STOCKHOLM: An Iraqi refugee in Sweden who stoked international outrage by repeatedly desecrating the Qur'an last year said Wednesday he was leaving the country for neighboring Norway after Sweden revoked his residency permit.
Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qur'ans at a slew of protests in Sweden over the summer, told AFP that he had left Sweden and arrived in Norway, where he planned to seek asylum.
“I left Sweden because of the persecution I was subjected to by government institutions,” Momika said in a text message.
Momika’s Qur'an burnings sparked widespread outrage and condemnation in Muslim countries.
Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
The Swedish government condemned the desecrations of the Qur'an but stressed the country’s laws regarding freedom of speech and assembly.
Sweden’s intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level in mid-August to four on a scale of five after the angry reactions made the country a “prioritized target.”
The Swedish Migration Agency revoked Momika’s residency permit in October, citing false information in his original application, but he was granted a temporary one as it said there were was an “impediment to enforcement” of a deportation to Iraq.
The month before, Iraq had requested his extradition over one of the Qur'an burnings.
“Sweden has become a threat to me after the decision to expel me and the threat to extradite me to Iraq,” Momika said.
Momika called Sweden’s freedom of expression and protection of human rights “a big lie.”
Sweden Qur’an burner says leaving for Norway after residency permit revoked
https://arab.news/2tq6t
Sweden Qur’an burner says leaving for Norway after residency permit revoked
- Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qur'ans at a slew of protests in Sweden over the summer arrived in Norway, where he planned to seek asylum
- Momika’s Qur'an burnings sparked widespread outrage and condemnation in Muslim countries
Belgian teens found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given option of fine or sentence
- Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species
NAIROBI: Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving 12 months in prison — the maximum penalty for the offense — for violating wildlife conservation laws.
Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species.
Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. They were charged on April 15.
Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya’s main airport on Wednesday, said in her ruling that despite the teenagers telling the court they were naïve and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected is valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few.
The Kenya Wildlife Service had said the teenagers were involved in trafficking the ants to markets in Europe and Asia, and that the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-colored harvester ant native to East Africa.
“This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online,” Thuku said in her ruling.
The illegal export of the ants “not only undermines Kenya’s sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,” KWS said in a statement.
Duh Hung Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, told the court that he was sent to pick up the ants and arrived at Kenya’s main airport where he met his contact person, Dennis Ng’ang’a, and together they traveled to meet the locals who sell the ants.
Ng’ang’a, who is from Kenya, had said he didn’t know it was illegal because ants are sold and eaten locally.
Bill Gates meets Indonesian leader to discuss development initiatives
- Gates’ foundation is developing a tuberculosis vaccine that’s planned to be tested in Indonesia
JAKARTA: Bill Gates was in Indonesia on Wednesday to discuss health and sustainable development initiatives with the leader of the world’s fourth most populous country.
Gates met President Prabowo Subianto at the colonial-style Merdeka palace in Jakarta to discuss global health, nutrition, financial inclusion and public digital infrastructure, Indonesia’s presidential office said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
The co-founder of Microsoft and Gates Foundation praised Indonesia’s adoption of vaccines against Rotavirus for diarrhea and Pneumococcus for pneumonia and the country’s efforts in reducing child mortality.
He said 10 million children under the age of five worldwide died when his foundation launched in 2000, with 90 percent of the deaths due to diarrhea, pneumonia or malaria. That number has now been cut in half to below 5 million, Gates said.
“It’s been an amazing time period. And there’s many new tools coming,” he told the meeting, which was also attended by prominent Indonesian businesspeople and philanthropists.
Gates’ foundation is currently developing a tuberculosis vaccine that’s planned to be tested in Indonesia, Subianto said.
“This is crucial because TB is still a deadly disease in the country,” he said.
Gates said that because rich countries don’t have tuberculosis, “it just doesn’t get hardly any money for diagnostics or drugs or vaccines.”
Gates has granted more than $159 million to Indonesia since 2009.
Much of it was allocated to the health sector, especially for vaccine procurement, Subianto said.
Thanks to the funds, Subianto said Biofarma, a state-run pharmaceutical company, now can produce 2 billion doses of its polio vaccine every year, benefiting more than 900 million people in 42 countries.
France says Algeria has issued arrest warrants for writer Daoud
PARIS: Algeria has issued two arrest warrants for acclaimed French-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, the French Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, as tensions surge between the two countries.
The Algerian judiciary informed France of the move, the Foreign Ministry said.
“We are monitoring and will continue to monitor developments in this situation closely,” he said, stressing that Daoud was “a renowned and respected author” and that France was committed to freedom of expression.
In 2024, Daoud won France’s top literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, for his novel “Houris,” centered on Algeria’s civil war between the government and radicals in the 1990s.
The novel, banned in Algeria, tells the story of a young woman who loses her voice when a hard-liner cuts her throat as she witnesses her family being massacred during the war.
In November, the woman, Saada Arbane, told Algerian television, using a speech aid, that the main character in the book is based on her experiences. Daoud, 54, has denied his novel is based on Arbane’s life.
Arbane says she told her story during a course of treatment with a psychotherapist who became Daoud’s wife in 2016.
She has accused Daoud of using the details narrated during their therapy sessions in his book.
UN appoints special envoy to combat Islamophobia
- Former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will serve in new role
- UN observes International Day to Combat Islamophobia on March 15
NEW YORK CITY: The UN has appointed a special envoy to combat Islamophobia in a bid to fight anti-Muslim hatred around the world.
The new position will be filled by Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain, who also serves as high representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative to combat extremism.
Moratinos previously served in the Spanish government and worked closely with the UN during his time as foreign minister from 2004 to 2010.
He also served as EU special representative for the Middle East peace process from 1996 to 2003.
In that role, he promoted peace agreements and attempted to foster dialogue between Israel and the Arab world.
He also served as Spanish ambassador to Israel in 1996.
The UN marks International Day to Combat Islamophobia each year on March 15. The day was first observed following a resolution put forward by Pakistan that was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2022.
The document was sponsored by the 60 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
This year on March 15, Moratinos spoke out against the “bigotry and dehumanizing rhetoric” that Muslims “have to quite often face in many parts of the world.”
“Hate speech drives wedge between communities, sparks fear and anger and may often lead to violence which threatens peace and stability in societies,” he said.
“All forms of hate should be rooted out wherever and whenever it occurs. This means pushing for policies that fully respect human rights and protect religious and cultural identities, particularly of minorities.
“This means investing in social cohesion by encouraging initiatives that promote dialogue, mutual respect and protects human rights and the dignity of all.”
Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating conclave hasn’t elected pope in first vote
Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating conclave hasn’t elected pope in first vote
- The smoke billowed out at 9 p.m. Wednesday
- They return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning
VATICAN CITY: Black smoke is pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church.
The smoke billowed out at 9 p.m. Wednesday, some four hours after 133 cardinals solemnly entered the Sistine Chapel, took their oaths of secrecy and formally opened the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis to lead the 1.4 billion-member church.
With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the cardinals will retire for the night to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered.
They return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning.
