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Millions of Shia Muslim pilgrims gather in Iraq for Arbaeen

Millions of Shia Muslim pilgrims gather in Iraq for Arbaeen

Pilgrims in Karbala hold up Palestinian flags amid the war in Gaza as they mark annual mourning for martyrdom of Imam Hussein. More than 21 million Shia Muslims took part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq this year, marking the 40th day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and a founding figure in Shia Islam. The event peaked on Sunday, with attendees displaying their support for Gaza. Arbaeen, which means 40 in Arabic, is one of the world’s biggest religious gatherings and a major event for Shia Muslims, who are the majority in Iraq and Iran. Shia Muslim devotees gather between the shrines of Imam Abu Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (background) and Imam Hussein (not pictured) in Iraq’s central holy city of Karbala [Mohammed Sawaf/AFP] Karbala, where Hussein and his brother Abbas are buried in two enormous mausoleums facing each other, is the centre of the Shia world during this time. Pilgrims freely express their suffering, weeping and wailing in memory of Hussein, who was killed in 680 during a battle in Karbala with the Umayyad caliph Yazid. This year, the events have included prominent displays of Palestinian flags by pilgrims amid the war in Gaza. “The total number of Arbaeen pilgrims… reached 21,480,525,” the institution that manages the Abbas mausoleum and is responsible for the count said. Among them were about 3.5 million Iranian pilgrims, according to official figures reported in Tehran. Shia Muslims show their support for Gaza as they gather in the holy shrine city for the Arbaeen commemorations [Mohammed Sawaf/AFP] Mohammed al-Tamimi, a 32-year-old pilgrim, told the AFP news agency that the Palestinian flags waving among the pilgrims were “in support of our brothers in Palestine and in response to the Zionists, saying that Muslims stand as one against the Zionist actions and against the crimes taking place in Gaza”. Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October. An estimated 1,139 people were killed during a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7. The Arbaeen celebrations, which always take place amid tight security, drew about 22 million pilgrims last year, according to official figures. Iran provided the most foreign visitors, with 4 million. Adblock test (Why?)

Gaza ceasefire hopes hang in balance as Hamas delegation leaves Cairo

Gaza ceasefire hopes hang in balance as Hamas delegation leaves Cairo

Hamas has rejected new Israeli conditions put forward in Gaza ceasefire talks in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, casting further doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the latest United States-backed effort to end the 10-month-old war. A Hamas delegation left Cairo on Sunday after meeting with mediators and receiving an update on the latest round of negotiations. Two Egyptian security sources told the Reuters news agency that the talks had ended without an agreement with neither Hamas nor Israel agreeing to compromises proposed by mediators. Key sticking points in the talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5km-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. In Cairo, Hamas’s delegation demanded that Israel be bound by what was agreed upon on July 2, in accordance with a plan laid out by US President Joe Biden and a UN Security Council resolution. While the group confirmed its readiness to implement that deal to achieve the interests of the Palestinian people and stop the destruction of the Gaza Strip, it stressed the need for any agreement to include a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas also said any agreement should include the freedom of return for Gaza residents to their homes, relief and reconstruction, and a captive-prisoner exchange deal. Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted officials as saying there is a small chance that the Cairo talks would lead to progress in the swap negotiations. However, there was no sign of any breakthrough on the issues dividing Israel and Hamas. The Palestinian group blames Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the lack of progress during the talks. Netanyahu is accused of imposing new demands and not being serious about reaching a ceasefire. Netanyahu has insisted that the war in Gaza will continue until a total victory against Hamas has been won, even if a deal is reached. That objective has been rubbished by many top Israeli officials, including his own defence minister, and family members of captives have accused Netanyahu of abandoning their loved ones in Gaza. ‘No time to lose’ Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining captives seized by Hamas in the group’s October 7 attacks on Israel. Continuing the war, in which Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, will worsen the plight of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, nearly all of them homeless in tents or shelters among the ruins, with malnutrition rampant and disease spreading, and risk the lives of the remaining Israeli captives. UN peace envoy Tor Wennesland said in a social media post: “There is no time to lose.” “Ongoing ceasefire/hostage release talks in Cairo are crucial to saving civilian lives, reducing regional tensions and enabling the UN, in cooperation with the PA [Palestinian Authority], to accelerate efforts to address the pressing needs of Gaza’s long-suffering population,” he said. Meanwhile, US General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began an unannounced visit to the Middle East on Saturday to discuss ways to avoid any new escalation in tensions that could spiral into a broader conflict as the region braces for a threatened Iranian attack against Israel. On Sunday, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a heavy exchange of fire as part of a response by the Lebanese group to the Israeli assassination of its senior commander Fuad Shukr last month in a Beirut suburb. Hezbollah has said it would halt its attacks along the border if there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah since October 8 has ramped up recently, including Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon and into the Bekaa Valley and more Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel. Adblock test (Why?)

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 913

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 913

As the war enters its 913th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Monday, August 26, 2024. Fighting At least 18 people were killed and 37 injured in Russian missile and drone attacks on Sunday which targeted the front-line Ukrainian regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk. The Reuters news agency said its safety adviser Ryan Evans was killed and two Reuters journalists injured, one of them seriously, in a Russian attack that hit a hotel in Kramatorsk, about 20km (13 miles) from the front line in Ukraine’s east, on Saturday night. Three other members of the team escaped unharmed. Russian officials said six civilians were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s forces advanced up to 3km (1.86 miles) in Russia’s Kursk region, taking control of two more settlements there. Ukraine called on Belarus to pull back what it described as significant levels of Belarusian forces and equipment, including tanks and artillery, deployed in the Gomel region at their common border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Belarus against making “tragic mistakes” while under pressure from Moscow. Politics and diplomacy Zelenskyy said negotiations were continuing with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Switzerland on a second summit for peace. Zelenskyy also said he had told India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Kyiv, that he would support India hosting the event. Pope Francis condemned the Ukrainian government’s move to ban a Russia-linked branch of the country’s Orthodox Church. “Do not touch churches,” the pope said in his weekly prayers, one day after Zelenskyy signed the ban into law. Weapons Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it sent more missiles and artillery to the Kursk region where thousands of Ukrainian troops advanced across the Russian border on August 6. Adblock test (Why?)

Walz faced another accusation of misrepresentation in unearthed, blistering letter: ‘Remove any reference’

Walz faced another accusation of misrepresentation in unearthed, blistering letter: ‘Remove any reference’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is facing another accusation of misrepresenting his background after a Nebraska Chamber of Commerce letter from 2006 resurfaced amid Walz’s campaign for vice president.  When Walz first ran for Congress in Minnesota, he touted on his campaign website that he received an award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce in 1993 for his work with the business community, according to a 2006 article from the Post Bulletin.  He never received such an award, however, which was outlined to him in a blistering letter from the then-president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Barry L. Kennedy.  “We researched this matter and can confirm that you have not been the recipient of any award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce,” the letter addressed to Walz on Nov. 1, 2006, reads.  FLASHBACK: OBAMA WAS ONE OF EARLIEST BIG-NAME DEMS TO ENDORSE WALZ AT DAWN OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER “I am not going to draw a conclusion about your intentions by including this line in your biography. However, we respectfully request that you remove any reference to our organization as it could be considered an endorsement of your candidacy. It should be pointed out, however, that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed your opponent, Congressman Gil Gutknecht, for his support of small business issues,” Kennedy continued.  The letter was unearthed by Minnesota outlet Alpha News last week, after the controversy gained traction locally in 2006.  TIM WALZ SLAMMED AS ‘POLITICAL CHAMELEON’ AFTER DITCHING FORMER PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT STANCE The Post Bulletin, a Minnesota newspaper based in Rochester, reported in 2006 that Walz’s congressional campaign updated its website to reflect Walz did not win a Nebraska Chamber of Commerce award, but had won an award from the Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce, known as the Jaycees. The then-campaign manager passed off the issue as a “typographical error,” the outlet reported at the time.  When approached by Fox Digital about the 2006 controversy, the Harris-Walz campaign said Walz frequently speaks “openly and off the cuff.” “Governor Walz speaks the way real people speak – openly and off the cuff. The American people appreciate that Gov. Walz tells it like it is and doesn’t talk like a politician, and they appreciate the difference between someone who occasionally misspeaks and a pathological liar like Donald Trump,” the campaign said.  The claim follows a long history of people accusing Walz of misrepresenting himself and his history, most notably a bevy of veterans accusing the Gopher State Democrat of misrepresenting his military career.  Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring in 2005, when he launched a successful congressional campaign and served as a member of the U.S. House representing Minnesota from 2007 until 2019.  Following Vice President Kamala Harris naming him as her running mate, Walz has been slammed by a number of veterans for allegedly misrepresenting his service in the military, including identifying himself to the public as a retired “Command Sergeant Major.” TRUMP CAMP SAYS HARRIS-WALZ ‘DANGEROUSLY LIBERAL’ TICKET IS ‘EVERY AMERICAN’S NIGHTMARE’ Walz was promoted to the command sergeant major rank following a deployment to Italy in 2004, but he did not complete coursework with the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy to retain the rank in retirement. Walz instead retired as a master sergeant, one pay grade below command sergeant major.  “For 20 years, they let this guy go by with a lie that he deployed to Iraq, which he didn’t, and that he retired as a command sergeant major, which he did not. I mean, that’s just blatant lies,” Republican Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain, told The New York Post this month of Walz.  The battalion commander of Walz’s former Minnesota Army National Guard unit also issued a scathing message to Harris’ running mate earlier this month regarding him portraying himself as a “retired Command Sergeant Major.”  VAN JONES: WALZ NEEDS TO ADMIT HE EXAGGERATED MILITARY RECORD SO DEMS CAN ‘MOVE ON’ “He did not earn the rank or successfully complete any assignment as an E9,” John Kolb, who served as a lieutenant colonel of the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery from 2005 to 2007, wrote in a social media post this month. “It is an affront to the Noncommissioned Officer Corps that he continues to glom onto the title. I can sit in the cockpit of an airplane, it does not make me a pilot. Similarly, when the demands of service and leadership at the highest level got real, he chose another path.” The “retired Command Sergeant Major” rank was promoted by the Harris campaign until earlier this month, when it changed Walz’s biography on the campaign’s website to read that he “served as a command sergeant major.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.