POLICE INVESTIGATING LINKS TO MURDERS OF 4 MUSLIM MEN IN US
Another Muslim man in the US state of New Mexico was killed and authorities on August 6 said they are working to determine if the murders of the four Muslim men in the past nine months are connected.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina told reporters that a “young man who is part of the Muslim community was murdered” on August 5. He said the murder could be linked to three other Muslim men who were killed in “ambush-style shootings” in the past nine months. While authorities reiterated a request for everyone with information about the killings to contact the police, it was reported that security measures were increased in certain areas of the city where the Muslim community resides. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, increased a reward to $10,000 from $5,000 for information leading to the suspect or suspects related to the killings.
GAZA DEATH TOLL FROM ISRAELI ATTACKS RISES TO 29
At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since August 5, the Health Ministry said on August 6. The death toll includes six children and two women, it said in a statement and added that 203 people were injured in the Israeli attacks. An explosion in the Jabalia refugee camp, north of Gaza City, killed four of the six children after an explosion. Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes in the area citing an “imminent threat of attack” by the Islamic Jihad group. The attacks came amid rising tensions across Palestinian territories, when Israeli forces detained Bassam al-Saadi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, in a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
GREEK MOVE DISCLAIMING MUSLIMS’ ELECTED LEADERS ‘UNACCEPTABLE’
Türkiye on August 4 criticised Greece’s latest move denying recognition to the Turkish minority’s elected Muslim scholars (muftis), calling it “unacceptable”. In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry urged Greece to respect international law and fulfil its contractual obligations under the longstanding Treaty of Lausanne and other relevant agreements, “and put an end to its policies pressuring and intimidating the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace.” The statement came in response to new legislation allowing the appointment of muftis by Greek authorities, a system the Turkish minority in Western Thrace rejects, as it ignores the Turkish minority’s right under treaty to elect their own muftis. “Greece once again violated the rights and freedoms of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace, guaranteed by international agreements, particularly the Lausanne Peace Treaty, through an act that it has enacted recently regarding the Muftis in Western Thrace,” said the statement. Adding that the law was drafted without any consultation with the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, the ministry stressed that Greece “once again disregarded the elected Muftis of the Turkish Minority, thus their will and religious freedom.”
YEMEN’S WARRING SIDES AGREE TO EXTEND TRUCE FOR 2 MONTHS: UN
Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to renew a UN-mediated truce for an additional two months, the UN envoy’s office announced on August 2. A press statement by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg hailed the achievement and urged all parties to strive for lasting peace in the war-torn country. The extension of the truce was welcomed by the warring sides. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also welcomed the announcement of the truce extension on Twitter, saying it “brings respite from conflict to millions and saves lives – the longest period of calm since the war began.” Under the cease-fire, which was first reached on April 2, all military operations were halted. The agreement also allowed the operation of commercial flights from rebel-held Sana’a Airport in the Yemeni capital. Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sana’a.
FAO TO ASSIST 882,000 PEOPLE ACROSS DROUGHT-HIT SOMALIA
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) office in Somalia on August 5 said that it urgently required $131.4 million to assist 882,000 people across the Horn of Africa country. “Funding levels remain low across sectors,” the UN agency said in a statement, adding that its famine prevention efforts covering 55 of Somalia’s 90 districts were only 46% funded. Voicing concern on the drought situation in Somalia, it underlined the vulnerability of the households that have been affected by it. “We cannot wait for famine to be declared; we must act now to safeguard livelihoods and lives,” FOA said. More than 900,000 people in Somalia, mostly living in rural areas, have moved to internally displaced persons camps since January 2021 due to the drought and lack of livelihood support. According to UN Children Fund, more than 500 children died in Somalia since January due to drought-related malnutrition. More than 7 million Somalis have been affected by the drought, according to the UN.
DADABHAI NAOROJI’S LONDON HOME TO GET BLUE PLAQUE
Dadabhai Naoroji’s London home will get a ‘Blue Plaque’, an honour that is reserved for notable personalities who have lived and worked in London. Naoroji was the first Asian who was elected as a Member of Parliament in Britain. English Heritage, a charity society, will honour Dadabhai Naoroji’s home at 72, Anerley Park in London. He lived in this house from 1895 to 1904, a report said on August 4. Apart from being the first Asian to be a part of the House of Commons, Naoroji was an important leader before Mahatma Gandhi’s rise in the freedom struggle. Dinyar Patel, an author who wrote Dadabhai Naoroji’s biography, said that the plaque would go up later this month.
6 PAK ARMY OFFICERS, SOLDIERS ABOARD MISSING COPTER FOUND DEAD
All six people, including a three-star general, aboard a Pakistani army helicopter that went missing on August 1 were found dead, the military confirmed on August 2. In a statement, the military’s media wing said the wreckage was found in the suburbs of Lasbela district of southwestern Balochistan province, some 72 kilometres (45 miles) from the country’s commercial capital Karachi. The ill-fated helicopter was carrying military officers and soldiers, including Quetta Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ahmad and Coast Guards Commander Maj. Gen. Amjad Hanif Satti, when it went missing. The chopper lost contact with the air traffic control during flood relief operations in Balochistan, which has been badly hit by massive downpours and flash floods. Initial investigation suggested the helicopter crashed due to bad weather.