Thursday, 30 June 2016

Saudi Arabia introduces e-bracelets for Hajj safety.

After last year's stampede that killed hundreds, Riyadh introduces new safety measures to monitor pilgrims' movements.

Every year, millions of Muslims travel to Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest sites

Saudi Arabia has announed plans to introduce electronic identification bracelets for all pilgrims heading to Mecca as part of a safety drive.
Containing personal and medical information, the e-bracelets will help authorities provide care and identify people, the official Saudi Press Agency SPA said on Thursday.
Water-resistant and connected to GPS, the devices will also instruct worshippers on timings of prayers and a multi-lingual help desk to guide especially non-Arabic speaking pilgrims around the various rituals of the annual Islamic event.
Every year, millions of Muslims travel to Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest sites, which are under the custody of Saudi Arabia.
Last year, authorities say 769 pilgrims died in the stampede in the Mecca district of Mina when thousands of pilgrims converged on a walkway intersection.The majority of the victims were Iranian nationals.
To address the security issues, nearly a thousand new surveillance cameras have been installed at Mecca's Grand Mosque, monitoring pilgrim movements, Saudi newspapers have reported.
Taking part in the pilgrimage at least once in one's lifetime is a major obligation for all able-bodied Muslims of financial means, and between two and three million people participate in the six-day ritual every year.
The annual Muslim pilgrimage re-enacts the actions of the Prophet Muhammad in his "farewell pilgrimage" in AD 632.

U.S.-led strikes pound Islamic State in Iraq, kill 250 fighters


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition aircraft waged a series of deadly strikes against Islamic State around the city of Falluja on Wednesday, U.S. officials told Reuters, with one citing a preliminary estimate of at least 250 suspected fighters killed and at least 40 vehicles destroyed.
If the figures are confirmed, the strikes would be among the most deadly ever against the jihadist group. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the operation and noted preliminary estimates can change.
The strikes, which the officials said took place south of the city, where civilians have also been displaced, are just the latest battlefield setback suffered by Islamic State in its self-proclaimed “caliphate” of Iraq and Syria.
The group’s territorial losses are not diminishing concerns about its intent and ability to strike abroad though. Turkey pointed the finger at Islamic State on Wednesday for a triple suicide bombing and gun attack that killed 41 people at Istanbul’s main airport.
Iraqi security forces patrol Fallujah, Iraq, Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Iraqi officials say dozens of homes have been burned and looted as Fallujah was liberated from the Islamic State group.
Iraqi security forces patrol Fallujah, Iraq, Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Iraqi officials say dozens of homes have been burned and looted as Fallujah was liberated from the Islamic State group.
CIA chief John Brennan told a forum in Washington the attack bore the hallmarks of Islamic State “depravity” and acknowledged there was a long road ahead battling the group, particularly its ability to incite attacks.
“We’ve made, I think, some significant progress, along with our coalition partners, in Syria and Iraq, where most of the ISIS members are resident right now,” Brennan said.
“But ISIS’ ability to continue to propagate its narrative, as well as to incite and carry out these attacks – I think we still have a ways to go before we’re able to say that we have made some significant progress against them.”
On the battlefield, the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State has moved up a gear in recent weeks, with the government declaring victory over Islamic State in Falluja.
An alliance of militias have also launched a major offensive against the militant group in the city of Manbij in northern Syria.
Still, in a reminder of the back-and-forth nature of the war, U.S.-backed Syrian rebels were pushed back from the outskirts of an Islamic State-held town on the border with Iraq and a nearby air base on Wednesday after the jihadists mounted a counter- attack, two rebel sources said.