International Day of Charity

Los Angeles, Mar 10 (AP) Muslims around the world are welcoming the arrival of Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, intense prayer, charity and feasts. But as they savour the traditions of their own diverse communities — from holiday treats to evening diversions — the tribulations faced by fellow Muslims are never far from anyone’s mind. This year, war and starvation in the Gaza Strip casts an especially dark shadow on the festivities. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi’s Outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin Helped Prevent ‘Potential Nuclear Attack’ on Ukraine in Late 2022, Says CNN Report. Many are also struggling to buy food as inflation remains high in many countries and has worsened in some. Still, even Muslims…

Los Angeles, Mar 10 (AP) Muslims around the world are welcoming the arrival of Ramzan, a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, intense prayer, charity and feasts. But as they savour the traditions of their own diverse communities — from holiday treats to evening diversions — the tribulations faced by fellow Muslims are never far from anyone’s mind. This year, war and starvation in the Gaza Strip casts an especially dark shadow on the festivities. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi’s Outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin Helped Prevent ‘Potential Nuclear Attack’ on Ukraine in Late 2022, Says CNN Report. Many are also struggling to buy food as inflation remains high in many countries and has worsened in some. Still, even Muslims…

ROME — Although it was midwinter, streets in Rome were crowded, and historic sites were surprisingly well-populated with visitors. Christmas decorations stubbornly remained in place, appearing, from my perch above the graceful drape of the Spanish Steps, like campfires burning in the early lowering night. On the Piazza di Spagna, 135 Roman travertine steps below, the Dior shop stood canopied by an enveloping holiday display of butterflies in luminescent silver and gold. I was back in Rome after a long absence. This time, following years of struggling to learn Italian, I had arrived with my skills in that musical language having been raised from nonexistent to embarrassing. I had memorized some of the notes but remained without practice in the…

ATLANTA, Jan. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) announced today that it has raised $1 million for Habitat for Humanity International through the sales of its Giving Good® gift cards. Launched in 2020, Giving Good cards are a line of gift cards that brings together top retail and restaurant brands onto a single gift card, with a portion of its load-value directly supporting some of America’s top charitable organizations including Habitat for Humanity. Retailers across the U.S. feature Habitat-branded gift cards on display racks. For each Giving Good card purchased, three percent of the amount loaded onto these cards are donated to Habitat for Humanity in support of its mission of building homes, communities and…

LONDON — Marley was dead, to begin with, and 180 years later “A Christmas Carol” has transformed the holiday we celebrate this week. Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ novel of a bitter, solitary miser’s metamorphosis into a warm-hearted soul remains not just one of the most popular holiday traditions but one of the best-selling and most-adapted works of fiction. Even a book about the making of the classic was made into a movie. Les Standiford, author of “The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits,” argues that “A Christmas Carol” launched the modern holiday that is celebrated today. “It was purely a religious holiday without any secular trapping,” said…

LONDON: Most footballing destinies are shaped in grandiose settings — gleaming stadiums or opulent boardrooms. However, for Ashleigh Plumptre, the momentous discussion about her life-changing move to Saudi Arabia unfolded in far more ordinary surroundings: A car journey to collect an Indian takeaway for her father’s birthday after Plumptre’s relaxing holiday in Los Angeles. June 2023 marked a pivotal juncture for the Saudi Women’s Premier League’s new superstar, who on Thursday scored a hat-trick as Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Ahli 6-2 in the Jeddah Derby. That was when her contract with England’s Women’s Super League outfit Leicester Ladies expired. The cultured central defender, a stalwart at her hometown club for three years as a professional and seven years as a youth player,…