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Israeli occupier attacks threaten historic Christian presence in West Bank town

In Taybeh, one of the few Palestinian communities with a Christian majority in the occupied West Bank, fears are growing that Israeli occupier attacks on farmland and property could push more families to emigrate, threatening the town’s demographic character and historic Christian presence. Local officials and clergy warned of the impact of rising violence by Israeli occupiers, which has coincided with worsening living and economic conditions in the town. Taybeh, east of Ramallah, is one of the few Palestinian towns in the West Bank that still has a Christian majority, according to church and local accounts. Residents say the town’s Christian roots go back thousands of years. Residents say the attacks have deepened fears in the town, even as they stress their determination to remain on their land. Also Read: Pakistan raises red flag over illegal settlements in West Bank, calls for Israel accountability In recent years, Israeli occupiers have established several ill...
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Workers bedeck Indian town with flowers amid preparations for temple opening

Less than a month before a grand Hindu temple opens, India's northern town of Ayodhya is buzzing with activity as finishing touches are put on a project seen as the centrepiece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's re-election campaign. Once a sleepy temple town in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, Ayodhya has received a new airport and roads in a $6-billion facelift as Modi prepares to inaugurate the temple to Lord Ram, one of Hinduism's most revered deities. A day before Modi was set to inaugurate the airport and a renovated train station, workers decorated the streets with flowers, amid a swarm of police. "Soon our Lord will be in his original place," said Girish Sahastrabhojane, who worked on the design of the temple, which forms part of a sprawling 70-acre (28-hectare) complex of carved pink sandstone and white marble. "Our Lord Ram was born here and the Hindus of India, and also abroad, have been waiting for it since 1992," the engineer involved in the construction told visiting reporters. But Modi's opponents have accused him of stoking religious sentiment to further his political ambitions, and several opposition leaders have declined an invitation to attend the temple's inauguration. Read also: Some Muslims around major India temple fearful ahead of opening On Jan. 22, Modi will pray for the first time before an idol of Lord Ram at the project, which cost more than 20 billion rupees ($240 million), and where more than 4,500 workers are labouring round the clock to complete the ground floor. Wearing hardhats and safety shoes, they worked on Friday to carve pillars and lift stones amid cranes towering over the site, which Sahastrabhojane said could accommodate 125,000 people in a day. Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has long pledged completion of the temple as one of its core aims. He has made its construction an emotive issue in many speeches ahead of next year's general elections, widely expected to secure him a third term. Nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, most of them minority Muslims, broke out in 1992 after a Hindu mob razed the Babri mosque - where the temple will stand - saying it was built on the site of an earlier Hindu temple. In 2019, the Supreme Court ordered that Hindus be allowed to build a temple there, ending years of litigation.

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
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Indian opposition supporters detained ahead of protest at Modi's home

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