PARIS- France’s Council of State has postponed until next week the verdict in the case of the Pessac Mosque in the Gironde department of southwestern France, which is threatened with closure for allegedly conveying a “Salafist ideology.” More than 100 faithful Muslims gathered to show their support to the mosque. Defense lawyer Sefen Guez Guez...
NEW DELHI – A retired Indian Muslim policeman in the southern province of Kerala is revitalizing and popularizing the ancient martial art Kalaripayattu, believed to be introduced by Hindu gods which remained part of Hindu rituals and customs. Speaking in connection with the World Culture Day on April 15, K V Muhammad Gurukkal, 58, based [&hell...
ANKARA – Japan’s population stood at 125.5 million as of October 1, 2021, down by a record 644,000 from a year earlier according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The capital Tokyo also saw a decline for the first time in 26 years. In June 2021, Japan had reported that its population declined by […]
ANKARA – China carried out military exercises around Taiwan as a delegation of US lawmakers reached the island for a visit that Beijing termed a “deliberate provocative action.” The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said it sent destroyers, frigates, bombers and fighter jets for drills “in the East China Sea and waters and airspace su...
MOSCOW – Russia has vowed to increase strikes on Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s attacks on the Russian regions bordering Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine’s combat helicopter that attacked Russia’s Bryansk region yesterday was shot down by the air defense systems. According to Konash...
BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Union on Friday called for an immediate end to the violence in the occupied West Bank following clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. “Violence needs to stop immediately,” Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson of the EU’s diplomatic service, said in a statement. He expressed deep concern over the surge […...
LONDON (AA) – The UK has been accused of establishing its own “Guantanamo Bay” after it signed a deal with Rwanda to end human smuggling across the English Channel. Senior Tories, including former ministers David Davis, Andrew Mitchell and Simon Hoare, protested against the deal, saying it was like creating “a British G...
JERUSALEM (AA) – About 60,000 Palestinians performed the second Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem. Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, told Anadolu Agency that the number, though big, is still less than the usual number at this time of the Musli...
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel on Thursday completed tests of a high-powered laser defense system that intercepts mortars, missiles, anti-tank missiles and drones. The Israeli Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development and private defense technology company Rafael completed tests with the high-powered ‘Iron Beam’ laser i...
ANKARA (AA) – Syrian state media said late Thursday that Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes targeting the capital Damascus. Israeli air elements carried out the attack from the direction of the Golan Heights, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported. The attack targeted some locations in the western Damascus countryside, it noted. ...