Worshippers flooding into the holy city of Karbala despite COVID-19 pandemic

Tens of thousands of worshippers have been flooding into Iraq's holy city of Karbala despite the COVID-19 pandemic for the pilgrimage of Arbaeen, one of the world's biggest religious gatherings.

Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)'s grandson, falls on Thursday.

His martyrdom, a seminal moment in Islam, was mourned this year at the end of August during Ashura ceremonies in Iraq and other countries.

But unlike previous years, Iraq had closed its borders to non-residents, allowing only residents to take part in Ashura.

Iraq's borders opened for Arbaeen but with restrictions on Arbaeen arrivals, in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The virus has hit Iraq hard, with more than 375,000 people infected and almost 9,500 deaths.

In 2019, an estimated 14 million pilgrims flooded Iraq to attend Arbaeen, including about two million from neighbouring Iran.

This year, however, only 1,500 pilgrims per country are being allowed to fly into Iraq, while Iran has been authorised to send an additional 2,500 overland.

"Every day, between six and 10 planes land and more are coming in the days ahead," said Issa al-Shemmari, airport director in Najaf, another holy city south of Karbala.

In keeping with tradition, Iraqis have been walking to Karbala for Arbaeen from all over the country.

On roads to the city, "mawakib" tents have been erected to provide pilgrims with free food, drink and accommodation.

"We ate along the way and were able to disinfect ourselves," pilgrim Ali Hadi told AFP, on arrival in Karbala from the southern city of Basra.

Only few of the pilgrims around him wore mouth and nose coverings despite constant appeals from authorities and social distancing was being widely ignored.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia on Sunday, mask-clad Muslims circled Islam's holiest site in Makkah along socially distanced paths, as authorities partially resumed the year-round Umrah pilgrimage with extensive health precautions.

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Worshippers flooding into the holy city of Karbala despite COVID-19 pandemic

Tens of thousands of worshippers have been flooding into Iraq's holy city of Karbala despite the COVID-19 pandemic for the pilgrimage of Arbaeen, one of the world's biggest religious gatherings.

Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)'s grandson, falls on Thursday.

His martyrdom, a seminal moment in Islam, was mourned this year at the end of August during Ashura ceremonies in Iraq and other countries.

But unlike previous years, Iraq had closed its borders to non-residents, allowing only residents to take part in Ashura.

Iraq's borders opened for Arbaeen but with restrictions on Arbaeen arrivals, in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The virus has hit Iraq hard, with more than 375,000 people infected and almost 9,500 deaths.

In 2019, an estimated 14 million pilgrims flooded Iraq to attend Arbaeen, including about two million from neighbouring Iran.

This year, however, only 1,500 pilgrims per country are being allowed to fly into Iraq, while Iran has been authorised to send an additional 2,500 overland.

"Every day, between six and 10 planes land and more are coming in the days ahead," said Issa al-Shemmari, airport director in Najaf, another holy city south of Karbala.

In keeping with tradition, Iraqis have been walking to Karbala for Arbaeen from all over the country.

On roads to the city, "mawakib" tents have been erected to provide pilgrims with free food, drink and accommodation.

"We ate along the way and were able to disinfect ourselves," pilgrim Ali Hadi told AFP, on arrival in Karbala from the southern city of Basra.

Only few of the pilgrims around him wore mouth and nose coverings despite constant appeals from authorities and social distancing was being widely ignored.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia on Sunday, mask-clad Muslims circled Islam's holiest site in Makkah along socially distanced paths, as authorities partially resumed the year-round Umrah pilgrimage with extensive health precautions.

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Worshippers flooding into the holy city of Karbala despite COVID-19 pandemic

Tens of thousands of worshippers have been flooding into Iraq's holy city of Karbala despite the COVID-19 pandemic for the pilgrimage of Arbaeen, one of the world's biggest religious gatherings.

Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)'s grandson, falls on Thursday.

His martyrdom, a seminal moment in Islam, was mourned this year at the end of August during Ashura ceremonies in Iraq and other countries.

But unlike previous years, Iraq had closed its borders to non-residents, allowing only residents to take part in Ashura.

Iraq's borders opened for Arbaeen but with restrictions on Arbaeen arrivals, in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The virus has hit Iraq hard, with more than 375,000 people infected and almost 9,500 deaths.

In 2019, an estimated 14 million pilgrims flooded Iraq to attend Arbaeen, including about two million from neighbouring Iran.

This year, however, only 1,500 pilgrims per country are being allowed to fly into Iraq, while Iran has been authorised to send an additional 2,500 overland.

"Every day, between six and 10 planes land and more are coming in the days ahead," said Issa al-Shemmari, airport director in Najaf, another holy city south of Karbala.

In keeping with tradition, Iraqis have been walking to Karbala for Arbaeen from all over the country.

On roads to the city, "mawakib" tents have been erected to provide pilgrims with free food, drink and accommodation.

"We ate along the way and were able to disinfect ourselves," pilgrim Ali Hadi told AFP, on arrival in Karbala from the southern city of Basra.

Only few of the pilgrims around him wore mouth and nose coverings despite constant appeals from authorities and social distancing was being widely ignored.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia on Sunday, mask-clad Muslims circled Islam's holiest site in Makkah along socially distanced paths, as authorities partially resumed the year-round Umrah pilgrimage with extensive health precautions.

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Accountability court indicts Asif Zardari in Thatta water supply, Park lane references

Former president Asif Ali Zardari was indicted today by an accountability court in the Thatta Water Supply and Park Lane references by an accountability court.

The PPP leader and others nominated in the references presented themselves before the court on Monday in a hearing presided over by Justice Azam Khan.

During the hearing, the former president was presented with the charge sheet of the Thatta Water Supply and Park Lane references while the other suspects were provided a copy of the indictments.

The court framed charges against Zardari in the two references. A total number of 19 persons were indicted in the Park Lane reference while 15 were indicted in the Thatta Water Supply reference.

Zardari pleaded not guilty to the charges as the court directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present witnesses in the Park Lane reference by October 20 and in the Thatta Water Supply reference by October 21.

The court had indicted Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur on September 28 in the mega money laundering reference.

Speaking outside the accountability court with reporters, Zardari was asked to comment on Khawaja Asif's remarks about him.

"Khawaja Asif must have given the statement on somebody's instructions," he said. "The intent was to divide the opposition."

Talking about the accountability cases filed against him, Zardari said that he had previously suffered under the same circumstances when cases were filed against him. "When we are in opposition, such cases are filed against us," he said. "We have been going through these cases [in the past as well]."

Thatta water supply reference and fake accounts case

The Thatta Water Supply is a supplementary reference, part of the fake bank accounts and mega money-laundering scam references filed by NAB against Zardari.

In October 2015, the anti-corruption wing of the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi received a tip-off of suspicious intra-bank transactions from the Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and the United Bank Limited.

The profiles of the account holders did not match their earnings/income. FIA authorities suspected that these accounts were being run by the Zardari Group and Omni Group, amongst others.

The case dragged on until June 2018, when the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the fake accounts and directed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the matter.

The investigation team concluded that 32 fake bank accounts were being operated by 11 fake entities to launder money from “kickbacks, land grabbing and large scale misappropriation of public funds.”

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Coronavirus restrictions in Auckland will be lifted this week: Jacinda Ardern

Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand’s largest city will be lifted this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday as she expressed confidence a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Auckland has been almost eliminated.

The city will move to alert level 1 from 11.59 p.m. on Wednesday, joining the rest of the country, after reporting no new cases in the Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days.

“There is now a 95% probability of the cluster being eliminated,” Ardern said at a news conference. “COVID-19 will be with us for many months to come. But we should still mark these milestones.”

New Zealand, a nation of five million, appeared to have stamped out community transmission of COVID-19 earlier this year following a tough nationwide lockdown that was subsequently lifted.

The renewed Auckland outbreak, detected in August, was the biggest the country had seen with 179 linked cases, prompted Ardern to reinforce restrictions in Auckland.

The easing of measures means there will be no 100 people limit on gatherings in Auckland, and no physical distancing rules in bars and restaurants.

The country recorded one new case on Monday, involving a New Zealander returning from overseas, taking its total number of confirmed cases to 1,499, including 25 deaths.

Ardern’s success in containing coronavirus has played a major part in putting her firmly ahead in polls for a general election on Oct. 17.

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Coronavirus restrictions in Auckland will be lifted this week: Jacinda Ardern

Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand’s largest city will be lifted this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday as she expressed confidence a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Auckland has been almost eliminated.

The city will move to alert level 1 from 11.59 p.m. on Wednesday, joining the rest of the country, after reporting no new cases in the Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days.

“There is now a 95% probability of the cluster being eliminated,” Ardern said at a news conference. “COVID-19 will be with us for many months to come. But we should still mark these milestones.”

New Zealand, a nation of five million, appeared to have stamped out community transmission of COVID-19 earlier this year following a tough nationwide lockdown that was subsequently lifted.

The renewed Auckland outbreak, detected in August, was the biggest the country had seen with 179 linked cases, prompted Ardern to reinforce restrictions in Auckland.

The easing of measures means there will be no 100 people limit on gatherings in Auckland, and no physical distancing rules in bars and restaurants.

The country recorded one new case on Monday, involving a New Zealander returning from overseas, taking its total number of confirmed cases to 1,499, including 25 deaths.

Ardern’s success in containing coronavirus has played a major part in putting her firmly ahead in polls for a general election on Oct. 17.

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Accountability court indicts Asif Zardari in Thatta water supply, Park lane references

Former president Asif Ali Zardari was indicted today by an accountability court in the Thatta Water Supply and Park Lane references by an accountability court.

The PPP leader and others nominated in the references presented themselves before the court on Monday in a hearing presided over by Justice Azam Khan.

During the hearing, the former president was presented with the charge sheet of the Thatta Water Supply and Park Lane references while the other suspects were provided a copy of the indictments.

The court framed charges against Zardari in the two references. A total number of 19 persons were indicted in the Park Lane reference while 15 were indicted in the Thatta Water Supply reference.

Zardari pleaded not guilty to the charges as the court directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to present witnesses in the Park Lane reference by October 20 and in the Thatta Water Supply reference by October 21.

The court had indicted Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur on September 28 in the mega money laundering reference.

Speaking outside the accountability court with reporters, Zardari was asked to comment on Khawaja Asif's remarks about him.

"Khawaja Asif must have given the statement on somebody's instructions," he said. "The intent was to divide the opposition."

Talking about the accountability cases filed against him, Zardari said that he had previously suffered under the same circumstances when cases were filed against him. "When we are in opposition, such cases are filed against us," he said. "We have been going through these cases [in the past as well]."

Thatta water supply reference and fake accounts case

The Thatta Water Supply is a supplementary reference, part of the fake bank accounts and mega money-laundering scam references filed by NAB against Zardari.

In October 2015, the anti-corruption wing of the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi received a tip-off of suspicious intra-bank transactions from the Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and the United Bank Limited.

The profiles of the account holders did not match their earnings/income. FIA authorities suspected that these accounts were being run by the Zardari Group and Omni Group, amongst others.

The case dragged on until June 2018, when the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the fake accounts and directed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the matter.

The investigation team concluded that 32 fake bank accounts were being operated by 11 fake entities to launder money from “kickbacks, land grabbing and large scale misappropriation of public funds.”

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