Indonesian VP praises Saudi government for Makkah Route Initiative

Indonesian VP praises Saudi government for Makkah Route Initiative
Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin surveyed the Makkah Route initiative with the Saudi Director General of Passports, Lieutenant General Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya in Solo, Central Java on May 31, 2024. (SPA)
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Updated 02 June 2024
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Indonesian VP praises Saudi government for Makkah Route Initiative

Indonesian VP praises Saudi government for Makkah Route Initiative
  • Indonesia will be sending 241,000 pilgrims for this pilgrimage season
  • The scheme operates this year from 3 Indonesian cities 

JAKARTA: Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has praised Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route Initiative and hopes that the flagship program will be expanded to other cities in the country, his spokesperson told Arab News on Sunday.

With Hajj expected to start on June 14 this year, special pilgrimage flights from the Southeast Asian nation started on May 12.

Indonesia will be sending 241,000 Hajj pilgrims to the Kingdom this year and many pilgrims are departing under the Makkah Route Initiative, which was launched in Saudi Arabia in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at their airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and upon their arrival.

The initiative was expanded to three airports in the country this year and Amin visited one of the new cities — Solo, Central Java — over the weekend to take a look at the program in action.

“The working visit is the vice president’s appreciation on behalf of the government toward the Saudi government’s move in conducting a breakthrough and excellent program, the Makkah Route,” Masduki Baidlowi, the vice president’s spokesperson, told Arab News.

“This is extremely useful and beneficial for Hajj pilgrims, because many of the pilgrims are elderly and they are assisted by the Makkah Route program. With this program, the pilgrims are spared from exhaustion.”

Under the program, the pilgrims’ luggage is delivered straight to their hotels in Makkah and Madinah.

Amin surveyed the program in Solo in the company of the Saudi Director General of Passports Lt. Gen. Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya, and Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Faisal Abdullah Amodi.

Amin is hoping to see the initiative expanded to more cities in Indonesia next year.

“The vice president is hoping that the Makkah Route program can be expanded to Medan and Makassar, not just Jakarta, Solo and Surabaya,” Baidlowi said.

“This can be a symbol of friendship between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.” 


French foreign minister: US elections must be held peacefully

Updated 4 sec ago
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French foreign minister: US elections must be held peacefully

French foreign minister: US elections must be held peacefully
  • Barrot said any violence surrounding the election would be devastating for democracies around the world
PARIS: French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday that he hoped next week’s US presidential election would pass off peacefully, while adding it was not clear to him if this would be the case.
“This is an extremely important election and I hope it can take place in peaceful conditions, which does not appear to me to be entirely guaranteed,” he told broadcaster BFM TV in an interview, without elaborating further.
With the Nov. 5 election just days away, officials in the most competitive battleground states are bracing for misinformation, conspiracy theories, threats and possible violence.
Barrot said any violence surrounding the election would be devastating for democracies around the world.
France would work with whoever wins the race between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, he added.

Spain searches for bodies after flood of the century claims at least 95 lives

Spain searches for bodies after flood of the century claims at least 95 lives
Updated 27 min 18 sec ago
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Spain searches for bodies after flood of the century claims at least 95 lives

Spain searches for bodies after flood of the century claims at least 95 lives
  • Thousands of people were left without water and electricity and hundreds were stranded after their cars were wrecked or roads were blocked

BARRIO DE LA TORRE: Survivors of the worst natural disaster to hit Spain this century awoke to scenes of devastation on Thursday after villages were wiped out by monstrous flash floods that claimed at least 95 lives. The death toll could rise as search efforts continue with an unknown number of people still missing.
The aftermath looked eerily similar to the damage left by a strong hurricane or tsunami.
Wrecked vehicles, tree branches, downed power lines and household items all mired in a layer of mud covered the streets of Barrio de la Torre, just one of dozens of towns in the hard-hit region of Valencia, where 92 people died between late Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Walls of rushing water turned narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that ripped into the ground floors of homes and swept away cars, people and anything else in its path.
“The neighborhood is destroyed, all the cars are on top of each other, it’s literally smashed up,” said Christian Viena, a bar owner in Barrio de la Torre.
Regional authorities said late Wednesday it appeared there was no one left stranded on rooftops or in cars in need of rescue after helicopters had saved some 70 people. But ground crews and citizens continued to inspect vehicles and homes that were damaged by the onslaught of water.
Over a thousand soldiers from Spain’s emergency rescue units joined regional and local emergency workers in the search for bodies and survivors. The defense minister said that soldiers alone had recovered 22 bodies and rescued 110 people by Wednesday night.
“We are searching house by house,” Ángel Martínez, official of a military emergency unit, told Spain’s national radio broadcaster RNE on Thursday from the town of Utiel, where at least six people died.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is heading to the region to witness the destruction firsthand as the nation starts a three-day period of official mourning.
Thousands of people were left without water and electricity and hundreds were stranded after their cars were wrecked or roads were blocked. The region remained partly isolated with several roads cut off and train lines interrupted, including the high-speed service to Madrid, which officials say won’t be repaired for several days.
While Valencia took the brunt of the storm, another two casualties were reported in the neighboring Castilla La Mancha region. Southern Andalusia reported one death.
The relative calm of the day after has also given time to reflect and question if authorities could have done more to save lives. The regional government is being criticized for not sending out flood warnings to people’s mobile phones until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, when the flooding had already started in some parts.
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding. But this was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory. Scientists link it to climate change, which is also behind increasingly high temperatures and droughts in Spain and the heating up of the Mediterranean Sea.


World will miss Paris climate target as nitrous oxide rises, report says

World will miss Paris climate target as nitrous oxide rises, report says
Updated 46 min 2 sec ago
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World will miss Paris climate target as nitrous oxide rises, report says

World will miss Paris climate target as nitrous oxide rises, report says
  • Nitrous oxide is the third most prevalent greenhouse gas and the worst ozone-depleting gas

WASHINGTON: Failing to curb emissions of nitrous oxide will make it impossible to meet the main goal of the Paris climate agreement to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the first major global assessment of the pollutant released on Thursday.
Why it's important
Nitrous oxide is the third most prevalent greenhouse gas and the worst ozone-depleting gas.
The Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment (N2O) report is similar to the 2021 Global Methane Assessment, which showed that human-caused methane emissions can be reduced by up to 45 percent this decade and laid the groundwork for 150 countries to commit to the Global Methane Pledge to curb those emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
By the numbers
Nitrous oxide emissions, driven primarily by the agricultural use of synthetic fertilizers and manure, have increased globally by 40 percent since 1980, and are on pace to rise 30 percent over 2020 levels by 2050, the report said.
Taking global action to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) could avoid the equivalent of up to 235 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2100, it said.
A US State Department official told Reuters earlier this year that slashing N2O emissions from production of fertilizers or the production of materials like nylon is cheap, costing as little as $10 per metric ton through projects using the voluntary carbon offset market.
Key quote
“Ambitious action to reduce nitrous oxide emissions could move the world closer to meeting a wide range of global climate, ozone and other environmental and human health goals,” said the assessment, published by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition of over 180 governments, NGOs, and international organizations.
Context
US officials also met with Chinese counterparts to discuss cooperating on slashing N2O emissions. The countries are the biggest emitters of the greenhouse gas.


90 Rohingya left ‘stranded’ on Indonesia beach

90 Rohingya left ‘stranded’ on Indonesia beach
Updated 31 October 2024
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90 Rohingya left ‘stranded’ on Indonesia beach

90 Rohingya left ‘stranded’ on Indonesia beach
  • Members of the persecuted minority risk their lives each year on long and dangerous sea journeys, often crowding into rickety boats in the hopes of reaching Malaysia or Indonesia

LHOKSEUMAWE: Human traffickers left dozens of Rohingya refugees, including children, stranded on a shoreline in westernmost Indonesia on Thursday, while six dead bodies were found nearby, local officials said.
Members of the persecuted minority risk their lives each year on long and dangerous sea journeys, often crowding into rickety boats in the hopes of reaching Malaysia or Indonesia.
The refugees were abandoned before dawn on Thursday around 100 meters off a beach in Aceh Province, Saiful Anwar, a village official in East Aceh, told AFP.
The group included 46 women, 37 men and seven children, he said, while locals found two bodies on the shore and four floating in the sea.
“According to information from residents, these people were stranded at around 4 am (2100 GMT). It seems like there was a boat that brought them,” Saiful said.
Eight sick refugees were taken for medical treatment, he said.
East Aceh acting district head Amrullah M. Ridha told reporters the refugees would be kept in tents on the beach until authorities sheltered them.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it knew about the arrivals but could offer no further information.
Acting Aceh Governor Safrizal, who goes by one name, told reporters “human trafficking mafia activity” was to blame for the latest arrivals.
It is the third group of arrivals in western Indonesia this month, with more than 150 refugees landing in Aceh and another 140 arriving in North Sumatra province.
According to UNHCR, 2,500 Rohingya arrived by boat in Aceh between January 2023 and March 2024, as many as had arrived in Indonesia in the previous eight years.
The mostly Muslim ethnic group faces persecution in Myanmar, and many have fled military crackdowns, seeking shelter in sprawling refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
Every year, thousands of Rohingya attempt the perilous 4,000-kilometer journey (2,500 miles) from Bangladesh to Malaysia, fueling a multi-million dollar human-smuggling operation that often involves stopovers in Indonesia.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and says it cannot be compelled to take in the refugees, calling instead on neighboring countries to share the burden.
Many Acehnese, who themselves have memories of decades of bloody conflict, are sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Muslims, but others say their patience has been tested by the annual arrivals.


Judge sets hearing on $1 million-a-day sweepstakes from Elon Musk PAC helping Donald Trump

Judge sets hearing on $1 million-a-day sweepstakes from Elon Musk PAC helping Donald Trump
Updated 31 October 2024
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Judge sets hearing on $1 million-a-day sweepstakes from Elon Musk PAC helping Donald Trump

Judge sets hearing on $1 million-a-day sweepstakes from Elon Musk PAC helping Donald Trump
  • Giveaways come from Musk’s political organization, which aims to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
  • The sweepstakes is open to people in battleground states who sign a petition supporting the Constitution

PHILADELPHIA: A Philadelphia judge is holding a hearing Thursday morning in the city prosecutor’s bid to shut down Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day sweepstakes in battleground states. The giveaways come from Musk’s political organization, which aims to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, filed suit Monday to stop the America PAC sweepstakes, which is set to run through Election Day. Judge Angelo Foglietta will hear motions on the issue in a City Hall courtroom.
Matthew Haverstick, one of several lawyers representing the defendants, declined to say late Wednesday if Musk would attend the hearing.
The sweepstakes is open to people in battleground states who sign a petition supporting the Constitution.
Krasner has said he could still consider criminal charges, saying he is tasked with protecting the public from both illegal lotteries and “interference with the integrity of elections.”
Election law experts have raised questions about whether it violates federal law barring someone from paying others to vote. Musk has cast the money as both a prize as well as earnings for work as a spokesperson for the group.
Krasner, in the suit, said that America PAC and Musk “are indisputably violating Pennsylvania’s statutory prohibitions against illegal lotteries and deceiving consumers.”
Both Trump and Harris have made repeated visits to the state as they fight for Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes.
Musk, who founded SpaceX and Tesla and owns X, has gone all in on Trump this election, saying he thinks civilization is at stake if he loses. He is undertaking much of the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump through his super PAC, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money.
He has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.