Muslims

In this July 17, 2015 file photo, Filipino Muslims pray at the Rizal Park in Manila to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan known as Eid al-Fitr, AP PHOTO COTABATO CITY – Muslims from all over the country will observe, on Wednesday ( July 6 ), the feast of Eidl Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, the month-long, daily fasting. Fasting this year had reached 30 days— which had been rare in the past decades of mostly 29 fasting days in Ramadan. Moro Grand Mufti Abu Huraira Udasan made the announcement of the end of Ramadan in Filipino, English and Maguindanaon, at about 8:30 p.m. Monday , saying: “I inform the Filipino people, particularly the Bangsamoro, that our celebration of Eidl Fitr shall be on Wednesday, July 6 , 2016.” This meant that a Southeast Asian network of astronomical observers had not sighted the crescent moon that night, signifying that fasting days in Ramadan had ended. In Malacañang, President Duterte, who traces a Maranao Muslim ... » Learn More about PH Muslims to mark end of Ramadan July 6

PETALING JAYA: Cabinet members should take responsibility for the controversy surrounding the revocation of the Emergency Ordinances, says the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim). Its president Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz (pic) said that the government’s actions insulted the Palace, the Dewan Rakyat, and all Malaysians. “Abim stresses that all members of Cabinet should be held accountable for the violation of the principles of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy,” he said. He added that this is in line with Article 43(3) of the Federal Constitution which lays down the principle of collective responsibility, where all members of the Cabinet must be jointly responsible to Parliament for all decisions and actions made by the Prime Minister as the head of government. “Therefore, in addition to strongly calling for the Prime Minister to step down with honour and dignity, Abim urges all Cabinet members to take responsibility for violations of the principles ... » Learn More about Cabinet should take responsibility for Emergency Ordinances controversy, says Abim

UNITED NATIONS (AP): Myanmar’s military rulers are again seeking to replace the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, who opposed their Feb 1 ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and takeover of the government. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin says in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he has appointed Aung Thurein, who left the military this year after 26 years, as Myanmar’s UN ambassador. A copy of the letter was obtained on Tuesday (July 20) by The Associated Press. Lwin said in an accompanying letter that Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar's currently recogniwed UN ambassador, "has been terminated on Feb 27, 2021, due to abuses of his assigned duty and mandate.” In a dramatic speech to a General Assembly meeting on Myanmar on Feb 26 -- weeks after the military takeover -- Tun appealed for "the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy to the country. "We will continue to fight for a government which is of the ... » Learn More about Myanmar’s military again seeks to replace its UN ambassador

Goita, dressed in blue, at the prayers in Bamako's Grand Mosque shortly before the attack BAMAKO - Mali on Wednesday said it had opened a probe into an attempt to assassinate military strongman Assimi Goita, the figure behind two coups in less than a year in one of Africa's most troubled countries. "An ill-intentioned individual tried to physically harm" Goita after prayers for Eid al-Adha at Bamako's Grand Mosque, prosecutor Bourama Kariba Konate said in a statement. The act "comes under the categories of harming state security and attempted murder," he said. An inquiry has been opened "to shed light on this event." Goita was whisked away after a man armed with a knife lunged at him, an AFP reporter at the scene saw. The leader later appeared on state TV to say he was doing "very well" and downplayed the significance of the assault. "That's part of being a leader, there are always malcontents," he said. "There are people who at any time may want to try things to cause ... » Learn More about Mali opens probe into attempted assassination of interim president

Afghan security personnel on alert during the Eid al-Adha prayers in Herat on July 20, 2021 WASHINGTON - The Taliban appear to have the "strategic momentum" in their sweeping offensives across Afghanistan, but their victory is far from assured, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff General Mark Milley said Wednesday. Nearly 20 years after the US toppled the Taliban regime in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and with the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces all but complete, the resurgent militants now control about half of Afghanistan's roughly 400 districts. But they have none of the country's densely populated main cities, Milley told a press conference. With the militants putting pressure on around half of the country's provincial capitals, Afghan troops are "consolidating their forces" to protect those major urban centers, he added. "They're taking an approach to protect the population, and most of the population lives in the provincial capitals and capital city of ... » Learn More about Taliban seem to have ‘strategic momentum’ in Afghanistan: top US general

Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas are waging their most intense conflict in years. Here is a timeline of some of the most important events in many years of confrontation. 1987 Hamas is created at the start of the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two years later, Hamas carries out its first attacks on Israeli military targets, including the kidnap and murder of two Israeli soldiers. 1993 After years of violence, the first Oslo Accord, aimed at establishing peace between Israel and the Palestinians, is signed. Hamas opposes the peace process, and seeks to derail it with bus bombings and gun attacks in Israel. 2000 Israel and the Palestinians fail to reach a final agreement in the peace process at a summit in the United States in July 2000. Two months later, Palestinian protests over a visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa ... » Learn More about Hamas and Israel: A history of confrontation

Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hamas appeared to abate slightly early on Tuesday, May 18, with no fatalities logged in Gaza for the first time since hostilities erupted on May 10, and fewer long-range Palestinian rocket attacks. But a call by US President Joe Biden on Monday in support of a ceasefire appeared to go unheeded. Israel said it would press on, for now, with an offensive to destroy the capabilities of the armed factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad and rocket attacks continued. The United States and other world powers have been pushing for an end to the fiercest escalation in the conflict in years, in which Gaza officials say 212 Palestinians, including 61 children and 36 women, have been killed. There was no immediate word of Israeli casualties on Tuesday. Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, in previous Palestinian rocket or missile attacks. In signs of a possible spread of the violence, the Israeli military ... » Learn More about Hamas-Israel fighting abates as truce calls mount

More than a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas showed few signs of abating on Tuesday, May 18, despite intense US and global diplomacy to stop the region's fiercest hostilities in years. The Israeli military said late on Monday that Hamas and other Palestinian groups had fired about 3,350 rockets from Gaza – 200 of them on Monday alone – and that Israeli air and artillery strikes had killed at least 130 militants. Gaza health officials put the Palestinian death toll at 212, including 61 children and 36 women, since hostilities began last week. Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children. Amid seemingly fruitless diplomatic efforts to stop the violence, the top US military officer, Army General Mark Milley, warned that the violence could spread. "My assessment is that you risk broader destabilization and you risk a whole series of negative consequences if the fighting continues," Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ... » Learn More about Israel-Gaza violence shows few signs of slowing as global diplomacy ramps up

Israel bombed what it said were underground tunnels used by Hamas and Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages at Israeli cities as fighting spilled into a second week on Monday, May 17, and international calls for a ceasefire mounted. After a night of heavy Israeli air strikes on areas across the Islamist Hamas-run enclave, Israel's military said Gaza militants had fired about 60 rockets towards Israeli cities overnight, down from 120 and 200 the two previous nights. A Palestinian sponge factory in northern Gaza was hit in a morning air strike and firefighters battled to quell the blaze, which sent plumes of smoke into the air. After rockets were fired from Gaza at the Israeli cities of Beersheba and Ashkelon, Israeli jets bombed what the military said were 15 km (nine miles) of underground tunnels used by Hamas. It also struck nine residences belonging to high-ranking Hamas commanders, it said. With the sounds of Israeli bombardment continuing ... » Learn More about Israel launches dozens of Gaza strikes as fighting enters second week

An Israeli air strike in Gaza destroyed several homes on Sunday, May 16, killing 42 Palestinians, including 10 children, health officials said, as militants fired rockets at Israel with no end in sight to seven days of fighting. The Israeli military said the civilian casualties had been unintentional and that it had attacked a tunnel system used by militants, which collapsed, bringing the homes down with it. As the UN Security Council convened to discuss the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's campaign in Hamas Islamist-run Gaza was continuing at "full force." Netanyahu also defended an Israeli air strike on Saturday that destroyed a 12-storey building where the Associated Press and the Al Jazeera TV network had offices . He said the structure also housed a militant group's intelligence office and was thus a legitimate target. "We are acting now, (and) for as long as necessary, to restore calm ... » Learn More about Israel air strikes kill 42 Palestinians, rockets fired from Gaza