#Egypt Pakistan relations

[quotesfrommyreading]

In November, world leaders at the most recent big climate meeting, known as COP27, agreed to set up a “loss and damage” fund, bankrolled by rich countries, to help poor countries harmed by climate change. Now comes the hard part of figuring out the details: This week, a special United Nations committee set up to plan the fund will meet for the first time, in Luxor, Egypt. Delegates will start negotiating which nations will be able to draw from the fund, where it will be housed, where the money will come from, and how much each country should pitch in. At this point, the fund is “an empty bucket,” says Lien Vandamme, a senior campaigner at the nonprofit Center for International Environmental Law, who is in Egypt for the negotiations. “Everything is still open.” Other meetings will follow, and the committee will make its recommendations to the world this fall in Dubai at COP28.

If the past several decades of climate negotiations are anything to go on, the loss-and-damage fund will be poorly endowed, or filled with money that got moved over from some other fund and relabeled, or in the form of loans rather than grants. If that happens, it will likely be perceived by poorer nations as yet another inadequate response by the same countries that messed up the climate in the first place. And those that are wronged are unlikely to simply suffer in silence.

The loss-and-damage fund would be separate from what is currently the dominant form of climate funding that flows to the global South: money to help low-income nations reduce their emissions. And it would also be separate from “adaptation,” money to help areas prepare for disasters or avoid the harms of warming. Instead, the new fund would be provided by rich countries to compensate poor countries that have already suffered losses. In a word, it would be reparations.

The agreement to establish a fund for this purpose was initially opposed by some rich countries. The U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said in the fall that helping the developing world cope with climate change is “a moral obligation”—but he wanted that help to flow through existing funds and institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Developing countries, however, demanded a new, dedicated fund, and they ultimately prevailed. Almost all the details were left to be finalized at COP28 in Dubai, after the committee has worked to iron out specifics. But by agreeing that a loss-and-damage fund should exist, countries seem to be reluctantly acknowledging that they bear some moral accountability for climate change. “It is very clear that developed countries have a historical responsibility,” says Liane Schalatek, a climate-finance expert at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Washington, D.C., who is also in Luxor this week.

Funds are especially needed for the “day after” problems—the ongoing work of rebuilding and recovering after a flood or a heat wave is over and the emergency foreign aid has dried up, Mohamed Nasr, Egypt’s delegate to this week’s meeting, told me. People don’t just need tarp tents and bowls of rice. They need “social support, a way to return livelihoods,” Nasr said.

But how much is enough? One analysis suggests that the true scale of the financial losses due to climate change outside of the West may be as much as $580 billion a year by 2030, and some groups are considering a figure in that ballpark to be the minimum acceptable amount. Another analysis estimated that America owed $20 billion for global climate losses in 2022, a number that would rise to about $117 billion annually by 2030. Nasr demurred on naming specific amounts, suggesting that the workings of the fund be negotiated first. The needs are enormous, and mentioning figures at this point would only “scare people,” he said. “If you put a number on at the beginning, the focus will only be on the number,” he told me. But he did add that “it will be in the billions.”

Given that the standing UN goal for all types of climate funding from rich countries to poorer ones—$100 billion—has never been met, filling the loss-and-damage fund with hundreds of billions of dollars feels like an almost impossible lift. “It will be a huge challenge to get countries to agree on the amount that is needed,” says Leia Achampong of the European Network on Debt and Development. For many delegates from the global South, a key demand is that the fund not come in the form of loans. Many poor countries, including Pakistan, are already dealing with debt, which is affecting their ability to provide for their own citizens. More loans would just add to this debt burden. “If a country is in debt, you have the World Bank and the IMF calling for austerity, and the first thing that usually goes is the social safety net,” Schalatek told me.

  —  The West Agreed to Pay Climate Reparations. That Was the Easy Part

#emma marris #the west agreed to pay climate reparations. that was the easy part #current events #climate change #global warming #environmentalism #climate justice #economics #politics #debt #international relations #2022 united nations climate change conference #cop27 #2023 united nations climate change conference #cop28 #egypt #pakistan #lien vandamme #john kerry #liane schalatek #mohamed nasr #leia achampong #center for international environmental law #heinrich böll foundation #eurodad

[starlightshadowsworld]

I get why people are talking about the whole submarine titanic thing.

It's awful.

But I'm here to address a different boat related tragedy.

One that absolutely breaks my heart.

Where a boat of migrants sank off the coast of Greece.

This boat had 300 Pakistanis and more than 500 Syrians.

The boat was carrying migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Egypt who were fleeing their countries dire economic conditions.

And we're trying to reach relatives in Europe.

What happened with the submarine is a terrible thing.

I just wish this story got the same coverage.

One is about billionaires the other about people escaping economic disasters.

Both about people losing their lives.

#Pakistani #Desi #desiblr #afghanistan #Greece #Syria #World news #Titanic #titanic submarine

[bijoumikhawal]

Talking about the Qabā'. Again.

The last time I talked about the Qaba was in another post where i was very excited to have found a miniature from either Syria or Egypt that matched an extant piece of fabric from a close time period. Today I'm going to talk about the garment itself more, and it's relatives. The impetus for this is that a few months ago, I was scrolling through hanfu blogs- if you've read the article I published in Egyptian Migrations, you know I have an interest not just in Egyptian fashion, but how other cultures navigate fashion, both in their unique subcultures and traditional styles. While doing so I came across the tieli (貼裏), and quite liked the look of it, so I searched up the garment and began looking more at it. As I was scrolling through the many pretty pictures, I realized hey- I've seen this before. This looks a lot like that coat with the red foliage pattern!

Turns out this was because they're related.

They're not the only ones either- the Qabā' (as both Farsi and Arabic call it), the Tieli, the Indian Jama, the Korean Cheolik, and more, all bear a resemblance to each other. Covergent evolution happens plenty of course, but in this case there's something of an established link. In fact while doing my research, I found a paper specifically about this garment family (The Dress of the Mongol Empire: Genealogy And Diaspora of the Terlig by Woohyun Cho, Jaeyoon Yi, and Jinyoung Kim), though without explicit mention of the Qabā'.

The name and garment Tieli come from the Mongolian Terlig and Jisün (also called a Zhama (诈玛 or 詐馬), establishing a possible linguistic connection to the Jama) during the Yuan dynasty. Like many Mongolian traditional garments, it's well suited to horseback riding, which which what many Mamluk depictions also show the Qabā' being worn during. It could be round or cross collar (the combination of the two is unique to the Qabā'). The key features of the garment were a knee to calf length skirt that was gathered or pleated, a close fitting bodice cut separate from the skirt, close fitting sleeves, a corded waist which usually lead into the ties that closed the garment. According to the aforementioned trio, the garment was originally made of hides, and the waist detail found in the original Terlig, lost in other cultures renditions, is an indication of this. The Terlig, known before this point, was introduced to China, India, and Korean when the Monglian Empire was an active political entity in the 13th century and onwards, and this is the case for this style of Qabā' as well. During the 13th century, the Ilkhanate was established in the former territory of the Khwarazmian Empire, after a political incident where the Shah ordered the execution of a group of merchants sent by the Mongolian Empire lead to a long military conflict. The Ilkhanate went on to control large portions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and the Caucasus, as well as Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan. Ultimately the Ilkhanate tried, but never did, conquer Egypt, which was ruled by the Mamluks at the time.

However, it did leave a cultural influence behind. Reference to this origin for this style of qaba can be found in one of the two names for the Qabā': al-aqbiya al-tatariyya or qabā' tatarī, meaning the Tatar coat or Tatar way of wearing a coat. Tatar, in this instance, is being used to refer to Mongolians. A similar distinction can be found in the Jama, where Muslims fasten it on the right in the Mongolian style (brought to my attention by the paper mentioned before). The tatarī is fastened in the same way, ties on the wearer's right of the body. The other style of Qabā' (al-aqbiya al-turkiyya) is the same, but fastens on the opposite side of the body. The Mamluks preferred the tatarī, but it was not the exclusive style worn. Along with this, some Qabā' fastened in the center front.

The Jisün was a type of Terlig, made of one color of silk and gold, worn as a robe of honor by officials during the Yuan dynasty. During the later Ming dynasty, it became the dress of certain military officials. It had different varieties for seasons and social status. It also progenitated the Yesa (曳撒), which was longer and more widely worn than the Jisün. The Feiyufu (飞鱼服) was a Ming variant of the Tieli, and another type of honor robe. The Qing dynasty Chaofu also seems to have taken the terlig into account when it was designed.

The Cheolik has a crossover collar, pleated skirt, and may have quite long, wide sleeves. Political marriages with Mongolian courts likely helped this garment take root. This garment is still worn today as Korea, like China, has revitalized its traditional clothing. It is mostly by women today as far as I can tell, though historically it was a masculine garment. It has a longer hem than the Terlig. It also sometimes had a higher waistline.

The Jama was introduced by the Mughal dynasty, and unlike the other garments listed here which typically used rectangles and triangles for constructing clothes, the one pattern I've seen for it taken from an extant garment (as opposed to being a guess) shows a skirt made of gores and set in sleeves with a gusset. Another example, laid flat, shows rectangular sleeves with a gusset, but the skirt cannot be determined. It was later renamed to sarbgati. It typically has a crossover fastening, though I have seen one that closed in the center front. The ties are especially prominent and decorated, which overall is not the case in the rest of the garment family. Gold bands on the sleeves and collar are sometimes found as decoration. It also has a longer hem and higher waistline than the Terlig.

In my previous post I noted a similarly to this robe and the Central Asian and Persian robes I'd seen from a different century, but was hesitant to connect them. Now I'm sure of a connection. The waist seam is confirmed! There are still several stylistic differences, though:

1. The Qabā', in Syrian and Egyptian depictions, typically combines a round neckline with the cross over collar. The Persian Qabā' typically does not have a round neckline.

2. The Qabā' usually has what looks like a gathered skirt, not a pleated one, as the Tieli does. The Terlig sometimes has a gathered skirt as well, as does the Jama.

3. The Syrian and Egyptian Qabā' is decorated with strips of gold, not with a cloud collar. The Persian Qabā' often has a cloud collar, which it inherits from the Terlig, and I have seen an Angarkha from Lahore with a cloud collar as well. It sometimes has bands. The Seljuk Qabā' sometimes has bands, and sometimes has a rank badge (more commonly found in Chinese court dress). As an aside, I recently found a British drawing (from life, presumably) of an Egyptian envoy in a garment similar to an Angarkha as well...

4. The Qabā' in Syrian and Egyptian depictions often retains the knee or calf length good for horse riding that many other garments in this family moved away from.

5. The Qabā' most likely does not have the corded waist found in the Terlig. There is a gold band around the waist in some depictions that could be a braided waist, but could also be a belt. Unfortunately I don't know of any extant examples from Syria or Egypt that would clarify matters. There is an example which might be Persian that does show this corded waist. Most depictions have no waist detail other than an indication of a waistline.

As far as I know, while this robe spread a little into the Balkans and Eastern Europe (the cloud collar has appeared in some Christian Iconography and a few examples of Terlig like historical garments exist), it did not spread much further west or south of Egypt. However, given the Qabā' has been excluded from discussions of the Terlig's many sons already, it's possible I simply don't know about it, as further iterations in Africa would be excluded as well. As always, I welcome people bringing their own findings to the table.

Further reading: The Dress of the Mongol Empire: Genealogy And Diaspora of the Terlig by Woohyun Cho, Jaeyoon Yi, and Jinyoung Kim

Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange by Eiren L. Shea

https://sartorialegypt.wordpress.com/2022/12/03/a-brief-discussion-of-a-mamluk-robe/ - prev post

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O480307/gown/ - the cloud collar angarkha

https://www.newhanfu.com/6021.html - Discussion of the tieli and yesa

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41917645 - Terlig discussion

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43957434 - general discussion of Yuan clothing with a nice example of a terlig

https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/silk-road-themes/mouvable-heritage-and-museums/robe-decorative-braided-waist-band-0 - Terlig example

A Preliminary Study of Mongol Costumes in the Ming Dynasty by Luo Wei

https://m.terms.naver.com/entry.naver?cid=46671&docId=563301&categoryId=46671 - Cheolik

Arab dress: a short history; from the dawn of Islam to modern times by Yedida Stillman

https://lugatism.com/outer-garments-in-the-mamluk-sultanate/#3-_Qaba_qba - the Qaba and other dress in the Mamluk era

https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/collection/artifact/robe-AKM677 - a robe which may be Persian or Central Asian with the corded waist

Additionally, blogs like @ziseviolet and @fouryearsofshades post about hanfu, including the tieli and yesa.

#cipher talk #Qabā' #egyptian fashion #egyptian #egyptian history

[lgbtqiamuslimpedia]

Queer Glossary of Muslim/Islamic World:

This is a list of gender & sexuality related terms, used in Muslim/Islamic World.

Mithli/Mithly - postmodern Arabic term for queer folks

Mithliya - feminine form word “Mithli”, refers to lesbians, sapphics, queer women

Mu’khanath/Mukhannas/Mukhannath/Mukhannathun/Mukhannathin - archaic Arabic term for gender variants, trans woman, trans femme, individuals of non-normative gender and/or sexuality

Mukhannith - classical Arabic term for transsexual woman

Mutarajilat/Mutarajjil/Mutarajila - archaic Arabic term for butch,trans man, trans-masculine. It is masculine equivalent of word “Mukhannath”

Mustargil/Mustarjil/Mustarajil/Mustarajilla/Mustarajjila- vernacular term for trans male/trans-masculine folks in Marsh Arab

Mabun/Maabun - archaic Arabic term for an eunuch homosexual, passive homosexual in Medieval Islamic Arab.

Khanith/Khaneeth/Xanith/Makhanith - vernacular term for transgender femme, gender non-confirming, queer in Arabian Peninsula & Gulf countries. The Khanith is also a third gender/sex community of Arabian peninsula.

Khuntha/Khunsha - archaic Arabic term used to describe intersex & ambiguous gender individuals in Muslim World.

Khuntha Mushkil - term for non-binary & gender non-confirming intersex individuals.

Khasi/Khasee - archaic term for eunuchs in Arabic/MENA Islamic empires

Khusra/Khusray/Khusaray/Khusara - Pejorative word for eunuch transgender, gender non-confirming individuals in Pakistan & Northernmost India. The word derived from Punjabi

Murat/Muraat/Morat/Moorat - vernacular term for transgender, eunuch, gender-diverse folks in Pakistan. It is also used in some parts of Afghanistan.The word Murat is itself a portmanteau of Mard (meaning man) and Aurat (meaning woman)

Hijra/Hijre/Hijjara/Hijarah/Hijada – all-encompassing term for gender & sexual diverse folks in the Indian subcontinent. The term includes trans femme, mtf transsexual, masculine woman, effeminate gay man, cisgendered drag queen, androgyne, transvestite, queer, eunuch, non-binary & intersex individual

Khawaal - term for MTF transvestite dancers,Effeminates in Pre-mordern Egypt.

Köçek - archaic Turkish term for effeminate male, androgynous male gender fluid dancers in Ottoman society. The term also refers to feminine boys regardless of their sexual orientation. “Cengi” is female counterpart of Köçek.

Khawaja sara/Khwaja sara/Khwaja sira/Khawajasira/Khwaja sera/Khwaja sarayi/Khaja sarah - Persian archaic term used to describe a range of gender identities, including trans femme, gender fluid, non-binary, effeminate (mukhannas), eunuch, trans-masculine, and trans-feminine individuals in South Asia. It goes beyond being just a gender or sexual identity; it is also associated with gender spirituality or Sufi tariqah. This term was historically used to designate trans and non-binary individuals in Medieval Muslim empires. Nowadays, the term khawaja sara/khwajasara has become a subset of Hijra

Kothi - pejorative slang term for effeminate men, gay transvestites, drag queen, passive homosexuals in Indian subcontinent. In pakistan, kothis are referred as “Zenana”.

Panthi - slang term for dominant, hard, masculine gay & bisexual male in Bangladesh, Pakistan & India. This term derived from to Hijra Farsi or Ulti Bhasha

Parikh/Paarikh - slang term refers to boyfriend & husband in Bangladesh. This word is mostly used among LGBTQ+ population

Dohpartaa or Dohpartah - informal, slang term for bisexual in Bangladesh & West Bengal. The word derived from the Hijra Farsi or Ulti language.

Mamsuh - Arabic term for intersex person, who is agender or genderless.

Hum Jins, Hum jinsi, Ham-jense, Ham-jens – homosexual in Urdu, Persian, Tajik language

Ham-jins bâz/Ham-jens bâz – a derogatory term for gays in Farsi-speaking communities.

Ham-jens-garâ - slurr for homosexual in Farsi

Ham-jins garo - pejorative term for homosexuals in Tajikistan

Do jens garâ/Doh jense garâ - term for bisexual in Farsi

Mak Nyah - term for transgender woman, MTF transsexual in Malaysia. The term “Mak Nyah” is widely used among trans women, mukhannath/ trans-feminine folks. The term was first coined in late 1980s.

Pak Nyah - informal,vernacular term for trans men in Malaysia.

Waria - vernacular term for Transgender & trans woman in Indonesia.Warias are considered as third gender in Indonesia.

Priawan - vernacular term for trans-masculine in Indonesia.

Bissu - a term used to describe non-binary or two spirit identity in Bugie Tribe of Indonesia

Boyah/Boyat - a term used in persian gulf states to describe masculine women,butch, & AFAB gender non-confirming

Burnesha - vernacular term used to describe trans-masculine,butch in Ottoman empire of balkan & Albania.

Chokri/Chukri - term for drag queens, transvestites, transfeminine folks who are associated with “Alcap” folk song & sufi devotional music. This cross-gender cultural phenomenon can be found in Bangladesh & North-west Bengal. Chukri artists may identify themselves as straight, bisexual, gay, transsexual. Muslim Chukris are devotee of sufi saint Madar Pir/Madari Pir.

Zenana/Jenanah - vernacular term for effeminate male,MTF transvestite in Bangladesh,Pakistan,Northern India.The term Zenana derived from Urdu or Farsi, which means feminine.

Bachaa posh - pejorative term for FTM crossdresser, butch in Afghani dialect

Bacha Bareesh - pejorative vernacular term for effeminate boy, passive homosexual,transgender folks in Afghanistan. Bacha Bareesh are effeminate boys,MTF drag queens who take part in Bacha bazi.

Gej – non-derogatory term for gays in Balkan regions. It is used in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania.

Dygjinishëm - Albanian term for bisexual

[zvaigzdelasas]

The Saudis had infuriated the US last year by siding with Russia to cut oil production in a move that Biden feared would spike domestic inflation. Biden told Saudi Arabia there would be "consequences" for their decision, echoing campaign trail rhetoric in which he had pledged to make the crown prince a "pariah" over the assassination of dissident Jamal al-Khashoggi. But Crown Prince Mohammed's decision to draw closer to China, the US' arch global rival, has shifted attitudes in Washington — and it looks like Biden has made a u-turn.

The US has replaced its threats with lucrative contracts for the crown prince as part of a high stakes power game being waged over dominance of the region. Biden last weekend dispatched his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, to Saudi Arabia, for discussions with Saudi officials. He was the most prominent US official to visit the kingdom since Biden himself made the trip last summer. [...]

"For the Biden administration, challenging China's rising influence in the Middle East and other parts of the world is a high priority," Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Washington DC based consultancy Gulf State Analytics told Insider. In an indication of the rapidly-shifting power dynamics in the region, Sullivan offered the Saudis lucrative infrastructure investment to improve links between railways and ports in Gulf states and India, one of the world's fastest growing economies and a geopolitical rival of China, reports say, [...]

According to The Wall Street Journal, the crown prince believes that by playing rival superpowers against each other, he'll be able to secure valuable concessions from the US in areas such as nuclear technology.

10 May 23

The current reality supports a framework for the ongoing, unprecedented alignment between India, Israel, and the Sunni Arab states (UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt) to balance the rising Eurasian powers of the region and prepare a US shift towards the Indo-Pacific. Two major obstacles were the Arab-Israeli conflict and the India-Pakistan conflict. As the world is drifting towards a multipolar system, pragmatism is prevailing and legacy relationships with no strategic purpose are running out of time — paving the way for the Abraham Accords in 2020 and more interest-based relations between India and Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. [...]

Saudi Arabia and India established a Strategic Partnership Council in 2019 for cooperation in defense, security, counterterrorism, energy security, and renewable energy. Both sides aim to enhance overall defense cooperation by expanding military-to-military engagements, such as joint exercises, expert exchanges, and industry cooperation. The current robust relationship between Saudi Arabia and India signals a departure from Riyadh's longstanding strategy of leaning towards Pakistan in South Asia. This shift can be attributed to the pragmatic approaches adopted by the two largest economies in the region and their increasing global strategic and economic importance.

12 May 23

[beardedmrbean]

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday executed a U.S. national convicted of torturing and killing his father, state media reported, bringing to at least 19 the number of foreigners put to death this year.

The death sentence for Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef was carried out in the Riyadh region, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The Gulf Kingdom is frequently criticized for its prolific use of capital punishment, which human rights groups say undermines its bid to soften its image through a sweeping "Vision 2030" social and economic reform agenda.

A court found that Naseef, whose age was not given, beat and strangled his Egyptian father to death and mutilated him after he died, and that he also used drugs and attempted to kill another person, SPA said.

The mode of execution was not specified, but Saudi Arabia has in the past often used beheading when implementing the death penalty.

A State Department spokesperson told CBS News on Wednesday that the U.S. "are aware of reports of the execution of a U.S. citizen in Saudi Arabia."

The spokesperson added that "We are monitoring the situation and have no further comment at this time."

Saudi Arabia was the world's third most prolific executioner last year, Amnesty International has said.

More than 1,000 death sentences have been carried out since King Salman assumed power in 2015, according to a report published earlier this year by the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights and the Britain-based group Reprieve.

A total of 91 people — 19 of them foreigners — have been executed so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on state media reports.

As well as the U.S. national, those put to death came from countries including Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Yemen.

Last year's announced figure of 147 executions was more than double the 2021 figure of 69.

Executions for drug crimes resumed in 2022, ending a moratorium that lasted for almost three years.

The 2022 total included 81 people put to death on a single day for offenses related to "terrorism," an episode that sparked an international outcry.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, King Salman's son and the de facto ruler, has said on multiple occasions that the kingdom was reducing executions.

In a transcript of an interview with The Atlantic magazine published by state media in March 2022, Prince Mohammed said the kingdom had "got rid of" the death penalty except for cases of murder or when someone "threatens the lives of many people."

#nunyas news

[nicklloydnow]

“Altogether, the Biden administration received Congressional approval for $40bn in aid for Ukraine for 2022 and has requested an additional $37.7bn for 2022. More than half of this aid has been earmarked for defense.

These sums pale into insignificance when set against a total US defense budget of $715bn for 2022. The assistance represents 5.6% of total US defense spending. But Russia is a primary adversary of the US, a top tier rival not too far behind China, its number one strategic challenger. In cold, geopolitical terms, this war provides a prime opportunity for the US to erode and degrade Russia’s conventional defense capability, with no boots on the ground and little risk to US lives.

The Ukrainian armed forces have already killed or wounded upwards of 100,000 Russian troops, half its original fighting force; there have been almost 8,000 confirmed losses of armored vehicles including thousands of tanks, thousands of APCs, artillery pieces, hundreds of fixed and rotary wing aircraft, and numerous naval vessels. US spending of 5.6% of its defense budget to destroy nearly half of Russia’s conventional military capability seems like an absolutely incredible investment. If we divide out the US defense budget to the threats it faces, Russia would perhaps be of the order of $100bn-150bn in spend-to-threat. So spending just $40bn a year, erodes a threat value of $100-150bn, a two-to-three time return. Actually the return is likely to be multiples of this given that defense spending, and threat are annual recurring events.

(…)

Meanwhile, replacing destroyed kit, and keeping up with the new arms race that it has now triggered with the West will surely end up bankrupting the Russian economy; especially an economy subject to aggressive Western sanctions. How can Russia possibly hope to win an arms race when the combined GDP of the West is $40 trillion, and its defense spending amounting to 2% of GDP totals well in excess of $1 trillion when the disproportionate US defense contribution is considered? Russia’s total GDP is only $1.8 trillion. Vladimir Putin will have to divert spending from consumption to defense, risking social and political unrest over the medium term, and a real and soon-to-be present danger to his regime. Just imagine how much more of a bargain Western military aid will be if it ultimately brings positive regime change in Russia.

Second, the war has served to destroy the myth that Russian military technology is somehow comparable to that of the US and West. Remember that Ukraine is using only upgraded second generation US technology but is consistently beating whatever Russia’s military can deploy. Wars are shop windows for defense manufacturers; any buyer in their right mind will want the technology made by the winner. Putin’s misjudgment has merely provided a fantastic marketing opportunity for its Western competitors.

(…)

Third, the revelation that Russia’s defense industry is something of a Potemkin village also generates other strategic and diplomatic wins for the US. Countries eager to secure defense capability to meet their own threats – think of Turkey, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia — might have opted for cheaper, “value” Russian defense offerings. However, with the quality/capability of this equipment now being questioned because of poor battlefield performance, they will likely be vying to acquire a better US kit. But this will require improved diplomatic relations. This is currently evident in the improved US–Pakistan relationship, with Pakistan securing upgrade kits for its F-16s.

Fourth, helping Ukraine beat Russia surely also sends a powerful signal to China that the US and its allies are strong and determined when challenged on issues of core importance. This may raise questions in the minds of Xi Jinping and the People’s Liberation Army generals about their ability to win a conflict against countries armed with US/Western military technology, for example in Taiwan. Surely Russia’s difficulty in winning the war in Ukraine will cause second thoughts in China about the wisdom and perhaps the viability of efforts to conquer Taiwan.

Fifth, the war in Ukraine is encouraging and accelerating the energy transition in Europe, but also Europe’s diversification away from Russian energy. Europe is desperately trying to source alternative energy supplies, and US liquefied natural gas (LNG) is proving to be the obvious beneficiary.

In conclusion, on so many levels, continued US support for Ukraine is a no-brainer from a bang for buck perspective. Ukraine is no Vietnam or Afghanistan for the US, but it is exactly that for Russia. A Russia continually mired in a war it cannot win is a huge strategic win for the US.

Why would anyone object to that?”

“Russia has raised more than $13 billion in just one day as the cost of Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine keeps mounting.

Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that the Russian Federation had conducted its largest debt issuance on Wednesday.

Its intelligence report also said that Russia's declared "national defence" spending in 2023 is estimated to be about 5 trillion rubles ($84 billion), or more than 40% higher than forecast.”

#russia #ukraine #war #nato

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Expanding BRICS: more countries interested in joining group after Ukraine invasion

The predecessor of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) was BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) established by Goldman Sachs in 2006. BRIC was the acronym for the four countries, which were deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development. Behind BRIC was the idea that China and India will, by 2050, be the world’s dominant suppliers of manufactured goods, while Brazil and Russia will become dominant as suppliers of raw materials.

With induction of South Africa in December 2010, BRIC became BRICS whose original aim was the establishment of an equitable, democratic and multi-polar world order. However, some speculated BRICS had become a somewhat political organization since South Africa with a population of less than 50 million was too small compared to other BRICS members. But South Africa maintains it would ensure that the rest of the African continent is advantaged by its BRICS membership and continues to benefit from the BRICS countries in the priority areas identified by the African Union (AU) like energy, information and communications technology, rail and road infrastructure, agriculture and food security.

The BRICS mechanism aims to promote peace, security, development and cooperation. It also aims at contributing significantly to the development of humanity and establishing a more equitable and fair world. The 14th BRICS summit held on June 23-24, 2022, was under the theme “Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development”.

The Ukraine conflict has resulted in calls for expanding the NATO and the EU. The India, Israel, the UAE and the US (I2U2) grouping formed in 2021 has been recently energized and the US is making all out efforts to integrate with the Middle East/West Asia. While Australians are undergoing nuclear submarine courses in Britain, Ashley Tellis of Carnegie Endowment has proposed an India-France-US (INFRUS) pact, under which the US would “midwife an Indo-French arrangement” which would “help India to avail of the superb French naval nuclear propulsion technology to build up its own sea-based deterrent”. Is there any need for the US to midwife Indo-French relations or is this because of the American failure to midwife China-Taiwan relations?

In the ongoing game of groupings at the global level, it was natural that many countries would want to join BRICS, as is already happening in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Earlier there were reports that Armenia, Iran and Suadi Arabia were keen to join BRICS but there was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia after the visit of POTUS Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia was announced. Now Iran and Armenia have formally applied to join BRICS. Interestingly, a defence delegation from Armenia recently visited India and showed interest in India-made surveillance drones and other military hardware. In 2020, Armenia signed a $40 million contract with India to import the Swathi weapon locating radars developed by the DRDO and Bharat Electronics Limited.

As per recent reports, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have expressed interest in membership of the BRICS. Both Argentina and Iran had confirmed their attendance at the 2022 BRICS summit upon invitation by host nation China, and applied to join the bloc as full members.

Continue reading.

#brazil #politics #russia #ukraine #india #south africa #international politics #brics #Bangladesh #Indonesia #Mexico #Turkey #Egypt #Nigeria #Sudan #Syria #Saudi Arabia #pakistan #argentina #iran #armenia #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

[kp777]

By Andrew Freedman, author of Axios Generate

Axios

Nov. 7, 2022

An array of climate statistics released over the weekend provide a sobering backdrop for global climate negotiations kicking off in Egypt.

Why it matters: The new data provide the most complete and up-to-date look at climate conditions through 2022, depicting a world of worsening impacts.

As COP27 gets underway, our planet is sending a distress signal," said UN secretary-general António Guterres, in a video message Sunday.

Zoom in: The report, timed for the start of the COP27 negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, finds that the past 8 years have been the world's warmest on record.

The provisional "State of the Global Climate" report notes that the pace of sea level rise is increasing, with 10% of the increase since 1993 occurring in just the past two and a half years.

"Although we still measure this in terms of millimeters per year, it adds up to half to one meter per century and that is a long-term and major threat to many millions of coastal dwellers and low-lying states," said World Meteorological Organization head Petteri Taalas, in a statement.

The dominant cause is now melting land-based ice from Greenland, Antarctica and mountain glaciers, studies show.

By the numbers: Glaciers in the Alps lost a record 3 to 4 meters of ice this summer as Europe saw a series of intense heat waves.

For the first time on record, no snow lasted through the summer season in Switzerland, the report states.

The Greenland ice sheet's string of years of losing more ice than it gained extended to 26 years.

In addition, the first instance of rainfall during September was recorded at the top of the Greenland ice sheet, a possible sign of the melt season extending later in the year.

Between the lines: The report finds that the world is on track to see its fifth or sixth-warmest year on record this year, with global average temperatures currently running about 1.15°C (2.07°F) above the preindustrial average.

The authors at the WMO, a UN agency, tie the lack of a record warmest year in 2022 to the third-straight year of cooling La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

The next El Niño year is likely to be the world's warmest, and some early projections show a possible El Niño developing in 2023.

Ocean heat content reached record levels in 2021, with recent studies showing such trends continuing and increasingly resulting in extreme weather events over land.

The report touches on a litany of climate change-related disasters this year, from flooding in Pakistan to drought and extreme heat in China.

What they're saying: Guterres on Monday called for a "climate solidarity pact" between rich and poor nations to limit the severity of global warming in a COP27 speech.

#climate solidarity pact #cop27 #sea level rise #extreme weather #glacial melt #ocean warming #climate change #climate crisis #environment

[usafphantom2]

IMAGES: Chinese military transport aircraft Y-20 makes its debut in air shows in Europe

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 04/09/2022 - 19:00in Air Shows, Military

A large Y-20 military transport aircraft of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLAAF) participated in Austria in one of the largest air shows in Europe, AirPower.

This is the first time that the Y-20 has been shown in the static area to the public in Europe, a movement that experts believe will show the tremendous achievements made by the Chinese aviation industry and the PLA Air Force.

The Austrian Armed Forces released on Wednesday a video showing the arrival of the Y-20, which participated in the Airpower22 air show, after Colonel Shen Jinke, spokesman for the PLA Air Force, announced on Monday that the aircraft would fly to Europe and participate in an international air show for the first time.

Organized by the Austrian Armed Forces and announced as the largest air show in Europe, the two-day Airpower22 began on Friday, with the participation of 200 aircraft from 20 countries and regions, according to the event's website.

The participation of the Y-20 in the event occurs after large groups of Y-20 flew to Serbia in April to deliver air defense missiles acquired by the Eastern European country, which attracted great attention in Europe.

By participating in an international air show in Europe, the PLA Air Force shows its transparency and confidence, and the Y-20 screening will allow European visitors to the event to better understand China's achievements in aviation and realize that the PLA Air Force is a peacekeeping force, analysts said.

There are few countries in the world that can independently develop large military transport aircraft such as the Y-20, which reflected the world-class level of the Chinese aviation industry, said Wei Dongxu, a Beijing military expert.

Being able to travel such a long distance from China to Austria also demonstrated the capabilities of the Y-20, Wei said.

The Y-20 made frequent appearances on the world stage and became China's latest "business card" that highlights the country's commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities and obligations as a great power, analysts said.

Among the foreign missions of the Y-20 was a mission to deliver disaster relief supplies to Tonga in January, after the island country in the South Pacific was hit by a volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami. The plane also carried out a mission to deliver anti-epidemic material to the Solomon Islands in February, as well as a mission to deliver relief supplies to Afghanistan in June, after an earthquake. In a more recent development, the aircraft delivered relief supplies to Pakistan at the end of August, after a flood hit the country.

China could also offer the Y-20 as an export-ready product, now that the country has made advances in the development of domestic engines, Wei said.

Thanks to its excellent cost performance, the Y-20 will be more competitive in the international market than its Russian and North American equivalents, the Il-76 and the C-17, Wei said.

Tags: AirPowerAirshowMilitary AviationPLAAF - China Air ForceXian Y-20

Previous news

Israel finally confirms purchase of four KC-46A aircraft, aiming at potential attack on Iran

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[krill-joy]

Medical Masks Versus N95 Respirators for Preventing COVID-19 Among Health Care Workers

Abstract

Background: It is uncertain if medical masks offer similar protection against COVID-19 compared with N95 respirators.

Objective: To determine whether medical masks are noninferior to N95 respirators to prevent COVID-19 in health care workers providing routine care.

Design: Multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04296643).

Setting: 29 health care facilities in Canada, Israel, Pakistan, and Egypt from 4 May 2020 to 29 March 2022.

Participants: 1009 health care workers who provided direct care to patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

Intervention: Use of medical masks versus fit-tested N95 respirators for 10 weeks, plus universal masking, which was the policy implemented at each site.

Measurements: The primary outcome was confirmed COVID-19 on reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

Results: In the intention-to-treat analysis, RT-PCR–confirmed COVID-19 occurred in 52 of 497 (10.46%) participants in the medical mask group versus 47 of 507 (9.27%) in the N95 respirator group (hazard ratio [HR], 1.14 [95% CI, 0.77 to 1.69]). An unplanned subgroup analysis by country found that in the medical mask group versus the N95 respirator group RT-PCR–confirmed COVID-19 occurred in 8 of 131 (6.11%) versus 3 of 135 (2.22%) in Canada (HR, 2.83 [CI, 0.75 to 10.72]), 6 of 17 (35.29%) versus 4 of 17 (23.53%) in Israel (HR, 1.54 [CI, 0.43 to 5.49]), 3 of 92 (3.26%) versus 2 of 94 (2.13%) in Pakistan (HR, 1.50 [CI, 0.25 to 8.98]), and 35 of 257 (13.62%) versus 38 of 261 (14.56%) in Egypt (HR, 0.95 [CI, 0.60 to 1.50]). There were 47 (10.8%) adverse events related to the intervention reported in the medical mask group and 59 (13.6%) in the N95 respirator group.

Limitation: Potential acquisition of SARS-CoV-2 through household and community exposure, heterogeneity between countries, uncertainty in the estimates of effect, differences in self-reported adherence, differences in baseline antibodies, and between-country differences in circulating variants and vaccination.

Conclusion: Among health care workers who provided routine care to patients with COVID-19, the overall estimates rule out a doubling in hazard of RT-PCR–confirmed COVID-19 for medical masks when compared with HRs of RT-PCR–confirmed COVID-19 for N95 respirators. The subgroup results varied by country, and the overall estimates may not be applicable to individual countries because of treatment effect heterogeneity.

Primary Funding Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, World Health Organization, and Juravinski Research Institute.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 2.21 (after 1920)

1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution. 1921 – Rezā Shāh takes control of Tehran during a successful coup. 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue. 1929 – In the first battle of the Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong against the Nationalist government of China, a 24,000-strong rebel force led by Zhang Zongchang was defeated at Zhifu by 7,000 NRA troops. 1937 – The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War. 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea and damage the USS Saratoga. 1945 – World War II: the Brazilian Expeditionary Force defeat the German forces in the Battle of Monte Castello on the Italian front. 1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America. 1948 – NASCAR is incorporated. 1952 – The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free". 1952 – The Bengali Language Movement protests occur at the University of Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). 1958 – The CND symbol, aka peace symbol, commissioned by the Direct Action Committee in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom. 1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna. 1972 – United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations. 1972 – The Soviet uncrewed spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon. 1973 – Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108 people. 1974 – The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt. 1975 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison. 1994 – Aldrich Ames is arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for selling national secrets to the Soviet Union in Arlington County, Virginia. 1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. 2013 – At least 17 people are killed and 119 injured following several bombings in the Indian city of Hyderabad. 2022 – In the Russo-Ukrainian crisis Russian President Vladimir Putin declares the Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic as independent from Ukraine, and moves troops into the region. The action is condemned by the United Nations.

#Events

[lgbtqiamuslimpedia]

A Jihad for Love (2008)

Director - Parvez Sharma

Producer - Sandi Simcha Dubowski

Cinematography - Parvez Sharma, Berke Baş,David W. Leitner

Writer - Javed Haider Zaidi

Cast - Imam Muhsin Hendricks,Arsham Parsi,Maryam,Abdellah,Mazen,Ferda,Qasim,Ahsan,Amir,Mojtaba,Kiymet,Sana,Maha,Pedram Abdi (Payam)

Languages - Arabic,Farsi,Urdu,Bengali, Hindi,English,French,German,English,Turkish,etc

Genre - •LGBTQ •Islam •Documentary

Year of Release - 21 May,2008

Box office - $105,651

Awards - •Best Documentary Award,MIX BRASIL •Best Documentary, Image+Nation Film Festival •Best Documentary,The Tri-Continental Film Festival,India • GLAAD Media Award •Teddy Award,etc

A Jihad for Love (preceded by a short film called In the Name of Allah) is an award-winning international documentary on Homosexuality & Islam.It took total six years to make this groundbreaking documentary.Parvez Sharma took the risk to film this documentary in most dangerous country (like Islamic Republic of Iran,Iraq, Saudi Arabia,Pakistan,Egypt).Homosexuality is a punishable crime in most Muslim World.

The work that Sharma started with this film has become a staple in many books on Islam and at U.S. University libraries.The website Faith in Equality put it at number 9 in a list of LGBT films about faith.IMDb rates the film at 13 on its list of 58 titles under the category of "Best documentaries on religion, spirituality & cults".The film first premiered at the TIFF in 2007, and has been screened to great acclaim at several film festivals around the world.The film went on to win 15 other international awards.

Plot

At starting it shows a glimpse of Islam across the globe.The film first featured Hendrick Muhsin, a South African,Pakistani Gay & Muslim.He is also the first Out Gay Imam of Africa.Filmmaker Parvez got into the deep of Hendicks's personal life struggles,his understanding of Islam & reconciliation of intersecting identities.

Mazen, an Egyptian effeminate muslim was arrested in 2001, in a gay nightclub named Queen Boat.He was beaten,forced to stand trial twice on "debauchery" charges & sentenced to a total of 4 years in prison, where he was raped.He eventually moved to Paris.Mazen also has left his families & friends in Egypt.

Sana is a Black Lesbian refugee, & a victim of FGM.She has a deeper understanding of Islam & told Parvez that Queerness is not against Islam.Sana didn't have any kind of sexual relation with any women.But she had intimate loving relations with women.Like others, she came to France as a refugee.Sana befriend with Maryam & Mazen.

Maryam is Moroccan-born queer womxn who lives in Paris.Her girlfriend Maha lives in Egypt.Both lovers met each other on Bint-al Nas - a meeting site for Arab LBTQ womxn.Maryam still believes that she deserves punishment for her lesbian sexual relationship.Both have survived abusive marriages and can only share their love for each other in private.Maryam & Maha go on a shared journey of search and discovery of female homosexuality.In Al-Azhar, they discover an old bookstore where they find a copy of the Fiqh al-Sunnah(The Laws of the Prophet).In the heart of an ancient mosque in the Citadel,they discover beautiful Islamic calligraphy as they declare their impossible love for each other.

Amir, an Iranian gay shia who has respect for Imam Hosseini.He sacrificed his life for Allah & reconciling his muslim faith.While in Iran, he was persecuted under the charges of illicit sexual conduct,illicit mannerism & received 100 lashes.After being brutally beaten and tortured in the police custody.The judge also threatened Amir that he should be punished by stoning.However he was sentenced to flogging.He told Sharma that Allah helped him to escape this traumatic situation.He fled to Turkey as soon as well.There he met 3 gay refugees - Arsham,Payam,Mojtaba.Mojtaba, another (Persian) gay muslim who ran away from Iran,due to his same sex marriage ceremony in 2005.

Ferda & Kiymet are a happy couple in Turkiye.Kiymet belongs from a conservative family.In her early Kiymet's marriage was fixed with a man.Kiymet's marriage ended up at divorce.Then she found Ferda, her soulmate.Ferda's mom is very supportive & tolerant of sexuality.Ferda is a devout sufi queer muslim, who honors Rumi - a prominent sufi icon for both LGBTQ+ & Straight Muslims.

Ahsan & Qasim are queer platonic friends.Ahsan is a Sunni Muslim & Qasim is a Shia Muslim.Both men, belongs from poor backgrounds do not adopt the western peronae of ‘gay’ and instead rely on vernacular terms.Ahsan & Qasim are part of transvestite,transgender community called Zenana,Kothi in Northern India.Most of these community hide themselves from public.Ahsan,Qasim find a safe space in his community.While Qasim is struggling with his sexuality in heteronormative society.

The filmmaker also documented the diverse tolerance of sexuality in sufi traditions (Pakistan,India & Turkey).

Is it the first film on Islam & Homosexuality?

''A Jihad for Love'' is called world's 1st film on Islam & Homosexuality.A Jihad for Love would be an international feature documentary film rather than world's first film on LGBT muslims.However there are several films that focused on LGBTQ muslim or Queerness in Islam.For Example:

Road to Love (2001)

Act of Faith (2002)

Haremde dört kadin (1965)

Hammam al-Malatily (1973)

Köçek (1975)

Ihtiras Firtinasi (1984)

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

Marcides (1993)

Istanbul Beneath My Wings (1996)

Hamam (1997)

Lola & Billy the Kid (1999)

Production

Bismillah (In the name of Allah) was considered as an early working title for this documentary.Among muslims,the word Bismillah is very auspicious & used before beginning actions,speech,writing.But the tittle was not considered as the final title of this film due to controversy.

A Jihad for Love is produced by Halal Films, in association with the Sundance Documentary Film Fund,Channel 4 (UK),ZDF (Germany),Arte (France-Germany),Logo (US) & SBS Australia.The director & producer Parvez Sharma & co-producer Sandi Dubowski raised more than a million dollars over a 6 years period to make the film.

In an interview with The NY Times,Parvez Sharma said that he "would shoot touristy footage on the first 15 minutes & the last 15 minutes of a tape", with interviews for documentary in between, to avoid having his footage seized at customs.He compiled 400 hours of footage from a dozen countries ranging from Iraq to Pakistan to the UK.The nature of the work placed him at considerable personal risk.He adopted hardcore guerrilla film-making tactics,pretending to be a tourist in one country,a worker for an AIDS charity in another country.Wherever he went,he asked his queer friends to keep copies of footage and destroy the tapes once he had successfully smuggled the masters out of the country.

During his filmmaking Parvez traveled several countries including Pakistan, Iraq, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, USA, UK, Turkey, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,[...].

Interviews

In an interview with NY Times magazine,Parvez Sharma said,"Being gay and Muslim myself,I knew that this film had to be about us all coming out— as Muslims. It's about claiming the Islam that has been denied to us." With a target audience of "faithful Muslims," he undertook a variety of outreach tactics, including leafleting mosques,blanketing MySpace,screening in Astoria for 15 key progressive Muslim leaders.In an interview to Der Spiegel, Sharma explained the significance of the title: "I'm not looking at jihad as battle.I'm looking at the greater jihad in Islam, which is the jihad as the struggle with the self.I also thought it was really compelling to take a word that only has one connotation for most -- to take that, reclaim it and put it in the same phrase as love,which is universal.I really think it explains it very well.

Film Screening

A Jihad for Love first premiered in Toronto International Film Festival(TIFF) in September 2007.At its premier,the director was given a security guard for safety reasons.After this film festival A Jihad for Love got huge applaud internationally.A Jihad for Love film premiered as the opening film of Panorama Documente of the Berlin Film Festival in February 2008.

The film was screened in The Rio Film Festival,Brazil on September 2007,Morelia Film Festival,Mexico, on October 2007,The Sheffield DocFest on November 2007,London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on March 2008,Melbourne International Film Festival on July 2008,Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival on March 2008,etc.A Jihad for Love's first premier in African continent was The Out in Africa Film Festival in Johannesburg and Cape Town,November 2007. On April,2008 A Jihad for Love film was successfully screened at Istanbul International Film Festival.It was the first time that the film allowed to screen in a muslim-majority country.Film also screened in Q! Film Festival of Indonesia.Although singapore banned the film from festival in 2008 due to its sensitive subject.

Popularity

A Jihad for Love film's sale and broadcast on NDTV, South Asia's largest network in 2008 would have a "remarkable" impact on this LGBTQ cause. "NDTV's broadcast has in effect made the film available to over one billion viewers in India,Bangladesh,Pakistan, & large portions of the Middle East and Africa.The various distributors and their Total Rating Points in European television, the Indian/South-Asian sale with its claimed footprint of 15 billion viewers, the theatrical release & the purportedly large numbers of Netflix viewers made the filmmakers and the TRP experts arrive at a number of 8 million total viewers calculated over a period of four years for this documentary.

International Muslim Dialogue Project

Immediately after the film's theatrical launch around the USA,Parvez & Sandi launched the International Muslim Dialogue Project on 2008.The aim of the project was to organize screenings of the film in Muslim Capitals.Sharma called it the "Underground Network Model" of film distribution.He invented this model sending unmarked DVD's of the film with friends & colleagues to Muslim capitals across the world with full permission to sell pirated copies.Some of the boldest were Beirut,Cairo,Karachi,eight cities in Indonesia & Kuala Lumpur

The film was screened privately screened in Iran,Palestine,Bangladesh and Somalia.

#gay muslim #lgbtq muslim #homosexuality in islam #homosexual muslim #muslim gay #lesbianmuslim #lesbian muslim #arab #asian #qtpoc #documentary

[advancegkquiz]

General Awareness|Practice Paper for SSC CGL Tier-1|SET-25

1. Which relation is wrong ?

(a) 1 cal = 4.18 j (b) 1 A°= 10^-10 (c) 1u = 10^-6 (d) 1 mile = 1.12 km

2. An ant is moving on thin (negligible thickness) circular wire. How many coordinates do you require to complete the motion of the ant ?

(a) One (b) Two (c) Three (d) Zero

3. When two cubes of ice are pressed on each other , what is the cause of their being one ?

(a) Van Der Waals Force (b) Dipole Moment (c) Hydrogen Bond Formation (d) Covalent Attraction

4. The earliest Surat factories were established by the

(a) Portugese (b) Dutch (c) English (d) French

5. The proposals for the partition of the India into India and Pakistan were contained in the

(a) Cripps Mission proposals (b) Cabinet Mission proposals (c) Prime Minister Atlee's statement of 20th feb,1947 (d) Mountbatten Plan of 3rd june,1947

6. In the Indus Valley Civilisation, the unit of weights and measurements was

(a) six (b) eight (c) twelve (d) sixteen

7. Vimanas in the temple architecture was a feature of the

(a) Cholas (b) Rashtrakutas (c) Chalukyas (d) Pallavas

8. Which Greek ruler was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya ?

(a) Megasthenese (b) Seleucus (c) Alexander (d) Darius

9. Asteroids of Planetoids circle between

(a) Venus and Earth (b) Mars and Earth (c) Mars and Jupiter (d) Jupiter and Saturn

10. Lakshadweep Islands are situated in the

(a) Arabian Sea (b) Palak Strait (c) Indian Ocean (d) Bay of Bengal

11. Which state in India is the largest producer of natural rubber ?

(a) Assam (b) Kerala (c) Tamil Nadu (d) Karnataka

12. The correct sequence of the given countries in progressively increasing order of their standard times in relation to the Greenwich Mean Time is

(a) Egypt,Iraq,India,Japan (b) Egypt,India,Iraq,Japan (c) Iraq,Egypt,India,Japan (d) Iraq,India,Egypt,Japan

13. Chemical weathering is most active in regions characterised by

(a) hot and dry climate (b) cold and dry climate (c) hot and wet climate (d) cold and wet climate

14. What is the total number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha ?

(a) 69 and 30 respectively (b) 84 and 47 respectively (c) 89 and 50 respectively (d) None of the above

15. Which of the following committees are the Parliamentary Financial Committees ?

(a) Public Account Committee (b) Estimates Committee (c) Committee on Public Undertakings

(a) a and c (b) a and b (c) b and c (d) None of these

16. What is 'Zero Hour' ?

(a) when the proposals of the opposition are considered

(b) when matters of utmost importance are raised

(c) interval between the morning and afternoon sessions

(d) when a money bill is introduced in the Lok Sabha

17. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is elected by

(a) Attorney-General of India (b) Solicitor-General of India (c) Chief Justice of India (d) Chief Election Commissioner

18. 42nd Amendment included additions to the directive principles related to three of the following matters.

1. Participation of workers in the management of industry. 2. Minimising inequality in income and status. 3. Protection of the environment. 4. Free legal aid to the poor.

(a) 1,3 and 4 (b) 1,2 and 3 (c) 1,2 and 4 (d) 2,3 and 4

19. Currency notes of the RBI are backed by certain assets.These assets must not be less than a prescribed amount of

(a) Gold and foreign securities (b) Gold (c) Government securities (d) Gold , foreign securities and Government securities

20. Which of the following passes lies in the sutlej valley ?

(a) Nathu la (b) Jelep la (c) shipki la (d) shera bathanga

21. Which of the following steel plants is not managed by Indian Steel Authority Limited ?

(a) Selaam Rust Resistant Steel Plant (b) Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant (c) Alloy Steel Plant , Durgapur (d) Bokaro Steel Plant

22. Lepcha tribe is found in which of the following state ?

(a) Meghalaya (b) Sikkim (c) Mizoram (d) Manipur

23. The famous Bronze image of Nataraja is a fine example of which art ?

(a) Chola Art (b) Gandhar Art (c) Mathura Art (d) Maurya Art

24. One of the observatories established by Sawai Jai Singh was at

(a) Agra (b) Indore (c) Ujjain (d) Jodhpur

25. Edward Jenner had Invented

(a) inoculation of tuberculosis (b) inoculation of AIDS (c) inoculation of Polio (d) inoculation of smallpox

           ANSWERS

1. D 2. A 3. D 4. C 5. D 6. D 7. A 8. B 9. C 10. A 11. B 12. A 13. C 14. B 15. D 16. B 17. C 18. D 19. D 20. C 21. A 22. B 23. A 24. C 25. D 

Read More

#Advanced GK quizzes #Competitive exam quizzes #General knowledge practice #Exam preparation quizzes #Current affairs quizzes #gk quiz #education #study motivation

[brookston]

Holidays 1.5

Holidays

American Divorce Day

Apple Howling Day

Carnival begins (Old Bohemia)

Carnaval Blancos Negros, Day 2: The Day of the Blacks (Colombia)

Dia de la Toma (Spain)

Eve of Wonder

Fair Deal Day

Fathers' Day (Оци; Serbia)

501st Legion Day (UK)

Flint Day (French Republic)

FM Radio Day

George Washington Carver Day

Get on the Computer Day

International Declutter Day

International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin, China)

Joma Shinji (Kamakura, Japan)

Kappa Alpha Psi Day

Little Cold begins (Chinese Farmer’s Calendar)

Monopoly Game Day

Mr. Ed Day

National Bird Day

National Day of Dialogue

National Don’t Talk Day

National Ellen Day

National Screenwriters Day

National Second-Hand Wardrobe Day

Nellie Ross Day (Wyoming)

Night of the Magic Camel (Southern Syria)

Red Hackle Anniversary Day of the Black Watch

Review Your Wrestling Holds Day

Right of Self Determination Day (Pakistan)

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney; Australia)

Tucindan (Serbia, Montenegro)

Turn Up the Heat Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Can Opener Day

Granny Smith Day

National Keto Day

National Whipped Cream Day

Sausage Day (UK)

Strawberry Day (Ichigo No Hi; Japan)

Take the Cake Day

Whipped Cream Day

1st Friday in January

Gals Night Out [1st Friday]

Thermopolis Day (Wyoming) [1st Friday]

Independence & Related Days

Ajdinland (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Monarchy of Craztonia (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Pitchfork Union (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Seirlandia (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Avian Day (Pagan)

Befana (Ancient Roman Goddess)

Burning of the Evergreen (Pagan)

Charles of Mount Argus (Christian)

The Eve of Epiphany (Christian; Transition Between Christmas & Carnival Season)

Feast of Poseidon (Ancient Greece)

Festival of Kore (Greek Goddess of Good Fortune & Zeal)

Festival of Lares Compitales (Ancient Rome)

Festival of Pyrotechnics

Gerlac of Valkenberg (Christian; Saint)

Hayao Miyazaki (Jayism)

Hoots the Owl (Muppetism)

International Sarcasm Day (Pastafarian)

John Neumann (Catholic Church)

Ludwig II Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lycurgus (Positivist; Saint)

Mungday (aka Hung Mung’s Day; Discordian)

Nicolas de Staël (Artology)

Noche De Reyes (Three Wise Men; Mexico)

Nones of January (Ancient Rome)

Old Christmas Eve

Simeon Stylites (Latin Church)

Telesphorus, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Trettondagsafton (Epiphany Eve; Sweden)

Tucindan (Old Serbian Pagan Folk Festival)

Twelfth Day of Christmas

Twelfth Night

Twelve Holy Days #11 (Aquarius, the lower limbs; Esoteric Christianity)

Twelvetide, Day #12 (a.k.a. the Twelve Days of Christmas or Christmastide) [until 1.5]

Ullr Festival (Norse)

Umberto Eco (Jayism)

Verbal Abuse Day (Pastafarian)

The Voyage of Hathor to See Her Seven Sisters (Ancient Egypt)

Yves Tanguy (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Lucky Day (Philippines) [4 of 71]

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [4 of 32]

Prime Number Day: 5 [3 of 72]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [4 of 60]

Premieres

All My Children (TV Soap Opera; 1970)

Any Rags? (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1932)

Armed Forces, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1979)

Buddy the Gob (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Cavalcade (Film; 1933)

Chica Chica Boom Chic, by Carmen Miranda (Song; 1941)

Come Dance with Me!, by Frank Sinatra (Album; 1959)

The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies, by Clark Ashton Smith (Short Stories; 1935)

Desire, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1976)

Dog, Cat and Canary (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1945)

The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy (Novel; 1958)

Giasone, by Francesco Cavalli (Opera; 1649)

Greetings From Asbury Park, by Bruce Springsteen (Album; 1973)

Happily N’Ever After (Animated Film; 2007)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (UK TV Series; 1981)

In the American Grain, by William Carlos Williams (History Book; 1925)

Lion Down (Disney Cartoon; 1951)

Lyrical Ballads, by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Book of Poetry; 1798)

Maze Craze (Atari 2600 Video Game; 1980)

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (TV Series; 1976)

Nixon (Film; 1996)

The Shannara Chronicles (TV Series; 2016)

Stop! In The Name Of Love, recorded by The Supremes (Song; 1965)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Novel; 1886)

The Swiss Summer, by Stella Gibbons (Novel; 1951)

Three Little Bops (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

Tiger Trouble (Disney Cartoon; 1945)

The Tortoise and the Hare (Disney SS Cartoon; 1935)

Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett (Play; 1953)

What’s Sweepin’ (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1953)

Who’s Kitten Who? (WB LT Cartoon; 1952)

The Wiz (Broadway Musical; 1975)

Today’s Name Days

Emilia, Johann (Austria)

Emilijana, Gaudencije, Miljenko, Radoslavl (Croatia)

Dalimil (Czech Republic)

Simeon (Denmark)

Lea, Leana, Liia (Estonia)

Lea, Leea (Finland)

Édouard (France)

Emilia, Johann (Germany)

Syglitiki, Theoni, Theopemptos (Greece)

Simon (Hungary)

Amelia (Italy)

Sīmanis, Zintis (Latvia)

Gaudentas, Telesforas, Vytautas, Vytautė (Lithuania)

Hanna, Hanne (Norway)

Edward, Emilian, Emiliusz, Hanna, Symeon, Szymon, Telesfor, Włościbor (Poland)

Sinclitichia, Teona, Teotempt (Romania)

Andrea (Slovakia)

Amelia, Emiliana, Juan, Simeón, Telesforo (Spain)

Hanna, Hannele (Sweden)

Apollinaria, Teon (Ukraine)

Ladarius, Ladd, Laird, Lamont, Lane, Tania, Tanya, Tatiana, Tatyana, Tawni, Tawnya, Tia, Tiana, Tianna, Tonya (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 5 of 2024; 361 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 1 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 24 (Wu-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 24 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 23 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 5 White; Fryday [5 of 30]

Julian: 23 December 2023

Moon: 35%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 5 Moses (1st Month) [Lycurgus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 16 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 15 of 31)

#calendar #Holidays

[summarychannel]

Exclusively | America sends its first warning to Egypt after the recent military move by the Egyptian army in Sinai against Israel

Updates on the Al-Aqsa Flood operation presented in this episode of Samri Channel. The episode focuses its time on the report published by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal about Russia’s request to recover the engines of attack helicopters that Cairo had obtained from Moscow. The episode considers the leak of this information a veiled threat from the administration of US President Joe Biden to the Egyptian state not to undertake such actions. This step exposed American intelligence.

The Wall Street Journal had revealed that Russia is working to recover parts of defense systems that it exported to countries such as Pakistan, Egypt, Belarus and Brazil, as it tries to compensate for the huge amounts of weapons that were depleted in the war in Ukraine. The newspaper explained, in its report, that Russia had requested crucial helicopter engines from Egypt, Brazil, Pakistan, and Belarus. She added that last April, a delegation of Russian officials visited Egypt and asked the head of the Egyptian regime, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to return more than a hundred helicopter engines to Russia, which Moscow needed.

The same source added, citing information from three knowledgeable people, that Sisi agreed, while deliveries of about 150 engines are expected to begin within the next month. This was at a time when the official spokesman for the Egyptian government refused to comment. In the same context, the newspaper explained that over the course of a year, a number of talks were held between Russia and officials from Pakistan, Belarus, and Brazil to try to obtain engines for Russian attack and transport aircraft, adding: “Russia spent decades building its arms trade, and now they are secretly returning to Their customers are trying to buy what they sold to them.”

 Military analyst, Konrad Muzyka, said, “Russia is seeking to regain the initiative in the battle with Ukraine, although it is not clear whether the new supplies will give Moscow the resources it needs to increase its attacks,” noting that: “We have no knowledge of the extent to which they are using the stockpile to increase the pace of attacks.” Attacks or just continuing at the current pace?

The source adds, “Russia has also requested from Pakistan at least four engines for previously sold Mi-35M helicopters,” while the Pakistani Foreign Ministry denied that it had received a request from Moscow. Also, “Moscow asked Brazil to buy back 12 Mi-35M military helicopter engines.” While an official at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The country rejected this, in accordance with its policy of not providing weapons to any side in the conflict.”

The episode also links these new leaks to the leaks of American soldier Jack Teixeira last April, part of which was published by the American newspaper The Washington Post related to Egypt. He said that American intelligence intercepted signals from Cairo that reported the existence of an Egyptian plan to support Russia with 40,000 Grad missiles. According to the document, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ordered the Minister of Military Production, Engineer Major General Mohamed Mohamed Salah El-Din, to produce about 40,000 Saqr 45 missiles, which is a modified version of the Russian B-21 Grad missile, to support Moscow in the war that has been raging in Ukraine for more than a year. .

 The response was immediate from Salah al-Din, who confirmed his intention to operate Military Factory 18 in Abu Zaabal around the clock to meet Russian needs. The Washington Post quoted an American official, whose name was not revealed, that the American administration has not yet monitored the implementation of the plan by Cairo. The same newspaper also quoted Chris Murphy, a representative in Congress from the US Democratic Party, as saying that the White House must review its relationship with the Egyptian regime if the latter’s intention to support the Russian side with missiles is proven true.

#Egypt #Palestine #Gaza

#youtube