Indian Islamic center warns Muslims against felling trees

A labourer is silhouetted against the setting sun as he bathes on a hot summer day in Jammu on June 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 03 June 2024
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Indian Islamic center warns Muslims against felling trees

  • Much of northern India has been gripped by a deadly heatwave with temperatures above 45° Celsius

LUCKNOW: One of India’s most influential Islamic centers has warned Muslims not to chop down trees or burn fields after harvesting to help stem climate change and surging temperatures.

Much of northern India has been gripped by a deadly heatwave with temperatures above 45° Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), killing scores of people by heatstroke.

“Every Muslim must ensure no green trees and crops are set on fire,” Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahal, chair of the Islamic Centre of India, said.

Mahal, a top scholar in the northern city of Lucknow, issued the non-binding fatwa or ruling on Sunday, saying that the religious duty of Muslims to conserve greenery and water was “stated in the Qur’an”.

“Burning trees and crops is forbidden in Islam and is considered a grave sin,” read the fatwa, published in Urdu and Hindi.

He also urged Islamic clerics to encourage stewardship of the environment during their sermons – telling people to take care of the trees around them.

“Instead of merely planting a sapling symbolically, it is more meaningful to take care of existing plants and trees,” he said, urging Muslims to prevent pollution of waterways and the sea.

Last week, an Indian court urged the government to declare a national emergency over the country’s ongoing heatwave, saying that hundreds of people had died during weeks of extreme weather.

The High Court in the western state of Rajasthan, which has suffered some of the hottest weather, said authorities had failed to take appropriate steps to protect the public from the heat.

India is no stranger to searing summer temperatures but years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.

Researchers say human-induced climate change has driven the devastating heat impact in India and should be taken as a warning.


Police terror probe after man detained off Glasgow flight

Updated 2 sec ago
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Police terror probe after man detained off Glasgow flight

LONDON: Counter-terrorism agents were investigating Sunday after a man was arrested off an easyJet flight as it arrived in the Scottish city of Glasgow, police said.
“We received a report of a man causing a disturbance on a flight arriving in Glasgow around 8:20 am on Sunday, 27 July, 2025,” Police Scotland said in a statement.
“Officers boarded the plane on its arrival and a 41-year-old man was arrested and remains in custody. Enquiries are continuing.”
Unverified videos spreading online appeared to show a man standing up at the back of the plane shouting “Allahu akbar (God is Greatest)” before being tackled to the ground by a passenger.
Police said they were “aware of videos circulating online and these are being assessed by counter terrorism officers.”
EasyJet confirmed in a statement sent to AFP that a passenger had been removed on Sunday from flight EZY609 from Luton to Glasgow “due to their behavior onboard.”
“EasyJet’s crew are trained to assess all situations and act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time,” it added.
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Bangladesh orders 25 Boeing planes as part of push to ease US tariffs

Updated 27 July 2025
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Bangladesh orders 25 Boeing planes as part of push to ease US tariffs

  • Bangladesh is trying to avoid a looming 35 percent tariff hike that has rattled the country’s export sector
  • Alongside aircraft deal, Bangladesh is boosting wheat, soybean oil and cotton imports from the US

DHAKA: Bangladesh has ordered 25 aircraft from Boeing and ramped up imports of key American goods in an effort to defuse trade tensions and bring down the steep tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, a senior official said on Sunday.

The moves are part of a broader strategy to narrow a $6 billion US trade deficit with Bangladesh and avoid a looming 35 percent tariff hike that has rattled the country’s export sector, especially the garments industry which risks losing competitiveness in one of its largest markets.

“We need new aircraft urgently, possibly within the next couple of years,” Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told reporters. “Initially, it was 14 planes — now it’s 25,” he said, referring to an earlier plan to purchase aircraft from the US-based manufacturer.

Alongside the aircraft deal, Bangladesh is boosting imports of wheat, soybean oil and cotton from the United States. A new agreement signed earlier this month will see the country import 700,000 tons of US wheat annually over the next five years.

Officials hope that these steps will help improve trade relations with Washington and soften the impact of the Trump administration’s tariff measures.


UK’s Starmer to recall cabinet from summer break to discuss Gaza, FT reports

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break to discuss the situation in Gaza. (Reuters)
Updated 27 July 2025
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UK’s Starmer to recall cabinet from summer break to discuss Gaza, FT reports

  • The recall comes after Starmer said on Friday the British government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, amid growing pressure on the Labour government to recognize a Palestinian state.
Starmer’s office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the report.
The paper said the move to recall his cabinet of ministers next week was set out on Sunday by Downing Street. The UK parliament and cabinet are currently in a summer recess until September 1.
The recall comes after Starmer said on Friday the British government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would recognize a Palestinian state, a plan that drew strong condemnation from Israel and the United States, after similar moves from Spain, Norway and Ireland last year.
More than 220 members of parliament in the UK, representing about a third of the House of Commons and mostly Labour members, wrote to Starmer on Friday urging him to recognize a Palestinian state.
Successive British governments have said they will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the time is right, without ever setting a timetable or specifying the necessary conditions.
Starmer’s approach to the issue has been complicated by the arrival in Scotland on Friday of US President Donald Trump, with whom he has built warm relations. In foreign policy terms, Britain has rarely diverged from the United States.
Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world.


Crowd surge at Hindu temple in northern India leaves at least 6 dead

Updated 27 July 2025
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Crowd surge at Hindu temple in northern India leaves at least 6 dead

  • The incident in the pilgrimage city of Haridwar occurred after a high-voltage electric wire fell on a temple path, triggering panic
  • Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites

LUCKNOW: A crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in northern India left at least six people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said Sunday.

The incident in the pilgrimage city of Haridwar occurred after a high-voltage electric wire reportedly fell on a temple path, triggering panic among the large crowd of devotees.

Vinay Shankar Pandey, a senior government official in Uttarakhand state where the incident happened, confirmed the deaths and said worshippers scrambled for safety following the incident.

Some 29 people were injured, according to Haridwar city’s senior police official Pramendra Singh Doval.

Thousands of pilgrims had gathered at the Mansa Devi hilltop temple, which is a major site for Hindu devotees, especially on weekends and festival days, local officials said. They were celebrating the holy month of Shravan.

Someone in the crowd shouted about an electric current on the pathway around 9am.

“Since the path is narrow and meant only for foot traffic, confusion and panic spread instantly,” said local priest Ujjwal Pandit.

“A wall along the path is also suspected to have worsened the crowd bottleneck,” he added.

Police and emergency services rushed to the scene and launched a rescue operation. The injured were transported to a nearby hospital, officials said.

“The situation is now under control,” Pandey told the Associated Press by phone from Haridwar. “But the panic led to tragic consequences.”

Authorities are investigating what caused the overhead wire to collapse, and whether proper crowd management protocols were in place.

The town of Haridwar draws millions of visitors each year. The Mansa Devi temple, which is accessible by cable car or foot, is a major pilgrimage site that draws thousands of visitors daily during Shravan.

Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes overwhelming local infrastructure and security measures.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the victims and their families in a social media post and wished for a fast recovery for those who were injured.


India nearing free trade deal with Oman, minister says after UK pact

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal speaks to reporters in New Delhi on July 26, 2025. (X/Piyush Goyal)
Updated 27 July 2025
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India nearing free trade deal with Oman, minister says after UK pact

  • Negotiations between India and Oman formally began in November 2023— Deal expected to be similar to India’s comprehensive trade agreement with UAE

NEW DELHI: India’s free trade agreement with Oman is almost finalized, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has announced, only days after New Delhi signed a long-awaited trade pact with the UK.
Negotiations between India and Oman on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement formally began in November 2023, with the first round in New Delhi and the second in Muscat.
When the talks concluded in March 2024, Oman sought revisions on market access terms and the final signature was postponed.
“We are in negotiations at an advanced stage with Oman — almost finalized,” Goyal told reporters on Saturday evening, two days after he signed a multibillion-dollar free trade deal with the UK.
“The free trade agreement between India and UK, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, clearly reflects the growing relevance and importance of India at the world stage.”
Under the pact, about 99 percent of Indian goods will get duty-free access to the UK market, and bilateral trade is expected to increase by over $34 billion in the next decade from the current $54 billion.
India has free trade agreements with more than 10 countries, including comprehensive economic partnership agreements with South Korea, Japan, and the UAE.
It is also in talks with the EU to conclude an FTA by the end of 2025, and also with Australia, with an interim deal signed in 2022 and a full one under negotiation.
If India finalizes its pact with Oman, it will be its second with a Gulf Cooperation Council country after the 2022 CEPA with the UAE.
While Oman is one of New Delhi’s smaller GCC trading partners — trailing behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with bilateral trade volume accounting for about $10 billion — it remains strategically important, particularly in energy and logistics.
The FTA could further deepen these ties, Anil Wadhwa, New Delhi’s former envoy to Muscat, told Arab News.
“India and Oman both are set to benefit a lot from this FTA ... Oman and India have a trade volume between $8 billion and $10 billion annually, and 700 Indian companies have invested in Oman,” he said.
“Oman was keen on an FTA on the lines of the UAE. The main negotiations took less than 90 days. Since then, Oman wanted further concessions in petrochemicals and in marble ... It is understood that these negotiations are now nearing a closure.”
Economic cooperation plays a crucial role in India-GCC relations, with exports to India representing 71 percent of the bloc’s total exports.
India has been pursuing a free trade pact with the whole bloc for the past two decades. A framework agreement on economic cooperation was signed in 2004, but two rounds of negotiations, in 2006 and 2008, were inconclusive.
The agreement would give India access to a large and affluent market for its goods and also concessions on visas in a region, which is a second home for about 9 million Indian expat workers.
In January, GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohammed Al-Budaiwi said that the grouping would look forward to starting free trade negotiations with India in 2025.