Miracle 532- Nov 20, 2020

Volume 20 Issue 532- Rabi ul II 5,1442 H, November 20, 2020 $1

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5 What is Sharia Law?

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07 Budget 2021 pairs

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Travellers to Canada must now use Travellers to Canada must COVID-19 vaccines you could

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B.C. adds recordbreaking 717

fiscal responsibility B.C.’s regional COVID-19 orders getting

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Afghan President Ghani rolls out red carpet World’s largest free trade agreement A ‘crackdown’ on journalism is dangerous

PM calls for quick Senate passage of COVID-19 aid bill, underlines seriousness of pandemic

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TTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s hoping the latest COVID-19 aid bill –extending the federal wage subsidy and evolving the commercial rent subsidy program—gets a quick passage in the Senate, as calls continue for more federal support for businesses facing a new round of shutdowns amid a still-surging second wave of the pandemic.

Bill C-9 was fast-tracked through the House of Commons the first week of November, and the Senate is currently studying the bill, but still has several legislative stages to still make it through before it becomes law.

Trudeau said he hopes the Senate will pass the bill “shortly,” and noted that some of the business supports within the bill will be retroactive and include additional supports

PTI emerges as single largest party in GB after polls

Biden filling top White House team with campaign veterans

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ASHINGTON -- U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announced a raft of top White House staff positions on Tuesday, drawing from the senior ranks of his campaign and some of his closest confidants to fill out an increasingly diverse White House leadership team.

Biden confirmed that former campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon will serve as a deputy chief of staff, while campaign co-chair Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond and campaign adviser Steve Ricchetti will play senior roles in the new administration. Richmond will leave his Louisiana congressional seat to fill the White House job.

The president-elect also announced that Mike Donilon, a longtime Biden confidant, will serve as a senior advisor; Dana Remus, the campaign’s current gen-

eral counsel, will be counsel to the president; Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who was one of Biden’s deputy campaign managers, will serve as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; and Annie Tomasini, who is currently Biden’s travelling chief of staff, will serve as the director of Oval Office operations. Anthony Bernal will serve as a senior adviser to Jill Biden, after he was her chief of staff on the campaign, and Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, a former Obama Ambassador to Uruguay, as her chief of staff.

The new hires represent an initial wave of what will ultimately be hundreds of new White House aides hired in the coming weeks as Biden builds out an administration to execute his governing viTo be Continued at page 7

for businesses in regions where forced shutdowns have occurred recently.

Over the last month cases have climbed across the country, taking Canada over the 300,000 case threshold, prompting new questions about whether emergency national measures are needed. Trudeau continues to pledge federal assistance to provinces, who ultimately need to make the calls around public health measures in place in their regions.

Capital Dispatch: Stay up to date on the latest news from Parliament Hill “We know that this is extremely difficult on Canadians and on businesses, but the position of the federal government from the beginning has been to make the difficult deTo be Continued at page 4

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mran-led party bags 10 seats against PPP’s three and PML-N’s two • MWM secures one seat • Independent candidates emerge victorious in seven constituencies GILGIT: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the single largest party in the elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly by securing 10 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which got three seats and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) two seats.

Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) won one seat. Seven seats of the GBLA have been won by independent candidates.

According to unofficial results, PPP’s candidate Amjad Hussain won the GBLA-01 (Gilgit) seat by securing 11,178 votes. Independent candidate Sultan Raees was runnerup with 8,356 votes.

In GBLA-02 (Gilgit-II) constituency, PTI’s Fatehullah Khan was declared winner with a lead of only two votes after the recounting of

votes. He received 6,696 votes against 6,694 bagged by PPP’s Jameel Ahmed.

Earlier, PPP’s Jameel Ahmed was declared winner with 8,817 votes against 8,200 secured by PTI candidate Fatehullah Khan.

But the recounting of votes turned the tables.

GBLA-04 (Nagar-I) constituency was won

by PPP’s Ajmad Hussain who got 5,716 votes, trailed by Islami Tehreek Pakistan’s candidate Mohammad Ayub with 5,061 votes.

Independent candidate Javed Manwa won GBLA-05 (Nagar-II) constituency by securing 2,570 votes. MWM’s Rizwan Ali, who got 1,850 votes, came on second position.

In GBLA-06 (Hunza) constituency, PTI’s Ubaidullah Baig was declared winner with 6,600 votes. Independent candidate Noor Mohammad was runner-up with 3,910 votes.

PTI candidate Zakariya Khan won GBLA-07 (Skardu-I) constituency by securing 5,290 votes against 4,114 votes received by PPP’s Syed Mehdi Shah....................

Source: .dawn.com

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PAKISTAN

Senate polls to be held through show of hands: PM Afghan President Ghani rolls out red the parliament,” the prime minister said, addcarpet for PM Imran Khan ing that the government did not enjoy a twoKABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday gave a warm welcome to Prime Minister Imran Khan when he arrived at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on his maiden visit.The premier travelled to the neighbouring country on an invitation

by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The move is seen as an effort to build on sustained engagement between the two countries in recent months for enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse fields.The last time time PM Imran and Ghani held a meeting was when the latter visited Pakistan in June 2019. Before that they met on the sidelines of the 14th OIC Summit in Makkah in May 2019. The two leaders had a telephonic conversation in September 2020. A statement by the PM Office said the premier’s visit includes a tete-e-tete with Ghani, designation level talks and a joint press stake-out.

“The focus would be on further deepening the fraternal bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Afghan peace process, and regional economic development and connectivity.”

In this context, there have been several high-level meetings over the past few months. Besides regular exchanges between the foreign ministers, Dr Abdullah Abdul-

lah, Speaker Afghan Wolesi Jirga Rahman Rahmani and Afghan Commerce Minister Nisar Ghoraini also visited Pakistan.

The second review session of the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) was held in Kabul on August 31.

“As part of this process, and in the run-up to the prime minister’s forthcoming visit, Adviser on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood visited Kabul from 16-18 November 2020,” said the PMO. “The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan are linked through immutable bonds of history, faith, culture, kinship, values and traditions,” reads the PMO statement.

“The Prime Minister’s visit will help foster a stronger and multi-faceted relationship between the two brotherly countries. “ Source: geo.tv

however, urged the world to take notice of the situation in the region. Pakistan would continue to put evidence of India’s statesponsored terrorism at different international forums, he added.

Talking about Afghanistan, Mr Qureshi said that establishment of peace in the country was necessary for economic progress in the region. Establishment of peace is among top priorities of Pakistan. “The progress of the region is linked with peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have to devise a joint comprehensive strategy for restoration of peace in Afghanistan,” he added. Answering a question, he said US president-elect Joe Biden had complete understanding of issues in South Asia, especially about affairs of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. He said Pakistan would continue to convey its point of view effectively to new administration in the United States. ............Source: dawn.com

tional companies to get the vaccine at the earliest,” he said. In reply to a question, Dr Hafeez said the government was very close to finalise the process for the procurement of the vaccine. However, he said, it would take a few more months to get the vaccine.

An official of the health ministry requesting anonymity said that it was not possible to estimate the cost of the vaccine at the moment, as there were no mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines in the world. “We should [also] not forget that commercial companies are manufacturing the vaccine and, despite their announcement that the vaccine will be provided at affordable rates, we should not expect that it will be available for almost free,” he said. Source: dawn.com

ISLAMABAD: With just four months left for Senate polls, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday vowed to hold elections for the upper house of parliament through ‘show of hands’, and not by secret ballot, to ensure transparency and eliminate ‘vote trading’.

He also announced that electronic voting and a separate system for overseas Pakistanis would be introduced to enable them to exercise their right of franchise in the next general elections.

He expressed his government’s determination to award provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, congratulating its people for enthusiastically participating in the recently-held elections.

Addressing the media, Mr Khan said the government had decided to move a constitutional amendment in the parliament to elect new senators through ‘show of hands’ instead of a secret ballot. Putting the ball in the opposition parties’ court, he said it had to be seen whether they “will support the government in passing the amendment with a two-thirds majority”.

“Not only the ruling PTI but other parties also agree that votes in the Senate elections are sold, but now we have to see how they [parties] respond to the constitutional amendment in

thirds majority in the National Assembly and required the opposition members’ support to pass the amendment. He recalled that his party had expelled 20 of its own MPAs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after they were found involved in trading of votes in the 2018 Senate elections.

At present, the opposition is in majority in the Senate and, therefore, many times legislation passed by the National Assembly was bulldozed by it in the upper house in the recent past. The forthcoming elections are, therefore, crucial for the government to secure a majority in the house where polls are held every three years when the term of half of the senators expires. PM Khan said the government aimed to introduce two other electoral reforms — evoting and voting rights to overseas Pakistanis.

“We want elections in Pakistan to be free and fair so that those who lose accept their defeat instead of levelling allegations of rigging,” he added. The premier talked about the rigging allegations in the two previous general elections, saying in 2013 all parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which had won the polls, agreed that the elections were rigged and 133 petitions were filed by different people in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

“After the 2013 elections, we demanded audit of four constituencies so that the shortcoming in the system could be addressed to ensure fair elections in 2018,” Mr Khan said, adding that he approached the parliament, ECP and the Supreme Court against the “rigging”, but was compelled to stage a 126-day sit-in when his request was not entertained for more than a year. Source: dawn.com

QUETTA: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the provincial capital on Tuesday and interacted with the participants of a workshop.

The National Workshop Balochistan aims to enhance understanding of the participants about critical national security issues, timely decisionmaking process, national security management system and elements of national power.

Speaking on the occasion, the COAS said progress and stability in Balochistan was critical to the prosperity of Pakistan. All stakeholders, including the army, had synergised their efforts for socio-economic uplift of the people of Balochistan, he added.The army chief said measures like fencing of borders with Afghanistan and

Iran, effective articulation of security apparatus deployed across the province and Quetta Safe City project would have positive impact on the overall security paradigm of Balochistan. Nefar­ ious efforts of hostile elements to foment terrorism and create chaos in the province would not be allowed to succeed, he emphasised.

The COAS reiterated that Pakistan’s peace and prosperity were linked with commitment to democracy and its values.

Later, Gen Bajwa visited School of Infantry and Tactics.

He was briefed on new training modules, online examination systems enacted for young leadership and innovative systems/techniques being incorporated in training regime.

The COAS asked the faculty and students to stay abreast with developments in modern warfare.

He appreciated the hard work and dedication of the faculty and staff in grooming the young officers and soldiers for taking on the future challenges befittingly.

Earlier on arrival in Quetta, the army chief was received by Lt Gen Muhammad Waseem Ashraf, the Commander of Southern Command.

Source: dawn.com

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday that India was conspiring to damage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project by creating unrest in the country.

Talking to the media here, he said Pakistan had solid proof that India was trying to create law and order situation in the country and for the purpose it had given Rs80 billion to a group.

He said India was running training camps of terrorists to disturb security situation in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Qureshi was of the view that the security of Pakistan was above politics, adding that the people of the country would foil all such designs of the enemy with their unity. He appreciated the role of President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan in highlighting India’s state-sponsored terrorism and violation of international laws.

PM Khan had timely issued statements about India’s nefarious designs against Pakistan, he added.

Minister says Biden has complete understanding of South Asia issues In reply to a question about any chance of atomic war between Pakistan and India, the foreign minister observed that India was well aware of Pakistan’s capabilities. He,

ISLAMABAD: While an estimated cost of the Covid-19 vaccine is not yet available, Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved a $100 million allocation and allowed advance payment for procurement of the vaccine at

the earliest.

Moreover, it has been decided that different segments of society, such as senior citizens, health practitioners and people suffering from chronic diseases, will be prioritised for the vaccine that will be available in limited numbers during the ongoing winter season.

“As we speak no company has announced the cost of vaccine. Moreover, not a single company has got the approval to sell the vaccine as the clinical trial data is limited. Although international firms — Pfizer and BioNTech — have announced that the phase-III clinical trials of their vaccines had shown 90 per cent efficacy in preventing the disease among those who have not contracted the virus, but they are in the process of

compiling the data. Once data will be completed they will submit it with United States Food and Drugs Authority and with similar regulatory authority of the European Union.

It may take another four weeks,” said Vice Chancellor of the Health Services Academy (HSA) and Chairman of the National Vaccine Committee Dr Asad Hafeez while talking to Dawn.“Companies will get the emergency use or transit permission for use of vaccine and after one year they may get full approval to sell the vaccine. However, there will be no difference for the general public if the vaccine is sold under transit or full permission. The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has been interacting and negotiating with half a dozen multina-

Prosperity linked with commitment to democracy, says army chief

India creating unrest to damage CPEC: Qureshi

Pakistan sets aside $100m to buy Covid vaccine

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E jubilant, but keep it short. Donald Trump clings to the White House but it’s a pretty good bet that he will depart, kicking and tweeting, on Jan 20. He nonetheless garnered 72 million votes, so his long-anticipated exit may not be permanent. The Democratic Party failed to cut into his support because they were loath to say one word that smacked of the visionary aspirations of FDR’s New Deal or LBJ’s Great Society, regarded as hideously socialist by their big donors.

Wall Street injected millions of dollars into Joe Biden’s campaign, and awaits cabinet appointments and more, which will be duly granted given that some 40 former lobbyists populate his transition team. So we are a long way from Biden posing credibly as a humble man of the people. It was truly bizarre listening to affluent Democrats dismiss Bernie Sanders as not a ‘real’ party member when he and Elizabeth Warren were the only candidates who stuck to the values of traditional FDR Democrats.

After fending off the left-liberal platforms of Sanders and Warren, complacent Democrat officials are determined to revert to the same stale economic policies that bred Trump’s resistible rise to power in the first place.

Throughout his lacklustre campaign, Biden avidly played the

O P I N I O N

The real distancing Covid-19 card of extreme lockdown, pleasing perhaps a third of the populace who can afford a Zoom lifestyle but far less so a hard-pressed majority who plead that the economy (ie jobs, wages, small businesses and housing stability) is their foremost worry.

Lockdown proponents like to claim that disobeying their rules means you will murder your granny. They don’t like to hear that lockdowns mean condemning multitudes to poverty, homelessness and early deaths (from untreated illnesses) in order to protect their privileged selves. The anti-Covid measures in the US simply managed to shift the risks from the upper class to the poor, and is no small part of the reason for the boosted Trump vote. A loss of seats in the house and an inability to gain a Senate majority should alert the Democratic Party lords that something essential is missing in their economic programmes, but all they do is blame the left for their own shortcomings.

The US isn’t centre-right, but the people who run it are.

Biden’s popularity was only modestly higher than Trump’s.

The bulk of Democrats voted for Biden out of distaste for Trump, not enthusiasm for he who has little to offer those outside his high-income social orbit. Biden

has a track record any conservative can cherish — servant of the credit card industry in his home state of Delaware, passing a 2005 law stripping people of bankruptcy relief; tormentor of Anita Hill during a 1991 supreme court nomination event, installing a judge who became a reliable rubber stamp for reactionary views; pushing a 1994 crime bill that sent the incarceration of minorities skyrocketing; and blithely offering several times, including as Obama’s vice president, to slash social security and Medicare to make foolish compromises with crafty Republicans. Biden’s good manners will be a relief, but only for a short spell.

Kamala Harris praised Biden for his ‘audacity’ in choosing her as running mate when nothing was more obvious than the careful political calculations involved in the choice. In mainstream US politics, ‘identities’ of race, creed, ethnicity and gender are are allowed to flourish instead of class interests, which are not supposed to exist. One hopes that Harris’ shattering of race and gender barriers puts those symbolic goals behind us, because Obama’s presidency gave black voters who weren’t already prosperous nothing but a vicarious thrill. Canny elites can always pick useful opportunists to do their bidding, on the assumption that all

that people crave is to become part of the establishment. Too often, they’re right about that.

Harris is a dedicated careerist who played her cards right as a public prosecutor with a merciless approach to the poor, even threatening to jail parents of truant children.

The US isn’t centre-right, but the people who run it are. An NYT poll attests two-thirds of US citizens want a wealth tax, national healthcare, free college tuition and a Green New Deal, just for starters. A recent Fox News poll put those figures even higher.

Biden and Harris became Democratic candidates because they are ‘safe hands’ who enable Wall Street, mega corporations, and too-big-to-fail banks to go on bilking average citizens. The top 10 per cent in the US now own 78pc of the wealth. At this rate, the top 10pc should own everything in another lifetime, but something has to give. The real social distancing that the US has practised since the 1970s is the ever-yawning gap between the wealthy and the rest. Biden is by no means a remedy, unless the social justice movements arising during Trump’s era pressure him ever so reluctantly into the role.

Courtesy By: Kurt Jacobsen | Sayeed Hasan Khan

passed, this is it,” Tory said.

Jon-Rhys Evenchick, owner of a music venue in Ottawa, has been using the rent subsidy program to stay afloat. He said that he’s currently paying out of pocket 100 per cent of his rent and is concerned about being able to stay open for much longer without the next phase of the subsidy.

“Our margins are razor-thin, so every cent counts,” he said.

Should it pass, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has already flagged that a fix to a section of the bill will be needed to clarify the payment requirements for business owners before applying for the updated rent subsidy. Source: ctvnews.ca

PM calls for quick Senate passage of COVID-19......................

Continued from Page 1 cisions—by regional authorities,

by provincial authorities, by local public health authorities—easier in knowing that businesses that have to close will get strong support,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau’s comments come on the heels of Toronto Mayor John Tory calling for the Senate to speed up

its work.

“These businesses need help right now,” he said in a series of tweets.

“We cannot afford any further delay.” “I understand the role of the Senate and think its deliberations can often be useful in the cause of good public policy. But if ever there was a case for sitting late nights and weekends to get this emergency bill

US to slash troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan

The US will slash troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years of war after US President Donald Trump pledged to end conflicts abroad, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.

Rejecting concerns that precipitous drawdowns could give up all the US has fought for, Acting Defence Secretary Chris Miller said around 2,000 troops would be pulled from Afghanistan by January 15.

Five hundred more would come

back from Iraq by the same date, leaving 2,500 in each country.

The moves reflect Trump’s policy “to bring the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to a successful and responsible conclusion and to bring our brave service members home,” Miller said.

Miller said the US had met its goals, set in 2001 after the Al Qaeda attacks on the United States, to defeat extremists and to help “local partners and allies to take the lead in

the fight”.

“With the blessings of providence in the coming year, we will finish this generational war and bring our men and women home,” he said.

Ending ‘endless wars’ The moves took the United States closer to disengaging from conflicts that have blazed and smouldered through three presidencies with no end in sight since 2001.

But critics said they risk appearing like a humiliating defeat, leaving the original threat of extremist attacks intact.

The announcement came just weeks before Trump cedes the White House in the wake of his November 3 reelection loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Amid criticism that Trump was acting abruptly since his defeat, White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said the troop cuts have been in the works for

some time.“Four years ago Trump ran on a promise to put a stop to America’s endless wars. Today it was just announced at the Pentagon that the president is keeping that promise to the American people.

“By May it is US President Trump’s hope that they will come home safely and in their entirety.”

Baghdad rockets It comes 10 days after Trump fired defence secretary Mark Esper, who had insisted on keeping 4,500 troops in Afghanistan to support Afghan security forces.

Esper had reduced US forces from about 13,000 following a deal with the Taliban in February, in which both sides agreed the Taliban would enter into peace talks with the Kabul government, in return for US troops withdrawing by May 2021.

Continued at Page 10

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5

Rabi ul II 5,1442 Nov 20, 2020

S

haria, or Sharia law, is the Islamic legal system derived from the Quran and the Hadith. In linguistic terms, Sharia refers to a water source, which is the source to which people who want to drink come, so they drink from it and fill their buckets, and perhaps bring their animals to drink from it as well.

The Arabs do not call a water source Sharia unless the water is flowing without inter-

f ait h

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah (glorified and exalted be He) said:I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced

by Me to him whom he associated with Me.by Muslim &Ibn Majah.

What is Sharia Law?

ruption, and is visible and can be seen.

In Sharia terminology, Shariah refers to the entire religion (Islam), which Allah has chosen for His slaves to bring them forth thereby from the depths of darkness into the light. It is what He has prescribed for them and what He has explained to them of

commands and prohibitions, halal (lawful) and haram (unlawful).

Whoever follows the Sharia of Allah, regarding as permissible (halal) that which He has permitted and regarding as forbidden (haram) that which He has prohibited, will triumph.

Whoever goes against the Sharia (laws) of Allah has exposed himself to divine vengeance, wrath and punishment.

Allah, may He be exalted, says in the Quran (interpretation of the meaning): “Then We put you, [O Muhammad], on an ordained way [Sharia] concerning the matter [of religion]; so follow it and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know” (Quran 45:18) Due to Islamophobia and the false reports in the media, Sharia has been referred ex-

clusively to the penal code yet the penal code only makes up around 15% of Sharia law.

Sharia deals with many topics, including crime, politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday etiquette and fasting. Adherence to Sharia has served as one of the distinguishing characteristics of Islam. In short, Sharia is the infallible law of God. Source: .allahsword.com

way we think of law — rigid and enforceable — but a mass of varying interpretations on Islamic texts, concerning mostly personal religious conduct.

That’s why it makes no sense that militias would be “imposing” Shariah. Imposing what? The path of God? The opinions and debates that make up the scholarly interpretations of the religious texts? Islam?

No, you might be thinking, imposing Shariah means forcing women to wear burkas and implementing harsh punishments.

That’s what we hear of, say, the Taliban, and they say what they’re doing is Shariah. But using religious rhetoric to justify bad behavior is nothing new in the world.

Today, the Shariah-based legal system, a sophisticated legal system not dissimilar to our own, is gone, dismantled under Western colonialism. Shariah, with its institutions, courts and system of checks and balances, is not the law of the land anywhere in the world. What usually goes under the guise of Shariah is simply a set of Islamicsounding provisions tacked onto Westernstyle civil codes or isolated punishments applied without regard to the restrictions that made them fantastically hard to apply.

It’s an election year, though, and Islamo-

phobia spikes in election years. Politicians know that fear-mongering gets votes. Two of this year’s Islamophobic fear-mongers are Marjorie Taylor Greene and Laura Loomer, both endorsed by President Trump. That they’ve won their congressional primaries, in Georgia and Florida respectively, is a sad comment on the rampant ignorance concerning Islam and Muslims.

Greene spreads fabricated tales of a Shariah invasion of the U.S. government, asserting that any Muslim who believes in Shariah shouldn’t be in government. Greene has urged Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the nation’s two Muslim congresswomen (one from Minnesota, the other from Michigan), to “go back to the Middle East.” She falsely claims that Shariah allows men in Muslimmajority countries to have “sex with little boys, little girls, multiple women” and to marry their sisters.

Loomer has been banned by social-media platforms for her anti-Muslim hate speech, which has included calling Islam a “cancer on society” and trying to tie Shariah to ISIS. She must have missed the 2014 open letter to ISIS written by more than a hundred high-level Islamic scholars, explaining why ISIS’ acts violate Shariah.

It’s in all of our interests to stop mindlessly buying into the notion of Shariah as draconian and violent. Understanding the basics of Shariah, for both non-Muslims and Muslims, is essential to intelligently evaluating political trends, debunking defamatory anti-Muslim rhetoric and invalidating the positions of Muslim terrorists.

Islam is an American religion. It’s time to demystify it.

Sumbul Ali-Karamali, a former corporate attorney with an additional degree in Islamic law, is author of the new book, “Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works and Why It’s Not Taking Over Our Country,” published

by Beacon Press.

Source: miamiherald.com

Don’t buy the bigots’ hype. Shariah law is not coming to take over America

By Sumbul Ali-Karamali

A

September 30, 2020 recent article in USA Today addressed a claim going viral on social media — that defunding police departments will lead to Muslim groups hitting the streets with “Shariah patrol forces.”

Such a claim, which the paper debunked, would be truly laughable if it weren’t for the depressing fact that some Americans actually believe canards like this.

No American Muslim organization has ever advocated imposing “Shariah law” in the United States. No group attempting to do so could ever be successful, because the U.S. Constitution prevents the establishment of any religious law in our country.

These social-media posts have become virally successful only because so few Americans know what Shariah actually means. ”Shariah” literally means “the path to water.” In religious terms, Shariah means “the righteous path” or “the path of God.” Shariah also, loosely, can just mean “Islam.”

Shariah also refers to the religious guidelines in Islam. These are derived from the Quran, the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, and scholarly interpretations thereof. Therefore, Shariah is not law the

Maqasid al Shari’ah

M

aqasid al-Shari’ah is a composition of two words: ‘maqasid, plural of ‘maqsad’’ and ‘al-Shari`ah’ or simply Shari’ah. Maqasid is an Arabic word that literally means intent, objective and purpose with a desire to create harmony with others; this relates to welfare, interest, or benefit. The vital part of the Maqasid’s objective is preserving public good (maslaha), whereby it looks at the public benefit and welfare of society as a whole in relation to the consequences of the intentions and actions of individuals in their mutual dealings. Thus, Maqasid can also be considered as the wisdom and knowledge behind governing rules.

Objectives, the Maqasid

The objectives of Shari’ah are not specifically mentioned in the original sources of the Shari’ah, The Qur’an and Sunnah (the sayings and conduct of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)). These were developed over the years by Islamic scholars who sought primarily to protect members of the community by establishing the essential moral values, and validate all measures necessary for their preservation and the advancement

mentary or secondary to necessities)the tahsiniyyah (refinements or embellishments as desirable over comforts and necessities). These cannot include ‘luxuries’ that could be viewed as those goods and services which are wanted for their extravagant wastefulness of a moral society. Al-Haramayn al-Juway- and extreme lavishness and do not make a real difference in an individual’s well-being ni (d. 1085CE), was probably the first Is- and the well-being of society. Source: islamic-banking.com lamic scholar to classify the Maqasid of the Shari’ah into the three main categories of the daruriyyah (the necessities), the hajiNov 20 - Dec 4, 2020 -Rabi ul- II 5-19,1442 H yyah (the complementary) and the tahsiniyyah (the embellishments), which has ever Isl. Dt. Day Date Fajar Sunr Dhur ZawalAsar Dhuhr Asar Maghrib Isha Shafi / Hanfi since been generally accepted. Al-Juwayni’s ideas were then further developed by 5 Fri his pupil, Ghazzali, who wrote categori6 Sat cally that the Shari’ah pursued five basic 7 Sun objectives - life, intellect, faith, lineage and 8 Mon property” (Al-Maqasid Al-Shari’ah: The 9 Tue Objectives of Islamic Law by Mohammed Hashim Kamil).

10 Wed Broadly the three levels constitute a need 11 Thus for the fulfilment of which has been made 12 Fri an individual as well as social imperative; Sat all these refer to goods and services that 13 can make a real difference in human well- 14 Sun being and the normal functioning of soci- 15 Mon ety in satisfying the basic necessities and 16 Tue providing adding comfort and refinements 17 Wed over and above necessities. The three lev18 Thus els of need are summaries below: 19 Fri the darura or daruriyyah (necessities) the hajiyyah (comforts, as being comple- For such Prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times: Quran ,n 4:103 Source: BCMA

Prayer Schedule in Greater Vancouver

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Biden, Modi pledge to strengthen World’s largest free trade agreement US-India ties in phone call signed in coup for China

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held his first phone conversation with US President-elect Joe Biden and they agreed to work closely to further advance the Indo-US strategic partnership, India’s External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.

Modi congratulated Biden during their conversation on Tuesday and they discussed their priorities, including containing the coronavirus pandemic, promoting access to affordable vaccines, tackling climate change and cooperating in the Indo-Pacific Region, the ministry said in a statement. Modi had earlier tweeted his congratulations to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on November 8.

The Indian prime minister recalled his earlier interactions with Biden, including during his official visits to the United States in 2014 and 2016. Biden had visited India in 2013.

Biden had chaired the Joint Session of the US Congress that was addressed by Modi during his 2016 visit to Washington. Modi is known for his public displays of bonhomie with President Donald Trump who visited India in February.

Stepping up the Trump administration’s anti-China message in India, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Defense chief Mark Esper visited India a week ahead of America’s November 3 presidential election.

Pompeo and Esper signed an agreement expanding military satellite information-sharing and highlighted strategic cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.

Modi’s critics said the prime minister had come dangerously close to endorsing Trump’s candidature, which they said could hurt India’s prospects under a Democratic administration.

Leading up to the US elections, Biden condemned the Hindu nationalist government’s citizenship law that criticis say discriminates against India’s nearly 200 million Muslims.

“These measures are inconsistent with the country’s long tradition of secularism and with sustaining a multi-ethnic and multireligious democracy,” Biden had said in a statement.But analysts say India-US relationship enjoys bipartisan bipartisan support, and the US wants India as a key partner in efforts to push back against China.Source: aljazeera.com

UAE’s Etihad Airways to start daily flights to Tel Aviv in March The move will deepen ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel after two countries agreed to normalise relations.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, announced Monday it would start operating daily nonstop flights to Tel Aviv early next year, a move that deepens ties between the UAE and Israel after the two countries agreed to normalise relations.

Direct flights on Etihad between the emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv will begin March 28, giving “Emiratis and UAE residents the opportunity to discover Israel’s historical sites, beaches, restaurants and nightlife,” the state-owned carrier said in a statement. Tickets are already available on Etihad’s website. The announcement came after Dubai’s budget carrier, flydubai, said it would begin offering direct flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv later this month.

The UAE and Israel signed a United Statesbrokered accord establishing formal diplomatic ties on the White House lawn in September. The deal marked a diplomatic achievement for US President Donald Trump before his re-election campaign and reflects a changing Middle East in which shared enmity of Iran has largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestini-

Fifteen Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday signed the world’s biggest free trade deal, seen as a huge coup for China in extending its influence.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) includes 10 Southeast Asian economies along with China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, with members accounting for around 30 per cent of global gross domestic product.

First proposed in 2012, the deal was finally sealed at the end of a Southeast Asian summit as leaders push to get their pandemic-hit economies back on track.

“Under the current global circumstances, the fact the RCEP has been signed after eight years of negotiations brings a ray of light and hope amid the clouds,” said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang after the virtual signing. “It clearly shows that multilateralism is the right way, and represents the right direction of the global economy and humanity’s progress.”

The agreement to lower tariffs and open up the services trade within the bloc does not include the United States and is viewed as a Chinese-led alternative to a now-defunct Washington trade initiative.

The RCEP “solidifies China’s broader regional geopolitical ambitions around the Belt and Road initiative”, said Alexander Capri, a trade expert at the National University of Singapore Business School, referring to Beijing’s signature investment project that envisions Chinese infrastructure and influence spanning the globe.

“It’s sort of a complementary element.”

But many of the signatories are battling se-

vere coronavirus outbreaks and they are also hoping the RCEP will help mitigate the crippling economic cost of the pandemic.

Indonesia recently tumbled into its first recession for two decades while the Philippine economy shrunk by 11.5pc on-year in the latest quarter.“Covid has reminded the region of why trade matters and governments are more eager than ever to have positive economic growth,” said Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, a Singapore-based consultancy.

India absent India pulled out of the agreement last year over concerns about cheap Chinese goods entering the country and was a notable absentee during Sunday’s virtual signing.

Signatories to the agreement said they hoped New Delhi would rejoin in the future, acknowledging its “strategic importance” to the deal which already covers more than two billion people. The pact should help shrink costs and make life easier for companies by letting them export products anywhere within the bloc without meeting separate requirements for each country............... Source: dawn.com

Fire damages historic mosque on Istanbul’s Bosporus Strait

ans. Soon after the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan agreed to formalise ties with Israel in similar agreements. Bahrain’s foreign minister will lead the country’s first official trip to Israel on Wednesday, state-run Bahrain News Agency reported.

The high-level diplomatic visit will seek “to affirm Bahrain’s firm and permanent stance toward supporting the Mideast peace process” and “to shed light on shared economic opportunities,” the agency said. The US State Department said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a Middle East tour, would be in Israel during the coming days, as well.

Source: aljazeera.com

A historic wooden mosque in Istanbul caught on fire on Sunday and Turkish firefighters put out the blaze, working from both land and sea.

The Vanikoy Mosque, built in the 17th century during the reign of Ottoman Sultan IV Mehmed, is located on the Asian side of Istanbul along the Bosporus Strait. Videos showed heavy smoke pouring from the structure. Istanbul’s Fire Department tweeted the fire had been extinguished and

cooling efforts were ongoing. The firefighters prevented the fire from reaching a forest behind the mosque and the neighbouring houses that line the Bosporus. They were aided by the coast guard.

The mosque is a wooden structure with a single minaret. The cause of the fire was not yet determined and the city’s governor said an investigation had been launched.

Source: dawn.com

Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

Promising results from last-stage candidate vaccine trials have raised hopes world might be turning the corner in managing coronavirus pandemic. The battle against the coronavirus pandemic shifted into a new gear this week after two encouraging sets of trial results raised hopes of successful vaccination against COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease that has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide.

Nearly a year since the new coronavirus was detected, billions of dollars have been poured into research efforts and tens of thousands of volunteers have taken part in large-scale trials as pharmaceutical giants race to deliver, at record speed, an effective vaccine. As

the world is trying to turn the corner in the na, also a US pharma company, published fight, here is what we know so far about the promising data that showed its vaccine canglobal race to produce a vaccine. didate having a 94.5 percent efficacy rate.

Last week, Russia also said interim trial reWho are the frontrunners?

US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its sults showed its candidate was 92 percent German partner BioNTech announced on effective.

Wednesday the results from the Phase 3 trial The first vaccine to show more than 90 perof their COVID-19 vaccine, which showed cent success was Russia’s Sputnik V. On Noit to be 95 percent effective – the highest vember 11, interim trial results showed 92 success rate for any candidate in late-stage percent effectiveness.

Overall, there are 12 candidates currently trials so far.

According to the trial results, the vaccine in late-stage trials, including the one develhad no serious side effects, and it was 94 oped by AstraZeneca in partnership with percent effective in older adults, who usual- the University of Oxford. Its results are exly are more vulnerable to developing severe pected within weeks.

COVID-19. It came just days after Moder- Source: aljazeera.com

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10 deaths and 762 new cases as B.C. breaks COVID-19 records again

British Columbia’s COVID-19 surge showed no sign of slowing down Wednesday, as the province broke another record with 762 new cases of the virus in a 24-hour period.

In a written statement, health officials said there were 10 new deaths, bringing the province’s total to 320. It was the second day in a row that B.C. reported double-digit deaths from the virus.“We have seen a rising number of new cases of COVID-19 across the province and we need to slow this down. We need to put the brakes on the virus and doing this

requires a sustained effort by all of us,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix wrote. “This second surge is putting a strain on our healthcare system, our workplaces and us all. We need to ease this pressure so we can continue to manage the virus in our province and also continue to do the many activities that are important to us.”

The majority of the cases were in the Fraser Health region (481) and Vancouver Coastal Health region (210). Another 38 were in the

Interior Health region, 20 on Vancouver Island and 13 in the Northern Health region.

There were also a record number of people in hospital, up 11 overnight to 209. Fifty-eight people were in critical or intensive care with COVID-19.A new outbreak involving one patient at Surrey Memorial hospital was also declared. Fraser Health said the unit, which was not identified, was closed but that the emergency department remained open and other hospital operations were unaffected.

VANCOUVER -- The tough regional restrictions in B.C.’s Lower Mainland that were put in place less than two weeks ago have a “second component,” Premier John Horgan said Wednesday. The premier didn’t provide any further details, but said the public would be hearing more at Thursday’s COVID-19 briefing with provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. “We have a significant two weeks ahead of us as we look at the second component of the regional orders that were put in

place on Nov. 9,” Horgan said. “Dr. Henry will have more to say on orders tomorrow.”

The current public health order is scheduled to end on Nov. 23, though coronavirus case numbers have continued to swell since it was first announced. Just this week, B.C. broke its previous records for active coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, daily increases and daily fatalities.Under the existing restrictions, people living in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions are only supposed to

socialize with their “core bubble,” which for most people means members of their own household.

Residents are also asked not to travel between health authority regions, except for essential and business purposes.In addition, the order forced gyms and fitness facilities throughout the Lower Mainland to temporarily close until they could get a new COVID-19 safety plan approved by local health officials.

Source.bc.ctvnews.ca

balanced budget that holds the line on property taxes. The rate set in the 2019 and 2020 budgets was 2.9% and is, once again, the rate proposed for the 2021 budget,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “There is no question that COVID-19 has hit all of us hard economically and Council recognizes the importance of not increasing the burden to our ratepayers. The adversity that we face now with the pandemic will eventually come to an end, and Budget 2021 plans for life after COVID by investing in public projects in the form of facilities, parks and other infrastructure projects. Surrey has weathered the economic storm caused by COVID and Budget 2021 puts us on a steady and stable course to navigate the new year and beyond.”

Budget 2021 proposes a Capital Parcel Tax increase of $200. Below are some of the projects that will benefit all citizens of Surrey that the levy will help fund.

All of the following projects are budgeted to ensure work can get underway next year:

1. Newton Community Centre & Land Acquisition 2. City Centre Sports Complex Phase 1 3. Bear Creek Park Athletics Centre 4. South Surrey Athletic Park Track Replacement & New Artificial Turf Field 5. Newton Turf & Washroom/ Changeroom 6. Artificial Turf Field Replacements at Five Locations 7. Indigenous Carving Centres 8.Newton Athletic Park Walking Track 9. Sunnyside Reservoir Pickleball & Bike Park 10. New Park Washrooms 11. Biodiversity Preserve Park Improvements 12. Trail & Path Development 13. Crescent Park Studio/Building Renovation 14. Outdoor Volleyball Courts 15. New Park Shelters 16. Cloverdale Sport & Ice Complex

with 2 sheets of ice (budgeted for 2022/23) The operating budget for police related services, which include the Surrey Police Service, was forecasted at $189.6 million in the 2020 budget. City staff has been continually reviewing this item as more information became available and has recalculated the operating budget for police related services for 2021 at $184.1 million, a decrease of $5.5 million from the projection in the previous budget cycle.

“On behalf of Council, I would like to thank all of our city staff for the steps they have taken to ensure that the core services and programs are delivered in the most cost effective manner during this time of pandemic,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “I want to give a special thank you to the staff of the City’s Finance Department for their comprehensive and meticulous work on Budget 2021.”

Source.Oliver Lum Senior Manager, Communications and Media Relations

to manage a successful Democratic presidential campaign. She is a veteran political operative who worked on both of Barack Obama’s White House bids. Rodriguez, granddaughter of the late farmworker union leader Cesar Chavez, was national political director on Sen. Kamala Harris’ 2016 presidential team before coming to the Biden campaign, and served in the Obama administration.

Richmond, a 47-year-old African American, will be a senior adviser to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, the role Valerie Jarrett filled in the Obama administration. He’s expected to

engage with Congress and focus on the Black community and other minority groups.

Richmond formally announced that he was taking the position at a news conference at a regional airport in eastern New Orleans, not far from his home. He said he will step down from his congressional post in January. Richmond said he believes having Biden’s ear in a West Wing office will enable him to help Louisiana and other Southern states with similar problems, including poverty, poor health outcomes and ineffective education.“This new role will allow me to offer advice to the president when he wants it - maybe sometimes when he doesn’t want

it,” Richmond said.

A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Richmond was among Biden’s earliest high-profile supporters and served as his campaign co-chair. Richmond has scheduled a Tuesday news conference in which he’s expected to announce that he’s leaving his congressional seat. Richetti, Donilon, Tomasini and Bernal all have longstanding relationships with the Biden family. Ricchetti was Biden’s chief of staff during Obama’s second term, while Donilon has advised him in various roles since 1981, and Tomasini served in communications roles for Biden when he was still a senator.

Source. ctvnews.ca

Source.globalnews.ca

B.C.’s regional COVID-19 orders getting ‘second component,’ premier says

Budget 2021 pairs fiscal responsibility with strong community investment

Surrey, BC – The City of Surrey’s proposed Budget 2021 has set a general property tax increase of 2.9%, which is consistent with the rate that was set by Council in the two previous budgets. Despite the challenges that have been brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Surrey’s Budget 2021 is balanced in accordance with the Local Government Act and the Community Charter.

“It has been Council’s approach to manage our public dollars prudently and it is a testament to the economic strength of Surrey that we have been able to bring in a fully

Biden filling top White House team with campaign veterans

Continued from Page 1

sion. The Democrat will be inaugurated

Jan. 20. Late last week, Biden tapped former senior campaign adviser Ron Klain to serve as his chief of staff.

The latest round reflects Biden’s stated commitment to diversity in his staff - the team includes four people of colour and five women.

“America faces great challenges, and they bring diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to tackling these challenges and emerging on the other side a stronger, more united nation,” Biden said in a statement.

O’Malley Dillon, 44, was the first woman

Coronavirus infections over 56 million worldwide Coronavirus Cases:

Deaths:

Recovered:

39,370,986

56,583,050

1,355,147

Coronavirus Cases:

Deaths:

Recovered:

Coronavirus Cases:

Deaths:

Recovered:

311,109 24,422

11,186 320

248,321 17,914

Last updated:

November 19, 2020, 07:38 GMT www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?

CANADA Last updated:

November 19, 2020, 07:38 GMT

BC;CANADA Last updated: November 19, 2020, 07:38 GMT

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Lacking clarity on scope of study into feds’ A ‘crackdown’ on journalism is dangerous to pandemic response, Pfizer concerned democracy: PM on global media freedom -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about implications for COVID-19 program OTTAWA highlighted the work of journalists working TORONTO -- Pfizer says it has yet to receive any guidance or clarity from the Canadian government regarding the scope of a wide-ranging opposition request for documents as part of House of Commons Health Committee study into Ottawa’s response to the pandemic. This has prompted new concerns for the drug manufacturer, saying the release of certain information could have “unintended consequences” on its COVID-19 vaccine program.

The opposition motion, which passed last month, generated concerns from the Liberal government and various stakeholders that sensitive or proprietary business information could be made public and not only interfere with contract negotiations, but also hamper Canada’s overall efforts to conduct business with global companies.

With the deadline looming for the release of emails, documents, notes, and other records from various departments and agencies including Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, Pfizer says it remains concerned the government would be required to release confidential information belonging to the pharmaceutical company and other third parties. In an email to CTVNews.ca Pfizer Canada spokesperson Christina Antoniou said that the company has yet to hear from the government, the Parliamentary Law Clerk, or the committee about the impact of the motion, and

that: “without further details, we are still concerned with the implications and unintended consequences of the motion on our COVID-19 vaccine program.”

The company said it supported the idea of lawmakers examining Canada’s response to COVID-19 and that it would be happy to collaborate with the committee if asked, but is worried about the implications, without offering specifics.

“It is difficult to elaborate further without more guidance from the government on the scope of this motion,” said the pharmaceutical giant. In an interview on CTV’s Power Play on Monday, Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand said that since the motion passed, the government had heard from one vaccine supplier expressing concern about the sensitive information in its contract being released to the public.“We are working with that vaccine supplier to assure it and Canadians that the information that needs to be kept confidential will be,” Anand said. Source: ctvnews.ca

Scheer fires sister-in-law after questions raised about her employment in his office

OTTAWA -- Former Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has fired his wife’s sister after questions were raised about him having employed her in his constituency office.

The Saskatchewan MP said in a statement issued on Tuesday that he has spoken with his sister-in-law, Erica Honoway, who had been working as a constituency assistant in his Regina—Qu’Appelle riding office, and decided

to let her go after first hiring her in 2007 to do bookkeeping.“I understand that in this case, following the rules may not have been enough. Even the perception of a conflict concerns me. As such, I have met with Erica and I have ended her employment in my office,” Scheer said. As an elected official, I understand expectations on me are high. Whenever there has ever been a question of following the letter and the spirit of the rules, I checked with the Ethics Commissioner first,” Scheer said.

Capital Dispatch: Stay up to date on the latest news from Parliament Hill His office noted that Scheer sought clarity from both the ethics watchdog and the House of Commons administration about his hiring decisions and was told no rules would be violated by employing her. Further, Scheer’s staffer Kenzie Potter confirmed to CTVNews. ca that between 2008 and 2012 Scheer had employed his sister. Source.dawn.com Source: .ctvnews.ca

under pressure in Hong Kong and Belarus at Monday’s international conference on media freedom. Canada has been vocal in condemning the clampdowns on democracy and free expression by the Chinese government in the former British colony of Hong Kong and the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus that has given rise to prodemocracy protests.

“Today, we see citizens calling for change, from Hong Kong to Belarus, only to have the authorities attack the freedom of the press,” Trudeau told the conference co-hosted by Canada and Botswana on Monday.Trudeau denounced the imprisonment of Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone for reporting on military atrocities committed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar, and of Philippine journalist Maria Ressa.

The Reuters journalists have since gained freedom and have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. In June, Ressa was convicted of “cyber libel” and sentenced to six years behind bars after complaints from her country’s strongman president, Rodrigo Duterte, and other

officials from his government.

“It is never acceptable for a journalist to be attacked for doing their job,” said Trudeau.

“A crackdown on the media puts democracy in danger. It puts lives in danger.”

At the same event, a coalition of international lawyers, led by a former Canadian attorney general, called for a new global charter to protect the rights of imprisoned journalists in an increasingly hostile world. Irwin Cotler, the former Liberal justice minister and international human rights lawyer, made the recommendation in a report he authored for a coalition of independent international legal experts....... Source: .ctvnews.ca

VANCOUVER -- Concerns about confusion and calls for clarity are coming in the wake of the provincial health officer’s statements on mask-wearing in B.C. Dr. Bonnie Henry has said mask mandates already exist through businesses and other organizations, and she’s previously recommended mask-use in indoor public spaces.

However, some would like to see the province go further.

While pandemic precautions such as hand sanitizer, distancing markers and limiting occupancy numbers are now standard at businesses across B.C., masks are still not required by the province. At New Westminster clothing boutique Mila + Paige, owner Anita Dunn said they implemented a mask policy for staff when customers are in the store when they reopened in the spring.

“We haven’t implemented a mandatory customer policy for wearing masks,” Dunn said.

“Having said that, I would say 95 per cent of the people that come in here are wearing a mask.”Dunn said while there is room for distancing in the store, and they also open the doors when the weather is decent, a provincial mask mandate would make things easier for small businesses.

“We dont really want to get into that argument with people who are anti-maskers, or don’t want to wear them,” Dunn said. “So if it was something that came from the government, it would make it a lot easier on the small business.”

Canadian Federation of Independent Busi-

ness senior policy analyst Muriel Protzer said her organization is calling for more cohesiveness and clarity when it comes to the province’s message on mask-wearing.

“What we’re hearing from small businesses repeatedly is that in those events where customers are reluctant to wear masks or refusing to, that they do say there’s no law forcing me to, you can’t make me do this,” Protzer said. “A lot of small businesses are having to enforce a policy that is essentially nonexistent.”

On Monday, Dr. Henry addressed the issue of mandated mask-use in her daily public briefing. “I have been asked many times about why we do not have a provincial order mandating mask use here in B.C.,” Dr. Henry said. “And the answer is, as I have said many times, in many locations, we already do.” Henry also repeated the sentiment in a recent opinion piece on mask mandates, where she referred to safety plans belonging to businesses and other organizations.

Source: bc.ctvnews.ca

Calls for clarity on provincial mask-wearing policy in B.C.

Trudeau government ready to usher in new privacy legislation

OTTAWA -- The Trudeau government is poised to introduce legislation aimed at better safeguarding the privacy of Canadians in the digital era.The bill, to be tabled as early as this week, would be a step toward realizing commitments set out in the mandate letter of Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains. It would also flesh out the 10 principles -- from control over data to meaningful penalties for misuse of information -- that make up the federal digital charter. The plan for a legislative overhaul follows repeated calls from federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien to modernize Canada’s aging privacy laws.

The Liberals have signalled their intention on

the parliamentary notice paper to introduce a bill that would create the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act. It is not immediately clear how the new legislation would mesh with existing federal privacy laws.

The Privacy Act covers government agencies and federally regulated industries such as banks and airlines. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act applies to private-sector organizations.

Therrien says Canada’s information-protection laws lag behind many others around the globe.

He has pressed for new authority to issue

binding orders to companies and to levy fines for non-compliance with privacy legislation.

Therrien also wants powers to inspect the information-handling practices of organizations.

John Power, a spokesman for Bains, said last month that Canadians are understandably anxious about how their data is being used in an increasingly digital world, adding the government was moving to strengthen the private-sector privacy law.

“Our government will ensure respect for the privacy of Canadians, support responsible innovation and enhance reasonable enforcement powers,” he said.“We expect to have more to say on this soon.”............Source:ctvnews.ca

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US slaps Iran-related sanctions on Khamenei-linked foundation

Khamenei-linked foundation and Iran’s intelligence chief are the latest targets of Trump administration’s relentless ‘maximum pressure’ campaign of sanctions.

The administration of President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued its relentless “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions targeting Iran, blacklisting a foundation controlled by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over alleged human rights abuses.

Iran’s intelligence chief was also part of Wednesday’s blacklistings by the US Treasury Department. In a statement on its website, the Treasury described the Islamic Revolution Mostazafan Foundation as “an immense conglomerate” with 160 holdings in key sectors of Iran’s economy covering finance, energy, construction and mining.

Treasury alleges that Foundation holdings earmarked to help the poor and oppressed are “expropriated from the Iranian people and are used by the Supreme Leader Ali

Khamenei to enrich his office, reward his political allies, and persecute the regime’s enemies”, according to a statement on the Treasury’s website.

Some 50 subsidiaries and 10 individuals associated with the Foundation were also sanctioned. As part of Wednesday’s action, the US Treasury also blacklisted Mahmoud Alavi. He is the head of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which Treasury claims “has played a key role in the Iranian regime’s brutal human rights abuses against the Iranian people”, including beatings, sexual abuse, prolonged interrogations, and coerced confessions. Firms, individuals and other entities targeted by US sanctions are subject to asset freezes and Americans are generally barred from doing business with them.

Trump, who is set to leave office on January 3 when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in, has taken a hardline stance against Iran throughout his presidency.

The Trump administration unilaterally with-

drew from the Iran nuclear deal with world powers back in 2018 and has imposed round after round of sanctions geared towards crippling Iran’s economy and financially punishing its most powerful figures in an effort to force Tehran back to the nuclear negotiating table.Protests swept Iran in November 2019 after the government announced a surprise petrol price increase to raise revenue to help the country’s poorest.

Iranian authorities responded with a violent crackdown that human rights group Amnesty International said killed more than 300 protesters, including 23 children.

Iran has disputed Amnesty’s figures.

The US State Department on Wednesday also blacklisted two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials over last year’s protests, accusing them of complicity in the killing of 148 civilians in the city of Mahshahr and imposing an internet blackout to conceal evidence of the crackdown.

The action bars the blacklisted individuals

and members of their immediate families from entering the US. “The Iranian regime maintains its grip on power through brute force, with no concern for the wellbeing of the Iranian people,” said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement on the department’s website. “The United States will continue to stand with the Iranian people and demand the regime treat its own people with the respect and dignity they deserve.” Source: aljazeera.com

The United Arab Emirates has temporarily suspended the issuance of visit visas to a dozen countries, including Pakistan, until further notice, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri confirmed on Wednesday. The decision by the UAE authorities is “believed to be related to the

second wave of Covid-19”, Chaudhri said in a statement.“We are seeking official confirmation from the concerned UAE authorities in this regard,” he said. In a statement, Chaudhri clarified that the suspension will not apply to visas that have already been issued. The development was confirmed

by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez, who said that written instructions had not been issued to the airline so far. He said that people holding iqama, transit and work visas were still allowed entry in the UAE. It was not immediately clear how many categories of visas would be affected by the suspension. The UAE has various visa categories including business, tourist, transit, student etc. In June, when cases in Pakistan

were on the rise, UAE airline Emirates had announced temporary suspension of passenger services from Pakistan till July 3. The decision came after around 30 Pakistanis who arrived in Hong Kong onboard an Emirates flight tested positive for the virus.

The airline resumed its flights in July.

In August, Kuwait’s aviation banned commercial flights to 31 countries, including Pakistan, regarded as ‘high risk’ due to the spread of the coronavirus The number of infections has been rising in Pakistan since late last month and authorities have declared that the country was witnessing the second wave of Covid-19.

For the past six days, Pakistan has recorded more than 2,000 daily cases of the novel coronavirus and officials have warned that the

positivity rate of the disease has increased, especially in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad etc.

On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had urged the people to “act as a nation” in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The premier announced new restrictions on public events, including the suspension of his party’s political rallies, and stressed the implementation of maskwearing and social distancing to control the spread of the virus. “This is the time to take precautions. If we do, we can slow down the virus. Just like earlier we were saved due to following precautions, that time has come again,” he said, noting that Covid-19 cases in Pakistan had increased by four times in the past two weeks. Source: dawn.com

Foreign minister calls for united Arab front ‘to put the interests of the Palestinians [first] to end the occupation’. Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said Arab states that establish ties with Israel undermine efforts for Palestinian statehood.

In recent months, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Sudan agreed to formal relations in deals brokered by United States President Donald Trump’s administration. The Palestinians have denounced these agreements as a “stab in the back” and a betrayal of their cause. They fear the moves

by Bahrain and the UAE will weaken a longstanding pan-Arab position.

The UAE, Bahrain and Sudan broke with this position, which had demanded Israeli withdrawal from already illegally occupied territory and the acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for normal relations with Arab countries.

“I think it’s better to have a united [Arab] front to put the interests of the Palestinians [first] to end the [Israeli] occupation,” Sheikh Mohammed told the online Global Security Forum on Monday.

He said that division was not in the interest of concerted Arab efforts to get the Israelis to negotiate with the Palestinians and resolve the decades-long conflict.

However, for the states who established ties,

“it is up to them at the end of the day to decide what is best for their countries”, he said.

UAE officials have said the Gulf state remains committed to Palestinian statehood, and that its deal with Israel had stopped further annexation of lands that Palestinians seek for a state.Until this year, Israel had only current formal relations with just two Arab states – its neighbours Egypt and Jordan – established under peace deals reached decades ago. US and Israeli officials have said more Arab states could soon follow after the recent deals.

Sheikh Mohammed said Doha maintains some relations with Israel, though only on matters concerning the Palestinians, such

as humanitarian needs or development projects. Qatar supports a two-state solution with occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, a stance the foreign minister reiterated. Source: aljazeera.com

masks and wash our hands as advised,” he urged. Officials have started the contact tracing process. The Cabinet is meeting this afternoon to consider further safety measures as well as to review the first repatriation flight from Los Angeles next Friday.

The interim chairman of the National Emergency Office Center, Agafili Shem Leo, told reporters on Tuesday the number of returning citizens on the flight could be more than 400. Source:fijitimes.com

Iran Foreign Minister Zarif did not insist on any compensation from the US – unlike other Iranian leaders who demanded ‘damages’ for sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran would fully implement its 2015 nuclear deal if US President-elect Joe Biden lifts sanctions on Tehran, which Zarif said could be done swiftly through “three executive orders”.

Biden has pledged to rejoin the historic 2015 accord – agreed to by six world powers known as the P5 + 1 – if Iran also returns to compliance. But diplomats and analysts have said it was unlikely to happen overnight as the distrustful adversaries would both want additional commitments from each other.

Zarif did not insist on any compensation from the United States – unlike leaders such as President Hassan Rouhani who have demanded it in exchange for the “damages” Tehran has suffered under the renewed US sanctions, implicitly arguing Washington should repay it

for the lost oil revenues.

“If Mr Biden is willing to fulfill US commitments, we too can immediately return to our full commitments in the accord … and negotiations are possible within the framework of the P5 + 1,” Zarif said in an interview posted on the website of the state-run daily Iran on Wednesday. “We are ready to discuss how the United States can re-enter the accord,” Zarif said. “The situation will improve in the next few months. Biden can lift all sanctions with three executive orders.” Source: aljazeera.com

UAE suspends issuance of visit visas to 12 countries including Pakistan, says FO

Qatar: Normalisation with Israel undermines Palestinian statehood

Samoa records first positive Covid test result Iran urges US’s Biden to lift sanctions, Samoa has recorded its first positive test for rejoin nuclear deal Covid-19, Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi announced in a live address to the nation this morning. He confirmed one patient in a quarantine facility tested positive to the coronavirus on Wednesday night.

However Tuila’epa said a second confirmatory test came back negative when conducted this morning. The man was a sailor who arrived in Samoa on a repatriation flight from Auckland last Friday. He has been placed in an isolation ward at Tupua Tamasese Motootua hospital.

The prime minister said the country would not take any chances as the man could transmit the coronavirus to others.

Seventeen sailors, who had been stranded at overseas ports, arrived on the Friday flight and have been in quarantine with the close to 300 passengers.

Tuila’epa urged people not to panic and to heed advisories from the National Emergency Operations Centre and the Ministry of Health. “Let us keep the faith and wear

10 co r ona / I mm g Muslim Scientists Behind Pfizer’s Successful COVID-19 Vaccine Rabi ul II 5,1442 Nov 20, 2020

P

fizer announced on November 9, 2020 that its COVID-19 vaccine has been found to be more than 90% effective in its recently concluded large-scale trial. The two key scientists who developed this vaccine are Turkish-born Muslims named Dr. Ugur Sahin and his wife Dr. Ozlem Tureci, according to media reports. The couple started BioNTech, a technology startup based in Germany, to develop treatments using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

A Tunis-born Muslim scientist Dr. Moncef Mohamad Slaoui is leading Operation WARP Speed announced by President Donald Trump to rapidly develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine in the United States.

COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge the world faces today. Muslim scientists are in the forefront of dealing with this challenge. This is particularly notable in a world where Islamophobia has gone mainstream in recent years.

The Scientist Couple

Dr. Ugur Sahin, 55, is the son of a Turkish Muslim immigrant who worked at a Ford factory in Cologne, Germany. He is now among 100 richest Germans, together with his wife and fellow board member Dr. Ozlem Tureci, 53, according to weekly Welt am Sonntag.

Dr. Sahin had been working on mRNA technology with his wife Dr. Tureci for more than 25 years. The couple, both children of Muslim Turkish immigrants who met while working at a cancer clinic, sold their first company, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, for $1.66 billion in 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal. Then they started BioNTech whose market value on NASDAQ has soared to $21 billion as of Friday’s close from $4.6 billion a year ago.

emerged in China. As the epidemic raged in China—making it a good place to hold vaccine trials—Dr. Sahin struck a deal with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to test candidates there.

China soon lost its appeal as a potential vaccine testing ground because of the nation’s progress in containing the virus. It prompted Dr. Sahin’s call to Dr. Kathrin Jansen, head of Pfizer vaccine research, on March 1 to suggest a new partnership to test Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. Dr. Jansen didn’t hesitate. She told Dr. Sahin, “Of course, I’d be interested. It’s probably the most important thing we’ll ever do,” she told the Journal. Dr. Sahin offered to split the remaining development costs as well as the profits down the middle. Dr. Jansen accepted, he said, and the two companies began work on the project even before signing a contract. Pfizer said Dr. Jansen agreed in principle to work with BioNTech.

Dr. Moncef Mohamed Slaoui

Earlier this year. President Donald Trump picked renowned Moroccan-born Muslim American immunologist Dr. Moncef Mohamed Slaoui to lead Operation Warp Speed, America’s COVID-19 vaccine program. Trump has compared this vaccine effort with the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb in the 1940s.

Dr. Slaoui is a highly recognized scientist and a successful leader who has delivered as GSK’s head of vaccines. He appears to have more of a can-do entrepreneurial approach to solving problems. He has recently been running a life-sciences VC fund in Philadelphia.

Announcing the appointment, Trump described Slaoui as “one of the most respected men in the world in the production and, really, on the formulation of vaccines.” “OpDeal With Pfizer BioNTech was working with Pfizer to de- eration Warp Speed’s chief scientist will be velop a new flu vaccine when COVID-19 Dr Moncef Slaoui, a world-renowned im-

munologist who helped create 14 new vaccines,” Trump said at a White House news briefing.

“That’s a lot of our new vaccines — in 10 years, during his time in the private sector,” he added.

Dr. Slaoui is an ethnic berber born in the Moroccan coastal city of Agadir which is famous for its beaches, according to Dr. Juan Cole of University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Dr. Cole has hailed Dr. Slaoui’s appointment in his blog post titled “I guess “Islam” doesn’t Hate us After All: Trump pins hopes for Vaccine on Muslim-American Slaoui”.

Dr. Slaoui is listed as an author on over 100 scientific papers. He worked for 30 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and for a decade he headed up its worldwide Research and Development department. He also served for two years as chair of GSK Vaccines, notes Yahia Hatim at Morocco World News.

Slaoui, a former professor of immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium, said that Operation Warp Speed will make available a few hundred million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year.

fight against Covid-19 are: Dr. Saud Anwar in Connecticut, Dr. Gul Zaidi in New York and Dr. Umair Shah in Texas. Their work has received positive media coverage in recent weeks.

Dr. Saud Anwar, a Connecticut pulmonologist and state senator, came up with a ventilator splitter to deal with the shortages of life-saving equipment. Dr. Gul Zaidi, an acute-care pulmonologist in Long Island, was featured in a CBS 60 Minutes segment on how the doctors are dealing with unprecedented demands to save lives. Dr. Umair Shah was interviewed about his work by ABC TV affiliate in Houston, Texas.

Summary

There are a large number of Muslim Americans on the frontlines of war against the novel coronavirus. Among them is Dr. Syra Madad, Pakistani-American head of New York City’s Health and Hospitals System-wide Special Pathogens Program, who is featured in a 6-part Netflix documentary series “Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak”.

Pakistani-American doctors are the 3rd largest among foreign-educated doctors in America. Among the notable names of Pakistani-American doctors engaged in the

Pfizer has announced that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective. The couple behind this success are the husband-wife team of Turkish Muslim scientists who together founded BioNTech in Cologne, Germany.

The US vaccine effort named Operation WARP Speed is also led by a Muslim American scientist Dr. Moncef Mohamed Slaoui.

COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge the world faces today. Muslim scientists are in the forefront of dealing with this challenge. This is particularly notable in a world where Islamophobia has gone mainstream in recent years.

Source: South Asia Investor Review www.islamicity.org

be required to submit information through ArriveCAN or by calling the following tollfree number: 1-833-641-0343 during their quarantine period. Those exempt under the Mandatory Isolation Order do not need to complete this procedure.

Within 48 hours of arriving to Canada, travellers must confirm they have arrived at their place of quarantine and they must complete a daily COVID-19 symptom self-assessment during the quarantine period.

Travellers who do not use ArriveCAN to submit their information prior to arriving to Canada will be required to call the 1-833641-0343 toll-free number on a daily basis during the quarantine period to provide their information. They will not be able to use ArriveCAN. Travellers will be considered a high priority for follow up by Canadian law enforcement if they do not submit their mandatory information.

The purpose of these measures is to reduce After arriving to Canada As of November 21, 2020, all travellers who the spread of COVID-19, delays at the borenter Canada by air, land, or marine will also der, and physical contact between travellers, CBSA officers, and other government offi-

cials.

Unless one falls under an exemption, all travellers to Canada are required by law to undergo a 14-day quarantine period.

The Canadian government stressed in today’s news release that ArriveCAN respects traveller’s privacy and does not contain a GPS to track the movements of travellers.

Travallers are also offered dedicated lanes for ArriveCAN users at airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto (Pearson), and Montreal to expedite processing upon arrival.

Source: cicnews.com

“Al Qaeda has been in Afghanistan for decades and the reality is, we’d be fools to say they are going to leave tomorrow.”Humiliating departure’ Allies and senior US politicians though saw US troop cuts as dangerous.

On Monday, US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned the Afghan cuts could lead to a debacle like the “humiliating American departure from Vietnam” in 1975, and be a propaganda victory for Islamic extremists.Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday that Afghanistan could return to

being “a platform for international terrorists to plan and organise attacks on our homelands.” Democratic Senator Jack Reed, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused Trump of a “cynical, chaotic approach” designed to burnish his own legacy while leaving a mess to successor Biden.

But another senior Democrat, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, said that after speaking with Miller, he saw the move as “the right policy decision. “ Source: dawn.com

Muslim Americans in Health Care

Travellers to Canada must now use ArriveCAN app

Canada announces new mandatory requirements for travellers before and after arrival.

By: Shelby Thevenot & Kareem El-Assal Travellers to Canada will soon be required to use the ArriveCAN app as part of efforts to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

This free app was introduced in April, 2020, in an effort to help travellers comply with border measures, a government media release says. It is available as a mobile app, or by signing in online.

Here is what you need to do before and after coming to Canada.

Before arriving at the border

Starting November 21, air travellers whose final destination is Canada must submit their information through ArriveCAN before boarding. This includes travel and contact information, quarantine plan (unless they are exempt), and a COVID-19 symptom self-assessment.

Travellers will need to show their ArriveCan receipt when seeking entry to Canada.

Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) of-

ficers will verify that travellers have submitted their information digitally.

Travellers who do not comply could be subject to enforcement action, which can range from a verbal warning to a $1,000 fine. Exceptions will be provided to those who are unable to submit documents due to personal circumstances such as having a disability or inadequate infrastructure.

Beginning November 4, air travellers will be reminded by their air carrier that they will need to submit COVID-related information digitally through ArriveCAN before boarding their flight to Canada.

Beginning immediately, travellers seeking entry to Canada by land or marine are strongly encouraged to use ArriveCAN before they arrive to avoid delays and to limit points of contact when they reach the border. They can also show their ArriveCAN receipt to a border services officer when they seek to enter Canada.

Trump expected to order troop reductions in Afghanistan, Iraq

Continued from page 4

But until Esper’s removal, the Pentagon had argued that the Taliban had not met pledges to reduce violent attacks, which have surged across the country in recent months.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman Sediq Sediqqi confirmed in a tweet that Ghani and Miller had spoken on the phone about “continued meaningful US military support to the Afghan security and defence forces”.In Iraq, Trump has also pulled back US forces amid dozens of rocket attacks by

Iran-allied groups on the US embassy and bases housing American troops.

On Tuesday, a volley of rockets slammed into Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the US embassy sits, breaking a month-long truce on attacks against the US embassy.

Speaking on grounds of anonymity, a senior US defence official dismissed concerns over the risk of resurgences by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.“The professionals in the military service have agreed that this is the right move,” the official said.

11

Rabi ul II 5,1442 Nov 20, 2020

US ELECTION NEWS

‘No evidence’: US election officials reject Trump claims of fraud President Donald Trump and his Republican party allege that voting fraud and lost ballots led to his loss to Joe Biden in last week’s election.

There is no evidence of compromised ballots or corrupt voting systems in the United States presidential elections, officials said, as a top Democrat accused the Republicans who refuse to accept President-elect Joe Biden’s win of “poisoning” democracy.

In a statement on Thursday, senior US federal and state election officials rejected President Donald Trump’s claims of fraud, saying “the November 3 election was the most se-

cure in American history”.

The statement came hours after Trump once again cried foul, retweeting a baseless claim that an election equipment maker “deleted” 2.7 million votes for him nationwide.

“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” said the statement issued by the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, a publicprivate umbrella group under the primary federal election security body, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

“While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too,” the statement said.

It was signed by the heads of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State – the officials who manage elections at the state level – and by the chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission.

Source: aljazeera.com/news

‘Biden won. What does that mean for Canada?

OTTAWA -- After days of tallying votes, The Associated Press has declared that Joe Biden has won the 2020 presidential election. That means Canada will be readying for an incoming Democratic administration, after four years of often-tense relations with Donald Trump.Over the course of the campaign, CTVNews.ca looked at the key policy approaches, commitments, and track records of both president-elect Biden and outgoing president Trump to get a sense of what impact each would have on Canada in the event of their election. Here’s a rundown of what a new Biden administration means for Canada on some key files, from the perspective of policy experts.

ON THE BORDER AND IMMIGRATION While many Americans don’t typically spend a lot of time thinking about the Ca-

nadian border, 2020 has not been a typical year. Non-essential land crossings have been blocked since March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite exemptions for some to reunite with loved ones, and kind words from both sides about the collaboration on decisions around the border closure, the still-raging virus means that cross-border travel is set to be restricted for some time.

For how long, though, could depend on how successful Biden is at following through on his promise to get COVID-19 under control in his country.

When it comes to immigration, Canada has lofty goals for the year ahead in terms of welcoming new citizens. While Canada was thought to have benefitted in some ways by appearing to be a more inviting country

Analysts believe a Biden administration would raise the issue of secularism and minority rights with Modi.

By Bilal Kuchay Hours after Joe Biden was declared president-elect of the United States, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Democratic leader on his “spectacular victory”.Modi also reached out to Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris, reminding the VPelect of her Indian ancestry, she was born to

a Jamaican father and Indian mother, both of whom had moved to the US. “Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans,” Modi said. “Chitti” is a Tamil word meaning aunt, and it was used by Harris during her campaign while speaking of what family means to her.

Harris’ victory sparked celebrations in her maternal grandfather’s hometown in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

New Delhi’s swift welcome of the new US leaders came amid concerns among Indian foreign policy experts over Modi’s public “endorsement” of his “friend”, current President Donald Trump, last September during a “Howdy Modi” extravaganza in the US city of Houston.

India enjoys a strong and growing relation-

ship with the US, with five US presidents (Republican and Democrat) visiting the South Asian nation in the last 10 years – a point highlighted by India’s foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava, who tweeted: “Successive presidents and administrations have raised the level of this relationship even higher.”

But analysts believe that the Biden-Harris administration would not look away from human rights issues and the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.

“Unlike Trump, who had no interest in human rights anywhere, Biden-Harris team is likely to bring up questions of human rights, minority rights and crushing of freedoms in Kashmir and elsewhere,” said Dibyesh Anand, professor of international relations at London’s University of Westminster and author of Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of fear.

“Either India will carry on with its worsening record on human rights without care for what the US says or it will seek to polish its

US President-elect says US, allies need to be able to set global trading rules, after Chinabacked regional trade deal. US Presidentelect Joe Biden said on Monday the United States needed to negotiate with allies to set global trading rules to counter China’s growing influence, but declined to say whether he would join a new China-backed Asian trade pact signed on Sunday.

Asked at a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware, whether the United States would join the Asian-focused 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, Biden said he could not yet discuss US trade policy because he had not taken office “and there’s only one president at a time”. “We make up 25 percent … of the economy in the world,” Biden said of the US. “We need to be aligned with the other

democracies, another 25 percent or more so that we can set the rules of the road instead of having China and others dictate outcomes because they are the only game in town.”

The signing of the RCEP at a regional summit in Hanoi creates the world’s largest trade agreement, covering 30 percent of the global economy and a third of its population, and bringing together Asian powers China, Japan and South Korea for the first time.

It also marks another setback for US influence in the region after President Donald Trump in 2017 quit the 12-country TransPacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, negotiated while Biden was vice president. While TPP members including Japan and many free-trade advocates have expressed hope that Biden would rejoin that trade pact, he has said little about the subject and advisers

have said he would not immediately remove tariffs on Chinese goods.

for newcomers during Trump’s presidency, Biden has a more open stance on immigration.

So, under the Democrats there could be new competition for immigrants as Biden has plans to expand the number of high-skilled worker visas granted in that country.

Biden has said that his immigration proposals are one way he will “take urgent action to undo Trump’s damage.” A common theme of his campaign material is that his presidency would be focused on reverting immigration policies enacted in the last four years. An outstanding border issue remains the Federal Court’s striking down of the law underpinning the Safe Third Country Act, which allows Canada to turn back asylumseekers from outside the U.S. at border crossings and require them to apply for pro-

tection in the U.S. instead. This is one we’ll have to watch to see how it plays out, and whether a different U.S. administration will be a factor.

Source: ctvnews.ca

Will a Biden-Harris administration confront Modi on human rights?

image through cosmetic changes,” he said.

Position on Kashmir Harris, who made history by being the first woman to be elected vice president of the US, has taken a stronger position on Kashmir.“We have to remind Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world,” Harris said in October last year as a candidate in the Democratic primaries. “There is a need to intervene if the situation demands.”

Harris also took exception to India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar refusing to meet Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal during his visit to Washington.

Jaishankar had expressed disappointment with a Congressional resolution on Kashmir that Representative Jayapal had moved earlier.

“It’s wrong for any foreign government to tell Congress what members are allowed in meetings on Capitol Hill. I stand with @RepJayapal,” Harris tweeted.

Source: aljazeera.com/news

Biden says US and its allies need to counter Chinese influence Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce, said said on Monday that he was concerned Washington was being left behind following the signing of the RCEP. But while he welcomed the trade-liberalising benefits of the RECP, he said Washington should not join the bloc.

“Given the shortcomings of RCEP, we would not recommend the United States joining,” Brilliant said, noting that recent US trade agreements had included stronger, enforceable rules on issues such digital trade, non-tariff barriers and intellectual property protections. “The United States should, however, adopt a more forward-looking, strate-

gic effort to maintain a solid US economic presence in the region,” he said.

“Otherwise, we risk being on the outside looking in as one of the world’s primary engines of growth hums along without us.”

Source: aljazeera.com/news

12

Rabi ul II 5,1442 Nov 20, 2020

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Rabi ul II 5,1442 Nov 20, 2020 By: Shums,

women / H E A L T H Asma

W

hy is t h at people blame the mother for every mistake the children commit. Why don’t they ask the mother what difficulties you face being a mother for the first time? And so I wonder why they do not ask her that what help does she need?

Sometimes I wonder

Why is it that one person does his or her duty very well and is always answerable, always questioned, many times accused in spite of no proof or fault. I wonder why is that nobody notices that the other person is wrong or is taking advantage of the situation or person due to his social position.

Sometimes I wonder

Sometimes I wonder

Why some people have opportunities to do something Why is it that in spite of good upbringing, worthwhile and from a good family, some people have many succeed, do something for the community. Yet bad qualities or some people are very mean, they are just busy wasting their time in idle enselfish and cruel. joyment 24/7. In fact they destroy what have Sometimes I wonder knowingly.

Why some people in very adverse situations Sometimes I wonder also work hard, suffer many hardships, yet Why some people just wont their rights, more achieve their goals and rise in life. For instance, and more but are not ready to do their duties, some children study while working two jobs they rather shun from their part of responsiwith not many facilities available and some bilities. children are given the best of supplies and are Sometimes I wonder pampered yet are not interested in studying.

Why some people are very harsh where kindSometimes I wonder ness is needed, judge others very strongly but Why some people do not have even basic ne- do not look at what they themselves do. Their cessities of life, in fact they are deprived of it, measure tape is different for others and themyet they remain honest, but some have all the selves. riches yet are dishonest and corrupt. These Sometimes I wonder people’s greed is never satisfied.

Why we do not ever think as to what is it to be Sometimes I wonder a human, what is our purpose on Earth, how Why some people are so simple and live life and what should we be in our lives like and in that manner even though they have all the how we should live it. What is the right way richness in the world. we should behave with others, what are our Sometimes I wonder responsibilities as a human being towards our

Relationships are like butterflies If you hold it with love they If you catch tightly they die leave their beautiful colors to If you leave it, they fly away you

own self and others.

Sometimes I wonder

Why are we not living simple, true life, in spite of all the teachings of family, good teachings of our religion, all the help and guidance, why?

Sometimes I wonder

Why are we not grateful and thank Allah for all the kindness and blessings He has bestowed upon us and walk on the path He has commanded us to be on. info at: asmashums@gmail.com

COVID-19 vaccines you could inhale or swallow

By:CHRISTINA VARGA

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tion, the body’s defence mechanisms and how vaccines help.

“The purpose of any vaccine is to train the immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria that causes an infection, so when [you] encounter that infection, your immune system can fight it off before it can make you sick,” says Dr. Top. When a virus enters the body, it has are certain defences, which include antibodies and T-cells.

Antibodies and antigens: One defence is the production of antibodies, which are proteins that latch onto antigens, or the molecules on foreign substances, such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Antibodies can recognize and inactivate specific antigens.

T cells: When viruses infect cells in the body, hijacking them to make more copies of themselves, killer T cells attack those infected cells. “The ideal vaccine would stimulate both arms of the immune system,” Dr. Top says.

Vaccines and spike proteins: In order for a vaccine to train the immune system to recognize and attack a virus, it needs to introduce to the body a safe version of the virus or parts of the virus or genetic instructions to make the virus. For instance, Dr. Top notes, many vaccine candidates target the spike proteins that stick out of the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and attach themselves to our cells, which is how the virus invades cells and makes copies of itself.

Carriers: Antigens, such as spike protein, or instructions to make spike protein need to be introduced to the body through a carrier, which include a bacterium or another virus that will not harm the body.

Scientists also choose the method of administering the vaccine. The following research projects are developing methods that are more unusual:

anadian researchers are part of the all-hands-on-deck global effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

With several vaccine candidates on the go, part of the research effort is directed, not only at finding the right formula to stimulate a safe, effective immune response but also how to get the vaccine into the body in the most efficient way.

Although Pfizer Inc.’s announcement this week of an early indication of 90-per-cent effectiveness in its vaccine offers hope, it is important that vaccine researchers continue their work, experts say.

“The scientific community has come together to look at all options … to try to come up with the best solutions” for different situations, says Karina Top, an investigator at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology and an associate professor of pediatrics and community health and epidemiology at Dalhousie University. “So, casting that wide net is the best approach.”

There are many researchers working on injectable vaccines and nasal sprays, but in Canada a couple of projects are aimed at AN INHALABLE VACCINE developing other delivery methods – a vacDr. Zhou Xing, a vaccine immunologist at cine that can be inhaled and one that can be McMaster University in Hamilton, is the ingested. lead scientist on a project focused on proSOME BASICS ducing an inhaled aerosol vaccine.

There are many ways our bodies jump into The researchers on the project are developaction to defend us from harmful viruses, ing two viral vector vaccines, which means such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVthe antigens, or molecules, they want the ID-19. In order to get a sense of the goals of immune system to react to are delivered by research on COVID-19 vaccines, it’s helpful viruses. One is a human adenovirus, a comto know some basic facts about viral infec-

mon virus that can cause such illnesses as the common cold or an intestinal illness.

The other is an adenovirus derived from chimpanzees, which has the advantage of being new to the human body, so we do not already carry an immune response to it, potentially masking any responses to SARSCoV-2 antigens.

Both are recombinant viral vector vaccines, meaning the delivery viruses are engineered to carry genetic instructions to cells in the body. These instructions guide the cells to produce the SARS-CoV-2 antigen targets for our immune systems to react to...................

AN ORAL VACCINE

Imagine being able to take in pill form a COVID-19 vaccine at home. That is exactly what Symvivo – a clinical-stage gene therapy company founded in Burnaby, B.C., in 2013 – is working toward. The first volunteer for the project was dosed last week in a Phase 1 clinical trial underway in Australia.

“We have developed a novel way to deliver plasmid DNA to select sites in the body,” says Symvivo’s founder and chief executive officer, Alexander Graves.

Plasmid DNA is a small circle of DNA separate from the bacteria’s DNA that, in this case, has been manipulated to carry instructions for the body’s cells to produce SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins. Symvivo delivers the plasmid DNA through a modified bacterium.

“Bifidobacterium longum … is in everyone’s large intestine,” Mr. Graves points out. The company chose the method, he says, because it can effectively transit the gastrointestinal tract and deliver plasmid DNA to the lining of the large intestine.

“That spike protein, when expressed, will induce an immune response that, hopefully – and we are going to confirm this in the clinic – can provide protective immune responses against future SARS-CoV-2 infections.”

The product – bacTRL-Spike – can also be delivered intravenously, but there are several benefits to oral administration, Mr. Graves says.

One advantage is that the lining of the intestine, like that of the respiratory tract, is a mucous membrane routinely exposed to harmful substances and provides the first line of defence where antibodies are secreted.

This method allows the researchers to observe a mucosal response to SARS-CoV-2 antigens, Mr. Graves notes, and if people are exposed to the virus, they would already have antibodies at the lining of the mucosal membranes that would prevent the virus from entering the body.

An oral vaccine would also allow people to take it themselves without the need for needles and trained personnel.

“We are moving toward a room-temperature stable product,” he explains. This is an important factor when distributing the vaccine globally, as there would be no need to keep it cold – “a bottleneck that is current in the vaccine industry,” he says.

He adds that the bacterial product could make it easier to produce on a global scale because it could be manufactured with few changes to existing infrastructure.

Symvivo received $2.8-million in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program. If Phase 1 trials prove that the bacTRLSpike vaccine candidate is safe to use, the next step is to evaluate whether it stimulates an effective immune response to SARS-CoV-2.

The aim is to move to Phase 2 trials in the new year.

“The ultimate goal is to produce a vaccine that we can send to people’s homes [and can be] self-administered,” Mr. Graves says. “And if there is a need for repeat vaccinations, that [can also be] enabled using this technology.”

Source: theglobeandmail.com

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K as h mi r / S P O R T S / Finance

OIC-IPHRC strongly condemns and rejects the Indian Government’s illegal attempts to amend landowning laws in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoJ&K) as violative of international human rights and humanitarian laws.

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he Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemns the Indian Government’s recently introduced amendments in the country’s land laws for IoJ&K titled, “Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020” which would enable not only any Indian citizen to acquire property in IoJ&K but also authorize the Indian army to declare any area as ‘strategic’ for operational, residential and training purposes. These new rules are continuum of other such ‘Hindutva’ inspired laws by the Indian Government to cause ‘demographic flooding’ of non-natives in the IoJ&K, which negates numerous OIC and UN Se-

curity Council Resolutions and violates international human rights and humanitarian laws. The new law is widely equated with the policy of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank with settlers living among disenfranchised locals.

The Commission echoed Kashmiri political leadership and general public’s unanimous rejection of these laws as “unacceptable”, “nefarious” and a blatant attempt to systematically pave the way for ‘settlement colonialism’ through forced demographic change, which would convert the indigenous Muslim population into minority within their homeland and obviate the exercise of their right to self-determination. This is a manifest violation of the human rights of the Kashmiri people guaranteed under well

codified international human rights treaties including Articles 27 and 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which clearly declare any illicit transfer of population in conflict zones or disputed territory as illegal. It will not only change the demographics of the occupied area and resultant disenfranchisement but will further complicate the dispute which has already claimed thousands of innocent lives of Kashmiri Muslims, the Commission added.

The Commission, while rejecting these measures as illegal, reiterates to the UN and the international community to play their due role to pressurize India to: a) abide by the relevant UN Security Council and OIC resolutions to refrain from any administrative and legislative actions, which tanta-

mount to altering the geographic and demographic status of the IoJ&K; b) restore all fundamental freedoms of Kashmiris; repeal its discriminatory laws; and c) allow people of Kashmir to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and fair plebiscite as provided in the relevant UN and OIC resolutions.

Karachi Kings end long wait, overwhelm Lahore Qalandars to win maiden PSL title

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arachi Kings on Tuesday night were crowned the 2020 Pakistan Super League winners after beating Lahore Qalandars by five wickets, their first-ever title of Pakistan’s premier Twenty20 tournament.

One of the world’s leading batsmen, Babar Azam knocked a commanding half-century to help his side win their first championship in five years at Karachi National Stadium.

Azam smashed seven boundaries in his 49-ball 63, but it was skipper Imad Wasim who hit the winning

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boundary to help the Kings overhaul a modest 135-run target in 18.4 overs. The final — one of the most anticipated in PSL’s short history, given the rivalry between the country’s two biggest cities — was played after a gap of nearly eight months after the PSL’s fifth edition came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.The Kings will take home a glittering trophy plus a $500,000 purse, while Lahore received $200,000.

The Kings began their innings on a high note, with openers Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan both hit-

ting two boundaries each in the first two overs.

Qalandars had their first breakthrough in the fourth over, however, with Sharjeel (13 off 12) getting caught splendidly by Fakhar Zaman off Samit Patel’s first ball. The final — one of the most anticipated in PSL’s short history, given the rivalry between the country’s two biggest cities — was played after a gap of nearly eight months after the PSL’s fifth edition came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: dawn.com

Bangladesh’s Shakib apologises for attending Hindu ceremony in India

tar Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has been forced to make a public apology after receiving threats for attending a Hindu ceremony in neighbouring India. The leading allrounder is the latest target of increasingly vocal Islamists who have also staged huge anti-France rallies in recent weeks over the publication of blasphemous sketches depicting the Holy Prophet

(peace be upon him). Shakib, who has recently completed a year’s ban from cricket for failing to report corrupt approaches, set off a storm of social media protests in the country after attending a ceremony in Kolkata dedicated to a Hindu goddess. Islamic preachers in Bangladesh say people should not attend the ceremonies of other faiths.

“I was on the stage for for barely two minutes.

People are talking about this and thought I inaugurated it,” Shakib told an online forum late on Monday.“I did not do this and being a conscious Muslim I would not do this. But, maybe, I should not have gone there. I am sorry for this and apologise,” he said.“As a practising Muslim I always try to follow religious customs. Please forgive me if I have done anything wrong,” he added. Source: dawn.com

Why you should use a TFSA to save for retirement? accounts and include the types of wealth-building investments you use in an RRSP. These include mutual and exchange-traded funds, stocks and bonds.

Carefully balance TFSAs and RRSPs

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ontent From: Fidelity Investments Canada Many Canadians underestimate the remarkable earning potential of TFSAs. In fact, only half (51 per cent) of those age 45 and older intend to use a tax-free savings account to provide retirement income, according to the 2020 Fidelity Retirement Survey, viewing it primarily as a short-term savings account and leaning more on Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) for retirement investing.

This approach may be a bit short-sighted, although that may only be evident as they get closer to actually leaving work behind. More and more retirees are discovering that TFSAs, although generally underutilized, are a key component of a well-rounded retirement plan.

There are several ways you can put a TFSA to work. Most typical are near-term objectives such as buying a new car or saving for a vacation, as well as setting aside cash for a down payment on a home. But it’s when looking longer-term toward retirement that the tax-free benefits of TFSAs really stack up.

It’s important to realize that your TFSA investment choices go far beyond plain vanilla savings

“Most Canadians have both short- and longterm financial goals, and when it comes to longterm retirement planning, using a combination of TFSAs and RRSPs is often the way to go,” says Michelle Munro, Fidelity Canada’s director of tax and retirement research. “But getting the mix right can be tricky without the correct kind of advice – particularly when you’re looking so far into the future.”

While a few fortunate people have enough money to max out their RRSP contributions and put money in a TFSA, many more won’t be able to afford to do both. Each account offers relative advantages, depending on your tax rate, the timing of your contributions and when you actually retire. But they both have one thing in common: the earlier you put the power of compound interest to work, the more impressive the potential long-term results.

If your career is just starting, or even if you’re further into it and not yet making as much as you one day will, a TFSA will usually make more sense. An RRSP will likely win out later in your career, because that generally includes your highest-earning years.

The big difference between an RRSP and a TFSA is the timing of the taxes you’ll eventually pay.

A good strategy is to contribute to an RRSP if your marginal tax rate is higher at the time of contribution than you expect it to be in retirement. That way, you’ll benefit from the deduction today at a higher tax rate, and potentially

find yourself in a lower tax bracket in retirement when the withdrawal is included in income.

This is a common scenario for many Canadians, because those who are currently retired generally manage on less than what they made when they were working.

If you can’t yet make good use of that deduction, though, a TFSA will be the better bet. Not sure what the future holds tax-wise? The good news is that you can move your TFSA money to an RRSP at any time without tax consequences.

Building a tax-efficient retirement

Unlike with RRSPs, there’s no age limit at which TFSA assets must be withdrawn. With an RRSP, you must convert your plan into a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) or an annuity by age 71 and begin withdrawing at least some of your savings each year.

The bonus here is that TFSA withdrawals will have no effect on income-tested benefits, like Old Age Security (OAS), that can be clawed back once you hit a certain income threshold – so you can avoid the equivalent of an additional 15% tax on the amount withdrawn.

There are also several other income-tested benefits and tax credits that are clawed back to varying extents, depending on your retirement income. For instance, having more TFSA income to work with may help you qualify for the age amount, a means-tested non-refundable tax credit offered to those aged 65 and older with an income below a certain threshold.

For Munro, thinking ahead and having a longterm financial plan – and putting it in writing – is the key to being able to take advantage of the money-saving potential that TFSAs offer. Making even small changes today can have a big pay-

off that occurs much later in life, she explains.

“We know the comprehensive financial planning available through qualified advisors leads to better decisions and greater financial security,” Munro says. “Just helping you to think through which of your investments should be held in which account, and in which order, can make a big difference in retirement.”

TFSA strategies to bolster your retirement

To further boost retirement savings, for instance, there may be an advantage to intentionally storing up RRSP room and using a TFSA in the interim. Should your income jump, pushing you into a higher tax bracket, TFSA funds can be withdrawn to make an RRSP contribution, creating TFSA repayment room at the same time.

This tactic might appeal to young professionals, for example, since their income generally jumps significantly after completing numerous years of training.

Similarly, if you’re a public service worker with a guaranteed pension, you’re really limited as to how much you can put into RRSPs to begin with, so the TFSA becomes a more viable retirement planning option, with potential contribution room growing by $6,000 every year, regardless of income level and available RRSP contribution room.

Looking to the long term

Many Canadians underestimate the remarkable earning potential of TFSAs, using them primarily for short-term savings goals. But looking a bit further down the road, it’s easy to see that a TFSA can also be a flexible tax-shielding option in retirement. Be sure to review your overall financial plan and determine where TFSA savings can help you the most. Source: theglobeandmail.com

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November 19, 2020, 07:38 GMT