AFP - Squid Business

Muslim pilgrims ‘stone the devil’ as hajj nears end in Saudi Arabia

Huge crowds of pilgrims “stoned the devil” in the last major ritual of the hajj pilgrimage on Friday, as Muslims around the globe celebrated the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday.Starting before dawn, 1.6 million-plus pilgrims began throwing stones at three giant concrete walls symbolising the devil at the Jamarat complex, near the holy city of Mecca.Despite the throngs, the annual pilgrimage has seen its lowest numbers in decades and a range of new precautions after 1,301 people died in extreme heat last year.Temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) on Friday, still well below the high of 51.8C (125F) that caused major difficulties in 2024.However, after three days of long treks in the summer sun, many pilgrims were clearly feeling the effects.Walking back from the Jamarat, one Egyptian in a white veil told AFP: “I can’t talk, the heat is killing me” as sweat trickled down her face. A Sudanese man in his fifties said he had walked 20km (12 miles) in the heat that day, adding: “I am happy but all the energy has left my body.”- 300,000 an hour -Droves of pilgrims, some in wheelchairs, set out from their accommodation in the sprawling tent city in Mina before day-break, taking advantage of the cool temperatures.The ritual commemorates Abraham’s stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God’s order to sacrifice his son.Saudi officials have revamped Jamarat, building concrete walkways and bridges, after a 2015 stampede left 2,300 people dead, the hajj’s worst tragedy.The complex was operating at full capacity, handling up to 300,000 pilgrims an hour, the official Saudi Press Agency said.”Our experience in Mina was easy and simple,” said 34-year-old Wael Ahmed Abdel Kader, from Egypt, after carrying out the ritual at dawn. “We entered and within five minutes we had completed the stoning of the devil at the Jamarat.”Howakita, a pilgrim from Guinea, said: “When I threw the stones I felt at ease. I was truly proud.”A day earlier, pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat, praying and reciting Koranic verses at the 70-metre (230-foot) rocky rise where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his last sermon.Many climbed the mount despite the searing heat, though numbers had thinned by midday following official warnings for them to stay inside between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.- Source of prestige -That was one of a number of measures to avoid over-exposure to the heat, including expanding shaded areas, providing thousands more medics and installing hundreds of cooling units.Saudi officials also cracked down hard to prevent unauthorised pilgrims, who lack access to amenities such as air-conditioned tents and made up the bulk of the victims last year.This hajj season has recorded the lowest number of pilgrims in over three decades, barring the years of Covid restrictions from 2020-2022.Last year, 1.8 million Muslims took part, according to official figures.Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota basis and distributed to individuals by a lottery system.But even for those who can secure them, the high costs spur many to attempt the hajj without a permit, even though they risk arrest and deportation if caught.Saudi Arabia earns billions of dollars a year from the hajj, and the lesser pilgrimage known as umrah, undertaken at other times of the year.The pilgrimages are also a source of prestige and legitimacy for the Saudi monarch, who is known as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina.The end of the hajj coincides with the beginning of Eid al-Adha — an annual feasting holiday marked by the slaughter of an animal — typically a goat, sheep, cow, bull or camel.

La famille de Gaulle remet à l’État le manuscrit de l’Appel du 18 juin

La famille de Gaulle va remettre à l’État le manuscrit de l’Appel du 18 juin, où Charles de Gaulle exhorte en 1940 à résister à l’Allemagne nazie, a indiqué vendredi la maison d’enchères Artcurial.Une cérémonie est prévue le 12 juin chez cette maison d’enchères qui, en décembre, s’était occupée de la vente de la succession du fils aîné, l’amiral Philippe de Gaulle, décédé à 102 ans, en mars 2024.La famille a décidé en outre de faire don de “près de 1.300 documents manuscrits ou dactylographiés du général de Gaulle”, a précisé Artcurial.Le manuscrit de l’appel lancé depuis Londres le 18 juin 1940, sur les ondes de la BBC, avait été exposé pour la première fois avant cette vente aux enchères. Il n’était pas à vendre.Les deux feuilles recto-verso, avec de nombreuses ratures, ont été d’abord conservées par Yvonne de Gaulle, et sont ensuite passées par des coffres de banque.Charles de Gaulle, promu général lors des combats contre l’invasion allemande lancée en mai 1940, quitte la France en avion pour l’Angleterre le 17 juin, étant hostile au choix de Philippe Pétain comme chef de gouvernement et à l’idée d’un armistice.Le 18, à 18h30, à tous les autres Français ayant fait ce même choix, il lance un appel à le rejoindre et il affirme: “Quoi qu’il arrive, la flamme de la résistance française ne doit pas s’éteindre et ne s’éteindra pas”.

Netanyahu annonce la mort de quatre soldats israéliens dans la bande de Gaza (communiqué)

India’s Modi opens strategic railway in contested ‘crown jewel’ Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Kashmir on Friday since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan, opening a strategic railway line to the contested region he called “the crown jewel of India”.Modi launched a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the divided Muslim-majority territory, the centre of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought a four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.”Pakistan will never forget… its shameful loss,” the Hindu nationalist premier told crowds a month since India launched strikes on its neighbour after an attack on tourists in Kashmir.”Friends, today’s event is a grand festival of India’s unity and firm resolve,” Modi said after striding across the soaring bridge to formally launch it for rail traffic.”This is a symbol and celebration of rising India,” he said of the Chenab Bridge which connects two mountains.New Delhi calls the Chenab span the “world’s highest railway arch bridge”, sitting 359 metres (1,117 feet) above a river.While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China.- ‘Our troubles’ -Modi said the railway was “an extraordinary feat of architecture” that “will improve connectivity” by providing the first rail link from the Indian plains up to mountainous Kashmir.With 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, the new railway runs for 272 kilometres (169 miles) and connects Udhampur, Srinagar and Baramulla.It is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, to around three hours.The new route will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air.Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy and took the state under direct rule in 2019.Pakistan’s foreign ministry in a statement said India’s “claims of development… ring hollow against the backdrop of an unprecedented military presence, suppression of fundamental freedoms, arbitrary arrests, and a concerted effort to alter the region’s demography”.Around 150 people protested against the project on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.”We want to tell India that building bridges and laying roads in the name of development will not make the people of Kashmir give up their demand for freedom,” said Azir Ahmad Ghazali, who organised the rally attended by Kashmiris who fled unrest on the Indian side in the 1990s.”In clear and unequivocal terms, we want to say to the Indian government that the people of Kashmir have never accepted India’s forced rule.”More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire during last month’s conflict.The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing, a charge denied by Islamabad.Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged an insurgency for 35 years demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.Modi also announced further government financial support for families whose relatives were killed, or whose homes were damaged, during the brief conflict — mainly in shelling along the heavily militarised de facto border with Pakistan, known as the Line of Control.”Their troubles are our troubles,” Modi said.

Weinstein concedes he acted ‘immorally’ as jury weighs his fate

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein conceded that he acted “immorally” but insisted he did nothing criminal as a jury deliberated on his fate for a second day in his sex assault retrial Friday.Weinstein is on trial again after a New York state appeals court threw out his 2020 convictions, citing irregularities in the presentation of witnesses at the original proceedings.The former movie industry titan’s 23 year prison sentence for the initial conviction was thrown out, but he remains imprisoned for separate offenses.Although Weinstein did not take the stand, he spoke out in an interview aired by FOX5 television Friday as the jury deliberated following six weeks of testimony.”I have regrets that I put my family through this, that I put my wife through this, and I acted immorally…, but never illegal, never criminal, never anything,” he said.Weinstein pointed to comments by his defense attorney Arthur Aidala who suggested the three women who testified against him at trial “had four million reasons to testify, as in dollars.”Judge Curtis Farber issued instructions Thursday to jurors, one of whom had to be swapped out for an alternate after falling ill, before they retired to consider their verdict.He called on the panel to use their “common sense” for this “very important decision” and reminded them that Weinstein was “presumed innocent.”On Friday, the jury panel of 12 requested to rehear the emotional testimony of two of the three women whose allegations are being prosecuted at this trial, former model Kaja Sokola and actress Jessica Mann.The jury must decide whether Weinstein — accused by dozens of women of being a sexual predator — is guilty of sexual assaults in 2006 on former production assistant Miriam Haley and Sokola, and of rape in 2013 of aspiring actress Mann.- ‘Rules apply to him’ -“He raped three women, they all said no,” prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said Wednesday as she recounted the evidence of the three alleged victims of Weinstein who testified at the trial.The Hollywood figure had “all the power” and “all the control” over the alleged victims, which is why jurors should find him guilty, she said.”The defendant thought the rules did not apply to him, now it is the time to let him know that the rules apply to him.”There is no reasonable doubt; tell the defendant what he already knows — that he is guilty of the three crimes.”Weinstein’s defense attorney insisted the sexual encounters were consensual, pointing to a “casting couch” dynamic between the movie mogul and the women.”We don’t want to police the bedroom” except in cases of rape, Blumberg fired back.Weinstein, the producer of box office hits “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has never acknowledged wrongdoing.The cinema magnate, whose downfall in 2017 sparked the global #MeToo movement, has been on trial since April 15 in a scruffy Manhattan courtroom.He is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted in California in a separate for raping and assaulting a European actress more than a decade ago.

Aide humanitaire bloquée à Gaza: ouverture de deux informations judiciaires en France pour complicité de génocide

Deux informations judiciaires ont été ouvertes en France, à la suite de plaintes, pour complicité de génocide et de crimes contre l’humanité contre des Franco-Israéliens soupçonnés d’avoir participé à des actions de blocage de l’aide humanitaire à Gaza entre janvier et mai 2024.A la suite de deux plaintes avec constitution de parties civiles déposées en novembre 2024, le parquet national antiterroriste (Pnat) a indiqué vendredi avoir “pris des réquisitions d’ouverture de deux informations judiciaires des chefs de complicité de génocide, provocation publique et directe au génocide suivie d’effet et complicité de crimes contre l’humanité, entre le 1er janvier 2024 et mai 2024 sur le territoire d’Israël, d’Egypte et de Gaza.”Les deux plaintes avaient été déposées par Avocats pour la justice au Proche-Orient et Coordination des appels pour une paix juste au Proche-Orient pour l’une, et par l’association Union juive française pour la paix (UJFP), notamment, pour l’autre.Dans sa plainte, l’UJFP dénonçait “l’organisation, la participation et l’appel à participer à des actions concrètes de blocage de l’aide humanitaire à destination du territoire occupé de Gaza, notamment en empêchant physiquement le passage des camions aux postes frontières contrôlés par l’armée israélienne”.Selon une source proche du dossier, le réquisitoire introductif Pnat pour cette plainte date du 21 mai, et vise au moins une association et deux personnes physiques pour des faits qui se seraient déroulés aux postes frontières de Nitzana et de Kerem Shalom.Deux juges d’instruction spécialisés du pôle crimes contre l’humanité du tribunal judiciaire de Paris ont été désignés, selon une autre source proche du dossier.- “Décision cohérente” -“Nous sommes très satisfaites de cette décision parfaitement cohérente avec la démonstration factuelle et juridique et les preuves objectives apportées par les parties civiles et attendons de voir si la suite de l’instruction sera tout aussi cohérente”, ont réagi les avocates de l’UJFP, Mes Damia Taharraoui et Marion Lafouge auprès de l’AFP.”La période de prévention”, c’est-à-dire la période à laquelle se sont déroulés les faits visés par l’information judiciaire, “remonte à janvier 2024, à un moment où personne ne voulait entendre parler de génocide”, ont-elles souligné.Leur plainte avec constitution de partie civile pour complicité de génocide et incitation à la commission d’un génocide vise des figures de Israël is forever et Tzav-9, des associations pro-Israël, présentées comme ayant la nationalité française.Celle d’Avocats pour la justice au Proche-Orient et la Coordination des appels pour une paix juste au Proche-Orient (CAPJPO) – Europalestine, en s’appuyant notamment sur des photos, vidéos et prises de paroles publiques, accusaient des responsables d’Israël is forever d’avoir bloqué des véhicules humanitaires.Israël fait face à une pression internationale croissante pour mettre fin à la guerre qui ravage Gaza.L’attaque lancée le 7 octobre 2023 par le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas a entraîné la mort de 1.218 personnes côté israélien, en majorité des civils, selon un décompte de l’AFP basé sur des données officielles.En retour, Israël a lancé une campagne militaire de représailles qui a tué plus de 54.600 Palestiniens, majoritairement des civils, selon des données du ministère de la Santé du gouvernement du Hamas pour Gaza, jugées fiables par l’ONU.Benjamin Netanyahu et l’ex-ministre de la Défense Yoav Gallant sont visés par un mandat d’arrêt de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) pour crime contre l’humanité et crimes de guerre.En janvier 2024, la Cour internationale de justice (CIJ) a appelé Israël à prévenir tout acte de génocide. Le chef des opérations humanitaires de l’ONU a aussi a exhorté mi-mai les dirigeants mondiaux à “agir pour empêcher un génocide”.Un certain nombre d’actions judiciaires ont été entreprises en lien avec ce “génocide” imputé à Israël, par exemple en Suisse, aux Pays-Bas ou encore en Allemagne.En France, vendredi, une grand-mère accusant les autorités israéliennes d’être responsables de la mort de ses deux petits-enfants français à Gaza en octobre 2023 a déposé à Paris une plainte avec constitution de partie civile, contre X, pour meurtre et génocide.

Aide humanitaire bloquée à Gaza: ouverture de deux informations judiciaires en France pour complicité de génocide

Indian police detain four after deadly cricket stampede

Indian police Friday detained four people including a senior executive at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after 11 fans were crushed to death during celebrations for the team’s first IPL title.Hundreds of thousands packed the streets in the southern city of Bengaluru on Wednesday to welcome home their hero Virat Kohli and his RCB cricket team after they beat Punjab Kings in the final of the Indian Premier League.But the euphoria of the vast crowds ended in disaster with a stampede near M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the players were parading the trophy.Karnataka state’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Friday he had directed police to arrest the representatives of RCB, event organisers DNA, and Karnataka State Cricket Association.Police brought Nikhil Sosale, a senior RCB official, and three other representatives of DNA before a judge in Bengaluru, an AFP journalist saw.All four were later arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody, broadcaster NDTV reported. Siddaramaiah had earlier said a first information report, which marks the start of a police investigation, had been “registered against them”.The deaths have sparked widespread anger, and top police officers including the city’s police commissioner have been suspended.Local media reported that the accusations include culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, among others.There was no immediate comment from RCB.- ‘Made to pay’ -Siddaramaiah, who only uses one name, also pointed the finger at some senior police.”These officers appear to be irresponsible and negligent and it has been decided to suspend them,” he said.The dead were aged between 14 and 29, and were among a sea of people who had poured onto the streets to catch a glimpse of their heroes.RCB offered financial aid of $11,655 to each family of the victims, calling the deaths “unfortunate”.Indian media have widely reported the team earned $2.3 million in prize money alone for taking the title.Kohli, who top-scored in the final, said he was “at a loss for words” after the celebrations of a first IPL crown turned to tragedy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the accident “absolutely heartrending”. Siddaramaiah has said that the stadium had a capacity of 35,000 people “but 200,000-300,000 people came”.Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events, such as religious festivals, due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.”The grim truth is that the fan, who drives the commerce of every sport, is the last priority for administrators,” The Hindu newspaper wrote in its editorial on Friday. “Asphyxia was the primary cause of death besides injuries suffered in the stifling rush,” it added. The pioneering IPL sold its broadcast rights in 2022 for five seasons to global media giants for an eye-popping $6.2 billion, putting it up amongst the highest-ranked sport leagues in cost-per-match terms.”The world’s richest cricket tournament can’t cut corners when it comes to fans’ safety,” the Indian Express newspaper wrote in an editorial. “A fitting tribute to those dead, therefore, is not mere signing a cheque but holding those in charge responsible — ensuring that heads roll, and those who dropped the ball Wednesday are made to pay.”