Saudi allows 60,000 vaccinated residents on hajj, bars foreigners again

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia announced Saturday it will allow 60,000 residents vaccinated against COVID-19 to perform this year's hajj, but Muslims from abroad will be barred for a second straight year.

The hajj -- a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lives -- typically packs millions of pilgrims into congested religious sites and could be a major source of contagion amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This year it would be "open for nationals and residents of the kingdom, limited to 60,000 pilgrims", the hajj ministry said, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The pilgrimage, scheduled to be held in July, would be limited to those who have been vaccinated and are aged 18-65 with no chronic illnesses, it said.

Only up to 10,000 Muslims took part in last year's hajj, a far cry from the 2.5 million who participated in the five-day annual pilgrimage in 2019 before the pandemic.

"In light of what the whole world is witnessing with the coronavirus pandemic... and the emergence of new variants, the relevant authorities have continued to monitor the global health situation," the ministry said.

"Considering the large crowds that perform hajj, spending long periods of time in multiple and specific places... requires the highest levels of health precautions."

Saudi Arabia said those wishing to perform the hajj would have to apply online, without specifying how many foreign residents would be among the 60,000 pilgrims.

In 2020, foreigners were 70 percent of the pilgrims, while Saudis made up the rest.

The kingdom said it had informed other countries of the decision not to allow pilgrims from abroad.

"There was great understanding," deputy hajj minister, Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman Mashat, told a news conference.

"Arrangements for this were based on the kingdom's keenness on the pilgrims' health and the safety of their countries."

- Vaccination drive -

Pakistan's government said it supported the decision but there was disappointment among those hoping to make the pilgrimage.

"I am profoundly saddened... I also wanted to go for hajj last year. I was desperately hoping to make it this year and even had got myself vaccinated along with my wife," clothes merchant Zafar Ullah, 64, told AFP.

Mohammad Shakeel, a tour operator from Hajj Organisers Association of Pakistan, said the Saudi decision would "further add" to financial losses faced by his company.

Riyadh is accelerating a nationwide vaccination drive as it moves to revive tourism and host sports and entertainment events, pandemic-hit sectors that are a bedrock of the "Vision 2030" programme to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

It has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines.

In May, only inoculated or immunised citizens were allowed to travel abroad, after the kingdom lifted a ban on overseas trips introduced at the start of the pandemic.

The kingdom has also said that from August 1, vaccinations would be mandatory to enter government and private establishments, including education institutions and entertainment venues, as well as to use public transport.

In a relaxation of coronavirus curbs last October, Saudi Arabia opened the Grand Mosque for prayers for the first time in seven months and partially resumed the all-year-round umrah pilgrimage.

The limit on umrah pilgrims is 20,000 a day, with a total of 60,000 worshippers allowed to perform daily prayers at the mosque.

Authorities said the umrah -- which usually attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe -- would be allowed to return to full capacity once the threat of the pandemic has abated.

The revered Black Stone in the Kaaba -- which is customary but not mandatory to touch during the pilgrimage -- remains out of reach.

- Loss of revenue -

A scaled-down hajj represents a major loss of revenue for the kingdom, already reeling from the twin shocks of the virus-induced slowdown and a plunge in oil prices.

The hajj and the year-round umrah pilgrimages together rake in some $12 billion (10.3 billion euros) annually.

Last year, the foreign press were barred from the hajj, usually a huge global media event.

Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 460,000 coronavirus infections, including 7,537 deaths.

It more than 15 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the country of over 34 million people.

Hosting the hajj is a matter of prestige for Saudi rulers, for whom the custodianship of Islam's holiest sites is their most powerful source of political legitimacy.

But a series of deadly disasters over the years, including a 2015 stampede that killed up to 2,300 worshippers, has prompted criticism of the kingdom's management of the pilgrimage.

Agence France-Presse

Eid’l-Adha in Mina

Muslim pilgrims arrive to cast stones at a pillar symbolizing the stoning of Satan, in a ritual called "Jamarat," the last rite of the annual hajj, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, in Mina near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday. The hajj is required of all Muslims to perform once in their lifetime if they are financially and physically able. 

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Some 2.5 million Muslim hajj pilgrims scale Mount Arafat

Nearly 2.5 million Muslim hajj pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia Saturday marshaled by tens of thousands of stewards in a bid to prevent any repetition of previous years' deadly stampedes.

Movable crowd control barriers were erected all around the foot of the rocky hill outside Mecca, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, where the faithful arrived on foot and in a seemingly endless line of buses.

Raising their palms skywards, the pilgrims set off on the climb to the summit where they held prayers to atone for their sins in a ritual that is regarded as the high point of the annual hajj.

"Really, I am very satisfied," said Lassina Coulibaly, a 47-year-old Malian business employee.

"Fatigue is part of the pilgrimage," added the father of seven.

Clutching brightly colored umbrellas, pilgrims first braved the blazing sun and then heavy downpours that many welcomed as a blessing.

Some burst into tears as they chanted prayers.

Thousands of faithful had spent the night under the stars, sleeping on prayer rugs or pieces of cardboard.

Trucks were parked at regular intervals on the route leading up to the hill, distributing bottles of water and meals.

Thousands of workers prepared to clear the rubbish that littered the ground.

Helicopters crisscrossed overhead, part of the tight security precautions taken by the pilgrimage's Saudi hosts.

- 'It is an honor' –

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam which every Muslim is required to complete at least once in their lifetime if they are healthy enough and have the means to do so.

"I came last year during Ramadan, now I am there for the hajj," said Indonesian pilgrim Zakir Uddin.

"It is an honor, praise be to God," added the 27-year-old cook.

Like other male pilgrims, he wears a seamless white garment that covers only one shoulder and emphasizes unity regardless of social status or nationality.

The women wear loose dresses, most of them white, exposing only their faces and hands.

They are designed to help pilgrims enter a state of purity, called ihram.

Uddin, who works in the Saudi city of Jeddah less than 90 kilometers from Mecca, says he is happy to see so many of his compatriots among the pilgrims.

"Indonesians make up the single largest contingent, such is the will of God," he said.

Pilgrims travelling from abroad account for 1.86 million of the 2.48 million taking part in this year's hajj, according to official figures.

After sunset prayers, pilgrims will make their way down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, another holy site where they will sleep under the stars to prepare for the final stage of hajj, a ritual "stoning of the devil".

That marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, marked on Sunday.

Sheep are traditionally slaughtered for the three-day event, a tribute to the prophet Abraham's sacrifice of a lamb after God spared Ishmael, his son.

Pilgrims then return to the Grand Mosque to perform a final "tawaf" or walk around the Kaaba.

- Logistical challenge -

The scale of the pilgrimage presents vast security and logistical challenges, with tens of thousands of safety officers deployed.

Riyadh faced strong criticism in 2015 when some 2,300 worshipers were killed in the deadliest stampede in the gathering's history. 

This year's hajj takes place to a backdrop of Gulf tensions following a series of attacks on tankers, the downing of drones and the seizure of ships.

Riyadh blames regional foe Tehran for the attacks on commercial shipping, accusations Iran vehemently denies.

Despite the absence of diplomatic ties between the two countries, some 88,550 Iranian pilgrims are due to take part in the hajj this year according to Iran's Tasnim news agency.

As in previous years, Saudi authorities have been at pains to stress that the hajj is a religious event and have sought to prevent its politicization.

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More than 2 million Muslims mark Eid'l Adha in Saudi

MINA, Saudi Arabia- More than 2 million Muslims took part in the symbolic stoning of the devil Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, the last major ritual of the hajj pilgrimage that heralds the start of the Eid al-Adha feast.

Muslims on the annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, made their way across the Mina valley of the western Saudi Arabian Mecca province, many carrying pebbles in plastic bottles. 

Pilgrims clad in white threw seven stones each at a pillar symbolizing Satan, shouting "Allahu akbar" ("God is greatest") under the watchful eyes of security forces.

Large fans sprayed water over the crowd as temperatures climbed to 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit).

"Thank God it hasn't been too crowded this year. There hasn't been a big rush," said Mohammed Osman, 27, who regularly attends hajj. 

Mina was the site of a 2015 stampede which saw more than 2,300 pilgrims crushed or suffocated to death. Authorities have since reinforced safety and security measures. 

"We are under God's protection," said May Khalifa, a 37-year-old Egyptian Muslim living in Riyadh. 

"Despite the exhaustion, I'm enjoying my first hajj," she said, lifting her small bag of stones. 

The hajj is one of the world's largest Muslim gatherings and drew this year nearly 2.4 million pilgrims to Saudi holy sites.

SECURITY, PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES

Roads from Muzdalifah -- another holy site where pilgrims spent Monday night -- to Mina were littered with plastic water bottles as sanitation workers scrambled to remove them.

Bangladeshi Moueeneddine Ahmed, 35, complained of the scorching heat but said he was "very excited" to take part in the stoning of the devil ritual.

In keeping with customs, he said he would then "shave his head" and trade the white seamless robe he wore for the hajj for his "normal clothes."

Ahmed also praised the Saudi government for keeping the peace throughout the hajj. "There's a lot of security. Very disciplined," he said.

Tens of thousands of security forces, including police and civil defense, have been deployed for hajj, according to Saudi authorities. 

Saudi Arabia's King Salman made the trip to Mina on Tuesday and was seen on state-run television observing worshippers from the window of a high-rise.

And in a rare move, he took to Twitter to say it was a "great honor" to welcome the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. 

The hajj retraces the steps of the Prophet Mohammed on his last pilgrimage to Mecca.

It is one of the five pillars of Islam which every Muslim is required to complete at least once in their lifetime if they are healthy enough and have the means to do so.

Muslim tradition holds that pilgrims must throw seven stones at a pillar representing Satan on the first day of Eid al-Adha, which comes after two days of prayer and meditation. 

The stoning ritual is not without risk, as millions of pilgrims converge on a tight space.

Since 2004, authorities have expanded the site and replaced the pillar by walls to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims, who can now reach Mina via multiple bridges. 

Muslims traditionally slaughter sheep for the three-day Eid al-Adha, a tribute to the prophet Abraham's sacrifice of a lamb after God spared Ishmael, his son.

They will consume some of the meat and give the rest to poor people unable to buy food.

Pilgrims can purchase coupons from the Saudi government, which organizes the slaughter and freezing of the meat to avoid public health problems. 

Revenues from the coupons are considered "zakat", or a charity donation, another pillar of Islam.

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Muslims begin annual haj pilgrimage amid heavy rains

ARAFAT - As more than 2 million pilgrims from around the world braved stormy weather in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to begin the annual haj ritual, the country's health minister said there was no sign of any outbreaks of disease.

Worshipers arrived in the kingdom last week for the 5-day ritual - a once-in-a-lifetime religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, which retraces the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago.

Several hours of heavy rain and thunderstorms forced pilgrims to take cover in tents and trudge through puddles, with civil defense warning of possible flooding throughout the evening but denying any adverse effects on the rituals.

Some pilgrims prayed at the Grand Mosque before heading to the Mina area or towards Mount Arafat, east of Mecca, where the Prophet is believed to have delivered his final sermon to followers.

They will all arrive by Monday morning at Mount Arafat. Eid al-Adha, or feast of the sacrifice, begins on Tuesday, when pilgrims begin three days of casting stones at walls in a symbolic renunciation of the devil.

Khalaf Aziz fled his native Syria three years ago and is performing his fourth haj, this one in honor of his grandmother who died earlier this year.

"My cousin died in an air strike and my uncle was shot to death, may they rest in peace. Two years ago, I performed haj for the former, and last year for the later," said the 32-year-old from Deir al-Zor. "This year, I am doing it for my grandmother."

The authorities have been preparing for months to ensure pilgrims' safety, Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told Reuters, with more than 30,000 health workers operating 25 hospitals and offering free medical services, including complex procedures like open heart surgery.

"Praise to God, everything now is under control and health conditions are excellent," he said in an interview at Mina Public Hospital.

FEELING REBORN

The potential for disease spreading among pilgrims, who spend 5 days in close quarters, often eating outside and sleeping on the ground near holy sites, is a perennial concern.

The world's largest annual gathering of Muslims has in the past also seen deadly stampedes, fires and riots, with authorities sometimes struggling to respond.

A crush in 2015 killed nearly 800 pilgrims, according to Riyadh, although counts by countries of repatriated bodies showed over 2,000 may have died, more than 400 of them Iranians.

Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites - Mecca and Medina - and organizing the pilgrimage.

The interior ministry has put in place measures to confront any security threat from militant attacks to political protests, but no specific threats have been detected, a spokesman said on Saturday.

Yemeni Qaboos Ghalib said he felt reborn performing haj for the first time: "I hope peace prevails in the Arab nation in general and in Yemen specifically, and that the war ends."

Pilgrimage is also the backbone of a plan to expand tourism under a drive to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil. The haj and year-round umrah generate billions of dollars in revenue from worshipers' lodging, transport, fees and gifts.

Officials aim to increase the number of umrah and haj pilgrims to 15 million and 5 million respectively by 2020, and hope to double the umrah number again to 30 million by 2030.

Some pilgrims on Saturday hiked 700 meters (2,300 feet) to the tiny Hira cave, where Muslims believe the Prophet was visited by the Angel Gabriel and began to receive Koranic recitations.

"It's indescribable. It's overwhelming to see how his impact has been on this world," said American pilgrim Nasser Mahmoud. "But that's where it all started. It's a very humble thing, you can't even stand there."

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US lifts ban on refugees from 11 countries

WASHINGTON - The United States announced Monday it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 "high-risk" countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past.

Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Muslim-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher "risk-based" assessments to be accepted.


"It's critically important that we know who is entering the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

"These additional security measures will make it harder for bad actors to exploit our refugee program, and they will ensure we take a more risk-based approach to protecting the homeland."

The 11 countries, hit with a ban in October in the Trump administration's revised refugee policy, have not been identified officially.

But refugee groups say they comprise Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

NOT A 'MUSLIM BAN'  

Speaking anonymously, a senior administration official told journalists that the policy of enhanced security assessments for the 11 countries was not designed to target Muslims.

"Our admissions have nothing to do with religion," the official said, adding that there is "nothing especially novel" about tougher screening for countries deemed to have a higher level of risk.

Donald Trump has pursued a much tougher stance on immigrants and refugees from all countries since becoming president one year ago.

His predecessor Barack Obama set refugee admission in fiscal 2017, which began on October 2016, at 110,000.

When Trump took office a year ago, he slashed that to 53,000, a number that was cut again to a maximum of 45,000 in fiscal 2018. 

But refugee arrivals this year could come in significantly lower than that, due to the backlog from the 120-day halt and a slowdown in processing because of generally tougher applicant reviews.

DHS would not explain what the tougher vetting measures for the 11 countries would include. 

But all applicants are being asked to supply more detailed histories and evidence of their past activities, and many are having to allow access to personal electronics and social media accounts.

The move comes as Trump presses for a sharp turn in overall US immigration policy that critics say will result in a 50 percent cut in arrivals each year and bias admissions away from African, Asian and Muslim countries.

Last week, Trump proposed to end the 27-year-old "green card lottery" program that aims to diversify the source of immigrants, leading to an upturn in those from Middle Eastern and African countries.

He also proposed to tightly limit the family members who can join immigrants to only spouses and younger children. Until now, such "chain migration" could extend to immigrants' parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family.

The White House said the policy was necessary to protect national security from terror and crime threats.

In return, Trump proposed a plan that offers 1.8 million young unauthorized immigrants known as "Dreamers" a path to citizenship over 10-12 years.

Democrats and Republicans are starting negotiations on those proposals, along with Trump's request for a $25 billion "trust fund" to build a wall on the southern US border to deter illegal border-crossers from Mexico.

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Christians worldwide prepare for holidays with an eye on security

JAKARTA - Christmas church services and other celebrations are being held this weekend under the gaze of armed guards and security cameras in many countries after Islamic State gunmen attacked a Methodist church in Pakistan as a Sunday service began.

Majority-Muslim countries in Asia and the Middle East were particularly nervous after United States President Donald Trump's recent announcement that he intends to relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a decision that has outraged many Muslims.

In Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority country, police said they had stepped up security around churches and tourist sites, mindful of near-simultaneous attacks on churches there at Christmas in 2000 that killed about 20 people.

Muslim volunteers in Indonesia are also on standby to provide additional security if requested.

"If our brothers and sisters who celebrate Christmas need to maintain their security to worship, we will help," said Yaqut Chiolil Qoumas, chairman of the youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulema, one of the country's biggest Muslim organisations.

In Cairo, where a bombing at the Egyptian capital's largest Coptic cathedral killed at least 25 people last December, the interior ministry said police would conduct regular searches of streets around churches ahead of the Coptic celebration of Christmas on Jan. 7.

Egypt's Christian minority has been targeted in several attacks in recent years, including the bombing of two churches in the north of the country on Palm Sunday in April.

At the Heliopolis Basilica, a Catholic cathedral in northeastern Cairo, security forces had set up metal detectors at the main doors and police vehicles were stationed outside ahead of masses on Dec. 25, which marks Christmas Day for Catholic and Protestant Christians.

German police brought in experts and an explosives robot to investigate a suspicious package at a Christmas market in the city of Bonn late on Friday.

Germany is on high alert a year after a failed Tunisian asylum seeker killed 12 people when he hijacked a truck and drove it into a Berlin Christmas market.

BOMBED-OUT CHURCH

In the Pakistani city of Quetta, members of a Bethel Memorial Methodist Church were repairing the damage done by a pair of suicide bombers who attacked during a service last Sunday, killing 10 people and wounding more than 50.

Broken pews and damaged musical instruments were still strewn around church grounds on Thursday, with about a dozen police standing guard.

"We're making efforts to complete repairs and renovation before Christmas, but it seems difficult in view of the lot of damage," said Pastor Simon Bashir, who was leading the service when the attackers struck. He was not hurt.

The government of Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is capital, plans to deploy 3,000 security personnel in and around 39 Christian churches this Sunday and Monday.

Provincial police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters volunteers from churches were also being trained to conduct body searches and identify worshippers entering churches.

Pakistan's Christian minority, which makes up about 1 percent of the population of 208 million, has been a frequent target, along with Shi'ite and Sufi Muslims, of Sunni Muslim militants.

In the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, where an Easter Day bombing in a park last year killed more than 70 people, police Detective Inspector General Haider Ashraf said every church would be monitored with CCTV cameras as part of security measures.

Christian Kaleem Masih lost his aunt in the Easter attack, which was claimed by Islamic State, and his wife was wounded, but he said they would be attending Christmas services.

"Christmas is our holy day," Kaleem said. "We will fulfil our religious duty by celebrating it with smiles on our faces."

JERUSALEM ISSUE

In Malaysia, a police official said Trump's decision on Jerusalem increased worry about attacks.

"We are concerned not only with safety at churches and places of worship but also any threats by Islamic State or any other security threat following the Jerusalem issue," said Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun.

Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam's third holiest site and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in an action not recognised internationally.

Protests across the Muslim world in Asia and the Middle East have largely been peaceful.

In Jerusalem itself, an Israeli police spokesman said there were no new security measures but police would deploy forces as usual around Christian holy sites including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and also secure convoys of worshipers from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, traditionally known as the birthplace of Jesus Christ and run by the Palestinian Authority.

Many Palestinian Christians oppose Trump's announcement and say they have no fear of attacks.

"Trump's decision offended all Palestinians, be they Christians or Muslims. Why would we feel threatened by Muslims?" said George Antone, a Catholic who lives in Gaza, which is run by the Palestinian Hamas group.

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Van rams worshipers leaving London mosque, at least one killed

LONDON- A van ploughed into worshipers leaving a London mosque on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 10 others in what witnesses said was a deliberate attack on Muslims.

The hired vehicle swerved into a group of people leaving prayers shortly after midnight at the Finsbury Park Mosque, one of the biggest in the country, witnesses said. The attack comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"This big van just came and went all over us," witness Abdulrahman Saleh Alamoudi told BuzzFeed News. "He was screaming... 'I'm going to kill all Muslims'."

British Prime Minister Theresa May said police had confirmed it was being treated as a potential terrorist attack and said she would chair an emergency response meeting later on Monday.

"All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene," she said.

Police said one man was pronounced dead at the scene and that the van driver, aged 48, had been detained by members of the public before being arrested. The driver would undergo a mental health assessment in due course, police said.

Eight people were taken to hospital, while two were treated at the scene.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said extra police had been deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan, describing the attack as "an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect".

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in whose constituency the attack took place, said he was "totally shocked".

The incident comes just over two weeks after three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight. .

"ATTACK ON MUSLIMS"

The Muslim Council of Britain said Monday's attack was the most violent manifestation of Islamophobia in Britain in recent months and called for extra security at places of worship.

"It appears that a white man in a van intentionally ploughed into a group of worshippers who were already tending to someone who had been taken ill," the council said in a statement.

Police said they were called just after 12:20 a.m. (2320 GMT Sunday) to reports of a collision on Seven Sisters Road, which runs through the Finsbury Park area of north London.

"From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside. … Everybody was shouting: 'A van’s hit people, a van’s hit people'," one woman who lives opposite the scene told the BBC.

"There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park mosque that seemed to have hit people who were coming out after prayers had finished."

The attack comes at a time of political turmoil in Britain, as Prime Minister May plunges into divorce talks with the European Union weakened by the loss of her parliamentary majority in a June 8 election.

She has faced heavy criticism for her response to a fire in a London tower block on Wednesday which killed at least 58 people, and for her record on security after a series of attacks blamed on Islamist militants in recent months.

One witness told CNN it was clear that the attacker at Finsbury Park had deliberately targeted Muslims.

"He tried to kill a lot of people so obviously it's a terrorist attack. He targeted Muslims this time," the witness, identified only as Rayan, said.

Other witnesses told Sky television that the van had hit at least 10 people. The Evening Standard newspaper said the van appeared to have been rented in Wales, although there was no immediate confirmation of this from the authorities.

'DELIBERATELY SWERVED'

Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the van had deliberately swerved into a group of people who were helping a man who was ill and had fallen to the ground.

"Basically, a van swerved into them deliberately," Versi told Reuters, citing a witness.

He said the driver had run out of the van but a group of people caught him and held him until police arrived.

Britain has been hit by a series of attacks in recent months, including the van-and-knife attack on London Bridge on June 3.

On March 22, a man drove a rented car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and stabbed a policeman to death before being shot dead. His attack killed five people.

On May 22, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England.

The attacks were a factor in campaigning ahead of the June 8 election, with May criticised for overseeing a drop of 20,000 in the number of police officers in England and Wales as interior minister from 2010 to 2016.

She was also criticised for keeping her distance from angry residents during her visit to the charred remains of the 24-storey Grenfell Tower. She said on Saturday the response to the fire had been "not good enough".

The Finsbury Park Mosque gained notoriety more than a decade ago for sermons by radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in January 2015 for his conviction on terrorism-related charges.

A new board of trustees and management took over in February 2005, a year after Abu Hamza was arrested by British police, since when attendance has greatly increased among worshipers from various communities, according to the mosque's website.

(Additional reporting by Will James, Dylan Martinez; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Nick Tattersall; Editing by Robert Birsel and Simon Cameron-Moore)

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Nike to launch high-tech hijab for female Muslim athletes

Nike Inc will launch a hijab for female Muslim athletes early next year, becoming the first major sports apparel maker to offer a traditional Islamic head scarf designed specifically for competition, the company said on Wednesday.

The head covering, marketed under the "Pro Hijab" brand, is designed to allow athletes to observe the traditional Islamic practice of covering the head without compromising performance.

Made from a lightweight, flexible material, the hijab is expected to hit stores shelves in early 2018, Nike said in a statement.

In recent years, the hijab has become the most visible symbol of Islamic culture in the United States and Europe. Many Muslim women cover their heads in public with the hijab as a sign of modesty, but some critics see it as a sign of female oppression.

With sensitivities over immigration and the perceived threat of Muslim extremism running high, the head scarf has led to attacks against Muslim women. At the same time, the hijab has evolved in a symbol of diversity that Nike has embraced.

The Women's March on Washington, held the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration, used the face of a woman wearing a hijab in an American flag pattern as its promotional image.

Muslim athletes visiting Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, just outside of Portland, have complained about the difficulties of wearing a hijab while competing, according to the company.

The company consulted with Muslim women athletes from around the world, including Middle Eastern runners and cyclists, in the designing the hijab.

Other companies have also set their sights on hijab sales to Muslim athletes.

Last year, Danish sportswear company Hummel unveiled a soccer jersey with an attached hijab for the Afghanistan national women's soccer team.

Non-professional women Muslim athletes have used athletic hijabs made by smaller companies.

But Nike's annual net sales in the billions, and its reach in popular culture, can do more to bring Muslim athletes into the fold, said Amna Al Haddad, a Nike sponsored weightlifter from the United Arab Emirates who consulted on "Pro Hijab."

"(It will) encourage a whole new generation to pursue sports without feeling there is a limitation because of modesty or dress-code," Haddad said.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Richard Chang)

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US judge orders Trump administration to allow entry to immigrant visa holders

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK - A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled President Donald Trump's administration must allow immigrants with initial clearance for legal residency to enter the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations, despite an executive order ban.

Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr follows decisions by federal judges in at least four other states that also limited the executive order Trump issued on Friday.

But it goes further, by focusing on a large group of people from the seven nations of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - the countries targeted in the executive order - who are outside the United States and trying to enter.

In the temporary ruling, Birotte ordered U.S. officials to refrain from "removing, detaining or blocking the entry of plaintiffs or any other person ... with a valid immigrant visa" who is arriving from one of the seven nations.

According to the U.S. Department of State, immigrant visas are the first step to becoming a lawful permanent resident, or a green card holder.

Birotte's ruling does not apply to tourists, students or business travelers with non-immigrant visas.

The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the order and would have no further comment, a spokeswoman for the agency said in an email.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security cited its policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

Trump's executive order has not only caused consternation for the nations involved but among other Muslim-majority countries, allies such as Germany and Britain and career State Department officials.

Attorney Julie Ann Goldberg, who brought the case on behalf of more than two dozen plaintiffs of Yemeni descent, including U.S. citizens, said they sought the ruling after learning of a move by the U.S. State Department to cancel the immigrant visas of people from the seven countries.

More than 200 people with immigrant visas who left Yemen and are related to U.S. citizens or legal residents are stranded in Djibouti across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Yemen and were barred from flying to the United States, Goldberg said by telephone from Djibouti.

"It's terrible because I have children here who are without their parents," she said.

Some other children in the group are U.S. citizens whose parents were traveling with immigrant visas, she added.

In Boston, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs on Sunday issued a ruling, to last seven days, that barred the detention and removal of approved refugees, visa holders and permanent U.S. residents who entered from the seven countries.

By early Thursday in Djibouti, Goldberg said, no one from the group she represented was being allowed to leave for the United States. She accused the Trump administration of "absolutely ignoring" rulings she believes should allow their departure.

In an email, a State Department official confirmed the agency had provisionally revoked "relevant visas as defined" under Trump's executive order.

The White House said on Wednesday it has issued updated guidance on the order clarifying that green card holders require no waiver to enter the United States.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Almost 1.5 million Muslims at launch of hajj

MECCA - From Asia, Africa and points in between, nearly 1.5 million Muslims launched the annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites Saturday, undeterred by a stampede last year that cost around 2,300 lives.

The numbers are down because of the absence of tens of thousands of Iranians over tensions between their Shiite nation and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia which is home to the sites in Mecca and Medina.

The 2015 stampede magnified those frictions.

After preliminary rituals this week in Mecca at the Grand Mosque, the pilgrims moved on Saturday, many by bus, in debilitating temperatures exceeding 40 C (100 F) to Mina, several kilometres (miles) to the east.

They are following in the footsteps of their Prophet Mohammed who performed the same rituals about 1,400 years ago.

"It's an indescribable feeling. You have to live it to understand. This is my sixth hajj and I still cannot express how happy I am to be in Mecca," said Hassan Mohammed, 60, from Egypt.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which capable Muslims must perform at least once, marking the spiritual peak of their lives.

"People come from every country of the world, talk every language of the world, and meet here in one place under one banner, the profession of the Muslim faith," said Ashraf Zalat, 43, also from Egypt.

The first day of hajj was traditionally the chance for pilgrims to let their animals drink and to stock up on water.

Then they proceed to Mount Arafat, several kilometres further, for the peak of the hajj on Sunday.

Mina becomes their base, where an expanse of solidly-built white fireproof tents can accommodate 2.6 million pilgrims.

Last September 24, Mina was the scene of the deadliest disaster in hajj history, when the stampede broke out as pilgrims made their way to the Jamarat Bridge for a stoning ritual.

This year's "Stoning of the Devil" will start on Monday.

Although Riyadh stuck with a stampede death toll of 769, data from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally almost three times higher -- at least 2,297.

Saudi Arabia announced an investigation but no results have ever been released, although a number of safety measures have been taken.

'WE FEEL SAFE'

Government facilities have been moved out of Mina to free up space, Saudi newspapers reported, and roads in the Jamarat area expanded.

Officials have been issuing pilgrims with bracelets that digitally store their personal data, after some foreign officials expressed concern about difficulties in identifying the stampede dead.

AFP found pilgrims wearing the new bracelets which authorities aim to give each of the more than 1.4 million faithful from abroad, who are expected to be joined by more than 100,000 Muslims residing in Saudi Arabia.

But there has been no figure for the number of bracelets distributed so far.

Interior ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki spoke of "great efforts being exerted by the kingdom, not only in maintaining the security and safety of the pilgrims, but in facilitating performance" of the rites.

Many pilgrims appeared satisfied on Saturday.

"Everything is well organized," said Nasser Benfitah, 54, from Morocco.

"We feel safe," chimed in a Nigerian pilgrim, Hafsa Amina, 26.

Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars in hajj infrastructure and safety projects over the years.

This includes expansion of the Grand Mosque whose complex includes a plaza of white stones stretching for hundreds of metres (yards).

Just beyond this area, known as the Haram, or sacred site, luxury multi-storey hotels and shopping centres fill the skyline.

The hajj draws rich and poor, whose common humanity is emphasized by the white garment that each man wears. Women wear loose dresses, typically also white.

Many pilgrims now beam their spiritual journey back home through cyberspace to family and friends, and a range of specially-designed mobile applications can be downloaded.

Despite the safety and security measures which Saudi Arabia says it has taken, Iranian authorities have questioned the kingdom's custodianship of Islam's holiest places.

The two countries do not have diplomatic relations and are at odds over a string of regional issues including the wars in Yemen and Syria.

Iran reported the largest number of stampede victims, at 464, and its pilgrims are excluded for the first time in decades after the regional rivals failed to agree on security and logistics.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Trump's post-Orlando message falls flat with Republican establishment

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK - The mass shooting in Orlando, Florida has allowed Donald Trump to seize upon a familiar issue he has used to great advantage -the threat of Islamist militants and his plan to limit Muslim immigration to the United States, offering him what could be a crucial moment to re-boot his sputtering presidential campaign.

But while rank-and-file voters might respond positively to Trump's renewed call for a ban on some Muslims entering the country, his reaction to the massacre showed few initial signs of winning over Republican foreign-policy figures who have spurned the New York mogul.

"It's a missed opportunity to present a different image," said Peter Feaver, a top National Security Council aide in the George W. Bush White House. "He has doubled down on policies I oppose and that aren't going to solve the problem."

Trump said in a speech Monday in New Hampshire he would suspend immigration from countries "where there is a proven history of terrorism" against the United States. He said radical Muslim immigrants were "trying to take over our children and convince them how wonderful ISIS (Islamic State) is."

After the worst mass murder in modern U.S. history on Sunday left 50 dead, Trump's speech was hastily refashioned from a broad critique of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to a dire warning of the threat from Islamist militants.

Although Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, U.S. officials have maintained that Omar Mateen's motives were unclear and that he had no known direct links with the Syria-based group. Mateen, they said, was likely radicalized over the Internet.

A week ago, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's bid was taking on water. He was being battered by fellow Republicans for his comments about the Hispanic heritage of a federal judge, and Clinton was pulling away in the polls.

A renewed focus on national security could provide Trump with the chance to expand his appeal both to undecided voters and to the Republican foreign-policy establishment.

While Trump at times seems to relish being at odds with the establishment, the unhappiness among the party's hawks isn't just a matter of hand-wringing. It means if Trump does reach the White House, he could have a difficult time recruiting talented, experienced advisers.

ALARMING THE MAINSTREAM

Max Boot, an influential conservative at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Orlando tragedy "could have provided an opening for Trump to rally Republicans against terrorism." But instead, Boot said, Trump has been "partisan and petty."

Boot criticized Trump for suggesting on Monday that President Barack Obama may sympathize with radicalized Muslims and for reviving the proposed Muslim ban. "His performance has been in character," Boot said, "which is to say appalling."

Trump has alarmed some mainstream Republicans with vows to shred international trade deals, his demands that Mexico pay for a border wall and his questioning of U.S. foreign policy pillars such as its security commitments to NATO and Asian allies.

Clinton struck a very different tone in a speech on Monday, urging "statesmanship, not partisanship" and "clear, rational discussion" on how to protect the United States from terrorist threats.

Eliot Cohen, a top-ranking State Department official during the Bush administration, called Trump's reaction to the shootings "opportunistic and shallow" and "not what Americans expect from a president."

Lanhee Chen, a top aide to Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign, suggested Trump will not be able to refine his image. "While it would be true in most cases a big speech like this could reset the decks, I think the challenge with Donald Trump is always who he is at his core," Chen said.

But voters are another matter. Trump's swift rise within the Republican Party was at least partly due to the strident tone he has taken toward immigrants and refugees.

When Trump responded to last year's terror attacks in Paris and California with a call for banning Muslims from entering the country, he surged in the Reuters/Ipsos poll in the weeks that followed, opening up a 30-point lead over his Republican primary rivals.

Republicans continue to be strongly supportive of Trump's approach to handling terrorism. This month, two-thirds of Republicans said they agreed with Trump's proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.

Overall, 42 percent of Americans said they agreed with a Muslim ban while 50 percent said they disagreed, with another 8 percent not sure, according to another Reuters/Ipsos poll from May 17 to June 6. The poll of more than 6,000 people has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of about 1.5 percentage points.

Combating Islamist extremism was on the mind of Texas billionaire Doug Deason, a major Republican donor who told Reuters he will meet with Trump later in the week to discuss his support.

Nothing Trump has said since the Orlando shooting has caused him to re-think backing him, Deason said.

Peter King, a U.S. congressman from New York, said his party's foreign-policy establishment will eventually have to get on board with Trump.

"As one of the two major candidates for president, he will have to get advice or consultation with top national-security people," King said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

UK unveils migrant language tests, misspells language

LONDON, United Kingdom - Britain's Home Office was left red-faced Friday after unveiling new English tests for migrants -- but misspelling the word "language" in its announcement.

Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday launched a £20 million ($28.5 million, 26 million euro) language fund to help women, particularly Muslims, who arrive in Britain after getting married but struggle to speak English.

He also said women from non-EU countries who fail to pass an English language test after two and a half years in the country could face deportation, drawing criticism from Muslim groups and opposition parties.

A Home Office press release giving details of the move Thursday spoke of a "new English langauge test" and had to be corrected.

Asked if Cameron was disappointed by the mistake, his official spokeswoman told reporters: "All of us are open to mistakes at times.

"The prime minister is pretty confident that his team speak English competently."

The error drew ridicule on Twitter -- broadcaster Anita Anand wrote it was "beyond parody", while user @DaveGoddard 1971 joked: "Makes you proud to be British".

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Muslim women must learn English or risk deportation: British PM

LONDON - Muslim women who fail to learn English to a high enough standard could face deportation from Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday.

He also suggested that poor English skills can leave people "more susceptible" to the messages of groups like Islamic State (IS).

Cameron's comments came as his centre-right Conservatives launched a £20 million ($28.5 million, 26 million euro) language fund for women in isolated communities as part of a drive to build community integration.

Immigration rules already force spouses to speak English before they come to Britain to live with their partners.

But Cameron said they would also face further tests after two and a half years in the country to make sure their language skills were improving.

"You can't guarantee you will be able to stay if you are not improving your language," he told BBC radio. "People coming to our country, they have responsibilities too."

Cameron's government estimates that around 190,000 Muslim women in England -- about 22 percent of the total -- speak little or no English.

There are estimated to be around 2.7 million Muslims in England out of a total population of some 53 million.

'DISGRACEFUL STEREOTYPING'

Cameron said that a lack of language skills could make Muslims in Britain more vulnerable to the message of extremist groups.

"I am not saying there is some sort of causal connection between not speaking English and becoming an extremist, of course not," he told BBC radio.

"But if you are not able to speak English, not able to integrate, you may find therefore you have challenges understanding what your identity is and therefore you could be more susceptible to the extremist message."

His comments drew criticism from Muslim groups and opposition parties.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, which campaigns for better community relations, accused Cameron of "disgraceful stereotyping".

"David Cameron and his Conservative government are once again using British Muslims as a political football to score cheap points, to appear tough," he added.

Andy Burnham, home affairs spokesman for the main opposition Labour party, accused Cameron of a "clumsy and simplistic approach" which was "unfairly stigmatising a whole community."

Ex-Conservative Party co-chair Sayeeda Warsi said her former boss's idea was "lazy and misguided" and a "stereotyping of British Muslim communities"

"My parents came to this country with very little English -- my mum's English still isn't great, even though she has been to English language classes," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One.

"I think it is lazy and sloppy when we start making policies based on stereotypes which do badly stigmatize communities."

Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, backed Cameron's call, but questioned his tactics.

"The prime minister's aim to have English more widely spoken and for better integration falls at the first hurdle if he is to link it to security and single out Muslim women to illustrate his point," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Islamabad's Christian slum dwellers pray for Christmas miracle

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - As the winter sun sets on Pakistan's leafy capital Islamabad, residents of the city's largest Christian slum use bicycles, donkey carts and their backs to haul jerry cans filled with water to their homes.

Situated on the capital's periphery, the neighborhood that is home to around 10,000 people is now at the heart of a debate over the rights of Christians in this predominantly Muslim country of 200 million, with city authorities claiming such settlements threaten "the beauty of Islam".

Local authorities, determined to put an end to what they call "illegal" settlements, have recently sealed the area's three tube wells in what residents say is an effort to drive them out -- despite a Supreme Court injunction temporarily barring their eviction.

With the matter now resting before Pakistan's top judges, the slum-dwellers' sense of insecurity remains and many say all they want for Christmas is for their neighborhood to become legalized -- and the taps turned back on.

"We are worried, we are under a lot of stress but what we can do? We are helpless," sighed 33-year-old housewife Nargis Masih, who has been living in the neighborhood since it was built two years ago.

Like many others, she said her main concern is a lack of water.

Masih said she would like her family to be able to celebrate Christmas Day without being forced to gather more water from the nearest tap, three kilometers (two miles) away at a bus station.

VULNERABLE MINORITY

Christians make up around 1.6 percent of Pakistan's overwhelmingly Muslim population, with large settlements across major cities and around 60,000 in Islamabad.

They often face discrimination at work and routinely fall victim to the country's blasphemy laws, which rights groups say are often used to carry out personal vendettas.

Indeed, the Islamabad slum is named Rimsha Colony after Pakistani Christian teenager Rimsha Masih, not related to Nargis, who was arrested in 2012 for allegedly desecrating pages of the Koran.

Though the charges were ultimately proven false, Rimsha and her family moved to Canada in the face of ongoing threats from neighbors.

Christians in her neighborhood of Mehrabadi on the outskirts of Islamabad were also forced to leave their homes, and the government gave them the Rimsha plot of land closer to the city to rebuild their lives.

Despite lofty promises made by the former government to safeguard their rights, Rimsha Colony remains unconnected to the electric and sewage grids, though it was supplied with water by three wells until a few weeks ago.

In 2014, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), a government agency tasked with managing the city of around two million, vowed to demolish 32 slums it had deemed illegal saying they placed an undue burden on resources and were ruining Islamabad's pristine image.

ISLAM THREATENED

Their efforts began in earnest in August this year, when they demolished a slum, or "katchi abadi", inhabited mainly by ethnic Pashtuns who fled unrest in the country's Islamist-insurgency wracked northwest and whom authorities have said pose a security risk.

A Supreme Court injunction placed a temporary halt to the evictions in all of Pakistan's slums, and asked the CDA to provide a written justification before its next demolition, noting that the right to shelter was enshrined in Pakistan's constitution.

"Most of these katchi abadies are under the occupation of the Christian community," read the agency's reply.

"It seems this pace of occupation of land by Christian community may increase. Removal of katchi abadies is very urgent to provide (a) better environment to the citizens of Islamabad and to protect the beauty of Islam," it added.

While the ultimate fate of Rimsha Colony is yet to be decided by the court and with no timeline for a ruling set out, left-wing political activist Ammar Rashid said the CDA was now resorting to strong-arm tactics.

"Water is a fundamental right but the city administration is distributing it on the basis of socio-economic class," he told AFP.

"This is a violation of the court order and an attempt to force people to leave the slums."

Arif Jan, who was going door-to-door in Rimsha to collect funds for Christmas celebrations, cited a popular Islamic saying attributed to the Prophet Mohammad.

Mohammed, the story goes, said that God forgave a prostitute's sins for the act of giving water to a thirsty dog.

"But in this country," the 32-year-old labourer said, "it seems we aren't even considered on par with dogs, let alone humans."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pope Francis denounces radicalization, 'barbarous attacks'

NAIROBI, Kenya - Pope Francis on Thursday denounced radicalization of young people and "barbarous attacks" carried out in the name of religion during the first leg of his three-nation Africa tour.

"His holy name must never be used to justify hatred and violence," Pope Francis said in the Kenyan capital as he met religious leaders of different faiths, citing "barbarous attacks" by Islamic extremists in Nairobi, Garissa and Mandera.

"All too often, young people are being radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies," the pope said nearly two weeks after a group of jihadists, many of them French, killed 130 people in a string of gun and suicide attacks in Paris.

"How important it is that we be seen as prophets of peace, peacemakers who invite others to live in peace, harmony and mutual respect," he said.

Kenya has suffered numerous deadly attacks since sending its army into neighboring Somalia in 2011 after a string of kidnappings it blamed on Al-Qaeda's east Africa branch, the Shebab.

At least 67 people died in an armed assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in 2013 and 148 were killed in an attack on a university in Garissa in April.

In both attacks, the gunmen made efforts to separate Muslims from non-Muslims before executing the latter.

Although Kenya sees the Shebab threat as primarily external, experts say the country faces internal dangers with marginalized youth easy targets for radicalization and recruitment to extremist groups.

"Our world today is characterized by reckless wars mired in greed, malice, treachery, self-centeredness, blackmail and we are increasingly treated to the very theatre of the most absurd," said Abdulghafur El–Busaidy, chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims.

Anglican leader Eliud Wabukala said Africa was "at a spiritual crossroads" and warned against the threat of "the ideological colonialism of secularist lifestyles".

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Witnesses blame Saudi officials for hajj horror

MINA, Saudi Arabia - Witnesses to a stampede that left more than 700 people dead at the hajj in Saudi Arabia on Thursday blamed Saudi authorities and said they were afraid to continue the rituals.

The worst tragedy in 25 years at the annual Muslim pilgrimage occurred during the symbolic stoning of the devil at Mina, just outside the holy city of Mecca.

At least 717 people were killed and 863 people were hurt, spurring King Salman to order "a revision" of hajj organisation while authorities started a probe into the disaster.

One minister blamed the pilgrims for the tragedy, but worshippers disagreed.

"There was crowding. The police had closed all entrances and exits to the pilgrims' camp, leaving only one," said Ahmed Abu Bakr, a 45-year-old Libyan who escaped the stampede with his mother.

"I saw dead bodies in front of me and injuries and suffocation. We removed the victims with the police."

He added that police at the scene appeared inexperienced.

"They don't even know the roads and the places around here," he said as others nodded in agreement.

Pilgrims in Mina stay in a complex of white fireproof tents big enough to hold more than two million people, and the interior ministry said it deployed 100,000 police to secure the hajj, maintain safety and manage traffic and crowds.

 - 'Don't have a clue' -

One outspoken critic of redevelopment at the holy sites said despite the large numbers, police were not properly trained and lacked the language skills for communicating with foreign pilgrims, who make up the majority of those on the hajj.

"They don't have a clue how to engage with these people," said Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Mecca-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation.

"There's no crowd control," Alawi said.

Another witness, 39-year-old Egyptian Mohammed Hasan, voiced worries that a similar incident "could happen again".

"You just find soldiers gathered in one place doing nothing," he said.

He also alleged that he had been insulted because of his nationality, when security men asked him to "come identify this Egyptian corpse".

"Why are they humiliating us like this? We are coming as pilgrims asking for nothing," Hasan said angrily, urging the security forces to "organise the roads" to ensure the smooth movement of people.

Even before Thursday's stoning tragedy, other pilgrims had complained of a lack of organisation.

Thursday's tragedy occurred outside the five-storey Jamarat Bridge, which was erected in the last decade at a cost of more than $1 billion and intended to improve safety.

Almost one kilometre (less than a mile) long, the Jamarat Bridge allows 300,000 pilgrims an hour to carry out the ritual, in which they throw pebbles against walls.

- 'No organisation' -

Interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki said the stampede was caused when "a large number of pilgrims were in motion at the same time" at an intersection of two streets in Mina.

"The great heat and fatigue of the pilgrims contributed to the large number of victims," he said.

And one Saudi minister blamed the pilgrims for the tragedy, saying they had not followed hajj rules.

But in the view of an Egyptian worshipper who identified himself only by his first name Ahmed, "the fault is not on the pilgrims".

"Saudi Arabia is spending a lot on hajj but there is no organisation," he said, complaining that the flow of people into and out of the tent camp needed to be better managed.

"They could make one road for those going and another for those returning," Ahmed said.

"If one policeman would stand at the start of every road and organise the pilgrims, none of this would happen."

The stoning ritual is supposed to continue on Friday and Saturday, but pilgrims said they were fearful of a repeat of Thursday's deaths. Some put their faith in God, saying he would protect them.

"Of course we are afraid of tomorrow," said Hasan, the Egyptian pilgrim. "I want to go do the stoning at night. I asked a cleric, he said it's OK."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Long weekend ahead: Sept 25 a regular holiday

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has declared September 25, 2015, a Friday, as a regular holiday throughout the country in observance of Eid’l Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice.

Proclamation No. 1128 states that National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) recommended the observance of Eid’l Adha in the Philippines be on September 25, 2015 based on the Islamic Calendar
and the declaration made by Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority.

This amends the NCMF's earlier recommendation to observe the occasion on September 24, 2015.

The next long weekend will be on November 28 to 30, with November 30 - Bonifacio Day - declared a holiday.

MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

PROCLAMATION NO. 1128

DECLARING FRIDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2015, AS A REGULAR HOLIDAY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY IN OBSERVANCE OF EID’L ADHA (FEAST OF SACRIFICE)

WHEREAS, Eid’l Adha is one of the two greatest feasts of Islam;

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9849 provides that Eid’l Adha shall be celebrated as a regular holiday;

WHEREAS, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) recommends that the observance of Eid’l Adha in the Philippines be on 25 September 2015 based on the Islamic Calendar and the declaration made by Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority, thereby amending its earlier recommendation to observe the occasion on 24 September 2015;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare Friday, 25 September 2015, as a regular holiday throughout the country in observance of Eid’l Adha (Feast of Sacrifice).

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 15th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Fifteen.

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

By the President:

(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA, JR.
Executive Secretary

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Saudi king vows to find cause of pre-hajj crane tragedy

MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's King Salman vowed on Saturday to find out what caused a crane collapse that killed 107 people at Mecca's Grand Mosque ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

The hajj, a pillar of the Muslim religion which last year drew about two million faithful, will take place despite Friday's tragedy, Saudi authorities said as crowds returned to pray a day after the incident.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had already arrived in Mecca when the massive red and white crane toppled over during a Friday thunderstorm.

"We will investigate all the reasons and afterwards declare the results to the citizens," Salman said after visiting the site, one of Islam's holiest.

Parts of the Grand Mosque remained sealed off on Saturday around the wreckage of the crane, which also injured around 200 people when it crashed into a courtyard.

But there was little mourning among pilgrims, who snapped pictures of the collapsed metal and continued with their prayers and rituals.

"I wish I had died in the accident, as it happened at a holy hour and in a holy place," Egyptian pilgrim Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP.

Om Salma, a Moroccan pilgrim, said "our phones have not stopped ringing since yesterday with relatives calling to check on us".

Indonesians and Indians were among those killed when the crane collapsed, while the injured included Malaysians, Egyptians, Iranians, Turks, Afghans and Pakistanis.

Salman expressed his condolences to the families of the dead, and then visited a local hospital "to check on the health of the injured", the official Saudi Press Agency said.

"Suddenly, I heard thunder and then we heard a very loud noise. That was the sound of the crane falling," Mohammed, a Moroccan pilgrim, told AFP.

Another visitor caught up in the tragedy, Ahmed from Egypt, said he and those around him were "very scared, hysterical even".

A Saudi official said the hajj, expected to start on September 21, would go ahead despite the tragedy.

- Inquiry has begun -
"It definitely will not affect the hajj this season, and the affected part will probably be fixed in a few days," said the official, who declined to be named.

The pilgrimage is a must for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it.

An investigative committee has "immediately and urgently" begun searching for the cause of the collapse, SPA reported.

The contractor, engaged in a major expansion of the mosque, has been directed to ensure the safety of all other cranes at the site, it added.

The cranes soar skywards over the sprawling expansion taking place beneath the Mecca Royal Clock Tower, the world's third tallest building.

For years, work has been under way on a 400,000-square-metre (4.3-million-square-feet) enlargement of the Grand Mosque to allow it to accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once.

"We saw people dying before our eyes", the Arab News quoted Sheikh Abdul Raheem, a witness, as saying.

Pictures of the incident on Twitter showed bloodied bodies strewn across the courtyard, where part of the crane had landed atop an ornate, arched and colonnaded section of the complex.

- 'Act of God' -

Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Mecca-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, suggested that the authorities had been negligent by having a series of cranes overlooking the mosque.

"They do not care about the heritage, and they do not care about health and safety," he told AFP.

Alawi is an outspoken critic of redevelopment at the Muslim holy sites, which he says is wiping away tangible links to the Prophet Mohammed.

But an engineer for the Saudi Binladin Group, the developer, told AFP the crane had been installed in "an extremely professional way" and that there had been no technical problem.

"It was an act of God", he said.

Saudi Binladin Group belongs to the family of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamdi, former head of Mecca's religious police, told AFP the accident was a "test" from God.

"We need to accept what happened," he said, at the same time calling for a thorough investigation.

Condolences came in from around the world, including from Arab leaders, as well as from Britain, Canada, India and Nigeria.

It was not the first tragedy to strike Mecca pilgrims, although the hajj has been practically incident-free in recent years.

In 2006, several hundred people died in a stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual in nearby Mina, following a similar incident two years earlier.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Working on a holiday? Here's how you should get paid

MANILA - While most employees took a day off from work Friday, some had to report for duty on the regular holiday. How should they be paid by their employers?

According to the Department of Labor Employment (DOLE), employers should implement the following pay rules for employees who report to work on the holiday:

The employee should be paid 200 percent of regular salary for that day for the first eight hours [(Daily Rate + Cost of Living Allowance) x 200 percent].

For overtime work, the employee should be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on said day [(Hourly rate of the basic daily wage) x 200 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked]

For work done during a regular holiday that also falls on the employee's rest day, the employee should be paid an additional 30 percent of daily rate of 200 percent [(Daily Rate + Cost of Living Allowance) x 200 percent] + [30 percent (Daily Rate x 200 percent)]

For work done in excess of during a holiday that also falls on a rest day, the employee should be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on said day (Hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 200 percent x 130 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked)

If the employee did not work, however, the employee should still be paid 100 percent of salary for that day [(Daily Rate + Cost of Living Allowance) x 100%].

Friday, July 17, is the celebration of Eid’l Fitr, the feast marking the end of Ramadan. It was declared a regular holiday because of its religious and cultural significance to the Muslims.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com