Delhi HC Directs Sudarshan News Chairman To State If The Channel Has Removed Content On ‘Forced Conversion By Muslim Man’
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 May 2023
Chairman of Sudarshan News Suresh Chavhanke (File)
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India
• Failure to Act on Noise
Pollution from Loudspeakers in Mosques Contempt of Court: Bombay HC
• UPSC 2022: 29 Muslim
candidates crack merit list
• Success of BJP-backed Muslim
candidates showcases the strength of Indian democracy
• No Provision for Adoption in
Muslim Personal Law; Procedure Prescribed under JJ Act Must Be Followed: Odisha
HC
• Youth arrested for kidnap,
rape of minor girl who went missing 4 years ago; BJP MLC calls it ‘love jihad’
• Mob beats Muslim man in
Telangana, his pregnant sister loses baby after altercation
--------
North America
• Review Launched Into Hindu–Muslim
Unrest in Leicester
• Sami Zayn visits Mecca ahead
of match against Roman Reigns at WWE Night of Champions 2023, shares emotional
post
• Northeast Ohio's Sarah Shendy
becomes Ohio's first Egyptian-Muslim female police sergeant
• Muslim, civil liberties groups
challenge Quebec school prayer room ban in court
• Hate crime probe urged in
North Carolina mosque threat
--------
Mideast
• Islamic Jihad: Enemy's heinous
crimes against Palestinian people will raise cost of account with this entity
• European Muslim Forum backs
Erdoğan in Turkish runoff
• UN backs Sudan envoy as army
seeks to bolster ranks
• From ashes and debris, iconic
Beirut museum reopens 3 years after massive damage from port blast
• Iran says Ukraine president
drone criticism a bid to secure more Western arms
• Iraq’s Kurd regional
government opposes changes in budget
• No trace of boat with 500
migrants, rescue group says after alarm sparked Med search
• Hamas chief hails Islamic Bloc
victory in Birzeit student council
--------
Arab World
• Saudi astronauts
RayyanahBarnawi, Ali AlQarni begin their research projects
• Saudi authorities bust khat
smuggling operation in Jazan
• Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jubeir meets
Panama ministers
• Colombia expresses support for
Saudi Expo 2030 bid
• Saudi Arabia’s REGA warns
against unlicensed brokers deals
• Jubail exhibition attracts
over 75k visitors
• 45,000 people benefited from
Happiness Creators Initiative programs: Turki Al-Asheikh
• Cultural Skills Competition to
honor top Saudi students
• Joint KSrelief, Jordanian
charity group project targets Syrian refugees with special needs
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Europe
• The CEC is not sure whether
Dodik’s calling Bosniaks Muslims is Hate Speech
• Major Shia mosque shuts down
after Charity Commission appoints non-Muslim manager
• Quebec ban on school prayer
rooms faces new legal challenge from muslim, cilvil liberties groups
• UK man sentenced to life for
trying to join Islamic State in Syria
• Nadia Fettah and Jihad Azour:
Morocco Gives Voice to the Global South
• Life Sentence for High Wycombe
Man who joined so called Islamic State
• Vahid Beheshti:
British-Iranian activist resumes sit in outside Foreign Office despite fatwa
• Muslim Lawyers' Hub: Bridging
the diversity gap in the UK legal profession
---------
Africa
• Robocop and Bin Laden in
Uganda
• Mass protests erupt over
mosque demolitions
• News: Two killed, dozens
injured in police crackdown against protest by Muslims in Addis Abeba; more
than 100 people detained
• Inauguration: Tinubu joins
Buhari for Juma’at prayers at State House mosque
• May 29: Miyetti Allah holds
special prayer for Tinubu, new S/East govs
• Nigeria Would Have Been In
Trouble If Peter Obi Had Won 2023 Election Because Of His Intolerance Towards
Muslims —Oyo Labour Party Gov. Candidate, Akinwale
• Traditional Religion
Worshippers Want Tinubu, Others To Swear On God Of Iron Rather Than The Bible,
Qur’an On May 29
--------
Pakistan
• May 9 rioters must face
justice like Capitol Hill attackers: PM
• British MPs angry about
thwarted call with Imran Khan
• Imran calls for immediate
talks as PTI exodus continues
• Pakistan is proud of being one
of the largest contributors to peace missions: Shehbaz Sharif
• Over 16,000 pilgrims reached
Madinah in last six days
• PM lauds active participation
of people on Youm-e-TakreemShuhada-e-Pakistan
--------
South Asia
• Iran Makes Inclusive Govt
Condition to Recognize Islamic Emirate
• Gov’t envisions IUM as a
prominent regional institution of Islamic education: pres.
• College Graduates Turn to
Driving Taxis in Balkh
• Fourth EU-Central Asia Meeting
on Afghanistan Held in Ashgabat
• Afghan Acting FM Meets Iranian
Ambassador Discussing Iran’s Water Rights and Bilateral Relations
• Bangladeshi arrested for
trying to fly to Rome with 'Indian' passport in Mumbai
• New US visa policy before
general elections an ‘insult to Bangladesh’
• OIC secretary general in city;
to meet PM tomorrow
• 19,149 Bangladeshis reach
Saudi Arabia for Hajj
--------
Southeast Asia
• Need finance sector efforts
for sharia economy development: minister
• Ministry sends 107 tons of
medicines for Hajj pilgrims
• Youth, women's role integral
part of building sustainable peace: envoy
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/sudarshan-channel-forced-conversion-muslim/d/129869
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Delhi HC directs Sudarshan News chairman to state if the channel has removed content on ‘forced conversion by Muslim man’
Chairman of Sudarshan News Suresh Chavhanke (File)
------
The man, a classical singer, moved the court seeking removal of videos,
tweets and various news items appearing on online platforms and news channels with
respect to a complaint lodged by a woman with whom "he was in a
relationship”.
Written by Malavika Prasad
May 27, 2023
The Delhi High Court has directed chairman of Sudarshan News Suresh
Chavhanke to file an affidavit with respect to certain videos and news items in
a Muslim man’s plea seeking the removal of certain news reports and videos by
media houses accusing him of “forcing” a woman to convert to Islam.
A single judge bench of Justice Prathiba Singh in its May 24 order said,
“None appears for Respondent No. 6 – Suresh Chavhanke. It is directed that
Respondent No. 6 shall file an affidavit in respect of the impugned videos and
news items before the next date of hearing”.
The HC on May 12 issued notice to various respondents –including
Chavhanke, Odisha Television Limited, Google LLC and Twitter; and directed that
the links of the news reports and videos stated in the plea “shall be
immediately blocked for public viewing till the next date of hearing”.
The man, a classical singer, moved the court seeking the removal of
videos, tweets and various news items appearing on online platforms and news
channels with respect to an FIR lodged by a woman with whom “he was in a
relationship for the past eight years”. The court had previously noted that the
allegations in the FIR are currently under investigation by the police.
During the course of the hearing on May 24, Justice Singh interacted
with the woman (complainant) “in chambers” as she did not wish to be
identified. “Pursuant to the interaction with the complainant, it is clear that
the complainant is also apprehensive about various videos, images, etc.,
concerning her, which have been posted on different social media platforms by
the petitioner (man). The complainant also alleges that the petitioner is in
possession of her mobile phone and is not returning the same. This matter shall
be looked into by the concerned additional sessions judge,” the court said in
its order.
The court additionally recorded the “assurance” given by the man’s
counsel that “all images, comments, photographs, videos, posts, audios relating
to the complainant on all social media platforms or any other online platforms,
shall be removed by him within the next 48 hours”.
It ordered that if the woman finds any such content involving her
online, she can approach the HC by filing an application. With respect to her
mobile phone, the HC said that the additional sessions judge (before whom the
woman’s case against the man is currently pending) “shall consider the matter,
and pass appropriate orders”.
Justice Singh clarified that the HC had not considered the merits of the
“statements made in respect of the FIR” before the additional sessions judge.
“If the complainant wishes to move an application before this court seeking any
directions, the complainant is permitted to do so,” the HC said.
The Delhi Police counsel informed the HC that the man had joined the
investigation with respect to the FIR and his statement had been recorded. The
HC was also informed that the matter was pending before the Additional Sessions
Judge, South-West District, Dwarka Courts “for anticipatory bail”.
Twitter submitted that there was only one post which has now been taken
down and Google LLC submitted that it had complied with the orders of the HC.
Odisha Television Ltd submitted that the content in question was received from
a syndicated feed, and has now been deleted as per the HC’s directions.
Source: indianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-hc-sudarshan-news-chairman-channel-content-forced-conversion-muslim-8631684/
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Biden Staffs White House with Another Islamist Sympathizer, Mazen Basrawi
Mazen Basrawi, President Biden's new Muslim-American Liaison in the
White House Office of Public Engagement.
------
by Benjamin Baird
Focus on Western Islamism
April 17, 2023
President Joe Biden has appointed a new liaison who will act as the
White House spokesperson to the Muslim American community. Mazen Basrawi will
pull double duties as Director of Partnerships and Global Engagement at the
National Security Council (NSC), and Muslim-American Liaison in the White House
Office of Public Engagement.
Basrawi's appointment represents a tendency by the Biden administration
to staff important administrative posts with Muslim American bureaucrats who
are involved with Islamist organizations and extremist causes.
An April 13 article by Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow
at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, documents Basrawi's attendance at an
Islamic Society of North America conference in 2010 that featured some of the
most radical figures in American Islamism. Then a member of the Obama
administration's Justice Department, Basrawi's appearance was a tacit
endorsement of Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a possible unindicted co-conspirator in the
1993 World Trade Center bombing who was honored at ISNA's event.
ISNA was founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and federal
prosecutors alleged the nonprofit was involved in a nationwide scheme to funnel
millions of dollars to Hamas, a designated terrorist entity. A year prior to
Basrawi's appearance, ISNA's annual convention included panelists who expressed
extreme anti-Semitic positions and praised the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Greenfield's short biography of Basrawi details his beginnings as a
young activist who denounced the War on Terror, referring to it as an effort to
demonize and criminalize Muslims. Later, he joined the Bay Area Association of
Muslim Lawyers, a group established in the days following 9/11 to undermine
counter-terrorism investigations.
"In a little over a decade, Basrawi has gone from attending an
Islamist conference that featured some of the worst of the worst to a role at
the National Security Council," Greenfield wrote.
Biden pledged to staff his administration with Muslim Americans in a bid
to establish one of the most diverse cabinets in U.S. history. His appointments
from the Muslim community have included several controversial choices.
Reema Dodin, the Palestinian-American deputy director of the White House
Office of Legislative Affairs. As a young activist involved in the boycott
movement targeting Israel, Dodin once sympathized with Palestinian
"suicide bombers." Sameera Fazili, deputy director of the National
Economic Council, is deeply entangled with Kashmiri separatist groups such as
Stand With Kashmir, an international network of radical intellectuals which
openly praises and defends jihadist militants.
Other appointees, including an activist judge, have built careers around
making it more difficult for police and prosecutors to effectively oppose
Islamic terrorism on the domestic front.
As for Basrawi, Greenfield offered a theory about why the White House
would choose a member of the National Security Council to represent American
Muslims. He argued that the Biden administration "sees Muslims in America
as an adjunct of the foreign Muslim governments and Islamist entities whose
cooperation it is trying to solicit."
Islamist organizations around the country have praised the appointment,
while pledging to work with Basrawi to fight "institutional
Islamophobia" among federal law enforcement.
Source: meforum.org
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.meforum.org/64346/biden-staffs-white-house-with-another-islamist
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Between Bloodbaths, Jerusalem’s Crusader-Era Christians, Muslims Coexisted
In Peace
The 12th century Crusader fortress Belvoir, at Israel's Kochav HaYarden
National Park in the Jordan Valley (Courtesy)
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MAY 27, 2023
When the Muslim diplomat Usama ibn Munqidh visited Jerusalem in the
early 12th century, recent history hardly portended a peaceful stay. A few
decades prior, the Christian capture of the city in the First Crusade was
accompanied by a massacre of Muslim and Jewish residents. Yet ibn Munqidh was
cordially welcomed by one of the powerful military orders now present in the
city — the Knights Templar, who allowed him to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It’s true that a faux pas marred his visit: A recently arrived Christian
saw ibn Munqidh praying southward towards Mecca and tried to reorient him
eastward, which was common in contemporaneous Christian worship. This gaffe
incensed ibn Munqidh — as well as his Templar hosts, who apologized to him
after ejecting their coreligionist from the premises.
This story of tolerance, which ibn Munqidh relates in his memoirs, seems
incongruous with medieval Jerusalem. After all, during the Middle Ages the city
passed from one conqueror to another, often in bloody religious warfare that
pitted Muslims against Christians, notably in the Crusades. Yet more often than
not, the legacy of each conquest tended to be conciliation, not oppression.
That’s the premise of a thought-provoking new book, “Jerusalem Falls: Seven
Centuries of War and Peace,” by John Hosler.
“In the wake of those conflicts, I started to see things differently,”
Hosler told The Times of Israel.
The author is a professor of military history at the Army Command and
General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. The idea for the book arose
through several years of classroom discussions around one of his courses, “The
Deep Roots of Conflict in the Middle East,” an elective centering on Jerusalem
from its first conquest by Islam in the seventh century to the Ottoman era that
ended over a millennium later, accompanied by yet another conquest of
Jerusalem, this time by British Gen. Sir Edmund Allenby in 1917 during World War
I.
Hosler’s students are field-grade officers, and in the Jerusalem class
they were not only interested in the warfare part of the narrative, but in what
happened once the fighting stopped — a lens that suggested a different
perspective.
“A Muslim ruler would take control of the city and not bar non-Muslims
from the city,” Hosler said. “The Christians eventually, even after the First
Crusade, started to let other people back in.”
That included ibn Munqidh’s visit.
“It’s so extraordinary,” Hosler said of the Templars’ reception. “None
of it was hatred of Islam, suspicion of Islam, suspicion or hatred of a local
Muslim walking around. It all had to do with proper behavior — be respectful to
a gentleman, give this man a place to pray, don’t bother him. If it’s true —
and historians tend to be skeptical of what they read in medieval sources, for
all kinds of reasons about them — by itself, it runs counter to received wisdom
of medieval Jerusalem.”
Hosler has written multiple books about the military history of the
Middle Ages, including an award-winning study of the Siege of Acre during the
Third Crusade. A Roman Catholic, he notes the importance of religion in his
field of specialization. He’s seen this firsthand when he’s visited Jerusalem
in the past. Although COVID-19 policies prevented Hosler from return trips
during the pandemic, he’s enjoyed previous visits to the city’s many religious
sites. Some of these sites also have military significance, such as the
Crusader graffiti carved into the basement walls of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre.
“In Jerusalem, it’s all military and it’s all religious,” Hosler said.
“You got to see both no matter where you went.”
For his latest title, the author studied attacks on Jerusalem from the
7th-century showdowns between Byzantium, the Persian empire and Islam to the
later Crusades of the 13th century. Conquerors used virtually every means at
their disposal, from catapults to tunnels to blockades.
“I counted so many attacks on the city in the Middle Ages,” Hosler
marveled. “I counted 19 for the book. As soon as the book got published, I
found another one.”
Ironically, Jerusalem held dubious strategic value. Far from the
Mediterranean coast, it was off the trade routes and ringed by
difficult-to-cross mountains. Food and water were hard to come by, a frequent
challenge for invaders and occupiers.
What made the city so desired was its importance for Jews, Christians
and Muslims, manifested by its religious sites, from the Western Wall to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the Temple Mount. Christian cartographers
placed Jerusalem at the center of the world. The city also figured prominently
in apocalyptic beliefs surrounding all three Abrahamic faiths, including an
envisioned building of the Third Temple in Judaism and the Second Coming in
Christianity.
A pluralistic precedent was established in one of the earliest conquests
— the Islamic caliph Umar’s capture of Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire in
637, the first time in history that the city passed to Muslim control. Umar
proved a tolerant ruler. He did not expel the city’s Christians and allowed
them to continue worshiping there.
“It kind of sets the standard for every time there is a conquest and the
city changes hands,” Hosler said. “Today, when we see the so-called status quo
agreement in Jerusalem, that’s the baseline for it.”
The clearest violation of this baseline occurred almost 400 years later,
in the First Crusade. Hosler called the bloody capture of Jerusalem in 1099 a
glaring exception to historical precedent. Yet, he added, once the crusaders
had established themselves in the city, they began to relax restrictions on
non-Christians, allowing Muslims and Jews to return.
In later decades, the precedent of tolerance reestablished itself more
directly. When the Ayyubid sultan Saladin reconquered Jerusalem for Islam in
1187, he opted not to take revenge for the massacre nearly a century before.
Saladin spared the lives of the city’s Christian population, a deed that won
admiration, even among the Europeans who launched the Third Crusade after
Jerusalem fell.
“Saladin takes the city hundreds of years after Umar,” Hosler said. “He
does the same thing — ‘OK, Christians can worship at the Holy Sepulchre, as
they like to do. For Muslims, OK, we’ve got the Temple Mount.’” And, he added,
“We don’t know the exact date, but Saladin welcomed Jews back in.”
Hosler indicated that respect for preexisting agreements could be found
to some extent in contemporaneous Islamic law. Such respect even covered
agreements made hundreds of years before, allowing for modifications on an
as-needed basis.
Another example of tolerance was set by a Christian ruler in 1229,
during the Sixth Crusade. Holy Roman emperor Frederick II reclaimed the city
for Christendom, not through warfare, but rather through successful
negotiations with the new Ayyubid sultan, al-Kamil. Frederick permitted Muslim
worship on the Temple Mount and was accused by contemporary Christians of
insufficient allegiance to his own religion, an accusation furthered by the
fact that the emperor was excommunicated while on crusade.
The policy of tolerance had its limits. Hosler notes that while Saladin
spared the lives of Jerusalem’s Christians, the sultan did not spare them in
other ways, as recounted in a hard-to-read chapter of the narrative. The
respect for pluralism shown by Jerusalem’s conquerors did not extend to other
locations in the Levant. Far more common were bloody reprisals in places such
as Caesarea, Tyre and Acre. The latter city is where the Crusades came to an
end, in 1291, when the victorious Muslims decimated the surviving Christian
population. Hosler muses on Jerusalem’s fate over the centuries had it not held
its ecumenical importance.
And yet, he points out, it does have an outsized interfaith appeal, one
that the current power structure would do well to remember. He cites a more
recent example, from the Six Day War: After IDF paratroopers captured the
Temple Mount, restoring Jewish control after 1,900 years, defense minister
Moshe Dayan ordered a policy of restraint. At his demand, an Israeli flag
installed over the Dome of the Rock was taken down, while worship at the Temple
Mount was restored to the Islamic Waqf endowment that had previously supervised
it.
“In that moment,” Hosler noted, “Dayan and the IDF, they were in the
same position the crusaders were in, Frederick II was in, Saladin was in, even
Caliph Umar was in: You have taken the city, you have driven out the enemy…
they’re in total military retreat, they don’t have a chance to save the city.
You can do anything you want, before realizing, ‘Oh, there is a limit… there
will be repercussions.’”
Source: timesofisrael.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.timesofisrael.com/between-bloodbaths-jerusalems-crusader-era-christians-muslims-coexisted-in-peace/
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King Abdullah University Of Science And Technology’s AI Will Contribute
To ‘New Golden Age For Science’ Says Top KAUST Academic
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology offers excellent
research conditions and a high quality of life. The university also strongly
supports research in artificial intelligence. (Shutterstock file photo)
------
May 26, 2023
RIYADH: A top academic at the King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology has said he believes that KAUST’s AI initiative will contribute to a
new Golden Age for science — analogous to the Islamic Golden Age, when the
Middle East was leading the world in science and technology.
Jurgen Schmidhuber, KAUST’s director of the AI initiative, and professor
of computer science, said that artificial intelligence is already vital to
society. Schmidhuber was speaking at the launch Summer Program for Artificial
Intelligence 2023 at the KAUST Academy.
The program is a collaboration between the Saudi Data and Artificial
Intelligence Authority and KAUST and will, according to the organizers, serve
as a stepping stone for enhancement of AI research and development, as well as
an opportunity for researchers to expand their knowledge on the future of AI.
The KAUST Academy will host two summer schools as part of its AI summer
program led by Sultan Albarakati. One is for high school students and the other
for top undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia.
“Apart from AI, the summer schools include a range of curricular,
co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, including lessons of applied
mathematics, scientific writing, presentation skills, leadership, and entrepreneurship,”
said Schmidhuber.
He added that such training has already seen a number of young Saudis
secure employment at major companies. “The young Saudis trained by the KAUST
academy are already making an impact in the Kingdom,” he said. “Our graduates have
secured positions in top organizations like Aramco, SDAIA and the Ministry of
Information. Our students have also been selected for graduate studies in some
of the top schools in the world.”
KAUST is now the university with the highest impact per faculty, ahead
of the usual suspects such as Caltech and Princeton, Schmidhuber claimed.
“The Kingdom has very ambitious projects that will involve a lot of AI.
The KAUST (leadership) knows that AI will change everything, strongly supports
AI research, and convinced me to come here.”
Schmidhuber says that AI is vital to today’s society, citing as proof
technology that he helped to develop which is used by billions of people
daily.
“For example, since the mid 2010s, the artificial neural networks
developed in my labs have been on billions of smartphones, and used billions of
times per day,” he said. “For example, Facebook’s automatic translation,
Google’s speech recognition, Google Translate, Apple’s Siri, and Amazon’s
Alexa.”
The German scientist’s admiration for technology and development began
aged 15, he said, and his advice for students and researchers is to learn the
fundamentals of math and science and to be a part of technology’s history.
“As a teenager in the 1970s, my goal became to build a machine that
could learn and improve on its own, becoming much smarter than myself within my
lifetime, restricted only by the limits of computability and physics, achieving
super-intelligence through recursive self-improvement.”
Schmidhuber’s work has been recognized internationally and he has been
called the “Father of Modern AI” by the media.
He received the Helmholtz Award of the International Neural Network
Society in 2013, and the Neural Networks Pioneer Award of the IEEE
Computational Intelligence Society in 2016 for “pioneering contributions to
deep learning and neural networks.”
Schmidhuber said: “We have made a lot of progress since then, but there
is still work left to be done. My advice is: Learn the basics of math, physics,
computer science, and AI, and become part of history by helping to achieve the
final goal! I envy the young people of today a bit, because they will have more
time than me to enjoy the immense benefits of AI.”
Recent developments in technology have shown proven effectiveness in AI,
Schmidhuber said, adding that it will eventually transform all aspects of our
civilization.
“Actually, it’s getting harder and harder to find fields that are not
affected by AI,” he said. “Every five years, computers are getting 10 times
cheaper. The naive extrapolation of this exponential trend predicts that the
21st century will see cheap computers with a thousand times the raw
computational power of all human brains combined. And soon there will be …
trillions of such devices.
“Almost all of intelligence will be outside of human brains. Everything
will change. This is more than just another industrial revolution. This is
something new that will eventually transcend humankind and even biology,” he
continued. “It is a privilege to witness its beginnings, and contribute
something to it.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311036/saudi-arabia
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Almost Every Friday One Spaniard Converts To Islam In Granada
File photo
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27/05/2023
In the Andalusia region of southern Spain, one Spanish citizen has been
converting to Islam almost every Friday for the last few years, by bringing the
word Shahadah. Footage showed a Spanish young man Jose Miguel converted to
Islam by reciting the Kalima Shahada in the Grand Mosque of Granada, after
Friday prayer.
Source: yenisafak.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/video-gallery/world/almost-every-friday-one-spaniard-converts-to-islam-in-granada-3664600
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India
Failure to Act on Noise Pollution from Loudspeakers in Mosques Contempt
of Court: Bombay HC
MAY 27, 2023
The Bombay High Court on Friday reprimanded the Mumbai Police for not
taking action against noise pollution caused by loudspeakers installed in
mosques, even after receiving complaints. “Failure to act on noise pollution
from mosques amounts to contempt of court," the court said.
The high court directed police to file a reply to the peition filed by a
local resident. The next hearing will take place on May 29.
Last year there was a massive controversy over the use of loudspeakers
with MNS chief Raj Thackeray calling for a ban on their use in mosques. This
was soon after there were incidents of communal violence around Hanuman Jayanti
festivities in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. Similar
clashes were also witnessed in Gujarat and Karnataka.
The Maharashtra government then took a stern view and announced that
loudspeakers could only be used in religious places and events with proper
prior permission.
In previous cases, the Bombay HC has said the use of loudspeakers was
not a fundamental right. In August 2016, the court ruled that no religion or
sect could claim that the right to use a loudspeaker or public address system
was a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. It
also said if a religious establishment is located in a ‘silence zone’, then
rules prohibiting the use of loudspeakers and other forms of sound producing
systems must be followed.
Noise is defined as an “unwanted sound, a potential health and
communication hazard dumped into the environment with regard to the adverse
effect it may have on unwilling ears". According to the law, it is defined
as an “air pollutant" in Section 2(a) of the Air (Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act, 1981. Section 2(a) of the Act states that an “air
pollutant" is any solid, liquid, or gaseous substance, including noise,
present in the atmosphere in such concentrations as to be or tend to be harmful
to humans, other living creatures, plants, property, or the environment".
The Central Pollution Control Board has established permissible limits
for different areas, which are then defined by different zones for day and
night. The permissible limit in industrial areas is 75 decibels (dB) during the
day and 70 dB at night. It is 65 dB during day and 55 dB at night in commercial
areas, and 55 dB in day and 45 dB at night in residential areas.
In July 2005, the Supreme Court had banned the use of loudspeakers and
music systems in public places between 10 pm and 6 am (except in cases of
public emergencies), citing the serious effects of noise pollution on the
health of those who live in such areas. Then, in October 2005, the SC had
stated that loudspeakers could be used till midnight for festivities for 15
days a year.
Source: news18.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.news18.com/india/failure-to-act-on-noise-pollution-from-loudspeakers-in-mosques-contempt-of-court-bombay-hc-7927711.html
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UPSC 2022: 29 Muslim candidates crack merit lis
May 27, 2023
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 27 (ANI): The Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC) witnessed a three per cent rise in the number of
Muslims candidates who cracked the most competitive exam in the country this
year.
The number of Muslims who have cleared the UPSC exams varies from year
to year. In 2022, a total of 29 Muslim candidates cleared the exam, which is
about 3 per cent of the total number of successful candidates. This is a slight
increase from the previous year when 25 Muslim candidates cleared the exam.
Muslim candidates have been doing well in the prestigious exams since
2016. Prior to that, they constituted only 2.5 per cent of the total successful
candidates.
Sources in the Minority Affairs Ministry said that there has been a
"progressive improvement in the performance of Muslim candidates in the
last four years."
A member of the minority affairs described it as "a big feat
because the number used to remain around 2.5 per cent until recently."
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government increased the
budget allocation for minority community candidates appearing in the UPSC exam.
The budget for providing free and subsidized coaching for minority candidates
was raised from Rs 8 crore to Rs 20 crore in the 2019- 2020 budget.
This increase in funding was made under the 'Support for students
clearing prelims conducted by UPSC, SSC, State Public Service Commissions etc'
scheme. This budget increase reflects the government's efforts to support and
empower minority candidates in their UPSC exam preparations.
Despite challenges, there are several Muslim candidates who have
successfully cleared the UPSC exams and gone on to have successful careers in
the Indian government
These candidates are an inspiration to other Muslims, and they show that
it is possible to overcome challenges and achieve success. The increase in
successful Muslim candidates can be attributed to various factors, including
awareness, educational initiatives, and the efforts of aspirants from the
Muslim community.
This year 13 candidates from Jammu and 3 candidates from Kashmir
havequalified for the prestigious exam.
Shah Faesal's emergence as a topper marked a watershed in the
aspirational story for IAS as local youth idolised him as an icon for his
success in the competition which has seen a lot of changes since 1968 when
Muhammad Shafi Pandit became the first Kashmiri to join the Indian
Administrative Service.
He was followed by Iqbal Khandey in 1978, Khursheed Ahmad Ganai in 1982
and Asghar Samoon in 1993. In 1994, Abdul Gani Mir and Javed Geelani joined the
IPS (Indian Police Service).
The role of Abdul Gani Mir, who is at present Inspector General ITBP, is
significant in motivating youngsters towards the IAS examination, considering
he was Shah Faesal's mentor and established the Initiative for Competition
Promotion (ICP), which helped students to prepare for the exams in 2008.
Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan was the next one to secure a second rank in
CSE-2015, to become a household name in Jammu and Kashmir, where he is serving
as Commissioner of Srinagar Municipal Corporation and is also the CEO of Smart
City Project.
Others like Sehrish Asgar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, and Syed Abid Shah
make up the pride of the Union Territory signifying that Muslim youth are
getting the best opportunities in India depending on their capabilities and
talent and their merit is being rewarded.
The example of Waseem Ahmad Bhat from Brahgam, Dooru in Anantnag
district in Kashmir Valley is more proof of how hard work is rewarded. He
secured seventh all-India rank this year.
This was his second attempt; earlier getting AIR 225 when he qualified
for UPSC 2021. Posted as Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer in Nagpur,
Waseem is an engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology,
Srinagar (B Tech)
He is not the only Muslim one from J-K. NavedAshan Bhat from Sopore
(84th rank), Manan Bhat of Soura in Srinagar (231), Mohd Irfan from
ThatharBantalab in Jammu (476), Dr Iram Choudhary from Rajouri (852) are among
the 16 candidates who have qualified as well.
Some of the notable Muslim candidates who have cleared the UPSC exams
are SafnaNazarudeen, who ranked 45 in the 2019 UPSC exams and AreebaNomaan, who
ranked 109 in the 2021 UPSC exams.
These candidates are just a few examples of the many talented Muslim
candidates who have cleared the UPSC exams. They are an inspiration to other
Muslims. (ANI)
Source: aninews.in
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Success of BJP-backed Muslim candidates showcases the strength of Indian
democracy
AMANA BEGAM
26 May, 2023
Sixty Muslim candidates representing the Bharatiya Janata Party secured
victory in the municipal elections held in Uttar Pradesh earlier this month.
This development could mark a significant milestone in the country’s political
landscape, showcasing the growing inclusivity within the BJP and reflecting a
shift in perceptions regarding the representation of minority communities.
The emergence of Muslim candidates successfully contesting on BJP
tickets challenges the long-held narrative that the BJP predominantly
represents the interests of the majority Hindu population. Traditionally
associated with conservative and nationalist ideologies, the BJP has recently
shown a commitment to expanding its support base and embracing diversity within
its ranks.
The party has been giving place to individuals who share its nationalist
ideology, regardless of their religious identity. And the recent decision to
field more Muslim candidates further demonstrates a willingness to expand its
support base and promote diversity within its ranks.
During the recent West Bengal state elections too, the BJP provided
opportunities to Muslim candidates. The party fielded nine Muslim candidates
who unfortunately were not successful in securing seats.
Pasmanda outreach gaining ground in UP
The BJP has fielded Muslim candidates not just in local body polls but
also in assembly and Lok Sabha elections, but they have not been successful in
securing seats, with the exception of Aminul Haque Laskar who stands as the
lone Muslim candidate elected to a legislative assembly on a BJP ticket.
The party has achieved notable success in the 2015 Gujarat local body
polls when 110 Muslim candidates reportedly won on a BJP ticket. In 2021, they
fielded 31 Muslims.
The party seems to be effectively using the same strategy in the local
body elections in Uttar Pradesh. 60 BJP-backed Muslim candidates won, including
five who became chairpersons of Nagar panchayats. A total of 395 Muslim
candidates were fielded with state party leaders adding that nearly 90 per cent
of them belonged to the Pasmanda Muslim community.
These results are significant as they have sparked a debate on whether
Muslims are now willing to vote for the BJP, given that Muslim candidates
previously fielded by the party did not receive substantial support from
voters.
Inclusivity or tokenism
The achievements of these Muslim candidates carry a message of
inclusivity, empowerment, and equal opportunity. The BJP’s decision is a
substantial stride towards promoting a more diverse political landscape.
But it is not enough that the party takes such a step, it is equally
crucial for voters to positively respond to such inclusive measures. This is
why the response from Pasmanda Muslims to this initiative is particularly
noteworthy, as it reflects that they are prioritising their own welfare over
political rhetoric. This development not only benefits the Muslim candidates
themselves but also reinforces the democratic framework of the nation, enabling
a broader range of voices to be heard and represented.
There is an ongoing debate regarding the BJP’s initiative, with some
experts suggesting it may be tokenism. They say that if the party was keen on
the upliftment of Muslims they would have fielded candidates from the community
in Assembly elections or for mayoral positions. However, they have acknowledged
that the Muslim community has not been met with “step-motherly” treatment in
terms of welfare schemes.
The experts added that BJP’s primary agenda is to appeal to the Pasmanda
Muslim community and create a favourable image to garner support from liberal
sections.
While one may view the BJP’s initiative with scepticism, it is important
to recognise that the party has indeed backed Muslim candidates in West Bengal
and appointed a Muslim minister, Danish Azad Ansari, to the Uttar Pradesh
Cabinet.
Political evolution and strategy
As a political party, the BJP makes decisions that are beneficial to its
own interests and electoral success, this is an undeniable truth. The party’s
recent successes will likely boost its confidence in providing opportunities to
individuals who align with its ideology and can secure votes.
The BJP’s decision to field Muslim candidates can be seen as a strategic
move to gain greater electoral traction. By breaking away from its traditional
voter base and diversifying its candidate pool, the party aims to attract
support from a wider cross-section of society. This approach not only promotes
diversity within the party but also helps to bridge the gap between different
religious communities, fostering a more inclusive and pluralistic political
landscape.
While the victories of these Muslim candidates on BJP tickets are
commendable, they also come with challenges.
Some members within the Muslim community may express scepticism or doubt
the sincerity of these developments, citing past controversies or divisive
rhetoric. It is essential for the BJP to continue its efforts towards fostering
an environment of trust and inclusivity, ensuring that these victories are not
mere tokenism but genuine steps toward representation and participation.
BJP’s moves should also act as an example for other political parties.
They must build upon these positive steps and foster an environment where all
citizens, regardless of their religious or ethnic background, have equal
opportunities to participate and contribute to the nation’s progress.
Amana Begam Ansari is a columnist, writer, TV News Panelist. She also
runs a weekly Youtube show called ‘India this Week by Amana and Khalid’. Views
are personal.
Source: theprint.in
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No Provision for Adoption in Muslim Personal Law; Procedure Prescribed under
JJ Act Must Be Followed: Odisha HC
MAY 26, 2023
The Odisha High Court recently observed that a Muslim cannot adopt a
child at his/her whim. However, the adoption of a surrendered child can be done
by a Muslim only after following the stringent procedure as laid down under the
Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, 2000, the HC said.
The bench of Justice SubhasisTalapatra and Justice Savitri Ratho noted
in the order, “There is no practice in the Mohammedan Law, similar to adoption
as recognized by Roman and Hindu system…generally in the Islamic countries
instead of adoption the guardianship is provided to a minor who needs care and
protection".
The court observed this while dealing with a writ petition filed by the
father of a 12-year-old Muslim girl to restore her custody in his favour.
The father had alleged that his minor daughter had been forcibly
confined and illegally detained by his niece and her husband.
He claimed that since he was not doing well financially, when his twin
daughters were born, under the garb of offering help, his sister took one of
his daughters and later the sister’s daughter and her husband claimed that they
were the child’s adoptive parents.
Further, he submitted that he had been denied meetings with his daughter
despite a series of attempts made by him.
On the other hand, the alleged adoptive parents of the minor girl
claimed that they had lawfully adopted the child from the sister of the
petitioner.
They submitted that since the child’s biological parents were unable to
bring up two girls together, they had voluntarily placed one daughter in the
custody of the sister of the father as per the Muslim tradition known as
Kafalah.
Under Kafalah, the pre-existing parent-child relationship is not
terminated but a new parent-child relationship is established between the child
and the adoptive parents.
The adoptive parents placed reliance on a part of an article published
in the African Human Rights Law Journal (2014) to elucidate the practice of
Kafalah.
They submitted that Kafalah is similar to kinship care, to the extent
that they both generally promote continuity in upbringing in relation to the
children’s cultural and religious backgrounds.
They further argued that both Kafalah and kinship care are thus
developed to provide stability and continuity for the progressive growth and
development of the child and Kafalah represents the Islamic alternative to
adoption.
On the other hand, the petitioner denied agreeing to any such
arrangement and contended that he and his daughter are governed under
Mohammedan Law, and as per their custom, adoption is strictly prohibited.
Therefore, her custody should be transferred to him being her natural guardian,
he pressed.
The court noted that it had been admitted by the alleged adoptive parents
of the child themselves that there is no practice in the Mohammedan Law of
adoption.
The HC underscored that instead, in Section 47 of the Juvenile Justice
Care and Protection of Children Act, 2000, there is a provision for adoption,
which is a secular provision.
Moreover, the court highlighted that Section 2 of the Central Shariat
Acts provides that customs or usages relating to adoption have not been
superseded by Muslim Personal Law and it is only by making a declaration under
Section 3 of the Act that the provisions of Section 2 can be made applicable to
a Muslim for the purpose of adoption, wills and legacies.
In the case at hand, the court noted that there was nothing on record to
show any proof of adoption of the minor by the alleged adoptive parents under
the JJ Act or under Section 3 of the Shariat Act, and also no such averment had
been made by them before the family court where the child’s guardianship
proceedings are pending.
Therefore, in the absence of adoption, the court held the custody of the
minor child by her alleged adoptive parents as illegal detention.
Accordingly, the HC restored the child’s custody in favour of her
biological father.
Source: news18.com
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Youth arrested for kidnap, rape of minor girl who went missing 4 years
ago; BJP MLC calls it ‘love jihad’
Meanwhile, the police said there “was no allegation of love jihad or
forceful conversation in the FIR” that was registered at the time the girl went
missing.
May 26, 2023
MaharashtraAfter the girl went missing, one of her family members had lodged
a complaint at the police station. As the girl was then aged 16 years, the
police lodged an FIR of kidnapping against an “unidentified person” under
section 363 of the IPC. (Representational/File)
BJP LEADER and Maharashtra MLC Gopichand Padalkar on Friday sought a
detailed police probe into a case registered against a youth on the charge of
rape and under sections of the POCSO Act in Pune Rural linked to a girl who
went missing four years ago and was traced this month by her relatives.
While Padalkar called it a case of “love jihad” and “forced conversion”,
the police said there “was no allegation of love jihad or forceful conversation
in the FIR” that was registered at the time the girl went missing.
Addressing a press conference along with the girl and her family,
Padalkar claimed that the girl’s brother recently saw the movie “The Kerala
Story” and “got afraid whether his sister was in any kind of trouble”. “So he
approached people from his community, who launched a search for the girl. On
May 16, they traced the boy in Manchar,” the BJP leader said, adding that the
girl was “rescued” from a room where she was allegedly locked up by the boy.
“The police have arrested the boy. The girl was forcibly converted. She
was physically and mentally tortured so much that even now she is in a state of
shock. This is an incident of love jihad. We demand an in-depth probe,” said
Padalkar.
When contacted, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sudarshan Patil, said,
“We have arrested the boy. Section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code and sections
of the POCSO Act have been invoked against him as the girl was a minor at the
time of the crime. The accused had travelled to three states and different
cities and was not using a cell phone, so he could not be traced before. There
was no allegation of love jihad or forceful conversation in the FIR that was
registered four years ago. We will be recording the statement of the victim
girl. Further investigation will be done accordingly.”
After the girl went missing, one of her family members had lodged a
complaint at the police station. As the girl was then aged 16 years, the police
lodged an FIR of kidnapping against an “unidentified person” under section 363
of the IPC as per the procedure.
On Friday, the girl’s brother alleged that “despite sharing details of
the boy who kidnapped my sister, cops named the accused as an unidentified
person”.
“We visited the police regularly to know the progress in the
investigation. But they only kept giving assurances they would trace the girl.
Then, during Covid, the police said they were short of manpower and that the
probe was going slow. Finally, we managed to nab the kidnapper and rescue my
sister,” the girl’s brother said.
Source: indianexpress.com
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Mob beats Muslim man in Telangana, his pregnant sister loses baby after
altercation
27-05-23
A Muslim man was beaten up by a Hindutva mob after he allegedly got into
an altercation with a gas cylinder delivery boy in Telangana’s Medak, The Quint
reported on Thursday.
According to the police, the incident took place on May 7 when the
delivery boy, Lingam, had gone to Imran Ahmed’s house in Narsapur to deliver a
cylinder. The two had an argument over returning an empty cylinder, following
which Ahmed allegedly hit Lingam with his footwear in a fit of rage.
Lingam told some people at the nearby temple about the incident who went
to Ahmed’s house, dragged him out and started beating him.
“There were 10-15 people in the mob, and they began raising slogans of
‘Jai Shri Ram’,” Narsapur Circle Inspector Sheikh Lal Mazhar told The Quint.
“Imran’s mother and pregnant sister were caught in the middle. On receiving
information about the altercation, we reached the spot in 10-15 minutes, and
took Imran and the others into custody.”
A video widely shared on social media showed Ahmed being repeatedly
thrashed by the mob. His mother and pregnant sister are seen trying to protect
him and getting hurt.
In his complaint to the police, Lingam accused Ahmed of outraging his
religious feelings. Subsequently, Ahmed was arrested and charged under Section
295 (insult to religion) of the Indian Penal Code, reported PTI.
A case was also registered against the mob under Sections 341 (wrongful
restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (threat to cause grievous
hurt), and 504 (intentional insult) of the Indian Penal Code. However, no one from
the mob has been arrested so far.
Meanwhile, the police said that Ahmed’s sister delivered her baby on May
14, but the child was declared brain dead, reported The Quint.
The police, however, could not confirm whether the baby’s death was
caused by the trauma inflicted due to the incident. No complaint regarding the
incident has been filed by Ahmed or his family.
Source: scroll.in
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North America
Review Launched Into Hindu–Muslim Unrest in Leicester
By Alexander Zhang
May 26, 2023
The government has commissioned an independent review into the violence
between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Leicester last year.
Leicester, known for its ethnic diversity, saw serious incidents of
disorder following India’s victory over Pakistan in an Asia Cup cricket match
on Aug. 28, 2022.
Groups of men from the Hindu and Muslim communities, mostly masked or
hooded, were seen in tense confrontations and stand-offs on the city’s streets,
leading to dozens of arrests.
The unrest also spread to Birmingham, also a city with large South Asian
populations.
In a statement on Friday, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities said, “In September 2022, community tensions led to a spate of
vandalism, assaults, and attacks on places of worship and other properties in
Leicester, in some cases highlighting divisions between different groups across
the city and beyond.”
The government said that a review has been commissioned to establish the
causes of the unrest.
A panel of experts, led by Lord Ian Austin, will provide recommendations
to improve relations between the Muslim and Hindu communities.
‘Shocking and Upsetting’
Communities Secretary Michael Gove said: “Leicester has a proud history
of community cohesion, which makes last year’s disorder all the more shocking
and upsetting. This review will build a thorough understanding of the specific
events that took place and what can be learned from them.
“I have spoken to both the home secretary and the mayor of Leicester to
underline the importance of protecting all parts of the community in Leicester
and we will not tolerate attempts to foster division or violence among people
or between religious groups.”
Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he welcomed the decision,
adding, “I would want Leicester and other cities to be able to learn from its
findings and to understand what needs to be done to ensure that our community
cohesion is never again threatened in this way.”
India–Pakistan Tensions
During the unrest, both the Indian and Pakistani governments condemned
the violence, but their statements presented very different versions of events.
The Indian government said the Indian community and its Hindu religion
had been under attack in Leicester, and condemned “the violence perpetrated
against the Indian community in Leicester and vandalisation of premises and
symbols of Hindu religion.”
Pakistan claimed the Muslim community in Leicester had been suffering
from Islamophobia.
The Pakistan High Commission in London said: “We strongly condemn the
campaign of violence and intimidation that has been unleashed against the
Muslims of the area. This is not the first time such Islamophobic incidents
have been reported in Leicester.”
Social Media Influencers
In its analysis of the unrest, the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a
London-based national security think tank, claimed that radical social media
influencers pushed false claims that Hindu nationalist groups were behind
attacks in Leicester, sparking a backlash against the Hindu community.
The “Hindu-Muslim Civil Unrest in Leicester” report, published in
November, said that this was a micro-community cohesion issue with Muslim and
Hindu youth holding prejudicial attitudes towards one other.
But in the immediate aftermath of the protests, mainstream media outlets
focused their attention on the alleged role of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism,
in stoking the unrest.
HJS research fellow Charlotte Littlewood told The Epoch Times that false
information was shared on social media platforms to spread rumours about the
activities of Hindutva even though evidence of a Hindu nationalist presence in
the UK is tenuous.
Some of the claims included accusations Hindu nationalists attacked a
mosque, a man tried to kidnap a schoolgirl, and that three men had harassed a
14-year-old girl.
All three claims were rebutted by Leicester police.
The HJS report states that the successful spread of these claims led to
a security threat posed to the Hindu community and attacks on their places of
worship.
Owen Evans and PA Media contributed to this report.
Source: theepochtimes.com
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Sami Zayn visits Mecca ahead of match against Roman Reigns at WWE Night
of Champions 2023, shares emotional post
ByAdarsh Kumar Gupta
May 27, 2023
Ahead of the blockbuster event, Zayn visited Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He
took to Twitter and posted two pictures from the religious place.
Sami Zayn is set to partner Kevin Owens in defense of their Undisputed
WWE Tag Team title against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa at Night of Champions
2023 on Saturday. For taking part in the high voltage fight, Zayn is currently
in Saudi Arabia where the extravaganza will be held at Jeddah Superdome.
Ahead of the blockbuster event, Zayn visited Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He
took to Twitter and posted two pictures from the religious place. Zayn got
emotional about his visit and rated it as the top experience of his life.
"Being a pro wrestler and being with WWE has taken me to places I
never dreamed I’d get to see and do things I never thought I’d get to do. It
has provided me a life filled with incredible experiences that I will cherish
forever. This one is at the top of the list," wrote Zayn.
Recently, at WWE Backlash 2023, Zayn partnered with Matt Riddle and
Owens in a triple threat match against Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Sikoa. The
Bloodline members defeated Zayn-Owens-Riddle in the high-octane encounter. With
their Saturday fight against the deadly duo of Reigns and Sikoa, Zayn-Owens
will face a tough challenge. Reigns is currently the Undisputed WWE Universal
Champion and at the peak of his powers. The involvement of superstar wrestlers
has turned the upcoming fight into a high stake encounter.
At Night of Champions 2023, the first World Heavyweight Champion will be
decided with a match between Seth Rollins and AJ Styles. Another big match at
the event will see The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar clash with Cody Rhodes in
an intense face-off. Lesnar is determined to seek retribution after suffering a
humiliating defeat against The American Nightmare at WWE Backlash 2023.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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Northeast Ohio's Sarah Shendy becomes Ohio's first Egyptian-Muslim
female police sergeant
May 27, 2023
CLEVELAND — For more than 15 years, Northeast Ohio's Sarah Shendy has
dedicated her life to law enforcement, sharing her success story in an effort
to inspire young people to pursue a career in community service as police
officers.
On May 24, Shendy achieved yet another milestone, being sworn in with
the Case Western Reserve University police department and becoming Ohio's first
Egyptian-Muslim female police sergeant.
Shendy told News 5 it's an honor to serve and protect the more than
12,000 students and 3,600 staff members on campus.
“This department has phenomenal culture, and it really values diversity,
leadership and the advancement of women of law enforcement," Shendy said.
“Being in uniform is absolutely the best job on the planet and also the most fulfilling.
We get the chance, the opportunity and the privilege to be part of people’s
story.”
News 5 has followed the inspiring career of Sergeant Sarah Shendy for
more than 3 years.
Chief Paul Owens with the Case Western Reserve University Division of Public
Safety told News 5 he believes Sergeant Shendy will be a big boost to his
police department and the entire campus.
“We're happy that she has chosen us to be a leader in our
department," Owens said. “She talked about leadership and the importance
of her being able to mentor, not just our officers, but the young people, the
younger generation, to show them that they too can do what she is doing.”
Shendy also served with Copley Township police and was appointed by Ohio
Governor Mike DeWine as the first director of the state's Office of Law
Enforcement and Recruitment. Shedy said campus safety will be one of her
primary messages to students.
“We are very big on connecting with the students, the visitors and the
faculty here, but not just with driving through, but we are very intentional
about foot patrols," Shendy said. "We have students here from 102
different countries, and things here may be different for them. We always tell
students, walk in numbers, not looking at your phone when you’re walking down a
street, keep your ear pods out of your ears until you reach a safe location.”
Shendy credits her parents for her success and said she'll be sharing
her message of diversity, determination and self-belief with young people on
campus.
“I want people that look like me, that speak my language, that believe
in the religion that I follow to look at me and say, 'If she did it, I can do
it,'” Shendy said. “I want to make sure that my immigrant parents know that all
the sacrifices that they made were absolutely worth it.”
We Follow Through
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Source: news5cleveland.com
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Muslim, civil liberties groups challenge Quebec school prayer room ban
in court
Fri., May 26, 2023
MONTREAL - A civil rights organization and a national Muslim advocacy
group are the latest to launch a legal challenge of Quebec’s decree banning
prayer rooms in public schools, the second one in recent weeks.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association filed a motion Friday seeking a judicial review of the
government decree on behalf of a plaintiff whose teenage son had sought a space
to pray along with some other Muslim students at a Montreal-area high school
last October.
According to the filing, the teen had become more devout over the summer
and began praying five times a day in accordance with his Muslim faith,
including once a day at school during the lunch hour. Sometimes it was with a
small group of students, both indoors and outdoors.
The filing states that in October a staff member told the students
prayer was not permitted. Following the incident, the students asked for a
space where they could pray without being reproached, which was provided as of
January for about 20 to 30 boys and girls, with supervision and without
incident.
The space was rescinded in May after the school began applying Education
Minister Bernard Drainville’s ban.
Drainville has said the concept of prayer rooms runs counter to Quebec’s
policy of official secularism and his April 19 directive states that school
space cannot be used for the purposes of religious practices such as open
prayers.
The new rules came after reports of at least two Montreal-area schools
permitting students to gather on school property for prayer. They apply to
elementary and high schools as well as vocational schools and adult education
centres that fall under the public system. They do not extend to private
schools or Indigenous school boards.
Drainville has said that he can’t ban prayer altogether and that
students who want to pray should do so discreetly and silently.
The NCCM and the CCLA say the decree breaches students’ rights,
including the right to religious freedom and to equality as guaranteed by the
Canadian and Quebec Charters of Rights and Freedom.
“Both the decree and the decision (by the school) infringe the freedom
of religion of (the student) and other religious students across Quebec, a
fundamental right protected both by the (Quebec) charter and by the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” the filing reads.
“The order also violates the right to equality protected by the Quebec
charter, in particular by eliminating the duty to reasonable accommodation
imposed on any public body by this charter.”
The two organizations want to see the decree declared invalid, but in
the meantime, they are also seeking a stay on the decree and its application by
the school until the case is heard on its merits.
The action filed in Quebec Superior Court in Montreal on Friday comes
just over a week after several Muslim organizations also announced they were
taking the province to court over the prayer room ban, arguing it is
discriminatory and violates the Charter rights to freedom of religion and
association.
In that case, the groups, including the Canadian Muslim Forum and
several local groups, are seeking a judicial review of the ban and to have it
declared unconstitutional. The groups are also seeking a judgment on how
secularism and the notion of religious neutrality is interpreted by the
government.
As with the previous case,a spokeswoman for Drainville said there will
be no comment on the most recent legal challenge.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2023.
Source: thestar.com
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https://www.thestar.com/politics/2023/05/26/muslim-civil-liberties-groups-challenge-quebec-school-prayer-room-ban-in-court.html
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Hate crime probe urged in North Carolina mosque threat
27 May, 2023
Rights advocates are urging for a hate crime probe following a
threatening phone call to a US mosque this week.
On Tuesday, a mosque in North Carolina received a phone call in which
the caller promised a 9/11-style attack.
“I’ll blow you worse than 9/11,” said the caller in part of the recorded
call that was shared with local media. The rest of the call is filled with
anti-Muslim and anti-Arab remarks.
“Law enforcement at the state and national level should investigate the
apparent threat to the Islamic Center of Charlotte as a hate crime and take
appropriate action,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a public statement.
“If the caller has indeed apologized for his actions, that is a welcome
first step, but this person must also face accountability for violating the law
just like anyone else who threatens a house of worship.”
The recent threat to the Islamic Center of Charlotte came as mosques
across the US are facing waves of repeated threats and attacks. CAIR has urged
mosques to take extra precautions.
Source: newarab.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.newarab.com/news/hate-crime-probe-urged-north-carolina-mosque-threat
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Mideast
Islamic Jihad: Enemy's heinous crimes against Palestinian people will
raise cost of account with this entity
[26/May/2023]
GAZA May 26. 2023 (Saba) - The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has confirmed
that the heinous crimes of the Zionist enemy against the Palestinian people
will raise the cost of the account with the enemy's entity, soldiers and
settlers, and increase the heyday of prolonged resistance to making inevitable
victory dates in the courtyards of the holy Al-Aqsa mosque.
In a press release carried by Palestine Today news agency on Friday, the
movement called on the Palestinian people and martyred nation Alaa Khalil
Qaysiya (28) from the town of Dahiriyah, who was shot by enemy soldiers near
the settlement of "Tana Umrim" south of al-Khalil this morning.
In its statement, the movement extended condolences to the martyr's
family and the entire population of Khalil al-Rahman.
Source: saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3242745.htm
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European Muslim Forum backs Erdoğan in Turkish runoff
MAY 26, 2023
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who received the backing of politicians
from abroad besides other prominent names in the first round of presidential
elections, is now endorsed by the European Muslim Forum (EMF).
The Forum declared its support for Türkiye’s incumbent president at a
press conference in Istanbul on Thursday.
At the venue, which had a clear view of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque,
officials of the forum called on the Turkish electorate to vote for Erdoğan,
who they say is not only the President of Türkiye but also "the leader of
the Ummah,” using the Islamic term referring to the global Muslim community.
"The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque is a symbol of the existence of
Muslims in Europe,” the forum’s president, Abdul-Vahed Niyazov, said at the
press conference. "The return of the Hagia Sophia mosque to Muslims is a
symbol of future victories and accomplishments of the Turkish nation,” the EMF
said previously in an official statement in praise of the Erdoğan government’s
move to revert Hagia Sophia, which originally served as a church and then as a
museum, to a mosque.
Niyazov said that 170 million Muslims live in the European continent.
"That’s why the fate of Türkiye matters to us. That’s why we are now in
front of the Hagia Sophia."
He also said the EMF advises the Turkish electorate to vote for Erdoğan.
"This way, you will support both the Ummah and our leader," Niyazov
maintained.
Meanwhile, Lauren Booth, a British Muslim journalist, criticized the
West for "looking down on Türkiye."
"Why did someone like myself, a journalist who works in the
mainstream (media), move here?” she rhetorically asked, explaining her decision
to settle in Türkiye. "It is interesting that immigration is such a big
question in this election," Booth, who is former U.K. Prime Minister Tony
Blair’s sister-in-law, said in criticism of anti-refugee stances in politics.
"On the one hand, Türkiye is hosting one of the poorest, some of
the most vulnerable people in the world, the Syrian refugees,” she added.
"On the other hand, it is also the envy of the Muslim world and
beyond,” she said, adding: "As we look at this important election and what
the West is trying to say about President Erdoğan, we must take their stand
into consideration in reality,” Booth added. She also criticized the Western
way of life, saying it is "in freefall." "The Western lifestyle
that I come from is in freefall,” she said, adding that it is "a finished
ideology.”
Booth also praised Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
"Türkiye and the leadership of the AK Party are both forward-looking and
have traditional values,” she said. "Nations that are failing do not have
people wanting to come and live in them,” she added. "They have people
wanting to leave."
The British journalist also claimed that the West is "making young
Turkish people want to leave when they don’t know how good Türkiye is.”
Booth also praised Turkish people for "having such an amazing
society."
"(And) as your sister in Islam, I invite the Muslims of Türkiye to
look around with your eyes, and the eyes of your heart. Are your streets clean?
Do you have new bridges? Do you have a good infrastructure? Are you growing or
retracting? Think about this. May Allah reward President Erdoğan for his
forward thinking and determination."
In the statement released prior to the event, the EMF also called on
"their fellow Muslims from the Republic of Türkiye to vote for Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan, who is rightfully considered the leader of the modern global
Ummah."
"This Sunday, May 28, the Turkish people will make their final
choice: Who will be the leader of the nation and head-of-state in the coming
years,” the statement also said, referring to the second round of the
presidential elections.
In the first round, which was held on May 14, no candidate managed to
garner enough votes to surpass the 50% threshold.
"The Muslims of Europe are convinced of the wisdom of the Turkish
people and that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated. The Turkish
nation will continue its development as the vanguard of the global Ummah under
the leadership of its current leader,” the EMF noted in the statement.
Source: dailysabah.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/elections/european-muslim-forum-backs-erdogan-in-turkish-runoff
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UN backs Sudan envoy as army seeks to bolster ranks
May 27, 2023
NEW YORK: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked” by
a letter from Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, reportedly requesting
the replacement of special envoy Volker Perthes amid a brutal war with
paramilitaries.
Guterres “is proud of the work done by Volker Perthes and reaffirms his
full confidence in his Special Representative,” a statement from UN
spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said late Friday.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the letter he received from General
Al-Burhan,” currently at war with his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who
commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The rival forces are currently in the fifth day of a one-week cease-fire
brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia, during which they have repeatedly accused
each other of truce violations.
Neither the army nor the UN have released official copies of Burhan’s
letter, which reportedly requested the dismissal of Perthes as Guterres’ envoy
to Sudan.
It is the latest in a series of moves by Burhan, who last week
officially sacked Daglo as his deputy in the ruling sovereign council, pooled
hardline military supporters into his inner circle and is now seeking to
reinforce army ranks.
Sudan’s defense ministry on Friday called on “army pensioners... as well
as all those capable of bearing arms” to head to their nearest military command
unit and “arm themselves in order to protect themselves,” their families and
their neighbors.
A statement later in the day walked back the call to just army
“reservists” and “pensioners.”
Perthes and the UN mission in Sudan have been the target of several
protests by thousands of military and Islamist supporters who have repeatedly
accused Perthes of “foreign intervention” and demanded his dismissal.
Similar protests have taken place in the eastern city of Port Sudan
since the war started on April 15.
The fighting across Sudan has killed more than 1,800 people, according
to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
The United Nations says more than a million people have been displaced
within Sudan, in addition to 300,000 who have fled to neighboring countries.
Perthes is currently in New York, where he briefed the Security Council
on the situation in Sudan earlier this week.
There is no information on when he is due back in Sudan, where
authorities have not given out visas to foreign nationals since the war
started.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311226/middle-east
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From ashes and debris, iconic Beirut museum reopens 3 years after
massive damage from port blast
May 27, 2023
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years
after a deadly explosion in Beirut’s port — set off by tons of improperly
stored chemicals — reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes.
The reopening Friday night offered Beirut residents a rare bright spot
in a country reeling from a crippling economic crisis that has left around
three-quarters of Lebanon’s population of 6 million in poverty.
Originally built as a private villa in 1912 on a hilltop overlooking the
city’s Achrafieh neighborhood, the opulent residence integrated Venetian and
Ottoman styles. Its owner, famed Lebanese art collector Nicolas Ibrahim
Sursock, bequeathed his beloved home to his people, to be tuned into a contemporary
art museum upon his death in 1952.
The museum housed Lebanese art dating back from the late 1800s,
including the work of distinguished painter Georges Corm and Fouad Debbas’
library of 30,000 photographs — one of the largest private photo collections.
The photos are from across the Levant, a region encompassing countries along
the eastern Mediterranean, from Turkiye to Egypt, from 1830 until the 1960s. In
2008, a seven-year project renovated and expanded the museum, relaunching it in
2015.
But the Aug. 4, 2020 blast in Beirut’s port — only about 800 meters (875
yards) away — hit the museum fully front on. Its stained glass windows were
shattered, doors were blown out, and almost half the artwork on display was
damaged. The explosion ripped through much of Beirut, killing more than 200
people and injuring over 6,000.
The destruction was unprecedented, said museum director Karina El Helou,
a level unseen even during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. Seventy percent of
the building was badly damaged, as were 66 of the 132 art pieces on display,
she said. Glass shards tore through Dutch artist Kees Von Dongen’s portrait of
Nicolas Sursock.
Two months after the explosion, then-museum director Zeina Arida
launched a fundraising campaign, estimating the damages to be around $3 million
at the time. The museum eventually raised over $2 million to restore the
building and the artwork with support from Italy, France, UNESCO and various
private organizations.
The restoration was long and painstaking work. Sursock’s portrait was
taken to Paris, along with two other art pieces, and restored there. Experts
from Lebanon and abroad flocked to the museum to piece together damaged
terracotta sculptures and fix tears and scratches that had marred the
paintings. Dust and debris from the explosion were carefully removed to bring
back the splendor of many items.
“White powder from the blast that we saw everywhere in Beirut even
reached our storage room four stories underground,” El Helou said. She hopes
the reopening will boost the morale of many Lebanese amid the country’s
economic meltdown — and offer a “safe space” for free expression.
Art is now more important than ever, she added. “In the face of
darkness, (artists) fought through art and culture,” she said.
Dozens gathered in Sursock’s large, tree-lined courtyard on Friday
evening, serenaded by a choir and a band performing on the entrance stairs for
the reopening. The museum, looking almost exactly as it did before the blast,
drew sighs of appreciation. Others remembered how much Beirut has withered
since then and how scores of artists have left the country.
“I now hope all the friends of the Sursock who may have left Lebanon in
recent years at least come back to visit us,” the museum’s chairman, Tarek
Mitri, told The Associated Press as he greeted guests.
The Sursock Museum was not the only art space damaged in the port
explosion and restored in the years since.
Marfa Projects, a gallery close to one of the port’s entrances, was
eventually rebuilt and reopened. Others, like the Saifi Urban Gardens, a family
run hostel that over the years has became a vibrant cultural hub with art
studios and an exhibition space, were destroyed and closed for good.
Without financial support, many heritage buildings, including
Ottoman-era houses built in the 19th century and damaged in the blast, could
ultimately be sold to developers. Lebanon’s cash-strapped government has been
unable to fund major restoration projects.
Mona Fawaz, professor of urban studies and planning at the American University
of Beirut, said the Sursock Museum’s ability to raise funds through its
networks and management is a valuable lesson for others.
“I think it’s good to think of it as potentially one of our rare success
stories,” Fawaz said.
At Friday’s reopening, visitors could view five new exhibitions of both
classical and modern art — a testament to Lebanon’s artistic and cultural
history and the perseverance of its people despite the country’s troubled past.
One of the exhibits, titled “Ejecta,” is set up in a darkened room where
a video and an audio recording reflect on the port blast. ZadMoultaka, the
artist behind the installation, said he hoped it would inspire people to turn
their dark thoughts about that day into hope for the future.
“Throughout the days of the civil war, we always found a way to rise
up,” he said.
“But my initial feeling after the blast was doubt. I wondered if we will
be able to persevere after what happened,” Moultaka added. “It’s important
today to take this violence and transform it into something positive.”
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311221/middle-east
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Iran says Ukraine president drone criticism a bid to secure more Western
arms
May 27, 2023
May 27 : Tehran on Saturday accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky of anti-Iranian propaganda in his call for Iran to halt the supply of
drones to Russia, saying his comments were designed to attract more arms and
financial aid from the West.
Zelensky in a video address on Wednesday called on Iranians to stop
their slide into “the dark side of history” by supplying Moscow with drones.
Iran initially denied supplying Shahed drones to Russia but later said
it had provided a small number before the conflict began. Ukraine says the
drones have played a major role in Russia’s attacks on cities and
infrastructure.
“The Ukrainian president’s repeat of delusional claims against the
Islamic Republic of Iran is in line with the anti-Iranian propaganda and media
war aimed at attracting as many arms and financial aid as possible from Western
countries,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a
statement carried by Iranian media.
Ukraine, Kanaani said, has been refusing to allow an independent
investigation into these claims.
Russia has boosted its military cooperation with Iran since the launch
of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It has admitted using
Iranian-made drones, but it is now seeking to boost its own production.
In his Wednesday address, Zelensky said: “The simple question is this:
what is your interest in being an accomplice to Russian terror?“
“Your Shaheds, which terrorize Ukraine every night, mean only that the
people of Iran are being driven deeper and deeper into the dark side of
history,” he said.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311206/middle-east
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Iraq’s Kurd regional government opposes changes in budget
May 26, 2023
DUBAI: Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan regional government said on
Friday it opposed changes in the draft Iraqi federal budget that infringe on
the rights of the Kurdish people.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s opposition poses a challenge to the
prime minister of Iraq’s federal government, Mohammed Al-Sudani, in adopting a
three-year budget, a flagship policy of his government that came to power late
last year backed by a coalition of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties.
KRG said it would not abide by any other decision outside the agreement
signed with Al-Sudani’s government, which appeared to be a reference to a deal
between the two governments setting a framework for the resumption of oil flows
from the northern Iraqi region via Turkiye.
Before Al-Sudani formed his government, he struck a deal with the
powerful Kurdish Democratic Party, which dominates the administration in Irbil,
capital of the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq. The agreement included
ending a long-running dispute over budget transfers to Irbil and oil revenue
sharing between the national government and Kurdistan, according to three
Kurdish officials.
Under the Iraqi constitution, the Kurdish region is entitled to a
portion of the national budget. But the arrangement collapsed in 2014 when the
Kurds began selling crude independently from Kurdistan.
In 2017, Iraqi forces retook disputed territories including the oil city
of Kirkuk. Baghdad resumed some budget payments, but they have been sporadic.
KRG called the changes in the draft budget, introduced by members of the
parliament’s finance committee, unconstitutional and “inconsistent with the
agreement signed between the regional government and the federal government.”
In March, Al-Sudani’s Cabinet approved the 2023 draft budget of 197.828
trillion Iraqi dinars ($135.6 billion) that would be referred to parliament for
approval.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311061/middle-east
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No trace of boat with 500 migrants, rescue group says after alarm
sparked Med search
May 26, 2023
TRIPOLI/ROME: A day after searching a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea,
an Italian humanitarian group said on Friday that its rescue vessel found no
trace of a boat said to be in distress and carrying 500 migrants, including a
newborn.
The vessel “Life Support found no wreckage of any shipwreck, and the 500
persons didn’t disembark in Italy,” the nongovernmental organization Emergency
said in a written statement from Milan. ”It’s hard to believe that no coastal
authority knows where those 500 persons are.”
Emergency raised the possibility that the migrants were brought back to
Libya, the launching point for many of the smugglers’ unseaworthy boats that
aim to bring migrants to Italy’s shores.
The group’s statement said that Libyan authorities so far were denying
it brought the passengers back to Libya, where many migrants spend months in
inhumane conditions in detention camps, often enduring beatings or rape, until
they or families back in their homelands can pay smugglers for the sea journey
toward Italy.
On Tuesday, another NGO, Alarm Phone, which receives calls from migrant
boats in distress, said a boat filled with 500 migrants needed help.
“Life Support” sailed for 32 hours to reach the area where the
distressed ship was believed to be and searched for 24 hours on Thursday in
international waters that are part of Malta’s search-and-rescue area. But the
group said on Thursday that worsening weather was forcing it to end the search.
The Libyan coast guard didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment
about Emergency’s hypothesis that the migrants were taken back to Libya.
On Thursday, the Italian coast guard said one of its vessels, in two
separate operations, rescued nearly 1,100 migrants from two fishing boats in
distress in its search-and-rescue area.
The Italian coast guard denied any role involving a third boat in
difficulty, with 27 migrants aboard. It said merchant ships were involved in
aiding that boat, and “although initially contacted by the Italian rescue
center, they (the cargo ships) then received instructions directly from the
Libyan authorities, as part of an event occurring inside the area of
responsibility” of Libya.
The Libyans “legitimately took on the coordination” of the rescue, the
Italian coast guard said in a statement on Thursday that denied involvement in
any “pushing back” of the migrants to Libya.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311051/middle-east
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Hamas chief hails Islamic Bloc victory in Birzeit student council
May 26, 2023
The head of Hamas' Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, has hailed the
victory of the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Wafa bloc in the Birzeit University's
student union election saying it represents an "extension" of the
movement's balanced presence at various levels and areas.
Speaking over the phone to participants in the celebrations organised by
the bloc yesterday, Haniyeh said the victory carries three important messages
including that Hamas is "unbreakable" in the West Bank and in all the
homeland, and is capable of confronting the "occupier, oppression and
terrorism".
"The second message is that the bloc has proven its ability to
adapt to changes, overcome complexities, and fill the void created by arrests,
martyrdom, or deportation," Haniyeh said, adding that the third message is
that "participation in the elections stemmed from national competition,
and on the basis of adhering to partnership with all forces and factions."
He reiterated the movement's adherence to holding the general
presidential and legislative elections as well as those for the PLO National
Council and student union elections in all universities in the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, the Wafa bloc won 25 seats out of the 51 in the Student
Union Council in the Birzeit student union elections. Last week, the Islamic
bloc won a majority of 40 seats at An-Najah National University in Nablus, in
the northern occupied West Bank, while Fatah's Shabiba bloc won 38 seats.
A Hamas linked student bloc also won the majority of seats at Palestine
Polytechnic University in Hebron in March.
Source: middleeastmonitor.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230526-hamas-chief-hails-islamic-bloc-victory-in-birzeit-student-council/
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Arab World
Saudi astronauts RayyanahBarnawi, Ali AlQarni begin their research
projects
May 27, 2023
RIYADH: Saudi astronauts RayyanahBarnawi and Ali AlQarni have started
their research projects aboard the International Space Station (ISS), a few
days after arriving via the privately-launched Axiom Space 2 mission
During their eight-day stay at the space station, the Saudi astronauts
would be undertaking 14 pioneering experiments in microgravity and with three
of those to be conducted real-time with the participation of 12,000 Saudi
students across 47 locations of the Kingdom.
The involvement of students was aimed at “preparing future astronauts
and engineers through quality education and training programs, and
participation in scientific experiments, international research, and future
space-related missions,” state news agency SPA reported.
The real-time interaction ensures that students can access the Saudi
crew live as they simultaneously perform their experiments on Earth and in
space.
Barnawi and AlQarni are running six experiments to understand the
impacts of being in space, microgravity and a high radiation environment on the
human brain and nervous system.
The research aims to evaluate the repercussions of space on human health
and the safety of such space trips on the human brain and will utilize novel
neuroscience tools including measuring blood flow to the brain and the brain’s
electrical activity, SPA said.
The two Saudi astronauts will also do four cell science experiments to
investigate the inflammatory response of human immune cells in microgravity.
Their research will be focused on changes in mRNA decay, a process that
can turn off inflammation.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311166/saudi-arabia
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Saudi authorities bust khat smuggling operation in Jazan
May 27, 2023
JAZAN: Saudi border guards in the Jazan region have foiled attempts to
smuggle 140kg of the narcotic khat.
The seized narcotics were handed over to the competent authority, and
preliminary legal procedures were completed, the Saudi Press Agency reported on
Friday.
Khat is a flowering shrub native to the Arabian Peninsula. Individuals
chew khat leaves because of the stimulant effects it has, which are like but
less intense than those caused by abusing cocaine or methamphetamine.
Saudi authorities had previous successes in their anti-drug smuggling
campaign, with their latest reported one a bust on an attempt to smuggle up to
$11.5 million worth of Captagon pills stashed in consignments which arrived at
Duba port.
More than 460,000 Captagon pills were hidden in the cavities of heavy
machinery, but were discovered during a security check, the Zakat, Tax and
Customs Authority said in a statement.
Security authorities have urged people to report any activities related
to drug smuggling or promotion by calling 911 in the Makkah, Riyadh and Eastern
Province regions, and 999 in the rest of the Kingdom’s regions.
Source:
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311161/saudi-arabia
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Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jubeir meets Panama ministers
May 27, 2023
RIYADH: Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister of state for foreign Affairs,
met the Panamanian foreign minister and other government officials on a visit
to the country on Friday.
Al-Jubeir was received by JanainaTewaneyMencomo, the foreign minister.
He also met Federico Alfaro Boyd, minister of trade and industries, and
Jose Alejandro Rojas Pardini, the minister of private investment.
He discussed with them bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and
Panama and ways to enhance them.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311126/saudi-arabia
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Colombia expresses support for Saudi Expo 2030 bid
May 27, 2023
RIYADH: Colombia declared its official support on Friday for the
Kingdom’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, emphasizing the importance of
bilateral relations and partnerships with Saudi Arabia in various areas of
mutual interest.
The decision was announced by Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of state
for foreign affairs, Cabinet member and climate affairs envoy, during a meeting
with Alvaro Leyva Duran, foreign minister of Colombia.
The discussions focused on bilateral relations between the two countries.
Al-Jubeir thanked his Colombian counterpart for “the warm and gracious
hospitality and for his country’s support for the Kingdom’s bid for Expo 2030.”
The official website of the Colombian ministry of foreign affairs said
that Al-Jubeir ratified the commitment to establish an embassy in Colombia,
following the exploratory mission that visited Bogota last October to review
potential headquarters’ locations.
The senior officials highlighted the importance of investments in the
energy transition, health and agriculture sectors. According to the Colombian
ministry of foreign affairs, both governments are working on memorandums of
understanding for cooperation in the cultural, energy and tourism fields.
Riyadh’s bid to host the event faces competition from Busan (South
Korea), Rome (Italy), and Odessa (Ukraine). Regardless of the outcome, the
World Expo is expected to provide an ideal opportunity for nations to share
their innovations, cultures and ideas.
Held since 1851, the expos are the world’s largest platform to showcase
the latest achievements and technologies and celebrate the cultural values that
unite humanity.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311086/saudi-arabia
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Saudi Arabia’s REGA warns against unlicensed brokers deals
May 27, 2023
RIYADH: The Saudi Real Estate General Authority called on all people
wishing to complete real estate unit leasing operations not to deal with
unlicensed brokers who claim to be real estate brokers, offices or owners,
with the aim of avoiding becoming victims of fraud and transferring
money to unknown individuals.
REGA’s spokesperson Taiseer Al-Mofrej stressed that it is necessary to
verify that brokers, individuals or establishments, are issued with a real
estate advertising license by REGA.
The broker’s information such as their license number, ID number, or
unified number should be updated on the authority’s online portal for quick
verification.
Buyers and tenants can also learn more about the rent and property
prices on Ejar to make sure that the price quoted falls within average prices
of real estate units in the location.
After documenting the electronic contract, payments can be transferred
via the electronic payment channel offered by Ejar’s services on www.ejar.sa.
Tenants must be wary of direct financial transfers to bank accounts to reduce
fraud.
Al-Mofrej said that the authority took legal action by summoning a
number of brokers involved in scams and used other people’s licenses for making
contracts. They will be referred to the relevant authorities upon completion of
the investigation.
He emphasized that it is necessary for the broker to take care of their
account on Ejar, and not enable any outside parties to use their account, as
the real estate agent is fully responsible for any transactions on their Ejar
account.
He also called on advertisers and licensed brokers to license their
advertisements before publishing them on real estate marketing platforms and
prevent manipulators from exploiting their advertisements.
Many fraudsters offer units at attractive prices on electronic channels
— including social media platforms — after collecting detailed information
about them, or offer fake real estate units.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311096/saudi-arabia
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Jubail exhibition attracts over 75k visitors
May 26, 2023
JUBAIL: More than 75,000 people have visited the Flower Exhibition,
organized by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu at Al-Fanateer Beach,
within just one week of its opening.
The exhibition, which will be held until May 31, features 11 different
zones related to flowers and gardening activities.
Around 100 authorities are participating in the exhibition to support
and encourage small and medium enterprises.
The exhibition features an art space displaying the work of 30 artists
to highlight local creative talent and encourage skill growth and development,
in addition to carnival shows, workshops, electronic games, food trucks and
more.
The event was organized to increase awareness about the importance of
greenery, planting trees and flowers, and maintaining cleanliness in public
areas.
The Holy Qur’an Exhibition, organized by the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs, Dawah and Guidance, is also present at the venue, where visitors can
learn about the establishment of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the
Holy Qur’an in Madinah.
Mornings at the exhibition are dedicated to school students’ visits,
while evenings are for families.
The event comes as part of the efforts of the Royal Commission for
Jubail to provide an inclusive and attractive environment to meet the social
and cultural needs of the city.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2311041/saudi-arabia
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45,000 people benefited from Happiness Creators Initiative programs:
Turki Al-Asheikh
May 26, 2023
RIYADH: The Saudi General Entertainment Authority has celebrated the
first batch of graduates from its intensive scholarship initiative, the
Entertainment Fellowship Program, part of the GEA’s Happiness Creators
Initiative, itself part of the Quality-of-Life Program.
There were 56 male and female graduates from three tracks combining
theoretical education and direct practical applications in collaboration with
international and local leaders in the entertainment industry.
Turki Al-Asheikh, the GEA chairman, recorded a welcome address during
which he announced that 45,000 people had so far benefitted from the Happiness
Creators Initiative through its Scholarship Program, Entertainment Leaders
Program, Creative Journey Around the Kingdom Program, and Entertainment Fellowship
Program, in addition to diploma programs in the entertainment sector.
“I am pleased that the Happiness Creators Initiative, launched with
great support from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is a significant
contributor to an important goal, which is to increase the number of Saudis
working in the promising entertainment sector in our beloved country,” said the
GEA chief.
He emphasized that the number of beneficiaries indicates the significant
interest in the entertainment industry from both the private and public
sectors, as well as from Saudi youth.
The ceremony also included the screening of a video telling the story of
the program so far, in addition to the full details of the scholarship
recipients’ achievements, culminating in receiving their certificates from the
program, which was run in partnership with the University of Central Florida in
the US and the UK-based Event Academy.
The program’s external scholarship element qualifies trainees in three
tracks: Entertainment destinations — managing and operating entertainment
sites; entertainment events, which deals with organizing festivals, concerts,
and theatrical performances; and electronic entertainment, which focuses on
events related to gaming.
The graduates will now be able to apply their new skills to help meet
several of the Kingdom’s goals for its entertainment industry.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2310936/saudi-arabia
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Cultural Skills Competition to honor top Saudi students
May 26, 2023
MAKKAH: The Cultural Skills Competition for school students will be held
on May 28 under the auspices of Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah
bin Farhan and Education Minister Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan.
The national competition was launched in a partnership between the two
ministries.
The Ministry of Education said that the competition — which includes
male and female students from primary grades four, five and six, as well as
students from the intermediary and secondary stages— is the first of its kind
in the Kingdom.
In the event’s closing ceremony, victorious students in the six
categories of the competition — literature, film, theater, music, visual arts
and heritage — will be honored.
An exhibition will also be held during the ceremony for students to
display their work in the competition.
The competition’s six cultural courses aim to encourage creativity and
enterprise among Saudi school students, as well as foster their involvement in
the Kingdom’s growing arts and culture sphere.
Talented male and female students in culture and art will receive
support through the competition, which also aims to preserve and raise
awareness of Saudi cultural heritage, encouraging students to take up and practice
a range of traditions.
“Cultural competitions held among students are of great importance in
promoting their learning and personal development. They also provide them with
an opportunity to acquire knowledge and develop their skills in a variety of cultural
and academic fields,” said Talent Supervisor Fahd Al-Yousifi.
“These competitions aim to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding
of various subjects, including history, geography, science and arts. An
important outcome students can benefit from in these competitions is learning
to develop their skills.
“Cultural competitions work on encouraging students to develop their
skills, including critical thinking, effective communication, teamwork and
problem-solving skills, which can help them improve their academic performance
and prepare them for having the requirements of their future job,” he added.
“These competitions also promote amusement and entertainment, as they
provide students with an opportunity to entertain themselves and enjoy participating
in different areas of culture, as they are an enjoyable way to learn and have
fun,” said Al-Yousifi.
The Cultural Skills Competition will also teach students the values of
tolerance and respect toward different cultures and religions, he added.
Student competitions can motivate students to achieve academic and
personal excellence, as well as build fruitful relationships with teachers and
colleagues, Al-Yousifi said.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2310861/saudi-arabia
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Joint KSrelief, Jordanian charity group project targets Syrian refugees
with special needs
May 26, 2023
IRBID, Jordan: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center
(KSrelief) has handed over a third batch of housing allowances to 111 Syrian
refugee families in Irbid, Jordan.
Ksrelief’s aid package comes as part of a housing support project for
Syrian families conducted in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charity
Organization.
Beneficiary families were selected in coordination with the local
organization in Irbid.
The three-year project was launched to provide housing for Syrian
refugee families in Jordan whose breadwinner or a family member is immobile and
unable to lead a normal life, limiting their ability to provide an income or
daily essentials for their family.
This comes within the framework of aid projects from Saudi Arabia,
through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, to improve the living conditions of
Syrian refugees in various regions.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2310511/saudi-arabia
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Europe
The CEC is not sure whether Dodik’s calling Bosniaks Muslims is Hate
Speech
May 27, 2023
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
could not decide on Thursday whether the calling Bosniaks in BiH Muslims by
SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, as a guest on Happy TV, is hate speech.
The CEC received a complaint from the SDA, and the Department for Legal
Affairs in the Administrative Decisions of the CEC believes that there was no
hate speech, and it was proposed that the complaint against Dodik and SNSD be
rejected.
However, there were not enough votes in favor (three for, four against),
so this topic was discussed again at the next session of the CEC, which was
held immediately after the first.
However, due to inconsistent interpretation and confusion regarding the
issue of rejection of objections or introduction of sanctions, CEC President
Suad Arnautovic decided to remove this topic from the agenda. This means that
an attempt will be made to make a decision on it at one of the future sessions.
The SDA complained about several segments of Dodik’s statement in the
show “Cirilica” on Happy TV: that he is not a Bosnian Serb, but a Serb; about
the statement related to Srebrenica and the number of Bosniak victims in the
war in BiH, and about the part of the speech in which he calls Bosniaks
Muslims.
Vanja Bjelica Prutina, the only member of the CEC who expressed her
desire for a discussion, pointed out that these issues must be separated. She
suggested that the aspect related to a possible violation of the Criminal Code
of BiH be forwarded to the competent prosecution for further analysis, while at
the same time she supported Dodik in the claim that Serbs in BiHare not only
“Bosnian Serbs”.
“In the part of the speech that talks about the opposition to qualifying
someone as a Bosnian Serb, I don’t think it’s hate speech. I’m personally a
Serb, I’m not a Bosnian Serb. That nationality doesn’t exist. My grandfather
and great-grandfather were Serbs. I don’t consider that it should cause hatred
in anyone,” said Bjelica Prutina.
In addition, she pointed out that it is unacceptable to incite hostility
towards an entire people, the Bosniaks, who are called Muslims in that
statement.
“This type of discussion is not a way to communicate in any orderly,
civilized society. We live in a society based on hatred. The question is what
kind of society will we raise our children in. I mean this for all cases. I
consider it to be hate speech, I propose imposing a monetary sanction 7,000 BAM
for the party, and 10,000 BAM for the candidate. And for the part that refers
to the violation of the provisions of the Criminal Code of BiH, I suggest that
the case be sent to the competent prosecutor’s office,” said Vanja Bjelica
Prutina, Klix.ba reports.
Source: sarajevotimes.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://sarajevotimes.com/the-cec-is-not-sure-whether-dodiks-calling-bosniaks-muslims-is-hate-speech/
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Major Shia mosque shuts down after Charity Commission appoints
non-Muslim manager
26th May 2023
The Islamic Centre of England in London, one of Britain’s biggest Shia
mosques, has shut its doors after the Charity Commission appointed a non-Muslim
interim manager.
The Maida Vale centre – which is affiliated to Iran – has been under
investigation by the Charity Commission since a vigil for assassinated Iranian
general Qasem Soleimani was held there in 2020.
British officials and Zionist organisations have also called for the
centre to be closed down and have targeted it.
On Wednesday a banner on the door of the centre read: “After receiving
the concerns of the community and for their safety, we are saddened to inform
you that all upcoming programs, including prayers, have been suspended until
further notice.”
The message was later removed.
It is not clear why the centre has been shut but 5Pillars has seen a
statement on “The Friends of Islamic Centre” WhatsApp group which encouraged
trustees not to cooperate with the Charity Commission.
The statement said: “For a long time, the Charity Commission has acted
with clear political motivation that is incited by Zionist groups and
Islamophobes to interfere and reshape the direction of the Muslim community in
the UK. The latest event is the forced appointment of a non-Muslim interim
manager at the Islamic Centre of England.
“This is a very concerning development that demonstrates how the state
apparatus, not only interferes in Muslim community affairs and forces its own
narratives upon us, but also brazenly chooses a non-Muslim to have certain
powers over a Muslim institution, with a view to coerce and bully the Muslim community
to adhere to the Commission’s world views. It also clearly demonstrates the
Commission’s disrespect and indifference to Muslim self-determination and is
yet another example of them forcing a state sponsored version of Islam on the
Muslim community.
“We, a group of attendees and friends of the Islamic Centre, who have
benefited from the services they provide and have been active donors in the
past, are appalled by the behaviour of the Charity Commission and condemn in no
uncertain terms the latest intrusion on the spirit and determination of our
community.
“We demand the immediate withdrawal of the interim manager imposed on
our community and for the Charity Commission to cease its politically motivated
behaviour that disrespects Muslims and alienates them from their own centres
and places of worship. Well documented research shows the marginalisation that
Muslims face in this society. In this act of imposing a non-Muslim functionary
to dictate what our communities can and cannot do, a new type of systemic
racism and Islamophobia has been unleashed by the British state, further
marginalising Muslims in their own spaces.
“We, the friends of the Islamic Centre, who worship at and have
supported the Centre for many years, urge the management and particularly the
trustees to actively resist these attacks, to undo mistakes of the past, and to
refuse to engage in an exercise that is designed to undermine the integrity of
our community. We call upon the trustees to make it clear to the Charity
Commission that the community will not stand for such disrespect and
discrimination. We believe a failure from the trustees to make this point clear
will have undesirable consequences.”
Founded in 1995, the Islamic Centre of England is run by Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei’s representative in the UK, Seyyed Hashem Mousavi, and funded by the
Islamic Republic.
Charity Commission inquiry
Two weeks ago the Charity Commission announced that it had appointed an
interim manager to the Islamic Centre of England which has been the subject of a
statutory inquiry since November 2022 due to “serious governance concerns.”
The centre later received an official warning following two events held
at its premises in 2020 that eulogised Major General Qasem Soleimani who was a
leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which is subject to UK
sanctions.
The Charity Commission said: “Due to the trustees’ failure to comply
with their legal duties and responsibilities and their failure to protect the
charity’s assets, the Commission appointed an interim manager to the charity on
the 4th May 2023. Emma Moody of Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP, the appointed
interim manager, will have all the powers and duties of the charity’s trustees,
and is appointed to the exclusion of the current trustees. As part of the
appointment, she will conduct a review of the charity’s governance and
administration and make recommendations to the Commission based on her
findings.”
Charity Commission Chair, Orlando Fraser KC, added: “We need to act
robustly where serious concerns about a charity exist, so that the public, and
the charity sector itself, can have confidence in what it means to have
charitable status.
“The investigators leading this inquiry are assessing all information
thoroughly. The appointment of an interim manager will help the Commission
ensure the charity’s governance is restored and is improved to a better
standard…
“The Commission’s inquiry remains ongoing. It is the Commission’s policy
to publish a report upon concluding an inquiry to detail its findings, conclusions,
and any regulatory action taken.”
Last week Security Minister Tom Tugendhat described the centre as a
“vile threat” against the country. Tugendhat told The Times that the government
was “pulling together” to deal with “this vile threat that’s taken over a
country and is now threatening ours.”
Tugendhat said that MPs are “absolutely right” to be worried about such
“cultural centres” in Britain, adding: “Sadly, the Islamic Centre for England
is not alone and the work of the IRGC is not limited to those Iranian proxy
organisations.”
Source: 5pillarsuk.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://5pillarsuk.com/2023/05/26/major-shia-mosque-shuts-down-after-charity-commission-appoints-non-muslim-manager/
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Quebec ban on school prayer rooms faces new legal challenge from muslim,
cilvil liberties groups
May 26, 202
The National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association filed a motion Friday seeking a judicial review of the
government decree on behalf of a plaintiff whose teenage son had sought a space
to pray along with some other Muslim students at a Montreal-area high school
last October.
According to the filing, the teen had become more devout over the summer
and began praying five times a day in accordance with his Muslim faith,
including once a day at school during the lunch hour. Sometimes it was with a
small group of students, both indoors and outdoors.
The filing states that in October a staff member told the students
prayer was not permitted. Following the incident, the students asked for a
space where they could pray without being reproached, which was provided as of
January for about 20 to 30 boys and girls, with supervision and without
incident.
The space was rescinded in May after the school began applying Education
Minister Bernard Drainville’s ban.
Drainville has said the concept of prayer rooms runs counter to Quebec’s
policy of official secularism and his April 19 directive states that school
space cannot be used for the purposes of religious practices such as open
prayers.
The new rules came after reports of at least two Montreal-area schools
permitting students to gather on school property for prayer. They apply to
elementary and high schools as well as vocational schools and adult education
centres that fall under the public system. They do not extend to private
schools or Indigenous school boards.
Drainville has said that he can’t ban prayer altogether and that
students who want to pray should do so discreetly and silently.
The NCCM and the CCLA say the decree breaches students’ rights,
including the right to religious freedom and to equality as guaranteed by the
Canadian and Quebec Charters of Rights and Freedom.
“Both the decree and the decision (by the school) infringe the freedom
of religion of (the student) and other religious students across Quebec, a
fundamental right protected both by the (Quebec) charter and by the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” the filing reads.
“The order also violates the right to equality protected by the Quebec
charter, in particular by eliminating the duty to reasonable accommodation
imposed on any public body by this charter.”
The two organizations want to see the decree declared invalid, but in
the meantime, they are also seeking a stay on the decree and its application by
the school until the case is heard on its merits.
Source: globalnews.ca
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://globalnews.ca/news/9726607/quebec-school-prayer-room-ban-legal-challenge/
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UK man sentenced to life for trying to join Islamic State in Syria
26 May, 2023
A UK court jailed a British man for life on Friday for travelling to
Syria to join the Islamic State group nearly a decade ago.
Judge Mark Lucraft handed Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe northwest
of London, the prison term for making his way to Syria to enlist in the terror
group, which is illegal under English law.
"You went to Syria in order to join IS. You understood IS was a
proscribed organisation in English law," the judge said as he passed
sentence at London's Old Bailey criminal court.
"Your ambition was to become a sniper," he noted.
Suleman, 27, pleaded guilty last month to preparing acts of terrorism by
travelling from the UK to Turkey in August 2014, when he was aged 18, in order
to join IS in Syria.
He disappeared while on a family holiday to Turkey, which borders Syria
and has long been a gateway to the war-ravaged country for Western wannabe
jihadists.
Suleman was arrested at Heathrow Airport in September 2021 and charged
with various terror offences, including receiving training in the use of
firearms as well as belonging to a proscribed organisation.
But those two charges were left to sit on file after the prosecution
said his guilty plea addressed them.
Suleman will serve a minimum term of nine years and six months under the
life sentence.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the court that while attempting to
travel to Syria, Suleman was held by Turkish forces before opting to be part of
a prisoner swap with IS.
Once inside Syria, he posted on social media about his experiences in IS
territory and later gave incriminating interviews to Britain's Sky News.
He later became "disenchanted" with jihadism and tried to
desert the terrorist group, the court heard.
Following the collapse of IS, he was taken captive by a faction of the
Free Syrian Army (FSA) in 2017, before being transferred to Turkey and then
Pakistan.
His lawyer Abdul Iqbal said Suleman had been an "immature and
idealistic" young man who wanted to help people "in distress"
and who participated in "non-combat duties" with IS.
He added that his client had "firmly" decided within five
months of joining the terrorist organisation that he wished to flee.
Source: newarab.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.newarab.com/news/uk-man-sentenced-life-trying-join-islamic-state-syria
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Nadia Fettah and Jihad Azour: Morocco Gives Voice to the Global South
MAY 26, 2023
Like so many countries across the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco
faced successive shocks over the past three years including a devastating
drought. But the country managed well thanks to an aggressive reform agenda. In
this podcast, Morocco’s Finance Minister Nadia Fettah, and IMF Regional
Director Jihad Azour, discuss how Morocco is keeping reforms on track despite
the challenging circumstances, and what lessons other countries in the region
might learn from Morocco’s experience. Their conversation was part of the
Governor Talks series hosted by the IMF during the IMF-World Bank Spring
Meetings, and a preamble to the Annual Meetings to be held in Marrakesh this
fall.
Source: imf.org
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Podcasts/All-Podcasts/2023/05/26/nadia-fettah-jihad-azour-morocco
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Life Sentence for High Wycombe Man who joined so called Islamic State
A British man has been given a life sentence for travelling to Syria to
join so-called Islamic State nine years ago.
Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was 18 when he
disappeared while on a family holiday to Turkey in 2014.
The former grammar school boy was arrested at Heathrow airport on
September 29 2021 and charged with a string of terror offences.
In April, he pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism by travelling
from the UK to Turkey in order to join IS in Syria in August 2014.
The defendant, now 27, was also charged with being a member of IS, a
proscribed organisation, between 2014 and 2017, and receiving training in the
use of firearms.
But these two charges were left to lie on file after the prosecution
said Suleman's guilty plea addressed them.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC jailed Suleman for life with a minimum term of
nine years and six months at the Old Bailey on Friday.
He said: "You went to Syria in order to join IS. You understood IS
was a proscribed organisation in English law."
"Your ambition was to become a sniper," he added.
"When you arrived in IS-controlled territory, you would have been
vetted and only allowed to stay if you were considered to be committed to the
cause," the judge went on.
He found Suleman to be legally dangerous and adjourned to a later date a
hearing to determine passing a serious crime prevention order.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court that while attempting to
travel to Syria, Suleman had been held by Turkish forces before opting to be
part of a prisoner swap with IS.
On joining the terrorist group in Syria, he became active on social
media and posted about his experiences in IS territory while engaged with
members of the media.
The court heard he became "disenchanted" with jihadism and
tried to desert the terrorist group.
After the collapse of IS, he was taken captive by a faction of the Free
Syrian Army (FSA) before being transferred to Turkey and then Pakistan.
The court heard that in the months leading up to his departure to
Turkey, Suleman's exchanges with fellow pupils at school showed he "fully
appreciated" he would be joining and supporting a terrorist organisation
which engaged in "indiscriminate violence against civilians".
In February 2014, he shared "shocking" images of violence
linked with IS on a WhatsApp group and sought to play down their
"horror" by comparing them to cartoons from Horrible Histories.
He suggested to the same group chat that they start using Telegram -
"the encrypted communication method preferred by IS" - and also told
group members that he was following Jihadis in Syria on Twitter.
In June, he suggested to another school friend that they go to Iraq and
"wage Jihad".
The court heard Suleman messaged his family on the day he disappeared
insisting he was "not brainwashed" and had been "planning this
for months".
"I'm gonna be a sniper insh Allah," he told his family days
later.
Suleman made contact with a journalist at the Times during his time in
Syria.
Via encrypted messages he told the newspaper that he went through
"intense" indoctrination by IS, adding: "I never thought I was
being brainwashed until I saw the way they treat other Sunnis."
In October 2017, he was also interviewed by Sky News while in the hands
of FSA.
The prosecution said Suleman told Sky News that his intention was not
really to fight, that he wanted to help Syrian people, but he was
"sympathetic" to IS.
He told them he received weapons training from IS and was on guard duty
for five months but indicated he had "never" killed anyone.
Suleman confirmed to the broadcaster that he went to Raqqa in February
2015 as part of a "foreign fighting battalion" and here "saw the
reality of IS" - that foreign fighters were "cannon fodder".
He arrived back in the UK on September 29 2021 and was arrested under
the Terrorism Act 2000.
In a police interview, Suleman denied choosing to join IS while held in
Turkey and said he had changed his mind about going but was handed over anyway
as part of a deal with IS.
He also denied membership of the terrorist group, saying he never swore
allegiance and was just a civilian.
He claimed he had tried to leave IS territory from mid-2015 and did not
handle guns.
Suleman's defence team had tried unsuccessfully to get his earlier
account in his Sky News interview ruled inadmissible.
The defendant claimed he had been forced into doing it by the FSA and
told to say he had fought with IS in battles.
There was no accusation that the broadcaster was in any way complicit.
The defendant also claimed the FSA had beat him and caused him to fear
for his life after witnessing others being waterboarded.
However, Mr Atkinson had asserted at a previous hearing that there was
no evidence of duress or that Suleman had suffered ill treatment while being
held by the FSA.
He told the court on Friday: "It follows from his plea and his basis
of plea that the defendant now accepts that his denials in interview were
untrue, and that he had both willingly and deliberately joined IS, had
undertaken the training they required, and had in various important ways worked
with and for them before his change of heart."
Abdul Iqbal KC, defending, said Suleman had been an "immature and
idealistic" young man who wanted to help people "in distress"
and who took part in "non-combat duties" with IS.
He argued that his client had "firmly" decided within five
months of joining the terrorist organisation that he wished to
"flee".
Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism
Policing South East, said: "This has been a complex investigation which
has taken several years to piece together and bring to court, but it has
ultimately ended in jail time for Suleman, who was planning acts of
terrorism."
He added: "Friends and family are often best placed to spot the
signs of potential radicalisation, so please trust your instincts if you have
any concerns, please report it.
"We can help if you act early. You won't be wasting police time and
you won't ruin lives, but you might save them."
Source: planetradio.co.uk
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/beds-bucks-herts/news/life-sentence-for-high-wycombe-man-who-joined-so-called-islamic-state/
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Vahid Beheshti: British-Iranian activist resumes sit in outside Foreign
Office despite fatwa
26-05-23
A British-Iranian activist who was hospitalised on day 72 of a hunger
strike has resumed his public protest after a fatwa was allegedly issued
against him.
Vahid Beheshti, a former Camberwell resident, was recently discharged
from hospital after spending two months on hunger strike in a tent outside the
Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.
The 46-year-old journalist and human rights activist is calling on the
government to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a
terror organisation.
Earlier this month he claims he was told by two of his trusted sources
in Iran that “a cleric close to the IRGC” had called out a fatwa – a legal
ruling in the Islamic Republic – against him to condone his killing.
“Even if they release 10 fatwas calling for my death, it won’t stop our
activities,” he responded defiantly in a video posted on Twitter.
“We wouldn’t step in this path if we were going to be stopped by your
fatwa.”
After spending the last week in a safe house, Mr Beheshti has returned
to his tent outside the Foreign Office to start a “sit in” protest.
Mr Beheshti is no longer refusing food having been slowly reintroduced
to it during his two-week hospital stay.
“I am really glad to be back here, I should have rested for another two
or three weeks but I couldn’t tolerate it anymore,” he told LondonWorld.
“After 72 days of hunger strike, 13 days in hospital and about a week in
a safe house I have returned to the Foreign Office in my tent. I am not on
hunger strike anymore, I am starting a sit in protest.
“We will remain here till the UK government proscribes the IRGC. This is
a very simple demand but very important, we are not going anywhere.”
Throughout his hunger strike, Mr Beheshti has garnered support from
hundreds of MPs who have taken time to visit him.
More than 125 cross-party politicians signed an open letter to Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak, urging him to heed Mr Beheshti’s request to proscribe the
IRGC.
A rally from the London Eye to 10 Downing Street was also arranged on
Saturday, April 29 in support of Mr Beheshti. Thousands attended, including
some of the IRGC’s victims, their families and activists.
Last week, Conservative MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, tweeted: “I
now understand the Iranian regime has issued a fatwa against Vahid Beheshti.
Now it is time for the UK Government to proscribe the IRGC terrorists once and
for all.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was set up after the
1979 revolution in Iran to defend the country’s Islamic system.
The group has gained worldwide attention in recent months due to its
brutal crackdown on protesters in Iran, led by women fighting for their human
rights.
The Iranian regime’s actions at home and abroad in recent months
compelled MrBeheshi to use his voice to speak out in defence of people in his
homeland whom he says are suffering for simply voicing opposition to the
regime.
Source: londonworld.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.londonworld.com/news/vahid-beheshti-british-iranian-activist-sit-in-foreign-office-fatwa-4160052
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Muslim Lawyers' Hub: Bridging the diversity gap in the UK legal
profession
By Farzana Abdullah
26 May 2023
Muslim Lawyers’ Hub is an organisation dedicated to increasing the
number of Muslim lawyers in the UK. The aim is to help Muslim law students and
young legal professionals gain access to the legal profession, which can often
be a challenging and competitive field to enter.
Despite the Muslim community making up a significant proportion of the
UK population, there are only 5% of Muslim Lawyers in the UK (no change since
2019). One of the main factors is the difficulties Muslims face in accessing
the legal profession and feeling confident in their workplace. Four main areas
of importance for Muslims are religious accommodation, networking &
mentorship, representation, and education.
Firstly, religious accommodation including availability of prayer
spaces, flexibility for prayer times, and accommodation of religious holidays
and observances. Salah is the second of the Five Pillars of Islam. It is the
belief that Muslims should pray five times each day. Prayer is important as it
allows Muslims to communicate with Allah, listen to Allah and follow in the
footsteps of the Prophets. Islam has two official holidays: Eid Al-Fitr and Eid
Al-Adha. The former is celebrated at the end of the month of Ramadan, whereas
Eid Al-Adha lands on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah (the final month of the
Islamic calendar). Being able to pray at work and have religious holidays,
means Muslim colleagues can feel included and truly welcomed at the workplace.
Not having access to a quiet space for prayer and time off for religious
festivities means that Muslim professionals often find it difficult to balance
their professional and religious needs, causing stress and pressure.
Secondly, networking and mentorship opportunities are important in every
profession, especially so in the legal profession as these events act as a way
to improve connections within the team, attract clients, and provide support,
and guidance. However, Muslim professionals and aspiring professionals can
often be left out of these events due to the nature of the event being based
around alcohol. Drinking alcohol is considered haram, or forbidden, in Islam.
Although these events may offer non-alcoholic drink options, these are often
very limited, and many Muslims still feel uncomfortable in these environments.
This leads to them being unable to attend such events and reaping the benefits
which can prove useful for interviews and promotions.
Thirdly, the lack of representation because of the above statistics can
often make minorities feel excluded and alienated. Aspiring lawyers may be
discouraged due to not seeing many people like them achieving their aspirations
of becoming a lawyer, as well as attaining more senior positions.
Representation matters as it provides role models and a way of gaining greater
insight into what working as a Muslim in a legal firm is truly like. Although
there are a wide range of D&I events taking place targeted at students,
there remain very few opportunities for students to be able to interact with
Muslim professionals and ask questions.
Lastly, Muslim legal professionals face unique challenges in overcoming
stereotypes and biases based on their religious identity. It is crucial to
address these challenges and promote inclusivity within the legal profession.
Furthermore, promoting education and awareness about Islam, Muslim culture, and
the experiences of Muslim legal professionals can help dispel stereotypes, increase
understanding, and foster an inclusive legal environment.
Muslim Lawyers’ Hub is working to address these issues by creating a
network of Muslim legal professionals who can help support and guide Muslim
students who are interested in pursuing a career in law. Muslim legal
professionals can also interact with each other and network. By connecting
these individuals with established Muslim lawyers, the organisation is helping
to create a more diverse and inclusive legal profession.
The organisation has already made a significant impact in the legal
community, with over 6,000 members across Instagram and LinkedIn. Muslim law
students and young legal professionals have praised the organisation for its
support and guidance, with one member stating that 'it brings an important
discourse to social media, the legal profession, and wider society in the UK.'
In a world where diversity and inclusion are increasingly important
issues, Muslim Lawyers’ Hub is playing its part in creating a more equitable
society. By providing a support network for Muslim law students and legal
professionals, the organisation is helping to break down barriers and create
opportunities for individuals who might otherwise be overlooked.
Farzana Abdullah is a law student and founder of the Muslim Lawyers’ Hub
Source: lawgazette.co.uk
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/commentary-and-opinion/muslim-lawyers-hub-bridging-the-diversity-gap-in-the-uk-legal-profession/5116159.article
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Africa
Robocop and Bin Laden in Uganda
26-05-23
In Kampala, Nasser Road has become an iconic site of entrepreneurial
printing, most famously, its ubiquitous posters of notorious political figures
like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.
Kampala’s Nasser Road—or ku-Nassa as it is known in Luganda—is widely
known as the center of Uganda’s printing industry, printing anything from
school reports to posters. The posters deal with a variety of subjects ranging
from music and movie artists, to hair styles for hair salons.
One type of poster stands out: those focusing on politics. They provide
commentary on both national and international events. They are striking in a
number of ways: they display images of international figures many regard as
villains, such as Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. Then, there’s their
aesthetics, which are a mixture of images copied from the internet and flashy
colors showing Hollywood action figures such as Robocop or Rambo, that only
national and international politicians replace their faces.
The posters are both tragic and humorous. They sometimes display graphic
images of these politicians’ deaths. Overall, their core theme is the common
man fighting the powers that be. They celebrate international villains as heroes
fighting Western imperialism, and show them as superheroes taking part in local
political struggles. And, these superheroes play a role in the wider region:
the posters are distributed and sold in Eastern Congo and South Sudan who use
Nasser Road as their printing press.
Together with playwright and columnist Yusuf Serumkuma and photographers
Badru Katumba and Zahara Abdul, I provide an overview of Nasser Road and its
posters in my newly edited publication. The book in particular attempts to
understand the posters’ multilayered nature of influences, each of these
influences leaving their imprint.
First, striking as they are, the posters are not unique in using figures
such as Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. Rather, these figures are used
worldwide as global icons of dissent. For example, Bin Laden’s likeness on
posters, stickers, key holders, and many other artifacts have been documented
in Nigeria and Malaysia, as well as in Kenya, Thailand, and Mexico, accompanied
by slogans such as “vote for Osama,” “superpower Osama,” or “Osama is our
hero.”
For many, these posters are primarily symbols signifying
anti-imperialism. Rather than engaging in any religious message or the violence
of these men, they act as vessels for local frustrations, in the name of the
“rejection of, or resistance to, global structures of power and hegemonic
systems such as colonialism, imperialism, and capitalist exploitation.”
The use of these figures can equally be understood as a form of role
reversal to contest power structures: for their designers and for the buyers of
these posters, Saddam and Bin Laden become the warriors, while global hegemons
like American presidents are cast as the tyrants. In the words of one poster
designer, “Saddam … was the small guy standing up to the mighty United States.
He was standing up to imperial forces; he was defending the small guy.”
Visually, a process of local appropriation or mimesis creates these
posters. On the one hand, the posters use Hollywood action heroes such as
Robocop or Rambo, and iconic images of Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. On the
other hand, the designers produce them creatively: the downloading, copying,
adjusting, reassembling, and reappropriation of these global figures’
images—both politically and aesthetically—results in their often humorous
creation.
In this way, the posters are also very much a product of Nasser Road.
The name of this street grew to mythical proportions in Uganda, not only for
its printing business but also for its reputation as a center associated with
fraud. Nicknamed “Uganda’s Silicon Valley” by some of the designers, it’s a
place where anything can be found or made: fake academic transcripts, identity
cards, tax slips, all the way up to fake currencies. According to one designer,
“you name it, we make it.” As Yusuf Serunukuma argues productively in his
newspaper columns and in my book, people perceive these acts as the “revenge of
the common man.” Common men taking revenge against the nepotistic and
convoluted structures which offer them little choice but to seek alternative
modes to officially reproduce themselves.
In this way, the posters have to be understood in the context of the
street. We must understand them through their use of uncredited and unsourced
images downloaded from the internet. This attitude reflects a broader acceptance
of the realities of digital appropriation. In turn, the posters themselves are
copied, shared, adjusted, copied again, and so on. Because of this practice,
designers have developed a kind of common aesthetic, and many of their posters
make use of the same elements. As can be seen throughout the posters featured
in my edited publication, this makes them recognizable. The common elements
imbue them with a degree of homogeneity. The aesthetic isn’t isolated; Uganda’s
film industry, popularly known as Wakaliwood, displays surprising similarities
(after Wakaliga, the neighborhood in which it is located).
At the same time, the posters also feature national political figures:
President Museveni, as well as opposition figures such as Kiiza Besigye and
Bobi Wine. Similar to their international counterparts, the posters display
these local leaders as more-than-human military figures. Not only do they
reference Hollywood action films, they also reference the dominance of the
military in Uganda’s polity.
Jude Kagoro has, for example, shown how military aesthetics play an
important role for popular Ugandan musicians, who frequently perform while
sporting military uniforms or weapons. The depiction of President Museveni can
be understood in this context: he is Uganda’s liberation fighter, larger than
life, hybridized into a Hollywood-esque action figure—a combination of pop and
political cultures; he references both Hollywood action films and Ugandan
political history. The same holds for the depiction of Bobi Wine—but in his
case, his aesthetics is militarized in order to take on the political system.
The posters’ potential for political messaging and use doesn’t go unnoticed by
the authorities. On several occasions, security agencies raid Nasser Road and
confiscate its stock of (opposition) posters. They typically do this at
politically contentious moments.
Lastly, the posters are also very much a commercial product: Local
entrepreneurs in the printing and graphic design industry are continuously
looking for hot news items. They look to print these news items on a variety of
media to boost their sales—and controversial political figures are a
particularly attractive option here. This also means that they are continuously
evolving, looking for new options and drawing from sources. Local entrepreneurs
use techniques of humor and fabulism to reject hegemonic narratives.
Source: africasacountry.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://africasacountry.com/2023/05/robocop-and-bin-laden-in-uganda
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Mass protests erupt over mosque demolitions
May 27, 2023
– Two deaths were reported –
Thirty-seven police personnel were injured
Mass protests broke out in Addis Ababa following Friday prayers as a
result of anger over mosque demolitions in the neighboring Shegger city.
The demonstrations took place around mosques in the capital yesterday,
May 23, 2023, including the Grand Anwar Mosque.
Demonstrators called for an immediate stop to the demolitions as well as
the rebuilding of the 19 mosques already razed during the last few weeks.
Social media outcry has escalated due to the demolitions, with videos
showing police officers in riot gear blocking angry protesters circulating
widely.
The Muslim community has been demanding responses from the Oromia
Regional state and federal government offices for the past few weeks but did
not receive a positive response.
Previously, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council and the Oromia
Region Islamic Affairs Council expressed their opposition to the demolitions
and called for immediate action by the government.
The Addis Ababa Police Commission reported yesterday that there were two
deaths following the protest around the Grand Anwar Mosque.
The Commission also reported that 37 police personnel and 15 police
assistants were injured during the protest. Police also reported that
approximately 114 suspects were detained for allegedly playing “a main role in
coordinating the protest.”
Muslim activists and religious leaders have voiced deep dismay over what
transpired during the protest.
“It is heartbreaking that the government deployed force against peaceful
protesters voicing opposition to the sweeping mosque demolitions,” prominent
Muslim figure Ahmedin Jebel posted on his Facebook account, which has over
979,000 followers.
Another Muslim figure, BedruHussien, called the situation disheartening.
“The government needs to sit down and discuss with institutions
representing the Muslim community, instead of trying to silence them by using
force,” he said on his Facebook account, which has over 400,000 followers.
A few months after being established surrounding Addis Ababa,
administrators of Shaggar City and the Oromia Regional State have been accused
by rights groups of demolishing several residential houses and exhibiting
ethnic bias during the process, which the city administration denied.
The Ethiopian Islamic Council also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed (PhD) last week regarding interference from his office, demanding the
mosques to be reconstructed. The Oromia Council, for its part, disclosed that
at least 19 mosques were demolished in Shaggar City.
Source: thereporterethiopia.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/34271/
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News: Two killed, dozens injured in police crackdown against protest by
Muslims in Addis Abeba; more than 100 people detained
MAY 27, 2023
Addis Abeba – At least two civilians were killed yesterday and more than
40 people, including police officers and different police backup forces,
suffered minor and serious injuries during police crackdown against Muslim
protesters in and around the Grand Anuwar Mosque in the capital Addis Abeba on
Friday afternoon.
The protests broke out Friday after prayer hours by the Muslim community
in the city against the demolition of Mosques in the newly formed Shaggar city,
which was formerly known as Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne. The
protesters demanded an end to the demolition of mosques in the Shaggar city.
On 23 May the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs of the Oromia Regional
State said 19 Mosques were illegally demolished in Shaggar city alone &
urged the regional government to immediately stop the demolitions and return to
resolving the problem through dialogue. earlier, the Supreme Council of Islamic
Affairs of Ethiopia has sent a letter to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeking an
end to the demolitions and a solution to the problem.
According to a statement released by the Addis Abeba Police last night,
the two victims died after “being sent to the hospital for treatment.” The
statement didn’t mention if the two victims were killed by the police. The
victims are identified by Jeilu TV as Siraj Mohammed and Abubeker Elias, both
residents of the city.
The city police said only four individuals were injured and 37 police
officers and members deployed to enforce the law, as well as 15 different
police backup forces, received serious and minor injuries and were sent for
treatment. Two buses belonging to the city public transport were also
“damaged”, according to the police.
This morning, President of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs of
Ethiopia, Sheikh Hajj Ibrahim Tufa, and the leaders of the Majlis visited at the
Black Lion Hospital those who were injured and are admitted for treatment.
Referring to the events as “riots” the city police said it has been
“brought under control and the areas returned to normal activities. However, it
said 114 individuals were arrested suspected of “instigating the riot.” The
police also said “information circulating on some social media that there has
been a major riot in Addis Abeba were exaggerated.”
The crackdown by the police drew criticisms from the Addis Abeba Islamic
Affairs Supreme Council which denounced “the unconstitutional and inhumane
action taken by the security forces” at the Grand Anuwar Mosque, which
“resulted in the loss of human life and many injuries.” The Council once again
demanded an end to the actions of demolishing mosques that are taking place in
the Shaggar city and to resolve the problem through dialogue and implementation
of corrective measures.
Prominent Islamic scholars have also denounced police’s actions and
demanded justice for the victims.
A delegation led by Sheikh Haj Ibrahim Tufa has also met with security
forces in the city last night to discuss the matter and have agreed for the
police to reopen the two Mosques, the Nour Mosque and the Grand Anuwar Mosque,
that the police closed in the wake of the protests. AS
Source: addisstandard.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://addisstandard.com/news-two-killed-dozens-injured-in-police-crackdown-against-protest-by-muslims-in-addis-abeba-more-than-100-people-detained/
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Inauguration: Tinubu joins Buhari for Juma’at prayers at State House
mosque
May 26, 2023
President-elect Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu joined President Muhammadu
Buhari for the Juma’at prayers at the State House Mosque, Abuja Friday
afternoon, as part of nationwide special prayers marking the inauguration of
the incoming administration.
President Buhari had invited Asíwájú Tinubu to join him for the prayers,
his last at the State House Mosque before he hands over power and takes his
final bow from office on Monday.
The formal handover ceremonies started Thursday with the investiture of
the President-elect and the Vice president-elect with highest national honours
and presentation of the handover documents to the incoming president.
Muslim prayers and interdenominational Christian service were scheduled
for Friday and Sunday, respectively.
While the two events were billed to hold at the National Mosque and the
National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, similar prayer sessions were planned all
over the country.
The events will climax on Monday May 29 when the former Lagos governor
takes the oath of office as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
At the well-attended prayer session at the National Mosque,
President-elect Tinubu was represented by Vice president-elect, Senator
Shettima.
At both mosques, Imams prayed for the success of the incoming
administration and supplicate for Allah’s guidance for Tinubu and his deputy to
steer the ship of the country to greater destination.
They also admonished Muslim faithful to constantly remember their
leaders and the country in prayers as enjoined by Islam.
Speaking after observing the prayers at the State House, President-elect
Tinubu said he had come to join President Buhari to offer prayers to Almighty
Allah to support him to carry out the task of governance successfully.
He said he would drink from the fountain of knowledge and wisdom of the
Chief Imam of the State House Mosque, Sheikh Abdulwahid Abubakar Suleiman who
reminded leaders of the burden of trust in leadership.
Among those who observed the Juma’at at the State House were former Ogun
State governor, Senator IbikunleAmosun, Chairman of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency, General Buba Marwa, Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Shehu Garba, and some other
presidential aides.
Source: newsdiaryonline.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://newsdiaryonline.com/inauguration-tinubu-joins-buhari-for-jumaat-prayers-at-state-house-mosque/
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May 29: Miyetti Allah holds special prayer for Tinubu, new S/East govs
May 26, 2023
THE South East Muslim community under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of
Nigeria ( MACBAN) has held a special Juma’at prayer session for a peaceful
transition and successful inauguration of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu and
the newly elected governors of Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu states.
The prayer session was held at Ugwuoba, a boundary community between
Anambra and Enugu states.
Apart from the president elect, others specifically mentioned were Abia
State governor-elect, Dr. Alex Oti, Enugu State governor-elect, Mr. Peter Mbah
and Ebonyi State governor- elect, Mr. Francis Nwifuru.
The leader of MACBAN in the zone, Allahaji Gidado Siddiki expressed
delight that supporters of the three major political parties in the just
concluded 2023 general election; the All Progressive Congress (APC), Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) in the South East states
attended the prayer session.
Siddiki said: “It is the first time the association and other
Muslim Ummah converged in spirit to pour
out their hearts in prayer for a peaceful transition and successful
inauguration of new administrations in the staoin the South East region and the
country at large.
“Today, Friday, the 26th day of May 2023 is significant to us in Miyetti
Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria as It is the last Friday to the
inauguration of a new administration in our country and in many states in
Nigeria.
“We of MACBAN, South East Zone, chose to rededicate our place of
business and Nigeria to Allah in the
prayers.
“As we commend Nigeria to Allah for his guidance and protection, we pray
that he grants our leaders the requisite wisdom to administer the nation in
such a way that Nigerians will live happily wherever they choose to live
without fear of molestation or rejection.
“We pray for a leadership that will restore safety, trust and peace
across tribal lines in Nigeria. We pray for a prosperous nation which can only
be attained in a peaceful environment.
“We also pray for increased understanding, tolerance and accommodation
amongst the peoples of Nigeria and for our leaders to have the zeal and
political will to make Nigeria work effectively to enable the country take its
rightful place among its peers across the continent of Africa and globally.
“As we pray for the incoming government at the centre and the states, we
equally pray for those already occupying
offices.
Siddiki, who is also the National Director General (Admin) of MACBAN,
urged the President-elect, Mr.Tinubu and the South East governor-elects,
especially, to carry every Nigerian along, irrespective of political, tribe,
ethnic and religious affiliation.
Source: vanguardngr.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/05/may-29-miyetti-allah-holds-special-prayer-for-tinubu-new-s-east-govs/
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Nigeria Would Have Been In Trouble If Peter Obi Had Won 2023 Election
Because Of His Intolerance Towards Muslims —Oyo Labour Party Gov. Candidate,
Akinwale
May 26, 2023
TawfiqAkinwale, the Oyo State Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023
governorship election, has said if his party's presidential candidate, Peter
Obi, had won this year’s presidential election, Nigeria would have been in
serious trouble.
According to MrAkinwale, Obi’s attitude shows how intolerant he is to
his fellow countrymen who are Muslims.
MrAkinwale said this during an interview with Symfoni News, a social
media-based news platform, which was monitored by SaharReporters. He blamed
Peter Obi for the defection of several of the party's governorship candidates,
mainly from the North, to other opposition parties.
He said: “The Peter Obi that you know is a deceit; the Peter Obi that
you know is a pretender. All the bigots of this world is (sic) Peter Obi
because he is not somebody that should be trusted with the leadership of this
country. Glory be to God almighty that did not allow him to win the election.
If he had won, Nigerians would have been in a serious problem because of his
attitude.
“What I observed is this, I may be wrong, 12 of us contested for that
election, 12 Labour Party governorship candidates in the whole country. You
know some states did not go into the contest at that time. But 12 of us, I was
the only one who happened to be Muslim, but I observed that during the
campaigns, the candidate of Sokoto, the governorship candidate, decamped to APC
(All Progressives Congress) because when he went for campaign, he did not
introduce him.
“He didn't make him relevant at all. He did this to Taraba governorship
candidate and his deputy, did this to Kano, they have decamped even before the
election because of the attitude of Peter Obi towards them.”
MrAkinwale also did not hide his delight at Obi's defeat in the February
presidential election because according to him, Obi is a politician who has swapped
politics for tribalism.
He continued: “I am happy that he did not win, not because of anything
but because that kind of man should not be given the responsibility of a very
serious leadership of this country. A country that is not religious. A country
that is not a country of a tribe.
“Hadn't I not talked about his altitude before the leaked conversation
(with Bishop David Oyedepo), people would have said I only linked it to the
audio because I did not tell the world, it was two days I told the world about
his altitude that this leaked audio came out.”
“And I observed also that he did not go to any mosque nor go to any
Muslim gathering to campaign. These are the things that I put together and say
this one is not tolerant at all,” he added.
Source: saharareporters.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://saharareporters.com/2023/05/26/nigeria-would-have-been-trouble-if-peter-obi-had-won-2023-election-because-his
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Traditional Religion Worshippers Want Tinubu, Others To Swear On God Of
Iron Rather Than The Bible, Qur’an On May 29
May 26, 2023
Adherents of traditional religion have called on the Nigerian government
to adopt Ogun, the god of iron, to swear in all elective and appointed office
holders instead of the tradition of using the Bible and the Qur’an.
According to them, this will curb the misappropriation of public funds
as it is believed that the god of iron’s wrath comes swiftly.
This comes as Nigeria prepares for May 29 inauguration day when the
‘President-elect’, Bola Tinubu, ‘Vice President-elect’, KashimShettima,
governors-elect and others will be sworn into office.
According to The PUNCH, they made this call during a press conference
held at Osemeji Temple in Ibadan, Oyo State, to announce the 2023 world annual
Ifa festival.
“We have contributed and are still contributing to the development of
our nation. The problem we are facing in Nigeria is our people at the helm of
affairs because they are not honest, and that’s what is affecting us,”
JagunmoluAwoAgbaye, Dr. Fayemi Fakayode, said.
“If we can decide to be swearing in political office holders, either
elective or appointed officers, in traditional ways or through the god of iron,
things will be better and they will stop embezzling our money because they know
the immediate consequence of their action. Even in the judiciary, the judges
too will give fair hearing and judgement.”
They urged the federal, state and local governments to give them the
same honour accorded Muslims and Christians, arguing that as adherents of
traditional religion, they are “entitled to all the things the other two
religions enjoy in Nigeria.”
Others who spoke included the Araba (Olu Isese) Agbaye, His Eminence,
AwodotunAworeni; Araba/Olu Isese of Ibadanland, High Chief IfalareOdegbola;
Araba/Oluwo of Oyo, High Chief FaleyeKusaanu and Araba of Oka Akoko of Ondo
State, Chief Adewale Oso.
Source: saharareporters.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://saharareporters.com/2023/05/26/traditional-religion-worshippers-want-tinubu-others-swear-god-iron-rather-bible-quran
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Pakistan
May 9 rioters must face justice like Capitol Hill attackers: PM
May 27, 2023
KARACHI: Vowing to bring the perpetrators of May 9 violence to justice,
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday that no one should have any
objections if the government punished these rioters under the law, the way the
United States did to its citizens for storming the Capitol Hill building in
2021.
Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the much-delayed K-IV water
supply project at the CM House, he said justice demanded that the rioters be
punished like those who stormed Capitol Hill. “If that [American] punishment is
legal, then no one should object if we do so under our law for the desecration
of [the memorials of] our martyrs,” he added.
The prime minister said politics of chaos culminated on May 9 in the
form of the desecration of the memorials of the nation’s martyrs and ghazis and
security installations.
“Strings of the May 9 riots are being pulled abroad and the desecration
of martyrs’ memorials and installations at the instigation of Imran Khan is the
darkest chapter in the nation’s history,” he said.
He said the K-IV project was most important to him because the people of
the Quaid’s city were deprived of drinking water despite it being the city with
highest revenue generation and taxation.
The prime minister held out the assurance that he would put the project
on top priority in the upcoming budget and provide maximum funds for its early
completion.
Call for ‘Shehbaz speed’
Highlighting acute scarcity of potable water, PPP Chairman and Foreign
Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said even he got water through tanker at his
residence in the city.
He said the people of Sindh pinned hopes on the prime minister for
resolution of their problems. “The K-IV project has faced immense delay and
Karachi needs ‘Shehbaz speed’ for the resolution of its issues,” he said
addressing to the prime minister. As chief minister of Punjab, Mr Sharif was
known for his working speed, ability to execute mega projects and quick
actions.
Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the two major political parties of Karachi had
voted for the prime minister and his government enjoyed super majority in
Sindh.
He pointed out that around 52 per cent of Sindh’s educational
infrastructure had been damaged by floods, affecting the education of its 47pc
population.
Stressing the importance of upholding the state writ and advancing the
democratic system in all circumstances, he warned that if serious crimes like
setting fire to Jinnah House Lahore, demolishing martyrs’ memorials and
attacking military installations were neglected, then running this country
would become not only difficult, but also impossible.
“What would have been the reaction to it, if the conspiracy of May 9
events had been hatched either in Bilawal House, Raiwind or Nine Zero?” he
questioned.
The PPP chairman said if the government paid attention to Karachi
according to its potential, then the country can bid farewell to IMF and stand
on its own feet.
Funds requested
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Karachi was receiving 600
million gallons of water per day only against a demand of 1,200 MGD.
“With the fast-growing pace of urbanisation in Karachi, this demand and
supply gap would continue to grow, and offsetting of such demand would purely
be dependent upon successful and timely completion of the K-IV project which is
planned to be executed in three phases of total 650 MGD,” he added.
Mr Shah said that phase-I of the project with a capacity of 260 MGD was
being executed by Wapda and would be completed in 2025 provided a smooth flow
of funds was ensured by all stakeholders.
“Federal government has to provide Rs113 billion from the PSDP. However,
the project is facing cash flow issues with respect to critical activities and
there is an apprehension that it may get delayed due to schedule overruns
causing an increased cost,” he said.
He urged the prime minister to consider committing matching funds to the
greenfield projects of recycling wastewater and seawater desalination plants in
Karachi in PSDP 2023-2024.
Minister for Maritime Affairs Faisal Sabzwari, belonging to MQM-P, said
the project was part of the agreement between his party and the ruling
coalition. He said the unnecessary delay in the project had caused a huge
increase in its cost.
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori said that under the leadership PM Shehbaz
and FM Bhutto-Zardari, the project was moving ahead. “For the first time, the
federal and provincial governments are on the same page to execute the
much-delayed project,” he added.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1756144/may-9-rioters-must-face-justice-like-capitol-hill-attackers-pm
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British MPs angry about thwarted call with Imran Khan
May 27, 2023
LONDON: Conservative Party MPs and peers are angry over being prevented
from speaking with PTI chief Imran Khan, whose internet connection was
reportedly disconnected for half an hour ahead of a Zoom call he was meant to
have with nearly 20 British politicians.
Sara Britcliffe, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, tweeted a screenshot of
Conservative politicians in a Zoom meeting room with former adviser Zulfi
Bukhari, saying that Mr Khan was set to join the call “when, without warning,
Pakistan’s telecoms authorities cut off internet connections to his compound”.
She expressed concern about the “deteriorating” economic, political and
security situation, and called for the release of political prisoners and
journalists in Pakistan.
Azeem Ibrahim, one of the participants of the meeting who also helped
arrange the call, told Dawn the MPs were “angry and annoyed” that they were
unable to speak to Mr Khan.
“The initiative was taken by Lord Daniel Hannan who is very thoroughly
interested in Pakistan and has met Imran Khan during his visits there,” Mr
Ibrahim, research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, told Dawn.
Lord Hannan of Kingsclere was a Conservative MEP from 1999 to 2020, and
is now president of the UK’s Institute for Free Trade.
Zulfi Bukhari helped arrange the call with Mr Khan, and the “the idea
was to get members of parliament together to get a briefing directly from Imran
Khan about what is happening”.
The participants were unable to speak with Mr Khan as his internet
connection was cut, and instead ended up speaking with Mr Bukhari — who
informed them that Mr Khan’s internet had been cut around 6pm Pakistan time —
and asked him a series of questions.
“The purpose was not to support PTI or Imran Khan but just to understand
what’s happening. There is a deep concern among British politicians about the
degradation of democracy in Pakistan,” he said, adding that it was not just
about Mr Khan but about the “overreach of the military in general”.
He added, “Some of the MPs were very angry and annoyed, and agreed that
we should make a statement that British parliamentarians have been prohibited
from speaking with Mr Khan, and that this is not acceptable. They all were very
upset, as they are very senior with very busy schedules,” he said.
He also pointed out that “many of these MPs have very large Pakistani
constituencies”. Mr Ibrahim said in his meetings with other parliamentarians on
all sides, he has seen the deep concern about what’s happening in Pakistan
“even if they don’t express it publicly”.
“This is not about Imran Khan. Some [MPs] are supporters of Nawaz Sharif
or were big fans of Benazir Bhutto. The concern is more about the crisis in
Pakistan right now.”
“This is… about how authorities are behaving which is disturbing. It
does not serve Pakistan and is hugely damaging in the long run if free and fair
elections are not held and journalists continue to be harassed,” Mr Ibrahim
said.
Baroness NosheenaMobarik, another call participant, said she was invited
to the call by Lord Dan Hannan to see “different perspectives on what is
happening in Pakistan”.
The British government has expressed its support for democracy and
elections in Pakistan, but thus far has refrained from making any direct
comments on Mr Khan’s arrest and the subsequent crackdown.
Two weeks earlier, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during PMQs was asked
to comment on the ongoing crisis in Pakistan. He responded by saying that the
UK and Pakistan has a “longstanding close relationship” and that the arrest of
Mr Khan is an “internal matter”.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) did not respond to a
request for comment. Authorities in Pakistan regularly curtail access to
cellular and data services for security reasons, such as during the recent
unrest following May 9, but it was not clear how official machinery could
restrict individual internet connections at private residences or compounds, as
Mr Khan alleges.
Anwar Iqbal adds from Washington: Over the last 10 days, the PTI team
held three meetings with Senator Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations. They also briefed the Senate Sub-committee on South Asia.
In the United States, the PTI is moving its campaign from the House of
Representatives to the Senate, which has a greater say in external affairs.
On Thursday, a PTI team met Senator John Cornyn, one of the senior most
Republicans in the House, and plans to approach others as well.
Their goal is to persuade the senators to send a letter to Secretary of
State Antony Blinken, requesting him to use his influence to “protect democracy
in Pakistan” and to persuade Islamabad to hold fair and free elections.
Earlier this month, 69 members of the House sent a similar letter to Mr
Blinken, which also sought his help to stop the Pakistani government from
“suppressing the opposition,” as a PTI leader Atif Khan said.
The Foreign Office recently rejected the letter, saying it did not agree
with the characterisation of the events of May 9 and the situation in Pakistan,
as reflected in that missive.
Last month, PTI USA also succeeded in raising the issue on the floor of
the House when Congressman Brad Sherman spoke on the current situation in
Pakistan. Now they are seeking a full debate in both the House and the Senate.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1756119/british-mps-angry-about-thwarted-call-with-imran-khan
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Imran calls for immediate talks as PTI exodus continues
May 27, 2023
LAHORE: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Friday made an impassioned appeal
that it was high time that all state institutions sat with his party and found
a solution to put the country on the path of progress.
“I would like to appeal for talks because what is currently happening is
not a solution,” Mr Khan said in a live talk streamed on YouTube.
“The country is heading towards an imminent disaster since hyperinflation
is around the corner. But the incumbent rulers are least bothered as they have
stashed the looted wealth abroad,” he said from his Zaman Park residence in
Lahore.
Separately, in an interview with France 24, Mr Khan said he had been
“isolated” at his home, cut off from the senior leadership of his party, while
thousands of his supporters have been arrested. “Anyone who supports PTI is
either arrested or has gone underground,” he said.
Mr Khan also told the channel that he still feared for his life after two
assassination attempts. “I am not at all safe,” he said.
In the video address, Mr Khan asserted that his appeal for dialogue
should not be considered his weakness, adding that the physical and economic
excesses being committed against the people of Pakistan was no solution. “The
solution to the country’s problems rests in the state institutions functioning
within their constitutional roles,” he said.
“Whenever I ask for a dialogue, the incumbent rulers think I am getting
weak and they begin unleashing more excesses on PTI leaders and workers with
the hope of crushing the party,” he regretted. He said no government could
remove an ideology inculcated among the youth of the country.
He also warned the powers that be that they should exercise restraint as
their attempt to crush the PTI could destroy the country. “No political party
has ever witnessed such a barbaric action from the rulers,” he said.
Mr Khan said the country had already become a banana republic — a poor
country with a weak government that depends on foreign money — because the
rulers were not even respecting court orders to hold elections.
“The whole establishment, civil administration and the Election
Commission of Pakistan are standing with the PDM [Pakistan Democratic
Movement], but the rulers are still afraid of holding elections,” the former
prime minister said.
The rulers, he said, were actually saying: “They would hold elections
when Imran Khan was eliminated” from the political scene.
Describing the PTI leaders announcing defections as “forced divorces”,
Mr Khan said he himself had condemned the May 9 arson attack on the Lahore
corps commander’s house when he came to know about it while present in the
Supreme Court the next day.
“Who will not condemn such a brazen attack on army installations?” he
wondered, stressing that weakening the institution of the army was tantamount
to weakening the country.
The former premier’s video address came at a time when PTI leaders were
leaving the party — at gunpoint, according to Mr Khan — at pressers being held
every other day.
Referring to this at the outset of his address, Mr Khan quipped: “I am
not holding this media talk to leave the PTI.”
The former premier, however, struck a defiant tone, warning that his
party’s popularity was only rising because of the crackdown and would still win
an election whenever it was held. He said he only wanted to talk to take the
country out of the current crisis.
He urged the nation and his party leaders, workers and supporters to
observe patience in these critical times.
Explaining economic indicators while comparing the PDM government’s
performance with his government’s during 2022 and 2023, he warned the powers
that be that the nation would soon be caught by hyperinflation — a term to
describe rapid, excessive and out-of-control general price rises in an economy.
Since the dollar rate in the open market has reached Rs308, Mr Khan said
the salaried class would soon be compelled to come out on roads when they would
not be able to bear the “upcoming hyperinflation”.
Meanwhile, the PTI central information secretary, Farrukh Habib, has
said the coalition government was creating hatred among the masses while
committing excesses against his party leaders, workers and supporters.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Mr Habib demanded that the
government must allow all suspects an opportunity for a fair trial.
He stressed that the government should also stop giving inhumane
treatment to suspects imprisoned in different jails.
Mr Habib said the PTI was a party of masses and the people were
demanding elections at the earliest. He said everyone had condemned the May 9
arson attacks on state buildings and army installations.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1756141/imran-calls-for-immediate-talks-as-pti-exodus-continues
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Pakistan is proud of being one of the largest contributors to peace
missions: Shehbaz Sharif
May 27, 2023
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan is proud of being one of the
largest contributors to the peace missions under the United Nations umbrella.
In a tweet today, the PM said eight Pakistani peacekeepers were honored
posthumously on the completion of 75 years of the UN Peacekeeping Mission.
He said Pakistani soldiers have rendered excellent services, including
sacrificing their lives in the most complex & dangerous conflict zones.
Shehbaz Sharif said we are proud of our peacekeepers for their
unprecedented commitment to duty.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.radio.gov.pk/27-05-2023/pakistan-is-proud-of-being-one-of-the-largest-contributors-to-peace-missions-pm
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Over 16,000 pilgrims reached Madinah in last six days
May 27, 2023
Over 16 thousand pilgrims have reached Madinah through 60 flights in
last six days.
Radio Pakistan’s correspondent Javed Iqbal reports from Madinah that
three thousand pilgrims will reach Madinah through 11 more flights today.
According to Director Hajj Madinah, Pakistani pilgrims have been
accommodated in 33 different hotels in Madinah.
Their accommodation is adjusted in three, four and five star hotels near
Masjid-e-Nabwi.
The Director Hajj said efforts are being made to provide accommodation
near to Masjid Nabawi for more pilgrims.
Hygienic and healthy meal is also being provided to intending Haj
pilgrims three times a day.
The intending pilgrims will start moving to Makkah after completing
their eight-day stay in Madinah.
On the special instructions of Minister for Religious Affairs Senator
Talha Mehmood, a high-level monitoring team of the Ministry led by Joint
Secretary Arshad Fareed Khan also arrived in Madinah today. The team will
monitor the arrangements of food, accommodation and medical facilities being
provided by Pakistani mission.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.radio.gov.pk/27-05-2023/over-16000-pilgrims-reached-madinah-in-last-six-days
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PM lauds active participation of people on
Youm-e-TakreemShuhada-e-Pakistan
May 27, 2023
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the nation has together set a
redline that the attitude reflected on May 9 is intolerable.
In a tweet today, he thanked the people of Pakistan for their active participation
in the solemn observance of Youm-e-TakreemShuhada-e-Pakistan. It was a
collective outpouring of gratitude for our Shuhada and ghazis by the whole
nation.
The Prime Minister said living nations uphold the honour and dignity of
their benefactors and heroes who render the supreme sacrifice of their life so
that their country men and women can live peacefully.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.radio.gov.pk/27-05-2023/shehbaz-sharif-lauds-active-participation-of-people-on-youm-e-takreem-shuhada-e-pakistan
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South Asia
Iran Makes Inclusive Govt Condition to Recognize Islamic Emirate
27-05-23
The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran
will not recognize the Islamic Emirate until it forms an inclusive government.
However, he said that the Islamic Emirate is part of the reality in
Afghanistan, although not all of it.
“We are disappointed that an inclusive government has not been formed in
Afghanistan and we have conveyed this issue to the current rulers in
Afghanistan as well,” Abdollahian said. “We do not recognize the current rulers
in Afghanistan and we stress the need to form a inclusive government in
Afghanistan. The Taliban are part of the reality in Afghanistan, but not
all.”
The top Iranian diplomat stressed that Tehran is concerned about the
restriction on girls and women, particularly in the area of education, in
Afghanistan.
Referring to the recent tensions over the Helmand water treaty between
Kabul and Tehran, Abdollahian said that the issue should be solved through
legal action.
“We have had negotiations with officials of the Islamic Emirate
regarding the water rights and we believe that based on the 1352 (1973) water
treaty, the issue must be a focus on the legal issues,” he said.
Earlier, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said that the current Afghan
government should ensure Iran's water rights of the Helmand River based on
international treaties, Iranian media reported.
Raisi, who was on a visit to Sistan and Balouchestan province, said the
current Afghan authorities should "immediately" provide Iran with its
share of water.
Speaking at a gathering in the ARG, a senior member of the Islamic
Emirate, Anas Haqqani, reacted to Raisi’s remarks.
“Let the Iranian president talk whatever he wants. I believe whatever
the Iran president said about the water rights, the people reacted to him and
said bad things about him... We have fought for 20 years and we have been
proven. Almighty Allah gave us victory. The big enemies were defeated. So, I
say we should try not to teach harsh language to our new generation,” he
said.
The Islamic Emirate said that its government is inclusive.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183520
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Gov’t envisions IUM as a prominent regional institution of Islamic
education: pres.
26 May 2023
The government envisions the Islamic University of Maldives (IUM) as a
distinguished regional institution for Islamic education, says President
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The Maldivian leader said this while speaking at the 2nd session of the
IUM Convocation 2023 held at IUM's Conference Hall on Thursday.
Taking the podium at the event, President Solih shed light on his
administration’s commitment to establish IUM as a regional institution for
Islamic education as well as a center dedicated to promoting the noble values
of Islam.
He also emphasized on the importance of the university in instilling
virtuous Islamic values in students and highlighted the collaborative efforts
between IUM and the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) in safeguarding
the Maldives against the spread of religious extremism.
The president went on to reiterate his administration’s commitment to
establish and enhance modern education by providing comprehensive educational
opportunities across the Maldives.
He further noted that a significant portion of the state budget for 2023
has been allocated to education development, at MVR 4.6 billion making up
approximately 10.9 percent.
MVR 857 million has been earmarked to advance higher secondary
education.
President Solih stated that the administration's wide-ranging
initiatives to encourage human resource development that meet national
requirements, is demonstrated by programs such as the free degree program and
low-interest student loans.
Shedding light on the salary revision for lecturers at IUM recently
finalized by the Pay Commission and the Ministry of Finance, the president
stated that this indicated a great improvement in their salary.
Thursday’s ceremony also saw President Solih announcing that the
administration will soon be implementing an enhanced salary and vacation policy
framework for Imams.
President Solih went on to assure that the improved allowances for
individuals with special needs would be disbursed in June 2023, as scheduled.
709 students successfully graduated from diverse academic programs at
the university during Thursday’s ceremony. Nine students among these were
honored with the ‘Best Student’ awards.
78 Imams completed their studies through the degree program initiated by
the Islamic ministry in collaboration with IUM in 2020.
President Solih presented awards to the Imams who graduated, as well as
the recipients of the ‘Best Student’ awards.
First Lady Fazna Ahmed, who was also in attendance, presented awards to
the recipients of the Master of Teaching and Learning program .
Source: raajje.mv
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://raajje.mv/136142
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College Graduates Turn to Driving Taxis in Balkh
27-05-23
These young people called on the Islamic Emirate to make opportunities
for them to work in government departments.
Zia Rahman, 30, is a graduate student of the English language and
literature faculty and said he worked for five years in the information and
culture department in Balkh and was interested in continuing his education, so
he traveled to India to pursue his master's degree. But due to economic
challenges, he could not continue his education and now he is driving a taxi on
the roads of Mazar-e-Sharif.
“I was interested in pursuing my education so I traveled to India but
due to economic challenges I couldn’t finish my master’s degree,” said Zia
Rahman.
“It has been five years since I
graduated from the journalist faculty and due to financial challenges I am
driving a taxi now,” said Ghulam Sakhi, who studied journalism.
“I studied two years in my department and because of the changes and
challenges I drive a taxi,” said Hashmat Ullah, who studied economics.
The labor and social affairs department in Balkh acknowledged the
unemployment among the educated youth in this province and spoke of efforts to
create job opportunities for them.
“Our educated youth really need jobs, they have the ability to work in
government departments, in the offices of the Islamic Emirate, if there is an
empty post, we will hire them there,” said Naseer Ahmad Abu Khalid, head of the
Labor and Social Affairs Department in Balkh.
After the return of the Islamic Emirate to power, most educated young
people went abroad due to the lack of work in order to support their families.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183539
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Fourth EU-Central Asia Meeting on Afghanistan Held in Ashgabat
27-05-23
“EU-CA reaffirmed commitment to support Afghan people, discussed ongoing
security challenges, and agreed that respect for human rights, economic
stabilization is key,” the EUSR for Central Asia said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the delegation of the EU in Turkmenistan released a joint
statement saying that the meeting provided an opportunity for an in-depth
exchange on developments and the economic situation in Afghanistan and allowed
for a discussion on continued cooperation in assisting the people of
Afghanistan and intensification of cooperation in areas of common interest.
“During the meeting they also had an exchange with UNAMA SRSG Roza
Otunbayeva and via video link with the World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan,
Melinda Good, as well as World Bank Country Director for Kazakhstan, Andrei
Mikhnev,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the special representatives and envoys
reaffirmed their strong commitment to the people of Afghanistan and to seeing
Afghanistan develop into a stable, peaceful and prosperous country with
long-term prospects for lasting peace.
The participants “underlined the importance of the establishment of an
inclusive and representative government and of upholding civil, political,
social economic and cultural rights of all Afghans.”
They also urged the Islamic Emirate to lift all bans on Afghan girls and
women that restrict their rights to education, work and participation in public
life.
“These bans – beyond being serious human rights violations – are having
detrimental effects on the ability of the international community to deliver
humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, and need to be lifted for the Afghan
economy to prosper, and ultimately for Afghanistan to achieve long-term
stability and peace,” the statement said.
The statement also said that the envoys discussed prospects and
challenges for the economic stabilization and recovery of Afghanistan. They
noted the “importance of favorable conditions for economic activity, the
financial and banking sector and the restoration of social-economic
infrastructure in Afghanistan," which would "allow for further
assistance by the international community.”
“The participants called on the Taliban to prevent the Afghan territory
from being used as a safe haven for hosting, planning, training, financing or
exporting terrorism and violent extremism to other countries,” the statement
reads.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183535
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Afghan Acting FM Meets Iranian Ambassador Discussing Iran’s Water Rights
and Bilateral Relations
May 27, 2023
Afghan Acting Foreign Affairs Minister met with Iran’s Ambassador Hassan
KazemiQomi in Kabul to discuss strengthening bilateral relations between the
neighbouring countries, including water issues.
The Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry, Hafiz Zia Ahmad, said about the
meeting in a series of tweets on Saturday. He said the meeting aims to discuss
important topics, including Iran’s water rights from the Helmand River, Afghan
prisoners in Iran, Visa issues and several others.
On Iran’s water Rights from the Helmand River, Muttaqi stressed the
issue’s significance and said it should be resolved through “dialogue and
understanding.”
Meanwhile, resolving the long-standing dispute between the two countries
over water management and rights is essential for preserving goodwill and
stable relations.
In addition, the meeting also touched upon the issue of Afghan prisoners
in Iran and their return to their home country. Both sides expressed their
commitment to addressing the issue and ensuring the safe return of these
prisoners to Kabul.
On the other hand, the issuance of visas for Afghan nationals was
discussed during the meeting. The easy process of the visa for Afghan citizens
would boost people-to-people relations, trade and tourism between the two
brotherly nations.
The meeting came after the tensions raised over Iran’s water rights from
the Helmand River in the last week.
Earlier, Iranian officials warned the de facto authorities to resolve
the issue of Iran’s water rights based on the 1973 water treaty between the two
countries.
While the Taliban authorities said they abide by the water treaty signed
half a century ago. Still, the water will not reach Iran due to drought and
lack of water availability in the Helmand River and Kajaki Dam.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-acting-fm-meets-iranian-ambassador-discussing-irans-water-rights-and-bilateral-relations/
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Bangladeshi arrested for trying to fly to Rome with 'Indian' passport in
Mumbai
May 26, 2023
By Press Trust of India: A 32-year-old Bangladesh national, who claimed
to be a Buddhist monk, has been arrested here for trying to travel to Rome on
an Indian passport that he had obtained by providing fake documents, an
official said on Friday.
Bipon Anil Barua, a resident of Bandarban in Bangladesh, was apprehended
at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Wednesday night, the
official said.
Barua was to fly to Rome via Muscat from Mumbai in the early hours of
Thursday.
When an immigration officer keyed in his passport details in their
system, he found that a Look Out Circular (LOC) has been issued against him by
the Foreigners Registration Office (FRRO), Mumbai, the official said.
An LOC is a notice which prevents a person from leaving the country.
According to remarks on the LOC, Barua is a Bangladeshi passport holder.
He used fake papers to fraudulently acquire an Indian passport.
Barua told officials that he is a Buddhist monk and came to India from
the neighbouring country via the Haridaspur border in 2015 to propagate
Buddhism, he said.
During his stay in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur in 2016, Barua said he
procured an Indian passport with the help of bogus papers.
Since then, the official said, Barua used the Indian passport to visit
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom.Immigration
officials also recovered PAN and Aadhaar cards from him, he said.
Barua was taken to the Sahar police station where a case was registered
against him under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 465 (punishment
for forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 471 (using fraudulent
document as genuine) and the Passports Act.
The passenger was then placed under arrest, the official added.
Source: indiatoday.in
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/mumbai/story/bangladeshi-arrested-for-trying-to-fly-to-rome-indian-passport-mumbai-2385021-2023-05-26
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New US visa policy before general elections an ‘insult to Bangladesh’
27.05.23
The US government’s attempts to use punitive measures on people
undermining the democratic election process — by imposing visa restrictions —
reached the subcontinent on Wednesday with the state department announcing a
new visa policy for Bangladesh barely seven months before the country’s next
general elections.
The crux of the new rules — announced by US secretary of state Anthony
Blinken — is that the US will deny visas to individuals, from law enforcers to
political leaders, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
“They have clubbed us with Nigeria, Somalia. This is not only
ridiculous, it’s an insult to Bangladesh... I simply can’t digest it,” said
Nayeemul Islam Khan, a senior journalist credited as the founding editor of
several newspapers.
In their official reaction, the government and the ruling Awami League
did not express any discontent and reiterated that the Sheikh Hasina
administration was committed to holding a free and fair election. The state
department also conveyed that it was “heartened” by the reaction from Dhaka.
Off the record, however, several ruling party insiders echoed Khan’s
feelings. They referred to how the netizens went after Blinken, who made the
announcement, using his Twitter handle to ask why the US was not taking similar
measures against Pakistan or Thailand. Questions on whether the US was plotting
a regime change in Dhaka or whether it had the moral authority to talk about a
“fair election” after destabilising nations were also doing the rounds in
Dhaka’s diplomatic and political circles.
Krishnan Srinivasan, former Indian foreign secretary, echoed similar
feelings and termed the US decision ridiculous.“During the last two elections
(in Bangladesh), the US were huffing and puffing... It seems, this time they
mean business,” said the former diplomat, referring to the US activity in Dhaka
ahead of the hustings in 2014 and 2018 that was perceived to be favouring the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main Opposition force.
India, on the other hand, is considered pro-Awami League.
Srinivasan also questioned the US strategy of inflicting “punitive
action” to improve the election system and argued that the Carter Centre
philosophy, founded by former US President Jimmy Carter, of hand-holding the
countries in improving their electoral system was a much more effective tool.
Though Blinken and his colleagues in the state department have explained
that the new visa policy will apply to all parties and that the sole US
interest is to promote democracy, not everyone is convinced.
“The US sent the seventh fleet during the Liberation War (of 1971) in
support of Pakistan... Their senior diplomats have always hobnobbed with the
BNP. We have diplomatic and business ties with the US, but we see them with
suspicion,” said the politician who refused to be identified.
Though anti-US rhetoric is an integral part of politics, the ruling
party politicians are cautious this time for two reasons: First, they cannot
afford any adverse action on the visa front and second, the US is the most
important market for readymade garment exports valued at over $20 billion last
fiscal.
This dependence on the US has been the main reason behind some of the
recent moves by the Hasina government — like allowing US companies to engage in
oil exploration in the Bay of Bengal and announcing its Indo-Pacific Outlook —
that may not have amused Beijing, Dhaka’s other key partner.
“The US seems to want more as they are keen on a naval base in the Bay
of Bengal,” said a source in India, referring to the tightrope walk facing
Hasina who cannot afford to annoy Beijing and New Delhi.
The Indian foreign ministry establishment has not officially reacted to
the new visa policy, but sources said that the move is not good news as it has
created “a sudden uncertainty” ahead of the election in which Hasina, India’s
trusted friend, will try to be re-elected for the fourth time in a row.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US lined up in
June, New Delhi is likely to steer clear of the Dhaka-Washington tug-of-war but
observe its impact with keen interest, a source said.
According to a retired Indian Foreign Service officer, the new US visa
policy will have a major impact on the election. “This is likely to result in
some improvement in the electoral system in Bangladesh... The last two
elections were pretty flawed as the dice were heavily loaded in favour of the
Awami League,” he said.
Khan, known for his leanings towards the incumbent government, also
hoped that the performance of the national election will improve this time.
The BNP, which has been threatening to boycott the polls unless its demand
of a caretaker government is met, has officially welcomed the US move but is
yet to spell out its stand in taking part in the polls.
"In Bangladesh, we are deprived of our democratic rights as people
didn't get a chance to vote in the last two elections... We believe that free
and fair polls cannot take place without a caretaker government and we will
stick to our demand," said Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general
of the BNP.
For a change, he echoed the ruling party leaders and said: "This
new visa policy is not at all an honour for Bangladesh, it's sad." He,
however, held the ruling party responsible for the US action.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/new-us-visa-policy-before-general-elections-an-insult-to-bangladesh/cid/1939957
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OIC secretary general in city; to meet PM tomorrow
Sat May 27, 2023
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General
HisseinBrahim Taha arrived in Dhaka today on a five-day visit.
Director General (International Organisations), Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Wahida Ahmed and Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University of Technology
Dr Mohammad Rafiqul Islam welcomed the OIC secretary general at Hazrat Shahjalal
International Airport.
During the visit, Taha will pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina on Sunday.
He will also pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.
As the chancellor of the IUT, the OIC secretary general will join the
35th convocation of the IUT on May 30.
Taha will also visit the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar, according to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/diplomacy/news/new-us-visa-policy-curb-money-laundering-momen-3330771
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19,149 Bangladeshis reach Saudi Arabia for Hajj
May 27, 2023
A total of 19,149 Bangladeshi pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia to
perform Hajj, an annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Makkah, as of Friday night.
Among these pilgrims, 4,564 travelled under government management and
14,585 under private management.
So far, a total of 49,788 visas have been issued – 13% of them under
government management and 87% under private management.
On Saturday, more Hajj pilgrims are set to depart for Saudi Arabia from
Bangladesh on 13 flights.
A total of 603 Hajj agencies are participating in the Hajj program from
Bangladesh.
This year, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Saudia and Flynas are transporting
Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
A total of 122,221 Bangladeshis pilgrims are poised to perform Hajj
under government and private management.
Biman will be transporting half of the total pilgrims – 61,111 – while Saudia
and Flynas will transport the remaining passengers.
The first flight transporting Hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh to Saudi
Arabia departed on May 21.
Hajj is expected to start on June 27, subject to the sighting of the
moon.
Source: dhakatribune.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2023/05/24/5-biman-flights-reach-saudi-with-2086-more-hajj-pilgrims
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Southeast Asia
Need finance sector efforts for sharia economy development: minister
27-05-23
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The sharia economy will not develop well without
extensive efforts linked to Islamic finance, Finance Minister Sri
MulyaniIndrawati has said.
"Thus, constant innovations, creativity, and in-depth efforts in
terms of liquidity become very crucial," the minister stressed at the 2023
AnugerahAdinata Syariah, which was followed from here on Friday.
The government is promoting sharia finance so that it would also
actively contribute to national economic recovery, the minister said. The
sharia finance sector consistently offers many innovative features and
instruments, which are suitable for micro, small, and medium enterprises’
(MSMEs’) needs, Indrawati affirmed.
Sharia instruments have also been introduced in people’s business credit
(KUR) — an important tool for supporting MSMEs, she pointed out. The minister
further said that special sharia finance instruments, ranging from zakat, waqf,
infaq, and alms, to takaful/sharia insurance, are also serving as an alternative
to funding.
Minister Indrawati also highlighted the government's commitment to
supporting the development of the sharia economy while concurrently striving to
make Indonesia a global halal center given its national economic potential.
The support is being provided to some industries, such as foods and
beverages, fashion, pharmacy, cosmetics, tourism, and media, she said.
The state treasurer underlined that the government's efforts to support
the enterprises include halal certifications as well as export assistance for
MSMEs engaged in the halal industry.
Moreover, the government is supporting sharia economy development
through tax schemes by matching identity numbers to tax identification numbers
so as to allow business players to pay their taxes easily, she added.
"For MSMEs whose revenue is still below Rp500 million (US$33,376),
we also do income tax exemption," the minister said.
Source: en.antaranews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://en.antaranews.com/news/283032/need-finance-sector-efforts-for-sharia-economy-development-minister
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Ministry sends 107 tons of medicines for Hajj pilgrims
27-05-23
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Health Ministry has dispatched a total
of 107 tons of medicines and medical supplies to Saudi Arabia to provide health
services to Indonesian Hajj pilgrims.
According to a statement issued by the ministry's public service and
communication bureau in Jakarta on Saturday, the ministry is aiming to fulfill
the medicine needs of all Indonesian Hajj pilgrims until the time they return
to the country.
"We have made efforts to provide medicines for Indonesian Hajj
pilgrims. As our effort to support Hajj health services, we are providing
medicines and medical supplies from the (time of) departure of the Hajj
pilgrims until their return," Director General of Pharmaceuticals and
Medical Devices at the Ministry Rizka Andalusia informed.
She said that the 107 tons of medicines and medical supplies sent to
Saudi Arabia include respiratory medicines, gastrointestinal medicines,
anti-diabetic medications, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs,
cardiovascular medicines, multivitamins, electrolytes, and milk.
In addition, 206,400 packages containing equipment for providing health
support during worship will be given to Indonesian Hajj pilgrims at embarkation
points, she added.
Besides packages for pilgrims, 524 packages containing medicines and
health supplies will also be prepared and carried by the medical officers accompanying
pilgrim groups during the pilgrimage, Andalusia informed.
To maintain the health of the pilgrims during quarantine at the Hajj
hostel, medicines and medical supplies have been provided at 19 Port Health
Offices (KKP) at embarkation points, she added.
According to her, from this year, the recording and reporting of the
utilization and distribution of drugs to Hajj pilgrims will be carried out
electronically using an application called Sobathaji. The application is
expected to help improve the management of Hajj logistics.
"We hope that the availability of medicines and medical equipment
supplies that have been procured can help reduce the morbidity rate of our Hajj
pilgrims so that this year's Hajj can run smoothly," she said.
Source: en.antaranews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://en.antaranews.com/news/283122/ministry-sends-107-tons-of-medicines-for-hajj-pilgrims
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Youth, women's role integral part of building sustainable peace: envoy
27-05-23
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Ambassador of Canada to the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), Victoria Singmin, has emphasized that the participation
of youth and women is an integral part of building sustainable peace.
"Their capacities must all be taken into account if peace and
stability initiatives and solutions are to be sustainable," Singmin stated
during a discussion on Women, Peace, and Security held by the Foreign Policy
Community of Indonesia (FPCI) here on Friday.
She said that women and youth make up a significant chunk of the
population in ASEAN countries.
Therefore, their perspectives, needs, and capacities must be taken into
account if peace and stability initiatives and solutions are to be sustainable.
Singmin noted that Canada has long supported an agenda for youth, women,
peace, and security, including the aspect of the demographic bonus that
Indonesia will experience in 2045.
Regarding this demographic bonus, she drew attention to rapid
advancements in digital and information technology that position youth as
digital natives, with a key role in shaping society today and in the future.
"This includes in the area of peace and security as well," she
emphasized.
Singmin noted that Canada has launched an initiative with UN Women on
empowering women for sustainable peace. The country also has a feminist foreign
policy or Indo-Pacific strategy that offers it an opportunity to partner with
important organizations in ASEAN.
In the region, there is a regional plan of action on women, peace, and
security that recognizes and provides a framework for ASEAN member states to
implement policies and programs that promote youth and girls' participation and
protection in conflict and post-conflict situations.
"Canada is so excited to be a part of this journey. This is
something that is very meaningful for us globally," she affirmed.
According to Singmin, all these approaches should ensure that women,
peace, and security are matters that are relatable to all.
Source: en.antaranews.com
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original
https://en.antaranews.com/news/282987/youth-womens-role-integral-part-of-building-sustainable-peace-envoy
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URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/sudarshan-channel-forced-conversion-muslim/d/129869