State newspaper hints at Beijing’s stance of not assisting its ally in the ‘reckless game’ between US and North Korea.

Washington warned North Korea this week it will face ‘fire and fury’ if it continues to threaten the US [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

A Chinese state-run newspaper has suggested Beijing would “stay neutral” if North Korea strikes first in a conflict with the United States, despite a mutual defence pact between the Asian allies.

The nationalistic Global Times tabloid said on Friday in an editorial that Washington and Pyongyang were playing a “reckless game” that could lead to “miscalculations and a strategic war”.

“China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral,” the editorial said.

However, it added: “If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.”

On Twitter, Trump again threatened on Friday a military strike against the North.

“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Trump tweeted.

The commentary came after Washington warned North Korea this week it faced “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it continued to threaten the US with its missile and nuclear programmes.

That prompted a defiant Pyongyang to threaten a missile attack on Guam, a tiny US territory in the Pacific that is home to major US air and naval facilities.

China – which has been accused by the US of not doing enough to rein in its longtime ally – has maintained that political dialogue is the only solution.

Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said the commentary gave an inkling of China’s official stance.

“The editorial also says that if the US carries out strikes and tries to overthrow the North Korean regime then China would prevent that from happening. But it doesn’t specify how Beijing would do that,” he said.

“Now of course China is the only ally that North Korea has but China has now agreed to tougher UN sanctions against North Korea, which means it will no longer be importing coal, iron, lead and seafood. Now if China does have influence over North Korea, we have yet to really see it.”

As tension soars in the region, South Korea’s media called on Friday for Seoul to build nuclear weapons of its own to defend itself.

South Korea, which fought a war alongside the US with the North that ended in a stalemate in 1953, is highly technologically advanced and analysts estimate it could develop an atomic device within months of deciding to do so.

“Now is time to start reviewing nuclear armament,” the Korea Herald said in an editorial.

The South, which hosts 28,500 American troops, is banned from developing its own nuclear weapons under an atomic energy deal it signed in 1974 with the US, which instead offers Seoul a “nuclear umbrella” against potential attacks.

But with Pyongyang regularly threatening to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames” – and nagging questions over Washington’s willingness to defend it if doing so put its own cities in danger of retaliatory attacks – the South’s media are leading calls for a change of tack.

After Pyongyang conducted two successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile last month, putting much of the mainland US within reach, the paper warned: “Trust in the nuclear umbrella the US provides to the South can be shaken.”

The US stationed some of its atomic weapons in the South following the 1950-53 Korean War, but withdrew them in 1991 when the two Koreas jointly declared they would make the peninsula nuclear-free.

But Pyongyang carried out its first nuclear test in 2006 and formally abandoned the deal in 2009.

A conflict between the North and the US could have devastating consequences for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, with Seoul within range of Pyongyang’s vast conventional artillery forces.

“A catastrophe is looming,” the South’s top-selling Chosun daily said in an editorial this week. “All options, even those considered unthinkable so far, must be on the table.”

North Korea has staged five atomic tests as it seeks to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the continental United States.

Breastfeeding woman, bearded person and meditating man also among new symbols previewed to mark World Emoji Day.

The hijab emoji was approved in November last year [Courtesy Apple]

by Al Jazeera

US tech giant Apple has previewed forthcoming emojis, including one that depicts a woman wearing a hijab.

More than 12 animated symbols were unveiled on Monday to celebrate World Emoji Day and will be released on Apple devices later this year, the company said.

“The new Emoji make it easier for users to express themselves with greater diversity, additional animals and creatures, new smiley faces and more,” Apple said in a statement.

The headscarf-wearing character was approved by Unicode, a non-profit international consortium, in November last year after a Saudi teen living in Germany campaigned for its inclusion.

Fifteen-year-old Rayouf Alhumedhi submitted a proposal to Unicode in September 2016, pointing out that there was no image that represented her.

Her online campaign, the Hijab Emoji Project, noted that some Christian and Jewish women also wear headscarves, along with hundreds of millions of Muslims.

The hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion.

Apple’s preview of the hijab emoji sparked some negative reaction online, with one Twitter user calling it a sign of “creeping Sharia” law.

the hijab is a symbol of oppression. by including it as an emoji you are showing your support for the oppression of women.

— Joeymp (@joeymp123) July 17, 2017

Headscaffs? Lol now that’s funny. I guess we shall be seeing explosive vests as back packs next!

— Richard (@1RTFULDODGER) July 17, 2017

Meanwhile, many others were more receptive to the new character.

#hijabEmoji Exposure really is a first step towards acceptance https://t.co/NGrQWPHNqQ

— HyperPlayingGames (@MePlayingGames) July 17, 2017

It’s FINALLY here. Best believe I’m overusing this one. #IWantMoreHijabColorsTho #WorldEmojiDay pic.twitter.com/UBR6fawcbG

— Rowaida Abdelaziz (@Rowaida_Abdel) July 17, 2017

Other new symbols include a woman breastfeeding and a man meditating in what appears to be the traditional yoga lotus pose.

Apple also revealed less political inclusions such a dinosaur, zebra, elf, zombie, genie, sandwich and coconut emoji.

The standards for all emojis is set by the Unicode, which dictates the characters available for computer programming.

Unicode announced in May its next version would include 69 new emojis.

What Apple unveiled Monday was its interpretation of several characters that will be available for its smartphones, watches and laptops in the coming months.

People in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, UK, Spain, France, Italy and Germany are among the world’s biggest emoji-users on Facebook.

The social media company said that 5 billion emoji are sent worldwide via Facebook Messenger each day.

Happy #WorldEmojiDay! Meet the 15-year-old girl who helped create the hijab emoji. pic.twitter.com/9uzH93SQiM

— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 17, 2017

London Fire Brigade says more than 70 firefighters called in to tackle the blaze in north London.

by Al Jazeera

Dozens of firefighters poured water onto a big fire at Camden Lock Market, which is a popular tourist destination in north London.

The London Fire Brigade said 10 firetrucks and 70 firefighters had been sent to the site shortly after midnight on Sunday when a blaze erupted near Camden Stables.

It said three floors and the roof of a building within the complex were on fire.

Ambulance crews also rushed to the scene, but authorities said no injuries had been reported.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “Police were called on Monday at 12.10am to Camden Lock Market to reports of a fire.

“London Fire Brigade were already at the scene when officers arrived. It is unknown at this stage if any persons are injured, we await update.”

The market is very popular with tourists and Londoners, who are drawn to the area by the shopping and nightlife on offer.

“The fire was moving very fast,” said witness Joan Ribes. “People were watching, but we were scared the building could explode at any time since there are restaurants with kitchens nearby.”

A different part of the market complex was ravaged by a fire in 2008, and vendors were not able to operate for several months.

In June, a fire engulfed the Grenfell Tower in west London, killing at least 79 people.

Camden market on fire @camden pic.twitter.com/ZhPvWhpLN7

— Lisa Harden (@modelqueen86) July 9, 2017

The settlement was given to Khadr on Wednesday and was cashed immediately, according to the Globe and Mail.

The government and Khadr’s lawyers negotiated the deal last month, based on a 2010 Supreme Court ruling [File: Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Canada has paid a settlement of C$10.5m ($8.1m) to former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr, reports say.

The payout was given to Khadr on Wednesday and was cashed immediately, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source involved in the transaction.

The government and Khadr’s lawyers negotiated the deal last month, based on a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that said Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under “oppressive circumstances”.

According to the ruling he was subjected to sleep deprivation during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and information obtained from him was then shared as evidence with US officials.

A Canadian citizen, Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 at age 15 after a gun battle with US soldiers.

He pleaded guilty to killing a US Army medic and became the youngest inmate held at the military prison in Cuba. Khadr later recanted and his lawyers said he had been grossly mistreated.

Khadr spent a decade in Guantanamo before being returned to Canada in 2012 to serve the rest of his sentence and was released in 2015.

Toronto-born Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his father, an al-Qaeda member, who apprenticed the boy to a group of bomb makers. The father died in a battle with Pakistani forces in 2003.

His case has divided Canadians. Human rights advocates such as Amnesty International say the one-time child soldier was denied due process while the then-Conservative government dismissed calls to seek leniency, noting he had pleaded guilty to a serious crime.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Khadr apologised to the families of the victims. He had said he rejects violence and wanted a fresh start to finish his education.

He currently resides in an apartment in Edmonton, Alberta and is studying to be a nurse.

Manila: Police in a region in the Philippines are considering issuing mandatory identification cards to thousands of Muslims living there, a proposal rights activists have condemned as “collective punishment”, the media reported on Friday.

Authorities in Central Luzon were quoted in local media as saying the policy was a counter-terrorism measure after Islamist militants took over the city of Marawi on the island of Mindanao, reports the Guardian.

The issue was discussed at a meeting between police, military and political figures and about 200 Muslim religious and community leaders at the provincial capitol building, according to news outlet Rappler.

Chief Superintendent Aaron Aquino said the ID cards would allow authorities to identify and weed out undesirable individuals and terrorists.

Aquino said the system had already been implemented in the town of Paniqui “and we want this to be replicated in all Muslim communities in the whole region for easy and efficient identification of our Muslim brothers and sisters”.

Government forces have been hammering Marawi for nearly two months after local militant factions, who claim allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), rampaged through and took control.

Human Rights Watch said authorities were threatening to “single out Muslims” with ID cards, violating the rights to equal protection of the law and freedom of movement, the Guardian reported.

“Requiring Muslim-only IDs in response to a perceived failure of Muslims to prevent Islamist fighters from entering Marawi City is a form of collective punishment,” the advocacy group said in a statement.

“ID requirements for Muslims should be rejected outright,” it added.

(IANS)

Justices grant parts of administration’s request to put order into effect immediately while legal battle continues.

The Court said it will hear arguments in the case in October[File: EPA]

by Al Jazeera

The Supreme Court of the United States says it will allow a partial enforcement of President Donald Trump’s ban on travellers from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees until it reviews it in October.

The action on Monday was hailed as a win by the right-wing leader, who has insisted the ban is necessary for national security, despite severe criticism that it singles out Muslims in violation of the US constitution.

The justices at the highest US court narrowed the scope of lower court rulings that had completely blocked Trump’s March 6 executive order. They also agreed to hear the government’s appeals in the cases.

Trump’s executive order suspends new visas being issued to people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for at least 90 days. It also partly allows a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the US to go into effect.

Both bans are now due to partly go into effect in 72 hours, based on a memorandum issued by the Trump administration on June 14.

In agreeing to hear the case later this year, the Supreme Court is allowing parts of the order to go ahead.

Specifically, the court said the executive order would be enforced on foreign nationals who did not have a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship” with a US person or organisation.

In effect, that means that individuals from the designated countries who have never been to the US before, or lacked a relationship with an American or American organisation could still have their visa denied during the three-month period.

But what a “bona fide relationship” exactly constitutes is a matter of dispute.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas warned that requiring officials to differentiate between foreigners who have connection to the US and those who do not will prove “unworkable”.

“Today’s compromise will burden executive officials with the task of deciding – on peril of contempt – whether individuals from the six affected nations who wish to enter the United States have a sufficient connection to a person or entity in this country”.

He added that the decision would result in a “flood of litigation” until the court issued its ruling.

Shortly after the court issued its opinion, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on Twitter it would “head back into court to fight the fundamentally unconstitutional Muslim ban this October”.

Omar Jadwat, the director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project who had argued the case in court, said in a statement the travel ban “violates the fundamental constitutional principle that government cannot favor or disfavor any one religion”.

“Courts have repeatedly blocked this indefensible and discriminatory ban. The Supreme Court now has a chance to permanently strike it down,” he said.

Lara Finkbeiner, from the International Refugee Assistance Project, which also sued the administration over the ban, said she was “incredibly disappointed with the decision”.

“We are a nation that values acceptance and diversity, and in making this decision and putting this executive order back into effect, the Supreme Court is sending a very clear message and it’s putting the executive’s discriminatory policy back into effect.”

But Trump praised the decision, saying in a statement it allowed his travel ban “to become largely effective”.

“Today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security,” Trump said, adding that the ruling allowed him “to use an important tool for protecting our nation’s homeland”.

Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said that Trump was portraying the decision as a clear victory – even though this was a view that was not shared by everyone.

“The president in his statement is celebrating a victory. The court really upheld the cracks of the government’s case, although saying it will be looking at this case in October,” she said.

“The court upheld a 1952 law that gives the president broad powers about immigration when there are concerns about national security.”

London: One person was killed and eight others were injured after a van rammed into a crowd of worshippers near a north London mosque, police said on Monday.

A 48-year-old man was arrested following the collision just after midnight near Finsbury Park Mosque in Seven Sisters Road, reports the BBC.

“The driver of the van was found detained by members of public at the scene and then arrested…He has been taken to hospital, and will be taken into custody once discharged,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The statement said no other suspects at the scene have been identified or reported to police.

“Due to the nature of this incident extra policing resources have been deployed in order to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan,” the Guardian quoted the statement as saying.

Prime minister Theresa May condemned the incident and said police are treating it “as a potential terrorist attack”.

“I will chair an emergency meeting later this morning. All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene,” she added.

According to the Muslim Council of Britain, the van “intentionally ploughed into a group of worshippers who were already tending to someone who had been taken ill.”

Harun Khan, the Council’s secretary general said: “It appears from eye witness accounts that the perpetrator was motivated by Islamophobia.”

“Over the past weeks and months, Muslims have endured many incidents of Islamophobia, and this is the most violent manifestation to date,” the Guardian quoted Khan as saying.

An eyewitness told the BBC how he jumped out the way of the van as it struck.

“I was shocked. There were bodies around me…Thank God I just moved to the side.”

Another witness who lives in a flat on Seven Sisters Road said she saw people “shouting and screaming”.

“There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park Mosque that seems to have hit people who were coming out of the mosque after prayers finished.”

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Twitter: “I’m totally shocked at the incident at Finsbury Park.

“I’ve been in touch with the mosques, police…My thoughts are with those and the community affected by this awful event.”

Finsbury Park is a diverse London suburb situated a few kilometres north of the city centre.

It is home to a wide variety of nationalities and is the centre of London’s Algerian population.

(IANS)

Washington: A Muslim girl was found dead a day after she was assaulted near a mosque in the US state of Virginia and a suspect has been arrested, police said.

The victim was identified as 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen of Reston and her body was found in a pond on Sunday, The Washington Post reported.

Fairfax County police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Darwin Martinez Torres and charged him with murder.

According to accounts from police and an All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) official, a group of four or five teenagers including Nabra had visited a restaurant to have a late-night meal after prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

At about 4 a.m., the group was confronted by Torres as they walked on a street.

They ran into a mosque, but one of them, Nabra, was left behind and was later reported as missing, said Deputy Aleksandra Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

The police conducted an hour-long search around Dranesville Road and Woodson Drive in Herndon and remains thought to be the girl’s were found about 3 p.m. on Sunday in a pond in Sterling.

During the search, police said they stopped a car being driven in a suspicious manner in the area, and took the driver Torres into custody.

The girl’s mother said detectives told her that Nabra was struck with a metal bat.

“I can’t think of a worse instance to occur than the loss of a 17-year-old on Father’s Day, as the father of a 17-year-old myself,” Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman said.

The reason for the attack was still not known, but hate crime was one of the options being investigated, reports said.

“We are devastated and heartbroken as our community undergoes and processes this traumatic event,” Rizwan Jaka, chairman of ADAMS, said in a statement.

(IANS)