David Shadrach

Kenya election: Security tight for Kenyatta inauguration Security has been stepped up in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, ahead of the inauguration of President Uhuru Kenyatta for a second term in office. More than 20 heads of state or senior ministers are expected to attend. Opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who boycotted a re-run of the presidential poll, has called for a protest rally, despite a police ban. August's presidential election was annulled by the Supreme Court over what it called "irregularities". The re-run, on 26 October, saw Mr Kenyatta win 98% of the vote with a turnout of just under 39%. Kenya's 'digital president' Raila Odinga - Love him or loathe him Ceremony amid deep divisions Tuesday's ceremony at a sports stadium in Nairobi is due to get under way at 10:00 local time (07:00 GMT). Organisers are expecting about 60,000 people to fill the venue and giant screens have been set up outside for those unable to get in. President Kenyatta's ...

Fatah: Disarmament of Hamas not on dialogue table NEWS / PALESTINE Middle East Palestine Fatah Hamas Hamas has stated that the subject of the 'weapons of resistance' is not up for discussion [File: Reuters] The Palestinian faction Fatah has denied making the disarmament of Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, a condition for ongoing Palestinian reconciliation talks. Osama al-Qawasmi, spokesman for Fatah,said on Monday that the "weapon of the resistance" is a red line. Pointing out that it is only Hamas that has spoken to the news media on the disarmament question, Qawasmi said: "Fatah wants to discuss with Hamas the issue of security. "The Palestinian government will not be able to operate and implement its projects and security plans in the Gaza Strip if it is without a security arm." Qawasmi's statement followed a press conference earlier on Monday by a senior Hamas official, Khalil al-Hayya, in the Gaza Strip, who elaborated on the res...

Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar amid Rohingya crisis NEWS / POPE FRANCIS Is it safe for Rohingya refugees to return to Rakhine? INSIDE STORY: Is it safe for Rohingya refugees to return to Rakhine State? (24:10) Rohingya Pope Francis Myanmar Bangladesh Politics Pope Francis previously condemned the atrocities committed against the Rohingya [Max Rossi/Reuters] Pope Francis has arrived in Myanmar on his first trip to the Southeast Asian nation, where tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees have faced brutal military crackdown in the past three months. His trip comes as the Myanmar government is accused of "ethnically cleansing" its Rohingya Muslim minority, more than 600,000 of whom have taken shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh. The 80-year-old leader of Roman Catholic Church who has spoken against "persecution of our Rohingya brothers and sisters" in the past has been advised not use the word Rohingya. On his first day in Myanmar, Francis met general Min Aung Hlaing, a...

Egypt court drops citizenship case against Ayman Nour NEWS / POLITICS WATCH: Sisi's human rights record casts pall over visit to France (2:03) Egypt Politics Middle East SIGN UP Ayman Nour took part in the 2012 Egyptian elections [File: Reuters] An Egyptian court has dropped a case against prominent opposition leader Ayman Nour that sought to strip him of his citizenship. The veteran opposition leader told Al Jazeera that the case against him was politically motivated and that it never had a legal basis. "Legal action should be taken against the lawyers who bring forward these kinds of malicious cases and abuse the right of litigation... These cases are clearly malicious and have no legal or constitutional basis," he said. "This is perhaps the third time I've had such a case against me... It is a form of blackmail and a form of distortion." Advertisement Nour, who ran against former President Hosni Mubarak in 2005, was accused of incitement against the state...

Anger over Greek plan to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia NEWS / HUMAN RIGHTS READ MORE Wheat aid arrives in blockaded Yemen amid famine fears OPINION Yemen's fate was sealed six years ago by Noha Aboueldahab War & Conflict Human Rights Greece Saudi Arabia Europe SIGN UP The Greek government has been criticised for selling arms to Saudi Arabia [Kostas Tsironis/ Reuters] Athens, Greece - A political dispute in Greece over a controversial arms deal with Saudi Arabia is deepening, with opposition politicians and critics decrying plans to sell 66m euros ($78.7m) worth of surplus missiles and bombs to the Arab Gulf country. Opposition politicians have accused the government, which is currently headed by the leftist Syriza party, of not following the proper procedures for an international agreement, while critics have decried selling weapons to a country engaged in war. Saudi Arabia is currently leading a coalition of countries waging war in neighbouring Yemen , the poorest country in th...

The rise and rise of 'halal' business NEWS / BUSINESS & ECONOMY Islam Business & Economy Turkey Middle East SIGN UP Halal industries are expected to be worth $3.7 trillion by 2019 [Reuters] When Kerim Ture placed his first order for a batch of long-sleeved tunics that could be worn by Muslim women, the manufacturers producing them demanded payment upfront, apparently convinced the venture would fail and Ture would be left unable to pay them. The Turkish entrepreneur quickly proved that their scepticism was unfounded, and he was back shortly afterwards to place a new order, having sold the first. Today the website Ture established to sell his products, Modanisa, attracts 100 million visitors annually, has customers in 120 countries, and has no shortage of manufacturers willing to work with it. "Modanisa now has 300 suppliers and 30 designers, it's become a platform for hundreds of suppliers from all over the world who want to sell products on our site," a ...

Wheat aid arrives in blockaded Yemen amid famine fears NEWS / MIDDLE EAST OPINION Yemen's fate was sealed six years ago by Noha Aboueldahab READ MORE Aid trickles into Yemen after three weeks of blockade Yemen Middle East Famine War SIGN UP Children protest against the Saudi-led coalition outside UN offices in Sanaa last week [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] About 25,000 tonnes of wheat will be offloaded on Monday for starving people in Yemen, the first food aid allowed into the country facing mass famine after a three-week blockade by a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition. A spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), Abeer Etefa, said the shipment landed on Sunday at the Houthi rebel-controlled Red Sea port of Saleef in western Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi fighters imposed the siege on Yemeni ports and airports in response to a ballistic missile they fired at the Saudi capital, Riyadh, which was shot down earlier this month. UN officials have warned that Yemen cou...

Dozens of civilians killed in Syria air strikes NEWS / MIDDLE EAST READ MORE Syria: Secret underground hospital established to treat injuries READ MORE Assad to Putin: Thank you for 'saving our country' Syria's Civil War Middle East SIGN UP Fighter jets at Khmeimim airbase in Syria seen in this June 2016 photo [File: Vadim Savitsky/ Russian Defence Ministry via Reuters] Dozens of civilians have been killed in air strikes and artillery shelling in war- ravaged Syria, activists said on Sunday. Air raids targeting Eastern Ghouta district outside the capital Damascus killed at least 23 people as Syrian government forces continue to increase military pressure on the rebel- controlled area. "The toll could rise further because of the number of wounded people in a serious condition," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least four children were among the dead, he added. The local Ghouta Media Center also reported 23 civ...

Guns 'key' to African American equality: NAAGA NEWS / GUN VIOLENCE US & Canada Gun violence Gun control Racism United States SIGN UP NAAGA Vice President Douglas Jefferson believes gun violence should be remedied with a 'holistic' approach [Photo provided by NAAGA] The United States' recent history is filled with mass shootings and a lack of political will to initiate reforms to curb gun violence. The past two months have seen two of the deadliest shootings in the nation's history. As of November 24, there had been 321 mass shootings in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks gun-related violence. October saw the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history in Las Vegas, when Stephen Paddock killed 59 and injured more than 500 concert- goers at the Mandalay Bay hotel. On November 5, Devin Patrick Kelley killed 26 and injured 20 at a Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the deadliest shooting in a place of worship in the ...

Can Saudi Arabia's economic reforms succeed? NEWS / MIDDLE EAST WATCH 24:40 What is Mohammed bin Salman's next move? Saudi Arabia Middle East Politics SIGN UP The Saudi prince pledged to destroy 'extremism' and return the kingdom to 'moderate Islam' [Reuters] Reforms spearheaded by Saudi Arabia 's crown prince may be insufficient to wean the economy from its addiction to oil and create a thriving private sector able to generate sufficient jobs, economists and analysts say. Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "Vision 2030" master plan aims to transform Saudi's economy as sluggish oil prices squeeze its finances. Since Mohammed bin Salman cracked down on corruption earlier this month, some observers have voiced concerns about the impact of political risk on his plans, amid fears of a backlash. "Nobody actually expects Vision 2030 to be fully implemented, but it is an attempt to show the world that there is a direction of travel away from oil,...

Will the GCC summit be held next month as planned? NEWS / MIDDLE EAST GCC Middle East Politics SIGN UP The Gulf Cooperation Council was founded in 1981 and meets annually to discuss regional affairs [File: Bahrain News Agency via AP] A prominent Kuwaiti journalist has said that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit will be held on schedule next month with Qatar's participation, despite increasing indicators that the annual meeting will be postponed due to the regional diplomatic crisis. In an interview with the German Deutsche Welle (DW) broadcaster on Friday, Ahmed al-Jarallah, who has close ties to Kuwaiti policymakers, said that a solution to the Gulf crisis is imminent. Jarallah, an editor of several newspapers and magazines in Kuwait, made the comments to DW during his visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh as part of a Kuwaiti delegation. He said leaving Qatar out of the group would make the country "vulnerable to other agendas". There has been no official announceme...

Hariri: Hezbollah's regional positions 'unacceptable' NEWS / HEZBOLLAH Lebanon Hezbollah Middle East Hariri, who had recently announced his resignation, said he would temporarily refrain from stepping down at the behest of Lebanon's president [EPA] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has warned Hezbollah against interfering in regional conflicts, saying he postponed his resignation to discuss ways to disassociate Lebanon from wars in neighbouring countries. Speaking during a meeting with the Higher Islamic Council, the official body for the country's Sunni Muslims, on Saturday, Hariri stressed that Lebanon was being targeted and that it risked being dragged into chaos. "The postponement [of resignation] at the request of President Michel Aoun was to give an opportunity to discuss and negotiate our principal demands to make Lebanon neutral and keep it away from the conflicts and the wars in the region, and to implement the policy of disassociation … and commi...

Dubai security chief calls for bombing of Al Jazeera NEWS / UAE Media UAE Qatar Middle East SIGN UP Khalfan has made several controversial comments in the past [File: Ahmed Jadallah/ Reuters] A senior security official in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sparked outrage after calling for the bombing of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based media network. In a series of posts on Twitter on Friday, Dubai Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan launched a scathing attack against Al Jazeera, accusing it of provoking a bomb and gun assault on a mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula earlier in the day. ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺘﺤﺎﻟﻒ ﺃﻥ ﻳﻘﺼﻒ ﺍﻵﻟﺔ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﻋﻴﺔ ﻟﻼﺭﻫﺎﺏ ..ﻗﻨﺎﺓ ﺩﺍﻋﺶ ﻭﺍﻟﻘﺎﻋﺪﺓ ﻭﺍﻟﻨﺼﺮﺓ ﺟﺰﻳﺮﺓ ﺍﻻﺭﻫﺎﺏ 3:41 PM - Nov 24, 2017 674 488 914 ﺿﺎﺣﻲ ﺧﻠﻔﺎﻥ ﺗﻤﻴﻢ @Dhahi_Khalfan "The alliance must bomb the machine of terrorism ... the channel of ISIL, al- Qaeda and the al-Nusra front, Al Jazeera the terrorists," the former police chief and now head of security in the Emirate told his 2.42 million followers on the social media s...

Pakistan calls in army to end anti-blasphemy protests NEWS / ASIA Pakistan Asia SIGN UP More than half of those injured in the clashes were members of the security forces, according to a hospital official [Asad Hashim/Al Jazeera] Islamabad, Pakistan- The Pakistani army has been called in to restore order to the capital after clashes between anti- blasphemy protesters and police left at least 174 people injured. Thousands of riot police and paramilitary personnel on Saturday fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon at the protesters in an attempt to dislodge them from a major highway into Islamabad. The protesters, numbering as many as 2,000, stood their ground, fighting back by throwing stones and beating police with sticks and metal rods in running battles that continued throughout the day. The protesters have been blocking the Islamabad expressway, the main road into the capital, since November 8, demanding the resignation of Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid over a perceived s...

10 dark pieces to listen to on darker evenings What's the perfect musical accompaniment for a gloomy winter's night? New teaching resources for Ten Pieces are available for use across the 2017/18 academic year and are packed with ways to get young people inspired by classical music. The pieces themselves provide a great musical introduction to the classical world for all ages. We've dipped into this year's list of pieces plus the Ten Pieces back catalogue to find some mysterious, atmospheric and suitably sinister music to soundtrack your winter season. Mussorgsky's A Night on the Bare Mountain is the piece for you. A Night On The Bare Mountain is based on a short story set near Kiev in the old Russian Empire. A wild and terrifying witches' party is taking place on a mountainside, but when the church bell chimes at 6am and the sun comes up... the witches vanish. The unsettled strings with trombones, tuba and bassoons thundering out the theme make it a perfect acc...