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creepingsharia · 5 years ago

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He Simply “Hates Christians”: Muslim Persecution of Christians, January 2020

By Raymond Ibrahim

The following are some of the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians, categorized by theme, throughout the month of January, 2020:

The Slaughter of Christians in Nigeria

During several separate incidents, militant Muslims—whether Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, or generic terrorists—continued to attack and massacre several Christians.

As one example, on Friday, January 17, Muslim Fulani tribesmen on motorbikes raided a Christian village at a time they knew people were congregating at the village square where Christian fellowship often took pace. They opened fire. “As the people fled into nearby bushes to take cover, the attackers retreated and left,” an area resident explained. “We are sad about these attacks on our people, which seem to be unending.” Two young Christian girls—Briget Philip, 18, and Priscilla David, 19—were killed, and at least three other teenagers were seriously wounded.

In another incident, “[a]t least 32 people [including a pregnant woman] were killed and a pastor’s house and church building were burned down in two nights of attacks [on predominantly Christian regions] this week by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Plateau state,” a January 30 report noted.

In the early hours of January 20, gunmen invaded the Lutheran Church of Christ, where its pastor, the Rev. Dennis Bagauri, lived; they opened fire on “and shot him dead at night when all persons in the area had gone to sleep,” a local confirmed.

Boko Haram (whose name roughly means “Western education is a sin”) released another execution video. In it, a masked Muslim child holding a pistol appears standing behind a bound and kneeling hostage, later identified as Ropvil Daciya Dalep, a 22-year-old Christian and member of the Church of Christ in Nations, who was kidnapped on January 9 while traveling to his university, where he majored in biology. After chanting in Arabic and launching into an anti-Christian diatribe, the Muslim child proceeds to shoot Ropvil several times in the back of the head.

Execution of Ropvil Daciya Dalep.

On January 2, Islamic gunmen abducted Reverend Lawan Andimi, a pastor and district chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. After the terrorists demanded an exorbitant ransom for his release—two million Euros, which his church and family simply could not raise—they beheaded the married father-of-nine on January 20. Earlier, in a January 5 video that his abductors released, Pastor Lawan had said that he hoped to be reunited with his wife and children; however, “[i]f the opportunity has not been granted, maybe it is the will of God. I want all people close and far, colleagues, to be patient. Don’t cry, don’t worry, but thank God for everything.”

In a statement prompted by all these unchecked killing of Christians, Kwamkur Vondip, the director of legal and public affairs of the Christian Association of Nigeria, blasted the Muslim-led government of Nigeria of “colluding” with the Islamic terrorists:

In the light of the current developments and the circumstantial facts surrounding the prevailing upsurge of attacks against the church, it will be difficult for us to believe that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari is not colluding with the insurgents to exterminate Christians in Nigeria, bearing in mind the very questionable leadership of the security sector that has been skewed towards a religion and region. Is that lopsidedness not a cover-up for the operation of the insurgency?.… Since the government and its apologists are claiming the killings have no religious undertones, why are the terrorists and herdsmen targeting the predominantly Christian communities and Christian leaders?

The nonstop massacres of Christians which are met with impunity from the Nigerian government also prompted Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto to express his disgust with the government in a January 3 report: “The only difference between the government and Boko Haram,” he said, “is that Boko Haram is holding a bomb.” The Nigerian government is “using the levers of power to secure the supremacy of Islam, which then gives more weight to the idea that it can be achieved by violence.”

The Slaughter of Christians Elsewhere in Africa

Kenya: Armed Muslims connected with neighboring Somalia’s terrorist group, Al Shabaab (“the youth”), murdered three Christian teachers during a raid on a primary school in the early hours of January 13; a fourth victim managed to survive.

Another local teacher said “We are sad and at the same time scared because we are targeted for being non-local government workers that belong to the Christian faith.” While discussing this incident, a separate report adds that

Today’s attack comes against the backdrop of a series of attacks from the terrorist group in the last five weeks, leading to the loss of 25 people total … On December 6, 2019, four teachers were among the 11 non-local Christian passengers killed … when al-Shabaab flagged down the bus they were traveling in. The militants separated the passengers and killed those on the spot who failed to recite the Islamic Shahada.

Central African Republic: Militant Muslims shot and killed two Christian pastors as they travelled together by car after having conducted a Christmas Day church service. According to the January 6 report, after murdering the Christians, the “jihadists” continued “shooting, preventing efforts to recover the bodies. The men had to be buried later at the scene of the attack.” The report adds that the “Christian-majority Central African Republic has been blighted by violence since 2013, when the Seleka Islamist armed group briefly overthrew the government…. Christian communities continue to be the targets of attacks…. In November 2018, more than 40 people were killed and many were forced to flee when members of an Islamist militia attacked a Christian mission in Alindao.

Cameroon: “Not a day passes without attacks on the villages on Cameroon’s frontier with Nigeria,” lamented Bishop Bruno Ateba in reference to the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram’s increased incursions into Christian villages in a January 24 report: “Boko Haram is like the beast of the Apocalypse, or a many-headed Hydra—whenever you cut off one of its heads, it seems simply to grow another…. Within my own diocese there have been 13 attacks in the last weeks.” One of those attacks saw a church torched on the feast of the Epiphany. “We are still investigating who was behind the incident, but everything points to the fact that it was a terrorist attack.” Bishop Barthélemy also shared his experiences: “My birthplace, the village of Blablim, no longer exists. The terrorists have murdered a young man of my family and totally devastated the entire village, including the house I was born in. Everybody, with the exception of the sick and elderly, was forced to flee to Mora, 10 miles away. It will be impossible now to gather in the cotton harvest.”

Egypt: On January 12, a Muslim man crept up behind a Christian woman walking home with groceries, pulled her head back with a hand full of hair, and slit her throat with a knife in the other hand. Nearby people restrained the man in al-Wariq, Giza, where the incident took place. Catherine Ramzi was rushed to a nearby medical center, where her throat was sewn with 63 stitches; despite initial heavy bleeding, she managed to survive. The doctor told her that had the knife penetrated one millimeter more—her now mangled sweatshirt had provided some buffering against the knife—it would have reached her jugulars and killed her. During an interview, she explained that she had never before seen the man. All she heard him say during the assault is that she “deserved it” because her “hair was exposed.” He may have also identified her as a Christian because, like many Copts, Catherine bears a visible tattoo of the cross on her hand.

Separately, on January 14, in the region of al-Maraj, another Muslim man tried to slaughter a Christian man with a sharp box-cutter in a public space. He managed only to slice off a portion of the Copt’s ear. After Muhammad ‘Awad, 32, was arrested and questioned as to why he tried to murder Rafiq Karam, 56, he confessed that he did not know him, but that he simply “hates Christians.”

Attacks on Christian Churches

Sudan: Three churches—a Sudan Internal church, a Catholic church and an Orthodox church—were simultaneously burnt down twice over the course of three weeks in the Blue Nile state. The arsonists are suspected to be area Muslims. According to a January 20 statement from a human rights group published in the Sudan Tribune,

On the evening of 28th December 2019, three churches in three different neighbourhoods … were set on fire (burnt) at the same time by arsonists. The worshipers quickly rebuild the three churches using the local materials as it was before. However, for the second time, on the evening of 16th January, the arsonists burnt down the three churches,” said the group…. [L]ocal authorities did not take any measure to protect the churches or to investigate the attacks.

“This incident is true, the three churches were set on fire twice in less than a month,” a local pastor confirmed, adding that “area Muslims were upset about the presence of the churches there, and they are suspected in the fires.”

Philippines: On January 19, police arrested two Muslim men from the Islamic terror group Abu Sayyaf (“the sword-forger”) before they could carry out a planned bomb attack on a Catholic cathedral in Basilan, which both men confessed to. Explosive materials—including more than 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) of assorted nails, blasting caps, 1.5-volt batteries, and wires—were recovered from their hideout. Abu Sayyaf earlier “masterminded a twin bombing at a church on southern Jolo island in January 2019 that left more than 20 people dead.”

Egypt: “The security apparatus prevented Copts in Faw Bahri … from holding the New Year’s Eve prayer on Tuesday, 31 December, in the home of a local Copt. Several Copts gathered in the building and complained about being prohibited from completing the prayer,” the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo based think tank with an emphasis on human rights, said in a January 6 press release:

The building that security shut down and prevented prayer inside of is owned by a village Copt and has been used for worship services for four months [and apparently set on fire before for this reason]. Security promised to rapidly secure a building permit for a new church on a 460-meter tract of land purchased by the church a while back. All the necessary surveys have been conducted by official bodies and a wall was built around the plot. All that is needed to start construction is the permits. The closest church to the village is 10 km away…. 3,000 Christians live in the village and used to pray at the house that was shuttered by security. They are all waiting for security to keep its promise to issue permits for the construction of a new church.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) further criticized the “glacial pace” of the Sisi-government’s hitherto much lauded church construction law adopted in September 2016. More than “three years after its adoption, the church construction law has failed to end violations of Christians’ right to worship and address related sectarian tensions…. [T]he process to regularize the legal status of churches is moving at a glacial pace and lacks transparency,” the press release added:

The EIPR has documented at least 36 cases of sectarian tension and violence since the church construction law went into effect and through the end of 2019, all of them associated with the worship practices. In the same period, interventions by various state institutions led to the closure of 25 churches and the prohibition of collective worship services in the areas in question. In many of these cases, customary reconciliation sessions were convened that concluded with agreements to shut down the church while promising to grant the necessary permits when papers were officially filed. Yet, when church officials applied for official permits, state agencies refused to grant permits or allow them to organize religious services or mass.

Indonesia: Construction of the Bethel Church of Indonesia (GBI) My Home church, plans for which began in 2016, was “abruptly halted” after its building permit was revoked. The church would have served 1,200 registered congregants. In response, on January 16, Amnesty International Indonesia in a statement urged the authorities to annul their decision to revoke the permit:

This is a clear case of persecution and discrimination against a religious minority. The authorities in Tanjungpinang have failed to provide any legal justification for denying this permit and blatantly disregarded the Constitution and their obligations to respect the right to religious freedom and ensure equal enjoyment of human rights.

In a separate case in the same in the region, Muslims halted construction of another church. According to the January 24 report,

Built in 1928, St Joseph’s Catholic Church needs to be renovated and enlarged. Originally it could accommodate 100 people, but now it has more than 700 members. Despite having all the permits, the project is opposed by a small group of young Muslims who threaten action against public order…. Local Catholics are critical of Karimun district chief who, bowing to extremists, has turned against the project even though it has all the required permits.

Although area Christians had “explained to Karimun officials [that] there will be no symbol or ornament outside the church; no cross, no statue, no image of Mary will be displayed visible outside the church”; and although this decision by the Christians was taken reluctantly, as it would make the building look like “a gym or a conference hall”—Muslims still rejected the church.

France: A suspected Muslim man was arrested for desecrating a church, including by writing Koran verses on its walls. According to the January 16 report,

The arrest comes just under a year after another church in Toulouse, the Notre-Dame du Taur, was vandalised by an individual who wrote “Allah u Akbar” on the doors of the building…. Church attacks in France have become a major issue in the last several years, with a report from March of last year claiming that there are as many as three attacks on churches or graveyards per day on average, with a total of 1,063 cases in 2018.

One recent attack “saw human faeces smeared into prayer books at a church in the commune of Tarbes.”

Sweden: After a series of arson attacks on St. Maria Syrian Orthodox Church—one of which was started by someone pouring and lighting gasoline to its exterior—church members have begun to patrol its premises at night in the hopes of preventing further attacks. The January 10 report adds that, “Church attacks in Sweden are relatively uncommon in general but attacks on communities targetted by radical Islamic Sunni extremists, such as Syrian Christians and Shi’ite Muslims, are a concern in the country.”

Attacks on Apostates and Blasphemers

Iran: A court sentenced Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, 65, a Muslim convert to Christianity, to three years imprisonment on the charge of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs,” said human rights group Middle East Concern in a January 22 report. The Christian was initially charged with “propaganda against the state and insulting the sacred Iranian establishment,” but during “a hearing on 22 October, the judge further accused Ismaeil of apostasy [that is, turning away from Islam, which is a capital crime according to some interpretations of Islamic law] and increased bail demands from 10 million to 100 million tomans (US$9000). Friends provided pledges to cover the bail demands. There were further hearings in November (when the apostasy charge was dropped), December and January.” On January 8, he was found guilty of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs in cyberspace”—a reference to the claim that “Ismaeil had forwarded a message sent to his phone that was deemed to be insulting to the ruling Iranian clerics”—and sentenced to three year imprisonment. According to a human rights activist associated with the case, the sentence is “a disproportionate reaction to something so ordinary. The other charges that Ismaeil is facing, as well as the quashed charge of apostasy, (are) related to his conversion to Christianity. This may reveal the real reason why he’s been charged with something that most ordinary Iranians do on a daily basis.”

Pakistan: Muslims beat and falsely accused a Christian man, Shahbaz Masih, 40, of blasphemy, which led to his and his friend’s arrest. According to the January 14 report,

His [Muslim] accusers, Shahzaib and Ahmad, hold a grudge against him for being a Christian. On 27 December the two surrounded him at the market, dragged him to a nearby landfill where children collect paper, and beat [him there]. His screams drew the attention of his friend Ishaq [a moderate Muslim], who came to his aid. At that point, the attackers accused both of blasphemy, of burning pages of the Qurʼān. A riot followed, with a nearby mosque calling on Muslims to kill both men. When police arrived, it took the two friends to a police station, questioned them and moved them to a prison, where they are still being held. Human rights groups slam the cops for giving in to extremist pressure and formally recording the case. For their part, radicals threatened to burn the homes of Christians as well as that of the Muslim man, “guilty” of being friends with the Christian. For this reason, the families of the accused went into hiding at an unknown location.

Generic Hate for and Violence against Christians

Egypt: Muslim students at a Minya school “rejected” Mervat Seifein, a school teacher, “for the explicit reason that she is Copt,” that is, a Christian, a report noted. After “a routine promotion in which she replaced the previous school director who is a Muslim,” both boy and girl “students protested and held a sit-in in the school courtyard asking for her removal.” “We don’t want a Copt!” they cried. Some Muslim teachers joined in the protests. Police were unable to disperse the boys’ demonstration in the courtyard. “The girls who demonstrated against me don’t know me,” Mervat responded, “so why the antagonism? Simply because I am Coptic? The only explanation I can fathom is there has been fanatic incitement going on against my promotion, possibly by persons who are purely extremist or who have an interest in keeping me out of that post.” Ezzat Ibrahim, a human rights activist, added that a prompt official investigation should be conducted into the matter:

This is flagrant religious discrimination. It brings to mind the incident in the southern province of Qena when the Islamists rose against the appointment of a Coptic governor in the past-Arab Spring weeks in 2011, and the State gave in and went back on the appointment. It is catastrophic that some 50 or 100 teenage girls or boys should impose their will on the State. And it is equally disastrous that these students were pushed to do so by a group of fanatic Islamists. The positive official response to their preposterous demands amounts to an invitation for religious discrimination. The deputy minister who did that must be dismissed.

Bangladesh: Twelve Christian Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were attacked and injured by Muslim Rohingya “due to their faith.” (Rohingya are overwhelmingly Muslim). “[E]arly Monday [January 27, they] attacked us, the Christians. They looted our houses, and beat up many Christian members. At least 12 Christians have been undergoing treatment at different hospitals and clinics,” a Christian named Saiful reported. “We came under attack due to our faith,” he insisted. “On May 10, 11, and 13 last year, this same group of terrorists attacked us. They want us to leave this camp. They have been attacking us systematically.” Although official Bangladeshi reports denied or underplayed the religious dimension of the attacks, other sources, such as the Rohingya Christian Assembly from India, confirmed them: Muslim Rohingya “attacked the whole Christian community in Kutupalong Camp,” the group said. “Approximately 25 Christian families are displaced. It is winter and very cold, the victims have many minor children with them.” The group added that mobs armed with machetes—“hundreds in many groups”—invaded and destroyed every Christian home at night.

Iraq: Four Christian humanitarian aid workers—three French, one Iraqi—were kidnapped in Baghdad on January 20. No ransom demands were made. According to the report, “The four went missing during a time of heightened tensions in Iraq after a U.S. drone strike on Baghdad airport that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and a senior Iraqi militia commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The attack has drawn anger from Iraqi officials from across the political divide …. Iran-backed militia groups have also sworn to avenge the killings.”

Iran: Authorities demolished the grave of the only Christian to be officially executed for apostasy in the Islamic republic. A born Muslim, Pastor Soodmand converted to Christianity before the 1979 revolution. He was arrested, tortured, and eventually executed for apostatizing from Islam to Christianity in December 1990. Now, thirty years later, “all that remains of the pastor’s unmarked grave is the soil under which he was once buried.” His daughter, Rashin Soodmand, who now lives in Europe, gave her reaction:

As a member of the family of this martyred pastor, I can say that the recent disrespect shown to our father’s grave wounded our hearts yet again. Our father was killed cruelly and contrary to the law. They buried him in a place they called la’anatabad [accursed place], without our knowledge, and did not even give our family the opportunity to say goodbye to him, or to see his lifeless body. For years we had to travel to this remote place to visit his unmarked grave, and we were not even allowed to construct a gravestone bearing his name…. We will take our appeal to any relevant national or international institution about this disrespect and cruelty.

The report adds that,

Rev Soodmand remains the only Iranian Christian to have been executed for apostasy following an official court order, although others have been sentenced to death including Rev Mehdi Dibaj and Yousef Nadarkhani. Rev Dibaj was eventually acquitted after nine years in prison but then killed in suspicious circumstances five months later. His body was found days after his disappearance, in a park in a suburb of Tehran, with multiple stab wounds to his chest. Yousef Nadarkhani was also eventually acquitted of the charge but later rearrested on the now much more common charge of ‘actions against national security.’ He is now serving a ten-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of the recent book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic. Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2) To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

#Islam #Muslim #Jihad #Sharia #Persecution #Religion #Mosque #Immigration #News #Politics #Travel #Legal #Media

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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https://apnews.com/e36db7c72c1adba1a6cae75091bc273d

AP says a US official told it the new airstrike north of Baghdad was "not an American military attack." No idea of this is true, but would it then be a US coalition attack? Israel? (But this would seem unlike the usual Israel attack.)

Iraq official says airstrike targets Iran-backed militia

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and ZEINA Karam | Published January 3, 2020 7:50 PM ET | AP | Posted January 3, 2020 |

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran promised to seek revenge for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad’s airport that killed the mastermind of its interventions across the Middle East, and the U.S. said Friday it was sending thousands more troops to the region as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing.

The death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Iran, which has careened from one crisis to another since President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.

In more violence, another airstrike almost exactly 24 hours after the one that targeted Soleimani killed five members of an Iran-backed militia north of Baghdad, an Iraqi security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. The Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces confirmed the strike, saying it hit one of its medical convoys near the stadium in Taji, north of Baghdad. The group said none of its top leaders were killed. A U.S. official said the attack was not an American military attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The targeted strike against Soleimani and any retaliation by Iran could ignite a conflict that engulfs the whole region, endangering U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria and beyond. Over the last two decades, Soleimani had assembled a network of heavily armed allies stretching all the way to southern Lebanon, on Israel’s doorstep.

“We take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over,” Trump said of Soleimani.

Still, the United States said it was sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Middle East, reflecting concern about potential Iranian retaliation for the killing. The U.S. also urged American citizens to leave Iraq “immediately” following the early morning airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport that Iran’s state TV said killed Soleimani and nine others. The State Department said the embassy in Baghdad, which was attacked by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters earlier this week, is closed and all consular services have been suspended.

Around 5,200 American troops are based in Iraq to train Iraqi forces and help in the fight against Islamic State group militants. Defense officials who discussed the new troop movements spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon. A Pentagon official who was not authorized to be identified said the U.S. also had placed an Army brigade on alert to fly into Lebanon to protect the American Embassy. U.S. embassies also issued a security alert for Americans in Bahrain, Kuwait and Nigeria.

The U.S. announcement about sending more troops came as Trump said Soleimani’s killing was not an effort to begin a conflict with Iran. “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war,” Trump said, adding that he does not seek regime change in Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “harsh retaliation” after the airstrike, calling Soleimani the “international face of resistance.” Khamenei declared three days of public mourning and appointed Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani’s deputy, to replace him as head of the Quds Force.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the killing a “heinous crime” and said his country would “take revenge.” Iran twice summoned the Swiss envoy, the first time delivering a letter to pass onto Washington.

Iranian Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the U.S. attack a “cowardly terrorist action” and said Iran has the right to respond “in any method and any time.“

Thousands of worshipers in Tehran took to the streets after Friday prayers to condemn the killing, waving posters of Soleimani and chanting “Death to deceitful America.”

However, the attack could act as a deterrent for Iran and its allies to delay or restrain any potential response. Trump said possible targets had been identified and the U.S. was prepared. Oil prices surged on news of the airstrike and markets were mixed.

The killing promised to further strain relations with Iraq’s government, which is allied with both Washington and Tehran and has been deeply worried about becoming a battleground in their rivalry. Iraqi politicians close to Iran called for the country to order U.S. forces out.

The Defense Department said it killed the 62-year-old Soleimani because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” It also accused Soleimani of approving orchestrated violent protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The strike, on an access road near Baghdad’s airport, was carried out early Friday by an American drone, according to a U.S. official.

Soleimani had just disembarked from a plane arriving from either Syria or Lebanon, a senior Iraqi security official said. The blast tore his body to pieces along with that of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. A senior politician said Soleimani’s body was identified by the ring he wore. Iran’s state TV said Friday 10 people were killed, including five Revolutionary Guard members and Soleimani’s son-in-law.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The attack comes at the start of a year in which Trump faces both a Senate trial following his impeachment by Congress and a re-election campaign. It marks a potential turning point in the Middle East and represents a drastic change for American policy toward Iran after months of tensions.

The tensions are rooted in Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Since then, Tehran shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone and seized oil tankers. The U.S. also blames Iran for other attacks targeting tankers and a September assault on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry that temporarily halved its production.

Supporters of the strike against Soleimani said it restored U.S. deterrence power against Iran, and Trump allies were quick to praise the action. “To the Iranian government: if you want more, you will get more,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted.

“Hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran,” Trump’s former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, wrote in a tweet.

Others, including Democratic White House hopefuls, criticized Trump’s order. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Trump had “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” saying it could leave the U.S. “on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East.”

Trump, who was vacationing at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, said he ordered the airstrike because Soleimani had killed and wounded many Americans over the years and was plotting to kill many more. “He should have been taken out many years ago,” he added.

The potential for a spiraling escalation alarmed U.S. allies and rivals alike.

“We are waking up in a more dangerous world,” France’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Amelie de Montchalin, told RTL radio. The European Union warned against a “generalized flare-up of violence.” Russia condemned the killing, and fellow Security Council member China said it was “highly concerned.” Britain and Germany noted that Iran also bore some responsibility for escalating tensions.

While Iran’s conventional military has suffered under 40 years of American sanctions, Iran can strike in the region through its allied forces like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on “the resistance the world over” to avenge Soleimani’s killing. Frictions over oil shipments in the Gulf could also increase, and Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard has built up a ballistic missile program.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it in a statement Friday that it had held a special session and made “appropriate decisions” on how to respond, but didn’t elaborate.

Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett held a meeting with top security officials Friday, but the Israeli military said it was not taking any extraordinary action on its northern front, other than closing a ski resort in the Golan Heights near Lebanon and Syria as a precaution.

The most immediate impact could be in Iraq. Funerals for al-Muhandis and the other slain Iraqis were set for Saturday.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi condemned the strike as an “aggression against Iraq.” An emergency session of parliament was called for Sunday, which the deputy speaker, Hassan al-Kaabi, said would take “decisions that put an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq.”

___

Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Robert Burns, Lolita C. Baldor and Zeke Miller in Washington; Jon Gambrell and Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut; and Joseph Krauss and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

#iraq news #iran #iraq #iran news #iranian #iran economy #iran deal #trump administration #president donald trump #pentagon #u. s. military #worldpolitics #world news #international news #nyt > top stories #top news #top stories google news

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iann-rose-blog · 5 years ago

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#DefendMediaFreedom Global Conference flooded with questions about #FreeAssange

In the last 24 hours or so the hashtag #DefendMediaFreedom from @foreignoffice has been taken over by supporters of Julian Assange asking why he is not included and why the Foreign Minister @Jeremy_Hunt is doing nothing to support the most persecuted journalist of our times #NoUSExtradition.

If you would like to participate in the lead up and following the Global Conference, see details below (including twitter accounts of participants)

On Wed 10 & Thurs 11 July 2019 The UK Foreign Office and Canadian Government are hosting a Global Conference for Media Freedom. Thursday in London. There will be people on the ground for the London event.For the rest of us around the world, let's create an organic a twitter storm. Please forward this message to your followers and supporters for them to create tweets. The Global Conference for Media Freedom has a hashtag #DefendMediaFreedom, and this is what we want to be able to populate with Assange questions and details. We need to be asking where is Assange and why isn't his plight on the conference's agenda. So search engine algorithms don't filter out your tweets (& facebook posts) it is best to only use 2 hashtags per tweet. For this campaign to work, each tweet must have #DefendMediaFreedom (as that is their official hashtag) and we want to swamp it with Assange questions and details. For the second hashtag choose from the following: #NoUSExtradition #FreeAssange #FreeJulian #Assange Please tweet at least twice a day if not once an hour. Here is a guide for the sort of tweets required Tweets are 280 characters, and a hyperlinks (no matter how long or short) are 23 characters. Why isn't #Assange on the Global Conference for Media Freedom its conference agenda to #DefendMediaFreedom ? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-conference-for-media-freedom-london-2019-agenda (131 characters) When it comes to persecution of Journalists, the cruel & unusual punishment of Assange would have to be the most extreme and unique case of media censorship. When will #DefendMediaFreedom have something to say about #NoUSExtradition ? (229 characters) We all know why Assange is not on the #DefendMediaFreedom conference agenda, it is because his work threatens the war profiteering oligarchs the most. #NoUSExtradition https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-conference-for-media-freedom-london-2019-agenda (190 characters) I am wondering why #DefendMediaFreedom is not including Assange at the Global Conference for Media Freedom. Appearing to ignore what @NilsMelzer who is UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has to say about #NoUSExtradition is absurd. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17012&LangID=E. (253 characters) Assange is the icon of all #DefendMediaFreedom ought to be, so why are they ignoring @NilsMelzer and not supporting #NoUSExtradition. (157 characters)https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17012&LangID=E Images take up no characters, it would be great if you could add images of Julian to your tweets, here are a few suggestions. This is an exciting an impactful campaign to be part of, and it will be great to see them being swamped with support for Assange.

LONDON JOURNALISM EDUCATION CONFERENCE:

Printworks - Event venue

Surrey Quays Rd

Rotherhithe, London

SE16 7PJ

+44 20 8498 4934

printworkslondon.co.uk

10 & 11 July 2019

https://goo.gl/maps/4CKD4dsFM3btgrrC7

Social media addresses

Chrystia Freeland Minister for Foreign Affairs, Canada @cafreeland

Jeremy Hunt Foreign Secretary uk @Jeremy_Hunt & @foreignoffice

Amal Clooney Foreign Office’s Special Envoy on Media Freedom Appears not to have a twitter account

Luz Mely Reyes, Journalist, Venezuela, @LuzMelyReyes

Leon Willems Director, Free Press Unlimited @willems_leon

Courtney Radsch Advocacy Director, Committee to Project Journalists; @courtneyr

Agnes Callamard UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions @AgnesCallamard

Major-General Saad Maan spokesperson for Iraq’s Interior Ministry; Appears not to have a twitter account

Matthew Caruana Journalist and son of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia; @mcaruanagalizia

Flutura Kusari European Centre for Press and Media Freedom; @fluturakusari

Ashmita Pokharel Legal Officer Freedom Forum, Nepal Appears not to have a twitter account

David Kaye UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; @davidakaye

Aidan White Journalist and Founder of Ethical Journalism Network; @aidanpwhite ‏

Dr Shirin Ebadi Lawyer and Founder of Defenders of Human Rights Centre, Iran; I can’t determine the correct account

Christophe Deloire Secretary-General, Reporters Without Borders, France; @cdeloire

Edison Lanza Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights @EdisonLanza

Zaina Erhaim Journalist @ZainaErhaim

Harlem Désir, Representative on Freedom of the Media, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; @harlemdesir

Carlos Chamorro, Director, Esta Semana and Confidencial @cefeche

Leopoldo Maldonado, Subdirector, Article 19 office for Mexico and Central America; I can’t determine the correct account

Martha Roldós, Economist and activist, Foundation Milhojas, Ecuador; @martharoldos

Lucia Newman, Latin America Editor and Senior Correspondent, Al Jazeera; @lucianewman

Ma Thida, Myanmar Moderator: I can’t determine the correct account

H.E. François Croquette, Opening Remarks: French Ambassador for Human Rights; Appears not to have a twitter account

Karam Nachar, Journalist for Al Jumhuriya, Syria Appears not to have a twitter account

Khaled Al-Hammadi, Journalist, Yemen (TBC); @KhaledHammadi ‏

Dr Nabil Al Khatib, Journalist, Al Arabiya (TBC); I can’t determine the correct account

Premananth Thevanayagam, Chief Editor, Jaffna Uthayan Newspaper, Sri Lanka (TBC); Appears not to have a twitter account

Rebecca Vincent, UK Bureau Director, Reporters without Borders @rebecca_vincent ‏

Rana Sabbagh, Journalist, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism I can’t determine the correct account

Alex Crawford Chair , Journalist Sky news @AlexCrawfordSky

Hussain Saad, Sudanese Journalists Network, Sudan (TBC);

Laura-Julie Perreault, La Presse (TBC) @laurajulie ‏

Hamza Belloumi Freeland journalists, Tunisia (TBC); @HamzaBELLOUMI

Zaina Erhaim Journalist, Syria (TBC); @ZainaErhaim

PARIS JOURNALISM EDUCATION CONFERENCE:

2019 WORLD JOURNALISM EDUCATION www.wjec.paris CONGRESS MEETING IN PARIS 9-11 july 2019 Paris-Dauphine University, Place du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75016, Paris, France [email protected] #WJEC 2022

PARIS Map Link https://goo.gl/maps/4S3TSMZzysJULNnz9

Audrey Azoulay UNESCO dir.gen @AAzoulay

Tanya Pampalone Managing Ed Global Investigative Journalism Network @tanyapampalone

Dr. Bill Silcock Assist dean research Cronkite school of journo mass conn Arizona @DrBillASU

See www.wjec.paris for more..

Yours sincerely, in solidarity , Ian Rose on behalf of Support Assange & WikiLeaks Coalition (Sydney) [email protected] Twitter and Facebook @SAWCSydney

#Assange #NoUSExtradition #DefendMediaFreedom #FreeJulian #FreeAssange

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virginiaprelawland · 2 years ago

Text

Elizabeth Holmes: Her Downfall

By Noreen Karam, University of Virginia Tech, Class of 2024

September 10, 2022

Elizabeth Holmes was born in 1984 in Washington, D.C. Her parents were both from entrepreneur families. Her father was vice president of Enron; a company focused on energy. As happened with Elizabeth Holmes, his company went bankrupt after a fraud scandal. He then held executive positions in multiple government agencies such as EPA and USTDA. Elizabeth’s mother worked as a Congressional committee staffer. When Elizabeth started her first business, in high school, selling C++ compilers to Chinese universities, she was interested in computer programming. In 2002, she started chemical engineering at Stanford and worked as a researcher and lab assistant for the School of Engineering. One year later, she filed her first patent for a wearable drug-delivery patch. She then dropped out of college and used her tuition money to fund her first consumer healthcare technology company. In the same year, she founded the company Real-Time Cures; her goal was to “democratize healthcare” (Bloomberg). Elizabeth Holmes had a fear of needles, and that is what motivated her to perform blood tests using the smallest quantity of blood necessary. She wanted to get all this data from just a few drops of blood from the tip of a finger. When she pitched her idea to her professor, he explained that her vision was irrational and could not be done. Several other “medical professors told Holmes the same thing” (Vanity Fair). This did not stop her; she got the Stanford School of Engineering dean to back her idea. Later that year, in 2003, she renamed her company Theranos. It was a very successful company; by the end of 2004, she had raised over $6 million to fund the firm, and by the end of 2010, her company had made over $92 million in capital. Elizabeth Holmes was known for forming “the most illustrious board in U.S. corporate history” (San Francisco Business Times) by getting the former secretary of state George Shultz on it.

Theranos was operated without talking to the public much; no media knew what was going on until she announced a partnership with Walgreens to make in-store blood sample collection centers. This got her a lot of publicity; she then made agreements with Cleveland Clinic, AmeriHealth Caritas, and Capital BlueCross to use Theranos technology.

Things then took a turn. John Carreyrou from The Wall Street Journal started an investigation after he had received a tip from a medical expert who thought that Theranos blood testing devices were suspicious. When Holmes heard about that, she started a campaign with her lawyer to stop Carreyrou from publishing his data. She legally and financially threatened him and the medical expert who had given that tip. This did not stop The Wall Street Journal from publishing Carreyrou’s article. This article talked about how the Theranos Edison device gave inaccurate results and that Theranos has been using machines made by other companies for most of its testing. Holmes was in denial and promised that her company would publish its data on the accuracy of its tests. In January 2016, CMS sent a warning to Theranos after they found irregularities within their center. By March, those irregularities had still not been fixed, and the CMS proposed a two-year ban on Holmes from operating a clinical laboratory. Four months later, in July, CMS banned her. Soon after, Walgreens ended its partnership with Theranos. The FDA also ordered the company to stop using one of its core inventions, its Capillary Tube Nanotainer device. In 2017, the State of Arizona also filed a lawsuit against Holmes’ company, saying that the latter had sold over a million blood tests to Arizona’s citizens while misrepresenting the facts about those tests. In April of that year, Theranos settled it by agreeing to refund the costs of those tests to the customers for a total of $4.65 million. The FBI also investigated two class action fraud lawsuits while Holmes denied all wrongdoing. In early 2018, the SEC charged Holmes and Theranos’ former president with fraud for taking more than $700 million from investors while advertising a false product.

On June 15, 2018, In San Francisco, California, a federal grand jury indicted Holmes and the former Theranos President on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They both pleaded not guilty. After this, Holmes stepped down as CEO of Theranos but remained chair of the board. On August 21, 2021, the criminal trial of Homes in the Case of U.S. v. Holmes et al. (5:18-cr-00258-EJD) was held in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. For the first seven days, Holmes testified that her staff was misleading her about her technology and that her ex-romantic partner also held influence over her. This did not hold up as the evidence provided by the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California demonstrated her involvement in faked demonstrations, falsified reports, misleading claims about contracts, and overstated financials at Theranos (New York Times). On January 3, 2022, Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of four counts of defrauding investors, three counts of wire fraud, and one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was found not guilty on four counts of defrauding patients, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Her sentencing is scheduled for October 17th, and she faces a sentence of a maximum of twenty years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and restitution for each count of wire fraud and each conspiracy count.

Now, Elizabeth Holmes is asking for a new trial. She claims that one of the government witnesses came to her house in early August 2022, explaining that he felt guilty because when he was answering the questions in court, the prosecutor made it seem as if all the people in the company were terrible. He also claims that the government made things sound “worse than they were when he was up on the stand” (Insider). Due to this new development, Holmes’ team wants a retrial where the witness, Rosendorff, would be subpoenaed to testify about his concerns.

______________________________________________________________

https://www.forbes.com/profile/elizabeth-holmes/?sh=5e5121aa47a7

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/15/blood-simpler

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-10/can-theranos-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-fend-off-her-critics-

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/09/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-exclusive

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2013/08/02/theranos-adds-kovacevich-to-all-star.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/technology/elizabeth-holmes-guilty.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-holmes-witness-allegedly-went-to-her-house-new-trial-2022-9

https://cand.uscourts.gov/judges/davila-edward-j-ejd/usa-v-holmes/

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aurora-borealis-love · 3 years ago

Text

I posted 854 times in 2021

107 posts created (13%)

747 posts reblogged (87%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 7.0 posts.

I added 390 tags in 2021

#pakistan - 57 posts

#jewelry - 47 posts

#earrings - 47 posts

#celebrity style - 41 posts

#karachi - 40 posts

#lahore - 38 posts

#islamabad - 37 posts

#mughal - 31 posts

#instagram - 27 posts

#pearl jewelry - 25 posts

Longest Tag: 20 characters

#peacock 🦚 pakistan

My Top Posts in 2021

1 notes • Posted 2021-11-10 07:11:08 GMT

List of Bills passed in Parliament today:

1. Election Act Amendment allowing use of EVMs & granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis

2. International Court of Justice Bill

3. Islamabad charities registration bill

4. National College of Arts Institute Bill

5. SBP Banking Services Corporation (Amendment) Bill

6. Hyderabad Institute for Technical & Management Sciences Bill

7. Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill

8. Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill

9. Corporate Restructuring Cos (Amendment) Bill

10. Uni of Islamabad Bill

11. Financial Institutions (Secured Transactions) (Amendment) Bill

12. Federal Public Service Commission (Validation of Rules) Bill

13. Loans for Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Purposes (Amendment) Bill

14. Companies (Amendment) Bill

15. National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (Amendment) Bill

16. Pakistan Academy of Letters (Amendment) Bill

17. Port Qasim Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021

18. Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021

19. Anti-Rape Bill

20. Gwadar Port Authority (Amendment) Bill

21. Maritime Security Agency (Amendment) Bill

22. Privatisation Commission (Amendment) Bill

23. Covid-19 (Prevention of Hoarding) Bill

24. Al-Karam International Institute Bill

25. Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill

26. Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill

27. Islamabad Food Safety Authority Bill

28. Greek, Ayurvedic and Homeopathic Practitioners Bill

See the full post

1 notes • Posted 2021-11-17 20:30:22 GMT

1 notes • Posted 2021-01-02 19:03:16 GMT

See the full post

5 notes • Posted 2021-05-06 17:29:17 GMT

Available for sale at Instagram Mughal Jewelry

See the full post

8 notes • Posted 2021-03-03 20:03:31 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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manar-2323 · 4 years ago

Text

Saudi tourism projects exceed expectations:

The Kingdom is encountering a subjective jump in its travel industry way, as one of the products of Vision 2030, which has set the travel industry area as one of the fundamental joints to advance improvement in the Kingdom in its social and financial viewpoints, by accomplishing three objectives addressed in improving the personal satisfaction, broadening wellsprings of public pay, and creating open positions for the Kingdom's children and little girls. The Kingdom tries to turn into a worldwide model on the worldwide the travel industry and recreation map, to be comparable to created nations. This matter bit by bit solidifies through a progression of significant the travel industry undertakings, and interest in building up the foundation to oblige these tasks, which incorporates creating and boosting the Kingdom's capacities in the friendliness area, so every one of the destinations concerned are furnished with private and inn regions, and outfitted with all help offices that meet the different requirements, everything being equal. From everywhere the world.

A tight friendly vision

The Kingdom has apportioned extraordinary endeavors, HR and conscious financial plans to guarantee its travel industry matchless quality, and has started to set up solid the travel industry bases in a few urban areas that are recognized by their tendency and tasteful wealth to stay up with the phase of the travel industry change it has received. The Qiddiya project comes at the cutting edge in the Qiddiya area, southwest of Riyadh, to be one of the enormous venture projects in the diversion field, and to be a recreation objective with an incredible effect, with a financial point of view, yet additionally with a significant and positive social viewpoint for youngsters younger than 35. This classification addresses 66% of the Kingdom's populace who look for a superior personal satisfaction with measurements that empower youngsters and ladies to accomplish victories on the individual and public levels. It was chosen to open the primary period of the Qiddiya project in 2022.

"A certifiable made by creative mind"

Furthermore, on the off chance that we come to discuss the most significant multi-field the travel industry projects that incorporate energy, water, biotechnology, food, progressed assembling and diversion, at that point the NEOM project, which is situated in the northwest of the Kingdom and ignores the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, crowns itself as perhaps the biggest task that was dispatched in 2017, where The Kingdom dispensed $ 500 billion to him to fabricate a coordinated business and mechanical zone with an extensive future vision, not just at the level of the Arab district yet additionally at the level of the whole world, and for NEOM to be set up as "the most yearning project on the planet." This undertaking envoys a promising the travel industry future loaded with remarkable accomplishments that will be guaranteed by the shrewd advancements that consolidate innovation with the soul of aspiration established in the Kingdom, and stay up with the occasions and legacy, and for sport, culture, amusement and innovation to be in one structure that draws in sightseers searching for a lively and sound society. Also, it surpasses assumptions.

A promising future in the northwest

Today everybody concurs that travel industry in the Kingdom has gotten quite possibly the most impressive new development motors in the homegrown item, and straightforwardly affecting the enhancement of the Saudi economy, as the Red Sea project accompanies its recognized area between the zones of Umluj and Al Wajh, and accepts in excess of 90 normal islands, just as allots various Benefits for all guests, for example, setting up an air terminal assigned for guests to encourage admittance to it, just as creating development activities in the district without a negative effect on the exceptional biological system that is described by it, notwithstanding the utilization of savvy innovation in a few parts of the guest's prosperity and pleasure. Unmistakably, the presence of these outstanding activities upholds the travel industry area to be the quickest developing industry in the Kingdom, and reinforces its abilities to expand homegrown pay incomes.

The advancement of the Holy Places

In this unique situation, it is likewise apparent that the public authority of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has given the engaged consideration and improvement of the blessed spots, and the escalation of endeavors made to encourage the excursion for the visitors of the Most Merciful and give all methods for solace to play out the customs with no snags, and to arrive at an incorporated strict excursion that joins the exhibition of ceremonies and the ID of milestones Related the travel industry simultaneously; This is proven by various advances that included getting ready spots for explorers to live, broadening streets, and concealing open spaces. Endeavors have been dedicated as of late to dispatch two colossal ventures to propel the neighborliness area in the two heavenly urban communities and raise the limit of their guests, in particular the "Dreams of the Sanctuary" and "Dreams of the City" dispatched by the Public Investment Fund, in accordance with the Kingdom's driven vision objectives for the quantity of guests to the sacred destinations to surpass 30 million guests. Yearly continuously 2030 AD.

The neighborliness area is fundamental to the travel industry improvements

After all these commendable accomplishments that have happened at the level of a few urban areas in the Kingdom and in different fields and areas, we can see the friendliness area pronouncing itself as a field wealthy in certain commitments and fit for giving the public economy accomplished monetary outcomes, notwithstanding its persistent commitment to getting ready genuine plans pointed toward amplifying venture. In the travel industry, through its capacity to pull in more guests to the Kingdom, and create open positions in the short and long haul.

Allow us to investigate the persuasive pretended by Dur Hospitality Company, as one of the main brands in the friendliness area in the Kingdom, accomplishing, along its way, the best outcomes and accomplishments in the system of inn quality, the board, activity and advancement. It keeps on holding fast to this methodology, by carrying out its procedure that depends on growing inn and land improvement and activity, as the organization's portfolio presently incorporates 22 offices that shift between lodging offices and private edifices, notwithstanding 16 new offices a work in progress in different urban areas of the Kingdom.

Among the most conspicuous late accomplishments of "Dur Hospitality":

The organization resumed the Riyadh Airport Marriott Hotel in the wake of changing its personality and finishing its turn of events, and the redesign of the Makarem "Ajyad Makkah" Hotel in Makkah Al-Mukarramah likewise began. Moreover, an establishment arrangement for the Crowne Plaza Riyadh Palace Hotel was reported with the Intercontinental Hotels Group, while the renting of private units for the fifth period of the lavish "Darraq" private undertaking in the Sefarat neighborhood in Riyadh, which is a subjective venture inside the classification of private buildings in the Kingdom, was declared. Dur Hospitality has likewise settled an auxiliary organization, "Karam Al Tamayoz for Umrah Services". This organization has finished its availability and begun to work in the Umrah season 2018/2019, in accordance with the normal expansion in the quantity of pioneers, which is relied upon to arrive at 30 million explorers every year. Constantly 2030 ADا

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expatimes · 4 years ago

Photo

Fire Dept rescues 83 people trapped in cars as heavy rain lashes country

Panel formed to probe ‘water pools’ in many areas

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 29, (Agencies): Minister of Public Works and the Minister of State for Housing Dr Rana Al-Fares, formed on Sunday a neutral and emergency legal and technical fact-finding committee to investigate the causes of water accumulations in some areas due to recent heavy rains in various parts of the country.

Many vehicles in different residential areas were overcome by the deluge.

In a press release, Minister Al- Fares said that the main objective for committee is to identify deficiencies in rain drainage network and submit its report and recommendations within a week of its date regarding the legal, technical and administrative procedures that must be followed in this regard.

The minister stressed that her ministry will not be negligent in taking the necessary legal measures against any party or company whose negligence is proven, as it will be referred to the regulatory and legal authorities according to what the committee will conclude. She added that in light of the weather conditions and the thunderstorm that the country recently experienced, accompanied by rain, the concerned teams were able to deal with all the reports received on the main and highways and regions in the various governorates that witnessed rain gathering.

Al-Fares confirmed that unstable weather is still taking place and there are expectations of another wave of heavy rains, which requires the cooperation of all in this regard. Meanwhile, Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) said, on Sunday, that their rescue teams were able to save 83 persons trapped in their vehicles due to the current unstable weather and heavy rains, adding most of them from Al-Jahra governorate. The Public Relations and Information Department said in a statement that they received calls during recent rains exceeded 170, most in desert areas. KFSD dealt with all calls received, as no injuries reported, calling on citizens and residents to follow safety instructions for their safety.

Various regions of the Kuwait witnessed heavy rain and the formation of mini ponds in some open places, especially in the north and south of the country and a number of cars remained half submerged in water in spite of the official authorities announcing they were fully prepared for the rainy season, says Al-Seyassah report. Rain water collected in several areas of Kuwait and the streets were flooded particularly the Sixth Ring Road, Al Jahra Road opposite Doha and Al Jahra Industrial Area and some areas in Taima, Saad Al Abdullah, Al Oyoun and Al Naseem.

While the Ministry of Interior and the Directorate-General of Fire Department (DGFD) had raised their level to full readiness to deal with any reports received by their respective operations rooms, security sources reported the Ministry of Interior operations room had received 130 reports about the breakdown of vehicles most of which were submerged in water, most of them in Jahra. For its part, the Public Fire Brigade called on citizens and residents to be vigilant and cautious about the instability of the weather situation in the country.

The DGFD affirmed that all the fire centers had raised their level of readiness to deal with any reports related to the weather situation, and called on the people to call the emergency No 112 to report emergency and humanitarian cases. For its part, informed sources in the Ministry of Public Works said the emergency teams of the Ministry and Public Authority for Roads Transport in the six governorates have been present in all locations with their mechanisms since the first hours of the rain, indicating that the ministry is in constant contact and follow up on the expectations of the meteorological department, so the ministry put its teams on high alert since the rain started falling.

The sources indicated that the emergency teams concentrated in the tunnels areas and a number of areas on the highways and the areas in which the projects of the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport are located. The ministry explained in such cases the contractors have been advised to put their mechanisms on standby for help.

For its part, the Meteorological Department said that Sunday’s weather will be partly cloudy to cloudy, and the winds will turn south-easterly turning into northwesterly at light to moderate speed, active at intervals of 12 to 42 km/hour with a chance for scattered rain sometimes accompanied by thunderstorm, indicating the temperature will range between 18 and 27 degrees Celsius. “At night, the clouds gradually decrease, and the winds are northwesterly light to moderate speed, active at intervals of 10 – 45 km / hour, with a chance of scattered light rain with a chance for fog to form in some areas,” she added. Meanwhile , meteorologist Mohammad Karam predicted chances for rain Tuesday evening, which will continue until dawn next Thursday, reports Al-Rai daily. He disclosed, the maximum temperature will range between 23 and 24 degree Celsius and the lowest between 12 to 14 degrees. The temperature is expected to fall to below 10 degrees Celsius in desert areas.

The post Fire Dept rescues 83 people trapped in cars as heavy rain lashes country appeared first on ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS.

#kuwait Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=14928&feed_id=20609

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writing-after-the-disaster · 7 years ago

Video

Dictaphone Group, Nothing To Declare (ongoing)

Nothing to Declare is a research-based lecture performance that explores borders within Lebanon, those between Lebanon and its neighbors, and across the Arab world.

An old map of the Arab world shows border-crossing train tracks spanning the region. The old Hijaz Railway, which connected Damascus to Medina, once transported Muslim pilgrims through what is today Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia without the need for visas. Today, the non-operational Lebanese Railway appears as a rupture. We decided to take a journey along the abandoned train tracks of Lebanon. Our starting point was a derelict station in Beirut, and continued as each one of us set off on a different trip following one of the three train tracks. Our travels revealed past and present uses of these tracks and the stations that dotted them. Some were abandoned. Others were turned into makeshift housing. Some had the markings of being converted into military bases and torture chambers.

Lecture Performance/ Video Installation by Dictaphone Group Researched, Written, and Performed by Tania El Khoury, Petra Serhal, Abir Saksouk Video Editing: Ali Beidoun Camera: Karam Ghoussein, Dahna Abourahme Music Composition: Ahmad Khouja, Khairy Eibesh

Booklet and map: in collaboration with Public Works Studio

Video Installation: Sound in collaboration with Ahmad Khouja and Khairy Eibesh

Developed in part at the Watermill Center (a laboratory for performance) in collaboration with ArtEast, New York. Production Grant AFAC (lecture performance), British Council (video and publication)

Reviews: Jadaliyya, Daily Star, Al Modon, Your Middle East, Al-Akhbar, NOW. On Our Blog: on the creative process

#dictaphone group #beirut #lebanon #performance #public space #railway

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vinayv224 · 5 years ago

Text

Vox Sentences: a killing in Iraq

Iran-US tensions escalate with airstrike against IRGC general; vape ban leaves a few exemptions.

Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world. Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.

Iran vows revenge

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised there will be “harsh retaliation” for the death of the “international face of resistance,” Qassem Soleimani, the top military leader killed in an American airstrike in Baghdad early Friday morning. [AP News / Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Zeina Karam]

Soleimani’s killing is unprecedented in recent Middle Eastern history; he was simultaneously a crucial military leader and a symbol of the Iranian regime. [The Atlantic / Kim Ghattas]

If you read one thing to understand Soleimani’s influence and importance, make it this 2013 New Yorker profile. [New Yorker / Dexter Filkins]

Tensions between the US and Iran have been building for years, ever since President Trump announced he’d pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal. Then Iranian-backed militias struck American interests in the Middle East, including an attack that killed a US contractor and injured members of the military. [Vox / Dylan Scott]

The two US presidents before Trump had rejected plans to kill Soleimani, fearing what the fallout of such a consequential strike might be. [NYT / Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff]

The Pentagon announced plans to deploy about 3,500 more troops to the Middle East to join the 5,200 servicemembers already stationed in Iraq. All Americans in Iraq have been advised to leave immediately. [ABC News / Elizabeth McLaughlin]

In Iran, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to demonstrate against America and the escalating events between the two countries within Iraq. [Al-Monitor]

Several members of Congress and presidential candidates expressed their outrage at the lack of notification before the strike as well as many demands for briefings after the fact. [Vox / Emily Stewart]

FDA’s vape ban looks to curb teen illnesses

The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that it will ban cartridge-based vaping devices that appeal to children, with exceptions for vape pens as well as menthol or tobacco flavors. [CBS News]

This Trump administration initiative is geared toward answering the concerns of parents and public health officials worried about the epidemic that took the form of hundreds of vaping-related hospitalizations that began at the end of 2019. [New York Times / Abby Goodnough, Maggie Haberman, and Sheila Kaplan]

Federal officials said the move aims to prevent teens from being targeted while not shutting down the vape industry. [Wall Street Journal / Jennifer Maloney and Thomas M. Burton]

Last month, the FDA also raised the age to purchase tobacco products, including vapes, from 18 to 21. [Vox / Ella Nilsen]

Miscellaneous

Lexii Alijai’s sudden death shook the hip hop community. [BuzzFeed News / Brianna Sacks]

Airlines are adapting their markets for a new type of flier: Generation Z. [Chicago Tribune / Lauren Zumbach]

Artificial intelligence is reading mammograms and it could soon start outperforming doctors. [New York Times / Denise Grady]

We love the new Instagram story filters because they give us an answer to who we are. [Vox / Alex Abad-Santos]

European law-enforcement tracked a suspected terrorist before their electronic window into his phone suddenly went dark. [Wall Street Journal / Dov Lieber, Valentina Pop, and Robert McMillan]

Verbatim

“Sticking your head in the sand is no way to advocate for a better future for women.” [Researcher and author Sarah Hill said about taboos in women’s health]

Watch this:

Tech giants are getting in on the oil business to use machine learning and technology to extract more oil. [YouTube / Adam Cole]