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In the Qur’an, it is mentioned that the unbelievers are the people who do not recognise and appreciate the signs of Allah. The significance of a believer is his ability to see those signs and proofs. They know that these are not created in vain; they can realise the power and great art of Allah everywhere and find ways to appraise Him. About such people Allah Almighty says (what means): “Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], ‘Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.’” [Qur’an 3:191]Many times in the Qur’an, there are expressions like “will you not take heed?” “...there is a sign for thinking men” which emphasise the importance of pondering on the signs of Allah. Allah has created an endless list of things to be the subjects of pondering. Everything we see and sense is indeed a manifestation and sign of Allah; so all those in heavens and in earth and in between may be a means of pondering for us. Allah says (what means): “He causes to grow for you thereby the crops, olives, palm trees, grapevines, and from all the fruits. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who give thought.” [Qur’an 16: 11]Let’s think for a while of one of the items mentioned in the above verse; for instance, the “date-tree, as well known, grows up from a seed out of the earth. From this tiny seed (a seed is not even 1 cm3 in size), an enormous wooden mass of several metres long and hundreds of kilograms of weight, forms. The only thing that seed can use while constituting this great mass is the earth in which it is buried.How can a seed know how to constitute a tree? How does it know how to decompose the necessary substances in the soil to form food? How can it predict the required shape and structure? This last question is especially important, because it is not an ordinary wooden piece that emerges out from the seed. The seed develops a complex living organism with roots for assimilating substances from the earth, with veins in itself and with branches that are perfectly organised. A human being has difficulty while drawing even a picture of a tree, but on the other hand a simple seed can produce that extremely complex object using the substances in the soil.This observation concludes that a seed is extremely intelligent and wise, even more than us. Or better to say, there is an amazing intelligence in what a seed does. But what is the source of that intelligence? How can it be possible for a seed to have such an intelligence and memory like a computer “chip”?The chips are produced by people who have intelligence and knowledge. Just like a seed which is created by Allah with the ability to develop a tree. Every seed on earth is encompassed by Allah and grows within His knowledge. He Almighty says (what means): “Indeed, Allah is the cleaver of grain and date seeds. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living. That is Allah; so how are you deluded?” [Qur’an 6: 95]A seed is merely one of the numerous signs that Allah has created in the universe. If men begin to think with not only their minds but also with their hearts, asking the question of ‘why’ and ‘how’ to themselves, they can understand that all the universe is a proof of the existence and power of Allah, the Most Exalted.However, the unbelievers cannot understand such things, since they don’t have the ability to “see” this purpose- as the Qur’an expresses (what means): “...They have eyes with which they do not see...” [Qur’an 7: 179] i.e., they do not have the wisdom and comprehension to realise the important reality with their materialistic vision.On the other hand, believers are different than this ‘blind’ group, because they realize and accept that the whole universe is created by Allah with a certain aim and wisdom. This belief is the first step of faith. As faith and wisdom, both of which are in parallel, increase, they will start to identify every detail of Allah’s creation.One of the things to be done to identify the details of Allah’s Creation is to be careful and observant. Because the ability to see the signs of Allah and not to be “blind” like the unbelievers, require a high concentration.Allah Almighty says (what means): “Unquestionably, to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth. Already He knows that upon which you [stand] and [knows] the Day when they will be returned to Him and He will inform them of what they have done. And Allah is Knowing of all things..” [Qur’an 24: 64]“Unquestionably, they are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord. Unquestionably He is, of all things, encompassing.” [Qur’an 41:54]One should train himself to recognize the signs of Allah and should always keep this in mind. Otherwise, mind will start to wander, jumping from one topic to another, wasting time thinking about useless things.Mind is like water; unless it is directed which way to flow, it spreads away, to the places that you would not want it to flow. This is a kind of unconsciousness; you can not control your mind. You can not focus and concentrate on a subject. Actually, you can not conceive the truth behind the events happening and also can not ever have the competence to interfere in them. On the contrary, your mind gets directed by those events. You are “bewildered” all the time, which is not an attribute of a believer, but the unbelievers, as Allah Almighty Says (what means): “...And he who associates with Allah – it is as though he had fallen from the sky and was snatched by the birds or the wind carried him down into a remote place.” [Qur’an 22: 31]Believers, on the other hand, are the ones who direct their minds, try to better perceive Allah, and who try to better serve His religion. The believers are the ones “who turn away from ill speech” [Qur’an 23:3]. They free their minds from any useless thoughts and whenever they realise the appeal of Satan, they rescue themselves just like Allah Almighty Says in the Qur’an (what means): “Indeed, those who fear Allah – when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight.” [Qur’an 7: 201]Therefore, the believers should be careful to keep their minds free of useless thoughts and ponder only on useful things that serve them in their life and keep them close to the Mighty Creator.Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

The Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced the exciting return of the much-anticipated 12th edition of the Ajyal Film Festival, due to be held from Nov. 16 to 23.A statement from the DFI said that filmmakers from around the world will have until Sept. 1 to submit their entries for the Ajyal Competition, divided into two sections a Feature Film Competition for narrative and documentary films and a Short Film Competition covering short narratives and documentaries.In addition, the Festival's popular 'Made in Qatar' section, showcasing films from the nation's thriving creative community, will also make a return celebrating Qatar's vibrant and ever-evolving cinema ecosystem. The program has become an internationally recognized and applauded initiative that shines a spotlight on the country's film industry. Submissions for the 'Made in Qatar' section close on 15 September and are open for locals and Qatar residents.Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi, said: "We are excited to announce the dates for Ajyal Film Festival and look forward to bringing together filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinema enthusiasts for a memorable celebration of storytelling and creativity.Going into what will be the 12th edition of Ajyal, all of us at the Institute are grateful for the overwhelming response from our audiences and community who have been an integral part of our journey their enduring support has encouraged us every year to put together an event we can all be proud of and share in together."As one of the region's leading film festivals dedicated to showcasing the talent and originality of emerging creatives, Ajyal remains committed to its mission of fostering a deeper appreciation for cinema and nurturing the next generation of storytellers.The Festival showcases a diverse selection of compelling films from Qatar, the Middle East, and beyond, including feature films, documentaries, and short films curated to appeal to audiences young and old alike.Ajyal also offers a range of engaging activities, workshops, and panel discussions designed to inspire creativity and ignite meaningful conversations about the power of cinema as a tool for social change and cultural exchange.

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By the time Donald Trump took to the stage for his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, some of his most ardent supporters had spent the night in their cars amid frigid temperatures to see the man they hope to once again elect as president.As Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA pumped from the speakers inside the convention center, the Republican former president-turned-candidate waved, swayed, clapped and blew kisses.“Trump, Trump, Trump,” some in the crowd of 3,200 people chanted. A young couple held their baby aloft. A few people got teary.Trump’s rallies are a defining feature of his presidential campaigns: all-day spectacles blending evangelical revivalist meeting and carnival, designed to deliver an emotional experience to his base and bring new backers into the fold, his campaign said.In Trump’s third presidential campaign, a general election rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden on November 5, the meticulously planned marathons have re-emerged as a central part of Trump’s bid to re-enter the White House.The former reality TV star is intimately involved in the “look, feel and tone” of the rallies, including the music, selected from the personal playlist that Trump listens to during down time at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate, said Justin Caporale, deputy campaign manager for operations.“We are essentially producing rock concerts inside of a week, and we’re doing it multiple times a month,” Caporale said.Trump has held 21 campaign rallies so far in 2024, including 11 in Iowa and New Hampshire during the Republican nominating presidential race, according to Election Central, a non-partisan group that tracks public appearances by presidential candidates.That compares to 13 by mid-April in 2020, when he was president, according to a Reuters analysis.Biden’s re-election campaign has largely bypassed big rallies for smaller meetings with voters at venues such as churches and union halls.Trump’s rally schedule this cycle has had to compete with his court appearances on criminal and civil charges. He spent this past week in a New York courtroom for the start of his hush money criminal trial, before heading to swing state North Carolina for a rally yesterday.Reuters attended Trump’s Green Bay rally on April 2 and interviewed four dozen attendees who collectively liked going to the rallies, they said, because it felt like a community and they didn’t have to worry about being politically correct. They said they came because they love Trump and his rallies are fun.The news agency also spoke to two campaign officials, including Caporale, who described the strategy and stagecraft that go into creating an experience designed to excite the base and imbue a sense of belonging that bonds supporters to Trump and his populist message, with the aim of propelling him to a second term.“These are people that are activists in our movement. They want the same thing we want — to get President Trump elected for the next four years,” said Brian Hughes, a senior campaign adviser.SpectatorsSharon Anderson, 68, drove five hours from her home in Tennessee to Indiana to meet up with fellow Trump supporter Mike Boatman, 56, before the two drove another eight hours to Wisconsin.They slept in their rental car outside the convention centre to ensure they would be at the front of the line.Anderson and Boatman are part of a group that calls itself the “Front Row Joes,” about 50 Trump supporters by their count, who they said take turns to be first in line for every Trump rally.This was Boatman’s 85th rally and Anderson’s 51st. In North Carolina in March 2020, Trump’s son Eric pulled Anderson on stage so she could tell the crowd of 20,000 why she loved the then-president.“This is like family,” Anderson, a retired high school attendance clerk, said before the Green Bay rally. “You make new friends from all over the country. At every Trump rally you leave with hope for our future.”As supporters waited for the doors to open, Duane Schwingel, 65, a Trump superfan wearing Uncle Sam regalia and carrying a microphone and boom box, sang songs extolling Trump and decrying socialists.Wisconsin resident Vicki Lou Hanegraaf, 62, who was attending her first rally, said she expected the emotions she felt watching Trump walk across the White House lawn as president to swell up again. “Trump is a truth slayer,” she said. “He’s anointed with absolute truth, like gravity.”StrategyThe Trump campaign uses the rallies to collect and analyse attendee data, in the hope of turning it into votes. People register with the campaign, providing email, cell phone number, zip code and state, in return for a text message which serves as a ticket.After the rally, attendees are flooded with text messages, including fundraising appeals from Trump.The rallies are also aimed at attracting free local and national media coverage, recruiting volunteers and getting local politicians and leaders to amplify Trump’s message, Hughes said.As the campaign heats up, an increasing number of Trump’s rallies will be held in election battleground states like Wisconsin, Hughes said. Trump narrowly won Wisconsin in 2016, then narrowly lost it to Biden in 2020.StagecraftThe Green Bay event had been weeks in the making.Trump’s advance team coordinated with the Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies to secure the convention centre.They spent days working out parking for supporters, food trucks, access to restrooms, water, merchandise and entertainment.Local contractors and volunteers helped decorate the stage with giant screens, red carpet and American flags.As supporters streamed inside, campaign volunteers handed out “Make America Great Again” and “Fire Biden” signs.Trump’s musical choices played over the loudspeakers: Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds, Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire, The Who’s Pinball Wizard, along with the Village People’s YMCA, and The Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera.Caporale said the Trump campaign has worked hard to refine and improve “an incredible and unique guest experience.”After each rally, Trump’s team holds a post-mortem to discuss what worked and what should be improved for the next event.Some of the stunts this year have been audacious.As Trump’s Boeing 757 private jet came in to land for a rally at the Dayton International Airport in Ohio on March 16, a voice announced: “Trump Force One, you are cleared for landing.”The theme music from the Top Gun movies struck up. The crowd went wild.While the stagecraft is designed to entertain the crowd, it also reinforces Trump’s message that the country has gone to “hell” and that he along with his supporters must fix it.About two hours before Trump appeared on stage in Green Bay, speakers began whipping up the audience.Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, repeated the baseless conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.Tom Tiffany, a Wisconsin congressman, said Biden had given the country a “VIP program for illegal aliens, and you are the second-class citizens in America now, aren’t you?”The event also struck a religious tone. During the invocation, Casey Carey, the pastor at CrossPoint Church in DePere, Wisconsin, said: “I ask you Lord to bless President Donald Trump.”The crowd yelled “Amen!”SpeechTrump began the speech suggesting he, not Biden, won Wisconsin in 2020 and repeated in his address the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. As the speech gathered in fury about the sorry state of America and the dark forces arrayed against Trump, it began to mimic a religious call-and-response session between a pastor and congregation.He directed his harshest rhetoric towards immigrants in the country illegally from nations including Venezuela, the Congo, Somalia and Syria.The crowd chanted: “Build the wall!”He promised to carry out the “largest deportation in American history”.The crowd roared.Jennifer Mercieca, a Texas A&M University professor who has written a book on Trump’s rhetoric, said the exchanges represented mutual pledges of loyalty and protection: the crowd willing to suffer for Trump because they believe he suffers for them, and staying loyal to Trump because he is loyal to them.“It’s a potent combination,” she said, in terms of reaffirming the connection.The Green Bay speech ran just about an hour, shorter than usual because Trump needed to fly out before being snowed in.Trump stayed away from some of the more incendiary language he’s used at previous rallies.He was at times funny. But the bulk of his speech featured dystopian language, with Trump painting a picture of an America locked in a battle of good versus evil.“2024 is our final battle,” Trump said as the speech was winding up. “With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state, we will expel the warmongers, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.”Then he exited the stage to a Sam & Dave song - an R&B classic that is a new entrant to the Trump rally playlist.The title: Hold On, I’m Comin — Reuters

A remote Indonesian volcano sent a tower of ash spewing into the sky on Friday, after nearly half a dozen eruptions earlier this week forced thousands to evacuate when molten rocks rained down on their villages.Mount Ruang in Indonesia’s outermost region of North Sulawesi started erupting late Tuesday, stirring a spectacular mix of fiery orange lava, a towering ash column and volcanic lightning.Officials on Friday morning said Ruang had calmed, but it started to belch ash again hours later after authorities maintained the highest alert level and told residents to stay out of a 6km exclusion zone.“I was very surprised, the mountain erupted again. We are scared,” said Riko, a 30-year-old resident of neighbouring Tagulandang island.The country’s volcanology agency said the eruption sent a plume of smoke 1,312 feet above the peak.“There was an eruption of Mt Ruang, North Sulawesi” at 1706 local time, 0906GMT, it said in a statement.“The ash column was observed to be grey in colour...leaning towards the south.”Hundreds of locals on neighbouring Tagulandang island were earlier seen cleaning up volcanic material from the harbour and their yards on Friday morning with the help of soldiers and police officers.Some described their panic and rush to safety when the eruptions began days ago.“I evacuated. There was a house. I stayed there. And then it rained and rocks fell,” Ninice Hoata, a 59-year-old teacher in Tagulandang said. Other residents pleaded for more assistance and expressed fears of another eruption before it struck.“We really need tarpaulin assistance as soon as possible, to temporarily cover the leaking roof,” said 64-year-old Herman Sahoa.“We are worried there will be a follow-up (eruption) because there is information about that.” The volcanology agency had earlier warned in a statement that the volcanic activity at Ruang was “still high” with potential dangers including flying rocks, hot clouds and lava flows. It advised all residents to wear masks to prevent respiratory issues.Houses elsewhere could be seen lying empty and electricity was out in parts of the island before Friday’s eruption.Officials said Thursday that communications had been knocked out on parts of both Ruang and Tagulandang, which is home to around 20,000 people.

Reuters photographer Mohamed Salem won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her five-year-old niece in the Gaza Strip.The picture was taken on October 17, 2023, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where families were searching for relatives killed during Israeli bombing of the Palestinian enclave.Salem’s winning image portrays Inas Abu Maamar, 36, sobbing while holding Saly’s sheet-clad body in the hospital morgue.“Mohamed received the news of his WPP award with humility, saying that this is not a photo to celebrate but that he appreciates its recognition and the opportunity to publish it to a wider audience,” Reuters Global Editor for Pictures and Video, Rickey Rogers, said at a ceremony in Amsterdam.“He hopes with this award that the world will become even more conscious of the human impact of war, especially on children,” Rogers said, standing in front of the photo at the Nieuwe Kerk in the Dutch capital.Announcing its annual awards, the Amsterdam-based World Press Photo Foundation (WPP) said it is important to recognise the dangers facing journalists covering conflicts.It said 99 journalists and media employees had been killed covering the war between Israel and Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s attack on October 7 and Israel responded by launching a military offensive in Gaza.“The work of press and documentary photographers around the world is often done at high risk,” said Joumana El Zein Khoury, the organisation’s executive director. “This past year, the death toll in Gaza pushed the number of journalists killed to a near-record high. It is important to recognise the trauma they have experienced to show the world the humanitarian impact of the war.”Salem, a Palestinian aged 39, has worked for Reuters since 2003. He also won an award in the 2010 World Press Photo competition.The jury said Salem’s 2024 winning image was “composed with care and respect, offering at once a metaphorical and literal glimpse into unimaginable loss”.“I felt the picture sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip,” Salem said when the image was first published in November. “People were confused, running from one place to another, anxious to know the fate of their loved ones, and this woman caught my eye as she was holding the body of the little girl and refused to let go.”Salem’s wife had given birth to their child days before the photographer took the shot.The photograph is “profoundly affecting”, said jury member Fiona Shields, head of photography at Guardian News & Media.The jury selected the winning photos from 61,062 entries by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries.GEO photographer Lee-Ann Olwage of South Africa won the story of the year category with images documenting dementia in Madagascar.The long-term projects category was won by Alejandro Cegarra of Venezuela for the series The Two Walls for the New York Times/Bloomberg.Ukrainian photographer Julia Kochetova won the open format award with War is Personal, which documented the war in her country by weaving together pictures, poetry, audio and music in documentary style.

Hundreds took to the streets of Niger’s capital yesterday to demand the departure of US troops, after the ruling junta further shifted its strategy by ending a military accord with the United States and welcoming Russian military instructors.Marching arm in arm through central Niamey, the crowd waved Nigerien flags in a demonstration that recalled anti-French protests that spurred the withdrawal of France’s forces from Niger last year after the army seized power in a coup.One hand-written sign in English read “USA rush out of Niger,” in a show of support for the junta and its decision in mid-March to revoke an accord that had allowed around 1,000 US military personnel to operate on its territory out of two bases.“We’re here to say no to the American base, we don’t want Americans on our soil,” said protester Maria Saley on the sidelines of the march.Until the coup, Niger had remained a key security partner of France and the United States, which used it as a base as part of international efforts to curb a decade-old insurgency in West Africa’s Sahel region.But the new authorities in Niger have joined juntas in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso in ending military deals with one-time Western allies, quitting the regional political and economic bloc Ecowas and fostering closer ties with Russia.The arrival on Wednesday of Russian military instructors and equipment was further evidence of the junta’s openness to closer co-operation with Moscow, which is seeking to boost its influence in Africa.A few Russian flags were visible at the protest, but some citizens told Reuters on Friday they did not want the welcome Russian defence assistance to lead to a permanent presence in Niger.“We must not subsequently see the implementation of Russian foreign military bases,” said Abdoulaye Seydou, the co-ordinator of the M62 coalition of civil society groups that led anti-French protests last year.His concerns were echoed by student Souleymane Ousmane: “This is how the French and the Americans and all the other countries settled in Niger - from military co-operation, they ended up occupying large parts of our country.”It is unclear, however, if or when the US troops will leave.In March, the top US general appeared to suggest there was at least some support from within Niger’s junta for a continued US military presence despite its announced revocation of the accord.One of the US programmes in Niger is a drone base known as Air Base 201, which cost more than $100mn. Violence in the central Sahel hit a high in 2023, with conflict fatalities in the region rising by 38% compared with the previous year, according to US-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED, citing reports of over 8,000 people killed in Burkina Faso alone last year.

Commuters at a suburban Australian railway station were waiting for a late-night train to take them home. Instead, a horse arrived.Bizarre security footage shows a rogue racehorse startling passengers as it trotted up and down a train platform in outer Sydney.Transport officials said the off-the-rails runaway - clad in a flapping beige horse blanket - had bolted from nearby stables.When the train finally did arrive, it had to cruise through the station with its doors closed, lest the horse try to hitch a ride.At one point, the horse appeared to chase a man down the platform.Sydney Trains boss Matt Longland said the equine episode, was “a little bit unusual”.With similar understatement, state Transport Minister Jo Haylen said: “It’s not every day you see a horse on the platform.”After prowling the platform for 17 minutes, the horse’s trainer eventually arrived to bundle the bewildered animal off in a trailer.

The infighting among Republicans could paralyse the United States’ political system, already crippled by partisan divisions.And all this is happening under an internationalist president keen on supporting Ukraine. One can only imagine what might happen if former US president Donald Trump wins November’s presidential election. Trump’s recent speeches, including his 90-minute diatribe at February’s Conservative Political Action Conference, have underscored his desire for retribution against individuals, countries, and institutions he perceives as having wronged him. European Nato members appear to be at the top of this list, which does not bode well for Europe’s security.Trump’s desire to withdraw US support for Ukraine goes beyond his aversion to extended military conflicts. Trump holds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally responsible for his first impeachment and views many of America’s top Russia experts, even those who worked for him, as complicit in this debacle. Trump’s stance on Nato is equally personal, as evidenced by his recent threat to allow Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to “delinquent” member countries.Over the past three years, in preparation for a second Trump presidency, a sophisticated ideological ecosystem has focused on transforming his personal grievances into actionable policies. The Center for Renewing America’s concept of “dormant Nato,” whereby the US would keep the nuclear umbrella over Europe but withdraw ground forces from the continent, is a prime example.To be sure, Trump is not the first US president to criticise America’s European allies for not contributing sufficiently to the alliance. But the “dormant Nato” proposal goes beyond mere “burden-sharing” to advocate a new policy of “burden-shifting,” calling for a transfer of responsibility from the US to its European allies. Under this plan, a European general would become the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR), the US would commit to halting Nato enlargement, and the US military would shift its focus from Europe to China.Despite the real possibility of a Trump victory, European governments have been slow to acknowledge this agenda’s ominous implications. But with Ukraine struggling to defend itself, the difficulties of getting a supplemental funding bill through Congress have compelled US policymakers to face reality. Many in Washington are frustrated with the Ukrainians, particularly with Zelensky’s failure to pivot from offensive to defensive tactics and his reluctance to draft men under the age of 27.American policymakers also seem bewildered by the divisions within Europe. Last month’s European Council summit underscored the European Union’s contradictory approach. While European governments are finally serious about defence and how to finance it, self-indulgent squabbles – particularly between France and Germany – persist, and leaders display a baffling lack of urgency.Over the next six months, European countries must figure out how to secure essential ammunition and bolster their defence funding. They must also devise a plan to strengthen Ukraine’s position, because Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to negotiate if he believes that Ukraine is on the verge of defeat and that its Western backers are losing their resolve. Europeans pushing for a ceasefire now are effectively shooting themselves in the foot.Against this backdrop, many fear that June’s European elections could catalyse a global shift toward the far-right. But a recent report by the European Council on Foreign Relations suggests that while far-right parties are rising in polls across Europe, this trend does not necessarily herald the emergence of a global Trumpian movement. Even in Hungary, just 28% of respondents said they would welcome a second Trump term.The most compelling case that mainstream European parties can make in the lead-up to the elections is the urgent need for a geopolitically oriented EU. Regardless of the fate of the US aid package, Europeans’ future should be determined by their own electoral and political processes, not by American political dynamics. This is the only way to prevent Europe’s political theatre of the absurd from becoming an outright tragedy. — Project Syndicate

Two humanitarian officials have emphasised the importance of expanding charitable activities during the blessed month of Ramadan, which is considered a genuine opportunity for solidarity and social cohesion, aiming to reach as many needy families as possible who require assistance given the current circumstances they are facing.Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the officials considered the current global situation as a justification for adopting promising methodologies to reach a maximum number of people in need of charitable aid more than ever before.They highlighted the importance of enhancing the principle of collaboration in humanitarian charity work to establish the concept of social responsibility, which reinforces cooperation and kindness, a crucial consideration during these times.The officials reviewed the activities and initiatives undertaken by authorised and licensed entities to reach as many deserving families as possible, enabling individuals to participate in a humanitarian system that accommodates everyone without exception. They cautioned against donating to unknown entities lacking legal status and urged participation in recognised charitable humanitarian activities.Director of Fundraising Department and head of the Ramadan campaign at Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), Yousef Mohamed al-Awadi, stated that QRCS, through its ‘Duty To Help’ campaign, seeks to fulfil its usual mission of providing assistance to the needy, displaced, and refugees in various regions worldwide, to alleviate their suffering and preserve their dignity through a series of Ramadan and development projects.He added that QRCS traditionally launches its Ramadan campaign each year to collect donations from people of goodwill and deliver them to the needy in the form of humanitarian and charitable aid.Al-Awadi explained that among the humanitarian programmes to be offered during the holy month is the Ramadan Iftar project, through which QRCS distributes food baskets containing essential food items to needy families in Qatar, as well as in 18 countries around the world, to help them provide for their Iftar and Suhoor meals during Ramadan.He stated that several accompanying projects will be implemented during Ramadan, such as the Zakat al-Fitr project, Eid clothing distribution, and food security projects through flour distribution to bakeries to provide daily bread for fasting individuals and needy families. Additionally, cash assistance and monthly sponsorships will be distributed to needy families through monthly sponsorships and one-time assistance to support them in meeting their basic needs during Ramadan.Regarding the comprehensive programmes to be launched during Ramadan, al-Awadi explained that part of this year’s Ramadan campaign plan involves implementing comprehensive qualitative projects by QRCS to cover the basic needs of needy families, especially displaced persons and refugees, amidst the current global events and specifically in Palestine.He emphasised that what distinguishes their plan for the blessed month of Ramadan is its focus on delivering Ramadan aid to beneficiaries well before the start of Ramadan, giving them the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of the holy month and bringing joy to their hearts during Iftar. Furthermore, they will continue striving to achieve the QRCS strategic goal in preserving the dignity of beneficiaries and creating a safe environment for the affected through shelter and sustainable development projects.In another context, al-Awadi affirmed that all societal sectors have become more aware of the importance of humanitarian work than ever before, given the tremendous increase in the number, size, and duration of humanitarian crises, resulting in losses of lives, properties, and livelihoods. This has led to the emergence of social phenomena and problems that defy resolution, such as displacement and refuge, affecting the lives of millions of vulnerable people worldwide, making them susceptible to hunger, homelessness, illness, cold, and unemployment, without finding the minimum requirements for a dignified life.In this regard, he added that there is a need for humanitarian organisations to mobilise support and intensify efforts to rescue those affected by the hardships they face, helping them restore normal, safe, and stable lives.He said that QRCS aims to reach about 300,000 beneficiaries through the Ramadan Iftar project, in addition to developmental and humanitarian projects covering areas such as food, shelter, water and sanitation, livelihood, education, psychosocial support, health, and medical caravans, targeting approximately 1.6mn beneficiaries.Director of the Programmes, and International Development Department at Qatar Charity, Abdulaziz Hajji, affirmed that humanitarian work during Ramadan reflects developmental and social aspects. Seasonal projects are executed to meet people’s needs in terms of food and essential Ramadan requirements. These projects aim to assist refugees, displaced persons, poor, and needy groups, alleviating their suffering and bringing joy to their hearts.Hajji explained that Qatar Charity’s seasonal projects include the Ramadan Iftar project, which distributes food baskets and Iftar meals, Zakat al-Fitr distribution, Eid clothing distribution, as well as gifts for orphans and children of low-income families. He emphasised Qatar Charity’s commitment to reaching the maximum number of beneficiaries during Ramadan, a month dedicated to compassion, solidarity, and assisting the needy.Regarding developmental aspects, he pointed out that there are developmental projects being mobilised for implementation during Ramadan, such as projects for wells, mosques, orphanages, and houses for the poor. He clarified that these projects are carried out for the benefit of the poorest communities, with the expectation that they will make a better impact on people’s lives and contribute to the development of their communities.Hajji emphasised the importance of these charitable and humanitarian activities in spreading goodness and social solidarity during the holy month due to the high rates of unemployment and poverty in many countries and poor communities, as well as the increasing frequency of long-term disasters, crises, and wars.He pointed out that 2023 witnessed several crises and wars, as seen in Sudan and Gaza, in addition to several disasters such as earthquakes in Turkiye and Morocco, highlighting the increased need for developmental or social projects.

Pope Francis, who often pleads for compassion to prisoners, washed the feet of 12 incarcerated women in Rome yesterday in a rite before Easter.The Argentinian Jesuit visited the Rebibbia women’s prison in the northeastern outskirts of the Italian capital, where he performed the same rite in 2015.Yesterday, however, was the first time the 87-year-old pontiff had dedicated his annual ritual solely to women.Seated in a wheelchair, the Pope washed the feet of each of the prisoners, some of them in tears, before drying them off with a towel and kissing them.“We all have small failures, big failures,” said the Pope in an impromptu homily during a mass held in the courtyard of the prison that holds some 370 women.“But the Lord is always waiting for us, with open arms, and he never tires of forgiving,” he added.The washing of feet is “a gesture that draws our attention to the vocation of service,” said Francis, who as a priest in Buenos Aires had already begun visiting prisoners.A few minutes earlier, the pontiff was all smiles as he shook hands with the inmates.Last month, the Pope caught a flu that caused him to cancel some public meetings. During his subsequent recovery, he has on several occasions asked others to read his speeches.Since becoming Pope in 2013, the head of the Catholic Church has often visited prisons and refugee centres, including last year when he visited a juvenile detention centre and washed the feet of 12 young men.

A massive fire in Bangladesh that raged through a six-storey building home to restaurants where many families with children were dining has killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, the health minister said yesterday.Fire authorities said a gas leak or a stove could have caused Thursday’s blaze in the capital, which spread quickly after breaking out in a restaurant, and was only brought under control following two hours of effort by 13 units of firefighters.Hospitals were treating 22 people with burns, Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen told reporters.“All 22 people ... are in critical condition,” Sen, himself a well-known physician, said after a visit to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. “We are trying our best to save their lives.”Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock and sorrow at the incident, ordering swift treatment for the injured.She urged adherence to construction rules and regulations, including requirements for essential safety features such as fire exits and ventilation systems to prevent such tragedies in the future.One survivor, Mohamed Altaf, recounted his narrow escape from the blaze that killed two colleagues.“I went to the kitchen, broke a window and jumped to save myself,” he told reporters, adding that a cashier and server who urged people to leave during the first moments had died later.Firefighters used cranes to rescue people from the charred building, said fire officials, who were still working to clear debris and douse any remaining embers.Relatives gathered at the hospital early yesterday to receive the bodies of the dead, with some mourning outside the emergency department.“I could not save my daughter,” wailed Abdul Quddus, the father of Nimu, whose relatives said she was among a group of five cousins and friends who all died in the fire.

An international operation led by UK and US law enforcement has severely disrupted “the world’s most harmful cybercrime group”, the Russian-linked ransomware specialist LockBit, officials announced on Tuesday.LockBit and its affiliates have targeted governments, major companies, schools and hospitals, causing billions of dollars of damage and extracting tens of millions in ransoms from victims.Officials from Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA), working with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Europol and agencies from nine other countries in Operation Cronos, said in a news conference in London that it had infiltrated LockBit’s network and taken control of its services.“We have hacked the hackers, we have taken control of their infrastructure, seized their source code, and obtained keys that will help victims decrypt their systems,” NCA director-general Graeme Biggar told reporters.LockBit’s website – selling services that allow people to organise cyberattacks and hold data until a ransom is paid appears – was taken over on Monday evening.A message appeared on the site stating that it was “now under control of law enforcement”.“Together, we have arrested, indicted or sanctioned some of the perpetrators and we have gained unprecedented and comprehensive access to Lockbit’s systems,” Biggar said. “As of today, Lockbit is effectively redundant. Lockbit has been locked out”.A representative for Lockbit did not respond to messages from Reuters seeking comment.The US Justice Department (DOJ) said that the law enforcement agencies had seized control of “numerous public-facing websites used by LockBit to connect to the organisation’s infrastructure” and taken control of servers used by LockBit administrators.The NCA added that it had obtained more than 1,000 decryption keys and will be contacting UK-based victims in the coming days and weeks to offer support and help them recover encrypted data.Biggar said that the network had been behind 25% of all cyberattacks in the past year.LockBit has targeted more than 2,000 victims and received more than $120mn in ransom payments since it formed four years ago, according to the DOJ.In November last year, Lockbit published internal data from Boeing, one of the world’s largest defence and space contractors, and said that the US arm of China’s ICBC had paid a ransom following an attack that disrupted trades in the US Treasury market.In early 2023, Britain’s Royal Mail faced severe disruption after an attack by the group.In January 2023, US law enforcers shut down the Hive ransomware operation which extorted some $100mn from more than 1,500 victims worldwide.Since then, LockBit has been seen as the biggest current threat.Hive and LockBit are part of what cybersecurity experts call a “ransomware as a service” style, or RaaS – a business that leases its software and methods to others to use in extorting money.Ariel Ropek, director of cyber threat intelligence at cybersecurity firm Avertium, told AFP last year that this structure makes it possible for criminals with minimal computer fluency to get into ransomware by paying others for their expertise.On the so-called darkweb, providers of ransomware services pitch their products openly.At one end are the initial access brokers, who specialise in breaking into corporate or institutional computer systems.They then sell that access to the hacker, or ransomware operator.However, the operator depends on RaaS developers like Hive or LockBit, which have the programming skills to create the malware needed to carry out the operation.Typically, their programs – once inserted by the ransomware operator into a target’s IT systems – are manipulated to freeze, via encryption, the target’s files and data.RaaS developers offer a full service to the operators, for a large share of the ransom paid out, said Ropek.When the ransomware is planted and activated, the target receives a message telling them how much to pay to get their data unencrypted.That ransom can run from thousands to millions of dollars.On Tuesday the US unsealed an indictment against two Russian nationals, bringing to five the number of Russians it has charged in connection with LockBit.In a separate notice, the US Treasury Department said it is imposing sanctions on the pair, affiliates of LockBit, who “actively engaged” in ransomware attacks.Biggar said that a “large concentration” of the cyber criminals are in Russia and are Russian-speaking, but law enforcement agencies have not seen any direct support for LockBit from the Russian state.“There is clearly some tolerance of cyber criminality within Russia,” he added.

President Macky Sall has postponed Senegal’s planned February 25 presidential election, announcing in a televised address to the nation that he had cancelled the relevant electoral law due to electoral disputes he warned could fuel unrest.With little more than three weeks to go before the vote, the unprecedented step of delaying the poll, to an unspecified date, pitches Senegal into uncharted constitutional waters that some opposition and civil society groups warn could destabilise the country.In an address to the nation, Sall said he signed a decree abolishing a previous measure that set the date, because lawmakers were investigating two Constitutional Council judges whose integrity in the election process has been questioned.“I will begin an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election,” Sall added, without giving a new date.“These troubled conditions could seriously undermine the credibility of the ballot by sowing the seeds of pre- and post-electoral disputes,” Sall said in his address.He did not set a new date for the vote, but said there would be a national dialogue to ensure the election would be free, fair and transparent.He said the postponement would not affect his decision not to run for a third term – an issue that has helped fuel recurrent and sometimes deadly protests in what is normally one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.The capital Dakar appeared calm after Sall’s announcement with no immediate sign of people taking to the streets in protest.What happens next is unclear. Senegal has never delayed a presidential vote.Its four largely peaceful transitions of power through the ballot box since independence from France in 1960 have built up its reputation for stability.Earlier yesterday the coalition of opposition candidate Khalifa Sall warned that delaying the vote would undermine the legitimacy of the election and amount to an “institutional coup d’etat”.The opposition Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), whose candidate Karim Wade was among those excluded from running, had formally requested a postponement on Friday.The excluded candidates, who include opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko, say the rules for candidacy were not applied fairly. The authorities deny this.There was no immediate response to Sall’s decision from Sonko’s now-dissolved PASTEF party, whose supporters have regularly taken to the streets in recent years to protest alleged attempts by the authorities to sideline the opposition. The presidency and government deny this.“Now that (the postponement) has been confirmed, this will likely relapse the country into a political uncertainty and revive civil unrest threats,” said West Africa political analyst Wendyam Herve Lankoande.The influential League of Imams and Preachers of Senegal also warned that postponing the vote would be “fraught with risks”.“As Senegal is stable in all respects and on track for elections, the wisest decision for the head of state would be to do everything possible to ensure that free and transparent elections are held,” it said.Senegalese voters are due to choose a successor to President Sall.For the first time in Senegal’s history, the incumbent is not on the ballot.His handpicked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, is among 20 candidates cleared to run.

Two protesters yesterday hurled pumpkin soup at the bullet-proof glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” in Paris, demanding the right to “healthy and sustainable food”, an AFP journalist and the museum said.The action, which comes as French farmers protest across the country, is the latest in a string of similar attacks against artworks to demand more action to protect the planet.Two women yesterday morning flung streams of orange soup onto the glass protecting the smiling lady to gasps from the crowd in the French capital’s Louvre museum, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.“What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food,” the activists asked, standing in front of the painting and speaking in turn.“Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they said, before security staff evacuated the room.A police source said both activists had been detained.The Louvre museum said the women had hidden the pumpkin soup in a coffee thermos.Small quantities of food are allowed inside the museum, though eating is not allowed in the exhibition rooms.The museum said the artwork had suffered “no damage”, and the room housing the masterpiece had re-opened to the public after closing for around an hour.A group called Riposte Alimentaire (“Food counterattack”) claimed responsibility for the stunt.They said the soup throwing marked the “start of a campaign of civil resistance with the clear demand... of the social security of sustainable food”.They referred to a survey of 996 people last year by the Ipsos polling group that found that one in three French people were not always able to afford enough healthy food for three meals a day.Member Till Van Elst said the group wanted the state to allow people to buy selected food items at reduced rates through a specialised social security card. Under the scheme, democratic assemblies would choose the food to be subsidised.“We want citizens to really be able to... decide what is in their plates,” he told AFP.Culture Minister Rachida Dati criticised the soup attack.“The Mona Lisa, as our heritage, belongs to future generations. No cause can justify targeting it,” she wrote on X.Yesterday’s action comes as French farmers have been protesting for days to demand better pay, taxes and regulations.The government has been trying to keep discontent among the agricultural workers from spreading months ahead of European Parliament elections, which are seen as a key test for President Emmanuel Macron’s government.Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Sunday scrambled to announce new measures as some farmers threatened to block roads into the capital on Monday.The action at the museum follows a series of such stunts by climate activists against world-famous paintings to demand more action to phase out fossil fuels and prevent global warming.In October 2022, two activists from the Just Stop Oil group grabbed headlines when they splashed tomato soup over the glass protecting Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery in London.They complained that art lovers were more concerned with paintings than the planet.The “Mona Lisa” has been attacked several times before.A man threw a custard pie at her in May 2022, also saying artists were not focusing enough on “the planet”. Her thick glass casing ensured she came to no harm.She has been behind glass since a Bolivian man threw a rock at her in December 1956, damaging her left elbow.The glass was made bulletproof in 2005.In 2009, a woman threw an empty teacup at the painting, which slightly scratched the case.

One man died after armed assailants opened fire in an Italian church in Istanbul during Sunday mass in an apparent assassination attempt that was swiftly condemned by Pope Francis and Turkish officials.The attack occurred at around 11:40am at the Santa Maria church in the Sariyer district of Istanbul on the European side of Turkiye’s largest city and was carried out by two masked men, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media.Turkish officials said it looked like a targeted attack against one person rather than against the Catholic church.The minister said an individual identified only as CT — who was among those attending Sunday’s service — was the target of the gun attack and lost his life.Yerlikaya added that an investigation had been launched to find the attackers, who fled the scene after the shooting.Turkish counter-terrorism police detained one man in connection with the attack, the private DHA news agency reported, without providing further details.Local officials said around 40 people attended the mass, and suggested that there could have been more casualties.“After the second shot, the gun didn’t work, then they (attackers) ran. At this moment, everyone laid on the floor. There were around 35 to 40 people inside,” Sariyer district’s mayor Sukru Genc told reporters.Istanbul governor Davut Gul said that there were no other injuries.Television images showed police and an ambulance outside the ornate 19th century church.“We strongly condemn this vile attack,” Yerlikaya said.

India and France have agreed to work together on the joint production of defence equipment including helicopters and submarines for the Indian armed forces and production for friendly countries, New Delhi said.The deal was reached during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended a state banquet hosted by President Draupadi Murmu, the government said in a statement late on Friday.Macron and Modi agreed to expand bilateral ties in defence production, nuclear energy, space research and the use of artificial intelligence for public services like climate change, health and agriculture, the statement said. It did not specify the value of any deals. After Russia, France is the largest arms supplier to India, which has relied on its fighter jets for four decades.The leaders welcomed the setting up of maintenance, repair and overhaul services by France’s Safran for leading-edge aviation propulsion (LEAP) engines in India and adding such services for Rafale engines, and a helicopter partnership.The bilateral summit during Macron’s 40-hour visit, was the fifth Macron-Modi meeting since May.India’s Tata Group and France’s Airbus have signed an agreement to manufacture civilian helicopters together, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.French jet engine maker CFM International also announced an agreement with India’s Akasa Air to buy more than 300 of its LEAP-1B engines to power 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.Akasa Air previously ordered 76 aircraft powered by the engine, of which 22 are in use.India and France agreed to intensify co-operation in the southwest Indian Ocean, building on joint surveillance missions carried out from the French island territory of La Reunion in 2020 and 2022, the government statement said.Macron also said France would create conditions to attract up to 30,000 Indian students a year for higher education.

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Brandishing suspect flags and even posters calling for opponents to be sent to the gallows, the conspicuous presence of far-right protesters at week-long tractor blockades by farmers have sparked fears that extremists are seeking to exploit the protest movement.During a rally this week by German farmers angry at cuts in subsidies, police separated several dozen far-right supporters from the main demonstration.The extremists from the “Freie Sachsen” group were brandishing royalist flags and mocked-up pictures of German politicians dressed as prisoners during the Dresden protest.They are among radical groups that German authorities increasingly fear are seeking to co-opt the demonstrations, which began in December and have spread nationwide.Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a warning on Saturday against the “extremists”.“When the protests, legitimate by themselves, turn into anger and contempt for democratic procedures and institutions, we all lose,” Scholz said in a statement and a video.“Disagreement is a part of democracy,” he said, adding however that “anger is stirred up in a targeted way”.“The extremists...show contempt for any compromise and poison democratic debate.“It’s a toxic mix which should concern us and which also concerns me greatly,” Scholz said.The protests escalated last week, when tractors blockaded roads and caused widespread disruption. Another major rally is planned for tomorrow in Berlin.The farmers and some of their supporters have sought to distance themselves from the far-right groups. But the extremists seem determined to latch on to the protest movement.The “Freie Sachsen” group, which brings together monarchists, conspiracy theorists and the far-right, has posted messages of support for the farmers online.Other groups, like neo-Nazi outfit “Third Voice” and nationalist movement “Ein Prozent” (One Percent), have called for strikes and riots, according to the interior ministry.They are accused of being behind controversial stunts such as setting up gallows on the side of motorways and stopping Economy Minister Robert Habeck from disembarking from a ferry.Habeck, from the Green party, has been a favourite target of the protests.Stephan Kramer, intelligence service head in the eastern state of Thuringia, accused the far-right groups of “constantly and systematically seeking to subvert any form of legitimate public protest”.Since the start of the protests, farmers’ federation leader Joachim Rukwied has repeatedly insisted: “We don’t want right-wing and radical movements in our demonstrations.”The farmers’ anger stems from a government decision to cut subsidies and tax breaks on diesel and agricultural vehicles.The move was part of efforts by Scholz’s coalition to find savings after Germany’s top court ruled in November that the government had broken debt rules.The ruling blew a huge hole in the government’s spending plans.As well as fringe groups, the country’s main far-right force, the AfD (Alternative for Germany), has sought to capitalise on the protests, which have won widespread public sympathy.The party says it intends to make the defence of rural areas a central plank of its campaign for key elections this year in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg.According to a recent opinion poll commissioned by broadcasters RTL and NTV, the AfD currently enjoys over 30% support in the three eastern states.Created in 2013 as an anti-euro outfit before morphing into an anti-immigration party, the AfD is enjoyed a resurgence as Germany struggles with an upsurge in illegal migration, as well as a weak economy.Despite the presence of extremists at the Dresden protest, many taking part vehemently rejected any links to the far-right supporters, insisting their sole aim was to support the farmers.“Don’t film them. They don’t represent us,” a woman holding a sign in support of the farmers who asked not to be named told AFP.Luisa Hochstein, 26, who runs a small dairy farm in the region, added: “These rallies are about our future. This has nothing to do with right-wing extremists. That’s not why we’re here.”

In a ruling that will considerably impact the electoral landscape, the Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned the decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) yesterday.The PHC’s decision had previously reinstated the ‘bat’ as the electoral symbol for jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the upcoming general elections.However, the Supreme Court’s verdict means that PTI candidates will now have to contest as independents, a massive setback for the party.The verdict was announced a little before the midnight after a marathon hearing that lasted two entire days.The South Asian nation of more than 240mn people votes on February 8 in a general election rights groups say lacks credibility following a crackdown against Khan’s immensely popular party.The former international cricketing star’s party has long used the cricket bat as a symbol for voters to recognise it at the ballot box, in a nation where the adult literacy rate is just 58%, according to World Bank data.“The ruling delivers one of the biggest electoral blows to date to what is likely the country’s most popular political party,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told AFP.“In a country with high illiteracy rates, many will struggle to know who to vote for without the bat symbol,” he said, warning of a “systematic effort” by the political establishment to sideline the PTI.Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa while announcing the verdict, emphasised that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had been urging PTI to conduct intra-party elections since May 24, 2021, a period during which PTI held power both federally and in various provinces.The CJP clarified that there was no evidence of victimisation or discrimination against PTI by the ECP.None of the mainstream political parties vying for power in the elections have even been questioned about their intra-party elections either by the ECP or Supreme Court.The ECP’s decision on December 22, refusing PTI its electoral symbol due to non-compliance with intra-party election rules, led PTI to approach the PHC, which held the ECP decision unlawful and without legal consequence.During the hearing yesterday, PTI’s counsel argued that the intra-party elections were conducted according to the party’s constitution and that the ECP had not pointed out any irregularities in its decision. However, the contention was that the appointment of the party’s CEC was flawed. PTI’s lawyer expressed confidence in appealing against the verdict and stressed the significance of upholding fundamental rights in the judicial system.PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan announced the party’s intention to challenge the recent court ruling. He remained optimistic about overturning the decision.Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Khan pointed out the significant consequences of revoking PTI’s electoral symbol, noting it jeopardised 227 reserved seats and could potentially lead to corrupt practices.Khan highlighted that none of the 14 individuals who filed the petition were members of PTI. He further stated that among the party’s 837,950 members, there had been no objections raised regarding the internal party elections.He underscored the critical role of the judiciary in protecting the fundamental rights of all citizens. Khan emphasised the importance of the courts in ensuring that no political entity is unjustly excluded from participating in elections.Concluding his remarks, Khan voiced confidence in the public’s support for PTI and Imran Khan on election day.The Supreme Court’s decision to revoke PTI’s electoral symbol sparked a wide range of reactions. Legal experts and political analysts expressed shock and concern over the verdict.Lawyer Reema Omer described the decision as “excessive, punitive” and detrimental to fundamental rights. Election candidate and lawyer Jibran Nasir highlighted the “disenfranchisement of millions of voters” due to this verdict. Barrister Asad Rahim criticised the Supreme Court’s credibility and logic in this decision, while activist Ammar Ali Jan viewed it as a defeat for democratic norms in Pakistan.Uzair Younis, director of the Atlantic Council’s Pakistan Initiative, lamented the impact on Pakistan’s democracy, and lawyer Hassan A Niazi pointed out the contradiction with the court’s previous jurisprudence in the (late prime minister) Benazir Bhutto case concerning fundamental rights. He emphasised that the rights of millions of voters were at stake.Imran Khan rose to fame in cricket-crazed Pakistan by captaining the national team to victory against England in the 1992 ODI World Cup final, using the triumph to springboard his philanthropic career, which then gave way to politics.He has been pummelled by a barrage of legal cases since being ousted in April 2022 after falling out with the country’s top military brass, and remains in custody on a slew of allegations.He has been barred from standing for office after being convicted, although his sentence was later overturned.Former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif is considered the frontrunner in the election after getting the backing of the country’s generals.Analysts say it’s a sign the three-time former prime minister is the favoured candidate of the top brass. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says the election has already been marred by “pre-poll rigging”, with Khan and his party being squeezed out of the race.