deamonte Kendrick, reportedly plan to move ahead with their trials.

Source:bbc.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20n1nq0852o

--------

 

Southeast Asia

 

93 Rohingya Refugees Arrive in Aceh with Six Deceased Companions

Antara

 October 31, 2024

Banda Aceh. Ninety-three Rohingya refugees arrived illegally on the coast of Aceh early Thursday, bringing with them six deceased individuals, local authorities reported.

The refugees were found stranded on the coast of East Aceh’s Madat District, where the bodies of six individuals were laid on the ground, covered with sarongs.

“The bodies have not yet been buried due to required procedures for foreign nationals,” said Munawir, head of East Aceh’s health department.

“Preliminary information indicates they died while at sea, but the police are investigating the exact cause of death,” he added.

Syamsul Bahri, head of the regency’s political affairs and security agency, reported that the refugees arrived around 4 a.m.

“Our team is currently documenting all the refugees, and so far, we have accounted for 93 people,” Syamsul said.

The refugees reportedly disembarked from their boat offshore and swam to Meunasah Hasan village in East Aceh. Local officials are coordinating with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international organizations to assist in handling the situation.

Indonesia has increasingly become a destination for the predominantly Muslim Rohingya, who seek to escape persecution in Myanmar. The previous government under President Joko Widodo implemented strict measures to dismantle “people smuggling syndicates” profiting from transporting refugees into Indonesia.

Despite these efforts, hundreds of Rohingya refugees continue to land in Aceh and nearby provinces every month, facing opposition from local residents and often enduring mistreatment by smugglers, who sometimes force them to swim ashore to avoid detection by Indonesian patrols.

In March, a local search and rescue team recovered nine bodies believed to be Rohingya refugees after a boat carrying dozens capsized off Aceh. The following day, rescuers found 69 refugees stranded on the overturned hull, while others remained unaccounted for.

Indonesia, which is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, has maintained that it is under no formal obligation to accept refugees.

Source:jakartaglobe.id

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://jakartaglobe.id/news/93-rohingya-refugees-arrive-in-aceh-with-six-deceased-companions

--------

PM calls for stronger action against bullying in educational institutions

BERNAMA

01-11- 2024

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has directed the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) and the Education Ministry (MOE) to take a stronger stance against gangsterism, bullying and thuggish behaviour in educational institutions under their jurisdictions.

Emphasising this matter, Anwar said the issue needs to be taken more seriously, as there is no value in leadership and capability without pure values, manners and ethics.

“Thuggish behaviour, bullying and gangsterism occurring in the education system -- whether in Chinese schools, Tamil schools, tahfiz schools or religious schools -- is madness because we are discussing knowledge, yet there is a lack of morals and values.

“This is a challenge in our education programme. Values and morals must be prioritised. Our weakness is that we take a passive stance, being tolerant toward bullying, but this cannot happen if the culture rejects it,” he said during the “Temu Anwar” programme at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) here today.

Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and UPNM vice-chancellor Lt Gen Datuk Mardzuki Muhammad.

Citing an example, the Prime Minister said world leaders considered corrupt are not necessarily lacking in education or skills, but rather in moral integrity and values.

“This is what I mean by systemic issues across all fields, including the military -- how weapons are purchased, the tendering process, negotiations and commissions -- all of these are related to ethics and values,“ he said.

He noted that no country can underestimate the need for adequate military preparedness, which involves not only training, resilience, capabilities, intelligence, strategic thinking and equipment but also discipline and values.

“That’s why discipline in other universities is important, but it is of paramount importance at this university (UPNM),“ he said.

The Prime Minister also advised UPNM students, whom he described as national assets, to continue being a source of hope for the leadership, the people and the country in ensuring national defence and security by equipping themselves with knowledge.

“Do not take this trust lightly. Few people have such responsibility, so gain as much knowledge as possible and train yourself with resilience and good character to carry out this great duty,“ he said.

Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman said yesterday that the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) will not compromise with any parties involved in a recent bullying case at UPNM.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, MAF said it is investigating the case, where a senior allegedly pressed a hot iron to a cadet officer’s chest, leaving burn marks, as circulated on social media.

When asked to comment on the matter, Anwar said the case is being investigated by the police, but he generally hopes that headmasters, college principals and vice-chancellors will take responsibility for putting an end to bullying in their institutions.

“There are too many complaints, and they only surface by chance when exposed on social media. This must be stopped; pity the children,“ he said.

Source:thesun.my

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/pm-calls-for-stronger-action-against-bullying-in-educational-institutions-EC13227762

---------

Rely too much on AI and we risk becoming powerless, PM Anwar warns students

01 Nov 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into educational contexts is essential for fostering new ways of thinking.

However, he emphasised there is a danger that students may rely too heavily on AI-generated answers, which could prevent them from developing deeper cognitive skills.

“We cannot merely be a nation that borrows or imitates. We must strive for progress and explore new disciplines that can provide valuable insights.

“It is also crucial to acknowledge that there are limitations in using technology. If we do not engage our critical thinking and simply rely on the answers provided by AI, we risk becoming powerless,” he said during a dialogue event at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) here.

He then went on to say that the lack of face-to-face interaction stemming from reliance on gadgets poses a significant issue that may lead to lack of meaningful social interactions.

He said students need training to balance their technology use with healthy interpersonal relationships, including communication with family and friends.

“Dependence on gadgets has resulted in diminished face-to-face communication. This affects mental health due to reduced interaction and the misinterpretations that arise. Families should meet and communicate more frequently.

“Reliance on gadgets cannot replace the values of humanity and our relationships with family and friends,” he added.

Anwar also emphasised on the importance of reading, as many students today prefer quick information through technology, which can lead to shallow understanding.

He explained that engaging in deep reading and analysing complex texts is vital for grasping broader contexts and meanings, especially in the case of religious texts like the Quran, which require careful interpretation.

“We need to thoroughly examine books rather than merely extract fragments. This is a dangerous approach.

“For instance, in the study of the Quran, there are texts, verses, interpretations, and commentaries that require deep understanding,” he said

Source:malaymail.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/01/rely-too-much-on-ai-and-we-risk-becoming-powerless-pm-anwar-warns-students/155502

---------

11 motorcycles destroyed in morning fire

BERNAMA

01-11- 2024

GEORGE TOWN: Eleven motorcycles were destroyed in a fire that broke out at a garage on Lengkok Kampung Jawa 2 in Bayan Lepas today.

The blaze, which broke out at 6.50am, also engulfed a lorry parked near the garage; fortunately, no casualties or injuries were reported.

A spokesperson for the Penang Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Operations Centre said that they received an emergency call at 6.51am, prompting the first fire engine from the Bayan Baru Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) to respond swiftly to the scene.

“Upon arrival, the team discovered that the 9.3-square-metre motorcycle garage was ablaze. All eleven motorcycles inside were destroyed, along with the nearby lorry. The operation commander conducted an initial assessment and instructed team members to implement control and extinguishing measures,” he said, adding that the fire was completely extinguished by 7.30am.

He added that the cause of the fire, and the estimated total losses, are still under investigation.

Source:thesun.my

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/11-motorcycles-destroyed-in-morning-fire-BC13227464

--------

Man with 35 drug, criminal records arrested in Jempol for burglary worth around RM2,500

01 Nov 2024

SEREMBAN, Nov 1 — Police arrested a 38-year-old man two days ago on suspicion of involvement in three burglary and theft cases in the district.

Jempol district police chief Supt Hoo Chang Hook said that the suspect was apprehended in the basement parking lot of a supermarket in Bahau, where several items were seized following a report made by a 56-year-old woman whose home in Taman Acbe was broken into on Oct 21.

"Investigations revealed that the man climbed over a fence and gained entry into the victim's house by unscrewing the kitchen window around 5.30 am. The victim reported the loss of several personal belongings, estimated at RM2,500,” he said.

Hoo added that the suspect confessed to committing the burglary and theft alone, and his modus operandi involved entering uninhabited or temporarily abandoned houses between 3 am and 6 am.

The suspect tested positive for methamphetamine and has a history of 35 drug and criminal offences, including being on the wanted list for violations under Section 15(4) of the Prevention of Crime Act 1959.

The suspect was remanded for seven days until Nov 6, and the case is being investigated under Section 457 of the Penal Code, he said. — Bernama

Source:malaymail.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/01/man-with-35-drug-criminal-records-arrested-in-jempol-for-burglary-worth-around-rm2500/155492

--------

PM Anwar congratulates Perak Ruler Sultan Nazrin Shah on 68th birthday

 01 Nov 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim extended his congratulations to Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah on the occasion of his 68th birthday today.

Anwar, in his Facebook post, prayed that His Royal Highness Sultan of Perak and Her Royal Highness Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim, as well as the entire royal family, would be granted good health, guidance and blessings of Allah.

“May Your Royal Highness continue to rule the people of Perak Darul Ridzuan fairly and equitably,” he said.

In conjunction with Sultan Nazrin’s birthday, a total of 213 individuals will be conferred state medals and honours, in an investiture ceremony which will be held in two sessions, on Nov 9 and Nov 16, at Balairong Seri, Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar.

The Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal Tan Sri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad heads the list of recipients; he will be conferred the Darjah Dato’ Seri Paduka Mahkota Perak (SPMP), which carries the title of Datuk Seri. — Bernama

Source:malaymail.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/01/pm-anwar-congratulates-perak-ruler-sultan-nazrin-shah-on-68th-birthday/155491

---------

‘I thought my son’s case was the last’: Father of murdered cadet Zulfarhan sad abuse still happens in UPNM

01 Nov 2024

By Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The father of murdered army cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain has expressed his sadness that abuse still happens in Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM).

Harian Metro cited Zulkarnain Idros, 60, saying that he was shocked that the similar abuse suffered by his late son has happened to another student.

“I was shocked that bullying cases still happen to UPNM students. I thought my late son’s case was the last, but it has happened again,” he was quoted saying.

“The claim that the victim was pressed with an iron, whether a regular or steam iron, is unacceptable, as it’s not only painful and torturous but also leaves lasting effects on the victim.

“Like what happened to my late son, who had 90 marks from being pressed with a hot steam iron, I still can’t forget the suffering he endured,” he added.

Zulkarnain said he only learnt of the news after reading a report sent by his wife over WhatsApp.

He said the investigation report must be made public, and UPNM must take the recurrence seriously. He also suggested for an anti-bullying Act to be enacted.

“To date, there is no specific law applicable to bullying cases in schools and institutions of higher learning. The rise in bullying cases recently is an emergency that requires immediate action from the authorities,” he said.

Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) had issued a statement saying that it is investigating the case at the Military Training Academy in UPNM, Sungai Besi.

The case involved a senior allegedly pressing a hot iron to the cadet officer’s chest, leaving burn marks.

Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman later said that the MAF will not compromise with any parties involved in the case.

Source:malaymail.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/01/i-thought-my-sons-case-was-the-last-father-of-murdered-cadet-zulfarhan-sad-abuse-still-happens-in-upnm/155475

----------

MACC chief confirms two more remanded in RM1.8b fertiliser procurement scandal

31 Oct 2024

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Another two individuals, including a foreigner who is the chairman of a company awarded a project for purchasing paddy fertilisers by an agricultural organisation, have been remanded for five days from today.

The Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court approved the remand application submitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for both men, aged in their 40s to 50s.

According to a source, the suspects were arrested while giving their statements at the MACC headquarters late yesterday afternoon.

Initial investigations revealed that the main suspect, the manager of the promotion and marketing department received a quotation from a representative of the company involved to obtain approval from the chairman.

“The chairman approved the appointment of the foreign company without comparing prices or consulting the Board of Directors.

“A contract for the supply of fertilisers worth about RM60 million was awarded through direct negotiation in just six days around June 2022, despite the foreign company never having previously worked with the organisation,” said the source.

Meanwhile, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, confirmed the arrests, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 16(a) of the MACC Act 2009.

To date, three individuals have been arrested, including a marketing executive from the company who was remanded yesterday until Nov 2 in connection with the case. — Bernama

Source:malaymail.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/10/31/macc-chief-confirms-two-more-remanded-in-rm60m-fertiliser-procurement-scandal/155461

----------

Bank Indonesia Governor Mentions Five Factors Supporting Progress of Islamic Financial Market

November 1, 2024

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo emphasized five main factors in building the progress of the Islamic financial market. One is developing Green Sukuk or State Sharia Securities (SBSN).

Perry conveyed This at the Joint High-Level Seminar and Investor Forum, Future Development of Product Innovation and Liquidity Management in the Islamic Financial Services Industry, on Thursday, October 31, 2024. Bank Indonesia initiated the seminar in collaboration with Islamic International Liquidity Management (IILM) and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB).

"First, developing innovative Islamic financial products that are not only based on the three main instruments, namely sukuk, takaful, and waqf," he said, as quoted from his official statement on Friday, November 1, 2024.

Perry said Indonesia has also initiated the issuance of Green Sukuk, also known as State Sukuk, as one of the largest sukuk issuers. He said this sukuk can support the green economic and financial ecosystem because SBSN does not contain elements of usury (interest), gharar (uncertainty), or may (gambling), making it an alternative investment in line with Islamic Sharia provisions.

Perry explained that the main objective of the Green Sukuk issuance is to raise funds from the public and investors, which will be used to finance various state development needs. The Green Sukuk is also designed to support Indonesia's commitment to address climate change, including the risks of transitioning to a sustainable economy.

According to the latest Islamic Finance Development Report 2023, extracted from BI's official website, the value of Green and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) sukuk in circulation reached US$24.4 billion in 2022. Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are the leaders in ESG sukuk, followed by Indonesia and the UAE.

For the second factor, Perry mentioned the need to accelerate the development of Islamic financial markets through the digitalization of Islamic economics and finance. This is expected to answer the challenges of global uncertainty risks accompanied by the rapid flow of digitalization.

From BI's data, the global Islamic fintech market is estimated to reach US$138 billion in the period 2022-2023 and is projected to increase to US$306 billion by 2027 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.3 percent. This growth is higher than the overall global fintech sector, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3 percent over the same period.

Perry said the third factor is the integration of wholesale and retail financial system services, which can strengthen the interconnection of all Islamic financial institutions, including insurance and social finance institutions.

The fourth factor is supporting a policy framework that prioritizes risk management in mitigating cyber, operational and anti-money laundering risks.

The fifth factor is the need to conduct education and literacy of the Islamic financial system. According to Perry, it is necessary to strengthen public understanding and human resource capabilities to encourage the development of the Islamic financial sector and foster sustainable innovation.

Source:tempo.co

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://en.tempo.co/read/1935765/bank-indonesia-governor-mentions-five-factors-supporting-progress-of-islamic-financial-market?tracking_page_direct

---------

 

South Asia

 

July Killings: ICT sends ex-addl SP Shahidul to jail

Nov 1, 2024

The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday sent former additional superintendent of police (Savar Circle) Shahidul Islam to jail for crimes against humanity over the July-August massacre.

The three-judge panel of the ICT led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder passed the order as police produced him before the court and the prosecution pleaded to show him arrested.

Shahidul is the second to be sent to jail in such a case.

Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam made the plea before the court, while prosecutors Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim, BM Sultan Mahmud, and Abdullah Al Noman were present.

After the hearing, Tajul told reporters that the court had issued arrest warrants for 17 police officers on October 27.

"A student named Asadul Yamin, who was shot and unconscious, was brutally thrown from an Armored Personnel Carrier. Additionally, there were incidents in Savar involving the deaths of more than a 100, or nearly 200 people, and many others were shot. He [Shahidul] was the officer in charge at that time."

Shahidul was arrested in Teknaf on Wednesday.

Source:thedailystar.net

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/july-killings-ict-sends-ex-addl-sp-shahidul-jail-3741806

--------

Aug 21 Attack: HC launches fresh hearing

Nov 1, 2024

The High Court yesterday started a fresh hearing on the death references and appeals of the August 21 grenade attack cases.

The cases were filed following grenade attacks on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka that claimed 24 lives and left about 300 injured.

Then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina, who later ran the country for 15 years as prime minister and was forced to resign and flee on August 5 this year following a mass uprising, narrowly escaped the attack on August 21, 2004.

Yesterday, the HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain began the hearing with Deputy Attorney General Md Jasim Sarker and Assistant Attorney General Laboni Akter reading out from the paper books, which contain all the details -- trial proceedings, statements, evidence, verdicts and other documents of the cases.

Senior Advocate SM Shahjahan, a defence counsel for the convicted accused, also placed the backgrounds of the cases, before the bench.

The HC fixed November 7 for further hearing.

Earlier another HC bench of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman has held hearings on death references and appeals of the case for around 100 working days since December 5, 2022.

But this bench on August 18 this year dropped the cases from its hearing list as its junior judge has been assigned to another bench.

Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed recently assigned the bench led by Justice AKM Asaduzzaman for holding a fresh hearing and dispose of the cases.

DAG Jasim Sarker yesterday told this correspondent that the previous hearings of the August 21 grenade attack cases will not be counted by the HC.

A Dhaka court on October 10, 2018 sentenced 19 people, including former BNP state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar to death in the two cases filed in connection with the grenade attacks.

Nineteen others including BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, now in London, were given life imprisonment and 11 people were handed different terms in prison.

Eighteen of the convicted accused are absconding and 31 are in jail.

Source:thedailystar.net

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/aug-21-attack-hc-launches-fresh-hearing-3741811

---------

Three Miners die in Gold-Washing site collapse in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan

By Fidel Rahmati

October 31, 2024

Local officials in Badakhshan province have reported the deaths of three workers following the collapse of a gold-washing site in the Arghanjkhwa district.

Ehsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the Badakhshan police command, announced in a statement that the incident took place on Tuesday, October 29, at a gold-washing workshop in the Taqarcha area of Arghanjkhwa district.

According to the statement, after several hours of effort, the bodies of the workers were recovered from the debris and handed over to their families.

Local authorities in Badakhshan emphasized that mining activities in the province have been officially halted by the government.

It is noteworthy that unregulated mining practices and lack of adherence to safety measures are significant factors behind mine collapses and explosions in Afghanistan.

Similar incidents in various provinces, particularly in Badakhshan, have previously claimed the lives of numerous miners.

The lack of modern facilities and safety equipment in Afghanistan’s mining sector has made mining one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. Without protective gear, proper training, and regulated procedures, miners continue to work in hazardous conditions, risking their lives daily.

Afghanistan’s mining sector urgently needs reform and modernization to ensure the safety of its workers. Strengthened safety standards, updated equipment, and strict regulatory oversight are essential to protect miners and prevent further tragedies.

Source:khaama.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.khaama.com/three-miners-die-in-gold-washing-site-collapse-in-afghanistans-badakhshan/

---------

Government Officials Pledge Full Efforts in Serving Citizens, Says Mawlawi Hanafi

2024-10-31

KABUL (BNA): Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi the Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs in a meeting with a number of Badghis mujahideen, stated that officials will make every effort to ensure the security and peace of the country’s citizens and to serve them.

The Presidential Palace, in a statement, reported that Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy PM of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan met yesterday with several mujahideen from Badghis province.

In the meeting, these mujahideen provided information to Deputy Prime Minister about the general situation and the state of mujahideen in that province. They highlighted education, health, transportation routes, and developmental projects, requesting special attention from the officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in these areas.

For hie pqrt, Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi reiterated that ensuring the security and peace of the people and serving the country’s citizens are responsibilities of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

He assured that officials will make every effort in this regard.

In the end, the Deputy PM emphasized that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will address the issues raised by them, taking into account the available resources.

Source:bakhtarnews.af

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/government-officials-pledge-full-efforts-in-serving-citizens-says-mawlawi-hanafi/

---------

Corruption Allegations: Govt removes CWasa MD

Nov 1, 2024

The government has removed AKM Fazlullah from the post of managing director of the Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWasa).

Regarding this, the Local Government Division issued a letter signed by Deputy Secretary Abdur Rahman on Wednesday.

In a separate notification, the government dissolved the Chattogram Wasa Board.

Anwara Pasha, director of the Local Government Division in Chattogram division, was given the charge of MD.

The 82-year-old Fazlullah was appointed as CWasa chairman on July 6, 2009. Later, he became its MD after the post was created in 2011.

Since then, his term has been extended several times, and his current sixth term is set to end on October 31, 2026.

Fazlullah was accused of corruption and irregularities numerous times during his tenure.

Source:thedailystar.net

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/corruption-allegations-govt-removes-cwasa-md-3741751

--------

6 medical colleges renamed

Nov 1, 2024

Six government-run medical colleges across the country have been renamed after their respective districts.

The Medical Education and Family Welfare Division under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a circular in this regard on October 30, undersigned by Md Sarwar Bari, secretary to the ministry.

Colonel Malik Medical College in Manikganj has been renamed as Manikganj Medical College, Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College in Noakhali as Noakhali Medical College, and Sheikh Hasina Medical College in Jamalpur as Jamalpur Medical College, Sheikh Hasina Medical College in Tangail renamed as Tangail Medical College, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College in Faridpur as Faridpur Medical College, and M Abdur Rahim Medical College in Dinajpur as Dinajpur Medical College, said the circular.

Source:thedailystar.net

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/6-medical-colleges-renamed-3741746

---------

Injil District Implements 21 Public Welfare Projects in Herat This Year

 2024-10-31

HERAT(BNA): Since the start of the current solar year, the Injil District Municipality in Herat has implemented 21 public welfare projects to strengthen the district’s infrastructure and address community needs.

Mawlawi Nematullah Rahimi Hajji Lala, Mayor of Injil District, informed Bakhtar News Agency that these projects include constructing canals and small bridges, installing street and neighborhood lighting, repairing roads, cleaning urban areas, and covering canals. These initiatives aim to enhance the district’s appearance, resolve infrastructure challenges, and create employment opportunities for locals.

Furthermore, Mayor Rahimi noted that the Injil Municipality has collected and deposited 24 million Afghanis in revenue into the national treasury this year. These efforts reflect the municipality’s commitment to sustainable development and improving residents’ quality of life.

Source:bakhtarnews.af

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/injil-district-implements-21-public-welfare-projects-in-herat-this-year/

--------

Deputy PM Mawlawi Hanafi Presides Over Regular Administrative Commission Meeting

 2024-10-31

KABUL(BNA): The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Administrative Commission convened its regular meeting today, presided over by Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, with the participation of all commission members.

According to a statement issued by the ARG, committee representatives appointed by the commission provided detailed reports on their assigned responsibilities and recent activities. In continuation, the meeting held in-depth discussions regarding issues pertinent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Kabul Municipality, and affiliated state enterprises. Following thorough review, the commission reached essential decisions on these matters.

Furthermore, the statement added that additional agenda items requiring further examination were assigned to specialized committees, tasked with conducting comprehensive assessments to ensure effective outcomes.

Source:bakhtarnews.af

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/deputy-pm-mawlawi-hanafi-presides-over-regular-administrative-commission-meeting/

---------

Islamic Emirate’s Acting Ambassador Attends Qatar’s ‘One Book, One Community’ Exhibition

2024-10-31

KABUL(BNA): The Islamic Emirate Embassy in Doha has announced that Dr. Mohammad Naeem, the acting Ambassador of Afghanistan to Qatar, participated in the “One Book, One Community” exhibition in response to an official invitation from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event, hosted at the Katara Cultural Village, was dedicated to raising awareness about the severe hardships faced by the Palestinian people and exposing the ongoing atrocities they endure.

In a press release, the embassy stated that this exhibition, held under the theme “One Book, One Community,” was organized to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Palestine and promote global solidarity. High-profile attendees included ambassadors, diplomats from various international missions, and representatives from international organizations stationed in Qatar.

Source:bakhtarnews.af

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/islamic-emirates-acting-ambassador-attends-qatars-one-book-one-community-exhibition/

---------

17,264 firearm licences issued during AL regime

Nov 1, 2024

In the last 15 years, during the tenure of the Awami League (AL) government, a total of 17,264 firearms licences were issued.

Many of these firearms were seen used by the AL party leaders against unarmed students and people during the anti-discrimination movement in July and August.

A high official at the Police Headquarters (PHQ) told this to The Daily Star last night.

After the interim government was formed on August 8, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, a notification was issued from the home ministry to suspend licences of firearms issued to civilians between January 6, 2009, and August 5, 2024, during the AL regime.

The government then asked the civilians to deposit the firearms by September 3, but only 13,349 firearms were deposited, according to PHQ sources.

The government on September 4 started a joint drive conducted by the armed forces, border guards, coast guards, police, Rab, and Ansar to recover the 3,915 remaining firearms.

Meanwhile, the ministry on Monday formed a committee to return the firearms to civilians, which were deposited last September.

The committee, chaired by the District Magistrate, includes two members and a member secretary.

The district superintendent of police (SP) and a deputy director of National Security Intelligence (NSI) will act as members of the committee, while the additional district magistrate will be the member secretary, said the notification signed by Israt Jahan, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs' Public Security Division.

Based on a notification from the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs dated August 25, the committee will verify and decide on applications for the return of firearms acquired for personal security that have been submitted to the police stations by September 3, the notification reads.

However, firearms issued for special purposes that may worsen the law and order situation will not be considered for return, it added.

Additionally, individuals with ongoing criminal cases or those already convicted of criminal offences will also not be eligible for the return of their firearms, it also said.

The district committee will submit a report to the ministry about the decision taken regarding the return of the firearms, it said.

Md Amirul Kyser, deputy commissioner and district magistrate of the Cumilla, yesterday said, "We have yet to receive the ministry order. We will act as per the directives."

Asked about receiving any request to return firearms, he said, "They did not receive any application in the district to date."

Mohammed Saiful Islam, deputy commissioner and district magistrate of Khulna, said he received the ministry order and working accordingly.

He, however, did not receive any request to return the firearms to date.

Source:thedailystar.net

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/aug-21-attack-hc-launches-fresh-hearing-3741811

---------

Iranian Investor Expresses Strong Interest in Afghanistan’s Lead and Zinc Mining Sector

2024-10-31

KABUL(BNA): TheActing Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, recently held a productive meeting with an Iranian investor, who expressed keen interest in developing the country’s lead and zinc mining sector.

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced that during the meeting, the investor emphasized a commitment to establishing a state-of-the-art processing facility in Afghanistan to support efficient and high-quality extraction and processing of lead and zinc. This facility is anticipated to create job opportunities and bring advanced technology to the sector.

Welcoming the investor’s proposal, Minister Badri reiterated Afghanistan’s commitment to facilitating foreign investment under the national mining framework. He assured that the ministry would work closely with the investor to ensure compliance with the country’s mining laws and regulations, enabling a transparent and secure business environment.

As Afghanistan continues to enhance security and streamline investment procedures, it is increasingly seen as a viable destination for resource-based investments. With abundant mineral resources, including lead and zinc, Afghanistan offers significant potential for foreign investors.

The Islamic Emirate’s recent measures to ensure stability and encourage economic growth have led to growing interest from both domestic and international entities, with investment in the mining sector accelerating steadily.

Source:bakhtarnews.af

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/iranian-investor-expresses-strong-interest-in-afghanistans-lead-and-zinc-mining-sector/

---------

Travel ban on ex-MPs Habib, Nurul

Nov 1, 2024

A Dhaka court yesterday issued separate travel bans on former lawmakers Mohammad Habib Hasan and Nurul Islam Talukder, Union Bank managing director ABM Mokammel Hoque Chowdhury, Taxes Appellate Tribunal's former member Ranjit Kumar Talukder and four others in connection with corruption allegations.

The other four are Habib's wife Shamima Habib, son Abeer Hasan Tanim and daughter Sonia Hasan Tonni, and Ranjit's wife Jhumur Majumder.

Judge (in-charge) Mohammed Ibrahim Mia of the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka passed the orders after the ACC officials submitted four separate applications, an ACC official working in the court told The Daily Star.

ACC prosecutors, including Mahmud Hossain Jahangir, moved the petitions, he said.

Source:thedailystar.net

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/travel-ban-ex-mps-habib-nurul-3741781

--------

 

Africa

 

Without Tinubu, Buhari Wouldn’t Have Been President – Sunday Dare

31 October 2024

The Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications and Orientation, Sunday Dare, on Thursday, commended President Bola Tinubu for his instrumental role in the emergence of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Before the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, Buhari had run unsuccessfully for the presidency in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 elections.

The turning point came when Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) merged with Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and other parties, forming the APC—a platform that ultimately won the 2015 presidential election.

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Dare asserted that Buhari’s victory would not have been possible without Tinubu’s pivotal contributions.

“If you look at the role Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu played in the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari, it’s clear that without his efforts in forming the party and creating the platform, President Buhari would not have emerged,” Dare remarked.

Championing Buhari’s Candidacy

When asked if he promoted Buhari as the APC’s presidential candidate, Dare affirmed it was a collective effort.

“It wasn’t just me; it was a team. The electoral victories in 2015 and 2019 had President Tinubu’s influence. Many others played significant roles,” he said.

Reflecting on Buhari’s legacy, Dare, who served as the Minister of Sports and Youth Development in Buhari’s administration, declined to label his tenure as a failure, emphasizing instead that governance is continuous.

“Buhari did his part and moved on, just like Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, and Jonathan before him. Now, President Bola Tinubu is making bold, courageous decisions that other leaders did not,” he added.

Dare praised Tinubu for his reforms, notably the removal of the petrol subsidy, aimed at realigning the nation’s economy for sustainable growth.

Source:naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/10/31/without-tinubu-buhari-wouldnt-have-been-president-sunday-dare/

----------

Tinubu To Withdraw Controversial Tax Reform Bill

1 November 2024

By George Oshogwe Ogbolu

The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is poised to withdraw the Tax Reform Bills presented to the National Assembly barely two months ago.

This decision comes amid widespread backlash and controversy, primarily fueled by northern governors and traditional rulers opposing elements of the proposed legislation, particularly those impacting the Value Added Tax (VAT) distribution model.

Daily Trust gathered last night that the presidency has agreed to withdraw the bills, but sources said those pieces of proposed legislations would be modified and resubmitted to the National Assembly in due course.

On October 31, the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, officially recommended the withdrawal of the bills.

NEC’s recommendation aligns with a resolution made by governors from Nigeria’s 19 northern states during a meeting in Kaduna.

Accompanied by prominent traditional leaders, the governors expressed concerns that the new tax proposals could negatively impact their region’s economic standing.

Concerns from the Northern Governors

The opposition from northern leaders centers around proposed amendments to the VAT distribution model, which, they argue, would disadvantage the North.

Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya, chair of the Northern Governors’ Forum, clarified their stance, explaining that the current VAT system unfairly favors states where businesses are headquartered rather than the regions where products and services are actually consumed. This situation, they contend, undermines the economic balance and short-changes subnational regions.

In a communiqué issued at the close of their meeting, the northern leaders called for equity in all national policies, asserting that they are not opposed to reforms that benefit Nigeria as a whole. However, they believe the proposed amendments must be fair and inclusive to avoid marginalizing specific regions.

NEC’s Intervention and Presidential Response

During a media briefing, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde explained that NEC’s recommendation reflects an understanding of the widespread concerns and a desire to allow more comprehensive consultations.

Flanked by Governors Charles Soludo (Anambra) and Babagana Zulum (Borno), Makinde stated that NEC sees the need to align all stakeholders on the tax reforms and to build consensus across Nigeria.

Governor Zulum reiterated that NEC’s decision aims to facilitate a more unified approach, stressing the importance of giving citizens and stakeholders clarity on the administration’s vision for tax reform.

Presidency Clarifies Position

Earlier, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, addressed the misunderstandings surrounding the bills.

He emphasized that the proposed VAT derivation model, rather than disadvantaging the North, intends to create a more balanced system.

The bill seeks to shift VAT distribution to a model that considers the location of consumption, ensuring that regions producing goods for nationwide use receive fair compensation.

According to Onanuga, “The current model favors VAT remittance based on corporate headquarters, not where goods are consumed. The proposed reform would ensure that all regions, particularly those in the North supplying essential products, are fairly represented in VAT allocations.”

Source:naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/01/tinubu-to-withdraw-controversial-tax-reform-bill/

---------

EFCC Moves Against Sirika, Yahaya Bello, Obiano, Two Other Former Govs, Ex-Ministers [Full List]

1 November 2024

By George Oshogwe Ogbolu

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reported successful legal action against four former governors and two former ministers over the past year, under the leadership of Executive Chairman Ola Olukoyede.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, EFCC Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, outlined the agency’s significant achievements in recovering assets and combating fraud.

Among those charged are former governors Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Willie Obiano (Anambra), and Darius Ishaku (Taraba), who face accusations of misappropriating billions in state funds.

Bello’s case involves over N190 billion, while Ishaku, along with a former official, faces charges tied to N27 billion. Ahmed and his finance commissioner are accused of mismanaging N10 billion, and Obiano is charged with laundering and embezzling N4 billion.

The EFCC has also charged former ministers Saleh Mamman and Olu Agunloye with fund misappropriation connected to the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, totaling N33.8 billion and $6 billion, respectively.

Hadi Sirika is similarly under investigation for alleged fraud involving N5.8 billion. Ongoing investigations also target Betta Edu, the recently dismissed Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.

The EFCC stated that it had reclaimed assets valued at N248.7 billion and achieved more than 35 convictions linked to currency hoarding over the past year.

Additionally, the agency successfully repatriated $180,300 and 53 vehicles to Canada and €5,100 to Spain. Fourteen properties were also returned to the Enugu State government.

Ola Olukoyede emphasized the EFCC’s commitment to transparency, noting that his tenure, which began on October 18, 2023, has resulted in 3,455 convictions across a spectrum of financial crimes.

He said commission has recovered significant monetary assets, totaling N248.75 billion and $105.4 million in foreign currency assets, underscoring its strong focus on asset recovery.

Commenting on challenges in prosecuting electoral offenses, Olukoyede highlighted the EFCC’s determination to pursue electoral integrity despite these hurdles.

EFCC said, “In Ola Olukoyede’s one year as EFCC Chairman, from October 18, 2023, to October 18, 2024, the Commission has charged four former governors—Yahaya Adoza Bello (Kogi), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Willie Obiano (Anambra), and Darius Dickson Ishaku (Taraba)—to court for alleged corruption.

“The Commission under my watch secured 3,455 convictions across all categories of financial crimes and corruption. The monetary asset recoveries have been noteworthy as well, with N248,750,049,365.52 recovered in Naira. In the same year, the EFCC recorded $105,423,190.39 in foreign currencies, demonstrating a strong focus on asset recovery.

“We have a comprehensive docket of cases that span various sectors of society, including the mining sector.”

“On vote trading, the commission has done significant work in preventing both the buying and selling of votes in recent elections, especially in runoff elections. This effort aims to deter such behaviour, and I am aware that we have conducted several prosecutions when arrests were made.

“According to the law, it is the responsibility of INEC to prosecute electoral offences. However, we face challenges, and the message is that we must remain vigilant.

“We need to focus on addressing cases and charges against those involved in electoral offences.

“It’s important to note that different agencies have distinct mandates. While the EFCC handles law enforcement, other regulatory bodies have their responsibilities within the ICT ecosystem,” the EFCC added.

Source:naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/01/efcc-moves-against-sirika-yahaya-bello-obiano-two-other-former-govs-ex-ministers-full-list/

---------

‘Call Off Your Nationwide Strike’ – FG Meets SSANU, NASU

31 October 2024

The Federal Government has urged the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) to end their strike.

Naija News reports that this appeal was made by Dr. Yusuf Sununu, the outgoing Minister of State for Education, who led discussions with union leaders on Thursday on behalf of the new Education Minister, Dr. Tunji Alaussa.

Sununu reassured that measures were being implemented to resolve the grievances leading to the strike.

Public universities across Nigeria have been closed since Monday as NASU and SSANU commenced an indefinite strike over the government’s non-release of four months’ withheld salaries from 2022.

During the discussions, Dr. Sununu emphasized the government’s dedication to finding a resolution, stating, “We have reviewed the strike’s causes and informed the unions of the Ministry of Education’s actions to address the issues.”

He added that negotiations were progressing and requested union members’ cooperation to maintain a stable academic atmosphere.

The chairman of NASU and SSANU’s Joint Action Committee, Comrade Hassan Makolo, expressed a positive outlook following the meeting.

He assured that the strike would be suspended as soon as members confirm receipt of the unpaid salaries.

“We had a constructive dialogue… Once payment is confirmed, the strike will end,” Makolo said, noting that the unions hope these assurances will help prevent future disputes over similar issues.

Source:naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/10/31/call-off-your-nationwide-strike-fg-meets-ssanu-nasu/

---------

Breaking: Acting COAS, Oluyede Resumes Duty Tomorrow

31 October 2024

The newly appointed Acting Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, will officially assume duties on Friday, November 1.

President Bola Tinubu appointed Oluyede on Wednesday as a temporary replacement for the indisposed Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja.

This appointment follows recent clarifications from the Defence Headquarters, which previously stated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria does not officially recognize an “acting” Chief of Army Staff under the Harmonised Armed Forces Act.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau,  addressed the issue following social media reports claiming that Lagbaja had passed away, which the Army dismissed as false.

In a statement released Thursday, Group Captain Chris Erondu, on behalf of Brig. Gen. Gusau, confirmed that a formal handover ceremony would take place at the Defence Headquarters conference room at 10 a.m.

“The formal taking over ceremony of the newly appointed acting Chief of Army Staff, Major General Olufemi Oluyede, is scheduled for November 1, 2024, at the DHQ Conference Room, Abuja,” the notice read.

The ceremony marks a critical transition as Maj. Gen. Oluyede steps into the role pending Lagbaja’s return, aiming to maintain continuity in military operations across Nigeria.

Source:naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/10/31/breaking-acting-coas-oluyede-resumes-duty-tomorrow/

---------

Senate Suspends Plenary Till November 19

31 October 2024

The Nigerian Senate, on Thursday, suspended its plenary till November 19, 2024.

The suspension, which took effect immediately, is to allow lawmakers and the various committees to perform their oversight functions, Naija News reports.

It would be recalled that the Senate had, earlier in the year, embarked on a seven-week annual recess in July and was expected to resume on September 17, but the resumption was postponed by a week, with the legislators eventually resuming on September 24, 2024.

Before proceeding on the fresh break, the Senate on Wednesday, confirmed the appointment of all seven ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu, which was submitted to the upper chamber for accelerated consideration last week.

Naija News reports that the confirmation follows the screening of the nominees by the upper chamber on Wednesday.

Recall that President Tinubu had written the Senate, seeking the screening and subsequent confirmation of appointments of seven ministerial nominees announced in Abuja on Wednesday.

President Tinubu’s request was contained in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and read last week Thursday during plenary.

The nominees include Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi (Minister of Labour and Employment), Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu (Minister of State, Foreign Affairs), Dr. Jumoke Oduwole (Minister of Industry, Trade, and Development), Idi Muktar Maiha (Minister of Livestock Development), Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata (Minister of State, Housing), and Dr. Suwaiba Said Ahmad (Minister of State, Education).

Source:naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/10/31/just-in-senate-suspends-plenary-till-november-19/

---------

Guinea junta dissolves dozens of political parties, silent on elections

31 October 2024

Guinea authorities dissolved dozens of political parties and placed two major opposition ones under observation late Monday, while the transitional government has yet to announce a date for elections.

The West African country has been led by a military regime since soldiers ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021. The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has pushed for a return to civilian rule and elections are scheduled for 2025.

The mass dissolution of 53 political parties and required observation of 54 others for three months is unprecedented in Guinea, which held its first democratic election in 2010 after decades of authoritarian rule. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization announced the moves based on an evaluation of all political parties begun in June. The evaluation was meant to “clean up the political chessboard,” according to the ministry.

The 67 parties that will be under observation for three months can operate normally but must resolve irregularities noted in the report. Those parties include the Rally of the Guinean People, which is the party of former President Alpha Condé, and another major opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea.

The authorities said the parties placed under observation failed to hold their party congress within the time limit and to provide bank statements, among other issues.

Guinea is one of a growing number of West African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule. Earlier this year, the military junta in Burkina Faso extended its transition term by five years.

Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, who leads Guinea, overran the president three years ago, saying he was preventing the country from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken promises.

However, since coming to power he’s been criticized by some for being no better than his predecessor.

In February, the military leader dissolved the government without explanation, saying a new one will be appointed.

Source:africanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.africanews.com/2024/10/31/guinea-junta-dissolves-dozens-of-political-parties-silent-on-elections/

--------

Kenyan Court approves new Deputy President

31 October 2024

A high court in Kenya Thursday, October 31 gave the green light for a new deputy president to take office despite a continuing court case challenging the impeachment of the previous deputy president.

The three-judge High Court in Nairobi set aside another court's order to suspend the swearing-in of nominee Kithure Kindiki, arguing that the suspension created a political vacuum.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was impeached and removed from office by a vote of more than two-thirds of legislators on Oct. 17 on charges of corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and support for anti-government protests. President William Ruto nominated Kindiki, the current interior minister, for the deputy role the next day.

Gachagua’s impeachment had highlighted divisions within the ruling United Democratic Alliance, or UDA, and friction between Ruto and Gachagua, both UDA members. The former deputy president had been accused of insubordination when he opposed the government’s policy of forced evictions during heavy rains that caused flooding and deaths.

Gachagua is challenging the impeachment before the High Court in Nairobi, arguing that the charges were unsubstantiated and that the hearings were unfair.

The former vice president was rushed to hospital with chest pains during impeachment hearings in the Senate on Oct. 17, and his lawyers had asked for an adjournment of several days. However, the chamber rejected the delay when lawyers for the prosecution argued that Gachagua already had delivered his defense.

The Senate voted on the impeachment later that day, and Gachagua’s supporters have criticized the process as rushed and unfair. Gachagua has said he believes the impeachment was backed by Ruto.

Ruto, who came to office claiming to represent Kenya’s poorest citizens, has faced widespread criticism over his efforts to raise taxes to pay off foreign creditors. But the public opposition led him to shake up his Cabinet and back off from certain proposals.

Source:africanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.africanews.com/2024/10/31/kenyan-court-approves-new-deputy-president/

--------- 

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/sindh-police-killing-muslim-doctor-blasphemy/d/133601

New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism