1+ week, 3+ day ago (285+ words) KABUL (Ariana News): Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), said at a two-day seminar in Kandahar that the ulama must acquire knowledge and guide the people in "ethics, knowledge, and manners." In this seminar, which was held for the officials, members, and scholars of the jurisprudential councils of all Afghan provinces, the leader of the Islamic Emirate added that guiding and leading the people now rests on the shoulders of the ulama, and it is their responsibility to show the people the path in the light of Sharia. Hibatullah Akhundzada stated that today valuable opportunities for service are available to the ulama, and they can clearly declare what is lawful and what is unlawful. Akhundzada said: "So learn knowledge, convey it to the people, and spread it throughout society. The responsibility for the…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago (723+ words) We are a society in desperate need of healing; these days, we cannot even find agreement in diagnosis. Consider the issue of vaccination, which raises the specter of science in conflict with individual values and, particularly in some cases, with faith. Our society has long treated science and faith as competing narratives. What if we [] We are a society in desperate need of healing; these days, we cannot even find agreement in diagnosis. Consider the issue of vaccination, which raises the specter of science in conflict with individual values and, particularly in some cases, with faith. Our society has long treated science and faith as competing narratives. What if we instead recognised science and religion as two halves of a societal consensus that must connect in order to learn from one another? A common strategy to reconcile faith and science…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago (331+ words) The Chicago-born pope was responding Tuesday to a range of geopolitical questions from reporters outside the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, including what kind of spiritual rights migrants in US custody should have, US military attacks on suspected drug traffickers off Venezuela and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East. Leo underlined that scripture emphasizes the question that will be posed at the end of the world: "How did you receive the foreigner, did you receive him and welcome him, or not? I think there is a deep reflection that needs to be made about what is happening." He said "the spiritual rights of people who have been detained should also be considered," and he called on authorities to allow pastoral workers access to the detained migrants. "Many times theyve been separated from their families. No one knows whats happening,…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (397+ words) WAGAH BORDER (AFP): Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed dozens of Sikh pilgrims from India, AFP journalists saw, in the first major crossing since deadly clashes in May closed the land border between the nuclear-armed neighbours. More than 2,100 pilgrims were granted visas to attend a 10-day festival marking 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, Pakistan's High Commission (embassy) in New Delhi said last week. Tensions remain high between Islamabad and New Delhi after the worst fighting since 1999 took place in May, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery exchanges. The Wagah-Attari border " the only active land crossing between the two countries " was closed to general traffic following the violence. Pilgrims queued up on the Indian side of the border on Tuesday morning, some carrying their luggage on their heads, as the Indian Border Security Force…...

4+ day, 17+ hour ago (485+ words) BETHLEHEM (Reuters): A vehicle used by the late Pope Francis during a visit to Bethlehem more than a decade ago has been transformed into a mobile health clinic that Christian leaders hope will soon be used to provide care to Palestinian children in Gaza. The initiative was blessed by Francis before he died in April and was entrusted to the Catholic organization Caritas, which oversaw the project to convert the vehicle unveiled on Tuesday. "We're pleased that we have here a serious contribution toward the health care of children in Gaza," Caritas Secretary-General Alistair Dutton told a press conference in Bethlehem. Francis had used the vehicle, a converted Mitsubishi pick-up that was donated by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014. Not clear when mobile clinic can enter Gaza The open platform at the back of…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (291+ words) VATICAN CITY (AFP): Pope Leo XIV decried poverty on Sunday, urging world leaders and Catholics to reach out to marginalized people, as the Church celebrated a "Jubilee of the Poor." The US pope has made social justice a key theme of his papacy, now in its sixth month since being made head of the world's Catholics in May following the death of Pope Francis. The Church, Leo said during a mass at St. Peter's Basilica, is "still wounded by old and new forms of poverty," but "hopes to be "mother of the poor, a place of welcome and justice'." Sunday marked a special Jubilee of the Poor, one of many such celebrations during the holy year, which has drawn pilgrims from around the world. It fell on the World Day of the Poor, an annual observance begun by Francis in…...

2+ day, 4+ hour ago (595+ words) ISTANBUL (AFP) : Pope Leo XIV joins the leader of the world's Orthodox Christians Friday to celebrate 1,700 years since one of the early Church's most important gatherings, on the second day of his visit to Turkey. The American pope began his four-day visit on Thursday, flying into Ankara where he held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging him to embrace Turkey's role as mediator in a world gripped by conflict. "Mr President, may Turkey be a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples, in service of a just and lasting peace," the pontiff told the Turkish leader as he kicked off the first overseas trip of his papacy. Tight security meant the papal convoy swept through nearly empty streets in Ankara on a visit that has drawn little attention in this Muslim-majority nation of 86 million, whose Christian community numbers only…...

9+ hour, 40+ min ago (499+ words) ISTANBUL (AFP) : Pope Leo XIV wraps up a four-day trip to Turkiye Sunday after a warm welcome by its tiny Christian community, before heading to Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-mired nation. On his first overseas trip since being elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo met President Recep [] ISTANBUL (AFP) : Pope Leo XIV wraps up a four-day trip to Turkiye Sunday after a warm welcome by its tiny Christian community, before heading to Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-mired nation.On his first overseas trip since being elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before traveling to Iznik for a celebration marking 1,700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, one of the early Church's most important gatherings.On Saturday, Leo hosted thousands of worshippers who battled…...

2+ week, 4+ hour ago (246+ words) BEIJING (AFP) : Local authorities in China said Sunday they had approved the arrest of the former head of the Shaolin Temple, known as the birthplace of kung fu, over suspicion of embezzlement. Ex-abbot Shi Yongxin was removed from his position in July for "extremely" bad behavior. Allegations of misappropriating project funds and temple assets saw him placed under investigation and defrocked. Authorities in central Henan province, where the Shaolin Temple is located, approved Shi's arrest on "suspicion of embezzlement, misappropriating funds and accepting bribes as a non-state employee," the Xinxiang Procuratorate said in a statement on Sunday. It was unclear if Shi had already been detained.Shi, 60, took office as abbot in 1999 and in the following decades expanded Shaolin studies and cultural knowledge overseas. He became known as the "CEO monk" for establishing dozens of companies abroad " but received a…...