Hard Numbers: South African separatists appeal to Trump, India passes controversial Muslim charity bill, Russia knocks on Jehovah’s Witnesses, Portugal probes massive IT scam, Deadly school strike in Gaza
3,000: The 3,000 residents of Orania, an all-white separatist enclave in South Africa, are calling on Donald Trump to help their cause. Representatives of Orania, which formed in opposition to the end of apartheid 30 years ago and already enjoys some local autonomy, recently visited Washington, DC, to drum up support. In February, the Trump administration blasted the current South African government for what it said was discrimination against white South Africans.
14 billion: On Thursday, India’s parliament passed a controversial law on the governance of lands donated to Muslim charities. The organizations, known as waqfs (or awqāf, if you’re a stickler for the original Arabic grammar), control a million acres of territory worth more than $14 billion. The new law permits non-Muslims to join the management boards that manage these properties. Supporters say the law promotes inclusivity and transparency, but opponents say it weakens the rights of India’s Muslim minority at a time when government-backed Hindu nationalist groups are trying to seize and destroy mosques they argue are located atop earlier Hindu temples.
6: In the United States, door-knocking Jehovah’s Witnesses can be seen as a blessing or a nuisance, but in Russia, they are “extremists.” A Russian court in the city of Chelyabinsk on Thursday sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness to six years in prison for organizing group activities. Since banning the group in 2017, Russia has jailed hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a community of about 175,000 people who are viewed with suspicion because of their dissidence from the Russian Orthodox Church and their ties to the US.
75: On Thursday, Portuguese anti-corruption investigators carried out 75 separate raids in three cities, targeting the Bank of Portugal as well as private accounting firms, homes, and other public institutions. They allege a massive, eight-year corruption scheme amounting to nearly $20 million in IT service contracts.
27: An Israeli airstrike hit a school in northern Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 27 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The attack was part of the IDF’s latest military operation in Gaza, one that leading government officials have pledged to expand.