NEW YORK (Middle East Eye) -- Just days before the Islamic celebration of Eid al-Adha, two people threw something resembling a molotov cocktail at a large metallic crescent moon symbol outside the Fatima al-Zahra Mosque in Long Island, New York. Local authorities are now treating the incident as a hate crime.  On 3 July, the mosque’s imam, Ahmed Ibrahim, heard a big explosion and then saw flames. A neighbor came running to help put out the fire. No one was injured but it was later determined that an ignited device was deliberately thrown at either the general vicinity of the mosque or specifically at the crescent moon symbol.  “They did not achieve anything but they expressed hate. Why?” Ibrahim said at a press conference days after the incident.  Asiya, who only wanted to use her first name, is a resident in Ronkonkoma, the hamlet where the incident took place. She said that firebombing has left the community on edge.

 

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WASHINGTON July 12 (Reuters) -- Elon Musk said it was time for Donald Trump to “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset,” days after the former U.S. President mocked the billionaire at a political rally and called him a “Bull***t artist.”  Writing on Twitter, Musk said, “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.” “Dems should also call off the attack – don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency,” he added without explanation. Musk’s remarks were in response to comments Trump made at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, where he was speaking in support of U.S. House of Representatives candidate Sarah Palin and U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

 

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BEIJING (Reuters) -- China’s commercial capital of Shanghai was among dozens of cities baking in scorching temperatures as unusually hot weather buckled roads, popped roof tiles, and drove people to seek the cool in raid shelters underground. By 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Tuesday, 86 cities including Shanghai had issued red alerts, the highest in a three-tier warning system. That level signifies forecast temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) in the next 24 hours. Construction and other outdoor work are to be halted. Shanghai, which is still fighting sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19, warned its population of 25 million to prepare for hot weather this week. Since record-keeping began in 1873, it has only had 15 days of temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

 

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BUDAPEST (Reuters) -- About 1,000 demonstrators blocked a bridge in central Budapest on Tuesday as parliament debated a motion by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that would increase the tax rate for hundreds of thousands of small firms, a Reuters journalist said. The demonstrators initially gathered at a main square outside parliament before marching to a nearby bridge over the River Danube, blocking traffic in both directions between the two sides of Budapest amid a heavy police presence. Nationalist Orban is facing his toughest challenge yet since taking power in a 2010 landslide, with inflation at its highest in two decades, the forint plumbing record lows and European Union funds in limbo amid a row over democratic standards. 

 

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Following a presidential sneak peek of a galaxy-studded image from deep in the cosmos, NASA was due on Tuesday to unveil more of its initial showcase from the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most powerful orbital observatory ever launched. The first batch of full-color, high-resolution pictures, which took weeks to render from raw telescope data, were selected by NASA to provide compelling early images from Webb’s major areas of inquiry and a preview of science missions ahead. The $9 billion infrared telescope, built for NASA by aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp, is expected to revolutionize astronomy by allowing scientists to peer farther than before and with greater clarity into the cosmos, to the dawn of the known universe.