HOUSTON ISD RECOGNISES EID HOLIDAY
The Houston ISD Board of Education recently approved of Eid al-Fitr as an official spring holiday on the school district calendar. Eid has now joined Good Friday and Yom Kippur as the only religious holidays recognised by the district aside from those that fall during winter break. The Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) on April 20 welcomed the first-ever recognition of the Islamic Eid holiday by the Houston Independent School District (HISD). In a statement, CAIR-Houston Director William White said: “This decision is a significant step forward in recognizing the religious diversity of the Houston community. We are delighted that Houston ISD has recognized the importance of Eid for Muslim students and their families. This gesture of inclusion and diversity will go a long way in promoting religious diversity and understanding. We applaud Houston ISD’s leadership for taking this important step toward ensuring that all students and staff feel respected and valued, regardless of their faith. We hope other school districts in Texas and nationwide will follow Houston ISD’s example.”
CLASHES BETWEEN SUDANESE MILITARY, RSF ENTER SECOND WEEK
Heavy fighting in Sudan between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has entered a second week despite a temporary truce for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. At least 413 people have been killed and 3,551 others have been injured since April 15, when a conflict broke out in the capital Khartoum and other cities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, which the military had declared a rebel group. The power struggle between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo has brought the country to the brink of civil war. It comes after the country has grown increasingly unstable politically and economically following military coups in 2019 and 2021 and after public protests in 2018 over soaring living costs. All countries are evacuating their citizens from Sudan. Meanwhile, the Greek government, on April 19, admitted the opposition’s claim that Israeli-made Predator spyware was exported to Sudan via Greece.
AT LEAST 78 KILLED IN STAMPEDE IN YEMEN
At least 78 people were killed and more than 150 were injured on April 19 in a stampede in Yemen’s capital. Dr. Mutahhir Murshid, chairman of the board of Sevre Hospital in Sana’a, told al-Masirah television that the crowd surge took place during the distribution of financial aid under the control of the Houthis. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, Brigadier General Abdul-Khaleq Al-Ajri, said the distribution was carried out without coordination with the ministry and two businessmen were detained. Al-Ajri said an investigation was launched after security forces in Sana’a were dispatched to the region. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has warned that nine years of conflict have left two-thirds of Yemen’s 31.5 million people in acute need of humanitarian and protection services, and nearly 13 million people require urgent humanitarian healthcare.
AZERBAIJAN’S BORDER CONTROL POINT AT LACHIN-KHANKENDI ROAD
Azerbaijan on April 23 announced that it established a border control point at the starting point of the Lachin-Khankendi road. Over the past two years and a half since the signing of the January 2021 Trilateral Statement among Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia, the Azerbaijani side has consistently called attention to largescale abuse of the Lachin road by Armenia. “This includes the rotation of personnel of Armenian armed forces that continue to be illegally stationed in the territory of Azerbaijan, the transfer of weapons and ammunition, entrance of terrorists, as well as illicit trafficking of natural resources and cultural property,” a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry read. The statement said the road has been used for the transportation of landmines, which has resulted in “grave consequences,” most recently in a mine explosion that injured three Azerbaijani servicemen.
GHANNOUCHI’S ARREST POSES AN IMMINENT DANGER TO THE ENTIRE REGION
Former President of Algeria’s Movement of Society for Peace, Abderrazak Makri, has warned that the arrest of Ennahda Movement leader Rached Ghannouchi could pose a threat to Algeria’s stability and that of the wider region. “The attack by [Tunisian President] Kais Saied and the internal and external forces he works with, which use him against the Ennahda Movement and Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi, has crossed all boundaries. This behaviour poses an imminent danger not only to Tunisia’s stability but also to Algeria and the entire region,” Makri wrote. The current Tunisian regime is hiding its failure to serve the Tunisian people in terms of their livelihood, guaranteeing their dignity and granting them freedom by igniting the fires of discord in every direction. Makri called on Algeria to be vigilant about what is happening, as remaining neutral is naive.
UN CHIEF TO HOST SPECIAL ENVOYS ON AFGHANISTAN IN QATAR
The UN chief will be hosting a special meeting on Afghanistan next month, his office said on April 20.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said the two-day closed-door meeting will be held in the Qatari capital, Doha, on 1-2 May. “The purpose of this kind of small group meeting is for us to reinvigorate the international engagement around the common objectives for a durable way forward on the situation in Afghanistan,” Dujarric said in a daily news briefing on April 20. A transcript of the news conference read that the UN chief will host special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries. It will be the first such meeting hosted by the UN chief on Afghanistan. Guterres “has said and continues to believe,” Dujarric told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, “that it’s an urgent priority to advance an approach based on pragmatism and principles, combined with strategic patience, and to identify parameters for creative, flexible, principled and constructive engagement.”
ALGERIA PARDONS NEARLY 9,000 PRISONERS IN EID AMNESTY
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pardoned 8,985 prisoners on April 19 in the run-up to Eid al-Fitr, granting an amnesty to those who are serving or have suspended sentences of 12 months or less.
The decree also includes prisoners sentenced to 18 months in jail but who are 65 years or more, juveniles, pregnant women and mothers of children aged three years old or under. The decree excludes those accused of “terrorism, vandalism, corruption or conspiracy against the state, murder, drugs and money laundering, kidnapping, rape, human trafficking and others.”
US IS THE ‘GODFATHER’ OF ISIS/DAESH TERROR GROUP: IRAN
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on April 20 labelled the US as the “godfather” of the ISIS/Daesh terrorist group, reiterating what Iranian officials have often said. “There was no doubt the US is the creator of ISIS,” Kanaani wrote in a Twitter post. “But for those who deliberately closed their eyes to the truth, the statement of Robert F. Kennedy, the nephew of (late US President) John F. Kennedy saying “We created ISIS” reaffirms the fact that the American regime is the godfather of Daesh/ISIS.” On April 19, the 69-year-old Kennedy, at a campaign event in Boston, rebuked his country’s foreign policy and the use of military power around the world. In remarks that raised eyebrows in Washington, the anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer said the US “created” the ISIS/Daesh terrorist group and 2 million refugees to Europe that fuelled instability.
EU LAWMAKERS DEMAND OBLIGATORY HOSTING OF MIGRANTS
European Union lawmakers on April 20 voted to require member countries to host some of the refugees and migrants coming to the bloc at times of high arrivals, part of a fiercely contested reform due ahead of a 2024 pan-European election. The European Parliament adopted its position on the looming reform of the bloc’s migration and asylum rules ahead of negotiating its final form with the 27 EU member states that have long been split over the so-called obligatory relocations.