LONDON: Britain’s new commissioner for countering extremism dismissed the word “Islamophobia” as a ploy to “shut down disagreement” and argued against use of the term.
Robin Simcox was appointed by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to the interim position last month, but he has proven controversial figure for a number of years.
In a September 2019 article, he called for the UK prime minister to “push back on ‘Islamophobia’” and be “wary” of calls for an internal Conservative Party review into prejudice within the party.
In an earlier piece, he wrote: “Muslims’ concerns about the prejudice they face in society cannot be ignored. Those concerns, however, must be addressed without throwing around accusations of Islamophobia, a word used to narrow the parameters of legitimate debate.”
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LONDON: Iranian security forces have threatened to kill the brother of Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestling champion whose execution for participating in anti-regime demonstrations caused global uproar.
“After executing the innocent athlete Navid Afkari for protesting, authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have now threatened to execute his jailed brother, Vahid Afkari, if he doesn’t agree to make forced confessions. His life is in danger,” said Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian human rights campaigner and founder of the United for Navid Campaign.
The threats against Vahid were also reported by US news organization Voice of America.
Navid was arrested in 2018 alongside his brothers Vahid and Habib for their participation in anti-regime protests.
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - OPEC’s share of India’s oil imports fell to the lowest in at least two decades in the year to the end of March as overall purchases by Asia’s third largest economy fell to a six-year low, data obtained from industry and trade sources showed.
FILE PHOTO: The OPEC logo pictured ahead of an informal meeting between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Algiers, Algeria, September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina/File Photo
Total crude imports by the world’s third-biggest oil importer fell to 3.97 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 2021 fiscal year to March 31, down 11.8% from a year earlier, the data showed.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest buyers of wheat and barley, is preparing to sell some of its grain silos, Bloomberg reported.
State-owned Saudi Grains Organization aims to start selling silo sites as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. SAGO will seek bids from foreign and local firms, said the people. No decisions have been made and SAGO may retain the assets, they said.
Saudi Arabia has increased asset sales as it looks to open up and diversify the economy from oil.
SAGO has been a key part of the Kingdom’s privatization plans. In the past year, it sold all its flour mills to groups of local and international investors for about $1.5 billion. HSBC Holdings Plc advised it on all those transactions.
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