KABUL // Protests over the burning of a Quran in the United States engulfed Afghanistan for a third day yesterday, leaving at least two Afghan policemen dead and another 20 people injured in demonstrations in the country's eastern and southern provinces.
The two policemen were killed during demonstrations in Kandahar city, the Taliban's spiritual homeland in southern Afghanistan, just a day after at least 10 people were killed in similar protests there. The circumstances surrounding the two Kandahar policemen's deaths remained unclear late yesterday.
In Jalalabad, in the east, students peacefully blocked the city's main motorway to the capital Kabul in protest.
Since Friday, 23 people, including seven foreigners, have been killed across Afghanistan in protests against the Florida pastor Terry Jones's burning of the Quran on March 20.
The most recent riots were set off by a particularly violent demonstration in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif after prayers on Friday.
Afghans protesting against the Quran burning stormed a United Nations compound and killed seven of the organisation's foreign staff, including four Nepalese guards. Five Afghan protesters also died.
Idris, a 34-year-old patron at a Kabul restaurant, said yesterday: "I didn't know a man in the United States had burnt the Quran until there were demonstrations in Mazar. I still don't know if he actually burnt it, or just said he was going to burn it."
The UN's top envoy in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, speaking to reporters on Saturday, said the UN employees who died in Friday's attack "were killed when they were running out of the bunker.
"One was pulled out alive because he pretended to be Muslim," Mr de Mistura said, according to the Associated Press.
The US president, Barack Obama, released a statement on Saturday condemning the violence, calling the killing of innocent people "an affront to human decency and dignity".
In Kabul, where protests were expected yesterday but failed to materialise, the streets of the bustling capital were abnormally quiet as international aid agencies and other organisations with foreign staff restricted their movement around the capital.
With about 4.5 million Afghan residents, Kabul is also home to thousands of foreign workers. Despite the rising violence elsewhere in the country, Kabul has managed to remain relatively safe, both for Afghans and foreigners.
"It feels like we're all waiting for chaos to break out here in Kabul," one western aid worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said. But for the city's Afghan inhabitants, yesterday was business as usual.
Policemen joked casually at checkpoints, while men sipped tea in the shade of shop fronts. Women lunched at the park, and farmers sold produce on the dusty streets.
One shop owner, Salqai, 42, said: "We are Muslims, and we have the right to demonstrate to say this [the burning of the Quran] is an insult to our religion. But we want peace and security. This is the capital, this is not Kandahar. We don't want these kinds of problems."
Kabul residents were uniform in their condemnation of the burning of the Quran, calling it "cowardly" and a "crime against humanity" and demanding that the United States arrest and punish Mr Jones.
"Whoever burnt the book, he should be punished," Idris, at the restaurant, said. "And if America won't punish him, give him to the Muslims. Let us decide."
Another local resident, an engineer at an electronics shop, said the protests were not only about the Quran, but were the result of years of humiliation at the hands of foreign armies.
"There are foreigners here, soldiers, and we don't know what their motives are," Ishoq, the engineer, said. "They are bombing villages, killing civilians. What other man would accept this in his own country?"
Despite the anger, local residents largely rejected attacks against foreigners as retaliation.
"When someone burns our holy book, we are ready to sacrifice," said 25-year-old Farid, an Afghan policeman on duty in Kabul. "But if someone attacks innocent foreigners in the name of Islam, I will push him back. We should demonstrate, but we should not kill."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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