Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan General Authority for Hajj and Umrah has announced the start of activities for this year's Hajj season, the pilgrimage to Islam's holy sites in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. At a press conference in Tripoli on Wednesday, the Hajj and Umrah Authority confirmed the completion of contracts [...]
©- - 16 may 2024 - 12:42:13 - thread Society (427 words)


Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Religious hate speech is “unfolding unchecked” on and offline, while gaps in national policy frameworks are letting it slip through the cracks, UN rights chief Volker Türk said on Thursday. Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Türk said that countries “can and must do more” to counter [...]
©- - 05 october 2023 - 17:51:17 - thread Society (224 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - In the run-up to Eid Al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice of the sheep, the first animal recommended in Islam, scheduled for 28 June, in perpetuation of the tradition of Father Abraham, the quest for sheep has intensified in Libya, becoming the main preoccupation of Libyans, [...]
©- - 22 june 2023 - 18:33:15 - thread Society (1756 words)


Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Gambia Human Rights Commission has expressed extreme concern about the rising religious tension and intolerance within the country that have been making headline news over the past few weeks. A statement made available to PANA here Wednesday referred to the tense religious exchanges on social media, [...]
©- - 03 may 2023 - 15:15:36 - thread Society (474 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Throughout the last two weeks, the atmosphere of Ramadan has become more nocturnal in Tripoli and other Libyan cities as a prelude to the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. Eid marks the end of the fasting of Muslims, scheduled for Friday or Saturday, depending on the appearance of [...]
©- - 18 april 2023 - 17:06:23 - thread Society (1485 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, presided over the commemoration ceremony of "Laylat al-Qadr", the Night of Destiny, corresponding to the 27th day of the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims. The Night of Destiny, held on Monday [...]
©- - 18 april 2023 - 12:38:36 - thread Society (255 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libya's Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs, Walid Al-Lafi, chaired a meeting to discuss cooperation between the General Authority for Waqfs (Religious Donations) and the governmental media in order to face dangers and campaigns that try to harm the Islamic faith. The meeting was attended [...]
©- - 16 april 2023 - 17:37:12 - thread Society (176 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – A South African political party on Tuesday called on Indian authorities to arrest and prosecute Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for child abuse after a video of his inappropriate interaction with a boy went viral. In the bizarre incident which has been broadcast around [...]
©- - 11 april 2023 - 11:25:57 - thread Society (225 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - This year again, the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims, which starts Thursday will not have departed from the rule in Libya, welcomed by an exceptional wave of price increases for basic foodstuffs, most of which are consumed in large quantities during this [...]
©- - 22 march 2023 - 18:47:18 - thread Society (1586 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - A three-day high-level international seminar on the theme: "Intercultural and inter-religious dialogue: what strategies for sustainable peace in the Sahel" opened on Tuesday in Bamako. It is under the chairmanship of the Malian Minister of Reconciliation, Peace and National Cohesion, in charge of the Agreement for Peace [...]
©- - 22 march 2023 - 16:58:43 - thread Society (392 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, on Tuesday met with the Governor of the Central Bank, al-Seddik al-Kebir, and the President of the Court of Accounts, Khaled Shakchak, on the government's preparations for the month of Ramadan. They discussed, in particular, the availability of basic commodities, price [...]
©- - 08 march 2023 - 11:32:28 - thread Society (231 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The festivities commemorating Maouloud, the birthday of the Prophet of Islam, Mohamed (pbuh), started on Friday in Tripoli and other cities of the country. It began with a parade of troops from Zaouia and Sufi schools, in processions through the streets of the old Media to the [...]
©- - 07 october 2022 - 20:03:33 - thread Society (814 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The President of the Transition of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, on Wednesday received a delegation of the first sub-regional forum of Muslim religious leaders for peace and stability in Mali and the Sahel. The delegation was led by the President of the High Islamic Council of Mali [...]
©- - 22 september 2022 - 12:38:49 - thread Society (264 words)


Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of the the Catholic Church in Nigeria on Tuesday met with the Mauritian Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Jugnauth, in Port Louis, with their discussions focusing on climate change, its impacts and measures that need to be taken to save the Planet. The Cardinal said [...]
©- - 07 september 2022 - 08:16:58 - thread Society (176 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - As Libyans prepare to mark this year's Eid Al-Adha, the Muslims festival of sacrifice on Saturday, the price of the single most important item for the celebration -- the sheep -- has shot up well beyond the means of the ordinary person. And this is, at least [...]
©- - 08 july 2022 - 06:36:23 - thread Society (736 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libya will celebrate Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim sheep sacrifice festival in perpetuation of the tradition of Father Abraham, on Saturday, 9 July corresponding to 10 Dhou Al-Hijjah, Libyan Dar Al Iftaa announced. On Wednesday evening, the Mufti announced that this Thursday is the first day of the [...]
©- - 30 june 2022 - 19:35:32 - thread Society (192 words)


Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Gambian President Adama Barrow has urged faith groups to propagate and maintain peace and tolerance as prerequisites for social and economic development. The President was speaking at the State House on Thursday during a meeting with the outgoing Vatican Ambassador to The Gambia, Archbishop Dagoberto Campos Salas. President Barrow expressed [...]
©- - 10 june 2022 - 10:17:13 - thread Society (149 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malians undertaking the 2022 Hajj on the government roll will pay 3.9 million CFA francs. "The pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam will officially take place in 2022, after successive cancellations in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said the director of the Hajj [...]
©- - 30 may 2022 - 16:37:30 - thread Society (266 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The first day of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan fasting, will be celebrated on Monday, May 2, in Libya, the Lunar Crescent Scrutiny Committee of the High Commission of Al-Ifta at the Libyan General Authority for Waqfs (religious endowments) and Islamic Affairs announced [...]
©- - 01 may 2022 - 14:57:32 - thread Society (280 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The rhythm of life in Tripoli and other Libyan cities has increased in the last few days, with the extension of vigils until the first morning light, punctuated by family outings indicate the beginning of the countdown to the approaching Eid El Fitr, scheduled for next [...]
©- - 28 april 2022 - 17:18:29 - thread Society (1672 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has conveyed his best wishes to the Muslim community ahead of the start of Ramadan on Sunday.       Ramaphosa said Ramadan, and the observance of fasting and the social support and charity demonstrated by Muslims during this period, was an [...]
©- - 03 april 2022 - 15:22:29 - thread Society (197 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan officials, international organisations, and foreign diplomats expressed their wishes at the beginning of Ramadan, the fasting month of Muslims this Saturday in Libya, focusing on the wishes for peace, stability, quietude, reconciliation, settlement of the crisis and reunion between Libyans around the values of tolerance, [...]
©- - 03 april 2022 - 06:27:02 - thread Society (530 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Human rights group #Africa4Palestine on Friday says it accepts former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s apology for his controversial pro-Israel comments, which he made during a webinar hosted by the Jerusalem Post last year. South Africa’s Judicial Conduct Committee had ordered him to retract his comments [...]
©- - 04 february 2022 - 08:32:48 - thread Society (405 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has warned that there is growing distrust in the government because of the misuse of public funds and corruption. Delivering his Christmas message at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, Makgoba cited a recent Afrobarometer survey which showed how distrustful people [...]
©- - 25 december 2021 - 11:34:44 - thread Society (157 words)


Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The United States has placed Algeria and Comoros on its Special Watch List for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom”. A statement on Wednesday by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, named other countries on the list as Cuba [...]
©- - 18 november 2021 - 06:13:01 - thread Society (316 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South African Muslims will be barred from attending Hajj in Saudi Arabia this year. For the second consecutive year, the kingdom has issued limitations on attendees to the annual pilgrimage. The Saudi government said this year's prayers will be limited to residents and citizens from [...]
©- - 24 june 2021 - 12:59:59 - thread Society (134 words)


Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - The Muslim Community of Burundi (COMIBU) has publicly disowned one of its leading members for his angry remarks following a warning by the Minister of Interior, Gervais Ndirakobuca, against the excessive sound of the calls to prayer, disturbing the sleep of the residents. In Burundi, 60% of [...]
©- - 10 june 2021 - 18:22:10 - thread Society (398 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng says he is defending his constitutional rights of freedom of religion and freedom of expression by appealing a ruling by the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) against him. The committee found Mogoeng guilty and ordered him to apologise unconditionally for [...]
©- - 04 april 2021 - 09:18:38 - thread Society (320 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Several hundred Muslims Wednesday expressed their displeasure at the recent remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron that cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed (PSH) of Islam would not stop in his country and asked for an apology from him. After the assassination of a professor of history-geography in [...]
©- - 29 october 2020 - 18:48:52 - thread Society (394 words)


Rabat, Morocco (PANA) - Morocco has strongly condemned the continued publication of "outrageous cartoons" against Islam and Prophet Mohammed. In a statement issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans living abroad,  Morocco denounced these acts saying they "reflect the immaturity of their perpetrators". "Freedom of expression [...]
©- - 26 october 2020 - 11:19:27 - thread Society (269 words)


Cotonou, Benin (PANA) – Benin’s Episcopal conference (CEB) has expressed deep concern with "the hideous promotion" of homosexuality through the conditions attached to international aid. In a communiqué issued at the end of its first ordinary session for the 2020-2021 pastoral year, the Conference said: "Benin’s Episcopal Conference is very concerned [...]
©- - 25 october 2020 - 16:39:36 - thread Society (145 words)


Lomé, Togo (PANA) - Christian and Muslim worshippers will be praying in their churches and mosques from Friday, 17 July, following the partial and experimental opening, an official source told PANA here Sunday. The Ministry in charge of Territorial Administration, Decentralization, in charge of local authorities, in a press release here [...]
©- - 12 july 2020 - 13:22:53 - thread Society (256 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda's grand Mufti Sheikh Salim Hitimana on Wednesday announced that no one among members of Rwandan Muslim community will perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement comes after Saudi Arabia halted the entry of Muslim pilgrims seeking to [...]
©- - 24 june 2020 - 15:22:33 - thread Society (247 words)


Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA)- Bishop Gervais Banshimiyubusa of Bujumbura Diocese on  Sunday called the Barundi people to the sacred union on the fifth day of national mourning of the death of President Pierre Nkurunziza. "Transcend your differences, console each other, help each other, and keep confidence in God who gives and takes [...]
©- - 14 june 2020 - 13:41:13 - thread Society (178 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Eid el Fitr, commemorating the end of Ramadan, month of fasting for Muslims, will be celebrated Sunday in Libya, an official source told PANA here Friday. The Libyan presidential council announced this after the moon crescent marking the new month of Chawal failed to appear Friday. In [...]
©- - 22 may 2020 - 23:32:13 - thread Society (549 words)


Paris, France (PANA) - The High Committee for Human Fraternity has called religious leaders and believers around the world to a day of fasting, prayer, and charity on 14 May, to implore God to help humanity to end the COVID-19 pandemic. "The call invites the people of the world to put [...]
©- - 12 may 2020 - 15:20:26 - thread Society (330 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  - Libyans on Friday begin the Ramadan, month of fasting for Muslims, in exceptionally trying times marked by the progression of the coronavirus epidemic.  The fasting is being observed amid persisting insecurity with the continuation of the military escalation and the suffering of the people obliged to fulfill [...]
©- - 23 april 2020 - 22:34:47 - thread Society (1576 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Mufti of the Republic of Tunisia, Othman Batikh, announced on Wednesday evening that the first day of Ramadan this year will be Friday, 24 April, 2020. The holy month of Ramadan has a special place in the lives of Tunisians like other Muslim countries in terms [...]
©- - 23 april 2020 - 17:45:52 - thread Society (267 words)


Tunis Tunisia (PANA) - The president of the association "el-Ghriba", organizer of the annual Jewish pilgrimage to the island of Djerba in Tunisia, Perez Trabelsi, announced on Tuesday the cancellation of this year's pilgrimage, scheduled for May 6 to 13. This cancellation is due to the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic [...]
©- - 22 april 2020 - 17:40:43 - thread Society (215 words)


Lomé, Togo (PANA) - The National Hajj Commission of Togo (CNH) has suspended preparations for the pilgrimage of Muslims to the Holy Places of Islam in Saudi Arabia until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic.   According to Togolese Minister of Territorial Administration, Payadowa Boukpessi, also president of the Hajj Commission, [...]
©- - 16 april 2020 - 13:46:30 - thread Society (107 words)


Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa of Cote d'Ivoire said by mail on Wednesday that a march, called "Let's go to peace", will take place on February 15, 2020, in Abidjan. This initiative comes in a political context marked by an outcry by supporters of the Abidjan regime following [...]
©- - 23 january 2020 - 18:21:23 - thread Society (174 words)


Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Some 8,143 Burkinabe pilgrims will perform the pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Islam in 2020, the same number as in 2019, the Burkinabe government announced on Thursday. The pilgrimage to Mecca in 2019 was subsidized by government to the tune of 1,100,000,000 CFA francs which [...]
©- - 09 january 2020 - 17:41:25 - thread Society (103 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunisian Post  on Wednesday issued three stamps to commemorate three Popes of African and Tunisian origin, namely Pope Victor, Pope Miltiades and Pope Gelasius.   According to the Tunisian postal institution, the publication embodies the principles and values ​​of tolerance, openness and interfaith dialogue that Tunisia has [...]
©- - 25 december 2019 - 15:51:35 - thread Society (189 words)


Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - The situation in the main markets visited Tuesday in Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi, was hard to believe, especially on the eve of the nativity festival. For the over 70 percent of Burundians, who are Christians, Christmas is one of the opportunities to improve their daily [...]
©- - 24 december 2019 - 18:10:59 - thread Society (639 words)


Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – The Nigerian Government has slammed the United States of America (USA) for including it in the list of countries that have engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, [...]
©- - 22 december 2019 - 18:22:19 - thread Society (529 words)


Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The US administration has removed the Sudan from its list of countries violating religious freedom to a lesser evil list, placing it under special supervision, an official source said here Friday. American Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, in a statement issued here Friday said that on [...]
©- - 20 december 2019 - 23:46:55 - thread Society (444 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA)  -  Participants at a symposium here Thursday agreed that the fight against terrorism and extremism required a progressive religious discourse allowing for the establishment of the values ​​of love, peace, openness and balance away from hatred, violence and confinement. The participants arrived at this decision at the Second [...]
©- - 28 november 2019 - 21:21:34 - thread Society (212 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - A total of 80 people were injured following a stampede on Saturday at the 26 March stadium in Bamako, during the celebration of the Maouloud, organized by the Guide des Ançardines, the President of the High Islamic Council of Mali (HCIM), Chérif Ousmane Madani Haïdara, told [...]
©- - 17 november 2019 - 15:12:28 - thread Society (185 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA)   -  Festivities marking the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohamet (Peace Upon Him) began here Friday with a parade of the Zawiya troops in the streets of the old Medina bound for the Tripoli city-center. The troops attracted crowds behind them at the rhythm of the songs [...]
©- - 08 november 2019 - 22:36:52 - thread Society (354 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Preparations for the celebration of the Mauloud, or anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammed on 9 November, are continuing intensively in Tunisia, particularly in the religious city of Kairouan, where hundreds of thousands of Tunisian and foreign worshippers converge every year to take part in [...]
©- - 04 november 2019 - 18:20:52 - thread Society (198 words)