Controversy has erupted after unfounded claims against France that it would use a new law to register the identities of Muslim children.
Emmanuel Macron's government is testing a new bill to regulate the relationship between religion and the state, which seeks to ensure that extremists do not infiltrate public institutions.
One aspect of the legislation is a provision to severely restrict home schooling to only those who have medical needs, despite the pandemic having led to a surge in home education around the world.
The bill, drafted by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, states that each child will be given an ID number that would be used to ensure they are attending school.
"We must save our children from the clutches of the Islamists," Mr Darmanin said last week.
But in a now-deleted tweet, Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari, said: “Macron is doing to Muslims what the Nazis did to the Jews – Muslim children will get ID numbers just as Jews were forced to wear the yellow star on their clothing for identification.”
Ms Mazari then tweeted that she had taken the advice of Marc Barety, the French ambassador to Islamabad.
"The French envoy to Pakistan sent me the following message and as the article I had cited has been corrected by the relevant publication, I have also deleted my tweet on the same," she wrote.
The draft law also cracks down on online hate speech by allowing suspects to be summarily tried.
A separate controversy broker out as the opinion editor of The Washington Post, Karen Attiah, was forced to issue a retraction of her own.
"I do unequivocally apologise for the error I made in saying that Macron's bill targets Muslim children. I do have a responsibility to facts," Attiah wrote.
"And I do not want to make anything harder for my colleagues who are doing an amazing job with a difficult story."
She said she wanted to echo the criticism of "non-white" French commenters who had wanted to raise the alarm on Mr Macron for years.
Mr Macron has had a series of disputes with leading international news organisations in recent days.
Ben Smith of The New York Times said he had received a phone call from Mr Macron criticising the newspaper's reporting of recent developments in France.
“So when I see, in that context, several newspapers which I believe are from countries that share our values – journalists who write in a country that is the heir to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution – when I see them legitimising this violence, and saying that the heart of the problem is that France is racist and Islamophobic, then I say the founding principles have been lost,” Mr Macron said.
In a letter to the Financial Times, he called as a reader for the removal of an article based on his reforms.
"The piece misquoted me, substituting 'Islamic separatism' – a term that I have never used – for 'Islamist separatism', which is a reality in my country," he wrote.
"It accused me of stigmatising French Muslims for electoral purposes and of fostering a climate of fear and suspicion towards them."
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Eyasses squad
Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)
Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)
Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)
Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)
Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)
Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
The%20specs
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The%20specs
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Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019