The Sydney Morning Herald

Crowdfunding campaign gave destitute Syrian refugee father a new life in Beirut

Abdul Halim al-Attar, 33, fled the war in Syria more than three years ago, moving first to Egypt and then to Lebanon. His wife returned to their home country just months after their departure, but Mr al-Attar resisted; he didn't want to go back to a place where he saw no future for their children, a nine-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter. Day after day, Mr al-Attar relied on selling pens and other small items to support his family. At the time, Mr al-Attar was receiving the equivalent of $US36 ($50) a month from the UN Refugee Agency and supplementing that with painstaking sales - enough for a rundown apartment and the bare necessities, but not to send his son to school. An Indiegogo campaign raised $US188,685 for Mr al-Attar.

Muslim scholars prepare call for action to combat climate change

Islamic scholars and religious leaders are preparing a call for action on climate change that will say it's the religious duty of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims to fight global warming. The declaration will be made in Istanbul next Tuesday during a two-day meeting in the Turkish city coordinated by three religious-environmental groups, according to Climate Action Network, a network of non-governmental organisations. A growing list of religious leaders have made interventions on climate change to spell out the moral imperative to reduce man-made greenhouse-gas pollution and prevent the worst effects of climate change. Foremost was Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics.

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