LIVE: Taraweeh prayer from Makkah

Isha and Taraweeh prayers live from the Grand Mosque in Makkah. (Reuters)
Updated 10 May 2019
Follow

LIVE: Taraweeh prayer from Makkah

Watch Isha and Taraweeh prayers live from the Grand Mosque in Makkah. 


Cuban students call boycott over mobile tariff hikes

Updated 30 sec ago
Follow

Cuban students call boycott over mobile tariff hikes

  • Student leaders at the University of Havana’s mathematics and informatics faculty called for a boycott of classes in order to try to force state telecoms company to annul the tariff hikes
  • The average monthly salary on the communist island is 5,700 pesos, or $47
HAVANA: Cuban students called for a boycott of classes Wednesday over new mobile Internet tariffs that include steep fees for those who exceed their monthly data limits.
Cubans say the tariff hikes implemented by state telecoms company Etecsa on May 30 will leave them with only a few gigabytes of data per month as purchasing additional data will be prohibitively expensive.
Students have been particularly angered by the new pricing system, under which top-ups must be paid in hard-to-come-by-dollars or at a steep increment in Cuban pesos.
While acknowledging “progress” in negotiations with Etecsa, student union president Jose Almedia told AFP: “We want more.”
On Tuesday evening, student leaders at the University of Havana’s mathematics and informatics faculty called for a boycott of classes in order to try to force Etecsa to annul the tariff hikes.
Fellow leaders of the union chapter in the philosophy, history and sociology faculty backed the boycott, as did some students from the arts department.
It was not immediately clear how many students heeded the call for the protest.
But an arts student who attended classes on Wednesday told AFP there were “practically no students” in the faculty.
New pricing structure
Etecsa gave no forewarning of its new pricing structure, which it said was necessary to fund investment in infrastructure.
Rafael Gomez, an 18-year-old student at the University of Havana, said the new tariffs left mobile users with the bare minimum in terms of data.
“We were used to a certain system,” where customers can top up their credit as often as they like, he told AFP.
Now, they are limited to 6GB of data, which Gomez noted “is nothing and if you want to buy more, it costs over 3,000 pesos ($25), which you cannot afford on a regular Cuban salary,” Gomez said.
The average monthly salary on the communist island is 5,700 pesos, or $47.
Faced with the outcry from students, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Sunday that the government was looking at “options” for “the most vulnerable sectors, including our dear students.”
After talks with student bodies Etecsa on Monday announced that students would be allowed two monthly top-ups at 360 pesos ($3), compared with one for the rest of the population.
Further top-ups have to be paid in dollars or at the eye-watering price of over 3,000 pesos.
The concessions failed to assuage the anger of many students.
Brian Gamez, a history student, told AFP he favored “peaceful protests” but was afraid that a mobilization could lead to vandalism.
The Cuban government has been wary of stoking popular discontent since July 2021 when thousands of people took to the streets in a rare show of defiance to demonstrate over shortages of fuel, food, medicine and electricity.
One person was killed and dozens injured in the protests, which Havana accused Washington of orchestrating.

Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

Updated 13 min 38 sec ago
Follow

Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

MARRAKECH: Sudan’s former prime minister on Wednesday dismissed the military’s moves to form a new government as “fake,” saying its recent victories in recapturing the capital Khartoum and other territory will not end the country’s two-year civil war.

Abdalla Hamdok said no military victory, in Khartoum or elsewhere, could end the war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.

“Whether Khartoum is captured or not captured, it’s irrelevant,” Hamdok said on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s governance conference in Morocco. 

“There is no military solution to this. No side will be able to have outright victory.”

Hamdok became Sudan’s first civilian prime minister after decades of military rule in 2019, trying to lead a democratic transition. He resigned in January 2022 after a turbulent stretch in which he was ousted in a coup and briefly reinstated amid international pressure.

The following year, warring generals plunged the country into civil war. Sudan today bears the grim distinction of being home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far worse.

Both sides stand accused of war crimes. 

The RSF, with roots in Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militia, has been accused of carrying out genocide. The army is accused of unleashing chemical weapons and targeting civilians where they live.

The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who have crossed into neighboring countries. Famine is setting in and cholera is sweeping through.

The military recaptured the Khartoum area from the RSF in March, as well as some surrounding territory. Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan has framed the advances as a major turning point in the conflict.

Last month, he appointed a new prime minister, Kamil Al-Taib Idris, for the first time since the war began, tasked with forming a new government. But the fighting has continued. 

The RSF has regrouped in its stronghold in Darfur and made advances elsewhere, including in Kordofan.

Hamdok, a 69-year-old former economist who now leads a civilian coalition from exile, called the idea that the conflict was drawing down “total nonsense.” The idea that reconstruction can begin in Khartoum while fighting rages elsewhere is “absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

“Any attempt at creating a government in Sudan today is fake. It is irrelevant,” he said, arguing that lasting peace can’t be secured without addressing the root causes of the war.

Hamdok said a ceasefire and a credible process to restore democratic, civilian rule would need to confront Sudan’s deep inequalities, including uneven development, issues among different identity groups and questions about the role of religion in government.

“Trusting the soldiers to bring democracy is a false pretense,” he added.

Though rooted in longstanding divisions, the war has been supercharged by foreign powers accused of arming both sides.

Pro-democracy groups, including Hamdok’s Somoud coalition, have condemned atrocities committed by both the army and the RSF.

“What we would like to see is anybody who is supplying arms to any side to stop,” he said.


Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured

Updated 12 min 7 sec ago
Follow

Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured

  • Egypt’s foreign minister assured his Greek counterpart that the spiritual and religious value of Saint Catherine Monastery will be preserved

CAIRO: Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured.
Egypt’s foreign minister on Wednesday told his Greek counterpart that the spiritual and religious value of the Saint Catherine Monastery and surrounding archaeological sites will be preserved. That’s according to a statement.
The Greek Orthodox Church had been concerned after an administrative court said the state owns the land but affirmed the monks’ right to use the site.
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem last week expressed concern and said “it is our sacred obligation to ensure that Christian worship continues on this holy ground, as it has done for 17 centuries.” It acknowledged Egypt’s assurances there would be no infringement.
Egypt’s presidency last week said the ruling consolidates the state’s commitment to preserve the monastery’s religious status.


UN calls for probe into Libya mass graves

Updated 17 min 51 sec ago
Follow

UN calls for probe into Libya mass graves

  • UN rights chief ‘shocked’ as dozens of bodies discovered in a section of Libyan capital run by armed militia

GENEVA: The UN human rights office called on Wednesday for an independent investigation into the discovery of mass graves at detention centers in Libya’s capital Tripoli.

It expressed concerns about the discovery of dozens of bodies, some charred and buried and others in hospital refrigerators, in an area of Libya’s capital controlled by an armed militia whose leader was killed last month.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was shocked by revelations that gross rights violations were uncovered at detention facilities in Tripoli run by the Stabilization Support Authority, or SSA, an armed group whose commander, Abdel-Ghani Al-Kikli, was killed in militia fighting in mid-May.

It was established to uphold the rule of law and falls under the Presidential Council that came to power in 2021 with the Government of National Unity of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah through a UN-backed process.

The rights office said it later received information on the excavation of 10 charred bodies at the SSA headquarters in the Abu Salim neighborhood and another 67 bodies discovered in refrigerators in the Abu Salim and Al-Khadra Hospitals. 

It also cited reports of a burial site at the Tripoli Zoo that was run by the SSA.

The office said the identities of the bodies were not immediately clear. “Our worst-held fears are being confirmed: Dozens of bodies have been discovered at these sites, along with the discovery of suspected instruments of torture and abuse, and potential evidence of extrajudicial killings,” Türk said in a statement.

Türk called on authorities to seal the area to preserve evidence and said there needed to be accountability for the killings. He said the UN should be granted access to the sites to document rights violations.

Libya, a major oil producer in the Mediterranean, has known little law and order since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi and eventually divided the country between warring eastern and western factions.

The rights body said the discovery of dozens of bodies and suspected instruments of torture and abuse confirmed longstanding findings by the UN that human rights violations were committed at such sites.

“We call on the Libyan authorities to conduct independent, impartial and transparent investigations into these discoveries,” it said in a statement. It urged the authorities to preserve evidence and grant Libya’s forensic teams, as well as the United Nations, full access to the sites.

Outright war fighting in Libya abated with a ceasefire in 2020. However, efforts to end the political crisis have failed, with major factions occasionally joining forces in armed clashes and competing for control over Libya’s substantial energy resources.

Armed clashes erupted on Monday evening and gunfire echoed in the center and other parts of Tripoli following reports that the commander of one of its most powerful armed groups had been killed, three residents said by phone.


Bahrain game ‘crucial’ for Saudi World Cup qualification hopes, says coach Herve Renard

Updated 22 min 57 sec ago
Follow

Bahrain game ‘crucial’ for Saudi World Cup qualification hopes, says coach Herve Renard

  • With 2 games left to play in 3rd round of the qualifiers and the Green Falcons sitting 3rd in Group C, he warns that 6 points are a ‘must’
  • The squad’s final preparations are going well, he adds, with a renewed spirit and clear determination among the players to perform well

MANAMA: Saudi Arabia’s match against Bahrain on Thursday is “crucial” to their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, coach Herve Renard said on Wednesday.

The away game will be followed by a showdown with Australia at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on Tuesday, as the third round of the qualifiers draws to a close.

The Saudis are sitting third in the six-team Group C, 10 points behind already qualified Japan and trailing Australia by three. The top two in the group qualify automatically for the finals, while those who finish third and fourth will fight it out with four other teams for the last three spots. At this point no outcome is certain for the Green Falcons, who are just four points ahead of bottom-of-the-group China.

Speaking at the prematch press conference in Manama, Renard said the Saudis must take maximum points from their remaining games.

“We have to win the six points in the next two matches,” the Frenchman said. “Knowing the outcome of the Australia-Japan match (on Thursday) in advance gives us an important psychological boost ahead of the Bahrain match, and it may also determine my final message to the players.”

The squad’s final preparations for the game were going well, he added, with a renewed spirit and clear determination among the players to perform at a level worthy of the team, despite the difficult task ahead.

The position they are in reflects the team’s stumbling start to this phase of the qualifiers, Renard said, but everyone is determined to restore balance to the team and win.