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☆ India train crash: Family hopes DNA test will help claim for body
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Francis Mascarenhas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Four days after the disaster, Haq has found no trace of his brother, who was travelling with the boys. "We are left with no option but to do a DNA test to determine whose body it is. The whole process takes really long," a distraught Haq told Reuters at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of the main hospitals in Odisha's capital of Bhubaneswar. Authorities had taken DNA samples from all the dead bodies in hospitals across the state, senior police official Prateek Singh told reporters on Tuesday. "In cases where there are multiple claimants, we have taken DNA samples from family members and we will preserve the bodies until the DNA matches," Singh told local media.

Persons: Imam Ul Haq, Tavseer Ansari, Francis Mascarenhas, Mohammed Imam Ul Haq, Haq, Prateek Singh, Singh, Francis Mascerenhas, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Bernadette Baum, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Francis Mascarenhas BHUBANESWAR, Reuters, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, Odisha's, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

☆ Khartoum region under bombardment as Sudan's rivals talk
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KHARTOUM, May 14 (Reuters) - Shelling and air strikes pounded parts of Sudan's capital on Sunday with little sign that warring military factions were ready to back down in a conflict that has killed hundreds despite ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia. Shelling struck Bahri and air strikes hit Omdurman early on Sunday, according to a Reuters reporter and witnesses. "There were heavy air strikes near us in Saliha that shook the doors of the house," said Salma Yassin, a teacher in Omdurman. The fighting has killed hundreds of people, sent 200,000 into neighbouring countries as refugees, displaced another 700,000 inside Sudan triggering a humanitarian catastrophe and threatens to draw in outside powers and destabilise the region. The house became unsafe and we don't have enough money to travel out of Khartoum.

All agreed there was a marked increase in awareness among Indian Muslims about birth control and family planning. The 2021 census has been delayed but the United Nations has projected India's population will touch 1.42 billion this month. "There is a misconception among Muslims that Islam doesn’t allow the use of birth control measures," said Maulana Khalid Rasheed, the imam of the Lucknow Eidgah in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. [1/5] FILE PHOTO-Members of a Muslim family sit down for a meal in an old quarter of Delhi, India March 3, 2023. Experts say the public health system is now unable to keep up with the demand for birth control services from people who are aware about their usefulness, also called an unmet need.

By Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced it would prohibit non-Muslims from entering the holy site for the rest of Ramadan. “I see these visits as a raid on our holy site,” he said. That status quo is slowly being chipped away, says Sheikh Rani Abusibr, an Imam of nearly twenty-years at Al-Aqsa. There was a heightened security presence at the holy site when Easter, Ramadan, and Passover celebrations overlapped. Without the status quo arrangement being enforced, there are fears that an already tumultuous region could spiral out of control.

The HDP, parliament's third-biggest party, wants the opposition to back demands for Kurdish rights and other issues. The Kurdish party held talks with Kilicdaroglu on Monday and is expected to announce this week whether it will back him. HDP lawmaker Imam Tascier said Kilicdaroglu had acknowledged the "Kurdish problem", terms reminiscent of language used by Erdogan in earlier years when he was seeking Kurdish support. Now, he said, Erdogan "pushed freedoms, democracy, human rights and the Kurdish problem away with the back of his hand". Yet, legal challenges could derail the role of HDP, which also won almost 12% of the national vote in 2018.

☆ U.S.-led Iraq war ushered in years of chaos and conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A general view of Tahrir square as demonstrators take part during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq November 5, 2019. Here is a look at some of the violence, including suicide bombings and beheadings, that has plagued Iraq, a major OPEC oil producer and key U.S. ally, since the 2003 war. * March 20, 2003 - U.S.-led forces invade Iraq from Kuwait to oust Saddam Hussein. * October 2004 - Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi starts waging bloody attacks designed to turn majority Shi’ite Muslims against minority Sunnis in a civil war. * January 2007 - Bush announces a new war strategy including a “surge” of U.S. troops into Iraq to combat the insurgency.

☆ How a senior manager at Amazon made the mid-career switch to tech and why she still encourages others to do the same despite recent layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Despite layoffs across the industry, she says there are a lot of options for aspiring tech workers. But a rude awakening over the past year has disrupted the tech industry. "You were convinced that it's for the greater good, so you have to sacrifice your own life for work," she said. "I think moving over to this job and tech has helped me set better boundaries about my work life and my personal life." A few years into her career switch, Imam reflected that transitioning from one field to another was humbling.

The area, part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, is a hotbed for fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of Sunni Islamist groups. A TTP spokesman, Muhammad Khurasani, told Reuters its main target was Pakistan's military, but the police were standing in the way. "Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa pays a greater price for that" because of its exposure to the Islamist militants, he said. The TTP ended the ceasefire in November 2022, and regrouped militants restarted attacks in Pakistan soon after. Reporting by Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Jibran Ahmad in Bara, Pakistan; additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; editing by David Crawshaw.

☆ Ukraine 'Art Weapon' show draws crowds in Berlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A person stands in front of a video installation at the Art Weapon Festival, which showcase contemporary Ukrainian culture and various performances, created during the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the "Alte Muenze" in Berlin, Germany February 25, 2023. REUTERS/Annegret HilseBERLIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - In a converted former mint in Berlin on Saturday, crowds danced in a blaze of strobe light as a rapper hollered Ukrainian lyrics to punchy beats. The 'Art Weapon' event - which opened at Berlin's sprawling Alte Muenze complex on Saturday - also featured live painting by Ukrainian artists, Ukrainian-language theatre and the chance to sit for a Ukrainian tattoo artist. He decided to apply for funding through a German organisation supporting cultural initiatives, allowing him to organise "Art Weapon" in Berlin. "The invasion has definitely changed art in Ukraine," he added.

It's big what happens to Jules," Freeman told Reuters of the film, which premiered at the Berlinale film festival last Sunday. For George MacKay, playing the role of Preston was a chance to tap into currents in his own personality. While the film will especially appeal to LGBTQ+ viewers, its moving human story and racy plot has something for everyone, Freeman said. "This is a film that is for queer audiences, but it's also a film for all audiences," he said. "The queer is a label that we proudly attach to it, but it's not all that it is."

☆ Telekom reports Q4 growth, forecasts slightly higher earnings in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom's (DTEGn.DE) fourth-quarter earnings came in slightly above consensus on Thursday as the German telecomms operator issued guidance for slightly higher earnings this year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDA AL) stood at 9.96 billion euros ($10.58 billion) for the quarter, beating consensus estimates of 9.9 billion euros in a poll of analysts published by the company. The telecoms operator's quarterly revenue increased by 4.0% to 29.8 billion euros, below consensus estimates of 30.0 billion euros. For the full year 2022, Telekom reported revenue of 114.4 billion euros, up 6.1% from the previous year, and EBITDA AL of 40.2 billion euros, up 7.7%. The group said it now expected adjusted EBITDA AL of more than 40.8 billion euros in the 2023 financial year.

☆ Berlinale film marks Chinese star Fan Bingbing's return to cinema
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Cast member Fan Bingbing attends a news conference during the promotion of 'Green Night' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2023. Her reappearance also spotlighted the return of Chinese-language film to the international stage, as mainland China and Hong Kong have eased zero-COVID policies, allowing for international travel. Featuring both Mandarin and Korean dialogue, the film is one of several from China and Hong Kong receiving world premieres at the Berlinale. In "Green Night", Fan plays the role of Jin Xia, a Chinese immigrant working as a security guard at Seoul airport. Chinese cinema is showing signs of thriving in Berlin, Fan said.

☆ Film offers close-up of Ukraine's bloody Eastern Front
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Directors Vitaly Mansky and Yehven Titarenko speak about the movie 'Eastern Front' during a Reuters interview during the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 22, 2023. "I think people usually get some romantic ideas about war from the books, from movies," Yevhen Titarenko, a Ukrainian filmmaker who co-directed the film, told Reuters. The film premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday, the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, celebrating the resilience of the Ukrainian people while providing a grisly portrait of the devastation of war. Lviv-born filmmaker Vitaly Mansky co-directed the film with Titarenko, providing additional scenes recorded in Western Ukraine. "The message is not to give anybody the chance to think they can hide from this war," Mansky said.

☆ Fact Check-Photo of ‘Imam kissing a dog’s paw’ is digitally altered and was not taken after Turkey-Syria earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

An image allegedly showing an Imam kissing the paw of a dog has been digitally altered. It was captured at least 11 years ago and is unrelated to the events of the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake. This is Imam e Jamia mosque in Turkey kissing hand of the dog which rescued and saved lives of 3 people tangled in debris. However, the original photo is more than 11 years old and has been edited to include the ‘Imam’ instead of a man dressed in Catholic clothing. The photo is more than a decade old and has been edited to include the ‘Imam’.

☆ Iranian foundation offers land to Salman Rushdie's attacker - state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - An Iranian foundation has praised the man who attacked novelist Salman Rushdie last year, leaving him severely injured, and said it will reward him with 1,000 square metres of agricultural land, state TV reported on Tuesday through its Telegram channel. Some Muslims saw passages in the novel about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Khomeini's successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was suspended from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was "irrevocable." The man accused of attacking the novelist has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges. Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Michael Georgy and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Virginia Woolf´s 'Orlando' inspires transgender film at Berlinale
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Orlando: My Political Biography", Preciado's playful debut film, explores the struggles of trans and binary people through Woolf's novel "Orlando". In its opening scene, two young non-binary people sit reading a book in the woods. I didn't want to go into that tradition, but I didn't want to go into the victim setting either," Preciado said of his film, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. Woolf's 1928 novel tells the story of Orlando, a young Elizabethan-era nobleman, who one night turns into a woman living three-hundred years later. Preciado says Woolf's vision resonates in the contemporary West, where people are only now beginning to accept the notion of non-binary categories.

☆ Banned Iranian filmmaker portrays her version of Iran-Iraq war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN Feb 17 (Reuters) - Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi's debut animation aims to counter what she says is the traditional narrative of the Iran-Iraq War as her contribution to supporting protests at home. Farsi was determined to tell another story from what she said governments in Iran had done by glorifying the war with films honouring martyrs. Protests rocked Iran overnight after a seeming slowdown in recent weeks, with marchers calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, online videos purported to show on Friday. Iranians from all walks of life have taken part, marking one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. Making the film as an animation allowed Farsi to evoke the city of Abadan, which was razed during the war.

☆ 'Identity capital' is the key to getting your dream job and making friends in your 20s, according to Gen Z and millennials on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Young professionals on TikTok are advocating for building "identity capital" to get ahead at work and in life. Identity capital has a lot more to do with connections and relationships and community." "I think of identity capital as anything you do that adds value to who you are," Jay told Insider. "The personal resources acquired developmentally become important," Côté wrote in one 2012 paper, with those personal resources being the experiences that make up identity capital; he calls identity capital the "black box of agency" where there is none. "I don't think identity capital is only valued to the extent that it's seen as profitable," she said.

☆ Iran says drones attacked military factory amid Israel tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Aina J. Khan | Aina Is A Freelance Reporter With Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

'Defensive traps'The Iranian defense ministry confirmed one of its workshop complexes had come under attack Saturday from a number of Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), but said the complex’s air defenses had successfully repelled the attack. Three quadcopters equipped with bombs were used in the attack, Iran’s defense ministry said in a statement shared with IRIB. Israel is widely believed to be behind a growing list of incidents like the drone attack that have hit Iranian military and nuclear targets in recent years. Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday condemned Sunday’s drone strike against its burgeoning ally and warned against “unpredictable consequences” that could escalate an already precarious situation. “Such destructive actions could have unpredictable consequences for peace and stability in the Middle East,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

☆ Dozens of merchant ships stuck off Iran as payment snags bite - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Dozens of merchant ships with grains and sugar are stuck outside Iranian ports after weeks of delays as payments snags disrupt flows of goods into the country, according to trade sources and shipping data. The latest payment issues have led to ships being unable to discharge cargoes, with at least 40 bulk carrier ships stuck outside the major Iranian ports of Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas, ship tracking data on Refinitiv showed. In the previous five seasons, imports had averaged just 1.1 million tonnes, the data showed. One Western trade source familiar with the matter estimated that the cargoes stuck outside Iran's port are worth more than $1 billion with charterers of the cargoes also facing delay costs known as demurrage. Broker Paragon Global Markets (PGM) said it was not clear how many of the vessels might have sugar cargoes onboard.

☆ Iran's Raisi promises to pursue crackdown on protesters; cleric critical of execution
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Molavi Abdolhamid, a Sunni cleric in the Shi'ite-ruled Islamic Republic, criticized the death sentence, according to his website. Human rights groups said Shekari was tortured and forced to confess. In Geneva, U.N. Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Turk called the execution “very troubling and clearly designed to send a chilling effect to the rest of the protesters." Britain announced sanctions on Friday against 30 people worldwide, including officials from Russia, Iran and Myanmar it deems responsible for human rights abuses or corruption. Molavi Abdolhamid made his critical comments from Zahedan, the capital of restive Sistan-Baluchistan province, home to Iran's Baluch minority who have faced discrimination and repression for decades, according to human rights groups.

☆ Umar Patek: Bali bomber released on parole in Indonesia after serving half of 20-year sentence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Jakarta, Indonesia CNN —Indonesia has released on parole Umar Patek, a bomb maker in the deadly 2002 Bali attacks, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights said on Wednesday. After his release on Wednesday, Patek is required to join a “mentoring program” until April 2030, according to the ministry statement. In August, Indonesia’s government said that Patek was eligible for parole after his sentence was reduced, a decision that sparked criticism from the victims’ families. “I think this going to be a very difficult day for many Australians – all Australians – to hear about the release of Umar Patek,” Marles told ABC radio. Three of the masterminds of the Bali bombings – Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron – were executed in 2008.

☆ Gunmen in Nigeria kill a dozen people, abduct others from mosque
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Gunmen in Nigeria killed a dozen worshippers, including an imam, and kidnapped several others from a mosque on Saturday night, local residents said on Sunday, in the latest attack by armed gangs in the north of the country. Armed gangs, known as bandits, attack communities where security is stretched, killing people or kidnapping them for ransom. The gangs also demand villagers pay protection fees to be allowed to farm and harvest their crops. About 12, who were attending night prayers, were caught in the gunfire and killed, including the chief imam, said Haruna. I'm praying that the bandits release the innocent people they abducted," said Abdullahi Mohammed, another resident of Funtua.

☆ England scent victory after bold declaration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Having taken a 78-run lead in the runfest, England declared their second innings on 264-7 to set Pakistan an improbable victory target of 343 with four sessions to go. Opener Imam-ul-Haq (43) and debutant Saud Shakeel (24) were resisting England's victory march when bad light stopped play. Agha Salman's breezy 53 frustrated England who had to toil for about 75 minutes to claim the last three Pakistan wickets. England were rattled early in their second innings with Naseem Shah in the thick of things. Naseem dismissed Ben Duckett, one of four century-makers in England's first innings, for a first-ball duck with the second delivery of the innings.

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