Israeli Supreme Court Appoints First Muslim Judge

Israeli Supreme Court Appoints First Muslim Judge
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Israeli Supreme Court Appoints First Muslim Judge

Israeli Supreme Court Appoints First Muslim Judge

Israel on Monday named the first-ever Muslim judge to gain a permanent seat on the Supreme Court, the Jewish state’s highest judicial authority, court authorities said.

More than 20 percent of Israeli citizens are Arab, and there has been an Arab jurist on the top court since 2003, but all previous appointees have been Christian.

Khaled Kabub, 63, has become the first Muslim permanently named to the tribunal in the nation where Arabs, Christian and Muslim, have complained of systematic discrimination.

Previously a judge at the Tel Aviv district court, Kabub was one of four new justices appointed by a committee comprised of Supreme Court judges, ministers, lawmakers and lawyers, AFP reported.

Born in Jaffa, he studied history and Islam at Tel Aviv University. He completed his law degree there, and then worked in private practice before becoming a judge.

The only other Muslim to have sat on the Supreme Court was Abdel Rahman Zoabi, who was given a temporary, one-year term, in 1999.

Israel’s Supreme Court regularly hears cases that touch on flashpoints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including alleged violations by troops in the occupied West Bank.

The court is also due to decide on efforts by seven Palestinian families to overturn lower court rulings evicting them from their homes in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.



Dozens Dead in Vietnam after Ha Long Bay Tourist Ferry Sinks

A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
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Dozens Dead in Vietnam after Ha Long Bay Tourist Ferry Sinks

A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY

Rescuers searched desperately Sunday for five people still missing after at least 38 were killed when a boat capsized at one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations.

The tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam's famed Ha Long Bay was lashed by a sudden storm Saturday in one of the deadliest disasters at the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The vessel "Wonder Sea" was carrying 48 passengers and five crew when it capsized because of sudden heavy rain, the VNExpress news site said.

Tran Trong Hung, a resident in the Ha Long Bay area, told AFP: "The sky turned dark."

There were "hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorms and lightning", he said.

Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital, Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, it said.

Border guards had rescued 11 people and recovered 34 bodies by Saturday evening, it added.

Overnight, the bodies of three crew members were found in the cabin, and rescue efforts continued into Sunday morning to find the five people still missing.

One of the rescued died in hospital on Sunday, bringing the toll to 38, VNExpress said.

One of the rescued, a 10-year-old boy, told state media outlet VietnamNet: "I took a deep breath, swam through a gap, dived then swam up, I even shouted for help, then I was pulled up by a boat with soldiers on".

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his condolences on Saturday to relatives of those killed and called on the defence and public security ministries to conduct urgent search and rescue.

Authorities would "investigate and clarify the cause of the incident and strictly handle violations", a government statement said.

Torrential rain also lashed northern Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces on Saturday.

Several trees were knocked down in the capital by strong winds.

The storm followed three days of intense heat, with the mercury hitting 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, was quoted in VNExpress as saying that the thunderstorms in northern Vietnam were not caused by the influence of Tropical Storm Wipha in the South China Sea.

Wipha entered the South China Sea on Sunday gaining strength, and is on course to make landfall in Vietnam early next week.

Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations, with millions of people visiting its blue-green waters and rainforest-topped limestone islands each year.

Last year, 30 vessels sank at boat lock areas in coastal Quang Ninh province along Ha Long Bay after Typhoon Yagi brought strong wind and waves.

And this month, a ferry sank off the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali, killing at least 18 people.