New Zealand surged ahead in the first Test against West Indies after centuries by Rachin Ravindra and Tom Latham. At stumps on day three in Christchurch, they led by 481 runs. Latham scored 145 while Ravindra followed with 176, putting New Zealand in a commanding position. The pair added 279 runs for the third wicket […]
Christchurch
New Zealand reports 19,566 new COVID-19 community cases
WELLINGTON : New Zealand reported 19,566 new community cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement. The ministry also reported 10 deaths, bringing the total number of publicly reported deaths to 151, and 25 new cases were detected at the country’s border. Among the infections reported on Thursday, 4,867 cases were in the […]
New Zealand’s most senior Muslim police officer thanks King Salman for making Hajj dream come true
JEDDAH: Just over four months ago, police superintendent Naila Hassan was giving an emotional speech at a vigil in New Zealand for the 51 people murdered in the Christchurch mosque terrorist attack. Now Hassan, New Zealand’s most senior Muslim police officer, is in Makkah to take part in the Hajj pilgrimage — and her dream […]
Police say bomb find not linked to Christchurch attacks
New Zealand police on Wednesday ruled out any link between a bomb found in Christchurch and mosque shootings in March which killed 50 Muslim worshippers. Police and the military bomb squad swooped on a vacant lot just outside the city center Tuesday finding “a suspected explosive device” and rounds of ammunition. They said a 33-year-old […]
Attacks on places of worship
It seems the world’s mosques, synagogues, churches and temples are no longer safe. Yesterday’s attack on a California synagogue, combined with the bombing of churches in Sri Lanka and the Christchurch attacks before that, show that worshippers can no longer go to their places of worship without potentially exposing themselves to harm. In Sri Lanka, […]
Leadership is all about integrity, faith in humanity
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. The legendary opening lines from George Orwell’s 1945 novel Animal Farm may be symbolic at one level but can easily be the story of many societies around us today. As a matter of principle, all governments and leaders worth their salt say the […]
Cross-cultural dialogue should begin in our schools
A sit-in continues in Quetta after the deadly blast on the morning of Friday April 12th. I am still wondering what is wrong where, after the news went on air, we listened to the number of dead and injured and then life moved on as usual. It just leads me to think of the incident […]
A greater message that followed the Christchurch shooting
On the 15th of March 2019 a 38 year old woman stepped onto a podium to speak and address not only her own country but the world. As the planet turned to watch the news about the aftermath of a brutal attack on the Muslim community at Christchurch mosque by a white male terrorist, it […]
Christchurch massacre: banality of noble intent
“I want to stand between him and anybody he might be pointing it at,” said a white New Zealander who wore a hajib on 22 March, the Hijab Day celebrated throughout New Zealand. By “him” and “it” she meant a shooter who might want to kill a hijab-wearing Muslim woman and the hijab, respectively. Justifying […]
New Zealand police expect tens of thousands of firearms in gun buy-back scheme
New Zealand police expect tens of thousands of firearms to be surrendered in a guns buy-back scheme after parliament passed tough new firearm laws in the wake of the country’s worst peacetime mass shooting. Lawmakers in New Zealand voted almost unanimously on Wednesday to change gun laws, less than a month after a lone gunman […]