Urdu name for Diwali 'Jashn-e-Raushni' not acceptable to Hindu fundamentalists: Giriraj Singh slams 'Islamisation' of festivals
New Age Islam News Bureau
02 Nov 2024
Giriraj Singh.
File picture
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Urdu name for Diwali 'Jashn-e-Raushni' not acceptable to Hindu fundamentalists: Giriraj Singh slams 'Islamisation' of festivals
· 9 killed, 29 injured in Mastung blast; CM Bugti condemns targeting of children
· 90% of discrimination cases in Belgium involve Muslims
· Donald Trump claims he has ‘overwhelming support’ from Muslims in Michigan
· Sharia Law: Stop promoting religious sentiment, Taraba Clergy lambasts NASS
· Islam looks beyond skin colour: PM Anwar denounces those inciting racial strife
· Bangladesh: An in-depth look at existing tensions
· Over 200 Afghan refugee families deported from Iran and Pakistan
· How Saudi cities are enhancing quality of life, while responding to environmental challenges
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India
· NIA files 2 fresh cases against ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah, others for ‘planting bombs at 19 places in Assam on I-Day’
· Militants shoot at two UP natives in J-K's Budgam district; fifth terrorist attack since Oct 18
· Centre can't implement UCC unless Muslims taken into confidence: Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishor
· Jammu & Kashmir: Two militants killed in Anantnag, search operation on in Srinagar
· TTD chief says only Hindu staff in Tirumala, but Centre wants non-Muslims in Waqf Boards: Owaisi
· In Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand, Hindus are becoming outsiders, says Himanta Biswa Sarma
· Omar Abdullah buries bitterness at funeral of ex-comrade Devender Singh Rana
· Jammu and Kashmir: Gun battle breaks out between security forces and terrorists in Khanyar locality of Srinagar
· Munambam Waqf land row: Muslim organisations call on state govt to broker peace
· Fire engulfs mosque, residential houses in J-K's Anantnag
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Pakistan
· Pakistan is playing a dangerous sectarian game. Anti-Shia extremism is gaining ground
· Bill tabled for ‘preventive detention’ of terror suspects
· ‘No credible evidence’ of alleged Lahore college rape, says HRCP
· Court rulings should align with Sharia: CII
· Dense smog shrouds Lahore with AQI over 1,000
· JUI-F senator warns govt against another constitutional amendment
· KP Adviser confirms engagement with establishment for Imran Khan release
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Europe
· Combat fear and learn about your Muslim neighbours
· Labour government’s shift on Gaza not enough, say British Muslims, scholars
· Abu Sumel from Keighley jailed for more than three years
· The historic Şehitlik cemetery in Kreuzberg, the queer-friendly Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Moabit, the Muslim community's poetry slam i-Slam: Islam is part of Berlin's history, politics and everyday life.
· Search for Spain flooding survivors continues as torrential rain hits another region
· Trapped in cars and garages: Why Valencia floods proved so deadly
· France shooting injures five and sparks mass brawl
· Fourteen dead in Serbia railway station canopy collapse
· Borrell hails EU-Japan security deal
· Russian missile destroys ‘police building’ – Ukrainian officials
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North America
· Recent US strikes spotlight growing Islamic State threat in Syria
· Muslim Americans face a tough choice, but we have to refuse to empower Trump
· Australia court rules senator violated law with racial remarks against Muslim lawmaker
· Why is the Green Party gaining so much traction among Muslim Americans?
· Trump courts divided Arab-American voters in must-win Michigan
· 'A lot of women are rising up': Harris hopes hinge on female vote
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Africa
· #EndBadGovernance: ‘We Can Not Continue Like This’ – Effiong Tells Tinubu For Parading Minors
· Why #EndBadGovernance Protest Minors Can Be Charged To Court — Police
· Why EFCC Arrested Edo Accountant General – Source
· We Will Never Support Tinubu’s Outrageous Appointments Of The Yorubas – Afenifere
· UN chief condemns Sudan’s RSF, Britain to push for Security Council action
· Head of UN-backed team of experts cites RSF paramilitaries in Sudan for sexual violence as war rages
· APC Seeks Court Order To Halt Revenue Allocation To Rivers LGAs Pending Valid Elections
· Kenya's new deputy president sworn in as his predecessor challenges his impeachment in court
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Mideast
· Nineteen reported injured in central Israel after projectile launch
· Deaths of 10 newborns shake millions’ trust in Turkiye’s health care system
· Israel cabinet approves 2025 wartime budget
· UK urged to evacuate hospitalized children from Gaza
· Israel is falling far short of a US ultimatum to surge aid to Gaza
· Iraq’s parliament elects a new speaker to end a nearly yearlong vacuum
· WATCH: Rebuilding of Mosul’s famous leaning minaret nears completion
· Delayed Gaza polio vaccinations to resume on Saturday, agencies say
· About 40,000 Palestinians perform Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque
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Southeast Asia
· Cops arrest six suspects believed to be involved in fatal fight
· 27 foreign GROs held in raid on unlicensed entertainment centre
· DPM Fadillah calls for stronger ecosystem to boost youth entrepreneurship
· Islam never taught us to make enemies based on eye, skin, or blood - Rafizi
· 900 Muslims to receive letters of offer for 2025 haj from Nov 5
· PM Anwar: No intervention in investigations into Khazanah, PNB’s RM43.9m loss in Fashion Valet; MACC probing RM1.8b fertiliser cartel case
· Escape tactics fail: Cops nab 27 foreign GROs in KL raid on unlicensed entertainment centre
· Imams urge boost in agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sectors
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South Asia
· Russian FM: Washington and allies seek to interfere in Afghanistan
· Khalid urges Imams and imamate to be self-reliant
· 5,503 students win reading contest
· Two siblings die after inhaling toxic gas in betel nut storage bunker
· Fire guts 8 shops in Kishoreganj; traders claim losses of over Tk 2 crore
· Addressing Afghan-Pak commercial ports’ problems a must
· Acting Minister of Higher Education Engages with Geneva Call President
· Sirajul Islam Chowdhury for making libraries cultural practicing centre
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Arab World
· Four falcons net almost $74,000 in Saudi club’s auction
· 80-year-old Saudi tour guide welcomes foreign visitors to Najran with English tours
· Saudi Arabia to host global symposium for sea turtle conservation in Jeddah
· What to expect at Islamic Arts Biennale 2025, from meditative gardens to modular prayer spaces
· Saudi Arabia: Over 2m benefit from perfuming service at Prophet’s Mosque
· Taif: A bee paradise, flourishes among wild flora
· MEWA and NCVC launch National Afforestation Season in Riyadh
· Saudi Arabia affirms high workplace safety standards in response to false reports
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/urdu-kanpur-diwali-giriraj-singh-islamisation/d/133610
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Urdu name for Diwali 'Jashn-e-Raushni' not acceptable to Hindu fundamentalists: Giriraj Singh slams 'Islamisation' of festivals
Piyush Srivastava
02.11.24
Giriraj Singh.
File picture
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A group of IIT Kanpur students' act of naming their pre-Diwali celebration as "Jashn-e-Roshni" led to controversy this week over the use of the Urdu words, with a Union minister alleging "Islamisation" of a Hindu festival.
One of the student organisers said they had, at the request of a teacher, eventually switched off the lighting arrangement that spelt out the name, which means "Celebration of Light".
Confirming the controversy to local reporters, institute director Manindra Agrawal said: "The institute did not organise the event; it was held by the students and they decided the name."
The event, a cultural programme by students of international relations at the IIT, was held on Tuesday.
Speaking off the record, a student organiser said: "Jashn-e-Roshni is a beautiful name, and the Urdu language is very much Indian. Those who don’t understand the intricacies and beauty of Indian languages and culture dubbed it a 'Mughaliya slogan'."
He added: "We didn’t agree. There are many foreign students here who want to know what Diwali is all about, and our idea was to explain this to them in the most artistic manner possible."
The student said the organisers had sent out some invitation cards to teachers and senior students with the name "Jashn-e-Roshni" printed on them.
"Later, we heard that enough noise was made on social media. A teacher came to us (during the event)…. He asked us to change the name and so we switched off the digital glow that showed the name."
Union textile minister Giriraj Singh had on Monday tweeted IIT Kanpur’s Jashn-e-Roshni cards and the similar Jashn-e-Abha cards of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, and written: "Don't engage in Islamisation of the festival of Sanatan."
The IIT student said: "We don’t want to reply to some ill-informed people who are involved in spreading disinformation. It is not our job, but there is no question of agreeing with them in principle."
The tech school in Kanpur has been a battleground between progressive students and Hindutva forces, represented most visibly by the RSS shakhas (assemblies) organised on the campus for years by some teachers.
In December 2019, its students held a march on the campus in protest against the police action on Jamia Millia Islamia students in Delhi in connection with a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The marching students at IIT Kanpur chanted "Hum dekhenge", a popular song of protest by Pakistani Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
At the time, local Hindutva outfits like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal had picked out some of the lines from the song to claim it was written to promote Islam. The IIT management ordered an inquiry and reprimanded the students for chanting the song.
In 2008, two youths associated with Hindutva groups died when a bomb they were allegedly making in a house behind the IIT campus exploded. Both young men are said to have been regulars at an RSS shakha on the campus.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/urdu-fireworks-over-iit-kanpur-diwali-event-giriraj-singh-slams-islamisation-of-hindu-festival/cid/2059932
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9 killed, 29 injured in Mastung blast; CM Bugti condemns targeting of children
Abdullah Zehri
November 1, 2024
A member of the bomb disposal squad and a police officer survey the crime scene after a blast in Mastung, Pakistan on Nov 1, 2024. — Reuters
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Nine people, including five children, were killed in Mastung district on Friday while 29 were injured in a bomb blast, drawing condemnation from Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti who lamented that terrorists had now started targeting innocent children along with poor labourers.
State broadcaster PTV News quoted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as saying that the explosion occurred at a “girls’ high school”, while another post by the outlet said the incident occurred “near Girls’ High School Chowk”.
However, Kalat Division Commissioner Naeem Bazai said that the attack took place at around 8:35am near the Mastung Civil Hospital which, according to Google Maps, is located a few meters away from the hospital.
Initially, Bazai said that seven people, including five schoolchildren, had been killed while 17 had sustained injuries in the blast. He added that the blast was apparently carried out with the help of an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to a motorcycle that was detonated near a police mobile.
Later in the evening, Deputy Commissioner Mastung Captain (Retired) Baz Muhammad Marri said that the death toll from the Mastung blast had risen to nine.
“Among the deceased are five girls, one boy, one police officer, and two other civilians,” he said. “The bodies have been transferred to Civil Hospital Mastung, Nawab Ghaus Bakhsh Memorial Hospital, and Civil Hospital Quetta, and were handed over to the families after necessary procedures.”
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the provincial health department, Dr Wasim Baig, told Dawn.com that reports from different hospitals suggested a total of 29 people sustained injuries in the blast.
The deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner were overseeing the situation at the hospitals, Bazai said. He highlighted that the police have cordoned off the area to prevent any further incidents.
Earlier, Mastung District Police Officer (DPO) Miandad Umrani told Dawn.com that four policemen were among the injured.
He also stated that the deceased children were aged between five and 10 years. A police van and several auto-rickshaws were damaged as a result of the explosion, according to the DPO.
‘Polio team not targeted’
Some media outlets reported that a polio team was the target of the attack.
“Terrorists targeted our police van which was guarding a polio team in the Civil Hospital Chowk area,” Rahmatullah, a local police officer, told Anadolu Agency over the phone.
He added that members of the vaccination team remained unhurt, however, one policeman was killed and four others were injured in the attack.
Reuters, quoting the same official, also reported that a police van on its way to pick up a polio team was targeted, adding that as a result of the attack, one policeman was killed while 23 others were injured.
Deputy Commissioner Mastung Marri, however, refuted the claims.
“Terrorists attacked a police van near Civil Hospital, where the police mobile was patrolling when the attack occurred,” he said. “Security has been deployed at various locations in Mastung to protect polio teams, but the police van targeted was not assigned to polio team security.”
‘Inhumane’ act
CM Bugti said terrorists had now “targeted innocent children along with poor labourers”, apparently referring to a recent attack that killed five security guards in Panjgur.
In a statement on X, the chief minister condemned the blast, saying it was “inhumane”.
CM Bugti said terrorists had targeted children deeming them to be a “soft target”.
“We will avenge the murder of innocent children and people,” CM said, adding that civilians in urban areas also needed to be on the watch for the terrorists.
“The monster of terrorism can only be fought together,” he added.
PM Shehbaz and Acting President Yusuf Raza Gilani also condemned the “bomb blast at a Girls’ High School in Mastung”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
In their separate statements, they expressed deep grief over the death of children and a policeman in the incident, conveying their condolences to the bereaved families.
Gilani reiterated the resolve to root out terrorism from the country, asserting that terrorists were humanity’s enemies.
The “entire nation stands united to support the security forces and law enforcement agencies to eliminate terrorism”, he was quoted as saying.
PM Shehbaz said the “attack on a school was loud evidence of terrorists’ animosity towards education in Balochistan”.
He asserted such “cowardly acts of terrorists” could neither undermine the nation’s morale nor shake the Balochistan government’s unwavering resolve to promote education and development in the province.
The premier, the statement said, directed the authorities concerned to apprehend the perpetrators of the blast and give them an exemplary punishment.
He also instructed that the best medical treatment facilities be provided to the injured.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly condemned the incident. “To have targeted an area near a hospital and a school was a reprehensible act.
“The sharp rise in militancy in the province must be taken extremely seriously by the federal and provincial governments and the perpetrators traced and brought to book. A long-term political solution is the only way forward,” the group said in a post on X.
While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, the country, particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the last few months.
Terror attacks declined by 24 per cent in September compared to August, but they witnessed surges in August and July, according to monthly security reports.
In 2023, Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations. Overall fatalities, including those of outlaws, mark a record six-year high.
Earlier this month, a bomb blast in Khuzdar killed a Levies official and PPP leader Khan Muhammad Lotani’s son, while the politician was left injured as their pickup truck was targeted.
Last month, terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed an under-construction house in Panjgur, killing seven labourers hailing from Multan. A day later, armed men attacked the camp of a private construction company in the Musakhel district, torching the machinery and vehicles there. No casualties were reported.
In May, a driver died while another three were missing when a convoy of six coal-laden trucks en route to Punjab from Duki coal fields came under a gun attack in Ziarat.
In January 2021, 11 coal miners belonging to the Shia Hazara community sleeping in their room were held at gunpoint, blindfolded and trussed up before being executed by unidentified attackers in the Mach coal field area. The militant Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the killing.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1869085/9-killed-29-injured-in-mastung-blast-cm-bugti-condemns-targeting-of-children
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90% of discrimination cases in Belgium involve Muslims
02.11.2024
Patrick Charlier, director of the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities (Unia), highlighted the concerning rise of anti-Muslim sentiment across Europe, noting that in Belgium, nine of 10 people facing discrimination are Muslim, particularly veiled women.
A report released last week by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), "Being Muslim in the EU: Experiences of Muslims," showed a marked increase in racism and discrimination against Muslims since 2016.
The survey, conducted with responses from 9,000 respondents across 13 EU member states between October 2021 and October 2022, found that one in two Muslims encounter discriminatory treatment daily.
Discrimination against Muslim women, men and children stems not only from their religion but is also due to factors like skin color, ethnic background and immigration history. Young Muslims born in Europe and veiled women are particularly affected.
Belgium has emerged as a key area for the issues, with 43% of Muslims in that country reporting housing discrimination.
Charlier, who has led the Equal Opportunities Center since 1993, emphasized the severity of the situation, pointing to hostility toward Muslims in education, employment and society.
“For Belgium, when we're speaking of religious and philosophical belief, it's 90% concerning Muslims. The vast majority, nine cases out of 10, is according to Muslims that are facing discrimination, hate speech, hate crime,” said Charlier.
“The last year, the most remarkable cases are in employment, discrimination in employment. It's a majority of women that are victims of discrimination. When we are speaking of women in employment, that's mostly cases of headscarves,” he said.
Between 2017 and 2023, the center primarily addressed employment discrimination cases, with additional incidents occurring on social media and in schools, noted Charlier.
Anti-immigrant sentiment also fueling anti-Muslim sentiment
“I think discrimination, hate speech and hate crime is grave. I don't want to undermine the reality and the difficulty for Muslims in our country. That's a reality. It's not highly rising. It's stable,” he said.
“We are not out with discrimination against Muslims. We are not out on Islamophobia. There is an indirect link also with a form of what we call more xenophobia,” he said.
“That’s all the discourse against asylum seekers and migration. It’s not directly focused on Muslims, but we know that this discourse against migrants is often with the idea ‘that's Muslims that are coming from Syria, from now Palestine, from Afghanistan, and so on.’ But that’s not registered to us as ‘discrimination against Muslims’. It’s more xenophobia,” he added.
Source:aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/90-of-discrimination-cases-in-belgium-involve-muslims/3382011
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Donald Trump claims he has ‘overwhelming support’ from Muslims in Michigan
November 1, 2024
Former President Donald Trump addresses supporters at a rally at Macomb Community College in Warren four days before the 2024 election. (Bridge photo by Simon D. Schuster)
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WARREN — Heading into the final weekend before the 2024 presidential election, former President Donald Trump returned Friday to give his second rally at Macomb Community College in just five weeks.
“You got to get the hell out and vote, because it's now or never,” Trump said, noting early voting ends Sunday.
The event was held during the workday, and attendance was markedly down from his previous events at the college. By the end of Trump’s nearly two hour-long address, a fair portion of the bleachers and seats in the college’s athletic hall were empty.
Dozens of attendees wore high-visibility vests, as Trump had earlier in the week, a riff on President Joe Biden’s apparent reference to Trump’s supporters as “garbage.” One attendee wore a trash bag.
Four days out from the election, more than a third of active registered voters in Michigan — 2.4 million — have already cast their ballots, either by mail or through early, in-person voting. The rallies held in the final few days of the election have been aimed squarely at boosting turnout among the slices of the electorate that may otherwise stay home on Election Day.
Polling continues to show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris effectively tied in Michigan, though some aggregators offer a slight edge to Harris.
Trump stops in Dearborn
On his way to Warren, Trump stopped in Dearborn for a visit at the Great Commoner Cafe, a business owned by a local Lebanese-American businessman, according to the Associated Press.
“We have a great feeling for Lebanon, and I know so many people from Lebanon, Lebanese people and the Muslim population, they're liking Trump, and I've had a good relationship with them,” Trump said at the cafe. “They are Dearborn, and we want their votes, and we're looking for their votes, and I think we'll get their votes.”
The AP reported the owner, Sam Abbas, had agreed to the visit after Trump issued a statement expressing a desire to “stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon.”
Trump’s campaign has spent months targeting Arab and Muslim Michiganders, who in recent elections have voted overwhelmingly Democratic. The conflict in the Middle East has the potential to swing votes Republican, amid criticism of Biden’s support of Israel and Harris’ unwillingness to take a stronger stance against what many Arab Muslims have labeled an unfolding genocide in the region.
They are one of a number of key groups that could help decide a close election in Michigan.
Trump promised during the campaign stop to have “peace in the Middle East.” He has not offered any details to explain how he’d end the conflict or bring about peace, however.
At the rally in Warren, Trump asserted he had “overwhelming support” from the Muslim and Arab communities and exhorted Muslim Americans to “get the hell out and vote, please.”
The last presidential candidate to visit Dearborn was George W. Bush in 2000.
Trump doubled down on his recent attacks on Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic of Trump who has endorsed Harris, saying her father, Dick Cheney, who served as vice president under Bush, “virtually destroyed the Middle East.”
Harris “is the candidate of endless wars,” Trump asserted. “I am the candidate of peace.”
Harris “will continue working to bring the war in Gaza to an end in a way where Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends,” Nasrina Bargzie, the director of Muslim and Arab American outreach for the Harris campaign, responded in a statement.
Bargzie said Harris is also “working to address the suffering in Lebanon and bring about a diplomatic solution” to the war’s second front.
Trump stuck to the hits but flubbed some facts
Trump’s message has essentially remained consistent throughout his campaign and didn’t change significantly with a little more than three days before the election.
At the rally in Warren, Trump railed against immigration, electric vehicles and the state of the economy, the core of his campaign message, while deriding Harris and Biden.
He called Harris a Marxist, “stupid,” “corrupt,” “low IQ” and other names. He referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as “brilliant” for being able to “rule 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.”
He also had his signature improvisational moments, veering off script to comment on his reflection in the teleprompter screen.
“I'm studying my hair — looks not so good today. It's not a good hair day, but who cares? Not a good hair day for me,” he said. “I don’t wanna look.”
In criticizing Harris’ economic record, he inaccurately told the crowd, “we went from essentially no inflation, to the highest inflation in the history of our country.”
Year-over-year inflation peaked during Biden’s term at about 9% in June 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. But that pales in comparison to past bouts of inflations in the U.S., most recently in April 1980, when inflation reached 14.6%. Other economic shifts, such as in 1946, produced even higher inflation.
He also claimed that the lower-than-expected jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this week — which showed only 12,000 new jobs in October — was historically poor.
“I never heard of 12,000 jobs. That's not even believable,” Trump said, claiming the report was “the worst jobs report in the history of our country, practically.”
But Trump actually had a worse jobs report while president, even excluding the pandemic, when tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs. In February 2019, 20,000 jobs were added to the economy, and the number was later revised to just 5,000 jobs.
The closing days of the campaign
Trump will close out his 2024 campaign with a rally in Grand Rapids Monday night, sources with Trump’s campaign indicated. Trump rallied in Grand Rapids the night before Election Day both in 2016 and 2020.
Republicans are also performing better than in 2020 and 2022 in early voting, according to data from the firm TargetSmart. But it remains to be seen whether that success in shifting toward other voting methods is attracting new supporters, or Trump’s base that would’ve already turned out for the election.
Kamala Harris will next be in Michigan Sunday for a pre-Election Day swing that will take her from a church service in Detroit that morning to an evening rally on Michigan State University’s campus.
Source:bridgemi.com
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https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/donald-trump-claims-he-has-overwhelming-support-muslims-michigan
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Sharia Law: Stop promoting religious sentiment, Taraba Clergy lambasts NASS
NOVEMBER 1, 2024
Disturbed by the tense debate that erupted on the floor of the House of Representatives over Sharia law a couple of days ago, sponsors of the bill have been warned against promoting religious sentiment or face the wrath of God.
Recall that last week, national law makers from the green chamber were closed to uproar over heated debate on Sharia law during plenary, a bill that was violently opposed by legislatures from the Christian faiths.
Speaking while reacting on the embarrassed plenary, Director, Connectional Ministries, united Methodist church (UMC) southern conference state chairman, TEKAN /ECWA bloc, Rev. Dr. Philip Micah Dopah condemned in strong term the sponsor of the Sharia bill and warned that whoever proposes such bill should be ready to face the anger of God.
According to him, such a bill was ill-motivated and miscalculated particularly at this point in time when Nigerians are faced with numerous challenges ranging from hardship, corruption, hunger, insecurity, unemployment, power failure, policy somersault, orders under Bola Tinubu led’s administration. “It is unfortunate that some northern lawmakers who have nothing to contribute to national unity and development, with deficient exposure and integrity, always demonstrate their ignorance by sponsoring a bill that can crumble the nation”.
Reved Dopa observed that the present state- of- the- nation does not need Sharia law hence Nigeria is a Secular state with freedom of religion guaranteed her citizens to worship and belong to any faith of their choice.
The TEKAN/ECWA state chairman who was visibly angered repeatedly that Nigerians are not happy in this current dispensation and bringing issue of Sharia law will end up triggering the inflated injury on Nigerians and warned that enough is enough.
On the implication of Sharia law, the united Methodist church (UMC) Rev. Clergy said states with Christians dominated number will not adhere to such law even if implemented at the national assembly, as the resultant effect will cause more harm than good thereby pave way for anarchy and chaos in the land.
In his submission/advice to Christian lawmakers at the national assembly, Dr. Micah Dopa urged the legislators to always support bills that will promote national unity, development, cohesion and above all the one that has direct bearing to the suffering Nigerians regardless of religion or tribes
Source:authorityngr.com
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https://authorityngr.com/2024/11/01/sharia-law-stop-promoting-religious-sentiment-taraba-clergy-lambasts-nass/
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Islam looks beyond skin colour: PM Anwar denounces those inciting racial strife
01 Nov 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stressed that he cannot tolerate those who sow seeds of hatred among races in the country.
Describing this as the emergence of racism in Malaysia, Anwar cited examples of individuals who tried to mock the physical features of certain races, such as refusing to cooperate with those who have slanted eyes or dark skin.
“Does Islam permit insults based on skin colour? Isn’t Bilal bin Rabah, who had thick lips and dark skin, embraced by the family of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as part of their family?” he said during the “Temu Anwar” programme at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) here today.
Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and UPNM vice-chancellor Lt Gen Datuk Mardzuki Muhammad.
The prime minister said that currently, there are parties accusing him of being pro-Chinese due to his good relations with DAP, despite this having no relevance at all.
“We possess humanity. What is so exceptional about the Malays? The Malays exhibit the highest culture and the most refined manners and etiquette. As long as you do not diminish our dignity, principles, religion and culture, which define our identity, we welcome everyone else,” he said.
Citing the situation in Gaza, Palestine, Anwar said the attacks on the region stemmed from extreme racial sentiment and hostility towards Islam and Arabs.
He said this sentiment has led to Israel’s attack on Gaza over the past 68 years, seizing land and homes and committing genocide.
“Do the Americans who speak in defence of Israel lack knowledge? They have knowledge. Is there not enough information? There is sufficient information. So what is the problem? The real issue lies in humanity and human values.
“We are a small country and this does not imply that we are at war with anyone, but we are also human. We share humanitarian values. People are killed daily, houses are bombed, and mosques and churches are destroyed every day. At the very least, we raise our voices... We oppose atrocities, not individuals, races or their religions,” he said.
After the event, Anwar attended a ‘kenduri rakyat’ at the UPNM Mosque compound before performing Friday prayers at the mosque. — Bernama
Source:malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/01/islam-looks-beyond-skin-colour-pm-anwar-denounces-those-inciting-racial-strife/155518
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Bangladesh: An in-depth look at existing tensions
November 2, 2024
Bangladesh is a country where, according to Wikipedia, Muslims make up 89.7% of the population. Yet, Hasina and her government have strongly opposed efforts to implement Islam and Islamic law, as she and her party are secular and nationalist, aligned with Western colonial powers that are staunchly opposed to Islam and the aspirations of Muslims to regain influence. This opposition escalated to the point that, in 2013, Hasina initiated a political purge against Islamic movements, including Jamaat-e-Islami, under the pretext that its members were war criminals who did not accept Bangladesh’s independence. However, her true objective was the elimination of Islamic movements. Hasina’s government, in close alignment with Britain, opposed Islamic scholars, with many scholars enduring severe persecution under her rule. Among the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders imprisoned or executed to date, seven prominent Islamic scholars have either been executed or died in prison, with five executed and two succumbing to martyrdom before their sentences could be carried out. Hasina is intensely opposed to Islamic politics, the rise of Islam, and the unification of Islamic lands. She leads a secular party founded by her father, who committed a major betrayal by separating East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from West Pakistan in 1971 with support from Britain and other collaborators. Bangladesh has faced severe economic crises throughout its history due to underdevelopment and heavy reliance on foreign powers for political and economic support. Since Hasina’s fall from power and her subsequent escape, these crises have only intensified. Estimates suggest that about 18 million Bangladeshi youths are seeking employment, with university graduates facing very high unemployment rates. Over 40% of Bangladesh’s population aged 15 to 24 is neither employed nor in education. In a BBC interview on August 5, 2024, Lotfi Siddiqi, a visiting professor at the University of London, said, “A regime change in Bangladesh from an economic standpoint was inevitable, and what happened was only a matter of time. Hasina’s government has lost the legitimacy and resources to govern. Bangladesh is on the brink of economic collapse.” This assessment underscores that Hasina’s administration had transferred the country’s economy and resources to foreign corporations, especially British, American, Chinese, and Indian companies, while becoming dependent on highinterest loans with strict conditions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These institutions are dominated by the U.S. and the China-led Asian Development Bank. Consequently, Bangladesh’s economic situation has become extremely fragile and is on the verge of collapse. Since July 1, 2024, Bangladesh has witnessed a wave of student protests against the recruitment system. These protests followed the removal of a quota system in the public sector, which had allocated around 56% of jobs to specific groups. This system enabled the president and his supporters to hire their relatives and allies while excluding opponents from government jobs. Among these favored groups were individuals whose fathers and sons had participated in the separation of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from West Pakistan in 1971, supported by Britain and agents in India. Over the years, they have abused their privileges through Hasina’s government for personal and family gain. South Asia experts believe that the primary cause of the public and student uprising against Hasina’s government lies in its flawed and ineffective policies, with the recruitment system sparking the crisis. The recruitment system, which students demanded to be merit-based rather than based on Hasina’s quotas, perpetuated injustice and discrimination. These protests ultimately led to the fall of Hasina’s government, and on July 21, 2024, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court ruled that the implementation of quotas was illegal. Nevertheless, this decision did not end the protests. On July 16, 2024, the first violent clashes broke out between pro-Hasina and opposition students in Dhaka, resulting in the deaths and injuries of protesting students. This incident further inflamed the protesters’ anger, marking a critical point in the intensifying crisis. Firooz Ahmad Ebrahimi
Source:thekabultimes.com
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Over 200 Afghan refugee families deported from Iran and Pakistan
By Fidel Rahmati
November 1, 2024
According to a report 204 Afghan refugee families deported from Iran and Pakistan within 24 hours period.
The Bakhtar News Agency, under Taliban control, reported that 204 Afghan refugee families were deported from Iran and Pakistan within a 24-hour period.
Among them, 58 families returned from Pakistan, and 146 families from Iran to Afghanistan.
The Agency stated on Friday, November 1, that these Afghan refugees were expelled through the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Islam Qala, and Pul-e-Abrisham border crossings.
On Tuesday, October 29, the agency reported the expulsion of another 268 Afghan refugee families from Iran and Pakistan, stating that these families returned to Afghanistan within one day via the same border points.
The forced deportation of Afghan refugees underscores the severe challenges they face, with thousands being returned to a country already suffering from a deep humanitarian crisis.
These refugees return to limited resources, lacking even basic shelter, food, and medical aid.
Afghan refugees are also reportedly enduring mistreatment and harassment before being deported. This difficult journey only intensifies their plight, as they face the risks of forced return amid ongoing conflict and instability in Afghanistan.
The lack of resources and international support for returning Afghan refugees leaves many vulnerable to further poverty and suffering.
Source:khaama.com
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How Saudi cities are enhancing quality of life, while responding to environmental challenges
GHADI JOUDAH
November 01, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is undergoing an urban transformation, creating sustainable, vibrant communities that enhance the quality of life for residents while responding to environmental challenges.
Driven by the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and its Quality of Life Program, the Kingdom wants to see three of its cities recognized among the top 100 in the world for livability. To achieve this, it is investing in sustainable urban management and development.
“Sustainable urban management is foundational to Vision 2030, supporting Saudi cities as dynamic, resilient, and economically sustainable environments,” Abdulaziz Al-Mizani, an energy and sustainability expert, told Arab News.
This approach aligns with the Kingdom’s aim to improve quality of life and promote resource efficiency, he added.
Central to this transformation are several key concepts, including green infrastructure, smart growth, transit-oriented development, eco-cities, circular economy principles, community engagement, and resilient urban design.
In Saudi Arabia, where urban areas are rapidly expanding, the need for effective green infrastructure is considered a key priority.
Green infrastructure refers to systems that use natural processes to manage stormwater and improve air quality. “As cities expand, green infrastructure is vital for managing environmental impact while enhancing livability,” said Al-Mizani.
Examples of green infrastructure being implemented in Saudi cities include the Green Riyadh Project, which is one of the biggest urban afforestation initiatives in the world. Launched by King Salman in March 2019, it is a key Riyadh megaproject.
With a view to reducing average ambient temperatures by 2 degrees centigrade during the summer and by achieving temperature reductions of 8-15 degrees in select afforested areas, the project aims to create a more comfortable urban landscape.
According to the Green Riyadh Project, the initiative is also expected to lower annual power consumption by 650 gigawatt-hours by promoting green building techniques, including green ceilings and walls.
Additionally, it will enhance rainwater management to mitigate flood risks, preserve natural areas, and bolster biodiversity.
“Integrating elements like green roofs, parks, and sustainable water management is essential for eco-cities that harmonize urban growth with natural systems,” said Al-Mizani.
Green roofs are covered with vegetation, which helps reduce heat absorption, improve insulation, and manage rainwater.
For urban afforestation, Saudi Arabia is planting trees and creating new green spaces in urban areas.
In line with the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative, the Kingdom aims to plant 10 billion trees across the country by 2030, equivalent to rehabilitating more than 74 million hectares of land. The Green Riyadh Project intends to plant 7.5 million trees across the capital alone.
The distribution of these trees will be strategically planned to enhance various community spaces, including 175,000 sq. km of empty land, 16,400 km of streets and roads, 3,330 neighborhood gardens, 9,000 mosques, and 6,000 schools.
Saudi Arabia is also enhancing its sustainable urban landscape by implementing circular economy principles, which aim to minimize waste through reuse and recycling.
“Circular economy principles, such as adaptive reuse of buildings and waste-to-energy initiatives, support both resource efficiency and renewable energy generation, fitting well within the Kingdom’s sustainable development and resilience goals,” said Al-Mizani.
Circular economy principles can be applied to optimize economic zones in Saudi Arabia such as the King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, Jazan Economic City, Prince Abdulaziz bin Musaid Economic City in Hail, and Knowledge Economic City in Madinah.
Such collaborations, known as industrial symbiosis, align with sustainable development and circular economy goals, emphasizing the importance of resource conservation, waste reduction, and environmental protection. They involve reusing waste and by-products generated by one particular industry or industrial process to serve as raw materials for another.
Another notable application is the adaptive reuse of buildings, where old structures are repurposed for new uses, conserving resources and preserving cultural heritage. A prime example of this is the King Abdulaziz Historical Center, which transforms old buildings into vibrant cultural hubs.
Eco-cities are urban areas designed with sustainability and environmental health in mind. “A successful eco-city embodies sustainability and resilience at its core, minimizing carbon emissions, optimizing resources, and incorporating green infrastructure,” said Al-Mizani.
Such eco-cities utilize renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to reduce their carbon footprints. Saudi Arabia aims to generate 58.7 GW of renewable energy by 2030, significantly impacting urban energy consumption.
Resilient urban design is also crucial as it focuses on creating cities that can withstand and recover from environmental stresses. This can be achieved through energy-efficient buildings with energy-efficient designs and materials that lower energy consumption.
“Heat-resistant materials are crucial in Saudi Arabia’s climate, contributing to resilient urban design by reducing cooling demands,” said Al-Mizani. “This approach enables energy efficiency while enhancing building longevity and occupant comfort.”
Heat-resistant materials can withstand high temperatures, contributing to urban comfort and sustainability.
Nonetheless, transforming Saudi Arabia’s urban landscape sustainably presents several significant challenges. “Policy innovation, public-private collaboration, and circular economy strategies are pivotal to overcoming these barriers effectively,” said Al-Mizani.
Community engagement and encouraging collaboration between the government, private sector, and civil society, is also essential, he said, to create urban spaces that reflect shared environmental values.
By involving residents, developments can better reflect community priorities and preferences.
“Together, these groups bring diverse resources and insights, creating a foundation for integrated approaches to sustainable urban development,” Al-Mizani added.
Thanks to these initiatives, Saudi Arabia is poised to set a benchmark for sustainable urban development in the region.
“Future Saudi cities will likely stand as global models of eco-city principles, characterized by green infrastructure, smart growth, circular economy practices, and resilient design,” said Al-Mizani.
Source:arabnews.com
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India
NIA files 2 fresh cases against ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah, others for ‘planting bombs at 19 places in Assam on I-Day’
by Mahender Singh Manral
November 1, 2024
NIAEarlier this year, the NIA filed a charge sheet against Baruah and five others for conspiring to target Army camps as part of an anti-India agenda.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) last month registered two fresh FIRs against three people, including ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah for allegedly planting bombs in 19 different places across Assam to mark their protest on Independence Day.
On August 15 this year, the Paresh Baruah faction of the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) said it had planted bombs at 19 places to register armed protest.
The statement signed by Ishan Asom, assistant publicity secretary of the rebel group, reads, “This to inform the indigenous people of Assam that on behalf of the organization ‘United Liberation Front of Assam [Independent]’ the military protest which was scheduled to be carried out from 6 am to 12 noon on August 15, 2024, could not be carried out due to technical glitches. Therefore, the locations of the protests have been made public in view of public safety.”
In the FIR, the NIA states, “On August 14, Paresh Baruah, C-in-C of banned terrorist organization ULFA (Independent), released a video announcing that the outfit will conduct armed protest across Assam against celebrations of Independence Day in Assam and appealed to people of Assam to refrain themselves from participating in any functions related to Independence Day celebrations and remain confined to their houses from 6 am to 12 pm of August 15 to avoid any harm.”
In another FIR, it has been mentioned that “Baruah declared that people should boycott the Independence Day celebration and claimed that if people disobey the instructions of ULFA (Independent) then they would not be responsible for the consequences.”
The FIR further states, “…Moreover, on August 15, a cadre named Ishan Asom, Second Lieutenant cum Assistant Publicity Secretary of ULFA (Independent), announced through a press release that 19 IEDs were planted across various parts of Assam, including three locations of Lakhimpur District and during the search operation one suspected IED was recovered at Bantow Bangali, Khelmati under North Lakhimpur police station, Assam.”
The FIR has been registered after the Union Home Ministry directed the NIA on September 13 to take over the probe from the Assam Police to unearth the larger conspiracy. The FIR named Paresh Baruah, Ishan Asom, and ULFA (I) unknown cadre as accused.
Earlier this year, the NIA filed a charge sheet against Baruah and five others for conspiring to target Army camps as part of an anti-India agenda. In its charge sheet filed before the NIA special court, Guwahati, the agency has named Baruah, the self-styled chief of the banned organisation, along with brigadier Arunudoy Dohutia, 2nd Lt Saurav Asom, captain Abhijit Gogoi alias Aisheng Asom, and two others, identified as Parag Borah and Bijoy Moran, as the key conspirators and executors of the attack.
“Myanmar-based United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), a banned terrorist outfit, had hatched the conspiracy and planned the execution of the attack, in which two motorcycle-borne youth had lobbed two grenades at the Army camp in Kakopathar in Tinsukia district of Assam on the evening of November 22, 2023,” the NIA said.
Source:indianexpress.com
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Militants shoot at two UP natives in J-K's Budgam district; fifth terrorist attack since Oct 18
01.11.24
, Nov 1 (PTI) Two persons from Uttar Pradesh were shot at by militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Friday evening, officials said.
Sufiyan and Usman were injured after being shot at in the Mazhama area of Magam in the central Kashmir district, they said.
They were taken to a hospital and were stated to be in a stable condition, the officials added.
This is the fifth attack by terrorists in the Kashmir Valley since the formation of an elected government headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
On October 24, two soldiers and two Army porters were killed while another porter and a soldier were injured in a militant attack on an Army vehicle six kilometres from the tourist hotspot Gulmarg.
Earlier that day, terrorists shot at and injured Shubam Kumar, a labourer from Uttar Pradesh, in the Tral area of Pulwama district.
On October 20, a local doctor and six non-local labourers were gunned down by terrorists at a tunnel construction site in the Gagangir area of Ganderbal. A labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Shopian district on October 18. PTI SSB MIJ NSD NSD
Source:telegraphindia.com
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Centre can't implement UCC unless Muslims taken into confidence: Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishor
Nov 01, 2024,
Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishor said on Friday that the Centre cannot implement the Uniform Civil Code in the country unless the Muslim community is taken into confidence. He said that in a democracy, before introducing a law, the government must gain the confidence of the people who will be affected by it. "Whether the Uniform Civil Code should be implemented or not remains to be a big debate. Unless the Muslim population, which is 20% of the country's opulation, is taken into confidence, you cannot implement this kind of radical law," Kishor told ANI." We saw protests all over the country in the case of CAA-NRC. Unless the government takes into confidence the people who will be affected by the law, it cannot be implemented," he added. He pointed out the Centre's revocation offarm laws as an example of what will happen when the stakeholders are not taken into confidence before bringing laws"See, for example, the farm laws that did not have any Hindu-Muslim issues. The Central government passed the laws with out taking farmers into confidence. So what is the result of it? The government had to repeal the law. So whether it is UCC or another law if you do not take into account the people who are going to be affected by that law, you cannot implement it. It is the strength of the democracy," he said. During this year's Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi batted for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) stating that India will now have to move towards a secular civil code to free the country from religion-based discrimination.regarding the Uniform Civil Code again and again, and it has given orders several times. A large section of the country believes, and it is true, that the civil code that we are living with is actually a communal civil code in a way, a discriminatory civil code..." The Prime Minister said, "I believe that there should be a discussion on this serious issue across the country...Everyone should come forward with their suggestions." The promise of Implementing the UCC was included in the BJP 's election manifesto for the 2024 general election. The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill was a proposal in India to establish uniform rules for personal matters for all citizens. These matters include marriage, divorce, inheritance, and property rights. The UCC would apply to all citizens equally, regardless of their religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Source:indiatimes.com
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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/centre-cant-implement-ucc-unless-muslims-taken-into-confidence-jan-suraj-chief-prashant-kishor/articleshow/114843990.cms
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Jammu & Kashmir: Two militants killed in Anantnag, search operation on in Srinagar
02.11.24
Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.
The encounter broke out near Halkan Gali in the Shangus-Larnoo area of the south Kashmir district.
Of the two militants killed, one was a foreigner and the other a local. Their group affiliation was yet to be ascertained, the officials said.
The operation is underway and further details were awaited, they said.
Another encounter is underway in the Khanyar area of Srinagar.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Khanyar area of the city on Saturday morning following inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area, the officials added.
They said the search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists fired upon a search party of the forces, who retaliated.
So far, there are no reports of any casualties on either side, according to officials.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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TTD chief says only Hindu staff in Tirumala, but Centre wants non-Muslims in Waqf Boards: Owaisi
Nov 02, 2024
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the recently appointed chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has announced the Hindu-only staff policy in Tirumala, whereas the NDA government at the Centre wants to induct non-Muslims in Waqf Boards. In a post on X on Friday night, he said, "Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams' chairman says that only Hindus should work in Tirumala. But Modi govt wants to make it mandatory for there to be non-Muslims in Waqf Boards & Waqf Council.Most Hindu Endowmentlaws insist that only Hindus should be its members. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander, no?"The newly-designated chairman of TTD Board rd B R Naidu on October 31 said all those who work at Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, should be Hindus. Naidu said he would speak to the Andhra Pradesh government on how to deal with staff members belonging to other religions, whether they should be sent to other government departments or given VRS (Voluntary Retirement
Source:indiatimes.com
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In Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand, Hindus are becoming outsiders, says Himanta Biswa Sarma
November 02, 2024
AMIT BHELARI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday (November 1, 2024) lashed out at Jharkhand Chief Minister Hement Soren for being engaged in selective hospitality. He challenged Mr. Soren to push back Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Jharkhand Congress in-charge from the State then he would also leave.
His statement has come amid the political debate over the entries of many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Jharkhand. Even Mr. Soren has raised this issue several times calling them outsiders during the public meetings stressing that thousands of BJP leaders and Chief Minister of BJP ruled State are roaming in Jharkhand.
Jharkhand election: Key candidates, including BJP State president Babulal Marandi, file nomination
While speaking to the press in Garhwa where he has gone to take stock of PM Narendra Modi’s proposed visit on November 4, Mr. Sarma said, “Can’t Himanta Biswa Sarma visit Jharkhand? Is a green card given to the particular community? First Mir (Ghulam Ahmad Mir) should be pushed back then you push me as well. I challenge Hemant Soren to first push back Mir then next day I will also leave.”
He further said, “Can he dare to call Mir an outsider? You cannot run this country by appeasing a particular community. It is sad that according to JMM, Ghulam Ahmad Mir can come to Jharkhand but I cannot. Is this hospitality only for a particular community?”
Editorial | Tough task: On the battle lines in the Jharkhand Assembly election
Mr. Sarma charged Mr. Soren of bringing the outsiders to Jharkhand while referring to his Cabinet Minister Irfan Ansari and former Cabinet colleague Alamgir Alam. Expressing his disappointment, he claimed that Hindus have become outsiders in the regime of Mr. Soren.
“Hemant Soren is the one brining the outsiders. Today, Hindus have become outsiders but Irfan Ansari and Alamgir Alam are not outsiders but Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Union Minister and in-charge of Jharkhand election) and Himanta Biswa Sarma have become outsiders. He is not considering people entering from Murshidabad as outsiders. Why Rahul Gandhi came here, which place he belongs? Which place Mir Sahab belongs to? If Mir can come from Jammu & Kashmir then why not Himanta from Assam? Let BJP form the government, we will legally throw out all the Bangladeshi infiltrators from Jharkhand,” Mr. Sarma said.
Jharkhand Assembly election: Battleground ready for direct contest between JMM and BJP
Later, he also pulled Mr. Soren for not taking any action against Mr. Ansari for his alleged derogatory remarks against BJP leader Sita Soren.
“In Jharkhand, public money reaches the house of Miya Alamgir Alam. Miya Irfan Ansari speaks nonsense about the Chief Minister’s sister-in-law and a tribal leader but nothing happens to him. Whose government is the JMM-Congress? Is it only for one community?,”Mr. Sarma posted the message on social media platform ‘X’ on Friday (November 1, 2024.)
Meanwhile, former MLA and BSP candidate from Hussainabad, Kushwaha Shivpujan Mehta lodged a complaint in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Medininagar in Palamu district against Mr. Sarma accusing him of creating communal tension.
In the complaint, he has mentioned that after the nomination of BJP candidate Kamlesh Kumar Singh from Hussainabad, Mr. Sarma had given a controversial statement in the meeting held at Karpuri Maidan.
Mr. Sarma had said in that public meeting that Hussainabad would be made a district, but its name would be changed if the BJP is voted to power.
Source:thehindu.com
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Omar Abdullah buries bitterness at funeral of ex-comrade Devender Singh Rana
Muzaffar Raina
02.11.24
Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday left any bitterness behind to join the funeral of friend-turned-foe Devender Singh Rana, whose death on Thursday evening united politicians from Kashmir and Jammu in grief.
Rana, 59, the younger brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, was a BJP leader and MLA from Nagrota in Jammu. He was also a prominent businessman.
For years, the two brothers had represented ideological opposites, the “inclusive” (secular) Rana marking a contrast to the “divisive” Jitendra. The grapevine had it that the siblings didn’t get along because of their ideological differences.
But Rana shocked everyone by dumping the National Conference for the BJP in 2021, prompting critics to question his secular credentials.
Rana had campaigned and won the Assembly polls, but family sources said he had not been keeping well for the past two years. He died at a hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana.
One surprise visitor at his home, to join the mourning, was the chief minister.
Early on Friday, Omar had shared old pictures showing him with Rana, both enjoying the waters of a gushing stream in the Valley.
“The terrible news from late last night isn’t really sinking in. I know the last few years have been marked by our differences Devender but I prefer to focus on the fun times we shared together, the excellent work we did together & the memories,” Omar wrote on X.
“You have been taken from us all too soon & will be missed. May your soul rest in peace now DSR. My heart goes out to your family as I struggle to find the words to convey my condolences to them.”
The Jammu politician had served as Omar’s political adviser during his first stint as chief minister between 2009 and 2014. He became the face of the National Conference in the Jammu region when Omar appointed him provincial chief, ignoring other senior leaders.
When Rana defected in 2021, he followed it up with a fierce anti-National Conference campaign, personally targeting Omar and his father Farooq Abdullah on several occasions.
National Conference sources say his campaign was deeply hurtful to the Abdullahs, who had for years considered him a part of the family.
Rana claimed to have left the National Conference for the sake of Jammu, alleging the region was not getting its due under a Valley-based leadership.
In September, he said Omar’s criticism of the BJP was hypocritical and that he had in 2014 gone with a “begging bowl” to the party leadership in Delhi, seeking a tie-up and ready to accept a BJP (Hindu) chief minister. Rana claimed Omar was rebuffed by the BJP.
He also alleged that the National Conference would end its alliance with the Congress and align with the BJP for the sake of power.
Omar had hit back, accusing Rana of betraying him and Jammu. “The man who stayed with NC for 25 years and did not speak the truth, do you expect him to say (the) truth now?” he had asked.
On Friday, Farooq mourned Rana’s death and condoled with the family.
“We had good relations with him, but in 2021 he left the National Conference. We never made any statement against him. Death is inevitable and spares no one. Whoever has come has to go,” he said.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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Jammu and Kashmir: Gun battle breaks out between security forces and terrorists in Khanyar locality of Srinagar
02.11.24
An encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists on Saturday in the Khanyar locality of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital here, officials said.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Khanyar area of the city on Saturday morning following inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area, the officials added.
They said the search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists fired upon a search party of the forces, who retaliated.
The exchange of firing is going on, but so far there are no reports of any casualty on either side, they further added.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/gun-battle-breaks-out-between-security-forces-and-terrorists-in-khanyar-locality-of-jammu-and-kashmirs-srinagar/cid/2059967
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Munambam Waqf land row: Muslim organisations call on state govt to broker peace
November 01, 2024
Malappuram: Muslim organisations in the state have called for an amicable solution to the Waqf land issue affecting 610 families in Munambam, Ernakulam. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) state president Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal convened a meeting of various Muslim organisations in Kozhikode on Friday and requested the government intervene and resolve the issue. The Muslim organisations opined that the government should consider the matter legally and factually and resolve the crisis without affecting the state's religious harmony. “People residing there for years must get a satisfactory solution. Parties with vested interests are attempting to turn the land issue into a communal one,” said Thangal. IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty said the state should consider an out-ofcourt settlement as court proceedings would take long to reach asolution. All organisations offered their full support in an attempt by the state to resolve the matter. Besides senior IUML leaders, representatives of Muslim organisations l ke Samastha, Kerala Muslim Jamaat, KNM, Jamaat-e-Islami, KNM Markazudawa, Wisdom Islamic Organisation, Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, MES and MSS participated in the meeting. The Munambam Waqf land issue The dispute began in 2019 when the Waqf Board claimed ownership over land allegedly donated to Farook College in Kozhikode by Siddique Sait in 1950. The residents, who bought the land before the Waqf Act was introduced in 1954, claim that they legally purchased it from the college management and that it was not classified as Waqf property at that time. By 2022, these families could not pay land taxes at the village office, but a temporary intervention by the state government allowed them to proceed. However, the Waqf Samrakshana Samathi (Waqf Protection Forum) contested this decision, resulting in a court order that paused tax payments. The residents petitioned the high court, seeking intervention in declaring certain sections of the Waqf Act unconstitutional. The ongoing legal proceedings have heightened tension s in the predominantly Christian community. LDF in a tough spot Meanwhile, the LDF seems to be experiencing internal trouble due to disagreements over the Waqf land issue, with certain leaders of Kerala Congress (M), a key ally, publicly condemning the current law as 'immoral' and challenging the Left's stance. Kerala Congress (M) state general secretary K Ananda Kumar, in a statement on the party's letterhead, said that around 600 families in Cherai and Munambam villages in Ernakulam district were fighting for survival against the Waqf Board's allegedly unlawful claims on their properties. Although the CPM ally's position on the issue has not been officially announced, party sources said leaders of the Kerala Congress (M) have started openly supporting the protest in Cherai and Munambam against the Waqf Board's claim over residents' land, PTI reported. The protests in Munambam and Cherai are led by the Catholic Church, which is the traditional vote base of Kerala Congress (M), headed by Rajya Sabha MP Jose K ani. The Left front finds itself in a difficult position as it, along with the UDF, had passed a unanimous resolution in the state assembly opposing the BJP-led Centre's Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which challenges provisions in the existing Waqf law. The Catholic Church, whose followers hold significant influence in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where a by-election is being held, has taken a position similar to that stated by Kumar in the release. Kumar alsostated that people should not be forced to approach a Waqf tribunal with pleas to save their lands and homes. He further said that no government should permit people to be evicted from land and homes they had purchased, registered, and paid taxes on. He also noted that no one, irrespective of their religion or community, should remain a silent spectator to the issue, thinking it will not affect them. He urged the Waqf Board to withdraw its claim on properties in the two villages.The resolution passed in the Assembly argues that the proposed Bill, now unde the consideration of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, violates fundamental rights, belief rights, federalism, secularism, and democracy. Meanwhile, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala and the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council have sent letters to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, suggesting amendments to the Waqf Act of 1995. The Church requested that the JPC consider the "tragic situation" of people in two villages in Ernakulam district and other parts of India who are at risk of losing their homes due to the "totally unjust and inhuman claims" made by the Waqf Board, the source said. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on August 8, following its introduction in the Lok Sabha by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. This move was met with significant objections from opposition parties, who argued that the Bill was intended to target the Muslim community
Source:onmanorama.com
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https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2024/11/01/munambam-waqf-land-row-muslim-organisations-demand-state-govt-broker-peace.html'
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Fire engulfs mosque, residential houses in J-K's Anantnag
November 01, 2024
Anantnag (/topic/anantnag) (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 1 (ANI): A massive fire engulfed a mosque (/topic/mosque) and residential houses in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag (/topic/anantnag) district on Friday afternoon, officials said. The fire broke out in the Khanabal area of South Kashmir. As per officials, the fire erupted from one of the residential houses and spread to other residential houses including a mosque (/topic/mosque). The Jammu and Kashmir Fire (/topic/fire) and Emergency Services also shared a video of the fire incident (/topic/fire-incident). Police and fire tenders reached the spot after being alerted about the fire incident (/topic/fire-incident). "Efforts are on to douse off the fire with the help of locals," officials added. A case has been registered and an investigation has been started. (ANI)
Source:aninews.in
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Pakistan
Pakistan is playing a dangerous sectarian game. Anti-Shia extremism is gaining ground
AMANA BEGAM
01 November, 2024
Irecently came across a tweet by a Pakistani journalist detailing a disturbing gathering organised by Sipah-e-Sahaba, an anti-Shia extremist group, in Islamabad near the Inter-Services Intelligence headquarters. While giving a speech, the speaker propagated dangerous lies and hate, labelling Shias as traitors, murderers, and terrorists, while openly calling for their expulsion from Islam.
Anti-Shia sentiment in Pakistan society runs deep and their history is filled with the persecution and systematic targeting of Shia communities, creating a troubling legacy of intolerance toward Shias. The irony, however, is hard to overlook. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who created Pakistan state with the vision of a unified Muslim homeland, was himself born into a Khoja Shia Muslim family.
A little background: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), though officially banned, frequently resurfaces under new names, driven by a strict interpretation of Deobandi Islam that regards Shias and non-Deobandi Sunnis as heretics. The group’s ideology is starkly exclusionary; its leaders have openly called for sectarian division. SSP leader Azam Tariq once said, “Shias must be declared infidels if Islam is to be established in Pakistan.”
Deep divides in Islam
This extremist outlook comes from two closely connected ideas, first, the notion of ex-communication or takfir, which allows extremists to label other Muslims as “unbelievers”. This doctrine leaves no room for differing interpretations within Islam, fostering an environment where only a single, rigid interpretation is tolerated. Any view that strays from their “correct” stance would be called heresy or apostasy.
Then there’s also the belief that anyone seen as heretical or infidel deserves punishment or even death (wajib-ul-qatl). Together, these ideas create a dangerous mix, fuelling a society where intolerance easily turns to violence, eroding diversity and social harmony. Forget space for dissent, moderation, or the existence of different belief systems, sects or groups forged with such absolutist ideas operate with near-totalitarian fervour. For example, Al-Qaeda has condemned ISIS, calling its caliphate illegitimate and labeling the group as “Khawarij”, a term for those who stray from Islam. Ironically, instead of standing as ideological allies, they turn these labels on each other, revealing deep divides in their visions of power and purity.
Mainstream Islamic thought has been totally different than these extremist interpretations that advocate violence. Grounded in principle “There is no compulsion in religion” (Quran 2:256), which stresses that faith is a matter of individual choice and conscience, Islamic scholars have consistently promoted peaceful coexistence and tolerance within society. Today, the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholars and leaders worldwide reject any call to violence against individuals based solely on their beliefs, including polytheism.
While this creates space for co-existence among people from different faiths, sects, and ideologies, we also see conflicts and intolerance toward other communities, and, at times, even minority exodus. So, problematic interpretations of religious texts exist in society, and time to time turn into disasters. The persistence of these interpretations within the community calls for renewed engagement with a more inclusive, modern interpretation of Islam. The task ahead is not only to reaffirm tolerance within communities but also to support reform that strengthens Islam’s capacity to build bridges.
The Muslim world
While Shia hatred in a radical segment of Pakistani society always existed, such speeches by banned organisation appear to be more than incidental. It suggests a strategic approach to leverage these sectarian divides, positioning Pakistan as a leader of the Muslim world in the eyes of its own people. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has recently stepped up his visibility on global Muslim issues, actively tweeting and making statements to position himself as a leader and advocate for the Muslim Ummah, aiming to transcend sectarian divides. This approach could put pressure on Pakistan’s long-held goal of being seen as a leader for Muslim interests. Some Pakistani leaders might even view Iran’s actions as a challenge to their influence in the Muslim world.
It also can serve as a convenient distraction from Pakistan’s internal issues, attempting to forge unity along sectarian lines. It is possible that such a tactic may work for the time being, but it risks worsening its own social fabric resulting in long-term harm to its own nation. Once again, Pakistan has chosen to play a dangerous game. It will find itself a pawn in the game of its own making.
By contrast, when I look at India, I can’t help but feel grateful, and a bit relieved, that India has chosen a different course, one that pushes back against division in favour of something deeper. India is a place where Shia and Sunni Muslims pray alongside each other, and where Muslim and Jewish communities coexist, openly practicing their faiths. While conflicts and tensions do surface from time to time, they’re the exception rather than the rule, reflecting India’s resilience as a diverse, multi-faith society. I feel fortunate and hopeful that this harmony will keep growing, sparing us from the tragic sectarian divides seen elsewhere.
Source:theprint.in
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https://theprint.in/opinion/pakistan-is-playing-a-dangerous-sectarian-game-anti-shia-extremism-is-gaining-ground/2337630/
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Bill tabled for ‘preventive detention’ of terror suspects
Amir Wasim
November 2, 2024
• Proposed law would allow military, civil forces to detain such individuals for up to three months
• Envisions JITs that will conduct thorough inquiries and gather actionable intelligence
• Similar legal provisions had lapsed in 2016 due to sunset clause in post-APS legislation
ISLAMABAD: In a significant move, the government on Friday quietly introduced a crucial bill in the National Assembly, seeking to grant military and civil armed forces the authority to keep individuals facing terrorism charges in ‘preventive’ detention for up to three months.
Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah referred the bill, which proposes amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, to the relevant committee for consideration immediately after Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled it in the closing moments of a thinly attended session, without explaining its salient features.
The bill also includes provisions for establishing Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) composed of members from various law enforcement and intelligence agencies to conduct inquiries. The same amendments to Clause 11EEEE of the ATA, introduced in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, lapsed a decade ago due to a sunset clause.
According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons attached to the bill, the “erstwhile amendments of Section 11EEEE of the Act are required to be re-inserted to empower the government, armed forces and civil armed forces with the necessary authority to detain individuals who pose a significant threat to national security.
This provision would allow for the preventive detention of suspects based on credible information or reasonable suspicion, thereby disrupting terrorist plots before they can be executed“.
This amendment “will also provide law enforcement agencies with the legal backing to conduct more effective operations against terrorism. It would facilitate the use of JITs, composed of members from various law enforcement and intelligence agencies, to conduct comprehensive inquiries and gather actionable intelligence,” it said.
The bill recalled that Section 11EEEE of the ATA was amended in 2014, providing the government and authorised armed forces and civil armed forces with the authority to conduct preventive detention of individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism-related activities. However, this amendment was subject to a sunset clause, limiting its validity to two years, which expired in 2016.
“Further, the current security situation requires a robust response that goes beyond the existing legal framework,” the bill said.
The proposed clause in the ATA reads: “The government or, where the provisions of Section 4 have been invoked, the armed forces or civil armed forces, as the case may be, subject to the specific or general order of the government in this regard, for a period not exceeding three months and after recording reasons thereof, issue order for the preventive detention of any person who has been concerned in any offence under this Act relating to the security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, or public order relating to target killing, kidnapping for ransom, and extortion, bhatta or the maintenance of supplies or services, or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been so concerned, for purpose of inquiry.”
The amendment adds that “the detention of such persons, including detention for a further period after three months, shall be subject to the provision of Article 10 of the Constitution”.
A new proviso in sub-section (2) stipulates that if a detention order is issued by the armed forces or civil armed forces under sub-section (1), the inquiry will be conducted by a JIT comprising a police officer of at least superintendent rank and members from intelligence agencies, civil armed forces, and other law enforcement bodies.
According to the bill, these provisions will remain in effect for two years following the commencement of the ATA (Amendment) Act, 2024.
Standing committees
Earlier, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq warned that he would summon meetings of seven standing committees — already requisitioned by members to elect their chairpersons — if the opposition PTI failed to provide nominations by next week.
The matter was raised by Agha Rafiullah of PPP in response to PTI’s Asad Qaiser, who criticised the government over the absence of ministers during the question hour. Mr Rafiullah accused Mr Qaiser of point-scoring rather than genuinely working to empower the parliament, urging the opposition to submit committee member nominations promptly.
PTI Chief Whip Aamer Dogar assured the speaker that the remaining standing committees would be completed by next week. The speaker said he would wait until then, but if the process is delayed, he would call committee meetings next week to elect the chairpersons.
Opposition lawmakers on ECL
Responding to a calling attention notice on placing several opposition MNAs on the Exit Control List (ECL), Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) and Passport Control List (PCL), the law minister said a cabinet subcommittee conducts regular reviews of names on these lists in accordance with the 1981 law.
He advised opposition MNAs to formally submit a review request to the committee and provide their details to the ministry through the National Assembly secretary.
The minister claimed that around 65 to 70 per cent of requests for ECL removal are accepted. He explained that names are often added to the list due to absconding in criminal cases, with the ECL typically including around 4,000 individuals, mostly absconders.
Recalling the previous PTI government’s practice of placing opposition members on the ECL, the minister highlighted the current cabinet’s subcommittee’s efforts to remove names of former cabinet members now sitting in the National Assembly. He called for collective efforts to end the traditional practice of political victimisation.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1869247/bill-tabled-for-preventive-detention-of-terror-suspects
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‘No credible evidence’ of alleged Lahore college rape, says HRCP
November 1, 2024
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)’s fact-finding mission on Friday said it could not find “credible evidence” regarding the alleged rape of a student at a private college in Lahore which led to widespread student protests in October.
Last month, reports related to the alleged rape of a private college student went viral on social media, prompting the police to arrest a security guard at the college who was allegedly involved in the incident.
Enraged by the alleged incident, students mobilised on social media and staged protests outside different colleges in Lahore and other parts of Punjab.
In a report, HRCP said that it was “not possible to conclusively establish the veracity of widespread allegations that a student was sexually assaulted at a private college in Lahore earlier in October 2024”.
Regarding the allegations, the report said that “a chain of events appears to have created acute suspicion and mistrust among students at Punjab College Campus 10. These events include a spate of social media content making unverified claims of rape, contradictory statements by government representatives”.
Additionally, the mission “strongly condemned the use of disproportionate force against hundreds of students at Campus 10 on 14 October, who had launched a mass protest demanding ‘justice’ for the alleged victim of rape but were subjected to police violence”.
However, it cautioned that there was evidence of other parties attempting “to hijack the students’ narrative and use it to amplify their own outreach on social media”.
“The mission observes that students’ response underlines their serious dissatisfaction with the state of security on campuses and perceived frequency of sexual harassment and victim blaming,” the statement read, adding that this was made worse by a lack of motivation of the college administration to address the issue and a “deep mistrust” of the police.
The report highlighted that the “damage wrought by pervasive misinformation is grounds for strong, regular public campaigns on digital literacy and fact-checking”, however adding that the students’ frustration should not be discounted because of the apparent role of misinformation.
Among other recommendations, the report suggested a thorough investigation of the CCTV footage of Lahore’s Campus 10 over the first two weeks of October.
It also recommended “holding the police accountable for violence against student protesters as well as for detaining a person accused of the alleged offence in the absence of an FIR against him”.
Earlier, the police and the Punjab government, following an investigation, maintained that the incident never occurred.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz went on to claim that Imran Khan’s PTI was behind instigating students on social media to create a law and order situation in the country.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1869137/no-credible-evidence-of-alleged-lahore-college-rape-says-hrcp
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Court rulings should align with Sharia: CII
November 02, 2024
By Asif Bashir Chaudhary
ISLAMABAD: Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Raghib Hussain Naeemi has stressed that court rulings related to marriage and the annulment of marriage should be made in accordance with Sharia.
The statement comes against the backdrop of a recent decision by the Supreme Court granting the first wife the right to dissolve the marriage if the husband remarries without her permission, a ruling which Naeemi has declared as un-Islamic.
Addressing a training workshop for judges held under the auspices of the Sharia Academy, Naeemi, The News reported on Saturday, reiterated that Sharia places no restrictions on a man's right to enter a second, third, or fourth marriage.
He said that the punishment imposed for a second marriage without the Reconciliation Council's permission contradicts Islamic principles.
Naeemi, accompanied by Director Sharia Academy Attaullah Khilji and trainee judges who visited the CII office on Friday, pointed out that according to the Constitution, no law can be in conflict with the Quran and Sunnah.
While he expressed respect for the apex court's authority, he asserted that the CII retains the right to express religious opinions on such matters.
"The SC's recent decision — an 18-page verdict issued on October 23 by a three-member bench led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah — aligns with the 'law of the land' but contradicts Sharia," he stated.
The CII chairman noted that the number of divorces could decrease if the practice of issuing three divorces at once was penalised.
Emphasising the importance of swift justice, he highlighted that influential individuals, the wealthy, and politicians often receive quicker resolutions. He also underscored that judges should be appointed based on merit.
Naeemi announced that the CII plans to include the SC ruling on its agenda for the next session to formally discuss the implications and offer recommendations.
Source:geo.tv
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https://www.geo.tv/latest/572220-court-rulings-should-align-with-sharia-cii
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Dense smog shrouds Lahore with AQI over 1,000
November 02, 2024
Punjab's capital Lahore led the global pollution charts with a dangerously high air quality index (AQI) of over 1,000 as thick smog shrouded the densely-populated city.
Lahore had the worst air quality of 1,067 around 9:30am on Swiss air quality watchdog's real-time list of most polluted cities in the world, despite provincial government's desperate attempts to fight off smog.
The city battles pollution each year in winter as temperatures fall and cold air traps construction dust, vehicle emissions, and smoke.
Seasonal crop burn-off by farmers on the outskirts of Lahore also contributes to toxic air, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer besides respiratory diseases.
The AQI later improved to 702 by 10:30am but Lahore retained its position on the top.
Pollution-led smog in the city is causing serious problems for residents, especially those who work outdoors. Citizens toiling in polluted air have reported breathing difficulties, coughing and burning eyes, affecting both their health and productivity.
"It's been tough to breathe and I've fallen sick two times this month. We can't go out without masks and we can't work effectively either," Lahore resident Mohammad Saad, 30, told Geo.tv.
Keeping in view the situation, Punjab has imposed a "Green Lockdown" in the most polluted zones of Lahore to combat rising smog levels.
The restrictions imposed in the areas identified as air pollution hotspots, included a complete ban on construction activities, entrance of "Qingqi motorcycle-rickshaws", operation of commercial generators, open food cooking points and food outlets using charcoal, coal or wood without installation of proper emission control system.
The government also introduced mandatory mask-wearing and restricted outdoor activities, including school assemblies and playtime to keep the citizens safe from severe smog.
However, the measures appear ineffective in mitigating the impact of smog as its continues to rise across Punjab, causing a sharp deterioration in air quality.
The central and southern regions of the province were also engulfed in harmful smog. Thickening smog in Multan and surrounding areas is creating further difficulties for residents.
Pollution in excess of levels deemed safe by the WHO shortens the life expectancy of Lahore residents by an average of 7.5 years, according to the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute.
Children are particularly vulnerable because they have less developed lungs and breathe more rapidly, taking in more air relative to their size than adults.
According to UNICEF, nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution.
Neighbouring India, where the capital city New Delhi also reels under intensifying smog has called for collaboration and regional cooperation in South Asia to tackle the deteriorating air pollution dilemma after Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz floated the idea of engaging in diplomatic efforts with India.
Delhi ranked first on the most polluted cities' list on Friday, after revellers defying a ban on firecrackers to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, helped drive air quality to hazardous levels.
Today, the air quality in the Indian capital marked improvement as the city ranked third on the pollution charts with an AQI of 238, as per IQ Air. Eastern city Kolkata had the second worst air quality in the world this morning.
Source:thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1246545-dense-smog-wreaths-lahore-with-aqi-over-1000
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JUI-F senator warns govt against another constitutional amendment
By Web Desk
November 02, 2024
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza has criticised the coalition partners' attempt for another amendment after the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, warning that the government is on a path to what he described as "destruction".
The JUI-F leader's remarks came three days after reports emerged that top leaders of the ruling coalition discussed the 27th Constitutional Amendment at a meeting in Lahore on October 27.
Murtaza, while speaking on Geo News programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath' on Friday, expressed disappointment with the 26th Constitutional Amendment, warning against a second attempt.
He said the coalition partners were going to launch another experiment, a direct reference to the 27th Amendment, which will be as unsuccessful as the first one.
He also commented on the speculated alliance between the JUI-F and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), clarifying that any decision on joining hands with the former ruling party for protests remains "premature". “There is no final decision on protesting alongside the PTI at this stage,” he added.
Murtaza also disclosed that the PTI leaders recently sent a goodwill message from the party’s founder Imran Khan, intended for JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman.
He elaborated that the message included "well wishes" for the JUI-F chief, adding that the message was intended to clarify that accusations of betrayal related to the amendment were "not directed at Maulana".
The JUI-F senator observed that after the Supreme Court's Bar Association's elections, "legal experts have largely accepted the 26th Amendment".
Source:thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1246538-jui-fs-kamran-murtaza-slams-govt-attempt-for-another-amendment
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KP Adviser confirms engagement with establishment for Imran Khan release
By Web Desk
November 02, 2024
Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif confirmed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is in touch with the establishment to promote political stability and "restore democracy to its rightful path" in the country.
Speaking on Geo News’ programme Naya Pakistan on Friday, the adviser said, “The PTI is in contact with those who can help steer democracy back on its path.”
He emphasised that the former ruling party sought to develop a mutual understanding with all stakeholders, including the establishment, though he clarified that the party does not seek to strike a "deal".
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur earlier this week said, "We don't believe in deals and won't enter into one." He was responding to a question if there are any assurances involved in the release of Bushra Bibi, the wife of the former premier.
Answering a question of whether the PTI will continue with its policy of criticising the institution of army and army chief, he said: "We are neither against the institution (army) nor against any individual (army chief). We are against their policies and want them to be corrected."
Today, Barrister Saif elaborated that the Imran Khan-founded party's goal is to ensure the release of all its leaders, including its founder.
He added that those who were previously initiating cases seemed to be reconsidering the situation, noting, "This is evident from the fact that following Bushra Bibi’s release, no new cases were lodged against her."
The adviser also disclosed that KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur would meet with the PTI’s incarcerated founder at the Adiala Jail today.
According to Saif, the meeting is set to cover a range of topics, including the current political situation and security issues. Moreover, the chief minister will consult with the party's founder and seek his guidance in connection with the ongoing protests.
Source:thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1246534-kp-adviser-confirms-engagement-with-establishment-for-imran-khan-release
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Europe
Combat fear and learn about your Muslim neighbours
November 1, 2024
November is Islamophobia Awareness Month. It was founded in 2012 by Muslim Engagement and Development in collaboration with other British organisations. This month there will be a celebration of the positive contributions made to British society by Muslims and attempts to raise awareness of Islamophobia.
According to Race Equality Matters, ‘Islamophobia refers to the unfounded fear or prejudice towards Islam and those who practise it. This form of discrimination can range from direct acts of hatred to more subtle, ingrained prejudices that can be just as damaging.’
This year’s theme is Seeds of Change aiming to encourage residents to consider how small actions can lead to significant change.
Muslims represent 32 percent of the community in Newham. According to the Council there are 60,000 Muslims living in the Borough, but the numbers may be much higher with many people not recorded.
With the rise in Muslim hate crimes, this is a great opportunity to learn about Muslim neighbours and to gain some insight into Muslim culture.
Newham Council has organised a range of free cultural events for the month. These include:
Source:newhamvoices.co.uk
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https://newhamvoices.co.uk/2024/11/01/combat-fear-and-learn-about-your-muslim-neighbours/
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Labour government’s shift on Gaza not enough, say British Muslims, scholars
By Edna Mohamed
1 Nov 2024
London, United Kingdom – Halimo Hussain, 31, has voted for the Labour Party at every election since she was able to vote. But that stopped with the 2024 July election.
“I felt that it was impossible to support the Labour Party while they were actively funding and supporting genocide … and endorsing collective punishment [of Palestinians in Gaza] was unconscionable,” Hussain, a British Muslim and a diversity and inclusion officer from Tottenham in north London, told Al Jazeera.
She explained that in the run-up to the election, her efforts were focused on independent candidates who were pro-Palestinian.
Nearly four months after the election, Hussain’s views on Labour have not changed despite the party taking a different stance on the war in power than the previous Conservative government.
“I think they’ve semi-acknowledged that war crimes are taking place but yet are attempting to go through legal loopholes to keep funding and supporting Israel in its genocidal assault on Gaza, and that to me is insane,” she said, referring to Britain suspending 30 arms export licences to Israel in early September.
“They will never ever get my vote ever again,” she added.
Hussain is not alone.
Four months ago, the Labour Party under Keir Starmer won the general election in a landslide vote. But despite the win, the party lost support from what has traditionally been a key support base for Labour: British Muslims upset over the party’s stance on the Gaza war.
Shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack last year, Starmer told LBC radio that due to the attack, Israel had the right to defend itself and the “right” to cut water and power in the enclave, in line with “international law”.
But his comments sparked outrage within the party and its members, with some councillors resigning. He later clarified his comments and said he did not suggest that withholding essential resources was appropriate.
In February of this year, the Labour Party called for a humanitarian ceasefire after intense pressure and said in its party manifesto ahead of the election that it pledges to recognise a Palestinian state, which would result in a two-state solution with Israel.
Five pro-Palestine candidates who ran on an independent ticket, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, were elected in July, in a mandate that was widely seen as a rebuke to Starmer’s party.
Since then, in the first few months of his leadership, Labour has recalibrated the UK’s positions on the war. In July, the UK resumed funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
Earlier in the year, Israel had accused several UNRWA staffers of participating in the October 7 attack on its border communities, after which the United Kingdom had joined multiple Western nations in suspending funding for the UN agency.
Also in July, Britain lifted a formal objection to the International Criminal Court’s right to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, before introducing the suspension of some weapons exports.
Yet, these changes are too little, too late, say British Muslim leaders and advocates for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Joseph Willits, head of parliamentary affairs at the Council of Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), a nonprofit organisation on British Middle East policy that promotes conflict resolution and human rights, said it was “astounding” that the British government “fails to act” amid the rising death toll and Israeli attacks across Lebanon.
Since October 7, 2023, at least 43,204 Palestinians have been killed and 101,641 others have been injured in Gaza. Israel has, since late September, also started carpet bombing large parts of Lebanon, while sending ground forces into its northern neighbour.
“Israel’s genocidal intentions, and stated promises to ethnically cleanse [Gaza] are as clear as day, and yet still there is a business-as-usual approach to Israel,” Willits told Al Jazeera. “Israel is not a good faith actor nor an ally, and under no circumstance should it be treated as such. The UK must not be an ally or complicit in Israeli atrocities.”
‘End all arms sales to Israel’
Calls for the Labour government to do more to stop the war are growing. Last week, more than 100 Muslim councillors from the Labour Party wrote to Prime Minister Starmer to call for an “immediate and complete suspension of arms sales to Israel”.
“We must not be complicit in these clear violations of international humanitarian law. It is our moral obligation to act now,” the letter read.
Willits, meanwhile, said that while the current government was “marginally less worse” than the previous administration of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party’s decision to continue to allow exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel risked undercutting its global credibility as a voice for international law. Those jets, he pointed out, were “bombing Gaza and Lebanon”.
“If a UK government sees genocide and extermination taking place in Gaza and fails to act by ending all arms sales to Israel, never can it ever speak of international law and atrocity prevention when it is complicit in such atrocities,” he said.
According to a poll by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and Caabu last May, 73 percent out of the 2,053 people who were surveyed between May 1 and 2 supported an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and 55 percent wanted to end the sale of arms to Israel during the war.
Sanctions as an option
Other experts too believe that Starmer’s government needs to explore more steps to hold Israel accountable under international law.
Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, an international law professor at Bristol University, told Al Jazeera that while the Labour government has taken a position that “reflects both better law and better policy” than the previous government, it has still not recognised its obligations to international law to “actively” end the war.
“Whilst the focus has been on arms exports to Israel, it is important to remember that the UK has other international law obligations that require it to take active steps to bring the current assault on Gaza to an end as soon as possible,” Cawthorne said, referencing the UK’s obligation to international humanitarian law and specifically the Geneva Convention, which outlines the way soldiers and civilians must be treated during armed conflict.
“This is because there is clear evidence of systematic, intentional violations of international humanitarian law.”
One tool, which the UK has used against Iran and Russia, is to sanction “Israeli political and military leadership”, he said.
Earlier in October, Starmer said he was considering sanctioning two far-right Israeli leaders, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, due to their inflammatory comments about Palestinians in Gaza.
Starmer was particularly asked about Smotrich’s comments in August where he said starving Palestinians in Gaza “may be just and moral” to get the Israeli captives held in the enclave back. In the same month, Ben-Gvir called Israelis from illegal settlements who were suspected of killing a 19-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank “heroes”.
Since Starmer made comments about the sanctions, the UK has not taken any action against the two Israeli ministers.
Source:aljazeera.com
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Abu Sumel from Keighley jailed for more than three years
1st November
A TEACHER at a mosque has been jailed for more than three years after he was confronted by members of a paedophile hunter group when he turned up to meet a 14-year-old “decoy”.
Abu Sumel, who was said to have held a responsible position at the mosque, planned to meet up with the teenage schoolgirl in Shipley and even offered to pay for an Uber to take her to his home.
Bradford Crown Court heard on Thursday how Sumel, who was 23 at the time of the offending in 2021, was involved in online chat with the decoy girl for more than two months before trying to meet up with her in December 2021.
Prosecutor Alisha Kaye outlined details of the messaging which included repeated demands by Sumel for the girl to send him photographs of herself.
Miss Kaye said the decoy stated at the outset that she was 14, but Sumel described her as “beautiful” and said he was “crazy for her” and wanted to see all of her body.
The defendant had initially claimed he was only 17, but later revealed his true age during the chats.
Sumel, of Upper Calton Street, Keighley, broke down in tears in the dock as Miss Kaye described his persistent behaviour towards the decoy.
“The defendant said they could have sex if they met,” said Miss Kaye.
During the exchanges, Sumel sent the decoy a photograph of a banana and a plastic penis.
Married Sumel, who had no previous convictions, was said to have only come to the UK in April 2021, but Judge Timothy Clayson said his offending had been “very persistent”.
“Offences of this sort are very serious,” he told Sumel via an Arabic interpreter.
But the judge said he had taken into account the serious health issues relating to Sumel’s wife and the genuine remorse he had expressed.
“I do believe there was an element of immaturity in your conduct notwithstanding you had a responsible job at the mosque,” said Judge Clayson.
Sumel pleaded guilty to offences of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming.
The court heard he pleaded guilty to those offences on the day his trial was listed in July.
Judge Clayson imposed a total sentence of three years and four months for the offences and told Sumel he would have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life.
Sumel will also have to comply with a sexual harm prevention order which will last for the next five years.
Source:thetelegraphandargus.co.uk
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https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/24692859.abu-sumel-keighley-jailed-three-years/
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The historic Şehitlik cemetery in Kreuzberg, the queer-friendly Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Moabit, the Muslim community's poetry slam i-Slam: Islam is part of Berlin's history, politics and everyday life.
By Ceyda Nurtsch
Is Islam part of Germany? When German President Christian Wulff declared this to be the case in 2010, it triggered a heated debate that continues to this day. “Yes!” is the resounding answer from the two authors and scholars of Islam Bettina Gräf and Julia Tieke. In their new book “111 Places in Berlin That Teach Us About Islam”, they show us where and how the close links between Berlin and Islamic culture are revealed.
They lead the reader from diplomatic institutions like the Federal Foreign Office to places like Bilkiss, a Togolese tailor's in Wedding, full of brightly coloured fabrics. They visit the state library in Tiergarten, home to one of the world’s largest collections of manuscripts from Muslim societies in Asia and Africa, and the Hatun-Sürücü Bridge on Sonnenallee, named after a victim of femicide.
The authors show that there are close links between the German capital and Muslim life everywhere. These links can be found in politics, diplomacy, fantasies of “the Orient”, artistic dialogues and everyday life. Sometimes these links are revealed through huge stories, sometimes through small details.
Prussian-Ottoman partnership
That relations between Berlin and Islam are far older than the debate triggered by Wulff, is revealed by, for example, the Şehitlik Cemetery in Kreuzberg. Relations are also older than the recruitment agreement that brought the first so-called “guest workers” from Turkey to Germany in 1961.
The Ottoman Empire had a permanent diplomatic mission in Berlin as early as 1763. When the Ottoman ambassador Ali Aziz Efendi died in 1798, he was the first person to be buried in Germany according to the Islamic rites. The grave was later moved to a piece of land given to the Ottoman Sultan by William I. This is today's Şehitlik cemetery, attached to a mosque of the same name. In return, the Ottoman Sultan gave the German Emperor a plot of land in Jerusalem, on which the Protestant Monastery of Saint Saviour has been located since the 1890s.
A manhole cover in Treptow from the late 19th century provides a symbol of the imagined “Orient” for Berliners. It dates back to the Cairo exhibition in Treptower Park, which condensed thousands of years of Egyptian history and transported its visitors into a “One Thousand and One Nights” fantasy with bazaars, cafes, mosques—and an “ethnological show”.
Today, projects like the “Selam Opera!” at the Komische Oper are reminiscent of the sometimes dramatically staged “Turkish opera” of the 18th century, which depicted stories of the Ottoman sultans to the stage in an “alla-turca” musical style.
Interfaith dialogue in Berlin
Berlin has a long tradition of intercultural and interreligious life, as can be found in the chapter on the first Ahmadiyya mosque, founded in 1924. The mosque was home to the German Muslim Society, which formed before the Second World War.
In addition to aristocratic Indian migrants, the mosque attracted Prussian intellectuals and military officers, as well as Jewish intellectuals and converts. They all rejected Germany’s growing militarism and found a spiritual home in Islam.
The case of the Genezareth Church in Neukölln demonstrates that the city remains open to spiritual experimentation to this day. The church offers interfaith worship and functions as a meeting place, even for those who do not wish to be bound by a single religion.
Gräf and Tieke shed light on both prominent and hidden places, tracing lines of tradition and interconnection. Meanwhile, the history of Berlin’s Islamic sites continues to be written. For example, through a commemorative plaque created in September 2024 at the site of the so-called “Turkish Bazaar” at Bülowstraße station, which until 1993 was a meeting place for Turkish migrants with restaurants, tearooms, jewellers and record shops.
The book keeps its distance
In some places, the book can come across as somewhat clean and distanced. In particular, Mirka Pflüger’s photos can sometimes fail to fully convey the atmosphere and significance of the buildings they capture. Many of the protagonists and interviewees featured in the text are not photographed at all.
It would be nice, for example, to see the boxer Zeina Nasser, German featherweight champion, in front of her sports club Boxgirls. Nasser campaigned in Germany and internationally for the right of women to fight in headscarves and long-sleeved clothing. It would also be nice to see Jamil from Afghanistan, who has lived in Germany since 2022, in the Afghan Hall at Lichtenberg’s wholesale market.
There are also conspicuous gaps in the narrative. In the chapter on the Breitscheidplatz attack of 2016, for example, readers learn nothing about the vigils organised jointly by Muslim, Jewish and Christian Berliners.
The authors do successfully demonstrate how deeply rooted and multifaceted Muslim life in Berlin is. With historical references and religious and cultural categorisations, they invite you to search for other threads and places of encounter in the city.
And there are many more: the Alevi graveyard within St. Jacob’s Cemetery on Hermannstrasse; the Aufbruch association in Neukölln, whose founder Kazım Erdoğan was awarded the German Order of Merit for social projects in the field of violence prevention among men; the bleak “refugee-row” in Tierpark.
Source:qantara.de
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Search for Spain flooding survivors continues as torrential rain hits another region
02.11.2024
Emergency teams in Spain are continuing their efforts to locate dozens of people still missing in what is the worst flooding disaster in generations.
More than 200 people are known to have died, with most fatalities happening in the Valencia region, but the death toll is expected to rise.
The floods destroyed bridges and covered towns with mud - leaving cut-off communities without water, food or electricity.
Some residents say more lives could have been saved if the local authorities had been quicker to warn of the flood risk.
Among them is Juan González, who lives in the town of Aldaia in Valencia. He told the BBC that the loss there was devastating.
“This is an area prone to flash flooding. It's outrageous that our local government didn't do anything about it, knowing that this was coming," he said.
Another local, Augustin, said the flat where he lived with his wife and children had been completely flooded and they have had to move in with his parents.
While the worst of the weather has now passed Valencia and the Mediterranean coast, warnings remain in place in southern Spain, with the possibility of further heavy downfalls into Saturday.
That includes in the Huelva region, which has already been badly hit by downpours. The city of Cartaya saw around two months' worth of rain in just 10 hours.
Further south, in the city of Jerez, hundreds of families had to be evacuated from their homes as heavy rain raised river levels.
Meanwhile, questions remain about how disaster relief services acted, with accusations that they were too slow, and whether Spain has an adequate warning system for natural disasters.
The civil protection agency, overseen by the regional government, issued an emergency alert to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, by which time the flood water was swiftly rising in many areas and in some cases already wreaking havoc.
Mireia, who lives close to some of the devastation in Valencia, said that people were "not prepared at all".
"Many people were inside their cars, they couldn’t make it out," she said. "They were just drowned by the water."
Thousands of volunteers are currently helping the Spanish military and emergency services with the rescue and clean-up operation, and Valencia's regional president, Carlos Mazon, said more troops would be deployed.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took to social media to express his thanks to volunteers, calling them an "example of solidarity and the limitless dedication of Spanish society".
He has vowed that his government will do whatever it takes to help those affected by the disaster.
In the devastated town of Paiporta, where more than 60 deaths have so far been reported, residents have expressed their frustration that aid is coming in too slowly.
"There aren't enough firefighters, the shovels haven't arrived," Paco Clemente, a 33-year-old pharmacist, told the AFP news agency as he helped clear mud from a friend's house.
Dozens of people have been arrested for looting, with one Aldaia resident telling AFP he saw thieves grabbing items from an abandoned supermarket as "people are a bit desperate".
One of the contributing factors to the disaster was a lack of rainfall throughout the rest of the year, which left the ground in many areas of eastern and southern Spain unable to absorb rainwater efficiently.
The warming climate is also likely to have contributed to the severity of the floods.
In a preliminary report, World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of international scientists who investigate global warming’s role in extreme weather, found that the rainfall which struck Spain was 12% heavier due to climate change and that the weather event experienced was twice as likely.
Source:bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx27exg5g33o
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Trapped in cars and garages: Why Valencia floods proved so deadly
02.11.2024
Guy Hedgecoe
As Spain reels from the flash floods which struck the south-east of the country this week, many are wondering why the death toll, which currently stands at over 200, is so high.
Almost all of the deaths confirmed so far have been in the Valencia region on the Mediterranean coast.
Some areas have been particularly devastated: the town of Paiporta, population 25,000, reported at least 62 deaths.
Various factors, including drivers becoming trapped in their cars, poor planning by officials and extreme rainfall being exacerbated by climate change are all likely to have contributed.
The civil protection agency, overseen by the regional government, issued an emergency alert to the phones of people in and around the city of Valencia after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, by which time the flood water was swiftly rising in many areas and in some cases already wreaking havoc.
A large number of those killed were on the roads, in many cases returning from work, when the flash floods struck.
Video footage shows how a first wave of flood water washed through Paiporta as cars were still circulating. Although rainfall was heavier in other areas, such as Utiel and Chiva, Paiporta’s geography, with a ravine running through its centre, made the impact of the flood particularly devastating.
Mayor Maribel Albalat said that the town was ill-prepared in terms of planning, with many ground-floor flats. Six residents of an elderly care home died when the flood water washed into the building when they were still on the ground floor. She also suggested there was an element of complacency.
“In Paiporta we don’t tend to have floods and people aren’t afraid,” she said.
Garages were a particular death trap.
“When it rains people normally go down to their garages to get their cars out in case their garage is flooded,” Ms Albalat said.
That appears to have been the case in the neighbourhood of La Torre, on the outskirts of Valencia, where the bodies of seven people were recovered from the garage of a residential building.
The A3 motorway connecting Valencia to Madrid was one of many roads where motorists were trapped as the water level rose, leaving them unsure whether it was safer to stay in the vehicle or not.
“There are almost certainly more people who have died because the water washed people away who had got out of their cars,” one survivor told the Telecinco TV channel. Another survivor said the water had been up to his chest.
An eye-witness described seeing one driver who had got out of his car who had strapped himself to a lamppost with his belt, to stop himself from being washed away. It is unknown whether he survived.
The mayor of Chiva, Amparo Fort, warned on Thursday that nearby there were still “hundreds of cars turned upside down and they will surely have people inside them”.
On Thursday morning, the Guardia Civil shared advice on how to escape from a car during a flood on social media. People caught in floods are advised to try and escape though their cars' windows and windscreen.
Other factors also appear to help explain why Valencia was so devastated by the weather event.
Much of the area most heavily affected, in and surrounding the country’s third-largest city, is densely populated.
A lack of rainfall throughout the rest of the year has left the ground in many areas of eastern and southern Spain unable to absorb rainwater efficiently.
Pablo Aznar, a researcher at the Socio-Economic Observatory of Floods and Droughts (Obsis), warned that much of the area affected had undergone what he described as “untrammelled development”, with many areas covered in impermeable materials, which “increases the danger posed by these events”.
The warming climate is also likely to have contributed to the severity of the floods.
In a preliminary report, World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of international scientists who investigate global warming’s role in extreme weather, found that the rainfall which struck Spain was 12% heavier due to climate change and that the weather event experienced is twice as likely.
Source:bbc.com
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France shooting injures five and sparks mass brawl
01.11.2024
A drug trafficking-related shooting in the western French city of Poitiers escalated into a brawl on Thursday night, potentially involving up to 600 people, French authorities say.
Five people were seriously injured in a drive-by shooting at a restaurant in the city, including a 15-year-old boy who was left in critical condition after being shot in the head, police sources told the AFP news agency.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau described the incident as an alarming sign of drug-related violence escalating in the country.
It follows a shooting in the north-western city of Rennes last week which killed a five-year-old boy.
"These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes, in Poitiers, in this part of western France once known for its tranquility," Retailleau told broadcaster BFMTV.
"We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is a choice between general mobilisation or the Mexicanisation of the country," he said, alluding to Mexico's widespread issues with street crime and violence perpetrated by drug cartels.
The mayor of Poitiers called it "a new episode of violence unacceptable for the neighbourhood".
Shots were fired from a passing car, injuring several young people, police sources said.
Two 16-year-olds were treated for minor wounds.
Pictures from the scene in Place Coimbra, an area of the city known for drug-related crimes, showed the restaurant's facade riddled with bullet holes.
The shooting then triggered fighting between rival gang groups in the area, according to police.
"Tensions between groups broke out, requiring the intervention of the police and the gendarmerie," Vienne regional police said in a statement.
Retailleau said "400 to 600" people were at the scene, though it is not clear how many of those were directly involved.
He was scheduled to visit Rennes, the capital of Brittany, on Friday following the shooting on 26 October, in which a five-year-old boy sitting in a car was shot in the head. Authorities confirmed the shooting was also drug-related.
The drug trade in France has long been viewed as centred in the southern port city of Marseille, where at least 17 drug-related killings have been reported since the start of the year.
But researchers say the influence of drug trafficking in France in recent years has spread beyond the main hubs of Marseille and Paris to medium-sized towns and even rural areas.
Source:bbc.com
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Fourteen dead in Serbia railway station canopy collapse
02.11.2024
At least 14 people have been killed after a concrete canopy at a railway station in northern Serbia collapsed, the country's President Aleksandar Vučić said.
A young girl aged six or seven was among the dead, he added.
People were sitting on benches under the outdoor overhang at the station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second city, at the time of the collapse around noon local time (11:00 GMT), Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) reported.
Three people are in hospital. Among them are two women who were pulled alive from under the rubble a few hours after the collapse.
In an address to the nation, Mr Vučić said he hoped the number of dead would not rise beyond 14, adding that five of those killed had still not been identified.
"Those responsible, I assure you, will be punished," he said, quoted by AFP.
Around 80 rescuers from all over the country are involved in the search, using heavy machinery, which is still ongoing.
The railway station building was renovated in 2021, and renovated again this year in order to be officially opened on 5 July.
Serbian media quoted Railway Infrastructure of Serbia, the body responsible for the concrete canopy, as saying it had not been reconstructed with the station. It was built in 1964.
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević said Friday was one of the most difficult days in Novi Sad's post-war history.
"This is a great, terrible tragedy for Novi Sad and for all of Serbia," he added, sending condolences to the families of the victims and thanking first responders.
The government declared Saturday as an official day of mourning.
Source:bbc.com
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Borrell hails EU-Japan security deal
2 Nov, 2024
The European Union and Japan have signed a broad-ranging security pact, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has announced following his visit to Tokyo.
Borrell signed the Japan-EU Security and Defence Partnership with his Japanese counterpart Iwaya Takeshi on Friday. The top diplomat is on a tour that is expected to include South Korea in the coming days, Brussels has announced.
“Japan and the EU are strengthening their ties and building a more secure future for our citizens, our regions, and the rest of the world,” Borrell wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He described the partnership as “the first agreement of this nature” that Brussels has made with any Asia-Pacific state, calling it a “historical and very timely step given the situation in both of our regions.”
The deal will come into effect January 1 2025.
The defense agreement will guide the development of security policies in the future, according to a copy of the document published on the Japanese Foreign Ministry website.
The deal promises future cooperation between Japan and the EU in economic, maritime and space security. In addition, both sides will deepen collaboration against information and cyber threats, as well as “foreign information manipulation and interference.”
Among other points, the agreement touches on “consultations on non-proliferation, disarmament, conventional arms,” including preventing the spread of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.
Former defense minister and newly elected Prime Minister of Japan Ishiba Shigeru has been a vocal proponent of forming a NATO-style bloc in Asia. Last month, prior to his election, he suggested that such a military grouping “must specifically consider America’s sharing of nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region.” The Asian version of NATO would serve as a deterrent against China, Russia and North Korea, he said.
Source:rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/news/606886-borrell-eu-japan-security-deal/
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Russian missile destroys ‘police building’ – Ukrainian officials
2 Nov, 2024
Russian troops have struck a police building in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkov on Friday, killing at least one officer and injuring dozens, Ukrainian officials said.
According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, a Russian S-400 missile hit an unspecified “facility that housed police officers.” A 43-year-old police colonel has been killed, while 30 police officers, a first responder and nine civilians were injured, the ministry said. Interior Minister Igor Klimenko wrote on Facebook that some of the wounded officers are in critical condition.
Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin wrote on Telegram that Kharkov’s police headquarters had been hit. As of early Saturday morning, Ukrainian officials did not reveal which police site was targeted.
The Kharkov regional governor, Oleg Sinegub, wrote on Telegram that the city was struck with an S-300 missile on Friday, and that four civilians were injured. He added that 20 apartment blocks and individual houses were damaged.
Although the S-400 and the S-300 are both surface-to-air missiles, Ukrainian experts previously claimed that Russia was using anti-air missiles to strike ground targets.
Moscow has not commented on its most recent strikes. The Russian Defense Ministry has said in the past that it only targets military and military-linked sites.
In its latest daily briefing, the MOD said that the Russian forces carried out 44 “group strikes” between October 26 and November 1, hitting airfields and railroads that were used to transport troops, as well as energy infrastructure sites that powered “Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.”
On Friday, the MOD said that the Russian military had struck a drone command and control center in Kiev, along with drone manufacturing sites and UAV stockpiles.
Source:rt.com
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North America
Recent US strikes spotlight growing Islamic State threat in Syria
November 01, 2024
WASHINGTON —
Airstrikes carried out by the U.S. military this week against several Islamic State targets in Syria highlight concerns about the terror group's growing presence in the war-torn country, experts say.
U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, said Wednesday that its forces had conducted strikes on Monday targeting multiple camps belonging to IS, or ISIS, in the Syrian desert. Nearly 35 IS operatives, including senior leaders, were killed in the airstrikes, the U.S. military said.
Despite its territorial defeat in 2019, IS has been carrying out attacks through sleeper cells across Iraq and Syria. In recent months, militants affiliated with the group have increasingly become active in areas controlled by forces loyal to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and their Iranian and Russian allies.
The Syrian Desert, also known as the Badia, where the U.S. forces struck IS positions this week, has seen a significant surge in violence by IS militants in recent months.
IS had maintained training camps in the Syrian desert for many years, according to Gregory Waters, a research analyst at the Counter Extremism Project who closely follows IS activities in central Syria.
"These are the places where it trains the next generation of fighters — often children it recruits from northeast Syria — and where adult fighters can return to in between their operations," Waters told VOA. "While the central Syrian desert is under Russian and Syrian regime control, ISIS does not abide by these arbitrary lines."
He added that IS cells in the central desert support the cells operating in northeast Syria, which is largely under the control of U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.
The United States has about 900 troops in northeast Syria as part of a global coalition against IS.
"Oftentimes the fighters will cross from one region to the other to either conduct attacks or to escape from counter-ISIS operations," Waters said.
Colin Clarke, director of research at The Soufan Group, said the U.S. strikes demonstrate that the terror group remains a significant threat in Syria.
"Moreover, the Assad regime lacks either the will or the capability to counter ISIS, so the United States has remained vigilant in its efforts to keep the group on the defensive," he told VOA.
"Any time you have a terrorist group with the legacy of the Islamic State, with a proven track record of being able to recruit, plan and conduct attacks, including external operations in the West, it is never a good idea to become complacent," Clarke said. "The strikes are necessary to keep ISIS from regrouping, whether in Syria or the hinterlands of Afghanistan."
Abdul Wahab Assi, a researcher at the Istanbul-based Jusoor Center for Studies, said the U.S. strikes in the Syrian Desert carried a political message, as well.
"It sent a message to Russia, which ostensibly operates against IS in that particular area, that it's not doing enough" to counter IS activities in Syria, he told Syria TV, a news channel affiliated with the Syrian opposition.
Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced the killing of the IS leader in Iraq and eight other senior IS commanders in a joint operation by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
CENTCOM said in its Wednesday statement that alongside its allies and partners in the region, it "will continue to aggressively degrade ISIS operational capabilities to ensure its enduring defeat."
Source:voanews.com
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https://www.voanews.com/a/recent-us-strikes-spotlight-growing-islamic-state-threat-in-syria/7848255.html
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Muslim Americans face a tough choice, but we have to refuse to empower Trump
Afsheen Shamsi
November 1, 2024
(RNS) — Determined after the horrors of the first Trump presidency not to see another, in 2020 I gathered a diverse team of Muslim Americans from around New Jersey to form NJ Muslims for Biden. In the 2020 election cycle, we made more than 136,000 calls in partnership with the Muslim political organizing group Emgage Action, helping to turn out more than 50,000 Muslim voters in Pennsylvania. We were part of a broad coalition that was the margin of victory in that election.
I never imagined then that four years later our Muslim American community would be confronted with such a difficult choice. Many Muslims view Harris as simply an extension of Biden, a president who has seemingly heartlessly funded a war and with American bombs enabled catastrophic harm to our Palestinian and Lebanese siblings and children.
A longtime progressive Muslim American Democrat, I understand this anti-Biden sentiment. Like my community, I feel abandoned and betrayed by a party that has stood silently by as civilian men, women and children have been targeted en masse in Palestine and Lebanon. Elected Democrats have also supported the quashing of our free speech rights. Until recently, our elected leaders in their rhetoric, including Biden, have dehumanized Palestinians and Muslims as terrorists.
As a result, many in our community are voting for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, in an attempt to register their protest and to break the two-party system in American politics that reduces political debate and ignores nuanced views. Yet the data is clear that a vote for Stein or any third party is a vote for Trump.
Faced with this difficult choice at the polls, I find myself unable to empower Trump and all he stands for.
I believe we are more likely to achieve more for our Palestinian and Lebanese loved ones, including an end to the war on Palestine, with Harris, who has called for a cease-fire. Trump is on record stating that he will finish the job in Palestine, and so I can’t empower Trump with my vote.
Read the American Civil Liberties Union’s Trump Memos, a document that details how our Muslim and advocacy institutions may not survive a second Trump presidency, and what the organization is planning to do to defuse Trump’s bias. Consider that Trump is on track to cause irreparable harm to our democracy. As an American citizen who cares deeply about our democracy, I can’t trust him with my vote.
In solidarity with our Black Muslim siblings, who are raising the alarm about the harm Trump’s racist rhetoric and policies will do to their community, I can’t empower him with my vote.
Let’s also not forget the horrors Trump unleashed on immigrant families and children at our borders and see that Trump can’t be trusted with anyone’s vote.
On a whole host of domestic issues — the economy, education, health care, student loan forgiveness and more — Harris will center diversity, inclusion and equity in her policymaking. (Trump wants to get rid of DEI programs across the country.) Harris’ diverse administration has shown that it will include Muslim Americans.
While a protest vote may feel good, electing Trump means shutting Muslims out for four years. Let us not forget that the diverse people in an administration inform policy decisions that are made. Even when Trump sends senior officials to meet with Muslim leaders, they are very open about refusing to make any policy commitments to our community. Why should we empower Trump with our vote?
Wiser people than I have said that when someone shows you who they are, believe them. Trump is sharing his plans, and I believe him.
Several years ago, after visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, I found stories there of Muslims who had helped Jewish community members in Germany avoid the Holocaust. I wondered, if I were in Germany at that time, would I have been able to help the Jewish community or because as a single parent of a child with disabilities who is completely dependent on me would I have felt I could not take this risk? As I left the museum, I asked myself what I would have done if I had been in that situation. It’s easy for all of us to believe we would have done the right thing.
I have since then prayed to God that the right thing to do always be clearly visible and also the easy thing to do because I don’t want to be confronted with such choices and I hope I never am.
As someone who tries to be guided by what is just and right, it is not easy to vote for Harris, which may not secure us the justice that we seek. Securing a just solution to this conflict over land could take generations, given the power differential in our political reality that we face as advocates of vulnerable Palestinians and Lebanese.
But as a Muslim woman whose faith runs deep, I’m sure that empowering Trump is certain to mean continued war and harm, to our Palestinian and Lebanese siblings and children, and to our nation’s own most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Empowering Trump’s bigoted rhetoric and policies runs counter to everything Islam teaches us about justice, compassion and care for community.
This is why I plan to vote for Harris on Election Day. I hope you will join me with your vote in preventing greater injustices here at home and abroad.
Source:religionnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://religionnews.com/2024/11/01/muslim-americans-face-a-tough-choice-but-we-have-to-refuse-to-empower-trump/
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Australia court rules senator violated law with racial remarks against Muslim lawmaker
01.11.2024
An Australian court ruled on Friday that Senator Pauline Hanson violated race laws with her racial remarks against a Muslim lawmaker, according to local media reports.
Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart rejected arguments from Hanson's lawyer, stating that the senator's tweet constituted an "angry personal attack" with no discernible connection to the issues raised by Senator Mehreen Faruqi, as reported by ABC News.
The judge ordered Hanson, the leader of the right-wing populist party One Nation, to delete her tweet and pay Senator Faruqi's costs for the proceedings.
Senator Faruqi took Hanson to the Federal Court after her post in September 2022, which was made on the day Queen Elizabeth II died, claiming that Hanson had breached the Racial Discrimination Act.
In April of this year, Hanson told the court that she did not know Faruqi was Muslim when she instructed her to “piss off back to Pakistan” on social media. This tweet was a response to Faruqi's post, in which she stated that she could not mourn someone who was "the leader of a racist empire."
Justice Stewart characterized Hanson's post as "anti-Muslim or Islamophobic," noting that her large following on social media empowered others to share similar messages on X, formerly Twitter.
Speaking to reporters, Senator Faruqi described the judgment as "landmark," "historic," and "groundbreaking," asserting that it "will set a new precedent for how racism is viewed in this country."
"It is about time Pauline Hanson faced the consequences of the racism that she has been perpetrating against Muslims, people of color, and First Nations people for decades," Faruqi said.
Source:aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/australia-court-rules-senator-violated-law-with-racial-remarks-against-muslim-lawmaker/3381548
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Why is the Green Party gaining so much traction among Muslim Americans?
01.11.2024
Nearly 30 years ago, we registered the Green Party as a political organisation in Georgia, stating that it was our purpose "to provide an electoral tool for the grassroots movement for social justice, peace and non-violence, participatory democracy and ecological sustainability."
Now in 2024, with the carnage of war in Gaza awakening conscientious voters in the United States who oppose our nation’s support of genocide, that electoral tool is finally gaining traction.
Over the years, many have agreed with us on key issues and policy demands.
Following the 2000 campaign where we ran Ralph Nader and then lost to George W. Bush, the Democrats skipped the self-reflection and blamed the Greens.
And far too many folks who should have known better, hearing those tropes, but not our oft-repeated deconstruction of them, too often pretend that the Democratic Party will not continue to betray them.
Zionist lobby
In the US, voters often project their own hopes for public policy onto Democrats running for federal office, pretending these candidates had said things they never said (be it a promise for universal health care or for an end to a war).
They also incorrectly believe that candidates actually mean the things they say, in spite of all of the evidence of their inaction or action on the issues that matter most.
When it comes to Gaza, too many have ignored the ideological capture of our elected officials by the Zionist lobby.
Years ago, former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney said in an interview that AIPAC organisers demand she sign a pledge of fealty in support of Israel, which she refused to do.
And this year, we learned that AIPAC handlers are assigned to each Republican member of Congress. This influence no doubt shapes US policy when it comes to Israel's occupation of Palestine.
And the nearly $100 million they and their allies have spent on campaign financing, or what former President Jimmy Carter called legalised bribery, also plays a role.
Both parties complicit
During Republican administrations like those of Donald Trump, George Bush and Ronald Reagan, people who wanted peace convinced themselves that returning Democrats to power would end or at least alleviate the carnage.
But the stories piled up until it was undeniable that Democrats were also bad at peace. Recall former President Bill Clinton's time in office, during which his Crime Bill set off a wave of repercussions against Black people in the US, including many in the Muslim community.
More recently, former President Barack Obama never failed to disappoint with his drone strikes on Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia (even targeting US citizens), his expansion of the surveillance state, and his nickname of deporter-in-chief by immigrant rights groups.
President Joe Biden too fell short, given his administration's collusion with social media platforms to censor our voices, his belligerence with global leaders, his funding ($59+ billion) of Ukraine against Russia, and of course his material support ($14 billion and counting) for the state-sponsored terrorism waged against Palestine.
Yet until now, few voters were willing to abandon the Democrats. This is despite officials' disloyalty to the public, and their decision to favour policies advocated by their campaign contributors rather than the people who actually elected them to office.
Even among Greens, we have some party supporters who were with us during the 2000 presidential campaign when Nader ran for president, but their contributions and volunteer energy have dried up in the years since.
Nonetheless, they still feel entitled to call me and urge me to abandon the Green Party's work to build political power independent of the corporate parties. This time around, they do so in fear of a greater evil - ie by voting for Stein, Harris loses to Trump.
Moral clarity
It is in these moments that I feel buttressed by the moral clarity of so many Muslim American voices. Consider Dr. Hassan Abdel Salam, co-founder of the Abandon Harris campaign. He asks, "What evil could be greater than genocide?"
Or Imam Tom Facchine of the Yaqeen Institute, who reminds us that unless we are willing to walk away from the table, we are not actually negotiating.
And there's also United Kingdom-based political analyst Sami Hamdi, whose appeal to US Muslims is that we are the most powerful Muslims on the planet, and that our community around the world demands that we exercise courage on their behalf.
Both Dr. Jill Stein and her running mate Dr. Rudolph Ware have done an excellent job giving voice to our collective intention, be it as Greens or Muslims, to dismantle US imperialism.
Not only does our party demand the dismantlement of 800 US bases around the globe, but our presidential slate has consistently spoken out against the targeting of those peoples and nations in the path of the Greater Israel ambitions of the Zionist regime in Tel Aviv.
The polling numbers and campaign rhetoric of both the red team (Republicans) and the blue team (Democrats) have told us for years that most US voters choose their candidates more so to vote against their opponents, than out of any real loyalty to the other corporate party's candidate and their policies.
They even campaign acknowledging their own evil, but arguing that they somehow are entitled to our votes because their opponents are more evil.
Their refrain is that we have only two choices in this (or any) race. They would have us believe that a failure to choose the candidates chosen for us by corporate contributors is a "waste" of our vote.
They deploy any number of vote-shaming tropes to bully votes they fail to earn.
So often, except for those most loyal to their tribe, Democrats are disappointed in the modest demands of their candidates and elected officials, frustrated by their lack of backbone or willingness to challenge power, embarrassed by their lapses in integrity and even discouraged from showing up at the polls at all.
In 2000, the Muslim vote was decisive in electing George W. Bush. But Muslims abandoned Bush and his Zionist cabinet over his wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, and his rhetorical dependence on a "clash of civilizations" as justification for his war aims.
By 2004, US Muslims switched to the blue team, voting overwhelmingly for John Kerry (who lost to Bush), and then helped to elect Obama in 2008.
Leaving the Dems behind This year, polling by ISPU, CAIR, Yaqeen Institute and others point to a mass Muslim exodus from the Democrats. But very few are returning to the Republicans. Some plan to stay home. Others said they will leave the top of the ticket blank, choosing no presidential candidate.
Still others are making the switch to a third party, and usually to the Green Party. Random sample data from this past summer published by ISPU and CAIR show the Green Party's Stein (29 percent) evenly splitting the non-Trump (11 percent) Muslim vote with the blue party’s Harris (29 percent).
Yaqeen's sample of observant Muslims (79 percent make the five daily prayers) shows 53 percent support for third-party candidates.
For months now, I have been asking our Muslim friends, what sort of relationship do you seek with the Green Party - a short-term marriage of convenience, or a long-term relationship that is mutually beneficial?
And as a community, are we willing to build on values and policies supported by a majority, many of whom we may disagree with on any variety of issues?
In exchange for ensuring the democratic participation of a diversity of people in this plural culture, will we be asked to leave our religion at the door, to accept a tokenized seat at a table, to colourise a board photo, and be silent about our perspective, all while others speak for us?
Politics is our vehicle for shaping the public narrative with which positions on public policy are justified.
The United Nations was founded with a document which expressed a determination "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war."
Though only 1.3 percent of our nation's population, it is in our capacity as Muslim Americans to offer the leadership required if we are to meaningfully pursue these aspirations expressed in the UN charter.
Doing so requires our engagement in the narrative-shaping political process.
We must examine whether by changing the narrative, our tax dollars might be spent doing something other than creating humanitarian crises demanding our charity.
Elections are not supposed to be about the candidates and parties. If elections are to be a useful tool for our democratic engagement, we need a deep analysis for how we as US voters can win, and particularly how we as US voters might win on behalf of a global Ummah yearning to live in peace.
In 2024, Abandon Harris offers us such an analysis. And those of us who have built the Green Party are honoured to offer this movement an electoral vehicle for the expression of our collective cry for not only an arms embargo and another ceasefire but indeed for a lasting peace.
Source:trtworld.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/why-is-the-green-party-gaining-so-much-traction-among-muslim-americans-18227017
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Trump courts divided Arab-American voters in must-win Michigan
02.11.2024
On a crisp, sunny day in the largest Arab-majority city in the US, dozens of people gathered outside the Great Commoner cafe to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump.
“What we want is peace,” Trump told a group of Arab-American business leaders inside the Dearborn, Michigan, restaurant - days before the presidential election.
But a crowd of pro- and anti-Trump voters shouting at one another nearby demonstrated how divided the Michigan community has become over choosing the best American president to handle the escalating Middle East war.
The Republican’s Friday visit to Dearborn, once a reliably Democratic area, marks the culmination of his efforts to court the 200,000-plus Arab-Americans who live in must-win Michigan. It could sway a tied race between Trump and Kamala Harris. Hillary Clinton lost Michigan to Trump by only 10,000 votes in 2016, while Biden won it back by 150,000 votes in 2020.
On billboards lining Michigan highways and during visits, the Trump campaign argues that he stands “for peace” in the Middle East, while casting Harris as pro-Israel.
That message has worked on some. Trump secured two endorsements from the mayors of Dearborn Heights, and Hamtramck, a small Muslim majority city near Detroit, while Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said Friday he declined a meeting with the former president.
The trend worries Abbas Alawieh, one of the leaders of the Uncommitted movement - a group protesting US support of Israel - who pledged to back Harris even though his group refused to endorse her.
“I’ve been hearing … a lot more of the feeling that this is a binary choice, and some voters feeling like maybe we should just vote for Donald Trump because he’s saying he’s a pro-peace candidate,” Mr Alawieh told the BBC at Haraz Cafe in Dearborn on Friday.
The Harris campaign, meanwhile, said the vice-president has been and is supportive of the “diverse Muslim community” in the US.
"The Vice President is committed to work to earn every vote, unite our country, and to be a President for all Americans,” said Nasrina Bargzie, campaign director of Muslim and Arab American Outreach. She added that Harris would ensure the community can “live free from the hateful policies of the Trump administration”.
Despite frustrations with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war, several community leaders told the BBC they don’t believe Trump offers a solution either.
“We’re not naive about what he means for our community,” said Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network, a Michigan Muslim advocacy group. He cited Trump’s “Muslim ban”, his 2017 executive order to ban travelers from predominately Muslim nations.
Still, Mr Nazarko and other leaders said sending a message about their anger over the Biden-Harris administration’s pro-Israel policies is more important than who wins the White House.
They have encouraged votes for third-party candidates - or just sitting out the election altogether.
That’s the message Hassan Abdel Salam, a leader of the Abandon Harris campaign and former Democrat, delivered to a packed room gathered for prayer at the American Muslim Center in Dearborn on Friday.
"Our intention is to show that we are punishing someone, a leader who for a year we protested and we gave ultimata, warnings," he said. "Our belief now, even despite having lived under Trump, a truly vile person, has been that we now see that there is no lesser evil."
Muslim leaders and political experts acknowledge that the Harris campaign has decided to focus more on securing moderate voters and improving turnout in traditionally Democratic areas like Detroit, rather than courting Muslims and Arab-Americans.
The campaign also is concerned about losing support from pro-Israel Jewish voters and other Democrats more likely to cast a ballot, said Saeed Khan, a Wayne State University professor.
Mr Khan said many voters who considered casting a ballot for third-party candidates, likely will end up voting for Harris to keep Trump out of office.
It’s a calculation Wael Alzayat, CEO of Muslim voter outreach group Emgage, hopes Michigan voters, in general, will make.
“A vote for third-party is a vote for Trump, which will bring about the worst outcome,” he said. “Trump is a brick wall.”
Mohammad Hassan, a member of Hamtramck's fully Muslim city council, said 80 percent of his 25,000-strong Bangladeshi Muslim community is voting for Harris, while the rest could go for Trump.
But, he said, all Muslims don't necessarily agree.
“Yemeni Muslims in the same city may go 50-50 between Trump and Harris,” he said.
The anger within the Arab-Muslim community over Gaza is real, Mr Hassan said, but unlike the Bangladeshi community, they do not vote in big numbers. “So even if their vote doesn’t go to Harris, it’s unlikely to go to Trump."
Many Arab Americans and Muslims crave a more “balanced narrative” about the war, including more empathy for the suffering of Gazans and Lebanese, Mr Khan said.
“For Harris to talk about 100 some-odd [Israeli] hostages, and not mention 45,000 to 50,000 Gazans killed, to not consider that there was an impact on American citizens, families and lives, that I think was seen as egregious," he said.
Over 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas after the group's October 2023 attack, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage in the attack.
None of this makes the decision to support Harris easy, said Mr Alawieh, the Uncommitted leader.
Her campaign made a mistake by not budging on Israel, which also may cost her support from Democratic young voters or voters of colour, he said.
“It feels to me like the Harris campaign here in Michigan left a lot of votes on the table,” Mr Alawieh said. “I hope they’re doing that as part of some calculation that she wins. I hope that after this election, we don’t look back at her campaign and say ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have left those votes on the table.’”
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5ln171edlo
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'A lot of women are rising up': Harris hopes hinge on female vote
02.11.2024
On an abnormally warm fall morning on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, dozens of students stood in line to vote at the university’s early voting centre.
Among them was Keely Ganong, a third-year student who was excited to vote for Harris.
“She’s just a leader that I would to look up to to represent my country,” she said.
“Gender equality is on the forefront of the issues,” said her friend Lola Nordlinger, referencing abortion rights. “A woman’s choice is something that’s so personal to her, and it really should be no one else’s decision.”
Ms Ganong said everyone on campus is talking about voting with less than a week before election day.
“Student voices are definitely going to make a difference” in the election, the 20-year-old said.
Six Trump supporters on why they're backing him
Adrianna Pete, a 24-year-old who was on campus volunteering to teach students about the democratic process, agrees:
“I feel like a lot of women are rising up,” she said.
These young women are, in many ways, typical Harris voters. According to a recent poll by the Harvard Institute of Politics, Harris leads amongst women 18-29 by a whopping 30 points. Amongst college students specifically, of either gender, she leads by 38 points, a recent survey from Inside Higher Ed/Generation Lab survey found.
With polls neck-and-neck both nationally and in battleground states like Michigan, Harris will be counting on these young women to show up, in big numbers, to win the election.
It’s a point not lost on Hannah Brocks, 20, who waited in a long line last week to attend a packed Harris and Walz rally in Ann Arbor in a local park. She’s been involved in the school’s young Democrats club, knocking on doors, sending flyers and making phone calls to try to convince people to vote for Harris.
“I just like the way she talks about people in general,” Ms Brocks said. “It’s just so much love and empathy in the way she talks about other people.”
That edge amongst young women could be amplified even more if voter turnout this election follows the same patterns as it did in 2020, when about 10 million more women voted than men, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.
Early voting exit polls show a similar breakdown this time around, with about 55% women, 45% men, according to a Politico analysis, though analysts caution we have no idea who these women have voted for.
But while much has been made of how this election is shaping up to be boys versus girls, the reality is much more complex. In that same Harvard poll, Harris’s lead amongst white women under 30 was 13 points ahead of Trump, compared to a 55-point advantage amongst non-white women under 30.
When white women of all ages are surveyed, Harris’s lead all but vanishes. It’s a history that could be repeating – in 2016, more white women backed Trump than Hillary Clinton. In 2020, Trump’s lead with white women widened.
Democrats in general have had an especially tough time with white, non-college educated voters, male and female. If Harris wants to win, she’ll have to not only have to get high turnout among the young women who support her, she’ll have to convince some women who might not fit the mould too.
“The best avatar for a voter writ large is a woman in a swing state who didn’t go to college,” says pollster Evan Roth Smith, from Blueprint, a Democratic public opinion research company.
While these women seem to trust the Republican Party more on issues like immigration and the economy, Mr Smith says abortion could be the issue that turns them towards Harris.
The vice-president has promised to restore abortion rights, while Trump has taken credit for the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which used to guarantee women a right to abortion nationally.
Women at a Harris rally in the battleground state of Arizona told the BBC that the stakes this year feel especially high. The state has a question on the ballot that would allow voters to decide whether the right to abortion should be enshrined in the state’s constitution. Abortion is currently illegal after 15 weeks, with few exceptions.
Mary Jelkovsky is hopeful abortion being on the ballot here in Arizona could help bring a blue tide.
Wearing a bright blue sweatshirt reading “vote with your vag,” the 26-year-old told the BBC she and her husband have started trying to get pregnant.
She says the idea that this could be forced on someone now with Roe v Wade being overturned was hard to wrap her brain around.
Ms Jelkovsky says the Supreme Court decision opened up important conversations with her friends and family. She says she learned multiple loved ones had had abortions, including once for a life-saving measure.
“It’s personal but it’s so important to have these conversations,” she says. “For us [women], this election couldn’t be more important.”
The Harris campaign is hoping the abortion issue will not just inspire Democrats to turn up at the polls, but convince Republican women to flip sides. These “silent” Harris voters, as political analysts like to call them, could help boost her numbers in especially tight races.
Arizonian Rebecca Gau, 53, was a lifelong Republican until Trump ran for president. When she cast her vote for Joe Biden in 2020, she said it was a protest vote. But this time around, she says she feels excited to vote for Harris.
“I felt like she could represent me as a practical American woman,” she told the BBC earlier in October.
She said she’s tired of “toxic masculinity”, and she thinks other Republican women, like her, feel the same way.
“I don’t care what the political persuasion is - women are fed up,” she said.
But not all Republican women are convinced. Tracey Sorrel, a Texan who is part of the BBC's Voter Panel, said she thinks Harris would take abortion rights too far. Ultimately, even though she doesn't like some of what he says, Ms Sorrel said she will vote for Trump.
"I'm not voting personality. I'm voting policy. I don't have to marry the man," she said.
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y398q2kq4o
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Africa
#EndBadGovernance: ‘We Can Not Continue Like This’ – Effiong Tells Tinubu For Parading Minors
2 November 2024
By Enioluwa Adeniyi
Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for parading minors in court, stating that the government’s actions undermine Nigeria’s criminal justice system and dent the country’s reputation on the international stage.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Effiong expressed dismay at the recent arraignment of minors and called out the administration for what he described as a “mockery” of justice.
Effiong’s comments come in the wake of heightened scrutiny over the judicial treatment of young protesters, which has sparked public debate and raised concerns among civil rights advocates.
Critics argue that these actions are counterproductive to efforts aimed at portraying Nigeria as a fair and just society.
The lawyer’s statement has added to growing calls for reform within Nigeria’s criminal justice system, with many urging the government to protect minors and uphold global human rights standards.
“The Tinubu regime is making a mockery of our criminal justice system.
“You expect the international community and investors to take Nigeria seriously, but you’re parading minors before a Federal High Court in the most dehumanizing conditions because they allegedly took part in protests. We cannot continue like this,” he wrote.
The statement comes amid the uproar that greeted the arraignment of protesters, mostly minors, who participated during the recent EndBadGovernance protest.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/02/endbadgovernance-we-can-not-continue-like-this-effiong-tells-tinubu-for-parading-minors/
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Why #EndBadGovernance Protest Minors Can Be Charged To Court — Police
2 November 2024
By George Oshogwe Ogbolu
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Friday stated that children over the age of seven can face legal charges in court.
Naija News reports that this clarification came as the Police Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, addressed inquiries about the recent arraignment of minor protesters involved in the #EndBadGovernance movement at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Adejobi explained that, under Nigerian law, only children under seven are exempt from criminal liability. He emphasized that all those arraigned are at least 13 years old.
He said, “Those exempt from criminal liability under the law are those below seven. Once you are above seven, you can be charged to court. The only consideration is the specific procedures required. None of them is younger than seven. The youngest is around 13.”
He noted that age does not preclude a 13-year-old from being charged and added that charges were filed under the Children and Young Persons Act.
He described the accused as individuals who, during the #EndBadGovernance protests, turned violent and displayed foreign flags, actions deemed criminally liable by law.
Meanwhile, Rimazonte Ezekiel, the Federal Government’s counsel, argued that some of the 76 arraigned individuals are adults, even claiming that some are married with their wives present in court alongside their parents.
Following the hearing, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted bail to the 76 protesters, setting bail at N10 million per person, totaling N760 million. The bail conditions include two sureties per defendant: one a Level 15 civil servant, and the other the defendant’s parent. The sureties must provide appointment and promotion letters, identification, verified addresses, passport photos, and surrender their international passports, along with an affidavit of means.
Justice Egwuatu stated, “The defendants are granted bail in the sum of N10 million each, with two sureties in like sum. One of them must be a Level 15 civil servant, and the other a parent of the defendant.”
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/02/why-endbadgovernance-protest-minors-can-be-charged-to-court-police/
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Why EFCC Arrested Edo Accountant General – Source
2 November 2024
By Enioluwa Adeniyi
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained the Accountant General of Edo State, Julius Anelu, and two other top government officials, over alleged withdrawals of significant sums from the state’s account.
Sources within the EFCC who spoke with Punch revealed that the officials were apprehended following suspicions surrounding the disbursement of funds.
Of the N24.6 billion recently deposited into Edo State’s account, only about N14 billion remained within a week, raising concerns over the rapid outflow of funds.
An EFCC source clarified that the agency’s intervention aims to protect the state’s financial health rather than hinder its operations.
“We made some arrests of about two to three persons, including the Accountant General of the state. We have been investigating the governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, since 2022 but this latest arrest was as a result of some withdrawals from the state’s derivation account.
“The amounts withdrawn were huge sums. For instance, about some weeks ago, N N24.6bn was paid into that account. But in less than one week, about N14bn was remaining in the account. To save the state, we had to quickly move. We are not in any way doing that to ground the state activities”, said the source.
This comes after the Edo State governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, accused the Obaseki administration ‘of last-minute borrowings and looting.’
In a statement he issued on October 16, Okpebholo called on relevant authorities, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, police and Department of State Services, to investigate the allegations.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/02/why-efcc-arrested-edo-accountant-general-source/
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We Will Never Support Tinubu’s Outrageous Appointments Of The Yorubas – Afenifere
2 November 2024
By Justina Otio
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has distanced itself from what it described as President Bola Tinubu’s bias for the Yoruba in federal appointments.
The group insisted that they do not support Tinubu for appointing Yorubas as head of all arms of the criminal justice system and other sectors.
Afenifere shared its reservations in a statement by its leader and the National Publicity Secretary, Ayo Adebanjo, and Justice Faleye, respectively, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Friday.
They insisted that the development threatened the age-long inter-ethnic relationship and peaceful co-existence in Nigeria.
The statement partly read, “We can never condone the outrageous bias by Tinubu to make Yorubas head of all arms of the criminal justice system (EFCC, DSS, Attorney-General and Chief Justice); the economy (Coordinating Minister of the economy, CBN, Finance, Blue Economy, Digital Economy, Trade, Industries and Investment, Bank of Industry, Solid Minerals); as well as the forces (army, police, customs, immigration, DSS).
“Afenifere can’t use several decades to fight against Fulani hegemony only to support Yoruba or any other hegemony. Afenifere bitterly complained that President Buhari’s northern hegemony can’t remain mute on ethnic hegemony, as being perpetrated by Tinubu.
“Buhari was accused of bias for the North, with three regions, not to talk of Tinubu bias not for the South, but a single ethnicity and single region. Our progenitor, Chief Obafemi Awolowo once threatened to curse anyone that tied Afenifere to Yoruba only.”
The group explained that it adheres to clear-cut principles of being social democrats and would not support autocratic leaders.
“By the virtue of our name, Afenifere, meaning those that want good for all humans, and as omoluabi Yorubas, we won’t support any government that engages in undemocratic practices. Nor would we support a government whose first year pushed over 14 million people into poverty with anti-people policies.
“President Tinubu is no stranger to Afenifere, but having backed him into power in 1999, and witnessed his 24-year precedents in Lagos, it would have been wicked and morally irresponsible to support him into power as President.
“This was why the true Afenifere supported Peter Obi and was in charge of his presidential campaign headed by Akin Osuntokun, an Afenifere chieftain,” the statement added.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/02/we-will-never-support-tinubus-outrageous-appointments-of-the-yorubas-afenifere/
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UN chief condemns Sudan’s RSF, Britain to push for Security Council action
November 02, 2024
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned on Friday reported attacks on civilians by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces as Britain said it would push for a UN Security Council resolution on the more than 18-month long conflict.
War erupted in mid-April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis.
The current war has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. The RSF has allegedly killed at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira State last month, activists said, in one of the conflict’s deadliest incidents.
The RSF has accused the army of arming civilians in Gezira. The RSF has previously denied harming civilians in Sudan and attributed the activity to rogue actors.
Guterres was appalled by “reports of large numbers of civilians being killed, detained and displaced, acts of sexual violence against women and girls, the looting of homes and markets and the burning of farms,” said a UN spokesperson.
“Such acts may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Perpetrators of such serious violations must be held accountable,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
ritain, which assumed the presidency on Friday of the Security Council for November, said the 15-member body would meet on Sudan on Nov. 12 to discuss “scaling up aid delivery and ensuring greater protection of civilians by all sides.”
“We will be shortly introducing a draft Security Council resolution ... to drive forward progress on this,” Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward told a press conference.
She said the draft would focus on “developing a compliance mechanism for the warring parties commitments they made on the protection of civilians in Jeddah over a year ago in 2023 and ways to support mediation efforts to deliver a ceasefire, even if we start local ceasefires before moving to a national one.”
A resolution needs at least 9 votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China to be adopted.
The move comes as a three-month approval given by Sudanese authorities for the UN and aid groups to use the Adre border crossing with Chad to reach Darfur with humanitarian assistance is due to expire in mid-November.
The Sudanese army-backed government is committed to facilitate aid deliveries across the country, including in areas controlled by the RSF, Sudan’s UN Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed said on Monday.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday that it was up to the Sudanese government to decide on whether the Adre crossing would remain open beyond mid-November and that it would be “inappropriate to put pressure on” the government.
“We’re categorically opposed to the politicization of humanitarian assistance,” he said. “We believe that any humanitarian assistance should be conducted and delivered solely with the central authorities in the loop.”
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs said more than 119,000 people had fled from the recent surge of violence in El Gezira state. The Rapid Support Forces launched their latest attacks there after a high-ranking officer from the area switched sides to the army.
War has raged in Sudan since April 2023 between the army under Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and paramilitary forces led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
The conflict has killed up to 150,000 people, displaced nearly eight million and caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than half the population face acute hunger.
Source:arabnews.com
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Head of UN-backed team of experts cites RSF paramilitaries in Sudan for sexual violence as war rages
November 02, 2024
GENEVA: The head of a UN-backed fact-finding team looking into human rights violations and abuses in Sudan said Friday it found the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces responsible for large-scale sexual violence in areas that it controls.
Mohamed Chande Othman has denounced “staggering violence” in Sudan since war broke out more than 18 months ago between the Sudanese military and the RSF, starting with open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, that later spread across the country.
“We said in our report that we attribute sexual gender-based violence to RSF in West Darfur, in Darfur, in greater Khartoum, and in Al-Gezira (state),” the Tanzanian lawyer said Friday by phone from Zimbabwe, where he was attending a conference.
However, Othman said a renewed mandate from the UN Human Rights Council would allow his team of independent experts to investigate “credible” allegations of sexual exploitation by the Sudanese armed forces as well.
Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions including western Darfur. The war has killed more than 24,000 people so far, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group monitoring the conflict since it started.
The fact-finding mission on Tuesday released a more comprehensive version of its report presented in September to the rights council, which has 47 member countries. The broader report cited gang rapes, sexual slavery and the abduction of victims in areas the RSF controls.
“It’s important to highlight the horrendous nature and the widespread nature — the patterns of violence — that were committed,” Othman said.
His team found the sexual violence and allegations of enforced marriages and human trafficking across borders for sexual purposes took place mostly during invasions of towns and cities.
“Victims and witnesses consistently reported that perpetrators threatened them with weapons, including firearms, knives and whips to intimidate and coerce them,” the latest report said, citing violence like punching, beatings with sticks, and lashing before and during rape.
“Men and boys were also reportedly targeted while in detention with sexual violence, including rape, threats of rape, forced nudity and beating on the genitals, requiring further investigation,” it added.
The violence in Sudan has been unrelenting. On Sunday, a doctors group and the United Nations reported that RSF fighters in east central Sudan’s Jazirah state carried out a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in one town.
On Tuesday, the UN migration agency said 14 million people — or over 30 percent of the country’s population — have been displaced either within Sudan or abroad because of the conflict, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the RSF attacks in Jazirah and the appalling reports of a large number of killings, detentions and acts of sexual violence against women and girls as well as the looting of homes and markets, and the burning of farms, his spokesman said.
“Such acts may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Perpetrators of such serious violations must be held accountable.”
The UN chief reiterated his call for a ceasefire, expressed alarm at the worsening humanitarian situation in Sudan and demanded that all parties facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, Dujarric said.
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APC Seeks Court Order To Halt Revenue Allocation To Rivers LGAs Pending Valid Elections
1 November 2024
By Enioluwa Adeniyi
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to halt the allocation and distribution of revenue from the Federation Account to any Local Government Area in Rivers State until valid local government elections are conducted.
The suit names the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Minister of Finance as the first, second, and third defendants, respectively.
The APC is requesting that the court prevent these parties and their agents from releasing funds to Rivers State local government councils until democratic elections are held to install duly elected representatives.
The APC argues that the absence of validly elected local government officials in Rivers State councils undermines the principles of democracy and calls for the sixth defendant, the state electoral body, to conduct fair elections for the councils.
The party insists that these allocations should be withheld to ensure that funds are managed by democratically elected representatives.
This move follows ongoing political tensions in Rivers State, as the APC seeks judicial intervention to address what it considers a lapse in democratic governance at the local government level. The court has yet to set a hearing date for the case.
The plaintiff, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CV/1556/2024 is contending that in view of the recent decisions of the Supreme Court in the suit No: SC/CV/343/2024: Attorney General of the Federation v. Attorney General of Abia State and others, and the Federal High Court, suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024 funds could not longer be released to LGAs in Rivers because no valid election has been conducted in the state.
Listed as defendants in the suit are the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Accountant General of the Federation (AG-F), the Minister of Finance for the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Attorney General of Rivers State of Nigeria and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
The party also wants an order of injunction restraining the Government of Rivers State (represented by the 5th defendant) and the 6th defendant by themselves (individually and/or jointly) by their servants, agents, hirelings or proxies from distributing to, expending or utilizing any public fund of Rivers State for the use or benefit of any of the Local Government Councils of Rivers State until the Government of Rivers State (represented by the 5th defendant) and the 6th defendant have been able to conduct valid election to democratically elect Local Government Councils for Rivers State.
It seeks a declaration that the defendants fall within the category of ‘authorities and persons’ as provided for by Section 287 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), who are constitutionally bound to enforce and implement judgments, decisions and orders of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Federal High Court of Nigeria and are therefore constitutionally bound to enforce, implement and give effect to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Suit No: SC/CV/343/2024: Attorney General of the Federation v. Attorney General of Abia State and others to the effect that “the amount distributed to and standing to the credit of Local Government Councils in the Federation Account must be paid by the Federation to only democratically elected Local Government Councils…” and the judgment of the Federal High Court in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024: All Progressives Congress (APC) v. Independent National Electoral Commission and others, comprising of an order among others “setting aside all acts or things done or purported to have been done …in furtherance of the conduct of the purported local government elections in Rivers State slated for the 5th of October 2024…”
The APC is equally praying for a declaration that the Government of Rivers State (represented by the 5th defendant) and the 6th defendant having failed to ensure the existence of and to put in place a system of local government by democratically elected local government councils in Rivers State by conducting a valid democratic election for local government councils in Rivers State, that is, for the election of Chairmen and Councilors for the Local Government Councils of Rivers State, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants (representing the Government of the Federation) are not entitled to, and cannot allocate or distribute any revenue from the Federation Account to any of the Local Government Areas/Councils of Rivers State until a valid election to democratically elect Local Government Councils for Rivers State has been conducted by the Government of Rivers State (represented by the 5th defendant) and the 6th defendant.
In a supporting affidavit, deposed to by Tony Okocha, the plaintiff said: By the recent decision of the Supreme Court Suit No: SC/CV/343/2024 the apex court firmly held and declared in respect of distribution of revenue from the Federation Account, among others that “the amount distributed to and standing to the credit of Local Government Councils in the Federation to only democratically elected Local Government Councils.
The APC said it’s suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024 challenged the process hurriedly being put into place by the AG of Rivers and RSIEC (5th and 6th defendants herein) for the purpose of holding Local Government Council elections for Rivers State.
It stated that “In the said suit, the plaintiff premised their challenge of the process on a number of grounds, including the ground that the processes being put into place for the holding of the proposed election which was fixed for the 5th day of October 2024 was in contravention of the provisions of items 11 and 12 of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as applicable provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 in that requisite statutory notices were not given and provisions in respect of update of voters register were not complied with.
The APC said the suit was decided in its favour, wherein, Justice Peter Lifu in th judgment delivered on September 30 held among others, that the processes put in place for the proposed LGA election in Rivers election were unconstitutional.
It added that the court restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing to the RSIEC the voters register for the conduct of the proposed election fixed for the 5th of October 2024.
The party stated that the court also issued an express order “setting aside all acts or things done or purported to have been done in furtherance of the conduct of the purported local government elections in Rivers State slated for the 5th of October 2024.
It stated that although the AG of Rivers and RSIEC were parties to the suit and represented by lawyers at all times, “the duo acted in contravention and absolute disregard of the decision of the court with the 6th defendant (RSIEC) therefore proceeding to conduct a purported Local Government Council election on the 5 day of October 2024, notwithstanding the fact that no voters register was released to it by INEC and notwithstanding that all processes put in place for the election including statutory notices, nominations among others had been sct aside in the judgment of the Federal High Court.”
The APC insisted that the judgment of the Federal High Cout in Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/987/2024 is still valid and subsisting before, as at and even beyond the 5th of October, 2024 and so remains until set aside by the Court of Appeal.
It stated that the election held in contravention of the Constitution, the Electoral Act and subsisting judgment of a competent Court of law is invalid.
The party added that the Local Government Councils of Rivers State have not been “democratically elected” to qualify them to receive allocations from or distribution of revenue from the Federation Account.
It further states that the defendants are authorities and persons who are not only bound by the judgment of the Supreme Court, the Federal High Court and other courts, but also bound to enforce and implement the said judgments.
The APC said the the first, second, third and fourth defendants are now being pressurized by the fifth defendant to allocate and distribute revenue from the Federation Account to the Local Government Councils of Rivers State notwithstanding the fact that no valid democratic election has been held in respect of the said Local Government Councils.
It added that the except they are restrained by th court the first, second, third and fourth Defendants will yield to the pressure to release funds.
It added that except restrained, the fifth and sixth defendants will proceed to withdraw and appropriate funds from the public fund of Rivers State for the use and/or benefit of Loca] Government Councils in Rivers State that have not been democratically elected.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik has granted an order for substituted service of the originating processes in the suit on the AG of Rivers and the RSIEC through publication in national newspaper and adjourned till November 26 for mention.
Source:naijanews.com
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Kenya's new deputy president sworn in as his predecessor challenges his impeachment in court
2 November 2024
Kenya’s new deputy president has been sworn into office, two weeks after his predecessor was overwhelmingly voted out in an impeachment motion in parliament over allegations of corruption and inciting ethnic division.
Kindiki Kithure took office on Friday after a colourful event in the capital, Nairobi, attended by government officials and Western envoys among other guests.
The court cleared his swearing-in on Thursday after orders suspending it were lifted, despite a continuing court case challenging the impeachment of the previous deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua.
Gachagua is challenging the impeachment before the High Court in Nairobi, arguing that the charges are unsubstantiated and that the hearings were unfair.
The former deputy president was impeached and removed from office by a vote of more than two-thirds of legislators on Oct. 17 on charges of corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and support for anti-government protests. President William Ruto nominated Kindiki for the deputy role the next day.
Gachagua’s impeachment had highlighted divisions within the ruling United Democratic Alliance, or UDA, and friction between Ruto and Gachagua, both UDA members. Gachagua had been accused of insubordination when he opposed the government’s policy of forced evictions during heavy rains that caused flooding and deaths.
The new deputy president Kindiki called Friday's event a celebration of the “constitution and our democracy” and committed to be loyal and faithful to the president.
President Ruto urged him to “please serve the people of Kenya” adding that like all public servants, they are not in office for personal interests and that all leaders serve at the pleasure of the people of Kenya and must uphold the constitution and the rule of law.
Kindiki — the former interior minister — takes the deputy president's office at a time when arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances in Kenya have raised concerns among western envoys and human rights groups. The country is also going through economic hardships with a rising cost of living and newly increased taxes.
In June, the country witnessed a series of nationwide anti-government protests over a finance bill that proposed to increase taxes, culminating in the storming and burning of parliament on June 25, when several protesters were shot dead outside parliament gates.
Ruto, who came to office claiming to represent Kenya’s poorest citizens, has faced widespread criticism over his efforts to raise taxes to pay off foreign creditors. The public opposition led him to shake up his Cabinet and back off from certain proposals.
Source:africanews.com
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Mideast
Nineteen reported injured in central Israel after projectile launch
November 02, 2024
CAIRO: Nineteen people in central Israel’s Sharon region were injured, the Israeli police said, after the military reported the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon into Israeli territory early on Saturday.
The national ambulance service previously reported that seven people in the central Israeli town of Tira were injured.
The Israeli military said that sirens sounded in several areas of central Israel after the projectile launch. Some projectiles had been intercepted, it said.
“A fallen projectile was most likely identified in the area,” the army added, noting that details were under investigation.
The national ambulance service and local media said the injuries in Tira ranged from mild to moderate, while two other people suffered stress symptoms.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said later in a statement it had launched drones at a “vital target” in northern Israel. It was not immediately clear if the group’s action was related to the injuries.
Fighting in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in recent weeks between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah group
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Deaths of 10 newborns shake millions’ trust in Turkiye’s health care system
November 02, 2024
ANKARA, Turkiye: The mother thought her baby looked healthy when he was born 1.5 months early, but staff swiftly whisked him to the neonatal intensive care unit.
It was the last time Burcu Gokdeniz would see her baby alive. The doctor in charge told her that Umut Ali’s heart stopped after his health deteriorated unexpectedly.
Seeing her son wrapped in a shroud 10 days after he was born was the “worst moment” of her life, the 32-year-old e-commerce specialist told The Associated Press.
Gokdeniz is among hundreds of parents who have come forward seeking an investigation into the deaths of their children or other loved ones since Turkish prosecutors accused 47 doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers and other medical workers of neglect or malpractice in the deaths of 10 newborns since last year.
Turkiye guarantees all citizens health care through a system that includes both private and state institutions: The government reimburses private hospitals that treat eligible patients when the public system is overwhelmed.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, in power since 2002, has promoted the expansion of private health care facilities to improve access in the country of 85 million people. The case of the newborn deaths has put for-profit health care for the country’s most vulnerable — newborns — into the most horrifying light imaginable.
The medical workers say they made the best possible decisions while caring for the most delicate patients imaginable, and now face criminal penalties for unavoidable unwanted outcomes.
Shattered parents say they have lost trust in the system and the cases have prompted so much outrage that demonstrators staged protests in October outside hospitals where some of the deaths occurred, hurling stones at the buildings.
After the scandal emerged, at least 350 families petitioned prosecutors, the Health Ministry or the president’s office seeking an investigation into the deaths of their loved ones, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The prosecution’s case
Prosecutors are demanding up to 583 years in prison for the main defendant, Dr. Firat Sari, who operated the neonatal intensive care units of several hospitals in Istanbul. Sari is charged with “establishing an organization with the aim of committing a crime,” “defrauding public institutions,” “forgery of official documents” and “homicide by negligence.”
Prosecutors say that the evidence clearly shows medical fraud for profit, although they haven’t said how much the defendants allegedly earned. An indictment issued this month accused the defendants of falsifying records, and placing patients in the neonatal care units of some private hospitals for prolonged and sometimes unnecessary treatments in facilities unprepared to treat them.
The indictment and the testimonies of nurses who have come forward suggest that the newborns were sometimes transferred to hospitals that were understaffed and had outdated equipment or insufficient medicine.
The indictment and testimonies also claim that the defendants withheld treatment and gave false reports to parents in order to keep hospital stays long as possible and to embezzle the social security system out of more money. The indictment alleges that the long-term stays coupled with patient mistreatment resulted in babies’ deaths.
The prosecutor’s office included hundreds of pages of transcripts of audio recordings in the indictment but the recordings themselves were not made available to the public.
In one of the transcripts, a nurse and a doctor talk about how they mishandled the treatement of a baby and agree to fake the the hospital record. The transcript describes the nurse as saying: “Let me write in the file the situation worsened, and the baby was intubated.”
Suspect Hakan Dogukan Tasci — a male nurse — is described as accusing Sari of compromising patient care by leaving just him in charge at the hospital instead of having a doctor present in the intensive care unit.
Tasci is also described as accusing an ambulance driver, who is among the 47 who have been charged in the scandal, of transferring babies to some hospitals for “profit.”
“He does not check whether the hospital is suitable for these newborn babies or not, he risks the lives of the babies and sends them to hospitals just to make money,” the indictment quotes the male nurse as saying.
In an interview with the Turkish newspaper BirGun, Dr. Esin Koc, president of the Turkiye Neonatology Association, said that the private hospitals in the indictment most likely had “insufficient staff.”
“They made it seem like there were doctors who didn’t exist,” she told BirGun.
She said that her association conducted inspections of the neonatal intensive care units of private, state and university hospitals in about 40 hospitals in 2017 and while university and state hospitals were good, “there were problems in private hospitals at that time.”
Years without a family, then a death
After years of fertility treatment, Ozan Eskici and his wife welcomed twins — a boy and a girl — to one of Sari’s hospitals in 2019. Although the babies initially appeared to be healthy, both were admitted to intensive care. The girl was discharged after 11 days, but the boy died 24 days later.
During questioning by prosecutors, Sari denied accusations that the babies were not given the proper care, that the neonatal units were understaffed or that his employees were not appropriately qualified, according to a 1,400-page indictment.
He told prosecutors: “Everything is in accordance with procedures.”
This week, a court in Istanbul approved the indictment and scheduled the trial date for Nov. 18 in a case that whose defendants are increasingly isolated.
Lawyer Ali Karaoglan said he and two other attorneys who represented Sari during the investigation have recently withdrawn from the case. And authorities have since revoked the licenses and closed nine of the 19 hospitals implicated in the scandal, including one owned by a former health minister.
The scandal has led main opposition party leader Ozgur Ozel to call for all hospitals involved to be seized by the state and nationalized. Erdogan said those responsible for the deaths would be severely punished but warned against placing all blame on the country’s health care system.
“We will not allow our health care community to be battered because of a few rotten apples,” Erdogan said, calling the alleged culprits “a gang of people devoid of humanity.”
“This gang ... committed such despicable atrocities by exploiting the facilities provided by our state to ensure citizens with higher quality and more accessible, affordable health care,” Erdogan said.
No more trust in the system
Gokdeniz, who gave birth in 2020, said she trusted Sari and accepted her son’s death as natural until she watched the scandal unfold in TV news and on social media.
“It all started to fall into place like dominoes,” she said.
Eskici, too, had placed complete trust in Sari, whose assurances he now views as cruel deceptions.
“The sentences he told me are in front of my eyes like it was yesterday,” he said.
Sibel Kosal, who lost her baby daughter Zeynep at a private hospital in 2017, is also seeking answers. She says the scandal has shattered her trust in the health care system and left her in constant fear for her surviving children.
“They have ruined a dad and a mom,” she said.
Kosal pleaded to the authorities to take immediate action.
“Don’t let babies die, don’t let mothers cry,” she said. “We want a livable world, one where our children are safe.”
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Israel cabinet approves 2025 wartime budget
November 01, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel’s cabinet on Friday approved a 2025 national budget, a wartime financial package that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said supported the country’s ongoing wars and encouraged economic growth.
For more than a year, Israel has been locked in a war with Hamas in Gaza, and since September it has been fighting the Lebanese group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The main objective of the 2025 budget is to maintain the security of the state and achieve victory on all fronts, while safeguarding the resilience of the Israeli economy,” Smotrich said.
The budget, totalling about 607.4 billion shekels ($162 billion), includes a nine billion shekel package to support reserve soldiers.
It will now move to the Knesset, or parliament, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition holds a majority, making approval likely.
Netanyahu welcomed the cabinet’s approval of the budget, saying Smotrich had put together “an important, difficult but necessary budget in a year of war.”
Additional allocations would be made for the defense ministry, as the military fights the two wars, as well as Iran and the groups it backs.
“This budget will help and support the needs of the war so that it will lead to a victory that will allow the strong Israeli economy to grow and prosper for many years,” Smotrich said.
The budget projects a fiscal deficit of about 4.3 percent.
But former prime minister and key opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the budget, saying it would “increase the expenditure of every family in Israel by 20,000 shekels per year.”
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UK urged to evacuate hospitalized children from Gaza
November 01, 2024
LONDON: A British charity has urged the UK government to evacuate 21 critically ill children currently in a hospital in northern Gaza, Sky News reported.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital is besieged by Israeli forces and was recently raided by troops, who detained staff and left the facility with only two doctors to care for more than 150 patients.
It was also targeted by an Israeli airstrike on Thursday. Its supplies are reportedly running low and many of its facilities are no longer operational.
Project Pure Hope has called on the UK to facilitate the evacuation of vulnerable children trapped inside.
“We are witnessing a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions,” it said in a statement. “With each passing hour, the children’s chance of survival diminishes without advanced medical intervention — intervention that cannot be provided under the hospital’s current, catastrophic conditions.”
The charity said it has sufficient money to fund an evacuation of 21 children in critical condition at the hospital.
It added that it held a meeting with UK Foreign Office staff this week to discuss its plans, but so far the government has not agreed to take in patients.
“While other countries ... have opened their doors to these paediatric cases, the UK remains a notable outlier, having yet to implement any such programme,” the charity said.
The US, Switzerland, Italy Ireland and the UAE have taken in hospitalized children from Gaza since the start of the conflict over a year ago.
Fears for the safety of people in the area around the hospital have grown in recent weeks amid an uptick in Israeli military activity and Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid to reach displaced civilians.
Charities have warned of famine and disease, and aid workers struggle to move around Gaza, especially to the scene of military strikes to help civilian casualties.
Project Pure Hope’s concerns about the fate of patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital have been echoed by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which said it is “deeply concerned” by the situation after one of its staff members was detained by Israeli forces.
Israel claims that Hamas has been using the hospital, located in the Jabaliya refugee camp, as a base, and that it has found weapons stored at the facility. The hospital denies the allegation.
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Israel is falling far short of a US ultimatum to surge aid to Gaza
November 02, 2024
WASHINGTON: Halfway through the Biden administration’s 30-day ultimatum for Israel to surge the level of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding, Israel is falling far short, an Associated Press review of UN and Israeli data shows.
Israel also has missed some other deadlines and demands outlined in a Oct. 13 letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The mid-November deadline — following the US election — may serve as a final test of President Joe Biden ‘s willingness to check a close ally that has shrugged off repeated US appeals to protect Palestinian civilians during the war against Hamas.
In their letter, Blinken and Austin demanded improvements to the deteriorating humanitarian condition in Gaza, saying that Israel must allow in a minimum of 350 trucks a day carrying desperately needed food and other supplies. By the end of October, an average of just 71 trucks a day were entering Gaza, according to the latest UN figures.
Blinken said the State Department and Pentagon were closely following Israel’s response to the letter, including speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top aide on Friday.
“There’s been progress, but it’s insufficient, and we’re working on a daily basis to make sure Israel does what it must do to ensure that this assistance gets to people who need it inside of Gaza,” Blinken told reporters Thursday.
“It’s not enough to get trucks to Gaza. It’s vital that what they bring with them can get distributed effectively inside of Gaza,” he added.
Blinken and Austin’s letter marked one of the toughest stands the Biden administration has taken in a year of appeals and warnings to Israel to lessen the harm to Palestinian civilians.
Support for Israel is a bedrock issue for many Republican voters and some Democrats. That makes any Biden administration decision on restricting military funding a fraught one for the tight presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
In hard-hit north Gaza in particular, an escalated Israeli military campaign and restrictions on aid have kept all food and other care from reaching populated areas since mid-October, aid organizations say. It could set the stage for famine in coming weeks or months, international monitors say.
Leaders of 15 UN and humanitarian groups, including the World Food Program and World Health Organization, warned Friday that “the situation unfolding in north Gaza is apocalyptic.”
And despite US objections, Israeli lawmakers this week voted effectively to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. Governments worldwide, the UN and aid organizations say cutting off UNRWA would shatter the aid networks struggling to get food and other supplies to people in Gaza.
“Catastrophic,” Amber Alayyan, a medical program manager for Gaza at Doctors Without Borders, said of the move.
Humanitarian officials are deeply skeptical Israel will significantly improve assistance to Gaza’s civilians even with the US warning — or that the Biden administration will do anything if it doesn’t.
At this point in the war, “neither of those has happened,” said Scott Paul, an associate director of the Oxfam humanitarian organization.
“Over and over and again, we’ve been told” by Biden administration officials “that there are processes to evaluate the situation on the ground” in Gaza “and some movement’s been made to implement US law, and time and again that has not happened,” Paul said.
Before the war, an average of 500 trucks daily brought aid into the territory. Relief groups have said that’s the minimum needed for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, most of whom have since been uprooted from their homes, often multiple times.
There has never been a month where Israel came close to meeting that figure since the conflict began, peaking in April at 225 trucks a day, according to Israeli government figures.
By the time Blinken and Austin sent their letter this month, concerns were rising that aid restrictions were starving civilians. The number of aid trucks that Israel has allowed into Gaza has plunged since last spring and summer, falling to a daily average of just 13 a day by the beginning of October, according to UN figures.
By the end of the month, it rose to an average of 71 trucks a day, the UN figures show.
Once supplies get to Gaza, groups still face obstacles distributing the aid to warehouses and then to people in need, organizations and the State Department said this week. That includes slow Israeli processing, Israeli restrictions on shipments, lawlessness and other obstacles, aid groups said.
Data from COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, shows aid has fallen to under a third of its levels in September and August. In September, 87,446 tons of aid entered the Gaza Strip. In October, 26,399 tons got in.
Elad Goren, a senior COGAT official, said last week that aid delivery and distribution in the north have been mainly confined to Gaza City.
When asked why aid was not being delivered to other parts of the north — like Jabaliya, a crowded urban refugee camp where Israel is staging an offensive — he said the population there was being evacuated and those who remained had “enough assistance” from previous months.
In other areas like Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, Goren claimed falsely there was “no population” left.
COGAT declined to comment on the standard in the US letter. It said it was complying with government directives on aid to Gaza. Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon blamed Hamas for plundering aid.
Paul of Oxfam said no aid at all was reaching populated areas in northern Gaza and only small amounts were getting to Gaza City.
“No way” has Israel made progress in getting humanitarian support to the hundreds of thousands of people in north Gaza in particular since the US ultimatum, said Alayyan of Doctors Without Borders.
Israel’s government appeared to blow past another deadline set in Austin and Blinken’s letter. It called for Israel to set up a senior-level channel for US officials to raise concerns about reported harm to Palestinian civilians and hold a first meeting by the end of October.
No such channel — requested repeatedly by the US during the war — had been created by the final day of the month.
The US is by far the biggest provider of arms and other military aid to Israel, including nearly $18 billion during the war in Gaza, according to a study for Brown University’s Costs of War project.
The Biden administration paused a planned shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel last spring, citing concerns for civilians in an Israeli offensive.
In a formal review in May, the administration concluded that Israel’s use of US-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but said wartime conditions prevented officials from determining that for certain in specific strikes.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577729/middle-east
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Iraq’s parliament elects a new speaker to end a nearly yearlong vacuum
November 01, 2024
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament has elected a new speaker after a nearly yearlong vacuum.
Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, who served a previous stint as speaker from 2006 to 2009, was elected by 182 of the 269 legislators who attended the session, a surprise move after months of deadlock between political factions.
Former Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi was dismissed by a Federal Supreme Court last November against the backdrop of a lawsuit filed by then-lawmaker Laith Al-Dulaimi.
Al-Dulaim claimed that the speaker had forged Al-Dulaimi’s signature on a resignation letter, an allegation Al-Halbousi denied.
The court ruled to terminate both Al-Halbousi and Al-Dulaimi from their parliamentary posts.
It did not elaborate on why it was issuing the decision.
The speaker is an intermediary between the various political blocs and will be critical to the government’s efforts to achieve economic reforms and reduce internal tensions.
The election of a new parliament speaker comes at a time when Iraq is facing significant challenges — chief among them attempting to navigate the repercussions of the wars in the Middle East.
Iraq’s government has sought to avoid alienating the US, upon which it has relied for economic and military support, including in the fight against Daesh.
The country also faces rampant corruption and internal divisions.
The new speaker will have to deal with some controversial legislation, notably a proposed amendment to Iraq’s personal status law governing family matters, which critics say would effectively legalize child marriage.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577723/middle-east
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WATCH: Rebuilding of Mosul’s famous leaning minaret nears completion
November 01, 2024
LONDON: UNESCO has shared dramatic footage of a historic mosque minaret that has been rebuilt in Iraq, seven years after it was destroyed by Daesh.
Known as Al-Hadba, or “the hunchback,” the leaning 12th-Century minaret at Al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul was one of the city’s most famous landmarks. But it was destroyed when the extremist group blew up the mosque in June 2017.
The video from the UN’s cultural agency features drone footage that shows the minaret nearing completion. Though the rebuilt tower is still covered in scaffolding, the footage clearly shows that its famous lean has been retained.
“Watch as the iconic Al-Hadba minaret in Mosul rises once again,” UNESCO said in a message posted with the video on social media platform X.
“Soon, this historic landmark will reclaim its rightful place in the city’s skyline — standing tall, leaning, and proud.”
UNESCO said the restoration of the mosque and its 51-meter-tall minaret is expected to be completed by December.
The mosque was built in the second half of the 12th century and the minaret began to lean several centuries ago. After Daesh seized control of parts of Iraq in 2014, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of its so-called caliphate from inside the mosque.
Three years later, it was destroyed by the militants as Iraqi forces battled to expel them from the city. Thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting and much of Mosul was left in ruins.
The restoration of the mosque is part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul project, which also includes the rebuilding of two churches and other historic sites.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577718/middle-east
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Delayed Gaza polio vaccinations to resume on Saturday, agencies say
November 01, 2024
GAZA: The third phase of a delayed polio vaccination campaign in Gaza will begin on Saturday, aid organizations said on Friday, after the rollout was derailed by Israeli bombardments, mass displacement and lack of access.
The polio campaign began on Sept. 1 after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed in August that a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
The humanitarian pause to conduct the campaign had been agreed but WHO and the UN children’s agency UNICEF said the area covered by the agreement had been substantially reduced from the previous pause in September, and would now cover only Gaza City.
The final phase of the campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children under 10 years old in northern Gaza with a second dose of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2). However, achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints, the statement said.
COGAT, the Israeli army’s Palestinian civilian affairs agency, said it was helping to coordinate the three-day campaign and once it was complete, there would be an assessment to decide whether the schedule would be extended.
“This coordination will ensure that the population can safely reach medical centers where the vaccines will be administered,” it said in a statement.
Source:arabnews.com
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About 40,000 Palestinians perform Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque
02 Nov 2024
Al-Quds -Saba:
Thousands of Palestinian citizens performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, in light of the strict military measures imposed by the Zionist enemy authorities on access to the mosque.
The Islamic Endowments Department in Al-Quds estimated that about 40,000 worshipers performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Source:saba.ye
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https://www.saba.ye/en/news3391169.htm
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Southeast Asia
Cops arrest six suspects believed to be involved in fatal fight
BERNAMA
01-11- 2024
SEGAMAT: Five men and a woman, aged from their teens to 40s, believed to be involved in a fight that led to a man’s death in Taman Sejati, Batu Anam, yesterday, were arrested, said police.
Segamat district police chief Supt Ahmad Zamry Marinsah said in a statement today that at 9 pm, police received a report about the fight, allegedly caused by a misunderstanding.
He said investigations revealed that the victim was slashed with a machete, adding that his friends who tried to break up the altercation were also injured.
He added that the victims’ friends allegedly damaged the vehicle belonging to the suspects’ family due to their dissatisfaction.
Ahmad Zamry said the suspects were arrested at 12.30 am.
“The case is being investigated under Sections 148/302 and also Sections 147/427 of the Penal Code. Checks also revealed that the main suspect has seven prior criminal records,“ he added.
Source:thesun.my
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https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/cops-arrest-six-suspects-believed-to-be-involved-in-fatal-fight-DC13229857
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27 foreign GROs held in raid on unlicensed entertainment centre
BERNAMA
02-11- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty-seven foreign women suspected of working as guest relation officers (GRO) were detained in a raid under #KLStrikeForce Op Noda at an unlicensed entertainment centre on Jalan Pasar Baharu Pudu here yesterday.
During the 5.40 pm raid, 16 Vietnamese and 11 Chinese women were found attending to customers before several of them attempted to escape and hide, with some concealing themselves under the kitchen sink and within storage areas of the premises.
Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said the women’s restroom at the entertainment centre had been modified with a small door designed to function as an escape route.
He said officers from the Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters and the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters also detained a local man believed to be the caretaker of the premises and an Indonesian male worker.
“This premises operated covertly and tried to avoid detection by authorities by keeping the front door closed and allowing only regular patrons to enter through the back entrance. However, police were able to thwart this tactic,” he said in a statement today.
According to Rusdi, police also inspected 53 local individuals, comprising 47 men and six women, aged between 34 and 44, believed to be customers.
All detainees, aged between 24 and 67, were taken to the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters for documentation purposes.
The case is being investigated under Sections 55B, 39(b) and 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 4(1)(b) of the Entertainment (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) Act 1992.
Source:thesun.my
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DPM Fadillah calls for stronger ecosystem to boost youth entrepreneurship
BERNAMA
02-11- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has highlighted the need for a robust ecosystem that fosters individual success, particularly for young entrepreneurs, while also strengthening a resilient and prosperous economy for all Malaysians.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting young talent, Fadillah said efforts are underway to create an environment where young visionaries can thrive, innovate and actively contribute to national progress.
He added that various government and community-led initiatives play a crucial role in inspiring young Malaysians to take risks and pursue their entrepreneurial goals.
“We recognise that entrepreneurship is a powerful driver of economic growth and social progress.
“This is not solely about individual success but about building a sustainable economy that benefits all Malaysians,” he said in his keynote address at the 100 Most Influential Young Entrepreneurs of 2024 (100 MIYE) Awards ceremony yesterday.
The 100 MIYE organised by Entrepreneur Insight (EI), celebrates bold, creative and innovative young Malaysian entrepreneurs who embody the nation’s enterprising spirit.
Fadillah urged continued collaboration between the government, industry leaders and young entrepreneurs to realise Malaysia’s vision of a thriving, innovation-driven economy.
The ceremony was officiated by Raja Saidatul Mardiah Sultan Idris Shah, with 100 MIYE Award organising chairman Datuk KK Chua also in attendance.
Source:thesun.my
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https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/dpm-fadillah-calls-for-stronger-ecosystem-to-boost-youth-entrepreneurship-DD13230245
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Islam never taught us to make enemies based on eye, skin, or blood - Rafizi
Nov 1, 2024
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has expressed concern over Perak PAS commissioner Razman Zakaria’s antics, which he said amounts to a call for Malays to unite against the ethnic Chinese.
The economy minister also said this is against Islamic teachings.
Source:malaysiakini.com
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900 Muslims to receive letters of offer for 2025 haj from Nov 5
Nov 02, 2024
SINGAPORE – Some 900 prospective pilgrims for the haj in 2025 will receive their offer letters from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) from Nov 5.
Those selected will be notified via SMS and e-mail, said Muis in a press release on Nov 1.
Selected pilgrims should be checked by medical professionals to verify that they are medically fit as the Saudi haj authorities require them to be in good physical health to perform religious rituals, the council said.
Upon receiving the notification, prospective pilgrims can log in to the MyHajSG portal to check their offer letter. To confirm their place, they must buy their haj package from an authorised travel agent, and fulfil other requirements listed on the portal by Nov 17.
Muis has approved 11 travel agents, which offer a total of 28 approved haj packages.
These packages are priced between $8,970 and $26,995 for stays of up to 27 days. They cost an average of $16,178 — $2,000 more than the year before because of higher costs.
The prices include Masyair services and medical services in the Holy Lands, such as the medical clinic operated by the Singapore Pilgrims’ Affairs Office and emergency medical assistance.
Masyair refers to the movement of pilgrims within Saudi Arabia for the haj rituals.
However, the prices do not include airfare, which is up to $3,100 for a typical economy seat. Prospective pilgrims are also advised to buy additional travel insurance, Muis said.
Source:straitstimes.com
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/900-to-receive-letters-of-offer-for-haj-from-nov-5
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PM Anwar: No intervention in investigations into Khazanah, PNB’s RM43.9m loss in Fashion Valet; MACC probing RM1.8b fertiliser cartel case
By Opalyn Mok
02 Nov 2024
SEBERANG PERAI, Nov 2 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said he will not intervene in any investigations into Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).
He said even though he is the chairman of Khazanah, he will not stop the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from investigating the government’s sovereign wealth fund.
“There is no exception when it comes to investigations by MACC, if there is a case, they will investigate, if there is a criminal case, the police will investigate, regardless of their position, whether it is government-linked or a private company,” he said in his speech at the official opening of the National Hawkers and Petty Traders Carnival 2024 (HPPK) here today.
He said the case under investigation is an old case before he became prime minister.
“Even if there is a case now, regardless of whether I’m the chairman, if there is any case, investigate, if there is evidence, prosecute, if proven, punish, this is the only way we can govern fairly,” he said.
Similarly, he said MACC should continue to look into the alleged cartel involvement of the National Farmers’ Organisation (Nafas) in relation to the distribution and supply of padi fertiliser contracts.
“We leave it to MACC to investigate,” he said.
He said the allegations of the existence of cartels should be investigated as it affects padi farmers and the price of fertilisers.
“This is for the sake of our food security, so we must understand why the case needs to be investigated,” he said.
Anwar was referring to statements by MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki that they are investigating a cartel involved in the distribution and supply of padi fertiliser contracts linked to a ministry, with a total value of RM1.8 billion.
He also recently said MACC is investigating the RM43.9 million loss incurred by Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) from their RM47 million investment in FashionValet.
Source:malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/11/02/pm-anwar-no-intervention-in-investigations-into-khazanah-pnbs-rm439mil-loss-in-fashion-valet-macc-probing-rm18b-fertiliser-cartel-case/155598
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Escape tactics fail: Cops nab 27 foreign GROs in KL raid on unlicensed entertainment centre
02 Nov 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Twenty-seven foreign women suspected of working as guest relation officers (GRO) were detained in a raid under #KLStrikeForce Op Noda at an unlicensed entertainment centre on Jalan Pasar Baharu Pudu here yesterday.
During the 5.40pm raid, 16 Vietnamese and 11 Chinese women were found attending to customers before several of them attempted to escape and hide, with some concealing themselves under the kitchen sink and within storage areas of the premises.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said the women’s restroom at the entertainment centre had been modified with a small door designed to function as an escape route.
He said officers from the Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters and the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters also detained a local man believed to be the caretaker of the premises and an Indonesian male worker.
“This premises operated covertly and tried to avoid detection by authorities by keeping the front door closed and allowing only regular patrons to enter through the back entrance. However, police were able to thwart this tactic,” he said in a statement today.
According to Rusdi, police also inspected 53 local individuals, comprising 47 men and six women, aged between 34 and 44, believed to be customers.
All detainees, aged between 24 and 67, were taken to the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters for documentation purposes.
The case is being investigated under Sections 55B, 39(b) and 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 4(1)(b) of the Entertainment (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) Act 1992. — Bernama
Source:malaymail.com
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Imams urge boost in agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sectors
02 Nov 2024
The Friday sermon delivered yesterday emphasised the blessings bestowed by Allah the Almighty, who has created the universe with resources essential for humanity’s sustenance. These resources, encompassing both biotic components like animals, plants, and microorganisms, as well as abiotic components such as oil, gas, various metals, water, and soil, are intended to meet the needs of mankind.
In the sermon, imams reminded the congregation of the importance of making productive use of these resources and safeguarding them for the prosperity and well-being of the nation. Imams also highlighted that these natural blessings must be utilised efficiently to contribute towards individual, family, community, and national welfare.
The sermon further noted that agriculture, fisheries, and livestock are vital economic sectors with the capacity to contribute to Brunei’s development goals, particularly by promoting food security, job creation, and halal food production. The fields of agriculture and fisheries, initially intended to meet basic needs, have since grown with scientific and technological advancements, allowing for higher productivity and environmental sustainability.
Innovation in these sectors has made them more efficient, reducing costs and enhancing output. Imams encouraged the public, especially young people, to heed the call of the nation’s leadership to diversify Brunei’s economy by actively participating in these industries.
Imams also reiterated Brunei Vision 2035, which seeks to diversify the economy beyond oil and gas, enhance the quality of life, and sustain a clean, healthy environment. With this goal in mind, the government has facilitated multiple programs to boost agriculture, fisheries, and livestock contributions to national growth, he said, urging citizens to take advantage of these resources.
Islam, imams emphasised, regards agriculture and fisheries as a fardu kifayah (a collective responsibility) due to their significant role in sustaining human life. By fulfilling this obligation, Brunei’s people can contribute to economic growth and national self-reliance.
Imams concluded by urging farmers, fishermen, and livestock breeders to take pride in their work, as it not only provides for the nation’s needs but also serves as an act of worship that aligns with Islamic values. Imams further called on all citizens to contribute towards national prosperity and welfare, reflecting a sense of unity and purpose in building a sustainable and resilient nation.
Source:borneobulletin.com
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https://borneobulletin.com.bn/imams-urge-boost-in-agriculture-fisheries-and-livestock-sectors/
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South Asia
Russian FM: Washington and allies seek to interfere in Afghanistan
By Fidel Rahmati
November 1, 2024
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that the United States and its allies are attempting to interfere in the fragile situation in Afghanistan.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Lavrov made these remarks on Thursday, October 31, at the second international “Minsk” conference on Eurasian security.
Lavrov added that the aggressive activities of the U.S. and its allies pose a threat to the security of the entire Asian continent.
During the conference, the Russian Foreign Minister accused Washington of seeking to sow division and create crises in the region.
Lavrov emphasized that Western nations have no interest in seeing a stable Eurasian region.
The Russian diplomat called on Asian countries to unite and strengthen their solidarity.
Lavrov added that under various pretexts, the U.S. wants to meddle in Afghan affairs.
The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that Russia strongly opposes any U.S. military presence in the region.
Lavrov’s remarks highlight the ongoing geopolitical competition over Afghanistan, with various global powers aiming to secure influence in the region.
He sees U.S. intervention as a threat to both Afghanistan’s stability and the broader security of Eurasia.
In this context, China has been strategically expanding its influence through economic investments in Afghanistan, such as infrastructure projects and mineral extraction agreements, aiming to secure its economic foothold and support regional stability on its terms.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan continues to be a focal point for global power dynamics, as Russia, the U.S., and China compete for influence. Each country seeks to shape Afghanistan’s future based on its interests, whether through security, economic partnerships, or diplomatic channels.
Source:khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/russian-fm-washington-and-allies-seek-to-interfere-in-afghanistan/
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Khalid urges Imams and imamate to be self-reliant
01 Nov 2024
CHATTOGRAM, Nov 1, 2024 (BSS)- Adviser of interim government on religious affairs AFM Khalid Hossain has urged the imams and imamate to self-reliant.
He said this while addressing the participants of imam training course at Imam Training Academy of Islamic Foundation at Pahartali here today.
The adviser said many great scholars of Islam were businessman in profession while Hazrat Abdur Rahman Ibn Auf was a successful businessperson of Medina.
If the society of scholars moves forward in the way shown by them, they will be freed from dependence on others,” the adviser said.
Md Ashrafuzzaman, Deputy Director of Chattogram Imam Training Academy presided over the function while Director of Islamic Foundation Borhan Uddin Md Abu Ahsan was present as special guest.
The religious adviser said, since its inception, Imam Training Academy of Islamic Foundation has been imparting training to Imams on correct recitation of Quran, tafseer, hadith, fatwa and Islamic succession law.
The adviser said there are various schemes for trained imams for doing business to become self-reliant. Small interest-free credit support from Imam-Muezzin Welfare Trust will be provided if financial support is required for the business, he said.
Khalid said it’s not haram to do doing business, but increasing the price of products by creating artificial crisis or hoarding or giving the buyers less weight are haram.
“If scholars are involved in social business, the nation will be saved from haram.” he added.
Source:bssnews.net
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https://www.bssnews.net/news/220260
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5,503 students win reading contest
Nov 2, 2024
A total of 5,503 students from 93 schools in Chattogram city were awarded by the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro in a book reading programme.
An award giving ceremony was held on the premises of Chattogram City Corporation Municipal Model High School and College in the port city yesterday.
Addressing the event, Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, president of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, said a nation cannot move forward and become developed without its people acquiring new knowledge.
"Books are the source of knowledge. Everyone should read more books to become enlightened," he said.
About 15,000 students from 93 schools in the port city participated in the book reading programme in the 2023 academic year. Of them, 5,503 students were awarded for having shown achievement in the evaluation phase.
Md Tofail Islam, divisional commissioner of Chattogram, was present as a guest at the event.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/education/news/5503-students-win-reading-contest-3742511
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Two siblings die after inhaling toxic gas in betel nut storage bunker
Nov 1, 2024
Two siblings died and three were injured while working inside a betel nut storage bunker in Chattogram's Fatikchhari upazila today.
The deceased were identified as Md Shafi, 40, and Sohidullah, 38, of Paindong union of the upazila, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent quoting police.
"Five people fell ill after inhaling poisonous gas at 11:30am while working at a betel nut storage bunker. Neighbours later rescued them and sent them to Chattogram Medical College Hospital where doctors declared two siblings dead," said Kamal Uddin, officer of the Fatikchhari Fire Service and Civil Defence Station.
The injured people are undergoing treatment at the hospital, he added.
Mohin Uddin, member of Paindong Union Parishad, told reporters that the victims were betel nut sellers.
"They used to preserve betel nut for selling in advance of the season to earn extra money," he added.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/accidents-fires/news/two-siblings-die-after-inhaling-toxic-gas-betel-nut-storage-bunker-3742326
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Fire guts 8 shops in Kishoreganj; traders claim losses of over Tk 2 crore
Nov 1, 2024
At least eight shops were reduced to ashes in a fire in Hossainpur upazila of Kishoreganj early today, with business owners estimating losses of over Tk 2 crore.
The fire broke out around 4:30am in the Mishtipatty area of Hossainpur Pourashava bazar, said fire service and local sources.
Most shop owners were sleeping at the time. The flames spread quickly, gutting a pharmacy, two hardware stores, two hotels, a grocery shop, a shoe store, and a liquor store, sources say.
Four units of the fire service responded to the blaze, which took about two and a half hours to bring under control. By then, all goods were burned, said Shamsul Haque, substation officer of Hossainpur Fire Service.
Among those affected, Kofil Mia said his hardware shop had goods worth over Tk 60 lakh, along with Tk 2.5 lakh in cash, while Jewel Mia claimed his hardware store lost goods worth over Tk 50 lakh, with another Tk 2 lakh in cash. Alamin said his drug store held about Tk 50 lakh worth of inventory.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Anindya Mondal, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Farid Al Sohan, and the Hossainpur Pourashava administrator visited the site this morning.
The fire service said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined and an investigation is underway.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/accidents-fires/news/two-die-injuries-after-separate-road-accidents-jashore-3742141
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Addressing Afghan-Pak commercial ports’ problems a must
November 2, 2024
Border issues between Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan have turned into a critical headache for the two nations, particularly when it is time for Afghan products exports. Fresh and dry fruits are one of Afghanistan’s most important exports, and horticulture is a major hobby of rough numbers of Afghan farmers. Afghanistan is a very suitable country for planting different types of fruit and fruitless trees and horticulture contributes highly to the daily incomes of the impoverished people. Due to its proper climate and soil and mountainous structure, its low population, low consumption of various industrial fuels and its clean nature, all kinds of its fruits are ranked first in the world market. But, unfortunately, despite these privileges, these delicious fruits do not give as much profit to the farmers as they work hard. The country’s farmers are facing many problems requiring the government to do its best to solve them. The biggest problem facing the country’s dried and fresh fruits is the lack of a market abroad forcing thousands of the country’s farmers to sell at the lowest prices inside the country because the country’s traders have not yet been able to sell them with a reasonable income in the foreign markets. The nearest and immediate neighbor of the country, Pakistan is yet to permanently address the problems of commercial goods’ exchange between the two nations, as every year, thousands of Afghan fresh fruits trucks are blocked along the border ports of the two countries or imposed the highest and intolerable tariffs on the Afghan exporters. Of course, doing this is not easy or simple, but decision to permanently tackle the problem is most important for both countries. Both countries, through a wise plan, can be the shortest, safest and most reasonable market for each other, if the politicians come to a positive, helpful and contractive conclusion in this respect. As reports confirm, most of the country’s get spoiled after long blockage by Pakistan border officials along the ports, leaving millions of Afghani losses on the farmers. So, they have to offer their fresh fruits inside the country at the lowest prices which does not have enough income for the farmers and revenue for the government. Lack of cold storage and greenhouses is another problem facing farmers in the country. When they harvest their fresh fruits, they don’t know what to do due to a critical shortage of the facilities locally. So, the farmers and horticulturalists have to collect the fruit of their garden and sell them mostly at retail prices within a few days after it is ripe to the local traders as soon as possible, as fresh fruits have a very short shelf life. As both countries are the nearest neighbors, the joint trade organizing commission of the two sides should do their best to make a wise commercial plan to tackle border issues permanently to help both nations take advantage of both countries’ products.
Source:thekabultimes.com
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https://thekabultimes.com/addressing-afghan-pak-commercial-ports-problems-a-must/
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Acting Minister of Higher Education Engages with Geneva Call President
2024-11-02
KABUL(BNA): Sheikh Neda Mohammad Nadim, the Acting Minister of Higher Education, hosted a high-level meeting with John Keller, President of Geneva Call, alongside a delegation from the organization. The discussions, held at the Ministry of Higher Education in Kabul, underscored Afghanistan’s educational priorities and Geneva Call’s continued commitment to capacity-building initiatives.
According to an official release from the Ministry, Acting Minister Nadim extended his appreciation to Geneva Call for its contributions to Afghanistan’s education sector, particularly in public awareness initiatives and teacher training programs. He requested Mr. Keller to help convey a balanced and realistic image of Afghanistan to international entities and the Swiss public.
Mr. John Keller, expressing Geneva Call’s dedication to Afghanistan’s advancement, stated that he had engaged with various Afghan citizens who echoed a strong sense of national progress. “I recognize that perspectives differ fundamentally between individuals residing within a society and those viewing it from abroad,” he remarked.
Mr. Keller further emphasized Geneva Call’s commitment to supporting the Islamic Emirate’s development goals, noting that his organization has been collaborating on projects in Afghanistan since 2018. “Just as Switzerland values its sovereignty, every nation deserves to act independently in its decisions. We wish the Islamic Emirate the strength to uphold its autonomy,” Keller concluded, signaling Geneva Call’s alignment with Afghanistan’s sovereign aspirations.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/acting-minister-of-higher-education-engages-with-geneva-call-president/
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Sirajul Islam Chowdhury for making libraries cultural practicing centre
02 Nov 2024
DHAKA, Nov 2, 2024 (BSS) - Professor Emeritus and literary critic Sirajul Islam Chowdhury today said the libraries need to be made an excellence center of cultural practice.
"The role of books is most important in practicing culture. There were libraries in almost every area. But those are now lifeless. Those libraries should be reinvigorated," he said.
The eminent historian said this while inaugurating a book fair titled 'Otijjyo Book Festival' organized by Otijjyo Prakashona at Bangla Academy here.
Mentioning that the capitalist system is isolating people every day, making far distance among mankind, Chowdhury said, "Resistance against this system exists, but on small scale. In the long run, humanity will win. This is the source of optimism and hope".
He said capitalism is patronising fascist rule in different countries around the world. Capitalism has reached its peak which will be destroyed worldwide and an era of socialism and joint ownership on property will be established, he hoped.
Chowdhury also said, "We encourage reading not just for acquiring knowledge but for understanding own-self, wellness, and personal growth."
The eminent columnist said the history is distorted as there was no national unity even after 53 years of independence.
About the publication, Chowdhury said Oitijjyo is publishing books even in unfavorable situation. They are publishing creative books, he added.
But unfortunately, he said people are not interested in reading books. The powerful people are making weapons of death and killing people like birds, he continued.
Writer Sharmin Ahmed, young translator Mahin Haque and Oitijjyo publisher Arifur Rahman Naeem, among others, addressed it.
Source:bssnews.net
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https://www.bssnews.net/news/220329
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Arab World
Four falcons net almost $74,000 in Saudi club’s auction
November 02, 2024
RIYADH: The Saudi Falcon Club’s 2024 auction saw four prestigious birds change hands for a combined SR277,000 ($73,756) during its 13th night at the Malham headquarters north of Riyadh.
The evening’s highest bid went to a Shaheen fledgling known as “Trah Amlaj Al-Hassi,” owned by falconers Younis and Abdulrahman Al-Jahni, selling for SR79,000. Close behind was another Shaheen fledgling, “Trah Farasan,” from owners Ali Suhail and Ahmad Al-Aqili, which fetched SR77,000.
A third Shaheen, “Trah Dhulm,” owned by falconers Nader, Saud, and Fahad Al-Otaibi, commanded SR71,000, while “Trah Al-Sawarima,” a fledgling from Jazan region, rounded out the night’s sales at SR50,000.
The auction, which runs until Nov. 15, showcases the club’s comprehensive support for the falconry community. Regional teams across the Kingdom facilitate participation by providing accommodation and transportation for falcon owners, known as tawarih, to the auction venue.
Each sale is broadcast live on television and social media platforms, allowing enthusiasts nationwide to witness these historic transactions, featuring competitive bidding in a fast-paced environment.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577745/saudi-arabia
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80-year-old Saudi tour guide welcomes foreign visitors to Najran with English tours
TAREQ AL-THAQAFI
November 02, 2024
MAKKAH: Clips of 80-year-old Saudi citizen Saeed bin Saleh have gone viral on social media, showing him fluently conversing in English with European tourists in the Najran region of southern Saudi Arabia.
Bin Saleh’s life has been a remarkable journey. Early on, he moved to the Eastern Province in search of work, driven by the need to support his mother after losing his father at a young age.
In Dhahran, he worked alongside Americans and Europeans, which marked a turning point in his life. This experience not only improved his living conditions but also allowed him to master English.
He told Arab News that he has developed a strong and enduring connection with Western tourists who regularly visit Najran. They praise the area for its rich history, abundant with ancient artifacts and remnants of past civilizations, including the renowned Al-Okhdood site and relics from the Paleolithic era, which date back thousands of years.
He noted that the tourists he speaks with are often impressed by his fluent English, particularly considering that he is over 80 years old, and admire the detailed answers they receive to their historical inquiries.
Their questions often center around significant sites like the Al-Okhdood ruins, the Hima wells, the unique rock formations, and the region’s wealth of archaeological inscriptions, Bin Saleh said.
Reflecting on his early experience with the English language, Bin Saleh explained that he left Najran as a young man in search of work in the Eastern Province, particularly in Dhahran.
After losing his father, he took on the responsibility of supporting his mother, determined to improve their situation. Bin Saleh eventually crossed paths with an American who offered him a job assisting with preparations on the golf courses that were popular in Dhahran at that time.
His close interaction with the American gave him the opportunity to learn English at a young age, which led to a 30-year career in the Eastern Province.
During this time, he worked with several companies, including Aramco and American Airlines, before transitioning to Indian Airlines, which further helped him refine his language skills.
After many years, he decided to return to Najran, where he continued his career with the Ministry of Health as an ambulance driver. Upon retiring, he chose to dedicate his time to being close to his children and grandchildren.
Bin Saleh explained that Europeans are drawn to Najran because of its deep historical and cultural significance. They are particularly captivated by the Arabic inscriptions in Kufic script from the early Islamic period and the ancient South Arabian Musnad script.
Najran is also renowned for its bustling heritage markets, where traditional crafts such as daggers, or jambiyas, and historically significant mosques built from stone and clay can be found. In addition to its rich Islamic history, the region is home to numerous monuments from the ancient civilizations of southern Arabia.
He said that, at his age, he is no longer a full-time tour guide but is always eager to help visitors and those interested in the heritage of the region.
Najran, a key stop on the ancient caravan routes connecting the southern and northern Arabian Peninsula, is renowned for its remarkable rock carvings, including depictions of hunting and grazing scenes and human figures, alongside inscriptions in Thamudic, Musnad, and Kufic scripts — some dating to 7,000 B.C.
Bin Saleh said that Najran has gained significant attention in the eyes of visitors, particularly following the inclusion of the Hima Cultural Area on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Ongoing archaeological discoveries, led by Saudi and international teams, continue to unveil the region’s rich historical legacy.
Bin Saleh urges Saudi youth interested in becoming tour guides to immerse themselves in the region’s history, while also mastering English.
He stressed the importance of representing the true beauty of Saudi Arabia and showcasing the country’s cultural and archaeological treasures, which make it a unique and historically vibrant destination.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577730/saudi-arabia
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Saudi Arabia to host global symposium for sea turtle conservation in Jeddah
November 01, 2024
JEDDAH: The Red Sea will take center stage in global marine conservation efforts as the first International Symposium for the Conservation of Sea Turtles is set to take place in Jeddah from Nov. 3 to 6.
The event will bring together an elite gathering of over 30 local and international experts and researchers focused on protecting endangered sea turtle species and preserving marine biodiversity, Saudi Press Agency reported Friday.
The symposium, organized by the General Organization for the Conservation of Coral Reefs and Turtles in the Red Sea (SHAMS), will feature presentations and panel discussions on the latest scientific research, innovative solutions for sea turtle protection, and strategies for international collaboration.
In a statement, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture highlighred the importance of the symposium as a platform to drive effective conservation strategies and ensure the sustainable future of the Red Sea’s unique marine ecosystem.
SHAMS’ initiatives aim to develop advanced conservation policies and elevate environmental awareness around the Red Sea, particularly through innovation in marine protection.
According to the Ministry, this event will strengthen Saudi Arabia’s standing in the field of marine environmental protection while supporting the sustainable conservation of marine species and their natural habitats in the Red Sea.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2577726/saudi-arabia
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What to expect at Islamic Arts Biennale 2025, from meditative gardens to modular prayer spaces
Razmig Bedirian
November 01, 2024
Jeddah’s Islamic Arts Biennale will return next year to reflect on the concept of faith in a rapidly changing world.
It will bring together historical artefacts and contemporary artworks to show how the “Islamic faith is a living system, practised and expressed in diverse ways by countless people around the globe", artist Muhannad Shono, curator of contemporary art at the biennale, says.
Organised by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, the event will run in Jeddah between January 25 and May 25, taking place at the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport. The venue is significant, alluding to Jeddah’s status as a meeting point for Muslim pilgrims every year as they embark on Hajj and Umrah. The city has been a cross-cultural intersection for centuries, and the biennale aims to reflect that within the programme.
The theme, And All That Is In Between, is inspired by a recurring verse in the Quran, which describes the all-encompassing beauty of God’s creations. The verse translates to: “And God created the heavens and the Earth and all that is in between.”
The event is overseen by artistic directors; Julian Rabi, an art historian; Amin Jaffer, senior curator of Al Thani Collection; and author and historian Abdul Rahman Azzam.
“I believe that any exhibition should address themes that are comprehensible and relevant to a wide public, with messages and points of inspiration for people of all ages and backgrounds,” Jaffer says. “As a curatorial team, we wished to address subjects of relevance today by juxtaposing historic works of art with the creations of [contemporary] artists.”
Artworks and artefacts will be displayed across five exhibition halls and outdoor spaces in the terminal. With 500 pieces, the subject matter, materials and styles of the works differ widely. However, they all have one thing in common: they all pay tribute to the wonders materialised by the divine.
Furthermore, more than 20 commissioned works by international artists will be revealed during the biennale. These include pieces by Saudi artist Fatma Abdulhadi, Libyan artist Nour Jaouda and Taiwanese artist Charwei Tsai.
The seven sections
The biennale is segmented across seven sections, each of which was “conceived to offer visitors an appreciably different experience, engaging different interests and aspects of our being", Jaffer says.
AlBidaya, or the Beginning
The section titled AlBidaya, or the Beginning, will reflect on material representations of faith. It will juxtapose artefacts from Makkah and Madinah with commissioned works.
“The commissioned works explore the expansive, boundless, and intangible dimensions of the theme, through the evocation of the heart,” Shono says. The contemporary works within AlBidaya will be among the 20 by international artists commissioned for the biennale.
AlMadar, or the Orbit
AlMadar, or the Orbit, will have works from several major institutions from around the world. In this section, artefacts are presented to demonstrate how mankind often used numerals as a way of comprehending divine order.
“AlMadar shows how Muslims interacted with numbers both to understand and comprehend God’s order and to embellish and bring harmony and beauty to their daily lives,” Azzam says.
From astrolabes used to calculate celestial navigation to the mapping of the oceans and rivers of the known world, to intricate mathematical and algebraic calculations, the objects within the section “explain how man employed numbers to understand his place in the universe and on Earth", Azzam adds.
AlMadar will then build on this theme to show how artists continued to use numbers to create symmetry and harmony in their works, whether in carpet design, architecture or musical compositions.
“The historical objects in AlMadar are complemented with contemporary interpretations which emphasize the universal and timeless nature of numbers and how they continue to play a vibrant role in Islamic arts and culture,” Azzam says.
AlMuqtani, or Homage
The section dubbed AlMuqtani, or Homage, is a tribute to individual collectors, whose works have become indispensable to the understanding of Islamic art and culture. The section will be predominantly drawn from two collections.
These include that of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Than, cousin of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad. The collection is known for its focus on jewelled objects and precious materials. Rifaat Sheikh El Ard’s collection, meanwhile, is recognised as being one of the most unique, particularly for its assemblage of metalworks and items from the Islamic civilisation’s chivalric culture.
AlMathala, or Canopy
The outdoor areas, named AlMathala, or Canopy, will present the commissioned works that reflect upon the design and nurture of gardens in Islamic civilisation. The area is meant to encourage reflection, learning and meditation.
“The artworks address urgent contemporary issues while offering personal moments of discovery and creating shared spaces for gathering,” Shono says. “The garden is both deconstructed and reimagined, with visitors metaphorically becoming the water channels that bring it to life. Together, these works cultivate a collective conversation that bridges the spiritual and the worldly.”
AlMukarramah (Makkah) and AlMunawwarah (Madinah)
The section AlMukarramah and AlMunawwarah will comprise two pavilions dedicated to the locations they are named after.
The pavilions "evoke the sacred atmosphere" of the cities, Jaffer says.
Hajj Terminal
Finally, the winner of AlMusalla Prize will be displayed under the canopy of the Hajj Terminal. The prize is an annual initiative by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and honours the new architecture of Muslim societies.
This year, artists competing for the prize are designing a prayer space, or musalla, that is modular and uses sustainable construction methods. The winning design and structure will be revealed on the opening day of the biennale.
Source:thenationalnews.com
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https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2024/11/01/islamic-arts-biennale-2025-sections/
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Saudi Arabia: Over 2m benefit from perfuming service at Prophet’s Mosque
November 01, 2024
Cairo: Around 2.4 million Muslim worshippers at the Prophet’s Mosque, Islam’s second holiest place in the Saudi city of Medina, have benefited from a perfuming service so far this year, according to official figures.
Large quantities of fine perfumes and Oud oil fragrance have been used during this period amounting to 9,039 litres, while 104kg of incense have been used during scenting rounds, the total of which has reached 5,781, figures from the General Authority for Care of the Two Holy Mosques showed.
The service aims to spread pleasant scents throughout the sprawling mosque, and support a seamless network of services provided for worshippers, dubbed in Saudi Arabia as “Guests of God”.
After performing Umrah or minor pilgrimage at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site in the Saudi city of Mecca, many pilgrims would flock to Medina to offer prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque and visit other Islamic sites in the city.
More than 10 million Muslims visited and prayed at Al Rawda Al Sharifa, where the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is located at the Prophet’s Mosque, so far this year, according to official figures announced in mid-October.
The figure marked a 26% increase against last year.
The visitors included 5.8 million male worshippers and 4.7 million women.
More than 280 million Muslims prayed at the mosque in 2023. Some 14.1 million people visited Medina last year, Saudi figures said
Last year, Saudi authorities unveiled a gilded brass barrier surrounding the Sacred Chamber at the Prophet’s Mosque. The barrier replaced a wooden barrier to preserve the visual identity and architectural pattern of the mosque, officials said.
The barrier has posts fixed to the bottom base by internal props, guaranteeing its immovability under pressure of human density and easy maintenance.
Source:gulfnews.com
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https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-over-2m-benefit-from-perfuming-service-at-prophets-mosque-1.1730452891560
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Taif: A bee paradise, flourishes among wild flora
November 01, 2024
RIYADH: In the heart of Saudi Arabia, Taif’s beekeepers are revolutionizing honey production while staying true to their craft’s ancient roots.
The Saudi Press Agency reported that these artisans meticulously oversee every step of production, from harvesting pristine honeycombs to delivering the final product, adhering to rigorous quality standards that have made Taif honey renowned throughout the region.
“The honey supply chain begins long before the first drop is collected,” beekeeper Mohsen Al-Mudaifi said in an exclusive interview with the SPA. Operating about 500 hives, Al-Mudaifi’s operation yields an impressive 70-130 kg of honey during peak flowering seasons. His production line accommodates both traditional comb honey and liquid varieties, catering to diverse consumer preferences.
According to SPA, the secret to Taif’s thriving apiculture lies in its diverse landscape. The Tihama lowlands and the Sarawat highlands create a tapestry of microclimates rich in wild flora. This natural bounty includes aromatic shrubs, traditional thorn jujube trees, and a variety of indigenous plants such as acacia tortilis, sweet acacia and Astragalus.
The area also hosts distinctive mountain vegetation and the acacia asak plants. All these florae are considered premium honey-producing species, growing naturally in their pristine environment, and each contributing to the region’s distinctive honey varieties.
Taif has established itself as a distinctive hub with its specialized honey market and diverse bee products, anchored by a vibrant weekly honey auction. The practice, deeply woven into the region’s cultural fabric, has been passed down through generations.
In an annual ritual, beekeepers from the Sarawat mountains and Ghazwan peaks prepare for their seasonal migration, SPA reported.
This carefully orchestrated movement will soon see millions of bees transported in cylindrical or square hives to warmer climates, particularly to Taif’s Tihama region. Many will find their winter home in Al-Buhaita Wild Park, a sanctuary that has become both a tourist destination and a crucial waypoint in Taif’s honey production cycle.
Source:arabnews.com
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MEWA and NCVC launch National Afforestation Season in Riyadh
HAIFA ALSHAMMARI
November 01, 2024
RIYADH: The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, along with the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, launched the National Afforestation Season for this year on Thursday in Riyadh under the title: “We Plant for Our Future.”
Khalid Al-Abdulqader, CEO of the NCVC, expressed his commitment to raising awareness about the significance of afforestation. He emphasized the need to support efforts to enhance vegetation cover and mitigate land degradation.
Through this season, the CEO aims to promote environmental sustainability and encourage the cultivation of local plants to improve the biodiversity and sustainable ecosystems in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is taking further steps toward achieving the ultimate goal of the Saudi Green Initiative, SGI, which is to plant 10 billion trees and rehabilitate 40 million hectares.
However, it requires strengthening partnerships with multiple sectors including the public and private sectors, and promoting volunteering among the society to achieve sustainable development goals.
The planting season also seeks to increase “tree planting” culture in Saudi Arabia, improve vegetation cover, and reduce land degradation by growing more local plants.
This initiative marks a new phase in environmental protection efforts, which have already led to the planting of more than 95 million trees across the country through collaborations between public and private sectors.
Previous partnerships have successfully rehabilitated 118,000 hectares of land and protected more than 4.3 million hectares, while this year, the target is to contribute to the SGI’s goal of planting 10 billion trees.
The Kingdom has been encouraging afforestation recently to tackle several environmental issues such as the rapidly changing climate, through lowering regional temperatures and controlling the severity of drought.
Saudi Arabia called on the world’s policymakers last month to urgently address land destruction and drought, especially since the country will be hosting the 16th UN Convention to Combat Desertification COP16 in Riyadh in December.
Source:arabnews.com
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Saudi Arabia affirms high workplace safety standards in response to false reports
November 01, 2024
RIYADH: In response to false reports, Saudi Arabia’s government has affirmed that the Kingdom has one of the world’s lowest rates of workplace fatalities, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health issued a statement, carried by the SPA, highlighting that work-related fatalities stand at 1.12 per 100,000 workers.
“The International Labour Organization acknowledges this progress, highlighting … that Saudi Arabia has made significant advancements in improving occupational safety and health and reducing workplace accidents at the national level,” the council stated.
“Similar commendations have been offered by other reputable international organizations, including the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management and the British Safety Council.”
The council was created primarily to integrate national policies and global best practices for occupational safety and health in the workplace.
On the legislative side, Saudi Arabia’s labor laws have mandated that employers provide comprehensive health insurance including essential preventive, therapeutic and healthcare services for all employees, the council stated.
The statement added: “Regulations also restrict work under direct sunlight during the summer months and establish working hours in accordance with international standards set forth in relevant ILO agreements.
“We emphasize the importance of verifying information and sourcing it from credible outlets.”
Source:arabnews.com
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/urdu-kanpur-diwali-giriraj-singh-islamisation/d/133610