November 9, 2024

*) Israel's genocidal war on besieged Gaza enters its 400th day Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 43,500 Palestinians, 70 percent of them women and children, and wounded over 102,700 others, according to local health authorities. Analysts say the estimate is conservative and the actual death toll could be around or beyond 200,000, as thousands of Palestinians remain missing or buried under the debris of bombed homes and shops. Another 10,000 have been abducted and jailed at Israeli torture sites. *) Stein and Trump gain surprising support among Muslim voters American Muslim voters overwhelmingly backed Green Party's candidate Jill Stein in the 2024 presidential election, with 53.2 percent casting ballots in her favour, according to a new survey. In Michigan, Stein received even stronger support, with 59 percent of 502 Muslim respondents backing her, compared to 22 percent for Trump and 14 percent for Harris, according to the poll. Frustration over the Biden administration's Gaza policy led to a "sharp drop" in Muslim support for Harris compared to Biden's 2020 Muslim voter base, according to CAIR's National Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw. *) US, Canada groups urge leaders to condemn anti-Arab violence in Amsterdam Two prominent Muslim groups have criticised North American leaders and media for ignoring attacks and anti-Arab violence by Maccabi Tel-Aviv fans during a Europa League match. "It has been deeply distressing and disturbing to witness the violence that took place in Amsterdam around the Europa League match last night," The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) wrote on X, denouncing all forms of intimidation. The Muslim group urged Canadian leaders to address the incidents directly. "If Canadian leaders choose to weigh in on this issue, they must condemn the well-documented attacks on Arabs in Amsterdam," the statement says. *) 2024 to be the hottest year since industrial revolution Scientists say that 2024 might go down in history as the hottest since humans began burning fossil fuels. According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the global average temperature is expected to exceed the critical 1.5C threshold above pre-industrial levels. This would mark a historic milestone, underscoring the dramatic impact of greenhouse gas emissions and climate crisis. The C3S Monthly Climate Bulletin for October highlights that human activities have created an elevated temperature baseline. An El Nino event also played a role in this year’s heating but the climate’s complexity is influenced by multiple factors beyond greenhouse gases alone, such as solar radiation, volcanic eruptions, aerosols, and natural climate variability, according to the scientists. *) Turkish first lady attends event on Ottoman sufi poet, heritage in Hungary Türkiye's first lady has attended a special programme in Budapest promoting a book on a 14th-century Ottoman sufi poet and the empire's rich heritage in Hungary. Erdogan visited the tomb of Ottoman Dervish poet Gul Baba — also known as Jafer, or the "Father of Roses" in Hungary — which was restored in 2018 in a collaboration between the Hungarian government and TIKA, the Turkish state aid agency. "I am happy to gather around the legacy of Gul Baba, who came from Anatolia and was laid to rest in this land, on the 100th anniversary of the Türkiye-Hungary Friendship Treaty” she says. "It is truly exciting that six years after TIKA's restoration efforts and the establishment of the cultural centre at the Gul Baba Tomb, this spiritual heritage is now being crowned with a new book," Erdogan wrote in the guestbook at the Gul Baba Tomb.