Connect with us

World

Syrian clerics in former Assad stronghold call for national unity, democracy

Published

on

Thousands gathered in northwestern Syria on Friday for weekly prayers and a rally where clerics in the port city of Latakia, a former stronghold of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, urged national unity under the country's new government.

"Freedom forever despite Assad," some in the crowd at the square outside Al-Ajjan mosque chanted, along with "God is greatest" and "One, one, one, Syrian people are one".

Syrian rebels toppled Assad and his family's brutal five-decade rule on Sunday and formed a new administration led by former al Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham(HTS). The group has promised a tolerant and inclusive new order.

After the first Friday prayers since Assad's overthrow, religious leaders addressed a crowd of thousands outside the mosque, calling for people to give up their weapons, Reuters reported.

Some spectators waved Syria's new flag while the country's new anthem, a rebel song adopted for the purpose, played over speakers.

Khaled Kamal, a Sunni imam who spoke at the gathering, told Reuters after the rally that it was a "joy like no other" to return to Syria after fleeing abroad during the war. He called on all Syrians abroad to return.

"To be honest, this moment is indescribable," Kamal said.

"We welcome any president for Syria, whether it's a Sunni, an Alawite or Christian, as long as the people choose him," he added, referring to Assad's Alawite ethnic and religious group.

The future in Syria, where the Sunni HTS has emerged as the dominant force, holds uncertainty for many, especially its minorities.

Shi'ite Muslims, whose Alawite offshoot is centred in Latakia, are thought to be about a tenth of the population, which stood at 23 million before the country's civil war began in 2013.

Muhammed Reda Hatem Abdullah, an influential Alawite preacher who took part in the rally, said he did not discriminate against any group and wanted to see all faiths stand united.

"The unity of Syria is an ambition that we will pass on to our children and the future generations. They will know that the sanctity of the homeland is part of the sanctity of humanity," he said in an interview.

World

Trump declares ‘only two genders’ to be official US policy

Following the inauguration, the president is slated to depart the Capitol and head to the nearby Capital One Arena, where he will address supporters during a rally that will also feature a presidential parade.

Published

on

Donald Trump declared there are “only two genders” as he was sworn in Monday as the 47th president of the United States, returning for a second term in office.

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders -- male and female,” he said, marking the first mention of gender in an inaugural address.

"The golden age of America begins right now," Trump said minutes after he was sworn in during a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, the first since 1985, when Ronald Reagan moved the ceremony indoors due to exceptionally frigid temperatures.

In his inaugural address, Trump also used words such as “Manifest Destiny,” "National Emergency," "Colorblind," "Sanctuary," "Horrible," "Suburban," “Betrayal” and “Weaponization” for the first time in history.

Following the inauguration, the president is slated to depart the Capitol and head to the nearby Capital One Arena, where he will address supporters during a rally that will also feature a presidential parade.

Continue Reading

World

Trump sworn in as 47th US president

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama attended the inauguration. Tech tycoon and Trump’s biggest supporter Elon Musk also attended the ceremony.

Published

on

Donald Trump sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday at the Capitol Rotunda by Chief Justice John Roberts.

At the ceremony, Trump vowed to make America "greater, stronger and more exceptional" than ever before.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama attended the inauguration. Tech tycoon and Trump's biggest supporter Elon Musk also attended the ceremony.

The inauguration ceremony took place indoors due to the cold temperatures in Washington, DC, unprecedented in decades.

In the meantime, Trump signed a barrage of executive orders following the ceremony.

The new orders include tougher anti-immigration measures as well as pardons for people convicted for their role in the Capitol Hill attack on January 6, 2021.

Ahead of his inauguration, Trump met at the White House with the outgoing president Joe Biden – a courtesy the Republican had denied his Democratic successor in 2021.

Earlier, Trump had attended a church service. Alongside, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Google's Sundar Pichai and Apple's Tim Cook, some of the most powerful tech moguls in the world, attended the service.

Trump, 78, was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017 as the 45th president.

Continue Reading

World

Trump promises harsh immigration crackdown on inauguration eve

Trump repeated his campaign pledge to launch the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, which would remove millions of immigrants

Published

on

Donald Trump told thousands of roaring supporters he would impose severe limits on immigration on his first day in office, vowing to swiftly fulfill the central promise of his presidential campaign at a rally on Sunday inside a packed Washington arena a day before he returns to power.

"By the time the sun sets tomorrow, the invasion of our country will have come to a halt," he said to cheers at a "Make America Great Again Victory Rally" at the Capital One Arena.

Trump repeated his campaign pledge to launch the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, which would remove millions of immigrants. An operation of that scale, however, would likely take years and be hugely costly, Reuters reported.

The rally resembled the free-wheeling campaign speeches that have been a Trump staple since his first serious White House run in 2016, with the former and future president delivering a mix of boasts, false claims and sweeping promises to the delight of the crowd.

"This is the greatest political movement in American history, and 75 days ago, we achieved the most epic political victory our country has ever seen," he said. "Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed of strength and fix every single crisis facing our country."

The event marked his first major address in Washington since his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol by an angry mob of his supporters. 

Trump has said he will pardon many of the more than 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the attack.

Trump's rally, along with his inaugural address on Monday, could preview the tone he plans to adopt during his second White House term. 

In recent weeks, Trump has bewildered foreign allies by musing aloud about taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal and turning Canada into a U.S. state.

He vowed to repeal "every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration" within hours of assuming the presidency at noon.

A source familiar with the planning said Trump will take more than 200 executive actions on Monday.

Border security will figure prominently in Trump's first executive orders, another source said, including classifying drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," declaring an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and moving toward reinstatement of the "Remain in Mexico" policy that forces non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court dates.

Trump's deportation plans have unsettled immigrants subject to removal, including some who immigrant advocates say are law-abiding, long-term residents with U.S.-citizen spouses and children.

Trump said he would "get radical woke ideologies the hell out of our military" and order the military to construct a missile defense shield over the U.S., though he has yet to offer details on how to carry it out.

He also pledged to release classified documents relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and his brother Senator Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., both in 1968.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Ariana News. All rights reserved!