Latest news with #Koranic
Morocco World
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
DGSN Open Days in El Jadida Breaks Attendance Record with 2.4 Million Visitors
Rabat – Morocco's sixth National Security Open Days drew a crowd of 2.4 million people to the Mohammed VI Exhibition Center in El Jadida between May 17-21, setting a new benchmark for the citizen-engagement event, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) announced on Wednesday. Attendance peaked over the opening weekend, when 1.18 million visitors, nearly half the five-day total, streamed through the gates. Students made up the largest bloc, with pupils from 1,916 public, private, traditional, and Koranic schools taking guided tours of the sprawling venue. The event also welcomed delegates from almost 1,500 civil-society organizations and reporters from 187 media outlets, including television and radio stations. While residents of El Jadida, Casablanca, Settat, Safi, and nearby towns were the majority of spectators, millions more followed the action online. Live streams and social-media updates on DGSN's official channels generated 29 million views and fed 1,256 separate media stories, showing the growing public appetite for a closer look at modern policing. Fifty themed stands under one roof Housed in a fully covered space, 50 interactive stands gave visitors an inside view of police work from forensic police and intervention units, support units for women and children who are victims of violence One highlight was the debut of 'AMANE,' an AI-equipped patrol vehicle designed by DGSN engineers to query security databases in real time during street interventions. Other pavilions featured Morocco's biometric ID and smart-border systems, the 'Ibalagh' platform for reporting harmful digital content, and a shared exhibition with the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA) illustrating their deepening partnership. During the open days, the DGSN showcased historic police vehicles spanning its 69-year history. A heritage gallery invited visitors to explore vintage uniforms, cameras, and patrol cars, while a 1,000 square-meter kids' zone mixed games with VR-powered safety lessons. The National Security cavalry and canine brigade staged a stand dedicated to professional demonstrations , and a 9,400 square-meter arena hosted special-forces drills, live-music ensembles, and close-protection showcases under concert-grade lights and sound. Away from the exhibition floor, seminars brought together academics, civil society, and police commanders to discuss artificial-intelligence ethics, digital identity, and large-event security topics that are all the focus as Morocco prepares to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Tags: DGSNDGSN open daysSecurity forces Morocco
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wake up, Westerners – the evils of Xinjiang are a taste of the future
John Beck's Those Who Should Be Seized Should Be Seized is not merely a book. It is a reckoning. The stories this award-winning journalist tells, of the violence faced by ordinary Uyghurs, testify to how the Chinese regime has systematised surveillance, criminalised belief and mechanised repression. For now, it may seem merely to be a window upon Xinjiang, but it's also a vision of the totalitarian future that China's Communist Party has rolled out in Hong Kong, is threatening Taiwan with, and will soon be selling to the world: efficient, paranoid and absolutely ruthless. Beck doesn't moralise, he documents. His narrative, a tapestry of firsthand accounts, Party memoranda and state propaganda, lays bare the architecture of a modern gulag. We read of teenagers hauled into 'tiger chairs' for constraint and torture, of children taught to fear books, of scholars imprisoned for writing in Kazakh. We are introduced to a place where growing a beard or teaching a Koranic verse is treated as terrorism, and classification by race and religion is the law. This isn't ancient history. This is 2025. In Parliament, and in this newspaper, I have long argued that Britain must confront the reality of China's government, and not be distracted by trinkets. Beck's book is not about policy – but it demands one. For, as we debate trade deals and supply chains, his pages remind us that our choices have consequences. Consider this: many of the cotton garments sold on British high streets today pass through Xinjiang. The solar panels Ed Miliband visited Beijing in March to source, in order to power our so-called 'green transition', are built, in part, by detainees in factories powered by coal. And the very chips in our smartphones are manufactured using rare earths mined from land stripped from Uyghur hands. We are, however unknowingly, underwriting slavery. How does that meet anyone's environmental, social or governance principles? The scale of the repression in Xinjiang is staggering. Beck meticulously traces its implementation, from the Party documents authorising mass detentions to the way everyday life changes under constant surveillance. The descriptions of China's 'vocational education and training centres' – a euphemism for detention camps – reveal to us facilities fringed with barbed wire, guard towers equipped with machine guns, and interrogation rooms where torture is routine. As one Party official is quoted saying, Uyghurs must 'break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins'. The Chinese state weaponises basic human instincts. Family ties become vulnerabilities to exploit. Cultural identity becomes evidence of 'extremism'. Even the desire for economic advancement becomes a trap, as Saira, a Kazakh from Urumqi who buys into the Chinese dream even joining foreign trips promoting the government's commercial interests until she discovers her business success marks her as a threat to the state. Beck captures something essential about totalitarian systems: they don't just imprison the body, but also colonise the mind. We witness this in the trauma of Tursunay, a Uyghur woman who spent five years in Kazakhstan and was imprisoned on the grounds of suspected foreign affiliations and ideological deviation. Upon her release, she initially refuses to speak out about her experiences, having internalised the regime's threats. We see it in the way camp survivors struggle with basic tasks after their release, their concentration and memory permanently damaged by what they endured. The book gives voice to those who refused to remain silent. After surviving unspeakable trauma in prison, Tursunay faces intimidation from Chinese agents as she flees to the West and joins protests against the CCP. There's also Saira, whose literary aspirations were buried alongside her books when authorities burned them in her garden; Serikzhan Bilash, a Kazakh activist and founder of human-rights group Atazhurt, who risked everything to document his compatriots' disappearances. Their courage in speaking out, despite the regime's relentless efforts to silence them, is humbling. China's efforts at silencing not just critics but different minority groups, are terrifyingly advanced. Beck's narrative uncovers the methods of control being perfected in Xinjiang: digital surveillance through mandatory apps, biometric data collection disguised as healthcare. Particularly chilling is the documentation of how the tentacles of Chinese state security reach far beyond national borders. Uyghur and Kazakh diasporic communities in Kazakhstan, Turkey and even America face surveillance, intimidation and the agonising knowledge that speaking out could result in reprisals against family members still in Xinjiang. The Chinese embassy protests described in the book's final pages – where survivors such as Tursunay stand in silent witness as diplomatic vehicles with tinted windows roll past – serve as a powerful metaphor for the global community's failure to meaningfully confront these abuses. What struck me most about Beck's account is how effectively it dismantles China's official narrative. Beijing insists these are simply vocational schools, yet the book documents forced sterilisations and systematic rape. The Party speaks of lifting ethnic minorities from poverty, yet we read of prosperous business owners such as Saira having their assets seized. Officials claim to fight terrorism, yet their own documents reveal targets for arbitrary detention that include anyone who prays regularly or applies for a passport. The contrast between the Party's propaganda and the lived reality is nowhere more apparent than in the official press conferences Beck documents, where 'graduated trainees' mechanically recite their gratitude for being 'cured' of religious 'extremism'. These Orwellian spectacles, in which victims are forced to thank their tormentors, reveal a system that demands not just obedience but the complete surrender of truth itself. And yet, as Beck describes, China has successfully leveraged its economic might to silence international criticism. Kazakhstan, Turkey and even some Western democracies have yielded to pressure, deporting refugees back to certain persecution or muting their criticism in international forums. Britain cannot look away. The Modern Slavery Act must be strengthened to mandate full transparency in supply chains. Companies must audit their inputs. Import bans should be enforced on goods linked to forced labour. And the Foreign Office must lead a coordinated, values-based approach with our allies to challenge China's narrative at the UN and beyond. We must also wake up to the deeper threat. What is happening in Xinjiang is not just an assault on a people. It is a prototype: a test run for a surveillance state powered by AI, justified by nationalism, and perfected in the absence of dissent. Beck holds a mirror to that future, and the reflection should chill us into action. As legislators, we owe it to those already lost. As Britons, we owe it to our values. And as free people, we owe it to ourselves. Tom Tugendhat is the former Security Minister and chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Those Who Should Be Seized Should Be Seized is published by Melville House at £25. To order your copy, call 0330 173 5030 or visit Telegraph Books Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Jordan Times
19-04-2025
- General
- Jordan Times
Deputising for Queen, Awqaf minister opens 20th women's Quran competition
On behalf of Her Majesty Queen Rania, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mohammad Khalayleh on Saturday attends the opening of the 20th Women's International Hashemite Competition for Memorisation of the Holy Koran (Petra photo) AMMAN — On behalf of Her Majesty Queen Rania, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mohammad Khalayleh on Saturday attended the opening of the 20th Women's International Hashemite Competition for Memorisation of the Holy Koran. In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Khalayleh reiterated Jordan's longstanding dedication to promoting Quranic education and memorisation. He highlighted the Kingdom's extensive network of Koranic centres across the country and its continued efforts in organising and participating in local and international Quran competitions. Khalayleh noted that Her Majesty's sponsorship of the event reflects a deep commitment to empowering young Muslim women and strengthening their relationship with the Holy Koran, not only in terms of recitation, but as a comprehensive way of life guided by its principles. He also underscored the importance of a sound understanding of the Koran as a foundation for ethical conduct, the promotion of justice, compassion, and tolerance, as well as the preservation of social harmony and national security. Director of Women's Affairs at the Ministry Lamis Hazaymeh said that this year's competition brings together 44 participants from 40 Arab and Islamic countries, in addition to Jordan. She commended the ministry's sustained efforts in organising the annual competition over the past two decades. Launched under Royal support in 1993, the competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious international Quran competitions of its kind. It includes national and international categories for both men and women, and has seen nearly 45,000 participants since its inception. Page 2
Saba Yemen
20-02-2025
- General
- Saba Yemen
Jahana hosts meetings to prepare for Ramadan program, summer courses
Sana'a - Saba: Meetings were held in the Jahanah District, Sana'a Governorate, as part of the preparations for the Ramadan program and holding summer courses and activities. The meetings, organized by the local authority and general mobilization in the city's districts, Bilad Asnaf and Wadi Marhab, in the presence of the district's general mobilization officials Saleh Al-Hasani and the educational sector Ali Al-Ashwal, discussed the mechanism for activating everyone's role in enhancing community mobilization and awareness to prepare for and interact with the Ramadan program and summer courses, and to begin registration for open and model summer schools this year. The attendees stressed the importance of good preparation and readiness to make the month of Ramadan a Koranic educational station that purifies souls, enhances adherence to the faith identity, and creates an aware generation that adheres to religious constants and contributes to building a believing nation that strives for the sake of God. They stressed the need to mobilize for summer courses because of their importance in immunizing the generations against soft war and wrong cultures. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (Local)
