Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Saturday in support of Asian-Americans after eight people, six of them East Asian women, died in shootings at three spas in the state last Tuesday.
The incident, in which four people died in Atlanta and four in the town of Ackworth, followed a year of mounting anti-Asian violence in the US, which community leaders say is due to Asian-Americans being blamed for the coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.
Crowds of people wearing masks, waving American flags and carrying posters that read “We are not the virus” and “Stop Asian Hate”, stood in front of the golden-domed Georgia State Capitol building on Saturday.
“The women who perished ... I see my family in them,” Timothy Phan from Port St Lucie, Florida, who drove eight hours to attend the rally, told CNN. “I feel like far too often, we're just erased.”
Georgia senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats elected in January, attended the rally in support of the demonstrators and led them in a moment of silence for the victims.
“We gather today to honour and remember those who lost their lives and to demand justice,” Mr Ossoff said. “Let us build a state and a nation where no one lives in fear because of who they are or where they or their family come from.”
Robert Aaron Long, 21, who is white, is charged with four counts of murder.
He told investigators sex addiction led him to violence. Police say it is too early to speculate on his motive.
Hyun Jung Grant was among those who died at Gold Spa in Atlanta. Her son Randy Park set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for himself and his brother. The siblings’ other relatives all live in South Korea.
“She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I,” Mr Park wrote.
The shootings prompted an outpouring of grief, from the local community in Georgia to the halls of US Congress. Since Tuesday, mourners have piled bouquets and signs, lit candles and said prayers outside the three spas.
US politicians decried the spike in anti-Asian violence in a congressional hearing on Thursday, at which Democratic Representative Grace Meng, who is of Taiwanese descent, said the “community is bleeding”.
On Friday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met Asian-American community leaders in Georgia to express condolences and implore Americans to stand together against hate.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
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Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
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MATCH INFO
Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)
Delhi won the match by 11 runs
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The five pillars of Islam
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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