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Umrah season in full swing The South African Travel and Haj Operators Association (Sathoa) has confirmed that the backlog in the issuance of umrah visas has been cleared by Tuesday, paving the way for the umrah season to finally got underway. While the delay last week affected mainly pilgrims from …

Syria pounds protest hubs Syrian forces rained rockets and shells on protest hubs on Monday and killed at least 66 civilians, activists said, as Washington closed its Damascus embassy and Britain recalled its ambassador. The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said the regime was surrounding Homs with tanks ahead of …

The deadly cold snap that has gripped Europe for more than a week strained emergency services, wrought travel chaos and claimed more lives Sunday, bringing to more than 300 the tally of victims. The homeless population has borne the brunt of the deaths, with dozens of transients freezing to death …

74 die in football disaster At least 74 people were killed and hundreds injured when rival fans clashed Wednesday after a football match in the Egyptian city of Port Said, in what FIFA called a “black day for football.” In one of the deadliest incidents in the sport’s history, violence …

Syrian deaths mount Fresh bloodshed swept Syria as the West and Arab League kept up their push for quick UN action to stop the regime’s “killing machine,” but holdout Russia vowed to veto any “unacceptable” proposal. Wrangling at the United Nations on Wednesday came as fierce clashes across Syria killed …

Haj: SA wants bigger quota The South African Haj and Umrah Council (Sahuc) has confirmed that it was among the 80 countries to have applied to the Saudi Haj Ministry for an increased haj quota in 2012. Last year just over 3,100 South African performed haj, which is the smallest …

George Bush: “they hate us because of our freedoms…they envy our lifestyle” America After Dark: Desperate Meth Heads, Rampant Human Trafficking And Millions Of Criminal Predators Searching For A New Victim   When the sun goes down every night, America becomes a very frightening place.  There are communities all over …

Muslims not fed pork: Orion The CEO of Orion Cold Storage has denied that Muslims “had been fed for years”, adding that religion emotion continues to surround the halal meat scandal and Muslim religious bodies were in fact misleading the public. In a statement issued on Monday, Patrick Gaertner indicated …

Haj complaints: 3 days left With only three days left before the deadline expires for dissatisfied hujjaj to file complaints against operators who failed to meet their promises to them, the South African Haj and Umrah Council reports that it still has received no more than five complaints. These relate …

Leave the Children Alone onday, 16 January 2012 By Joharah Baker (source: miftah.org) Last week, six-year old Mohammed Dirbas was arrested by Israeli occupation forces, held and questioned for four hours. If readers did not catch the first sentence, here is a repeat of the key words: six-year old/arrested/held/four hours. …