Saudi King upends royal succession, names son Mohammed, 31, as 1st heir

Agencies
June 21, 2017

Riyadh, Jun 21: Saudi Arabia's King Salman has appointed his 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman, as heir, in a major reshuffle announced early on Wednesday.

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A royal decree removed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a 57-year-old nephew of the king, as next-in-line to the throne and replaced him with Mohammed bin Salman, 31, who was previously the deputy crown prince.

According to the official Saudi Press Agency, the newly-announced crown prince was also named deputy prime minister and maintained his post as defence minister.

The former crown prince was also fired from his post as interior minister, the decree said.

Saudi Arabia's Allegiance Council voted 34 to 31 in favour of the changes, according to the state-owned al-Arabiya channel.

The Saudi king called for a public pledging of allegiance to the new crown prince on Wednesday, the channel said.

Restructuring power

Some royal observers had long suspected Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power under his father's reign might also accelerate his ascension to the throne.

The young prince was little known to Saudis and outsiders before Salman became king in January 2015. He had previously been in charge of his father's royal court when Salman was the crown prince.

Over the weekend, the king had issued a decree restructuring Saudi Arabia's system for prosecutions that stripped Mohammed bin Nayef of longstanding powers overseeing criminal investigations.

Instead King Salman ordered that a newly-named Office of Public Prosecution and prosecutor report directly to the monarch.

Mohammed bin Nayef was not believed to have played a significant role in Saudi and UAE-led efforts to isolate Qatar for its alleged support of Islamist groups and ties with Iran.

The prince had appeared to be slipping from public eye as his nephew, Mohammed bin Salman, embarked on major overseas visits, including a trip to the White House to meet President Donald Trump in March.

That visit to Washington helped lay the foundation for Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia in May, which marked the president's first overseas visit.

The trip was promoted heavily by the kingdom as proof of its weight in the region and wider Muslim world.

Yemen and Iran

Despite Mohammed bin Salman's ambitions, which include overhauling the kingdom's economy away from its reliance on oil, the prince has faced criticism for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which he oversees as defence minister.

The war, launched more than two years ago, has failed to dislodge Iranian-allied rebels known as Houthis from the capital, Sanaa, and has had devastating effects on the impoverished country.

Rights groups say Saudi forces have killed scores of civilians and have called on the US, as well as the UK and France, to halt the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the Yemen war.

The newly-minted crown prince also ruled out any chance of dialogue with Iran.

In remarks aired on Saudi TV in May, Mohammed bin Salman framed the tensions with Iran in sectarian terms and said it is Iran's goal "to control the Islamic world" and to spread its Shia doctrine.

He also vowed to take "the battle" to Iran.

Iran and Saudi Arabia's rivalry has played out in proxy wars across the region.

They back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen and they support political rivals in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 24:  Karnataka on Wednesday reported 397 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the total number of positive cases to 10,118.

According to the State Health Department, with 14 more deaths today, the state's toll has reached 164. While, 6,151 people have been discharged so far.

Hundred per cent of Community Health Centres, 50 per cent of Primary Health Centres and Urban Primary Health Centres will be converted as exclusive 'fever clinics' to screen fever cases for influenza-like illness (ILI)/severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), Karnataka Health Department said.

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coastaldigest.com news network
April 23,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 23: Muslims in coastal Karnataka will fast tomorrow (April 24) along with Middle Eastern Muslims as the Khazis in the region have confirmed the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan tonight.

Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia and a few Middle Eastern countries have already declared that Friday will be the start of the month of fasting.

In Kerala and twin districts of coastal Karnataka - Dakshina Kannada and Udupi- the announcement was made following maghrib praers as the cresent moon was sighted in a few places in Kerala.

The Thakbeer was pronounced from the minarets of the mosques across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi after Maghrib Namaz as the religious heads confirmed the moon sighting. 

However, the religious heads including Mangaluru Khazi Twaqa Ahmed Musliar and Udupi Khazi Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, have urged the Muslims to offer all the prayers including Taraveeh at homes along with family members due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

There will be no congregational taraveeh prayers in mosques and Muslims should follow the covid-19 guidelines of the government, they stated.

Ramadan begins around 11 days earlier each year. Its start is calculated based on the sighting of the new moon, which marks the beginning of the Muslim lunar month that varies between 29 or 30 days.

During the month, Muslims are expected to abstain during daylight hours from food, drink, smoking and sex to focus on spirituality.

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Sajid
 - 
Thursday, 23 Apr 2020

How it is possible that only Kerala people can witness the moon? 

 

Can they come forward in Media and give Shahaadah, why the other parts of India will not follow.

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News Network
July 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 19: Three legislators of the opposition Congress in Karnataka, including 2 MLAs and 1 MLC tested positive for coronavirus and are under treatment, a party official said on Saturday.

"Our Bailhongal MLA Mahantesh Koujalgi in Belagavi district and Humnabad MLA Rajashekhar Patil and his MLC brother Chandrashekhar Patil in Bidar district tested positive for the infection and are under treatment at designated hospitals," party spokesman Ravi Gowda told media persons in Bangaluru.

Koujalgi's swab sample was taken on Friday after he showed signs of illness and its result turned positive earlier in the day.

"As Koujalgi attended a review meeting at Bailhongal, about 20 officials who participated in the meeting have been home quarantined," said Gowda.

Koujalgi is the second lawmaker in the state's northwest region to test positive after BJP's Belagavi North assembly segment MLA Anik Benake tested positive for the virus on July 15.

"Patil brothers were in self quarantine after meeting BJP's Bidar Lok Sabha member Bhagwanth Khuba, who tested positive on Wednesday. Their tests also showed they were infected with the virus," Gowda said.

Congress MLC Sandesh Nagaraj, who tested positive on Friday, is under treatment at a private hospital in Mysuru.

Dakshina Kannada district Youth Congress president Mithun Rai is in institutional quarantine in Bengaluru after he tested positive for the infection.

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