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Top Democrats yesterday ruled out the possibility of replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee after a feeble debate performance and called on party members to focus instead on the consequences of a second Donald Trump presidency.After days of hand-wringing about Biden’s poor night on stage, Democratic leaders firmly rejected calls for their party to choose a younger presidential candidate for the November 5 election.Biden, 81, meanwhile was huddling with family members at the Camp David presidential retreat yesterday, with his political future a likely topic of discussion.But the drumbeat of calls for Biden to step aside continued, and a post-debate CBS poll showed a 10-point jump in the number of Democrats who believe Biden should not be running for president, to 46% from 36% in February.“The unfortunate truth is that Biden should withdraw from the race, for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said in an editorial yesterday. “The shade of retirement is now necessary for President Biden.”“Absolutely not,” responded Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, one of several Democrats seen as a possible replacement for Biden.“Bad debates happen,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press programme. “The question is, ‘Who has Donald Trump ever shown up for other than himself and people like himself?’ I’m with Joe Biden, and it’s our assignment to make sure that he gets over the finish line come November.”House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who could become speaker next year if his party can take control of the House in November, acknowledged that Biden suffered a setback in his debate with former president Trump, the Republican candidate.“I believe a setback is nothing more than a setup for a comeback,” he told MSNBC. “So the moment that we’re in right now is a comeback moment.”Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a leading Biden surrogate, told ABC’s This Week programme that Biden needed to stay in the race to ensure Trump’s defeat.“I think he’s the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump,” Coons said.With Democratic leaders rallying around his candidacy, it will be up to Biden to decide whether he wants to end his re-election bid.But other Democrats held open the possibility of choosing a different presidential candidate.Representative Jamie Raskin, a prominent Democrat in Congress, told MSNBC that “very honest and serious and rigorous conversations” were taking place within the party.“Whether he’s the candidate or someone else is the candidate, he’s going to be the keynote speaker at our convention. He will be the figure that we rally around to move forward,” Raskin said.During the debate, a hoarse-sounding Biden delivered a shaky, halting performance in which he stumbled over his words on several occasions. Some Democrats later said privately that the showing could prove to be a disqualifying factor.In his own debate performance, Trump made a series of well-worn falsehoods, including claims that migrants have carried out a crime wave, that Democrats support infanticide and that he actually won the 2020 election.After a frenzied run of seven campaign events across four states since Thursday’s debate, Biden headed to Camp David on Saturday for a pre-planned family gathering that includes a family photo shoot, according to two people familiar with the scheduling. The attendees include his wife, Jill Biden, as well as the Biden children and grandchildren.While the trip had been planned for months, the timing and circumstances of Biden being surrounded by family members who have weighed heavily in his past decisions to run for the presidency have added to the scrutiny around the visit.DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members across the country, a group of some of the most influential members of the party.The call was part pep talk, part planning meeting for the upcoming national convention, according to two people who were on the call who requested anonymity to discuss private discussions.

France’s far-right was yesterday eyeing a historic chance to form a government and claim the post of prime minister after winning the first round of legislative elections with the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron coming in only third.But it remained unclear if the far-right National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen would win an absolute majority of seats in the new National Assembly in the July 7 second round that it needs to be certain of winning power.Macron had stunned the nation and baffled even some allies by calling snap polls after the RN trounced his centrist forces in European Parliament elections this month.But that gamble risks backfiring, with Macron’s alliance now expected to win a far smaller minority contingent in parliament. That would make the president a far less powerful figure for the remaining three years of his term.Projections from prominent French polling firms gave the RN 34.5% of the vote, compared to 28.5-29.1% for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance, and 20.5-21.5% for Macron’s centrist camp.The polling agencies projected this would give the RN a majority of seats in the 577-seat National Assembly after the second round but it was far from clear it would garner the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority.The projections varied sharply, with Ipsos forecasting 230-280 seats, Ifop 240-270 and Elabe the only organisation to put it in the range of an absolute majority on 260-310 seats.In a statement, Macron called for a “broad” alliance against the far-right in the second round which will see run-off votes where there was no outright winner in the first round.The left-wing alliance and the president’s camp will be hoping that tactical voting to prevent RN candidates winning seats will leave it short of the absolute majority.“We have seven days to spare France from catastrophe,” said Raphael Glucksmann, a key figure in the left-wing alliance.With the French facing their most polarising choices in recent history, turnout soared. The Elabe organisation projected a final turnout of 67.5%, the highest participation in a regular format legislative election in France since 1981.The final turnout in 2022 was just 47.5%.Macron said that the high turnout in the first round spoke of “the importance of this vote for all our compatriots and the desire to clarify the political situation.”With Russia’s war against Ukraine in its third year and energy and food prices much higher, support for the anti-immigration and eurosceptic RN party has surged despite Macron’s pledges to prevent its ascent.The two-round vote could put the far-right in power in France for the first time since the Nazi occupation in World War II and give 28-year-old RN party chief Jordan Bardella, a protege of its longtime leader Le Pen, the chance to form a government.“Nothing is won and the second round is decisive,” Le Pen told supporters. “We need an absolute majority so that Jordan Bardella is in eight days named prime minister by Emmanuel Macron.”Bardella said he wanted to be the “prime minister of all French.”This would create a tense period of “cohabitation” with Macron, who has vowed to serve out his term until 2027. Bardella has said he will only form a government if the RN wins an absolute majority in the elections.The alternative is months of political paralysis and negotiations to find a solution for a sustainable government that can survive no-confidence votes.Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron’s centrist alliance had suffered a “heavy and undisputable” defeat in the snap polls. In the southern city of Marseille, Nabil Agueni said he had skipped the European elections but voted yesterday.“As long as we have a choice, it’s better to go and vote”, the 40-year-old said.Nicole Cherprenet, a 79-year-old voter in Paris, said: “The future scares me.”Macron’s decision to call the snap vote plunged the country into political turmoil and sparked uncertainty in Europe’s second-biggest economy.The Paris stock exchange suffered its biggest monthly decline in two years in June, dropping by 6.4%, according to figures released on Friday.

Thousands of people turned out in France yesterday for feminist demonstrations against the far-right, which is expected to come out on top in June 30 snap elections, as parties sought to shore up support with days to go.With the far-right National Rally (RN) polling at around 35%, “we have to remind people that they’re the ones who are always attacking family planning services,” said Morgane Legras, a nuclear engineer and feminist activist taking part in the Paris march.There were between 13,000 (police estimate) and 75,000 (organisers’ estimate) people at yesterday’s demonstration.Protesters, many wearing violet, marched from the Place de la Republique square in central Paris to Place de la Nation in the east, bearing signs with messages such as “Push back the far-right, not our rights”.Police sources said 53 rallies took place across the country, and said 33,800 people had taken part.France’s two-round election system makes it difficult to predict which party could ultimately claim a majority in the lower house of parliament, handing them the prime minister’s post which is second in power only to President Emmanuel Macron.Since Macron dissolved parliament after a European Parliament election battering, his centrists are badly lagging the RN as well as a reforged left-wing alliance called the New Popular Front (NFP) in surveys of voting intentions.The RN has garnered unprecedented levels of support after a decades-long “de-demonisation” push to distance its image from its roots, including a co-founder who was a member of the Nazi Waffen-SS paramilitary.But the core of its message remains hostility to immigration, Islam and the European Union.Senior RN lawmaker Sebastien Chenu gestured towards Muslim and Jewish voters yesterday by vowing not to ban the ritual slaughter of livestock to produce halal or kosher meat.“Everyone will be able to keep eating kosher meat if they want,” Chenu told Jewish broadcaster Radio J.He added that a historic far-right policy of barring the kippa in public spaces — in the footsteps of an existing law forbidding the full-body burka worn by some Muslim women — was not top of the RN’s agenda, saying its priority was to fight “the Islamist threat”.In Macron’s camp, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal acknowledged that the European Parliament result — where they scored just 14% — was “a message to us that we have to do better with our methods, with our governance” of the country.If his party defies the odds to come top in the legislative polls, he vowed “change”, including a turn to “seeking out coalitions with the French public, with civil society” in an interview with broadcaster RTL.Macron’s alliance would open up to “all who want to come, from the conservative right to the social-democratic left”, Macron’s former prime minister Edouard Philippe told broadcaster France 3.Attal also hammered the centrists’ mantra about the threats from “extremes” on the left and right, saying both promised a “tax bludgeoning... a shredder for the middle classes”.The RN especially is “not ready to govern... it’s a party of opposition, not a party of government”, Attal said.

Carcasses of impala, kudu and wildebeest hang from a slaughterhouse rail, ready to be turned into steaks, sausages and burger patties of the kind South Africa wants to see more of on the dinner table.The abattoir in Bela Bela, north of Johannesburg, is among only a handful in the country dedicated to game meat.Authorities say the untapped sector could create jobs and help preserve wildlife — while pleasing the palates of climate- and health-conscious meat eaters.“We want to add a dimension into your dinner plate by giving you an organic game meat from the wild,” Khorommbi Matibe, the environment ministry’s biodiversity economy chief, told AFP.A top wildlife tourism destination, South Africa produces around 60,000 tonnes of game meat a year — equivalent in weight to roughly 60,000 giraffes.But only a fraction ends up in butcheries and supermarkets. Ninety percent is hunted and consumed informally, according to the government. Even less is exported.In 2019, just over 3,000 tonnes of ostrich, crocodile and zebra were shipped to the European Union, China and the UAE, it said.Authorities would like to serve up much more.In March, they said they want to grow the sector from 4.6bn rand ($250mn) in 2020 to 27.6bn rand by 2036, adopting a strategy published late last year.LESS METHANEWith unemployment sitting at 32.9% nationally, this could create jobs in rural, economically deprived areas.Matibe said there are good reasons for barbecuing more springboks. Game animals release less methane — a greenhouse gas — than cattle, whose burps are a top source of global warming emissions from agriculture.Foraging in the wild, their meat is by definition free-range and lean.A 2023 study by researchers at Stellenbosch University, found that zebra meat in particular was highly nutritious and very low in fat.Eating more of it could also help conservation efforts, the government argues. South Africa has long adopted a market-oriented approach to conservation, based on the belief that farmers have a better incentive to look after wildlife if they can profit from it.Critics say the model exploits and commoditises animals. But it has proved largely successful.The country’s wildlife population has grown from about 500,000 in the 1960s to more than 20mn today. About 80% is in private game reserves that attract tourists and hunters.Some meat could come from the hundreds of herbivores that are culled every year to keep numbers within sustainable levels, the government says. And it wants to convert 1mn hectares of communal land to game meat production, which could boost black ownership in a sector where, 30 years after the end of apartheid, more than 94% of operators are white males, said Matibe.Requiring little equipment, game has “really low” input costs — an advantage for newcomers, added Darren Horner, owner of producer Aloes Meat.Yet, in a country mad for barbecue, locally known as braai, little currently ends on the grill.This is partially due to the belief that game is less tender than beef and tastes unusual, according to the strategy, which envisages marketing campaigns to boost consumption. “Our grandmothers used to stuff it with bacon and leave it in red wine for three days to get rid of that wild taste. To me it only needs a bit of olive oil and salt,” said Charl de Villiers, head of Game SA, an industry group.There are other hurdles.Authorities plan to draw up quality standards so that all meat can be traced to the source and trusted by supermarkets and restaurants. But these can’t be too stringent or risk scaring away informal producers, said Horner.Meanwhile, exports of cloven-hoofed animals to Europe have been banned for years as South Africa struggles to contain outbreaks of the foot and mouth disease that farmers blame on inadequate border controls.State laboratories to test meat are small and outdated, which further limits export potential, producers say. De Villiers currently has to ship his ostrich meat to Britain for testing, which ups costs.Stephen Nel, owner of the Camo Meat abattoir in Bela Bela, said he applied for an export licence in 2017 but has since given up on it.“It was a very big disappointment for me. The government failed us,” Nel said, wearing khaki shorts and a matching shirt inside his refrigerated facility.About 4,000 animals a year are skinned, weighed, deboned, processed and packaged there.Almost all are brought in by hunters keen on eating some of their prey. Expanding production to supply supermarkets would require investments, but these are hard to come by, amid scepticism around the sector’s potential, he said. The government has been talking about growth for over a decade, but “nothing gets laid down”, said Nel.Yet, Matibe is confident the strategy will soon start to bring results and will remain on track even after elections in May that forced the ruling African National Congress to form a coalition government. “In the next three years, we should be able to see a ramp up of this product coming to the market,” he said.

Kenya’s President William Ruto said yesterday that he was ready for “a conversation” with thousands of “peaceful” young anti-tax protesters, prompting new calls from the movement’s organisers to accept their demand to cancel the levies.Organised on social media and led largely by Gen-Z Kenyans who have livestreamed the demonstrations, the protests by thousands of people have caught Ruto’s government off guard, as discontent mounts over his economic policies.“I am very proud of our young people...they have stepped forward peaceful and I want to tell them we are going to engage them,” Ruto said in his first public comments on the protests.“We are going to have a conversation so that together we can build a greater nation,” Ruto said during a church service in the Rift Valley town of Nyahururu.His characterisation of the protests as “peaceful” came after rights campaigners reported two deaths following Thursday’s demonstrations in Nairobi.A protest organiser, Hanifa Adan, who told AFP that she was in hiding to avoid arrest, said Ruto needed to “respond publicly” to demands that the proposed hikes be cancelled.“President Ruto can’t claim to support us while his police brutalise peaceful protesters,” she said.“We’re past the talking stage and won’t be silenced. We demand an end to police violence, respect for our constitutional rights, and the freedom to speak up without fear of arrest or harm.” Amnesty International Kenya said yesterday that “in the last 72 hours, protest organisers, content creators, medics and protesters have been profiled, abducted and detained in violation of our laws”.The rights watchdog did not elaborate on the number of detainees, and there was no immediate comment by the police.Thursday’s demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but officers fired tear gas and water cannon throughout the day to disperse protesters near parliament.A Kenya Human Rights Commission official told AFP on Saturday that 21-year-old Evans Kiratu was “hit by a tear gas canister” during the protests and died in hospital. On Friday, a police watchdog said it was investigating allegations that a 29-year-old man was shot by officers in Nairobi after the demonstrations. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said it had “documented the death...allegedly as a result of police shooting” on Thursday. Several organisations, including Amnesty International Kenya, said that at least 200 people were injured in the protests in Nairobi, as thousands of people took to the streets across the country.The protesters have called for a national strike tomorrow.After smaller demonstrations in Nairobi last Tuesday, the cash-strapped government agreed to roll back several tax increases laid out in a new bill.But Ruto’s administration still intends to raise some taxes, saying they are necessary for filling the state coffers and cutting reliance on external borrowing.Kenya has a huge debt mountain whose servicing costs have ballooned because of a fall in the value of the local currency over the last two years, making interest payments on foreign-currency loans more expensive.The tax hikes will pile further pressure on Kenyans struggling with cost of living surges, with well-paid jobs remaining out of reach for young people.Ruto said yesterday that the annual budget included measures to tackle youth unemployment and improve access to higher education. After the government agreed to scrap levies on bread purchases, car ownership and financial and mobile services, the treasury warned of a budget shortfall of 200bn shillings ($1.56bn).

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a podcast released on Thursday said that students graduating from US colleges should get a green card to stay in the country, a proposal that runs counter to his hardline immigration stance.During the All-In podcast hosted by Silicon Valley tech investors, angel investor Jason Calacanis told Trump that the US needs to be able to legally retain more high-skilled workers, a major issue for the tech industry.“Can you please promise us you will give us more ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America?” Calacanis said.“I do promise,” Trump said. “But I happen to agree, otherwise I wouldn’t promise...you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in this country and that includes junior colleges too.”A green card, also known as a permanent resident card, allows individuals the right to live and work permanently in the United States and is a step towards citizenship.It was not clear if Trump was referring to all foreigners, including those who came to the United States illegally or overstayed their visas, or only those people on student visas.Asked for comment, the Trump campaign said in a statement that only after “the most aggressive vetting process in US history” would “the most skilled graduates who can make significant contributions to America” be able to stay.The Biden campaign cast doubt on whether Trump would in fact enact the proposal he outlined on Thursday, given the hardline immigration stances he adopted during his 2017-2021 term.“Every chance Donald Trump got in office, he made it his mission to rip apart immigrant families for his own political gain,” said Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz. “Trump’s empty promise is both a lie and an insult, especially to the countless people that have been permanently damaged by his first-term in office.”Immigration advocates were also unconvinced by Trump’s proposal.“I almost have to laugh because his administration adopted multiple policies aiming to restrict student visas and make it harder for people to stay in the country after graduating,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.During his presidency, Trump’s administration took steps aimed at curbing US companies’ use of skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas, a key visa option for international students seeking to remain in the United States.During the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration tried to force tens of thousands of foreign students to leave the country if their schools held all classes online.Faced with lawsuits and strong opposition from colleges and universities, the administration later rescinded the order.Trump has vowed a wide-ranging crackdown if re-elected in the November election against Democrat Joe Biden, and has lambasted Biden’s efforts to curb the record number of migrants crossing into the US illegally.Two of the All-In hosts, venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, hosted a swanky fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco earlier this month, raising some $12mn for his campaign.During the interview, Trump ruled out committing US troops to Ukraine.“I would guarantee it,” he said, when asked if he would pledge not to put boots on the ground there. “I wouldn’t do it, no.”Trump also appeared sceptical of creating a pathway for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) membership for Ukraine.The Biden administration supports Ukraine’s eventual ascension into the mutual defence alliance.On abortion rights, Trump said he would not support a federal ban, echoing previous comments.

The US Supreme Court upheld yesterday a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns, handing a victory to President Joe Biden’s administration as the justices opted not to further widen firearms rights after a major expansion in 2022.The 8-1 ruling, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, overturned a lower court’s decision striking down the 1994 law as a violation of the US Constitution’s Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms”.The law was challenged by a Texas man who was subject to a restraining order for assaulting his girlfriend in a parking lot and later threatening to shoot her.The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals had concluded that the measure failed the Supreme Court’s stringent test set in 2022 that required gun laws to be “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation” to comply with the Second Amendment.Roberts wrote in the ruling that since the nation’s founding, firearm laws have targeted people who threaten physical harm to others.“When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may – consistent with the Second Amendment – be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect,” Roberts wrote.Biden’s administration defended the law as critical to protect public safety and abuse victims, who often are women.It emphasised that guns pose a particularly serious threat in domestic violence situations and also are extremely dangerous to police officers called to respond.“No one who has been abused should have to worry about their abuser getting a gun,” Biden said, touting his record on gun control. “As a result of (Friday’s) ruling, survivors of domestic violence and their families will still be able to count on critical protections, just as they have for the past three decades.”“A woman who lives in a house with a domestic abuser is five times more likely to be murdered if he has access to a gun,” Solicitor-General Elizabeth Prelogar said in November last year as she made the case for upholding the federal law for the Biden administration.Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the 2022 ruling in a case called New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, was the lone dissenter.“Most states, including Texas, classify aggravated assault as a felony, punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment. Thus, the question before us is not whether Rahimi and others like him can be disarmed consistent with the second amendment,” Thomas wrote. “Instead, the question is whether the government can strip the second amendment right of anyone subject to a protective order – even if he has never been accused or convicted of a crime. It cannot.”“Not a single historical regulation justifies the statute at issue,” Thomas wrote, adding that “in the interest of ensuring the government can regulate one subset of society, (yesterday’s) decision puts at risk the Second Amendment rights of many more”.The case involved Zackey Rahimi, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to illegally possessing guns in violation of this law while subject to a restraining order.Police found a pistol and rifle while searching Rahimi’s residence in connection with at least five shootings, including using an assault-type rifle to fire at the home of a man to whom he had sold drugs.A federal judge had rejected Rahimi’s Second Amendment challenge and sentenced him to more than six years in prison.Violating the domestic violence gun law initially was punishable by up to 10 years in prison but has since been raised to 15 years.Gun safety groups called yesterday’s ruling a legal victory that will help counter firearms violence. However, they condemned actions by the 5th Circuit, perhaps the most conservative federal appeals court, that let the case get this far.“As millions of domestic violence victims breathe a sigh of relief, it’s worth remembering who put them in jeopardy: extreme Trump-appointed judges on the 5th Circuit who sided with an abuser who wanted to keep his guns,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, referring to Republican former president Donald Trump.Rahimi’s lawyer declined to comment on the ruling.In a May Reuters/Ipsos poll, 75% of registered voters, including 84% of Democrats and 70% of Republicans, said that a person subject to a domestic violence restraining order should not be allowed to possess firearms.In a nation bitterly divided over how to address firearms violence including frequent mass shootings, the Supreme Court often has taken an expansive view of the Second Amendment, broadening gun rights in landmark rulings in 2008, 2010 and 2022.The 2022 Bruen ruling recognised a constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defence, striking down a New York state’s limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home.In another case, the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling on June 14 declared unlawful a federal ban on “bump stock” devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns.The 5th Circuit last year set aside Rahimi’s conviction, concluding that although he was “hardly a model citizen”, the 1994 law was an “outlier” that could not stand under the “historical tradition” standard the justices announced in Bruen.Supporters of Rahimi have argued that judges too easily issue restraining orders in an unfair process that results in the deprivation of the constitutional gun rights of accused abusers.Gun violence is common in the United States, where there are more firearms than people, and the Gun Violence Archive registered more than 40,000 deaths last year. Attempts to clamp down on gun rights are always met with stiff political resistance.

Peak demand for power in India’s hot, arid northern plains hit a record on Monday, the government said as it continues to implement measures to meet high energy consumption, although the weeks’ long heatwave is forecast to abate soon.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted above-normal temperatures for June in the northwest and central parts of the country, making it one of the longest heatwave spells.Government data shows that there were nearly 25,000 cases of suspected heat stroke and 56 people lost their lives in the sweltering heat across the country from March-May.India’s power ministry said demand for power at the peak time on Monday reached 89 gigawatt (GW), the highest ever for the northern region, adding that the strong demand, which has prevailed since May 17, was “challenging”.The temperature in the national capital Delhi was about 44C late Monday afternoon but the IMD said it felt like 49.2C. In Delhi, which is facing a water shortage, the highest daily temperatures have stayed above 40C since May 12 and are forecast to fall below that mark only on June 26.

A group of US lawmakers arrived in India yesterday to meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, with the head of the delegation saying President Joe Biden would soon sign a bill that aims to press China to resolve the Tibet dispute.The bill seeks to push Beijing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders, stalled since 2010, to secure a negotiated agreement on Tibet and spur China to address Tibetan people’s aspirations on their historical, cultural, religious and linguistic identity.The visit, likely to rile Beijing at a time when the US and China have sought to stabilise rocky ties, comes days ahead of a US trip planned by the Dalai Lama for medical treatment, but it is unclear if he will have any engagements during it.The bipartisan delegation of seven lawmakers, headed by Republican Representative Michael McCaul and including Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala. It is home to the 88-year-old Tibetan monk in exile.“We are very excited to see the Dalai Lama tomorrow to talk about many things, including the bill we just passed out of Congress that basically says the US stands with the people of Tibet,” McCaul said.He was referring to a meeting set for today morning. Asked if Biden will sign the bill soon, McCaul responded, “Yes, he will, he will.”McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, was referring to the legislation, ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act.US lawmakers have regularly visited Dharamsala and touted the work of the Dalai Lama to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote, mountainous homeland.Beijing, which considers the Nobel peace laureate a dangerous “splittist” or separatist, said it was “seriously concerned” about the visit and the bill expected to be signed by Biden.“We...urge the US to fully recognise the anti-China and separatist nature of the Dalai clique, abide by its commitments on Tibet-related issues, refrain from any form of contact with it, and stop sending erroneous messages,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said yesterday.Lin said Tibet’s affairs are purely the internal affairs of China, which brooks no interference from external forces.“We urge the US side to honour its commitment of recognising Tibet as part of China and not supporting Tibetan independence, and not to sign the above-mentioned bill,” Lin told a regular briefing.Beijing would take “resolute and forceful measures” to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, he added.The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. Chinese officials chafe at any interaction he has with officials of other countries.The Dalai Lama has met US officials, including presidents, during previous visits to the US, but Biden has not met him since taking office in 2021.Crowds of Tibetans, among them school children holding banners, gathered at the airport of the small hill town to greet the visiting lawmakers, .“Over the last two years the Resolve Tibet Bill was passed...and it is now on the desk of President Biden, so that will be a game changer,” said Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration, or government in exile.

The African National Congress (ANC) said yesterday South Africa’s new government has five parties in it so far, representing more than two thirds of the seats in the National Assembly, and talks with other parties were ongoing.Following last month’s election, the ANC was forced to forge alliances with other political parties after failing to win a parliamentary majority for the first since the 1994 election that marked the end of apartheid.ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as South Africa’s president by parliament on Friday, as his party drew support from its largest rival, the white-led, pro-business Democratic Alliance, as well as two smaller parties - the socially conservative Inkatha Freedom Party and the right-wing Patriotic Alliance.The ANC said yesterday that another smaller party, GOOD, had also signed up to be part of the unity government pact.This collective represents 273 seats in the National Assembly, or 68%, the ANC said in a statement.South Africa’s parliament has 400 seats. The ANC won 159 seats, the DA is the second-largest party with 87 seats, the IFP has 17 seats, PA has 9 seats and GOOD has a single seat.The ANC said the unity government would ensure representation in government for all participating parties and would make decisions by consensus.Among its priorities, the unity government is set to focus on rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, the promotion of fixed capital investment, job creation, land reform and infrastructure development, the ANC said.“The president will exercise the prerogative to appoint the cabinet, in consultation with leaders of GNU (government of national unity) parties, adhering to existing protocols on government decision-making and budgeting,” the ANC said, adding it was still in discussions with more parties to join the government.The Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters party, which has 39 seats, has said it will not be part of a government that includes the DA or the Freedom Front Plus - two parties that draw support from the white minority.The uMkhonto we Sizwe party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, is also not part of the unity government.With 58 seats in the National Assembly, it has said it will join an alliance of smaller opposition parties in parliament called the “Progressive Caucus”, which includes the EFF and the centre-left United Democratic Movement. This alliance will be the official opposition to the unity government.“With populist parties choosing to reject the GNU, and the ANC’s bigger partners in the governing coalition centre-leaning and favouring more liberal economic policies, we think the GNU opens the possibility for more growth-friendly structural reforms and prudent macroeconomic policy choices,” HSBC economist David Faulkner said in a note.“But the GNU could also face ideological divisions and exacerbate fractures within the ANC, factors that could make establishing a stable policy framework difficult.”

Indian cities have become “heat traps” due to their unbalanced growth devouring water bodies and increasing greenhouse emissions, a senior government official said yesterday, as a scorching summer killed dozens in some parts of the country.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast above-normal temperatures for June in the northwest and central parts of the country including Delhi, making it one of the longest heatwave spells.The highest daily temperatures in the capital have stayed above 40 degrees Celsius since May 12 and are forecast to fall below that mark only on June 26. The IMD’s heatwave criteria start with 40C in the plains and 30C for hills where it is generally cooler because of elevation.Delhi, which is also facing a water shortage, recorded about 44C late yesterday afternoon but the IMD said it felt like 49.2C.“Climate change plays an important role,” Krishna S Vatsa, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, said.Unbalanced urban growth, which has reduced wetlands and water bodies, was another factor, Vatsa said. “The emission of greenhouse gases has gone up. The permeable spaces have gone down considerably. The cities actually have become heat traps.” As a result, he said, nights are nearly as uncomfortable as days. According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) published last month, land surface temperatures in the summers of 2001-2010 in cities such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai used to drop by up to 13.2C during the night from their day-time peak. Between 2014 and 2023 they were only cooling off by up to 11.5C.“Hot nights are as dangerous as mid-day peak temperatures,” the Centre’s report said. “People get little chance to recover from day-time heat if temperatures remain high overnight.”Vatsa said most Indian states were implementing heat action plans that include provisioning drinking water and better medical facilities, as well as rescheduling outdoor work and school vacations.But Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director, said there was no clear mandate to implement long-term strategies. Delhi’s long-term plan includes increasing heat insulation of buildings, developing shelters for urban poor and slum dwellers, and investing in cooling water bodies.

A freight train smashed into the rear of a stationary passenger train in India’s West Bengal state yesterday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, police said, in an accident that railway authorities blamed on driver error.Media showed images of the pile-up, with containers from the goods train strewn nearby, and one carriage left nearly vertical after the accident, which comes just over a year after a signalling error caused one of India’s worst rail crashes.Fifteen bodies were pulled from the mangled carriages, Abhishek Roy, a senior police official in the eastern state’s district of Darjeeling, the site of the accident, said.Fifty-four people were injured and rescue teams from the police and national disaster response force were working to clear debris from the derailed carriages, Roy added.The goods train hit the Kanchanjunga Express travelling to Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, from the northeastern state of Tripura, driving three carriages of the passenger train off the rails. Rescuers used iron rods and ropes to work free one carriage of the passenger train that had been swept upwards to lodge on the roof of the freight train by the impact of the collision.The dead included the driver of the freight train and a guard on the passenger train, Jaya Varma Sinha, the head of the railway board that runs the countrywide network, told reporters.The accident happened after the driver of the freight train disregarded a signal, Sinha added.Rescue work has been completed, Sinha said, and authorities are working to restore traffic, with the damage less extensive than initially feared.“The guard’s compartment in the passenger train was badly damaged,” she added. “There were two parcel vans attached ahead of it which reduced the extent of damage to passengers.”Nearby residents heard a loud crash and saw the pile-up upon going to investigate, several told the ANI news agency.Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences on the loss of life and said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was on his way to the site.

Nigel Farage, whose entry into the election has damaged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s faint hopes of victory, set out his policy plans yesterday, describing them as the first step to becoming the dominant party on the right of British politics.Farage yesterday said the earlier-than-expected election had come too soon for his Reform UK party but called on supporters of Sunak’s Conservatives to “join the revolt” and pitched Reform as the only ones who could hold to account Labour, whose leader Keir Starmer is forecast to become the next prime minister.Farage is one of Britain’s most recognisable and divisive politicians and has pressured successive governments into more aggressive stances on cutting immigration. He played a pivotal role in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.But his career has been spent campaigning from the sidelines of British politics, having stood unsuccessfully for a seat in parliament seven times and led parties which, despite attracting millions of votes, have failed to weaken the grip of Britain’s two main parties - the Conservatives and Labour. This time Farage is standing in Clacton-on-Sea, southeast England, where polling shows he could win a place in parliament, but under Britain’s electoral system Reform is only expected to win, at most, a handful of seats across the country. “We are not pretending that we are going to win this general election,” Farage said at the launch of a 24-page policy document, which he described as a “contract” with voters for the next five years. But he added: “Our aim and our ambition is to establish a bridgehead in parliament and to become a real opposition to a Labour government.”Reform chose Merthyr Tydfil for its launch to highlight what it says is Labour misrule in Wales.Farage’s unexpected entry into the election race - having initially said he would not run and wanted to concentrate on campaigning for Donald Trump in the US - has split support among Britain’s right-of-centre voters.The Labour Party is around 20 percentage points ahead in opinion polls and forecast to win a large majority. Reform overtook the Conservatives in one poll last week, and Farage has set a target of winning 6mn votes at the July 4 election.Other polls put them far behind the governing party. The Reform campaign has so far focused on Farage and his populist appeal. The 60-year-old received an expensive private education and worked as a commodities trader but has successfully styled himself as a man of the people taking on an out-of-touch political establishment.

Except for some torrential downpours, King Charles III’s highly choreographed official birthday parade passed off successfully yesterday, as Catherine, Princess of Wales, made a well-received partial return to public duties.But a small band of anti-monarchists did not keep to the meticulously planned script, booing the royals as they appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony, waving their protest placards and aggravating royalists there.Graham Smith, who heads the Republic pressure group which campaigns for an elected UK head of state to replace the monarch, led the several dozen demonstrators determined to intrude on one of the highlights of the royal calendar. “The monarchy is undemocratic, it’s corrupt,” he told AFP, as they rallied near the palace with the organisation’s signature yellow placards and flags bearing slogans like “down with the crown”.“They misuse public office for personal gain, spending millions...on lifestyle, demanding secrecy, interfering in politics,” he added, in criticisms Smith regularly airs against the centuries-old British institution.Long a fringe group in the UK, Republic insists it has “momentum” on its side in its bid to persuade Britons to ditch the monarchy. The group has sought to capitalise on the end of Queen Elizabeth’s seven-decade reign — the biggest change to the monarchy in a generation — to make a fresh case for reform.It has increased its standing since Charles’s tenure on the throne started in September 2022, and now boasts 140,000 “supporters” and 10,000 paying members, according to Smith. He told AFP in February that Charles’ recently announced cancer diagnosis would not stop his organisation making its case.Just weeks later Kate, as the Princess of Wales is widely known, revealed she too had been diagnosed with the disease, prompting a wave of support from global leaders, family members, media and the public. Charles, 75, was given the green light to resume public duties in April, after doctors said they were “very encouraged” by his progress.Kate’s public appearance on Saturday, her first since last December, followed a statement on Friday that she was “making good progress” with her treatment, which is set to last for several more months. However, the 42-year-old princess added she was “not out of the woods yet”.“I wish them all the best and hope they make a full recovery and it’s very good they are apparently better and well enough to come out today,” Smith said on Saturday.“But that doesn’t change the fact that they shouldn’t be... doing what they’re doing.”Current polling shows senior royals currently have little to fear from Republic, with a wide margin preferring to retain them over switching to an elected head of state. But that support wanes among younger people, while Smith has noted that overall, backing for the institution is down on previous levels during Elizabeth II’s record-breaking reign.Smith intends to campaign for a referendum on the issue during the next parliamentary term, which could prove a struggle with none of the leading UK-wide parties supporting its stance. Unsurprisingly, flag-waving monarchy backers in attendance at yesterday’s Trooping the Colour military parade marking Charles’ official birthday were unimpressed by the noisy Republic contingent. Cries of “not my king” were met by counter-cries of “God save the king” - and “shut up” - as the two camps had brief heated exchanges.“I think it’s impertinent that they’re gathering so soon after the King’s cancer diagnosis,” said James Evans.“He’s trying his best to fulfil his obligations and his duties. And I gathered here to cheer him,” he added, vowing to “drown them out with our songs and our cheering”.“I hope the king sees us today — and he sees there are more of us than them.” But Gordon Alexander, a 72-year-old Republic member, was undeterred.“Britain doesn’t need to have a hereditary monarch as the head of state,” he told AFP. “It doesn’t make sense in this time we live in and yet we still have a structure that allows one person or one family to have huge influence in the country.”

The Athens Acropolis, Greece’s most visited tourist attraction, was closed to the public during the hottest hours yesterday for the second day running, as tourists sweltered under the country’s earliest-ever heatwave.Tourists were unable to visit the Parthenon and other ancient masterpieces atop the Unesco-listed archaeological site between noon and 5pm local time (0900 to 1400 GMT).Many primary schools and nurseries across the country were closed to protect students from the heat, which was expected to recede tomorrow.In Athens, tourists stopped at drinking fountains to cool their heads and necks. Locals sat in air conditioned rooms set up by the city, using handheld fans to create a breeze.Firefighters who put out several wildfires on Wednesday remained on high alert as strong winds were expected to hit several parts of the country.Meteorologists have noted it is the earliest heatwave – which for Greece means temperatures exceeding 38° Celsius (100° Fahrenheit) for at least three days – on record.In central Athens, the mercury climbed to 42C, with the forecast heat prompting health warnings and school closures.Still hotter temperatures were recorded on the island of Crete – 44.5C – and on the Peloponnese peninsula – 43.9C – according to the meteo.gr website of the Athens National Observatory.Several other Greek archaeological sites in Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades and the Peloponnese were also shut as a precaution against the heat.Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, warned of the risk of fire due to strong winds that could blow across the country. Civil protection was on “high alert”, he added.The risk of fire will be “very high” today in ten regions, including in Attica, which surrounds Athens, his ministry also warned.Temperatures are expected to ease from today.The Acropolis was forced to close in July last year during a two-week heatwave that was unprecedented in its duration.It was followed by fires that, according to the National Observatory of Athens, consumed nearly 175,000 hectares (432,000 acres) of forest and farmland.A record number of almost 4mn visitors flocked to the Acropolis in 2023, its popularity boosted in part due to tourists arriving on cruise ships calling in at the nearby port of Piraeus.Greece is one of the most hard-hit countries by global warming in Europe, with rising temperatures fuelling deadly fires and erratic rains in recent years.Athens, a city of 5mn people which sits in a coastal bowl jammed with apartment blocks and flanked by mountains, is one of the hottest cities in Europe.Scientists warn that summer temperatures there could rise by an average of 2C by 2050.Athens mayor Haris Doukas has tried to create more shade by planting 2,000 trees.“Our first goal shall be to lower the median temperature, the felt-air temperature,” he told Reuters. “There are areas where the temperature is 15 or 20 times higher on cement or a city road, compared to a shady area.”

O people! Fear Allah the Almighty and know that Haj is one of the finest acts of worship and the greatest in reward. It was related that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “(The performance of) ‘Umrah is an expiation for the sins committed (between it and the previous one). And the reward for Haj Mabroor (i.e., the one accepted by Allah) is nothing except Paradise. Whoever performs Haj to this House (i.e., the Ka’aba) and does not approach his wife (for sexual intercourse) nor commits sins (while performing Haj), will come out of it as sinless as a newly-born child.” Haj is a physical devotion that every Muslim is required to physically fulfil, though a small part of it pertains to money - such as when one offers a sacrificial animal. The Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, has clarified that in the event of a person being genuinely unable to perform Haj, then it is permissible by proxy. It was related in Sahih Al-Bukhari on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, that: “A woman asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah! My father is very old. There is the obligation of Haj upon him from Allah, but he is incapable of sitting on the back of a camel.’ Thereupon Allah’s Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Perform Haj on his behalf.’” This happened on his Farewell Pilgrimage.In another narration, a woman came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and asked: “My mother had vowed to perform Haj but she died before performing it. May I perform Haj on her behalf?” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, replied: “Perform Haj on her behalf. Had your mother been in debt, would you not have paid it off? Therefore pay (her debt to) Allah, as He has the most right to be paid.”If a person has the ability to perform Haj in person, he is not permitted to authorise another person to make Haj on his behalf. Many people loosely resort to Haj by proxy in the case of supererogatory Haj, even though they are well capable of performing it. By doing this they deprive themselves of the immense reward attained from the fatigue of worship and all that it contains of remembrance, supplication, submissiveness to Allah, redoubling of reward, useful meetings, etc.In one of the two narrations reported from Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal, may Allah have mercy upon him, he forbade proxy in supererogatory Haj for those who are capable of performing it in person. Thus, a Muslim should not be careless concerning the matter of Haj; he should either perform supererogatory Haj in person if he wishes, or provide pilgrims with money in order to share with them the reward of Haj.O people! Haj is a type of worship which is performed by the servant as a means to please Allah and to attain reward in the Hereafter. A servant’s attention must not be diverted to attaining worldly gains during Haj. Unfortunately, many people who perform Haj on behalf of others do this solely for the sake of money, which is prohibited since worldly considerations should not spoil acts of worship. Allah the Almighty says that which means: “Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments – We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the fire. And lost is what they did therein [i.e., during worldly life], and worthless is what they used to do.” (Surah Hud: 15-16).He also says that which means: “And when you have completed your rites, remember Allah like your [previous] remembrance of your fathers or with [much] greater remembrance. And among the people is he who says: ‘Our Lord! Give us in this world,’ and he will have in the Hereafter no share.” (Surah Al Baqarah: 200). Allah will reject any worship that is not done purely for His sake. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, prevented seeking worldly gains in places of worship when he said: “If you see a man indulging in a (financial) transaction in the mosque, say to him: ‘May Allah not render your trade profitable.’” If this strict attitude is taken against those who utilise places of worship for worldly gains, what about those who turn the worship itself into a means of attaining worldly gains? Indeed it is not rare for us to find those requested to make Haj on behalf of others bargain and ask for extra money, which is turning worship into a craft or profession. For this reason the Hanbali jurists maintained that it is invalid to hire a man to perform Haj on behalf of another. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah declared that whoever makes Haj only to attain hire will have no reward in the Hereafter. However, if proxy is made for a religious purpose, such as benefiting others with the reward of Haj or aiming to increase acts of obedience through supplication and remembrance of Allah during the rituals of Haj, then Haj by proxy will be valid and acceptable in this case.Those who charge proxy in Haj should devote their intention to seeking the pleasure of Allah, aiming to exercise the rituals related to Allah’s House, remembering Him and supplicating to Him, in addition to the fulfilment of the needs of their fellow Muslims who authorised them to make Haj on their behalf. They should not divert their attention to gaining worldly benefits; for if this becomes their sole interest, they will not be permitted to charge proxy in Haj.If one entertains a sound intention for proxy in Haj, all the money he gets from the authorising person will be his, unless the latter demands refunding the remaining amount after covering the costs of the Haj. The deputy should intend to perform Haj and ‘Umrah on behalf of the authorising person, unless the former allows him to perform ‘Umrah for his own benefit.A person deputised to make Haj on behalf of another person cannot deputise a third party, unless he obtains the consent of the person who commissioned him to make Haj on his behalf. All the reward of acts related to rituals of Haj goes to the authorising person, but the redoubling of reward through offering supererogatory prayers and Tawaf, as well as extra types of worship that exceeds the rituals goes to the authorised person.The representative in Haj should exert the best of his efforts to accomplish the verbal and practical acts related to the rituals, since this is a trust that he should fulfil duly. When pronouncing Talbiyah, he should say: ‘labbayka ‘an fulan’ (i.e., ‘O Allah I respond to Your call on behalf of so and so’.) If he forgets the name of the person he is performing Haj or ‘Umrah for, he may intend it with his heart, saying: ‘labbaika ‘amman anabani fi hathihil-‘Umrah, or fi hathal-Haj’ (i.e. ‘I respond to Your call on behalf of one who authorised me to make this ‘Umrah or this Haj.’)O servants of Allah! Fear Allah and do not pay much attention to worldly gains; and don’t turn worship into a means of attaining material gains!Du’aa if ever we needed it...And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me then (answer them), I am indeed near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he call on me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me so that they may be led aright. [Surah Al-Baqarah 186]The word du’aa is the plural of da’wah and both come from da’aa which means to ask or to call. To call “to something” in this way is to encourage others to do it. The meaning of du’aa in Islam is: for the slave to call out to his Lord to care for him, have mercy on him and supply him with his needs and wants. The reality of du’aa is to manifest one’s absolute poverty and powerlessness before Allah Most High and the affirmation that all power to bring about anything belongs exclusively to Allah Most High. It is a sign of true worship and it contains the meaning of praising and exalting Allah Most High and ascribing to Him the attributes of generosity and grace.Types of du’aa mentioned in the Qur’an1. Worship. Asking for something which only Allah can grant is an act of worship which can only be directed to Allah Most High. To address it to other than Allah is Shirk.And do not call besides Allah those who cannot benefit your and cannot harm you. Yunus:1062. Seeking of Aid. Calling to one for aid can only be directed to Allah in issues where only He can respond. One can request aid from a present, living and capable individual and this is not shirk. However, to ask those incapable of helping (such as the deceased) or not present is to worship other than Allah Most High. Allah rejected the ability of anyone to help anyone else in disobedience to Him on Yaum Al-Qiyaamah in the following:Call your witnesses beside Allah if your are indeed truthful. Al-Baqarah:233. Asking for something. Allah said:Call to (ask) Me that I may respond to you. Ghaafir:604. Exalting of Allah and addressing one another. Allah said about the people of Paradise:Their call therein is “Exalted are You, O Allah!” and their greeting therein is “Salaam”. Yunus:105. Allah calling us.On the day when He calls you and you respond with His praise. Al-Israa:526. Calling to Allah in praise and supplication.Say: Call “Allah” or call “Ar-Rahman”... Al-Israa:110 Those whose du’aa is answered by AllahAllah and His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, have mentioned various people/conditions under which Allah answers the du’aa of His slaves. Among them:1. The one in desperate need. 2. The oppressed upon whom injustice is being inflicted 3. A parent who makes du’aa for his child 4. A just ruler 5. A righteous individual 6. The righteous son/daughter who prays for his parents 7. The fasting individual until they break their fast 8. Any Muslim who makes du’aa for another Muslim without their knowledge 9. Every Muslim as long as they are not asking for injustice or breaking of family ties. 10. The one making taubah (repentance) from sin 11. The traveller whose sustenance is from halaal Prerequisites of du’aaWhen calling to your Lord, be sure to be aware of the following requirements for making du’aa:1. Sincerity of directing all of your worship to Allah alone 2. Obedience to Allah by fulfilling all obligations upon you and avoiding all that forbidden. 3. Avoiding all harm consumption of food, clothing/jewelry and drink 4. Preceding the du’aa with a good deed 5. Purity (tahaara) Some etiquette of du’aaAlso, pay close attention to the following etiquettes (aadaab) of supplicating Allah Most High:1. Take advantage of the blessed times which Allah and His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, have told us about such as the day of Arafat, all of Ramadan (especially the last ten), Jumu’ah and the time of tahajjud (after sleeping and before fajr), etc. Allah said:And in the late night they seek forgiveness. Adh-Dhaariyaat:182. Take advantage of the special circumstances when du’aa especially encouraged such as when one is in prostration (sajdah), upon meeting the enemy army, when Allah send His mercy (e.g., rain) and between the adhaan and the iqaama. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said:“The closest a slave ever is to his Lord is when he is in prostration, so make much supplication.” Muslim & others3. Face the Qibla. Jaabir, radiallaahu ‘anhu, reports:“The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, came to the place of standing at Arafat, faced the Qibla and continued making du’aa until the sun set.” Muslim4. Lowering the voice and keeping it “in between” neither complete silence nor completely out loud. Abu Musa Al-Ash’ariy reported that: We were approaching with Allah’s Messenger. When we came near Al-Madinah, he said “Allahu Akbar”. The people, too said “Allahu Akbar” and they raised their voices whereupon the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said:“O people, verily the one whom you are calling is not deaf and is not absent. Verily, the one whom you are calling is between the necks of your mounts.” Al-Bukhari & Muslim5. Humility, fear (of Allah and His punishment) and desire (for His mercy and His reward) when making du’aa. Allah said:They used to race one another to good deeds and they would call to us in desire and in fear and they were humble before Us. Al-Anbiyaa:906. Be serious in what you ask for and certain of the ability and the promise of Allah to respond to your call. Do not put conditionals on what you ask for except for things like “if it is the best for me in this life and the hereafter in Your knowledge”, but not things like “if you wish”, etc. Allah does not respond to du’aa which is made “routinely” or frivolously without consciousness. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said:“Call to Allah with certainty of being answered. And know that Allah does not respond to the du’aa from a heart which is forgetful or frivolous.” At-Tirmidhi7. To be persistent, even insistent in du’aa and repeat it three times. Ibn Masood, radiallaahu ‘anhu, reported that: “When the Prophet made du’aa, he used to make it three times and when he asked, he asked three times.” – Muslim8. To begin du’aa with the mention of Allah and invoking His blessing on the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, before asking for things and to close one’s du’aa with praise of Allah.9. To repent from one sin’s and to undo any injustices done to others (including returning property improperly taken or undoing any other kind of harm) before turning to Allah in du’aa. When we respond to Allah’s call to worship Him alone and to obey Him by performing our obligations and avoiding all the forbidden, Allah responds to this by granting us our du’aa. There can be nothing greater in this world than to have a du’aa which is answered by Allah Most High. Any nation which possesses many people who have this will succeed in this world and in the next. Allah will place in power over them those who fear and obey him and grant them victory over their enemies. The du’aa of Muslims for each other is more powerful than Muslims only making du’aa for themselves. And your Lord said: Call to me that I may respond to you. Verily, those who are too arrogant to worship me will enter Hell-fire humiliated. Ghaafir:60Oh Allah have mercy upon the Muslims who are suffering from attacks and oppression and living in fear, ameen.The importance of good moral character in IslamImam Ahmad has reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam – Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The most perfect of the believers in faith is the best of them in character.”He also reported on the authority of Abu ad-Dardaa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) that he said:“There isn’t anything weightier on the scales, on the Day of Judgment, than good moral character.”These two hadiths point to a truth/reality of the utmost importance: that the criterion for judging someone’s Imaan (faith) is not the abundance of his acts of worship and wealth of information. In fact, the criterion is in his good moral character.Likewise, the greatest thing a person will be rewarded for – after one’s faith in Allah – is good morals. For this reason, we see the great importance attached to good moral character in the Message of Islam, which is summarised in the statement of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam):“Verily, I have been missioned to establish/complete and perfect high moral standards and noble manners.”Of those things which indicate that Islam is first and foremost an ethical and moral message, is Allah’s prompting His servants, the believers, in His Noble Book (Al-Qur’an) to purification of their souls and refinement of their morals.For this reason Allah, the Most High, has mentioned after swearing with the longest oath in the Qur’an – which came in the beginning of the chapter entitled ash-Shams (the Sun) (No 91, verses 1-10):“Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself (ie obeys and performs all that Allah ordered, by following the true faith of Islamic Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds). (verse 9).“And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (ie disobeys what Allah has ordered by rejecting the true faith of Islamic Monotheism or by following polytheism, etc or by doing every kind of evil and wicked deed).” (verse 10).The meaning of these verses is that he has triumphed and gained success who purifies himself from the evil and low morals and cultivates in himself the praiseworthy characteristics. While he has lost and has reason for remorse who has neglected the purification of himself and left himself to be a prey/victim of evil and ruin and the destructive characteristics.Tha amazing thing is that Islam, with all of its forms of worship and sciences, is orientated towards the refinement of good moral character. If you were to reflect upon the objective of the four forms of worship which constitute the Pillars of Islam after the testimony of faith (ash-Shahaadatain), you would find them (all) related to developing character and morals.As for the prayer, our Lord, the One Perfectly Free of All Defects, has said concerning it: “...And perform the prayers. Verily, the prayers prevent one from (al-fahshaa) great sins of every kind and (al-munkar) every kind of evil wicked deed...” (29:45). As for Az-Zakaah (charity/alms), He, the Most High, said: “Take alms from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them with it...” (9:103).The objective of alms-giving is the development of ethics and good morals – if you would only reflect. And so it is with fasting, about which the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whoever doesn’t leave off deceitful speech/falsehood and acting upon it – Allah has no need of him abstaining from his food and drink.”The same can be said about pilgrimage (al-Hajj), concerning which Allah, the Most High, has said: “The pilgrimage is in the well-known (lunar year) months [ie the 10th month, the 11th month and the first 10 days of 12th month of the Islamic calendar]. So, whoever intends to perform the pilgrimage therein (by assuming Ihram), then he should not have sexual relations (with his wife), nor commit sin, nor dispute unjustly during the pilgrimage...” (2:197).Therefore, the objective of worship is the development of good moral character.So it is with the Islamic Sciences – its knowledge does not benefit the one who has learned it except if it causes him to achieve the characteristic of God-consciousness and fear of (the punishment of) Allah. For this reason Allah, the Most High, said:“It is only those who have knowledge, among His slaves, that fear Allah...” (35:28).It is due to these irrefutable facts, that the bad moral character of a person is considered a clear proof of the weakness of his faith, no matter how much he displays the outward ‘appearance’ which is in accordance with the Islamic Laws [fasting, performing the prayers and pilgrimage, and wearing the ‘Islamic dress’].For this reason, al-Bukhari narrated from Abdullah ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah said:“There are three characters which whoever is characterised by them would be considered a hypocrite, even if he fasted, prayed, performed pilgrimage and ‘Umrah (minor pilgrimage or visit to the Ka’aba) and said: I am a Muslim. [These characteristics are]: (1) ‘whenever he speaks, he lies, (2) Whenever he promises, he breaks his promise, (3) Whenever he is entrusted (with something), he violates (the trust).”From the above we know that acts of worship are of little benefit to those who perform them if or as long as he has not benefited from it in terms of improvement/refinement which affects his character.From this we can understand the importance of a Muslim making a critical examination of his character and trying to better it – to whatever extent that might be possible. And why not? Since our Prophet whose moral character has been praised by Allah, when He, the Most High, said:“And verily, you (O Muhammad) are on an exalted standard of character.” (68:4).He (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) used to supplicate His Lord, the Mighty the Majestic, with these words:“O Allah, Guide me to the most excellent manners and moral standards. None guides to it except You!“And turn away from me the vile and evil manners. None can turn from me the vile and evil manners except You!”

The far-right National Rally was forecast yesterday to win a snap election in France but fall short of an absolute majority in the first opinion poll published after President Emmanuel Macron’s shock decision to dissolve parliament.Following a massive loss for his Renaissance party in Sunday’s European Parliament election, Macron announced snap elections for the lower house of parliament, with the first round scheduled for June 30, less than three weeks away, and the run-off on July 7.Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, eurosceptic National Rally party, known as RN, would win 235 to 265 seats in the National Assembly, a huge jump from its current 88 but short of the 289 needed for an absolute majority, according to the survey by Toluna Harris Interactive for Challenges, M6 and RTL.Macron’s centrist alliance would see its number of lawmakers possibly halve, from 250 to 125-155, the poll showed yesterday. Left-wing parties could together control 115 to 145 seats, though each party could run on its own.There is no certainty the RN would run the government, with or without an alliance with others. Other scenarios include a wide-ranging coalition of mainstream parties, or a completely hung parliament.But Macron’s shock decision does offer the increasingly popular far-right a real shot at power. Amounting to a roll of the dice on his political future, this immediately sent the euro down, while French stocks and government bonds tumbled. RN won 31.4% of the European Parliament vote while the Renaissance party coalition had 14.6%Even if RN does score a majority in the French parliament, Macron would remain president for three more years and still be in charge of defence and foreign policy.But he would lose control over the domestic agenda including economic policy, security, immigration and finances, which would in turn impact other policies, such as aid to Ukraine, as he would need parliament’s backing to finance any support as part of France’s budget.“We’re still in shock,” Emmanuel Pellerin, a lawmaker from Macron’s Renaissance party, told Reuters. “Everything points to the RN winning a relative or absolute majority. But that forces the French to think about what is at stake.”In that context, political parties were racing to field candidates and discuss possible alliances.RN leaders Jordan Bardella and Le Pen held talks yesterday with Marion Marechal of the smaller far-right Reconquete party. Marechal is Le Pen’s niece and used to be a prominent member of her party before they fell out.Bardella said after the meeting that talks were under way over forming an alliance. He added he was also talking with some members of the conservative Les Republicains.“I fervently wish that we can find ways to all come together,” Marechal told reporters. Leaders of the very divided French left — the hard left LFI (France Unbowed), Communists, Socialists and Greens — were also holding talks.“We don’t have time to procrastinate,” Manon Aubry, of LFI, told reporters. “The objective is to be able to meet again, to build the future and above all to go and win.” A source close to Macron said the 46-year-old leader, whose power has been diminished since he lost his absolute majority in parliament two years ago, calculated that there was a chance he could win back a majority by taking everyone by surprise.For Le Pen and Bardella, the challenge is to transform popularity into a win. The vote is likely to revolve not only around discontent with Macron’s style of power, cost of living and immigration policies, but also about whether the RN can be trusted to run a major European government.Among policies put forward by the party, the RN has proposed higher public spending, despite already significant levels of French debt, threatening to further raise funding costs at banks.The RN also wants to expel more migrants, stop family reunification, restrict childcare benefits to French citizens, give French nationals preference in access to social housing and jobs and withdraw residency for migrants who are out of work for more than a year.The euro fell by as much as 0.6%, while Paris blue-chip stocks dropped by 1.4%, led by steep losses in banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.The early election will come shortly before the July 26 start of the Paris Olympics, when all eyes will be on France.

Germany will not hold a snap election despite calls for Olaf Scholz to step aside after his governing coalition’s dismal performance in the EU Parliament election, a spokesman for the chancellor said yesterday.“The regular election date is next autumn (2025). And that’s what we plan to do,” Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a press conference.The coalition suffered a stinging defeat at the European elections, with all three parties in Scholz’s government trailing the conservatives and the far-right, preliminary results showed.His Social Democrats (SPD) scored their worst result ever, coming in third at 14% behind the far-right AfD at around 16% and well behind the conservative CDU-CSU bloc’s 30%.The Greens recorded 12% while the liberal FDP took 5%.In the former East Germany, where three key regional elections are to be held later this year, the AfD was the biggest party, with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper branding Scholz and his government a “coalition of losers”.The result sparked calls from opposition parties for Scholz to follow the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron and call a snap election. Speaking later yesterday, Scholz would not be drawn on the possibility of an election but acknowledged the result was “bad for all three governing parties”, adding that no-one should “simply go back to business as usual”.He also expressed concerns about the growing support for right-wing parties across the European Union.“We must never get used to this and it must always be our task to push them back, and to ensure that there are clear majorities in favour of parties with a clear commitment to our democracy,” he said. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel was among those calling for Scholz to go.“There is now only one task left for Scholz: clear the way for new elections — instead of governing for another year against a large majority of the population,” Weidel wrote on X.Markus Soeder, leader of the conservatives in the southern state of Bavaria, also called for new elections as soon as possible.The three-way coalition “no longer has the support of the population”, Soeder told the RTL broadcaster, calling for Germany to follow in the footsteps of France. Der Spiegel weekly said the EU election drubbing was a personal defeat for Scholz, whose face appeared on many campaign posters alongside his party’s top candidate.“Scholz put a lot of himself into the campaign, and it’s been to no avail. On the contrary, his strong presence may even have reinforced the downward trend,” the magazine said.Der Spiegel called on Scholz to make a strong statement about his intentions for the future.“After this personal defeat, he must say how he wants to continue to lead... Otherwise the country risks paralysis,” the magazine said. Even voices from within Scholz’s SPD were calling his future into question.“With 14% nobody has an uncontested claim to lead the SPD,” said Sigmar Gabriel, a former leader of the Social Democrats.The most obvious replacement for Scholz would be Boris Pistorius, Germany’s popular defence minister.For the Greens, the EU election result represented a significant dip from the 20.5% they scored in 2019.Scholz’s fragile coalition will face its next test when it presents its budget for 2025 at the beginning of July.The SPD and the Greens have often clashed with the liberals on budget issues, with liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner taking a hard line on spending.