British Muslim children conclude Ramadan campaign for displaced families in Gaza, Yemen

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The humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London. (Supplied)
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The humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London. (Supplied)
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The humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London. (Supplied)
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The humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London. (Supplied)
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The humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London. (Supplied)
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The humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London. (Supplied)
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Updated 14 April 2024
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British Muslim children conclude Ramadan campaign for displaced families in Gaza, Yemen

  • Ramadan Kids campaign partnered with a mental health charity to help raise $132,000 throughout the month
  • 23 children took part, touring restaurants across London

LONDON: British Muslim children concluded a cooking campaign during the month of Ramadan to raise funds for an initiative to help displaced families and children in Palestine and Yemen.

For the third consecutive year, the humanitarian campaign, Ramadan Kids, partnered with London-based mental health charity Supporting Humanity to help raise £106,000 ($132,000) during the Muslim fasting month.

Ramadan Kids was first launched four years ago by then 10-year-old Zaavier Khan from East London, and this year 23 children took part, touring restaurants across the UK capital and learning how to cook an array of dishes.

“It was just a grassroots initiative that started in my kitchen because my son was supposed to embark on his journey of Ramadan, and as a British Muslim, I thought I wanted to really mark this occasion for him,” his mother, Tahreem Noor, told Arab News.

Khan began the campaign on his own during Ramadan 2021 to collect £5,000 for UK food parcels. The following year he teamed up with Supporting Humanity and helped raise £10,000 with the help of a handful of children.

Last year, he began touring restaurants and homes and cooked with a 15-member squad, contributing to raising more than £42,000 toward Supporting Humanity’s initiative to help children affected by the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkiye..

“Every year since then, we’ve done the Ramadan Kids campaign (and) every year the team has grown by a few children,” she added.

This year, the children, aged between four and 13, visited four restaurants. They also filmed their personal cooking at home and uploaded the footage to social media, calling on donors to help fund them via an online donation link.

“They were cooking in their own kitchens and sending us videos for us to upload to promote the concept of Ramadan Kids, but at the same time, fundraising for their own sub links as well,” Noor said.

“This year, we decided to give all the kids that took part in the campaign a Ramadan Kids pack that had lots of Islamic resources,” she added.

The children also received a 30-day journal to learn about the Muslim religion throughout the month.

The pack included religious educational material, Eid decorations and balloons, and customized pens and hoodies, which the children wore at the Ramadan Kids-related events that were held across the month.

As part of the fundraising campaign, the children visited Indian restaurant Saffron Street — the campaign’s regular annual sponsor for the last four years. They “cooked up a storm with chef Nitesh,” Noor said.

Pakistani theme-based cafe Naanstaap, Moroccan steakhouse HS & Co. and US fast food chain The Halal Guys also hosted the group.

Among the dishes the children learned to make this year were marinated chicken, grilled chicken burgers, and naans with cheese and chicken filling.

“It was a really fun hands-on experience for the children, because, obviously, naan is not something that they will usually make at home because it requires a specialist oven,” Noor said.

“At The Halal Guys, they were taught how the gyro is cooked and were shown how to plate up a gyro with hummus and the special Halal Guys rice and sauces,” she added.

The campaign also held its third date decorating workshop, with about 100 children registering to stuff, cover and sprinkle dates with various ingredients and chocolates, according to their taste and liking.

Noor said that she has noticed an increase in children’s fundraising initiatives over the past four years, largely due to media exposure, which has “really heightened the concept of charity among the youth now, which is amazing.”

Khan said that he enjoyed getting to learn about the history of the four restaurants and being taught how to cook in the kitchens.

This year, the Ramadan Kids team was “much bigger” as he became a Ramadan teen, celebrating his 13th birthday.

“I felt like a big brother to 20 children,” he said.

“As Ramadan Kids progresses, I feel like we should involve more kids from all over England, cooking food in their own houses and (holding) much bigger events to influence children to make a change during the holy month of Ramadan,” Khan added.

This year, Supporting Humanity sponsored the costs of the fundraising kits and goodie bags “to encourage (religious-based) activity,” said Sumaiya Khoda, a trustee at the charity.

It also also provided the children with marketing services and a platform to raise money via its Givebrite page, Khoda added.

The charity teamed up with delivery partners on the ground via UK-based charities Save One Life, which supports the most vulnerable people in Gaza, and Help Yateem, to support orphans in Yemen, she said.

As part of the Ramadan fundraising initiative, Supporting Humanity also held its second annual full-day Ramadan street festival, featuring a number of stall holders and vendors from the Muslim community.

Prominent East London and Essex-based restaurants as well as bakers sponsored a “huge food sale” at the event, Khoda said.

An auction was held on the sidelines of the festival selling off art and items signed by major Premier League football teams, such as Manchester United, Liverpool and West Ham United, as well as England and international cricket players, she added.


Russian delegation arrives in Turkiye for Ukraine war talks

Updated 2 sec ago
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Russian delegation arrives in Turkiye for Ukraine war talks

ISTANBUL: Russia’s delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, and a Ukrainian official said a delegation including President Volodymyr Zelensky was on its way the the Turkish capital Ankara.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow, however, according to a list released by the Kremlin Wednesday night, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the peace effort.
Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian delegation that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.
Earlier this week, Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkiye to talk about ending the more than three-year war. Zelensky said he would travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Putin.
A Ukrainian delegation including Zelensky was due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Also in the delegation are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, the official said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons as the team had not yet arrived in Ankara.
“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkiye. “The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”
But Zelensky will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.
Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Zelensky and Erdogan meet, according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day’s plan.
Tass said that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus.
Moscow offered talks instead of a ceasefire
Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting, among others.
Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin effectively rejected the proposal, offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.
The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.
Russia’s delegation then was also headed by Vladimir Medinsky.
Putin’s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by US President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.
Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelensky to meet in Istanbul but said Thursday he wasn’t surprised that Putin was a no-show. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the talks.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar
The US and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.
NATO ministers back Ukraine
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with US State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night. Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the US shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the US for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. “So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.
On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn’t comply.
“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future,” Rubio said Thursday.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.
“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realized that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia,” Valtonen said.
Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”

India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance

Updated 25 min 6 sec ago
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India says Pakistan nuclear arsenal should be under UN surveillance

  • Singh’s comments came as the nuclear-armed rivals ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades

SRINAGAR: Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal should be brought under the surveillance of the UN’s nuclear agency, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Thursday, following last week’s conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi.

“I wanted to raise this question for the world: are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of a rogue and irresponsible nation?” Singh told troops at a base in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir.

“I believe that Pakistan’s atomic weapons should be brought under he surveillance of IAEA. I want to say this very clearly,” he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The entire world has seen how Pakistan has irresponsibly threatened India with nuclear attacks multiple times.”

Pakistan repeatedly said during the conflict that the nuclear option was not on the table.

Singh’s comments came as the nuclear-armed rivals ended their worst military conflict in nearly three decades with a ceasefire announcement on Saturday.

The conflict sparked global concerns that it could spiral into a full-blown war.

The fighting began last Wednesday when India launched strikes against what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.

Pakistan immediately responded with heavy artillery fire and a four-day standoff ensued between the South Asian rivals, which left around 70 people dead on both sides.

India claims Pakistan backed an April attack in which 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir — a charge Islamabad denies.

New Delhi had earlier denied targeting Pakistan’s nuclear installations during the brief conflict.

“We have not hit Kirana Hills,” Indian Air Marshal A.K. Bharti told reporters, referring to a vast rocky mountain range where, according to Indian media reports, Pakistan stores its nuclear arsenal.


China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army

Updated 55 min 5 sec ago
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China says ready to 'expand practical cooperation' with Russian army

BEIJING: China said Thursday it was ready to "expand practical cooperation" with the Russian army, after President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow for a lavish World War II Victory Day parade.
"The Chinese military stands ready to work with the Russian side to further deepen strategic mutual trust, step up strategic communication, and expand practical cooperation," the ministry of defence said in a statement on social media platform WeChat.


Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza

Updated 15 May 2025
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Israel’s presence still roils Eurovision a year after major protests over the war in Gaza

  • About 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Wednesday in the Swiss host city of Basel
  • Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her song “New Day Will Rise”

BASEL: Most contestants at the Eurovision Song Contest are seeking as much publicity as possible.
Israel’s Yuval Raphael is keeping a low profile.
The 24-year-old singer has done few media interviews or appearances during Eurovision week, as Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop music competition draws protests for a second year.
Raphael is due to perform Thursday in the second semifinal at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel. Oddsmakers suggest Raphael is likely to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her anthemic song “New Day Will Rise.”
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But last year’s event in Sweden drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.
About 200 people, many draped in Palestinian flags, protested in central Basel on Wednesday evening, demanding an end to Israel’s military offensive and the country’s expulsion from Eurovision. They marched in silence down a street noisy with music and Eurovision revelry.
Many noted that Russia was banned from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”
Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and has rehearsed with background noise so she won’t be distracted.
“But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she said.
Anti-Israel protests in Basel have been much smaller than last year in Malmo. Another protest is planned for Saturday in downtown Basel, 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the contest venue, St. Jakobshalle arena.
But concern by some Eurovision participants and broadcasters continues.
More than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. Several of the national broadcasters that fund Eurovision, including those of Spain, Ireland and Iceland, have called for a discussion about Israel’s participation.
Swiss singer Nemo, who brought the competition to Switzerland by winning last year, told HuffPost UK that “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”
At Wednesday’s protest, Basel resident Domenica Ott held a handmade sign saying “Nemo was right.”
She said the nonbinary singer was “very courageous.”
“If Russia couldn’t participate, why should Israel?” she said.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by its public broadcaster, KAN, not the government. It has called on participants to respect Eurovision’s values of “universality, diversity, equality and inclusivity” and its political neutrality.


South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions

Updated 15 May 2025
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South African president to meet Trump on Wednesday over rising tensions

  • The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington next week amid strained ties between the two countries, Pretoria said Thursday.
Tensions have been rising for months over a range of policy issues, culminating this week with the US resettling a first group of white Afrikaners that Trump claims are facing “persecution” in South Africa.
“On Wednesday, 21 May 2025, President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” the presidency said in a statement released late Wednesday.
The visit “provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,” it said.
Trump has repeatedly shared unfounded claims that white Afrikaners are facing a “genocide,” a conspiracy theory that has been widely dismissed.
White South Africans, who make up 7.3 percent of the population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the black majority of the country.
Pretoria has said Trump’s offer of refugee status to Afrikaners is “entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy.”