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The world’s first wooden satellite has been built by Japanese researchers who said their tiny cuboid craft will be blasted off on a SpaceX rocket in September.Each side of the experimental satellite developed by scientists at Kyoto University and logging company Sumitomo Forestry measures just 10cm.The creators expect the wooden material will burn up completely when the device re-enters the atmosphere — potentially providing a way to avoid the generation of metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.These metal particles could have a negative impact on the environment and telecommunications, the developers said as they announced the satellite’s completion on Tuesday.“Satellites that are not made of metal should become mainstream,” Takao Doi, an astronaut and special professor at Kyoto University, told a press conference.The developers plan to hand the satellite, made from magnolia wood and named LignoSat, to space agency JAXA next week.It will be sent into space on a SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in September, bound for the International Space Station (ISS), they said.From there, the satellite will be released from the Japanese ISS experiment module to test its strength and durability.“Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers who can check for signs of strain and whether the satellite can withstand huge changes in temperature,” a Sumitomo Forestry spokeswoman told AFP yesterday.Also on Tuesday, a rocket carrying a separate sophisticated satellite — a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and JAXA — blasted off from California on a mission to investigate what role clouds could play in the fight against climate change.The EarthCARE satellite will orbit nearly 400km above Earth for three years.

China is to send giant pandas to Washington’s National Zoo, US First Lady Jill Biden and officials said yesterday, in a surprise announcement signalling a new era of panda diplomacy between the superpowers.Bao Li and Qing Bao will arrive in the United States before the end of the year under a decade-long breeding and research agreement, the zoo said in a statement celebrating the return of animals “beloved around the nation and the world.”“We are excited for children near and far to once again enjoy the giant pandas’ adorable and joyful adventures at our @NationalZoo,” the first lady posted on X.Amid soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing, only a handful of the iconic black and white bears remain in the United States, with three having left the national zoo in Washington six months ago.But President Xi Jinping said after meeting President Joe Biden at a summit in California last November that China could send new pandas as “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American people.”The White House said it would be happy to have more bamboo-chewing bears.“We’re thrilled to announce the next chapter of our breeding and conservation partnership begins by welcoming two new bears, including a descendent of our beloved panda family, to Washington, DC,” said Brandie Smith of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.“This historic moment is proof positive our collaboration with Chinese colleagues has made an irrefutable impact.”China has been using so-called “panda diplomacy” since 1972, when the first animals were sent to the United States as a gift, following then-president Richard Nixon’s historic visit to the Communist nation.Strained relations between the rival superpowers in recent years have led Beijing to call some of the pandas back home. All three giant pandas at Washington’s zoo — Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who arrived in 2000, and their three-year-old cub Xiao Qi Ji (“Little Miracle” in English) — flew back on a cargo plane to China in November last year.The last remaining US-based pandas, at a zoo in the southern city of Atlanta, are due to return to China later this year, although the Asian giant announced plans in February to send a pair to the San Diego Zoo.The Washington arrivals, both two years old, were born within a month of each other at a conservation centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Both still live in the province, in separate facilities.

South African voters queued — many of them for hours — to cast their ballots yesterday in a landmark general election that leaves the ruling ANC fighting to protect its three-decade-long exclusive grip on power.More than 27mn voters are registered for the most uncertain poll since the African National Congress (ANC) led the nation out of apartheid rule, but with voting delayed in many districts, some were forced to wait.With opposition challenges from both the left and right, unemployment and crime at near record levels and a new generation growing up with no memory of the struggle against white-minority rule, the ruling party may lose its absolute majority and be forced to share power.The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said it projected turnout to go “well beyond” the 66 percent recorded in the last election in 2019.“We are experiencing a late surge and are processing a large number of voters” in big cities, IEC’s head Sy Mamabolo told a press conference.Thousands of South Africans were still waiting in hours-long queues outside polling stations after nightfall, just over an hour away from their planned closure.All those who joined the line before closing time would be allowed to vote, Mamabolo said.Earlier the IEC said seven percent of stations opened late because of delays in delivering election materials.After voting, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is seeking re-election, said: “I have no doubt whatsoever in my heart of hearts that the people will once again invest confidence in the ANC to continue leading this country.”But John Steenhuisen, leader of the biggest opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA), predicted no single party would win an outright majority, creating an opening for his party and an alliance of smaller outfits.“For the first time in 30 years, there’s an opportunity for change in South Africa”, he said after voting in his home city, Durban.In Soweto, the president’s hometown and unofficial capital of the anti-apartheid battle, elderly ANC loyalists turned out early but, as the queues lengthened, there were signs of disillusionment among younger voters.Kqomotso Mtumba, a 44-year-old bank official, sporting burgundy and black beaded braids, said she voted ANC in the past but had now chosen an “upcoming party” whose manifesto had impressed her. “The last party I voted for, their promises didn’t work out so I’ll be trying this one,” she said.In the eastern city of Durban, accountant and first time voter 25-year-old Sibahle Vilakazi, said she had abandoned the long queue at her polling station three times already but was now back and determined to stick it out.“We’re honestly in need of change in this country and I think that is why the queues are so long,” she said. “I’m not giving up, we need to see the change.”Voters will choose the 400 members of the National Assembly who in the coming weeks will then choose a president from among their number.For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, the ANC could be forced to negotiate a coalition to remain in government.“South Africa’s general election is a watershed moment in the political history of the country,” said Aleix Montana, an analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. Under the leadership of the late Nelson Mandela, the ANC won freedom for black South Africans after decades of apartheid, then lifted millions out of poverty by creating a broad social welfare system.But many in the nation of 62mn are fed up with high unemployment, currently at 32.9%, rampant crime, corruption scandals, and regular power cuts and water shortages.The economy grew a meagre 0.6% in 2023, and polls suggest the ANC could win as little as 40% of the vote, down from 57% in 2019.If the ANC wins fewer than 201 seats, Ramaphosa would have to negotiate with opposition parties and independent MPs to secure a majority. On the right, the DA has vowed to “Rescue South Africa” through clean governance, privatisation and deregulation but has struggled to shake off its image as a party for the white minority.Polls put DA support below 25%.On the left, it is bleeding support to former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which are pushing for land redistribution and nationalisations. Polls estimate these two parties are tied at around 10%.Malema waited alongside ordinary voters for four hours to cast his ballot.“We are calling on the IEC to be more efficient and try to reduce the queues,” he said outside his polling station. Long queues were causing people to leave before voting, which compromised the freedom and fairness of the elections, he added.Were the ANC to come close to 50% it could strike an easier deal with some of the dozens of smaller groups in the running. Full results are not expected before the weekend.

Torrential rains brought by cyclone Remal caused a stone quarry to collapse in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram, killing 12 people and trapping seven, while 11 more died in landslides and other accidents elsewhere in the remote region, officials said.Rescue workers on the outskirts of Mizoram’s state capital of Aizawl used heavy-duty excavators to cut through stone slabs while battling heavy rain and loose soil at the site, said the state’s Chief Minister Lalduhoma.“There is a continuous flow of soil and mud making matters more difficult,” he said, adding that rescue operations were hampered by the onset of the night.The powerful cyclone had weakened into a depression after devastating regional coastlines the previous day, when it killed at least 16 and cut power to millions in parts of eastern India and neighbouring Bangladesh.“There have been incessant rains in the wake of cyclone Remal, which led to the quarry collapse,” a state disaster management official in Mizoram said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Authorities in India’s northeastern states, some of which share a border with Bangladesh, have issued warnings telling people to stay at home and to take precautions.Six more people were killed in landslides in the last 24 hours in Mizoram, which borders Bangladesh, while a falling tree killed three people in the state of Assam further to the north, officials said. Schools and colleges remained shut.Two more deaths were reported in the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland, local media said.Authorities in India’s eastern state of West Bengal were working to restore electricity in the worst-affected areas, after Remal stripped power lines and uprooted trees.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell yesterday hosted Palestinian prime minister Mohamed Mustafa for international talks on building up the Palestinian Authority to eventually take over Gaza rule from Hamas.A “strong” Palestinian Authority is needed to bring peace in the Middle East, Borrell said just before going into the meeting with Mustafa.The talks were being held as efforts were narrowing to try to find a Gaza truce and a hostage-release deal.They also came just before Norway — which was hosting the Brussels meeting — was on Tuesday to recognise the State of Palestine, along with Spain and Ireland, to Israel’s fury.While the US is using its influence to halt the Gaza war, moves are starting to take place to try to establish conditions to make for lasting peace.A key requisite for that is the removal of Hamas as Gaza’s rulers. The only viable option diplomats have arrived at is to bolster Mustafa’s Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, so that it can take charge of Gaza.The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ October first week storming of Israel.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,984 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.“A functional Palestinian Authority is in Israel’s interest too, because in order to make peace, we need a strong Palestinian Authority, not a weaker one,” Borrell said.Mustafa said yesterday’s meeting was “a very important opportunity” for the Palestinian Authority to outline its priorities and plans. He said the “first priority” was to support Palestinians in Gaza, especially through a ceasefire, and then the “rebuilding the institutions of the Palestinian Authority” in that territory, which Hamas seized control of in 2007.He also called on international partners to press Israel to release Palestinian Authority funds so “we will be ready to reform our institutions...and hopefully together sustain our efforts towards statehood and peace for the region”. The Brussels meeting, focused on international aid, was being chaired by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, under his country’s key role in the 1993 Oslo Accords that established a series of arrangements between the Palestinians and Israel.“We need to make sure that the Palestinian Authority...has to be able to survive to be strengthened, to improve its capacity to deliver services, to reform, and also to plan for a future return to Gaza,” Barth Eide said.Represented at the talks, alongside the EU, Norway and the Palestinian Authority, were Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund and the UN.Australia, Britain, Canada and Japan also took part.Before the talks, Mustafa held a separate news conference with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albare to thank him for his country’s announcement it was recognising Palestinian statehood. The move by the three European nations addresses “the injustice that has been inflicted on the Palestinian people for decades,” Mustafa said, adding: “We want to have every country in Europe to do the same.” Today he will have another meeting in Brussels with the Spanish, Norwegian and Irish ministers. And on Wednesday he will be in Spain.Israel has warned Spain, Norway and Ireland that ties with them will face “serious consequences” for their announced recognition of a Palestinian state.A majority of UN member countries recognise Palestinian statehood. European countries are split on the issue.Spain, Norway and Italy will join EU nations Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden in recognising the State of Palestine.

Spain’s foreign minister condemned as “scandalous and execrable” a video posted by his Israeli counterpart suggesting Hamas would be grateful to Spain, in a growing spat between the two countries over the Gaza war.Spain last week announced it would recognise Palestine as a state and in recent days two Spanish government ministers referred to a genocide in Gaza.A short video was posted by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on the social media platform X yesterday.The video shows the Spanish flag then a couple dancing to flamenco music. Film of Hamas fighters is interspersed including people fleeing during the October first week storming of southern Israel by Hamas fighters.“We are not going to fall into provocations. The video is scandalous and execrable,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told a news conference in Brussels. “Its scandalous and execrable for the use of one of those symbols of Spanish culture.”Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Saturday that the conflict in Gaza is a “real genocide”, echoing a comment by Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz who last week also described the conflict as a genocide. Israel has strongly rejected accusations made against it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice that it is committing a genocide against Palestinians, arguing it is acting to defend itself and fighting Hamas.The Israeli embassy in Madrid responded to Robles’ comments in a statement posted on Saturday on X. “We regret that ... Robles has endorsed the story of the Hamas.”The EU, like the United States, deems Hamas a fighter organisation. Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, declared this week it would recognise a Palestinian state on May 28. Israel said this amounted to a “reward” and recalled its ambassadors from the three capitals. In her remarks in a television interview on Saturday, Robles said Madrid’s recognition of Palestine was not a move against Israel but was aimed at helping end violence in Gaza.Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and destroyed much of the enclave.Israel launched the operation to try to eliminate Hamas after the October first week storming of Israel.

Six newborn babies have died after a fire tore through a children’s hospital in the Indian capital, with people charging into the flames to rescue the infants, police said yesterday.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the fire and deaths “heart-rending” in a post on social media.The fire department was called after flames tore through the hospital in Delhi late Saturday evening. But in the crucial first minutes, it was bystanders who spotted the fire and braved the blaze to rescue the newborns.“All the 12 newborn babies were rescued from the hospital with the help of other people,” senior police officer Surendra Choudhary said in a statement, but added that by the time they reached medical attention, six were dead.The blaze in the hospital broke out hours after a separate fire at an amusement park in India’s western state of Gujarat left 27 dead, including four children.In that fire – which ripped through a centre with a bowling alley and other games crowded with youngsters – police warned that many of the corpses were so badly burned it was difficult to identify them.“Legal action is being taken against the owner of the hospital,” Choudhary said. He did not give further details on how the children died. In addition to the six reported killed, another baby among the 12 brought out of the ward was dead before the fire began, Choudhary said, without elaborating further.

An intense cyclone smashed into the low-lying coast of Bangladesh yesterday, with nearly a million people fleeing inland for concrete storm shelters away from howling gales and crashing waves.“The severe Cyclone Remal has started crossing the Bangladesh coast,” Bangladesh Meteorological Department director Azizur Rahman said, adding the raging storm could continue hammering the coast until at least the early hours of today morning.“We have so far recorded maximum wind speeds of 90kms per hour, but the wind speed may pick up more pace.”Forecasters predicted gusts of up to 130kms per hour, with heavy rain and winds also lashing neighbouring India.Authorities have raised the danger signal to its highest level. Cyclones have killed hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh in recent decades, but the number of superstorms hitting its densely populated coast has increased sharply, from one a year to as many as three, due to the impact of climate change.“The cyclone could unleash a storm surge of up to 12 feet above normal astronomical tide, which can be dangerous,” Bangladeshi senior weather official Mohamed Abul Kalam Mallik said.Most of Bangladesh’s coastal areas are a metre or two above sea level and high storm surges can devastate villages.“We are terrified,” said 35-year-old fisherman Yusuf Fakir at Kuakata, a town on the very southern tip of Bangladesh in the predicted route of the storm, speaking just before its arrival.While he had sent his wife and children to a relative’s home inland, he stayed put to guard their belongings.At least 800,000 Bangladeshis fled their coastal villages, while more than 50,000 people in India also moved inland from the vast Sundarbans mangrove forest, where the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers meet the sea, government ministers and disaster officials said.“We want to ensure that a single life is not lost,” said Bankim Chandra Hazra, a senior minister in India’s West Bengal state.As people fled, Bangladeshi police said that a heavily laden ferry carrying more than 50 passengers – double its capacity – was swamped and sank near Mongla, a port in the expected path of the storm.“At least 13 people were injured and were taken to a hospital,” local police chief Mushfiqur Rahman Tushar said, adding that other boats plucked the passengers to safety.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere were “building an army” to attack Americans “from within”, once again using inflammatory rhetoric about migrants in the US illegally.During a rally in the mainly Hispanic and black neighbourhood of New York City’s South Bronx, Trump sought to portray migrants from China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries as a violent threat, even as studies show immigrants are not more likely to engage in criminality.“Almost everyone is a male and they look like fighting age. I think they’re building an army,” Trump said to a few thousand supporters who gathered to hear him in the South Bronx’s Crotona Park. “They want to get us from within.”Throughout his campaign, Trump has repeatedly used incendiary language to accuse immigrants in the US illegally of fuelling violent crime, calling them “animals” responsible for “poisoning the blood” of the country.As evidence, he points to individual instances of crimes, rather than aggregate data.“We are not going to let these people come in and take our city away from us and take our country away,” Trump said, vowing to carry out “the largest criminal deportation operation in our country’s history” if re-elected to the White House.Trump also sought to tie record levels of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border illegally with the economic plight of Black and Hispanic voters, arguing, without evidence, that migrants were taking their jobs.Trump’s decision to speak in the Bronx was in part a matter of convenience.His campaign schedule has been crimped by his trial in New York on charges he falsified business records to hide a hush money payment to an adult entertainment actress.In April, he made a campaign appearance at a convenience store in Harlem, New York.Trump is locked in a tight race with Democratic President Joe Biden ahead of the November 5 election.The Bronx rally was part of his effort to exploit Biden’s weakening support among Hispanic and black voters.Roughly 55% of Bronx County residents are Hispanic and about one-third are black, and the crowd on Thursday was more racially mixed than his usual rallies, which are predominantly white.Trump’s campaign had a permit for up to 3,500 people to attend the rally, the New York City Parks Department said.Recent polls suggest the Trump is gaining ground with blacks and Hispanics, who were critical to Biden’s win in 2020.Trump strategists see a chance to grab enough of their votes to make the difference in swing states in November.Biden has had a flurry of actions and events focused on bolstering support among African American voters.He has singled out Trump and other Republicans for attacking programmes aimed at improving diversity, equity and inclusion, and on Thursday the president’s campaign released a pair of TV and radio ads criticising Trump’s treatment of black people.Reuters interviewed nine Hispanic and black rally attendees who said they will vote for Trump in 2024.Of the seven who were voting age in 2020, six voted for Trump. They cited the economy and immigration as their main reasons for supporting him.“It’s historic that he’s here,” said Steven Suarez, 46, who is Puerto Rican, a reference to Trump being the first Republican presidential candidate to make a stop in the Bronx since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. “He could have gone anywhere in New York City. He could have gone to Manhattan. He chose to come here.”In a New York Times/Siena College poll in March, Trump was selected by 23% of black and 46% of Hispanic respondents in a one-on-one matchup with Biden.That is far higher than the 12% of black and 32% of Hispanic voters Trump won in 2020, according to Edison Research exit polls.Political analysts have attributed weakening support for Biden among voters of colour in part to the outsized impact of inflation on people living paycheque to paycheque.Attending his first Trump rally on Thursday, Ed Rosa, 60, said he was a long-time Democratic voter but felt his vote for Biden in 2020 was a mistake.He said the Democratic Party had “become too socialist” and was not handling the economy or the southern border well.

A diplomatic upgrade and a surprise appearance by Barack Obama: US President Joe Biden pulled out the stops as he hosted Kenyan counterpart William Ruto for a lavish state visit aimed at competing with Russia and China for influence in Africa. At a gala dinner in a large pavilion set up on the White House lawn, Biden praised “the belief in freedom, democracy, dignity and equality” that he shared with Ruto, the first African leader to receive a Washington state visit in 15 years.Biden matched pomp with a string of deals on security, climate and debt - and delivered an Irish-inspired toast in honour of his guest. “Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand,” Biden said.For his part, Ruto praised the “enduring bonds of friendship, partnership and solidarity between Kenya and the United States.” Former president Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, made a brief surprise appearance at the start of the gala, where 500 guests dined on beef and lobster and enjoyed performances by a gospel choir and country star Brad Paisley.Earlier in the day, Biden announced a plan to make Kenya the first major non-Nato ally in sub-Saharan Africa, saying it was the “fulfilment of years of collaboration” against the Islamic State group and Al Shebaab militants in Somalia.The move will see Kenya join 18 other such allies including Israel, Brazil and Ukraine, boosting military and diplomatic links, although without a formal security pact. Biden also thanked Kenya for agreeing to lead an upcoming international police mission to Haiti, where months of gang violence have left the tiny Caribbean nation on America’s doorstep in a political and humanitarian crisis.Ruto said that “in Joe Biden, Kenya and Africa have a strong and committed friend.”The Kenyan president’s visit comes as the United States and ally France are on the back foot in Africa, where massive Chinese investments and aggressive use by Russia of shadowy paramilitary groups are changing the geopolitical balance. Biden and Ruto repeatedly stressed common “democratic values” and their desire to share leadership on issues of climate change, political instability and debt distress.The two leaders also issued a “joint vision statement” on reducing the mounting debts of developing countries and the handicap it represents for African countries trying to grow their economies. The 81-year-old US president further welcomed Ruto’s “mutual support” for Ukraine, which is one of the current 18 non-Nato allies and is receiving Western military aid as it battles Russia’s invasion.But as with any state visit to the White House - Biden has hosted the leaders of Japan and Australia in the last eight months alone - the symbolism was as important as the deliverables. The two leaders posed with US First Lady Jill Biden and Ruto’s wife Rachel on the White House balcony, strolled through the famed colonnades and shook hands ahead of their talks in the Oval Office.

Forced from her home by Israel’s seven-month-long Gaza offensive, Salwa al-Masri has little hope her plight will be alleviated by a ruling from the UN’s top court ordering Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah.“The massacres are only increasing,” she said, as she cooked a meal on an open fire outside a tent in Deir al-Balah.“They shouldn’t say one thing, while the action is something different,” said Masri, who fled her home in northern Gaza earlier in the war. “We want these decisions to be implemented on the ground.”Judges at the World Court, also known the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ordered Israel yesterday to halt its offensive in Rafah governorate. It marked a landmark emergency ruling on a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in its assault on the Gaza Strip.But the World Court has no means to enforce its orders, and Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said Israel would continue its “just and necessary” war against the Hamas group to return its hostages and ensure its security. Gaza health authorities say more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive which has laid waste to much of the enclave. Israel has rejected South Africa’s accusation that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war, arguing that it is acting to defend itself and fighting Hamas.“Israel doesn’t care about the world, it acts as if it was above the law because the US administration is shielding it against punishment,” said Shaban Abdel-Raouf, a Palestinian displaced four times by the Israeli offensive. “The world isn’t yet prepared to stop our slaughter at Israeli hands,” said Abdel-Raouf, who was reached by phone.Israel began pushing into Rafah earlier this month, saying it aims to wipe out remaining Hamas fighters holed up there. Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, and have cut off the main access routes for aid, raising the risk of famine.South Africa’s lawyers asked the ICJ last week to impose emergency measures, saying Israel’s attacks on Rafah must be stopped to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people. Hamas said it welcomed the World Court ruling but said it was not enough “since the occupation aggression across the Gaza Strip and especially in northern Gaza is just as brutal and dangerous”.Palestinians needed an immediate halt to the war and they wanted to see action to achieve that, displaced Palestinian man Nabil Diab said. “We don’t need a declaration,” he said.

President Ebrahim Raisi was buried in the Iranian city of Mashhad yesterday as many thousands of mourners packed its streets for his funeral, four days after he died in a helicopter crash, footage broadcast by Iranian media showed.Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran.Mohamed Mokhber, who had been first vice-president, is serving as interim president until a June election.The burial ceremony was attended by Iranian government and military officials, as well as religious personalities.Flowers were thrown at his coffin as it moved slowly aboard a truck through throngs of mourners to be buried at the gold-domed Imam Reza shrine.Raisi hailed from Mashhad, 900km (560 miles) east of Tehran.Some mourners held aloft placards paying tribute to Raisi as the “man of the battlefield” as a large truck carrying his body drove through the sea of mourners.Posters of Raisi, black flags and Shia symbols were erected along the streets of Mashhad, particularly around Raisi’s final resting place – the Imam Reza shrine, a key mausoleum visited by millions of pilgrims every year.Earlier thousands of people holding images of Raisi and waving flags lined the streets of Birjand, capital of the eastern province of South Khorasan, for the procession of Raisi’s coffin.Raisi was South Khorasan’s representative in the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body in charge of selecting or dismissing Iran’s supreme leader.The 63-year-old died on Sunday alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six others after their helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration on the border with Azerbaijan.Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for Raisi.A ceremony was held to commemorate Amirabdollahian at the foreign ministry in Tehran, where acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani described him as a martyr who had “guaranteed the revolutionary nature of the foreign ministry”.Amirabdollahian was buried south of Tehran in the city of Rey’s Shah Abdolazim shrine, a mausoleum where notable Iranian politicians and artists are interred.The presidential election has been scheduled for June 28.A presidential election in Iran had not been expected until next year, and the crash has caused some uncertainty as to who will succeed Raisi, with some expressing concern about the upcoming president.“How do I find someone like him? I’m really worried about that,” said 31-year-old cleric Mohsen at a gathering in Tehran. “As far as I know, we don’t have anyone of his stature.”Raisi was elected president in 2021, succeeding the moderate Hassan Rouhani at a time when the economy was battered by US sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear activities.Raisi’s time in office witnessed mass protests, a deepening economic crisis and unprecedented armed exchanges with arch-enemy Israel.After his death, Russia and China sent their condolences, as did the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), while the UN Security Council observed a minute’s silence.Messages of condolence also flooded in from Iran’s allies around the region, including the Syrian government as well as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Half of Pakistan’s pupils will be shut out of schools for a week as the nation takes crisis measures to lessen the effect of a series of heatwaves, officials said yesterday.Some 26mn students will be out of lessons from tomorrow (Saturday) in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, which has ordered schools to close for the summer break one week early because of the soaring temperatures.The early closure was confirmed by a spokesperson for Punjab’s Education Department.Pakistan’s meteorological office has forecast three heatwaves – one already underway and two more set to hit in early and late June.Temperatures in Punjab are currently 6-8° Celsius above normal, the disaster management agency said, with the provincial capital Lahore due for 46C (111° Fahrenheit) at the weekend.The government’s Co-ordinator on Climate Change and Environment told journalists in Islamabad yesterday that “global warming is causing a sudden change in weather patterns”.Parts of Pakistan are facing power cuts of up to 15 hours as demand for fans and air conditioning surges, leaving students sweltering at their desks.The Save the Children NGO said the 26mn Punjabi schoolchildren with lessons cancelled account for 52% of pre-primary, primary and secondary students in Pakistan.“Prolonged exposure to intense heat impacts children’s ability to learn and to concentrate and this puts their education at risk,” country director Mohamed Khuram Gondal said. “Excess heat is also potentially lethal to children.”The UN children’s agency Unicef said that more than three-quarters of children in South Asia – or 460mn – are exposed to temperatures above 35C (95F) for at least 83 days per year.It warned that children are at risk of “dehydration, higher body temperature, rapid heartbeat, cramps ... and coma”.Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.However, the nation of 240mn ranks high among countries vulnerable to extreme weather events, which scientists have linked to climate change.A third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains in 2022 that displaced millions of people.It was also battered by above-normal rainfall last month that killed at least 144 people in the wettest April recorded since 1961, with more deluges forecast this summer.Lahore’s students also saw lessons cut this winter when schools were shut as the megacity was enveloped by choking smog.

Kenyan President William Ruto vowed yesterday that his country’s upcoming deployment to Haiti will seek to crush gangs that have ravaged the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.Ruto was speaking on a state visit to Washington alongside President Joe Biden, who saluted Kenya’s willingness to assist and promised that the United States would provide intelligence and equipment in hopes of stabilising its troubled southern neighbour.“Gangs and criminals do not have status. They have no religion,” Ruto told a White House news conference.He vowed that the international mission would “deal with them firmly, decisively, within the perimeters of the law”.Kenya and the other nations set to deploy to Haiti aim to “secure that country and to break the back of the gangs and the criminals that have visited untold suffering in that country”, Ruto said.Asked if the Kenyan deployment can succeed in defeating gangs that have plunged Haiti into near anarchy, Biden said: “Yes.”“This is a crisis. It’s able to be dealt with,” Biden said, praising Kenya’s “first-rate capability”.The Biden administration had searched extensively for a country to take the lead but had ruled out sending in US forces, who have a long history of intervention in Haiti.“We’re in a situation where we want to do all we can without us looking like America, once again, is stepping over and deciding this is what must be done,” Biden said. “Haitians are looking for help, as well as the folks in the Caribbean are looking for help.”Ruto said that the deployment was a decision by Kenya, not the United States, as his country wanted to advance “peace and stability as a responsible global citizen”.In 2021 Biden withdrew the last US troops from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war, and has promised to avoid putting US forces at risk overseas.Meanwhile, the deployment of the first Kenyan police officers to Haiti to lead an international anti-gang force has been delayed after a planned flight from Nairobi was postponed on Tuesday, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.US officials had previously indicated that the officers would be in Port-au-Prince yesterday to coincide with Kenyan President Ruto’s state visit to the White House.Kenya volunteered in July to lead the mission but has faced repeated delays deploying due to litigation brought by opponents of the government’s plan and a surge of violence in March that led the Haitian prime minister to resign.The mission, which will comprise up to 2,500 personnel, is intended to counter gangs who control most of Port-au-Prince and have carried out widespread killings, kidnappings and sexual violence.Kenya has committed 1,000 police officers to the UN-approved mission, most of which is being financed by the United States.Two hundred Kenyan officers assigned to the mission were told they would fly out of Nairobi on Tuesday evening, the two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.One source, a former police officer in contact with members of the mission, said the officers were given no explanation for the last-minute delay and were told to remain on standby.The other source, who was briefed by a government official, said conditions were not in place in Port-au-Prince to receive the officers.Kenya’s government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The men of learning (scholars) are the successors of the prophets. Knowledge is what is indicated by the book of Almighty Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. And in this concern ‘Aa’isha, radhiallah ‘anha said, when she was asked about the character (khuluqahu) of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, that “His character was the Qur’an”. (Akhlaaq sing. khuluq: has several meanings: ethics, morals, inborn quality, manners, natural disposition and shall be used here synonymously.)This word from ‘Aa’isha, radhiallah ‘anha, tells us that the natural disposition of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was following the teachings of the Qur’an manifested in his following the orders and refraining from the interdictions. It is now worthy of the scholars, preachers, teachers and students to take good care of the Book of Allah, and to search into it and to assimilate the good ethical teachings which Allah loves from it. Almighty Allah says:“Verily this Qur’an doth guide to that which is most right (or stable)” [Bani Israeel, Aayah 9]In another verse the Qur’an says:“Nun. By the Pen, And by the (record) Which (men) write. Thou art not, By the grace of thy Lord, Mad or possessed. Nay verily for thee is a reward unfailing. And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character.” [Al-Qalam, Ayaat 1-4]The one who would like to attain this great standard of character should approach the book of Allah and pay attention to it when reciting and studying it; while referring all the questions and doubts to the learned people for reliable answers and guidance to the correct books and references on the explanations of the Qur’an.Attention should also be given to the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, because it also explains the Qur’an and leads to the understanding of it. Almighty Allah said to His Messenger:“Say thou: ‘This is my Way; I do invite unto God on evidence clear as seeing with one’s eyes, I and whoever follows me. Glory to Allah! And never will I join gods with Allah.’” [Yusuf, Aayah 108]The abiding by the Book of Allah is part of the character of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and part of the character of all the scholars and the men of learning who are endowed with knowledge and insight, knowledge and faith, knowledge and piety. However people with knowledge but with no faith or any piety have no share of the high standard of character.From this we know that who ever calls for something with ignorance is not on the path of the Prophet Muhammad’s standard of character and conduct and not on the path of the people of learning. Rather, he is a criminal with great sin because Almighty Allah considers that whoever says something that Allah did not say is beyond blasphemy and above polytheism. Chaos and disorder would result from this. Allah says:“Say: The things that my Lord hath indeed forbidden are: Shameful deeds whether open or secret, sins and trespasses against truth or reason, assigning of partners to Allah for which he hath given no authority, and saying things about God of which he has no knowledge”. [Al-’Araaf, Aayah 33]Hence, whoever says things about Allah without knowledge and permits what is forbidden and forbids what is permissible, deters from the right thing and calls for the false.So it is the duty of the scholars and men of learning and their students to be cautious about saying things about Allah without knowledge and pay attention to stating the legitimate proofs according to the Shariah so that they can be knowledgeable about what they presume, call for or deter from and not venture to say false things about Allah without any knowledge. Those who are knowledgeable about Allah are the ones who fear Allah the most and never trespass His limits. Allah says:“Those truly fear God, Among His servants, Who have knowledge”. [Faatir, Aayah 28]The knowledgeable people who fear Allah are those people who know His religion, and know the Sunnah of His Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Those people are headed by the Prophets and Messengers of Allah because they are the best example.It befits the men of learning, although they are found in a latter time like the time we are living in, to follow the foot steps of the pious people in their fear of Allah and make it their task to revere His orders and His prohibitionsThe fear of Allah implies stopping at the limits stated by Him and following the path of His Messenger Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Any overdoing it would be unnecessary and impermissible. The knowledgeable person is the one who does not trespass the limits of prohibition and permission, and in the doing (following) and in abstention. And besides all that be very cautious not to say any thing about Allah without knowledge, or do contrary to what he learned.Almighty Allah mentioned some good characteristics of some of His pious worshippers as a reminder to us. Allah says: “There is, in their stories instruction for men endued with understanding.” [Yusuf, Aayah 111) In other verses Allah says: “Not all of them are alike: Of the people of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right), they recite the verses of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day. And they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong, and they hasten in emulation in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous.” [Aali ‘Imraan, Aayaat 113-114] These good characteristics, which were adopted by the best of the People of the Book and by those guided by Allah from among their scholars, include deep faith in and total submission to Him. And that they would not sell the sign of Allah for a cheap price and would not show ingratitude and deny the truth and conceal it as did their men of learning who went astray, when they concealed the story of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and they concealed a lot of truths for the sake of worldly and immediate gain. But the people of knowledge and faith, from the ancient and the latter times, would state the truth and declare it as Allah said:“Is then one who doth know that that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord is the truth, like one who is blind? It is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition.” [Ar-Ra’ad, Aayah 19] And in another verse:“Say: Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endued with understanding That receive admonition.” [Az-Zumar, Aayah 19]By this Allah explained that it is the people with understanding who really think and work their insight and those are the people with healthy minds. Allah described them as:“Those who fulfil the covenant of God and fail not in their plighted word. Those who join together those things which God hath commanded to be joined hold their Lord in awe, and fear the terrible reckoning.” [Ar-Ra’ad, Aayaat 20-21]They join together the things which Allah has commanded to be joined and by straightness in following Allah’s orders and showing loyalty to Him and the following of the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Hence, their faith is followed by work and practice shown in kindness to one’s parents and communication with relatives. And the fear of Allah is such as to help them in the obedience of Allah and to deter them from committing disobedience.Then Allah mentioned the two characteristics that are the sixth and the seventh and said:“Those who patiently persevere, seeking the countenance of their Lord, And they establish regular prayers.” [Ar-Ra’ad, Aayah 22]They persevere on the obedience of Allah and they persevere in their abstention from the interdictions made by Allah. Allah also mentioned the eighth and the ninth characteristics and said:“Spend out of (the gifts) We have bestowed for their sustenance, secretly and openly, and turn off evil with good”. [Ar-Ra’ad, Aayah 22]The meaning here is that they spend to get the forgiveness and redemption of Allah. They spend openly as they do in Zakat in secret either seen or not seen by people; seeking the grace of Allah. “And turn off evil with good”This indicates total patience, their resilience, their endurance and their subduing of their wrath:“For such there is the final attainment of the (Eternal) Home”. [Ar-Ra’ad, Aayah 22]Allah explained that this “Eternal Home” as: “Gardens of perpetual bliss: They shall enter there as well as the righteous among their fathers, their spouses, and their offspring”. [Ar-Ra’ad, Aayah 23]To reward them for their good past deeds, Allah includes them together with their fathers, their offspring and their spouses in His giving. Henceforth, to be straight in carrying out of the orders of Allah and fulfilling the duties; to call for the good and deter from bad; and to stand firm with the right and be resilient on it; and to turn off evil by doing good – all these are ways for the servant of Allah to be useful and good and also for his fathers, his spouses and their offspring and their reunion will be in the home of hospitality and generosity in which the angels are visiting and welcoming them.One of the great gifts of Allah to his servant is making him to be the reason for the guidance of his father, his mother, his spouse and his offspring, and so forth. Also it is one of the great gifts of Allah is making a woman to be the reason for the guidance of her husband, her father, her mother and her children.It is learned from this holy verse that the admission into Heaven of fathers, husbands and their offspring together with their relatives is not because of this kinship and relationship but because of their correctness and their endeavour in the obedience of Allah. This verse is also similar to the verse which says:“It is not your wealth nor your sons that will bring you nearer to us In degree; but only those who believe and work righteousness - these are the ones for whom there is a multiplied reward for their deeds while secure they (reside) in the dwellings on high.” [As-Saba, Aayah 37]Likewise the people of knowledge, faith and righteousness should follow this way of high conduct and high standard of personality so that they find the happy ending and reward. But it is very essential that the learner of knowledge should know that resilience is very important and that good deeds and abundant good does not happen simply by wishful thinking and hopeless expectations, but there should be work and patience. [By Shaykh Abdul-Aziz Abdullah Ibn Baz - rahimahullah]Morals in the life and Da‘wah of the prophetsThe Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam (may Allah exalt his mention), was commanded to maintain the same methodology that had been adopted by all the previous prophets and messengers, may Allah exalt their mention, as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so from their guidance take an example.} [Qur’an 6:90] Allah the Almighty granted the prophets perfection of morals and character so that people would not turn away from them with the excuse that they were repulsive or ill-natured. All prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, only spoke what was revealed to them by Allah the Almighty. Their message was not something that they fabricated or that was due to the surrounding social conditions of their age. Their message was a revelation from Allah the Almighty, as each and every prophet testified: {I only follow what is revealed to me.}[Qur’an 6:50] The prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, did not have the right to change, replace, add, or cancel anything that had been revealed to them. Concerning Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, Allah the Almighty Says (what means):l{Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.} [Qur’an 53: 3,4]l{Say, [O Muhammad]: “It is not for me to change it on my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. Indeed, I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day.”} [Qur’an 10:15]In their mission, the prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, did not ask for a reward from their people, as they only sought the reward of Allah the Almighty. Prophet Hud, may Allah exalt his mention, said to his people (what means): {O my people, I do not ask you for it any reward. My reward is only from The One who created me. Then will you not reason?}[Qur’an 11:51] Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, confirmed the same meaning by saying (what means): {Say, [O Muhammad]: “I do not ask you for the Qur’an any payment, and I am not of the pretentious.”} [Qur’an 38:86]The aim of all the prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, was for people to have sincerity in religion and to turn them towards worshipping the Lord of all creation instead of worshipping His creatures. The prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, also aimed at saving disobedient people from the adversity of life to the comfort of both the worldly life and the Hereafter and from the oppression of distorted and false religions to the justice of Islam. In the Qur’an, Allah the Almighty clarifies the true religion that He commands all people to follow, by Saying (what means): {And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give Zakah. And that is the correct religion.} [Qur’an 98:5]Every prophet was sent speaking the language of his people in order to communicate clearly with them. The prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, followed their Fitrah (innate disposition) and talked to people in a way that suited their mentality without pretence, declamation or exaggeration. Allah the Almighty Says (what means):l{And I am not of the pretentious} [Qur’an 38:86]Allah the Almighty made the method of Da’wah (propagation) clear to His prophets, as He gave an order to His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, by Saying (what means):l {Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most Knowing of who is [rightly] guided.}[Qur’an 16:125]The methodology of the prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, and their Da‘wah are clear. The best way to make Da‘wah is the clear and simple way of the Noble Qur’an, with which one does not need any philosophical or scholastic methodology.All the prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, gave precedence to the eternal life of the Hereafter over the worldly life that would ultimately come to an end. Their predominant characteristic was to renounce the pleasures of this worldly life and seek the reward of the Hereafter, as they were certain that: {what is with Allah is better and more lasting} [Qur’an 28:60] and: {that which is with Allah is best for the righteous.} [Qur’an 3:198]Allah the Almighty Says to His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, (what means): {And do not extend your eyes toward that by which We have given enjoyment to [some] categories of them, [its being but] the splendor of worldly life by which We test them. And the provision of your Lord is better and more enduring.} [Qur’an 20:131]The prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, were the most perfect, most honest and had the noblest lineage of all mankind. Allah the Almighty chose them by his Knowledge over everyone and everything else to bear the greatest trust, which is conveying His message. Therefore, they must be a model for all people. Regarding the merits of the prophets, Allah the Almighty Says (what means):l{And remember Our servants, Ibraheem, Ishaq and Ya‘qoob - those of strength and [religious] vision. Indeed, We chose them for an exclusive quality: remembrance of the home [of the Hereafter]. And indeed they are, to Us, among the chosen and outstanding. And remember Isma‘eel, Al-Yas‘ and Dhul-Kifl, and all are among the outstanding.} [Qur’an 38:45-48]l{[Allah] Said: “O Moosa, I have chosen you over the people with My messages and My words [to you]. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful.”}[Qur’an 7:144]Throughout their Da‘wah, the prophets, may Allah exalt their mention, not only confirmed the idea of servitude to Allah by telling their people (what means): {Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him} [Qur’an 7:59] but they also treated the faults that were widespread during their time and urged their people to be virtuous. For instance, Prophet Shu‘ayb, may Allah exalt his mention, tried to reform the faults of his people, the people of Madyan, and advised them not to give less in measure and weight and decrease the rights of others. Also, Prophet Lut, may Allah exalt his mention, said to his people: {“Do you approach males among the worlds. And leave what your Lord has created for you as mates? But you are a people transgressing.”} [Qur’an 26:165-166] He also criticised them for obstructing roads and committing every evil in their meetings. The biography of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, also proves that he continuously tried to treat the faults of his people.Adhering to Tawheed and Legislation: A Shield for Morality1- Adhering to Tawheed (monotheism): Tawheed is purity as it is acknowledgement of the truth, while Shirk (polytheism) is an impurity as Allah the Almighty Says (what means): {indeed the polytheists are unclean.}[Qur’an 9:28] This is because Shirk is the denial of truth, and even if the polytheists superficially bathed, adorned and perfumed themselves their inner impurity would still not be removed. Sins and evil deeds are considered impurities, as the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Whoever commits any of these sins should conceal them and make use of the concealment granted to him by Allah. Whoever openly admits to his sins [to other people] will be punished with what is prescribed in the Qur’an.”In order to perfect morality and obtain the desired objectives, we should be careful in matters pertaining to Tawheed and legislation and follow the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, in this regard. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, implanted two crucial principles in his Companions: the first was to worship Allah the Almighty without associating any other deity with Him, while the second principle was to worship Allah the Almighty according to His Legislation and no other.The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, did not allow any of his Companions to break either of these two principles. Once the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, saw ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, holding a piece of paper from the Torah as he had admired what was written on it. Thereupon, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was very angry and said to him: “You do this while I am amongst you? I have conveyed to you the message white and pure. By Allah, if Moosa [Moses] had been alive now, he would have had no choice but to follow me.” [Ahmad, Al-Albani - Hasan] This Hadith shows the universal nature of the Da‘wah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and that it is impermissible to follow anything except the Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, how can people leave these protected principles and seek guidance in things that have been distorted and changed?Once, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, heard an Imam delivering a Khutbah (sermon) on the pulpit, and saying,“Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be rightly guided, while whoever disobeys them, will be misguided.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said: “What a bad Imam you are! Say: ‘The one who disobeys Allah and His Messenger will be misguided’.” [Ahmad, Muslim] In the abovementioned Hadeeth, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, criticised the Imam for saying “disobeying them” when referring to Allah and His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallamas the use of this pronoun entails that both Allah the Almighty and His Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, are on the same level. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, also saw that it was appropriate to mention and clarify this point in during the Khutbah.When ‘Uthman ibn Math‘oon, may Allah be pleased with him, died, Umm al-‘Alaa’, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “O Abu As-Saa’ib! I testify that Allah has honoured you.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said to her: “How do you know that Allah has honoured Him?” She replied, “Who would be honoured if not him?” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said to her: “By Allah, though I am the Messenger of Allah, I do not know what Allah will do with me tomorrow.” Umm al-‘Alaa’, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “By Allah, I will never attest the piety of anybody after this.” [Ahmad and Al-Bukhari] Deeds depend on how the last of them will be, which Allah the Almighty has concealed from people’s knowledge. This refutes what was said by the Jews and Christians as they said (what means):l{We are the children of Allah and His beloved} [Qur’an 5:18]l{None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian.} [Qur’an 2:111] Allah the Almighty told them (what means): {That is [merely] their wishful thinking, Say: “Produce your proof, if you should be truthful.”} [Qur’an 2:111] This also refutes what some people do, thinking that some of the dead are the allies of Allah The Almighty and consequently, they worship these ‘allies’.Among the examples that illustrate adherence to Tawheed is when a man came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and said to him, “Allah and you willing.” The Prophet said: “Are you making me an equal to Allah? You should say, ‘What Allah alone, wills.” [Ahmad, Al-Albani - Hasan]Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

At least 10 female farm workers, nine of them children, died in Egypt yesterday when a minibus plunged off a river ferry and into the Nile northwest of Cairo, the health ministry said.“The toll is at 10 and could rise,” ministry spokesman Hossam Abdelghaffar said.Reporting the accident, the state’s flagship Al-Ahram newspaper said the driver, who had released the handbrake, was arrested while trying to flee.He had “a verbal argument” with one of the passengers before getting out of the bus, the paper said. Two of the victims — all of whom worked on an “export-oriented fruit farm”— were 13 years old, according to a list published by Al-Ahram.The rest were 16 and younger, except for one victim who was identified as a 40-year-old woman.The vehicle sank at the village of Abu Ghalib, some 50 kilometres northwest of the capital.Villagers used small wooden boats to row out and help search-and-rescue workers look for survivors, as relatives waited anxiously on the banks of the narrow stretch of the Nile.A crane was finally able to lift the minibus from the water, after rescuers and locals had swum out to extract victims from the windows of the submerged vehicle.Nine injured passengers – most of them also minors, according to Al-Ahram’s list – were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, the health ministry said in a statement.A search operation was “ongoing” into the evening for five more passengers who were unaccounted for, Al-Ahram said.The ministry of social solidarity said it would provide financial compensation “to the families of the deceased and injured”.After carrying out an initial investigation at the scene, the public prosecutor’s office ordered a technical inspection of the minibus to try to determine “the reasons it had plunged into the water”, Al-Ahram reported. Commuter accidents are common in Egypt, especially in agricultural areas along the Nile and adjoining streams, where small, overloaded boats ferry farmers and workers back and forth.At least 1.3mn children are engaged in some form of child labour in the Arab world’s most populous nation, official figures show. Most do unpaid work on family farms, according to the International Labour Organisation. However, children are also frequently sent to work on large-scale export-oriented farms, according to rural sociologist Saker al-Nour, who has studied agricultural labour conditions extensively.

Palestinian health officials said seven Palestinians were killed yesterday in an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin, where an AFP correspondent reported masked gunmen later exchanged fire with Israeli forces.Smoke billowed over the Jenin refugee camp adjacent to the city after a series of explosions inside, while at least five gunmen clashed with troops in a nearby downtown neighbourhood, the correspondent reported.The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said Israeli troops had killed seven Palestinians and wounded 19 others during the raid that began in the morning in Jenin city.An AFP journalist saw four bodies at Jenin’s Khalil Suleiman hospital morgue.The Israeli military said it had launched a “counter operation” in the city, later adding that “exchanges of fire are underway between the security forces and the armed fighters”.The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that among those killed was a surgeon, Usaeed Jabareen, from the Jenin government hospital.A school teacher and a student were also among the dead, Wafa reported, quoting hospital director Wissam Bakr. The Palestinian ministry said the wounded included two who were in a critical condition. Amer Manasra, a 25-year-old freelance journalist, said he had been wounded by Israeli forces during the raid.“I was hit in the back of my leg by a stray bullet fired by Israeli forces,” he said from a hospital bed, adding the incident had taken place near the entrance to the camp.The Israeli army said it had raided the house of Ahmed Barakat, who was behind an attack on an Israeli civilian last year.Meir Tamari, 32, was killed in May 2023 at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, medics and military officials said at the time.Following the raid, all schools in Jenin and the camp were evacuated, Wafa said.In the afternoon, the streets near the camp were deserted, except for Israeli bulldozers moving debris. The road between the hospital and the camp had been stripped of its asphalt by Israeli troops who said they were looking for concealed bombs.Drones buzzed overhead and sporadic gunfire rang out.Crowds of mourners including schoolchildren gathered for the funeral of teacher Allam Jaradat.Jaradat’s body, wrapped in the green flag of Hamas group, was kept at a mosque where mourners offered prayers.“The new massacre in Jenin... is conclusive evidence of the criminal mentality that rules the occupying state and its ideological belief in killing our people,” Hamas said in a statement.The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned yesterday’s raid in a statement on Wafa, saying Israel was “killing innocent people, doctors, and destroying the infrastructure of Palestinian hospitals, cities and villages”.Jenin has long been a stronghold of Palestinian groups and the Israeli army routinely carries out raids into the city and adjacent camp.The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in violence for more than a year, but particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in the first week of October.At least 513 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war broke out, according to Palestinian officials.The Gaza Strip has been gripped by more than seven months of war since Hamas’ unprecedented storming of Israel.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

US President Joe Biden told Morehouse College graduates yesterday not to give up on American democracy in a sombre commencement address, while acknowledging their anger over the war in Gaza.The speech, which would typically be a relatively low-profile event, drew scrutiny as college campuses nationwide erupted in sometimes-violent protests over Biden’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas following the events of October 7.However, the campus of Morehouse, a historically black men’s college, remained calm throughout Biden’s speech, with only small and silent shows of protest.Biden recounted his personal history and said he shared the concerns of the graduates over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.“I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them,” said Biden, who wore a maroon and black gown in the colours of the university.“This is one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. There’s nothing easy about it. I know it angers and frustrates many of you,” he told the graduates.“It’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, that’s why I’ve called for an immediate ceasefire,” Biden said to applause. “I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family, but most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.”He did not elaborate, but First Lady Jill Biden reportedly urged the president in April to “stop it now” as the toll of Palestinian civilians mounted from Israel’s offensive in Gaza.Amid the decorous commencement, a generational divide was apparent in Atlanta as alumni and new graduates sat side-by-side.Older alumni stood, cheered and laughed along with the president at various points as current graduates sat in silence or offered polite applause.Several students and faculty had earlier called for Biden’s invitation to speak to be revoked over his Israel policies.Some students wore keffiyehs tied around their gowns. A handful of students turned their backs to him in silent protest over the Gaza crisis.Morehouse’s valedictorian also called for a permanent and immediate ceasefire, to which Biden applauded.Biden also used the address, part of an election-year platform, to highlight his support for black officials and his push against racism and division that he says threatens the nation’s foundation.“It’s natural to wonder: Does the democracy you hear about actually work for you?” the president said in his speech.Even so, he added, Americans must continue “to call out the poison of white supremacy, root out systemic racism. Democracy is still the way”.Biden is seeking to sell his vision to jaded voters who approve of his policies but are not sold on the 81-year-old candidate himself, including younger black men, as he faces a rematch against Republican Donald Trump, who has used increasingly authoritarian language and already stoked doubts about the election’s legitimacy.Biden challenged graduates to build on their historic education to lead and fight for freedom at home.Morehouse was founded in 1867 to educate black people newly liberated from slavery, and alumni include the civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.Without citing Trump by name, Biden invoked the January 6, 2021, attack by Trump supporters, some carrying the Civil War-era Confederate flags, as well as attacks on black election workers, attempts to restrict voting and extremists’ rhetoric toward immigrants.A New York Times/Siena poll last week showed that, in addition to trailing Trump in several key battleground states, Biden is also losing ground with African Americans.Trump is winning more than 20% of black voters in the poll – which would be the highest level of black support for a Republican presidential candidate since the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964, the New York Times said.A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this month showed Biden nearly tied with Republican candidate Donald Trump for voters under 40, a group Biden carried by double-digit percentage points in 2020.A Washington Post/Ipsos poll last month showed that just 62% of black voters say they are absolutely certain to vote, down from 74% roughly four years ago.Nine in 10 black voters supported Biden in 2020, surveys found.Yesterday’s speech comes amid of a flurry of Biden actions and engagements focused on African American issues.Biden noted the billions in funding his administration has granted historically black colleges and universities, praising them as tools of enhanced economic mobility.Morehouse sits on a leafy campus near downtown Atlanta, the biggest city in Georgia, which is one of the most competitive battleground states in the 2024 race.In 2020, Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.Many black men consulted in Democratic focus groups report being underwhelmed by their economic prospects and progress on issues from student loans to criminal justice reform after delivering the Democratic party control of the two houses of Congress and the White House in 2020.Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 mid-term elections.Some black students have drawn parallels between the experience of stateless Palestinians and historical experiences in apartheid South Africa and the Jim Crow South, which motivated earlier generations of protest.Israeli and US officials reject those comparisons.However, Morehouse and other historically black colleges and universities have not been as convulsed by the protests like those that led to the cancellation of graduation ceremonies at Columbia University and the University of Southern California.