Ramadan in colour: How Muslims in Africa celebrate the holy month and Eid
Nigeria: Spirituality and horseback parades Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is also home to the continent’s largest number of Muslims. The mainly Muslim northern regions are home to a range of ethnic groups, chief among them the Hausas and Fulanis. In the past decade, the north has become synonymous with instability and violence amid conflict with bandits and armed groups like Boko Haram. But for those who live there, the region is a bastion of colourful cultural practices. During Ramadan, bustling cities in the north slow down as most people stay indoors to avoid the heat and focus on spiritual activities like attending lectures or reading the Quran. And every year, typically to mark Eid, there is a Durbar festival. Durbars are cultural, religious and equestrian events that have been popular among Hausas for centuries. One of the largest taking place today is the Kano City Durbar, which sees hundreds of thousands of people decked out in stylish Eid attire turning up to get a view of the emir – the equivalent of a king – often on horseback. Kano-based photographer Muhammad Sani Sabo has been documenting Durbars since 2014. He also photographs everyday scenes in his city. The 31-year-old says he hopes to paint a more accurate representation of the north, which is more than a poster child for poverty, illiteracy and conflict. “There’s more stories to tell about the north,” Sabo tells Al Jazeera. “I know all the stories, and I believe I can tell it better than anyone coming from Lagos or from abroad.” [Muhammad Sani Sabo/Al Jazeera] In the city of Kano, women and girls attend a Ramadan gathering in 2023. During the holy Muslim month, the city sees lectures and gatherings where people learn from an imam or spiritual guide. Study of the Quran is common across the city. Food or gifts are sometimes shared by companies or individuals to emphasise the spirit of generosity and sharing. [Muhammad Sani Sabo/Al Jazeera] The 15th emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, rides a horse during the 2024 Durbar festival. Hausas are renowned for being warriors with excellent horsemanship skills. Durbar culture stemmed from military parades in ancient days that signalled readiness for war. Today’s Durbar festivals highlight that heritage while also celebrating the end of Ramadan. After the morning prayers, the colourful horseback procession begins, with the emir leading his convoy of warriors, artillerymen and praise singers. [Muhammad Sani Sabo/Al Jazeera] A family in Kano waits to see the Durbar procession outside the emir’s palace in April 2024. Eid – or the Sallah festival in the Hausa language – is not complete without stylish, new traditional attire and, of course, a peek at the emir’s glamorous entourage. Adblock test (Why?)
Modi and Trump are on the same page on immigration
In February, the airwaves in India were inundated with images of undocumented Indians shackled in chains on a military deportation flight from the United States. The shocking images made clear the devastating impact President Donald Trump’s draconian crackdown on “illegal immigration” would have on the lives of thousands of vulnerable Indian citizens who had risked everything to make their way to America. Opposition lawmakers, including Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, wore handcuffs and protested the humiliating treatment of deportees outside the parliament in New Delhi. With all of this happening on the eve of Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House, they demanded that the Indian prime minister take up this matter with the US president. But during his US news conference, Modi responded to questions about the deportations by stating that his Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP-led) government was “fully prepared to bring back illegal migrants”. He added: “The young, vulnerable and poor people of India are fooled into immigration. These are children of very ordinary families who are lured by big dreams and big promises. Many are brought in without knowing why they are being brought in – many brought in through a human-trafficking system.” Advertisement This response was unusually meek and agreeable for the leader of a Hindu nationalist regime known for its muscular jingoism. It would seem Modi was simply trying to avoid a Volodymyr Zelenskyy-style bust-up with Trump, especially with negotiations ongoing regarding reciprocal tariffs. While this could be true, it is also important to remember that when it comes to immigration, Modi and Trump are on the same page. Like his American counterpart, Modi relies on grand visions and claims about the nation. This includes the BJP government’s bombastic declarations about the economic health of India. At the moment, the Indian economy is facing a troubling slowdown, but there also is a longer term, much more entrenched problem: inequality. In the world’s most populous country, the top 1 percent holds 40.1 percent of the national wealth. By the end of 2024, India had 191 billionaires, putting it in third place in the world after the US and China. Meanwhile, it accounted for 70 percent of the global increase in extreme poverty. India is also the country with the largest population (234 million people) living in extreme poverty. Undocumented Indian migrants in the US are manifestations of this dark reality. The estimates regarding their exact number vary. The Pew Research Center estimated that there were 700,000 undocumented Indian immigrants in the US at the end of 2022, making Indians the third largest national group of undocumented people after Mexicans and Salvadorians. The Department of Homeland Security estimated there are 220,000 undocumented Indian migrants in the country. Advertisement Irrespective of the exact size of the population, this cohort of undocumented people contradicts the rosy image of an economic powerhouse under Hindu nationalist leadership. This is why Modi is so eager to shut down this saga of “illegal immigration” as quickly and calmly as possible. He does not want any skirmish with Trump over the treatment of undocumented migrants to grab headlines and expose the cracks in the aura of a rising India. But in a Hindu nationalist India, a Trump-like anti-immigration discourse is also not an oddity. For a few years, the Indian right has been ritually raising the issue of a supposed scourge of undocumented migration, especially from Bangladesh. In 2016, then-Minister of State of Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju claimed there were about “20 million illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in India”. In 2018, Home Minister Amit Shah said there were more than 40 million undocumented immigrants in the country. In 2023, right-wing politicians have also claimed there are now close to 50 million undocumented migrants in India. There is no real evidence to back up these numbers. Yet for the Hindu nationalists in India, these claims about the presence of an insidious, Muslim undocumented population evoke a powerful image and fit well into an Islamophobic discourse of a Hindu nation facing an existential threat from its neighbours. Unsubstantiated claims about the threat of “illegal immigration” from Bangladesh allow right-wing politicians in India to blame the undocumented “outsider” for the plight of the country’s economically disadvantaged. As Shah once said: “They [Bangladeshi immigrants] are eating the grain that should go to the poor.” Elsewhere, Shah has called undocumented migrants “termites” and “infiltrators” who needed to be uprooted. While on the campaign trail in 2019, Shah also promised that the BJP government would “pick up infiltrators one by one and throw them into the Bay of Bengal”. Advertisement These unsubstantiated claims also allow Hindu nationalists to stoke fears about a demographic challenge to a Hindu nation. For instance, during a TV interview, the leader of the Delhi unit of the BJP, Ashwini Upadhyay, insinuated that the majority status of the Hindu population was under threat. He said that India was established as a “Hindu nation” and this identity was being diluted by “illegals”, “[Muslim] Rohingyas” and “[Muslim] coverts”. Similarly, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar claimed that “illegal migration” was causing a “demographic upheaval”. He noted that this cohort was putting undue stress on the country’s health and education sectors, depriving citizens of employment opportunities, and was undermining democracy by gaining “electoral relevance”. He also warned that if left unchecked, the Hindu ethnic identity would be undermined by such “demographic invasions”. Finally, it is equally commonplace to hear from the right in India that “illegal migration” is synonymous with criminality. In a statement to the lower house of the Indian parliament, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar said: “Illegal mobility and migration has many other associated activities, also of an illegal nature.” While Jaishankar here was referring to undocumented Indian migrants in the US, in India, authorities have similarly claimed that there is a “well-oiled” criminal network that helps undocumented migrants gain residency, employment, fake birth certificates and eventually voting rights. This has led to Trump-like police raids and deportation drives targeting Bangladeshis and Rohingya. Advertisement Often
Al Jazeera team captures Myanmar quake moment
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Al Jazeera reporter Tony Cheng and his crew were filming in Myanmar when one of two powerful earthquakes hit.
Judges extend orders against deportation flights, including wartime act on violent Venezuelan gang members
A D.C. federal judge on Friday extended a restraining order against the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law the Trump administration enacted to deport Venezuelan nationals who are Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members in the U.S. illegally. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled the extension will run through April 12. Also on Friday, in a separate ruling, a federal judge in Boston blocked the deportation of migrants to countries where they have no existing relationship without a chance to go into court to contest that move. Last week, Boasberg issued a temporary restraining blocked the president from using the act to deport Venezuelan nationals, stating he needed more time to consider the merits of the case. TRUMP DOJ HAMMERS JUDGE’S ‘DIGRESSIVE MICROMANAGEMENT,’ SEEKS MORE TIME TO ANSWER 5 QUESTIONS In a bench ruling, he ordered all planes carrying Venezuelan nationals or other deportees under the Alien Enemies Act be returned. The administration later filed an emergency request for the U.S. appeals court to intervene. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing and Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Trump doubles down on acquiring Greenland for ‘world peace’ amid Vance visit
President Donald Trump stressed the need to acquire Greenland as part of the U.S. for international security purposes Friday, as Vice President JD Vance conducted a trip there with second lady Usha Vance. Although the Danish territory has said it is seeking independence from Copenhagen and isn’t interested in becoming part of the U.S., Trump has repeatedly offered, dating back to his first administration, a desire to secure Greenland for the U.S. as Russian and Chinese presence grows in the Arctic. “If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we’re not going to be able to do that,” Trump told reporters Friday. “We’re not relying on Denmark or anybody to take care of that situation. And we’re not talking about peace for the United States, we’re talking about world peace, we’re talking about international security.” VANCE SOLIDIFIES DOMINANCE DRIVING EUROPEAN FOREIGN POLICY AHEAD OF GREENLAND TRIP The Vances, along with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, arrived in Greenland on Friday to visit Pituffik Space Base, the Department of Defense’s northernmost military installation. The base is home to the Space Force’s 821st Space Base Group to conduct missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations. Despite the Trump administration’s push to secure Greenland, leaders in Denmark and Greenland remain staunchly against the president’s wishes, even as Greenland’s prime minister has called for independence from Copenhagen. But the Trump administration has pointed out that Denmark has faced backlash for its treatment of indigenous people from Greenland. A group of indigenous women from Greenland sued the Danish government in May 2024 and accused Danish health officials of fitting them with intrauterine devices without their knowledge between the 1960s and 1970s. TRUMP REMAINS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ODDS OF ACQUIRING GREENLAND: ‘I THINK IT’LL HAPPEN’ Both Denmark and Greenland initiated an investigation into the matter in 2022, and the report is expected for release this year. A senior White House official said in a statement to Fox News Digital that Denmark’s treatment of the people of Greenland will receive ample attention during Vance’s visit. “Unfortunately, Danish leaders have spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second-class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair. Expect the Vice President to emphasize these points as well,” the official said Thursday. Greenland is rich in natural resources, including oil and natural gas, and both Russia and China have bolstered their presence in the region in recent years.
Two trans inmates ordered back to women’s prisons in Reagan-appointed judge’s injunction
Transgender inmates who were moved from a women’s prison to an all-male facility, after President Donald Trump’s executive order mandating inmates live in facilities corresponding to their biological sex, are now being sent back to the women’s prison after a judge issued a preliminary injunction. “This is the latest example of an activist judge attempting to seize power at the expense of the American people who overwhelmingly voted to elect President Trump,” a Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement Friday. “The Department of Justice has vigorously defended President Trump’s executive actions, including the Defending Women Executive Order, and will continue to do so.” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington issued the injunction last week after the two inmates, identified in court documents as Rachel and Ellen Doe, were added as plaintiffs to a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order with nearly a dozen other inmates. TRANS INMATE IN PRISON FOR KILLING BABY MUST GET GENDER SURGERY AT ‘EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY’: JUDGE “The fact that they have already been transferred and, allegedly, have been abused at their new facilities can only strengthen their claims of irreparable harm,” Lamberth, a Reagan-appointed U.S. district court judge, wrote in the injunction. The court documents also allege that since being transferred to a male prison, “they have been unable to access bras and women’s underwear” while being subjected to “sexual harassment” at the new facilities. The Bureau of Prisons did not respond when reached for comment Friday. FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS PLANNED MOVE OF TRANS INMATES TO FACILITIES FOR THEIR BIOLOGICAL SEX The original lawsuit the two new inmates were added to alleged that “the inmates, all of whom are transgender women, “will not be safe” if transferred to men’s facilities, the lawsuit states, and the inmates will be at risk of “sexual harassment, assault, and rape.” This injunction adds to a lengthy list of legal battles the Trump DOJ faces regarding the president’s executive orders. The first lawsuit against Trump’s “two sexes” executive order came from a transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatments just days after Trump signed the order in January. That inmate, anonymously identified as Maria Moe, is being represented by advocacy groups GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and National Center for Lesbian Rights and Lowenstein Sandler LLP. Once Trump signed the executive order, Moe was transferred to a men’s prison facility, and BOP records changed the sex from “female” to “male,” the complaint says. TRANS INMATE WHO KILLED BABY AND IDENTIFIES AS MUSLIM WOMAN SUES CHAPLAIN FOR ALLEGEDLY NOT ALLOWING HIJAB At least 15 trans prisoners are now protected by orders blocking or reversing the transfers, the Associated Press reported. Lamberth has not yet ruled on a lawsuit filed this month by three other inmates—a transgender woman in a men’s prison and two transgender men in women’s prisons—who are challenging the executive order’s ban on transgender medical treatments in prisons.
DNA TV Show: How effective AIMPLB’s ‘black arm band’ appeal was? Check state-wise ‘strike rate’ here
All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) appealed to the Muslim community to wear black arm bands as a sign of protest against Waqf Amendment Bill while offering namaz on the occasion of Alvida Jumma.
RFK Jr. backs WV push for SNAP waivers, work mandates under ‘MAHA’
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., spoke Friday in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, as Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed the first letters of intent seeking waivers to allow the Mountain State to eliminate soda from SNAP benefit eligibility. “We have a public health crisis in this country, and, unfortunately, West Virginia is leading the way,” Kennedy said, surrounded by children and local dignitaries at a Catholic school in Martinsburg. Morrisey also signed landmark legislation banning food dyes in West Virginia in support of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. “I’m very, very grateful to Governor Morrisey for his visionary leadership and getting West Virginia to lead the way in transitioning off of processed foods. When my uncle was president, 3% of Americans had chronic disease, and we spent zero dollars on chronic disease in this country. There were no medications [for it].” Kennedy claimed that, by contrast, the government spends more on Americans’ health issues than the entire defense budget. WV GOV SIGNS RILEY GAINES ACT He said that Congress usually debates how to pay for these increased costs, not how to eliminate the health risks and systemic issues that lead to Americans’ globally-low-ranked collective health. Morrisey praised Kennedy for attending the ceremony, remarking that it proves the “MAHA” movement started “right here in West Virginia.” He signed HB 2354 on Monday, which bans the preservative butylated hydroxyanisole, as well as food dyes, from schools, beginning in August and for general sale, starting in 2028. COAL STILL KEY TO US ENERGY DOMINANCE: WV GOV “We’re cleaning up our foods, promoting exercise, and putting nutrition back into SNAP. I’m committed to Secretary Kennedy’s vision for America and raising health standards here in the Mountain State,” he said Friday from Berkeley County. Morrisey also plans to implement work requirements for most SNAP recipients, stating that able-bodied applicants must work—citing West Virginia’s last-place ranking in workforce participation as justification. State Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Martinsburg, who also helped to spearhead the food dye legislation in Charleston, thanked Kennedy for his leadership on the federal level on the issue of Americans’ deteriorating diets and health. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Our country is in debt to you for doing that.” Barrett said that when he and Del. Evan Worrell, R-Barboursville, began working on the food dye ban and other legislation, they were warned that food and beverage special interests would be coming after them politically. “My response to ‘big food’ and ‘big drink’ is: Big deal – the people of West Virginia are worth it.”
Trump asks US Supreme Court to lift ban on deportations under wartime law
US president appeals to Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ban on his use of an obscure wartime law. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for permission to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century wartime law, while a court fight continues. The Department of Justice asked the court in a filing to lift Washington, DC-based US District Judge James Boasberg’s March 15 order calling for a temporary halt to the summary removals of the Venezuelans while a legal challenge to Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportations plays out. The 18th-century law has historically been used only in wartime. The Justice Department said in its filing on Friday that the case presents the question of who decides how to conduct sensitive national security-related operations, the president or the judiciary. “The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President,” the department wrote. “The republic cannot afford a different choice.” President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportation of hundreds of people under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force. Advertisement “Here, the district court’s orders have rebuffed the President’s judgements as to how to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the court filing. Flashpoint case Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of five Venezuelan noncitizens who were being held in Texas, hours after the proclamation was made public. The court set a Tuesday deadline for a response from the ACLU. The case has become a flashpoint amid escalating tension between the White House and the federal courts. Trump’s administration has argued that Boasberg’s temporary ban encroached on presidential authority to make national security decisions. On March 18, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment by Congress – a process that could remove him from the bench – drawing a rebuke from the US Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump on social media called Boasberg, who was confirmed by the US Senate in 2011 in a bipartisan 96-0 vote, a “Radical Left Lunatic” and a “troublemaker and agitator.” The DC Circuit upheld Boasberg’s order after holding a contentious hearing that involved heated language. Judge Patricia Millett told Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign that “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than has happened here.” Ensign responded, “We certainly dispute the Nazi analogy.” Family members of many of the deported Venezuelan migrants deny the alleged gang ties. Lawyers for one of the deportees, a Venezuelan professional football player and youth coach, said US officials had wrongly labeled him a gang member based on a tattoo of a crown meant to honor his favorite team, Real Madrid. Advertisement The Alien Enemies Act allows noncitizens to be deported without the opportunity for a hearing before an immigration or federal court judge. Boasberg ruled that immigrants facing deportation must get an opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged gang members. His ruling said there is “a strong public interest in preventing the mistaken deportation of people based on categories they have no right to challenge.” Adblock test (Why?)
Earthquakes in Myanmar spread destruction as far as Bangkok
NewsFeed Twin earthquakes shook Myanmar causing extensive damage and killing at least a dozen people. The quakes, one a 7.7 magnitude, were also felt in Bangkok, Thailand where a tower block collapsed trapping dozens of construction workers. Published On 28 Mar 202528 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)