JEDDAH: Camel owners in Saudi Arabia have been fined for performing cosmetic surgery on their animals to make them look more beautiful.
The owners were punished after subjecting the camels to improper lip augmentation and “injecting them with harmful substances to change their form,” the Saudi Press Agency.
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture issued fines to five people from across the Kingdom amounting to SR67,000 ($18,000) for violating animal welfare laws.
The ministry’s Director General of the Department of Health and Veterinary Control, Dr. Ali Al-Duwairj, said the penalties also included fining a pet shop for displaying and selling sick animals in poor living conditions.
A fine was also issued to a truck driver who transports pets and birds for neglecting to take adequate measures to protect the animals.
In January, 12 camels were disqualified from the King Abdul Aziz Camel Festival after they were found to have been injected with botox.
Camel owners fined for performing cosmetic surgery on their animals
Camel owners fined for performing cosmetic surgery on their animals
Why both Harris and Trump have Michigan’s Arab and Muslim endorsements
- The swing state could very well determine the outcome of the fierce battle to capture the White House and Congress
- Many blame Biden administration for failing to use US influence to secure ceasefire in Gaza, end the war in Lebanon
CHICAGO: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the two major political party candidates, have secured endorsements from prominent Arab and Muslim community leaders in Michigan, a key battleground state that could determine the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election.
A recent Arab News/YouGov poll has shown Trump and Harris in a tight race among Arab American voters, while third-party Green candidate Dr. Jill Stein has also drawn significant support, largely due to her stance on the Gaza conflict, in a bid to capture 5 percent of the vote, enough to qualify the Green Party as a major political party in future elections.
Arab and Muslim Americans endorsed Trump at a rally in Novi, Michigan, on Oct. 25, while Harris received the community’s support in Dearborn on Oct. 26.
Appearing on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show” on Thursday, representatives of both camps argued that their candidate was better equipped to end conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, which the Arab News/YouGov poll identified as critical issues for Arab Americans in the Nov. 5 election.
“People have said, well, (former) President Trump talked about a Muslim ban. President Trump is no longer talking about a Muslim ban. President Trump moved the (US) Embassy to Jerusalem. It’s a plaque that was moved; it was not the 43,000 Palestinians who have been killed at the hands of Israel with arms provided by the US,” said Dr. Bishara Bahbah, a former Democrat who helped organize pro-Trump rallies in swing states like Michigan.
Criticizing the Biden administration’s policies, Bahbah argued that the current support for Israel would continue under Harris, suggesting that her presidency would lead to more civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon.
“That is unacceptable. The Biden administration’s policies will continue, and we will see Israel doing whatever the hell it wants to do against our people,” Bahbah added.
The Biden administration has faced mounting criticism from Arab Americans and the international community over its military and financial support for Israel, which critics argue has fueled escalating violence that has left close to 50,000 dead across Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, along with widespread displacement and injury. Washington has also been accused of failing to effectively leverage its diplomatic influence to secure a much-needed ceasefire.
Reflecting this perceived policy gap, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that “good progress” had been made toward a ceasefire deal in Israel’s offensive against Lebanon. However, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati cautioned on Friday that Israel’s “renewed expansion” of attacks could derail any potential truce efforts, indicating resistance to a diplomatic resolution despite over a month of war.
Bahbah believes the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts reflect weak leadership on the part of President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, who assumed the Democratic nomination in August.
“You (Arabs and Muslims) have a choice between a Harris administration that’s going to continue killing our people, or you have a choice to vote for Trump, who has told us, me personally as well, that he wants to stop the wars immediately,” Bahbah said adding that the former president is committed “to lay the groundwork for lasting peace agreements in the Middle East that are satisfactory to all parties in the region.”
Arab and Muslim mayors, including Amer Ghalib of Hamtramck and Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights, joined Trump’s endorsement in Novi, Michigan, on Saturday, highlighting Trump’s outreach to these communities and his potential impact in the swing state.
Trump greeted his Arab and Muslim supporters at the rally, expressing confidence that they could “turn the election one way or the other.” At the same event, Imam Belal Alzuhairi endorsed Trump as a “peacemaker,” echoing Bahbah’s view that Trump is better positioned than Harris to “bring peace to the Middle East.”
This sentiment aligns with Arab News/YouGov poll findings that indicate many Arab Americans see the former president as more capable of addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Meanwhile, in Dearborn, Michigan, on Sunday, a dozen Arab and Muslim community leaders held a press conference to endorse Harris, including Ismael Ahmed, a co-founder and former director of the influential Michigan-based social services organization ACCESS.
Ahmed cited the ongoing violence in Gaza and Lebanon as key to their support for Harris, noting her recent hints at diverging from the current administration’s approach and supporting a shift in US policy toward implementing a two-state solution.
“The horror is true for all of us, all Americans. And we want it to end. We want to cease fire. We want equity for the Palestinians, a Palestinian state. And we want to live side by side with Jews and Israelis in particular,” said Ahmed who was joined by Arab American Institute President Jim Zogby and Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad I. Turfe on the show.
“They’ve suffered loss, too. And our heart goes out to them as well. We need peace,” he said, adding that “all of us, no matter who we are supporting for the elections, have been working hard to make that happen” and that the uncommitted movement has been a reaction to bring more attention and to force more movement on the issue.
Many prominent Arab American Democrats have refused to endorse the Democratic ticket this year, pressing Harris and Biden to adopt a more assertive stance toward Israel, including a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas conflict and an arms embargo.
The Uncommitted National Movement, a group of disenchanted Arab American Democrats, said it will not endorse Harris, citing disappointment with her response to community requests for a meeting with Palestinian families in Michigan. Reflecting the ambivalence many Arab Americans feel about their options, the Uncommitted National Movement also warned against a Trump presidency, which it claims would intensify military action in Gaza and increase suppression of anti-war efforts.
“Frankly speaking, Kamala Harris has been more sympathetic. We believe that’s real, but there’s been very little put on the table,” Ahmed said. “But when you match that to what Donald Trump is saying, he’s called for a Muslim ban, which he says he will reinstate the very first day he is in office. He’s called for internment camps. And none of us can have doubts that we’re one of the groups that will end up in those internment camps.”
Ahmed, an associate provost at the University of Michigan at Dearborn and former director for the Michigan Department of Human Services, warned that Trump’s stance on immigration and close alliance with Israel would pose significant risks to the community.
“(Trump) has called for the arrest and deportation by the military of 11 million immigrants. Some of them are our families. They’re mostly hardworking and contributing to the economy. In fact, our economy wouldn’t function without them. And on Palestine, Donald Trump opposes a Palestinian state, (he) has called for Netanyahu to continue his bloody approach to the war until victory, whatever that is. And I can go on.”
Until then, the Harris campaign had been unsuccessful in winning public endorsements from the Arab and Muslim leaders because of community criticism of her failure to stop Israel’s concurrent military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Michigan, a swing state that Trump won in 2016 and Biden narrowly captured in 2020, could once again play a decisive role in the election. Of more than 5.5 million votes cast in Michigan in 2020, Biden led by fewer than 155,000 votes. With more than 200,000 Arab Americans living in the state, their vote could be pivotal this November.
“The Ray Hanania Radio Show” airs every Thursday at 5 PM on Michigan’s WNZK AM 690 radio and rebroadcasts Mondays at 5 PM on the US Arab Radio network, sponsored by Arab News. For more information on the show or to listen to the podcast, visit ArabNews.com/rayradioshow.
‘We showed our character’ — Koulibaly proud of Al-Hilal in Capital Derby
- Al-Hilal came back to draw 1-1 with Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr but dropped their first points of the season
RIYADH: Al-Hilal may have relinquished their 100 percent start to the 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League season, but for defender Kalidou Koulibaly, the Capital Derby was another display of the title-holders’ championship mettle.
Not even a minute had elapsed on Friday night when Al-Hilal went behind to chief rivals Al-Nassr, the hosts ahead through Anderson Talisca’s 55-second finish to send the majority of the 25,000-plus crowd at Al-Awwal Park wild in celebration.
Al-Hilal, to that point with eight wins from eight to begin the season where they left off last term, were in an instant in danger of their mammoth unbeaten RSL run coming to an end.
But, as champions do, they rallied. Indeed, they could have nicked a ninth successive win had a late claim for a penalty gone their way. However, as the middle of three marquee matches in the RSL’s inaugural Derby Week came to a close, Jorge Jesus’ side would settle for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s headed equalizer 13 minutes from time.
A gripping encounter, which included three disallowed goals and no shortage of competitive spikiness, ended in a 1-1 draw — and a share of the spoils.
“A good game against a nice team who were prepared,” Al-Hilal defender Koulibaly said. “They made a lot of difficulties for us, but the draw was fair because, as I said, they make a lot of trouble for us. But we always believed we could score this goal, and we scored it. So, we can be happy tonight.”
Al-Hilal, who last season enjoyed a record-breaking title triumph, thought they should have been granted the opportunity to win the derby in the closing stages, when they appealed vigorously for a penalty following a coming together between striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento.
Yet, following a VAR review, the initial decision of no infringement was upheld. Koulibaly, though, preferred to focus on the positives. Namely, his side’s formidable strength of character.
“I don’t like to speak about (the decision),” the former Napoli and Chelsea center-back said. “I’m a defender and when it’s a penalty it’s a penalty. We are not happy because it’s not for us this time, but the most important is the mentality of the team to come back.”
With the draw, Al-Hilal’s undefeated streak in the RSL stretches to 45 matches and all the way back to the tail end of the 2022-23 season. This campaign’s winning run halted, they still remain right where they want to be — after nine rounds, they are perched at the RSL summit, one point ahead of second-placed Al-Ittihad and six out in front of Al-Nassr, their great cross-city competitors, in third.
“For you we lost two points, but for us it’s OK,” Koulibaly told reporters. “We are used to seeing Al-Hilal always win but today was a tough game. We draw and we can feel OK. It’s difficult to win every game, to try to win every game. But we can happy also because it was against a strong team, and we were away from home.
“We were behind from the first minute, but we showed good character. I’m proud of my team.”
Asked what he would promise the Al-Hilal fans, many of whom chanted and cheered on their team from behind the goal in which Milinkovic-Savic secured the point, Koulibaly said: “We promise to continue like this. We are making a good performance in league, we are getting through some tough games. We will continue to work to build on our work.”
For now, Koulibaly said it did not matter that Matchweek 9 concluded with the capital club’s lead at the top reduced to a solitary point. Although, the RSL title race is undoubtedly heating up.
“We just look for Al-Hilal,” the Senegal international said. “We don’t look for anyone else.”
Lebanon says one dead, 15 wounded in Israel strike on south Beirut
- The strike was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning
BEIRUT: Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed and 15 others were wounded Saturday in an Israeli strike on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, which has been hard hit by the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The ministry announcement came as the official National News Agency said the "Israeli enemy launched a raid near Karout Mall... in the southern suburbs of Beirut".
The strike was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning.
According to an AFP photographer, the strike targeted an abandoned building, which includes a car dealership on the ground floor.
The area was cordoned of by the army and security forces.
Beirut's southern suburbs have been heavily bombed by Israel since its war with Hezbollah erupted in September.
The war has killed more than 1,900 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally based on figures from Lebanon's health ministry.
Microsoft ‘crumbled under pressure’ over Palestinian vigil, fired employee says
- Hossam Nasr says he and Abdo Mohamed were targeted for ‘daring to humanize Palestinians’
- Israel-linked lobby group broke news of Nasr’s firing before he was informed
LONDON: Two recently fired Microsoft employees claim that the tech giant targeted them over their pro-Palestinian activism.
Data scientist Abdo Mohamed and software engineer Hossam Nasr, both of whom are Egyptian, had their employment terminated on Oct. 24, the same day they held a vigil outside Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, for Palestinians killed in Gaza, The Guardian reported.
They were both members of No Azure for Apartheid, a pressure group of Microsoft employees who campaigned against the company’s sale of its Azure cloud services to Israel, including the Israel Defense Forces.
After his firing, Nasr said that Microsoft had targeted him and Mohamed for “daring to humanize Palestinians.”
The pressure group has demanded that Microsoft end all Azure links to Israel, disclose all ties with the country, call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and uphold employee free speech.
“Microsoft really crumbled under pressure, internally and externally, to fire me and to shut down and retaliate against our event, not because of policy violations, simply because we were daring to humanize Palestinians, and daring to say that Microsoft should not be complicit with an army that is plausibly accused of genocide,” Nasr said.
In a statement, Microsoft said that Nasr and Mohamed were fired for “disrupting the work of their colleagues” and hosting the vigil on company property.
But the pair reject both claims, saying that the event followed the same procedures as other company employee groups, with more than 200 Microsoft workers attending on the ground or virtually.
Nasr and Mohamed said that they communicated with Microsoft ahead of the vigil, and that police, who were called to the event, observed the vigil without taking action.
“(Microsoft) never, at any point, said that termination was on the table or even that disciplinary consequences were on the table,” Nasr told The Guardian.
Another controversy surrounding the firing involves an Israel-linked lobby group, Stop Antisemitism, publicizing Nasr’s dismissal before the employee himself had been informed.
Nasr showed The Guardian a phone log, showing that he was informed of his firing at 9 p.m. that day — 90 minutes after Stop Antisemitism had posted the news of his termination on social media.
He also claimed that he was the subject of repeated investigations for his pro-Palestinian comments in employee groups, while comments accusing him and Mohamed of being “members of Hamas” were ignored by HR.
Workers at Microsoft have reported widespread internal discontent over the firings.
One Palestinian employee told The Guardian: “It was unjust and very intentional as a message to the community to silence the loudest voice in our community.”
Microsoft is not the only tech giant to suffer employee discontent over its ties to the Israeli military. In April, Google fired more than 50 employees who protested against its links to the Israel Defense Forces.
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Saudi foundation discovers largest recorded sea turtle nesting site in Red Sea
- Discovery of site marks significant milestone in Saudi Arabia’s environmental conservation efforts
RIYADH: The Saudi General Organization for the Conservation of Coral Reefs and Marine Turtles in the Red Sea announced on Saturday it had identified the largest recorded sea turtle nesting site in Saudi waters.
Located on the Four Sisters Islands in the Red Sea, the discovery of the site marks a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia’s environmental conservation efforts, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Khaled Asfahani, the organization’s CEO, said that the Four Sisters Islands had been designated as a protected area for sea turtle species management.
“These islands are essential habitats for endangered turtle species in the Red Sea, including the green turtle and the critically endangered hawksbill turtle. Protecting these sites is vital for the survival of these species, given that they return to these same nesting grounds each year,” he said.
The Four Sisters Islands — Marmar, Daharb, Malatu and Jadeer — have been identified as critical nesting areas with more than 2,500 recorded turtle nests. The islands are a crucial breeding ground for endangered species in the region.
Asfahani said that conserving the habitats is a strategic priority, as their survival supports the broader Red Sea ecosystem, essential for maintaining biodiversity.
The organization is developing a management plan to protect more than 180 identified beach nesting sites along the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia.
Its environmental teams are also working to enhance sustainable tourism and eco-friendly entertainment opportunities around the ecosystems, Asfahani said.
Sea turtles are a vital component of the Red Sea ecosystem and contribute to the area’s biological and environmental balance.
