J&K: Thousands of Shia Mourners Protest Against Israel's Killing of Hassan Nasrallah; Condemning Israel for The Killing and The US for Backing the Jewish State
New Age Islam News Bureau
30 Sep 2024
Kashmiri Shia Muslims shout slogans during a protest against Israel following the killing of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike in Beirut, on the outskirts of Srinagar September 29, 2024. Reuters
-------
· J&K: Thousands of Shia Mourners Protest Against Israel's Killing of Hassan Nasrallah; Condemning Israel for The Killing and The US for Backing the Jewish State
· "Condolence Message from Shia cleric Maulana Zaidi: Mourning the Martyrdom of Hassan Nasrallah and Resistance Leaders"
· Seven Wonders of Arab World to Be Named in Bid to Improve Global Recognition
· Israel Used US-Made Bomb in Attack On Hezbollah Head, US Senator Says
· IEA Minister of Infromation Reaffirms Commitment to Address Media Challenges in Herat
--------
India
· Samajwadi Party Muslim MLA's "Muslim Population Rising" Remark Draws BJP Fire
· Centre nod to plug security gaps along Pakistan border amid surge in terror attacks in Jammu
· 23 terror hits in J&K so far this year, down from 222 in 2014
· J&K: Constable, militant killed in Kathua gunfight ahead of last phase of Assembly polls
· Won't die till Modi removed from power: Kharge assures after falling ill in J&K
· Controversial BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya takes out 'Hindu rashtra' rally through Jaipur's Muslim majority areas
--------
Mideast
· US Airstrikes Kill 37 Islamist Militants Affiliated with The Extremist "Islamic State” In Syria
· Islamic Countries Must Give Deterrent Response To Zionist Regime: Lebanese Speaker
· Islamic Resistance in Lebanon: We targeted city of Safed with rocket barrage
· French FM in Beirut, despite air strikes: ministry
· 4 killed as Israel strikes apartment in central Beirut, first hit outside Hezbollah-controlled Dahiyeh
· prime minister appoints a former rival to strengthen his hold on office
· Second French national killed in Lebanon: ministry
· Top UNHCR Official Warns of Crisis Fatigue Amid ‘Massive’ Lebanon Displacement
· Lebanon says over 100 killed in new Israeli strikes
--------
Arab World
· Ancient Saudi Kingdoms Festival Returns to AlUla with Heritage-Led Program
· Muslim World League Chief, Al-Issa, Discusses Law, Religion at Harvard Law School Event
· Saudi Arabia Announces Monthly Financial Support to Address Humanitarian Situation in Gaza
· Saudi English authors hope to appeal to an international audience
· Saudi Arabia expresses concern over Lebanon situation, pledges medical and relief aid
· Saudi aid chief meets UN counterterrorism chief in New York
· Drones Cut Carbon Emissions by 66% At Saudi Reserv
-----
North America
· Biden says he will talk to Netanyahu as Israel pummels Sunni terror targets in Beirut
· California governor blocks landmark AI safety bill
· SpaceX docks at ISS to collect stranded astronauts
· Ukraine To Seize Money From Pensioners’ Bank Accounts
· US election will decide Ukraine conflict – NATO state’s ex-PM
--------
South Asia
· IEA Ministry Emphasizes Uninterrupted Consular Services for Citizens Overseas
· Dhaka airport area ‘silent zone’ from tomorrow
· Plot to kill Joy: Shafik Rehman's punishment suspended for a year
· 35 arrested with locally made weapons, explosives in joint drive at Geneva Camp
· Herat’s New Industrial Town to Spur Economic Growth, Says Commerce Minister Azizi
· Islamic banks see rise in gross default loan
--------
Southeast Asia
· ‘Veto Power, Islamophobia and Palestine’: Malaysia Reaffirms Firm Stance On Universal Issues in UNGA Speech
· Subsidising rich kids for top govt funded schools must stop, says PM Anwar
· Anwar’s leadership sincerely addressing long-standing issues for Indian community - Xavier
· Police seek help to find missing man
· GISBH: Remand Period of Several Individuals Extended
· Sabah CM announces 3,000 new affordable homes under Rumah Mesra SMJ for next year
--------
Pakistan
· Police Clash with Demonstrators in Karachi Amid Nationwide Protests Over Nasrallah’s Killing
· PTI Rawalpindi protest: KP to take legal action against police for crackdown
· Lawyers In Pakistan Call Upon Judges To ‘Boycott Constitutional Court’
· 18 suspects in case of burning Umerkot doctor’s body remanded
--------
Africa
· Independence Anniversary: Brightest Days Are Ahead – Akpabio To Nigerians
· Jonathan Flushed Out Boko Haram But Service Chiefs Can’t Pick Up Turji – Ndume
· Vice President, Kashim Shettima Returns To Nigeria After UNGA In New York
· Adopt Class Suicide In Oil Sector – Okechukwu Tells Tinubu
--------
Europe
· Here’s Why Putin Decided To Send A Nuclear Message To Washington
· Far right in Austria 'opens new era' with election victory
· How sailors say they were tricked into smuggling cocaine by a British man
· Kemi Badenoch maternity pay comments spark Tory row
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
-------
J&K: Thousands of Shia Mourners Protest Against Israel's Killing of Hassan Nasrallah; Condemning Israel for The Killing and The US For Backing The Jewish State
Kashmiri Shia Muslims shout slogans during a protest against Israel following the killing of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike in Beirut, on the outskirts of Srinagar September 29, 2024. Reuters
-------
Muzaffar Raina Srinagar Published 29.09.24
Pro-Hezbollah protests rocked several parts of Kashmir on Saturday after its chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli army in Beirut.
Thousands of Shia mourners, joined by some Sunnis, hit the streets in Srinagar and Budgam and chanted slogans such as “death to America and death to US” besides proclaiming their support for Nasrallah and Hezbollah.
Several leaders gave speeches condemning Israel for the killing and the US for backing the Jewish state. Hundreds of vehicles got stranded in traffic snarls caused by the protests.
Hundreds of policemen were deployed to prevent the protests from turning violent. They were seen escorting the protesters at Saida Kadal. The protests are expected to continue till late night in some places.
The government, which has shown zero tolerance for anti-Israel agitation during the 11-month-long Gaza war, appears to have relaxed the restrictions to allow mourners to vent their feelings given the sensitivity of Nasrallah’s death.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said she was suspending her election campaign scheduled for Sunday.
“Cancelling my campaign tomorrow in solidarity with the martyrs of Lebanon & Gaza especially Hassan Nasrallah. We stand with the people of Palestine & Lebanon in this hour of immense grief & exemplary resistance,” Mufti posted on X.
Srinagar Lok Sabha MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, who is a Shia, announced on X that he was suspending his poll campaign.
The protests came on a day security forces killed two militants in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Four security personnel have been injured.
South Kashmir deputy inspector-general Javid Iqbal Matto said DNA samples had been collected to identify the bodies although they had reports that the deceased were local militants Aqib and Umais.
Sources said their bodies were charred beyond recognition as the house they were hiding in had caught fire.
Source:telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/jammu-and-kashmir-thousands-protest-against-israels-killing-of-hezbollah-chief-hassan-nasrallah/cid/2051592
-------
"Condolence Message from Shia cleric: Mourning the Martyrdom of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah and Resistance Leaders"
Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
-----
Sep 29, 2024,
Shia cleric Maulana Javed Haider Zaidi has expressed deep sorrow over the martyrdom of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah Lebanon, and other resistance leaders. In his condolence message, he stated, "The fate of this region will be shaped by the soldiers of resistance, particularly through Hezbollah."
Maulana Javed Haider Zaidi further emphasized, "The anger and anguish in the hearts of Muslims against the Zionist regime can erupt at any moment like a flood, obliterating the Zionists from the world."
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.
The martyrdom of Sayyid Resistance, the loyal soldier of the Wilayah, Haj Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah—who sacrificed his life in the sacred jihad against the enemies of God—has grieved the hearts of free people around the world. This sorrow has ignited a fire of vengeance in the hearts of the believers.
Martyr Nasrallah chose a path that Allah has promised will lead to victory. This path will be vigorously pursued by the brave soldiers of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran. As noted by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, the destiny of this region will be written by the soldiers of resistance, especially Hezbollah.
The savage Israeli regime, through its ongoing crimes, is paving its own path to destruction, further uniting and motivating the Muslim Ummah against it. Today, the anger accumulating in the hearts of Muslims against the Zionist regime can overflow at any moment, potentially creating a tidal wave that could erase every trace of Zionism from the earth.
Maulana Javed Haider Zaidi, in his prayers, offered condolences to God for this great martyrdom and the martyrdom of other resistance leaders, including Martyr Abbas Nelfroshan. He extended his condolences to the Awaited Imam (may our souls be sacrificed for him), the Supreme Leader, and the Shia community, especially the families of the martyrs, praying for their elevated ranks.
This message symbolizes a commitment that Muslims will protect their rights with strong unity and rise against their oppressors.
---------
Seven Wonders Of Arab World To Be Named In Bid To Improve Global Recognition
The Qasr Al-Farid tomb (The Lonely Castle) is carved into rose-coloured sandstone in Madain Saleh, a UNESCO World Heritage site, near Saudi Arabia's northwestern town of Al-Ula. (File/AFP)
-----
Harold Von Kursk
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: Seven ancient and modern wonders of the Arab world are expected to get a surge in global recognition as a major campaign prepares to get underway.
Organized by the foundation that led the campaign to name the Colosseum, Taj Mahal, Petra and others as the new seven wonders of the world in 2007, the Seven Arabian Wonders of the World project aims to recognize the accomplishments of Arab civilizations past and present.
The Zurich-based New7Wonders Foundation has now invited Arab states to bid for the exclusive rights to host the campaign, which is expected to take place by the summer of 2025.
Some of the architectural and engineering marvels poised to qualify include the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the World Trade Centre in Bahrain, Riyadh’s futuristic King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center designed by Zaha Hadid, and I.M. Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar.
New7Wonders founder Bernard Weber believes these “modern monuments” deserve to be honored alongside equally remarkable achievements of ancient Arab civilizations: AlUla (Saudi Arabia), the Old City of Sanaa (Yemen), the Samarra Tower (Iraq), and reaching as far as the Alhambra Palace (Spain).
“The Arab world is in the midst of a remarkable renaissance that has witnessed the construction of a series of extraordinary landmarks. These kinds of modern world wonders are the product of an evolving Arab civilization that is confidently projecting itself to the world in a bold and dynamic way,” he told Arab News.
Weber is confident that this latest chapter of his “wonders” movement will generate a significant wave of international enthusiasm and recognition.
“Our 7 Wonders of the Arabian World campaign will draw attention to not only the pathbreaking architectural and engineering wonders of a modern Arab world, but will also connect them symbolically to those of an ancient Arab civilization that should stand proudly alongside that of the Greeks and Romans,” Weber told Arab News.
“Arabian culture and its impact on humanity has not been properly recognized and celebrated in comparison with Greek, Roman, Chinese and other great cultures of the past.”
According to Weber, the event has the potential of generating more than $1 billion in tourism, branding and ancillary revenue to the host nation.
Weber’s original campaign to choose seven new world wonders
The Arab Wonders campaign is expected to build on the success of Weber’s landmark 2007 N7W competition that invited the public to choose from 400 historic structures from all over the world that led to more than 100 million ballots being cast between 2005 and 2007.
The final tally resulted in the proclamation of a new set of seven world wonders: Chichen Itza, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, the Roman Colosseum, the Statue of Christ Redeemer, and the Taj Mahal.
The campaign fulfilled Weber’s dream of a democratic, worldwide vote that served as a long overdue revival of Herodotus’ ancient Greek concept of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — declared in the fifth century B.C. — of which only the Pyramids of Giza are still standing.
Apart from reviving the ancient Greek “world wonders” classification, Weber also had the underlying goal of driving renewed efforts to preserve and protect those leading examples of human civilization.
His faith was rewarded in the wake of the original 2007 world wonders declaration, after which many countries responded by undertaking badly-needed restoration work on their national treasures while promoting popular awareness and pride in their nations’ collective heritage.
China and the other countries where the new seven wonders are situated have all experienced a huge boost in tourism since joining New7Wonders movement. A case study by Pearson UK estimated that the net worldwide economic effect of New7Wonders exceeds $5 billion owing to the “Wonder Effect” on tourism as well as on national marketing and brand value generation.
The follow-up 2011 campaign enjoyed a similar level of spectacular success — with 600 million online votes cast. This is why Weber believes that the Seven Arab Wonders vote could well exceed the billion mark.
Today, the enormous impact of global social media interactive platforms such as TikTok and Instagram as well as YouTube will further energize the voting and campaigning for the Seven Arab Wonders “in a way that Herodotus could never have imagined,” Weber said.
An official declaration ceremony was held in 2007 in front of 60,000 spectators at the Benfica Stadium of Light in Lisbon, Portugal on July 7, 2007, or “7/7/7” day, a date chosen by Weber for its numerical affinity to the New7Wonders concept.
The star-studded event was headlined by Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo and Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, and featured performances by pop star Jennifer Lopez and operatic tenor Jose Carreras.
The ceremony was simulcast on TV networks on all continents and streamed online (a pioneering moment in broadcasting) to a global audience of more than one billion spectators.
‘Wonder Markers’ first unveiled at Expo 2020 Dubai
In 2022, the New7Wonders Foundation demonstrated its commitment to the Arab region when it took part in the Expo 2020 Dubai as an official participant. This historic event served as an ideal moment for Weber and his long-time N7W director Jean-Paul de la Fuente to unveil a series of symbolic “Wonder Markers” that were prepared specifically for the Expo.
The first of these almost three-meter signposts was installed and unveiled by De la Fuente in 2023 at the Huangyaguan Great Wall in China, featuring six panels pointing out the precise distance and geographical direction of the other world wonders.
“China was the first nation to install our permanent Wonder Marker. This served as unique recognition of the New7Wonders as a global brand promoting their most precious icon, the Great Wall, that would now be connected to six other ‘wonders’ across our planet,” De la Fuente explained.
Weber — an abiding passion for art and architecture
While living in Montreal, Canada in the late 1990s, Weber began formulating the elements of his New7Wonders project. He originally became fascinated by architecture while growing up in Switzerland where he was raised by his single mother Heidi, an ambitious entrepreneur.
She became famous in the late fifties for persuading the legendary Swiss architect Le Corbusier to allow her to revive, reconfigure and relaunch the series of four modernist furniture designs — including the fabled chaise longue — that he first conceived in 1927.
On the day of this interview, the 61-year-old Weber — a champion freestyle skier as a teenager who later scaled the Matterhorn — was relaxing on one of the original Le Corbusier chaise longues that rolled off his mother’s assembly line in the late fifties.
Weber has long cultivated a passion for art, aviation and film.
After serving as Donald Sutherland’s double in Federico Fellini’s “Casanova,” (“I was the only one who Fellini could find that was as tall as Sutherland,” Weber recalled) he decided to get behind the camera, making his directorial debut with the award-winning feature film “Hotel Locarno” in 1978.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573248/saudi-arabia
---------
Israel Used US-Made Bomb in Attack On Hezbollah Head, US Senator Says
U.S. Senator of Arizona Mark Kelly speaks during the visit of Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to the University of Arizona Douglas, in Arizona, U.S., September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
------
September 29, 2024
WASHINGTON: The bomb that Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week was an American-made guided weapon, a US senator said on Sunday.
Mark Kelly, chair of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee, said Israel used a 2,000-lb (900-kg) Mark 84 series bomb, during an interview with NBC. His statement marks the first US indication of what weapon had been used.
“We see more use of guided munitions, JDAMs, and we continue to provide those weapons,” Kelly said, using an abbreviation that stands for Joint Direct Attack Munitions. “That 2,000-pound bomb that was used, that’s a Mark 84 series bomb, to take out Nasrallah,” he said.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had eliminated Nasrallah in a strike on the group’s central command headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The Israeli military has declined to comment on what weapons were used in the attack. The Pentagon was not immediately available for comment.
JDAMs convert a standard unguided bomb using fins and a GPS guidance system into a guided weapon. The US is Israel’s longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573256/middle-east
----------
IEA Minister of Infromation Reaffirms Commitment to Address Media Challenges in Herat
Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, Acting Minister of Information and Culture, during a formal meeting with journalists and media executives in Herat,
-------
2024-09-29
KABUL(BNA): Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, Acting Minister of Information and Culture, during a formal meeting with journalists and media executives in Herat, reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to resolving the challenges faced by the media sector in the province.
As reported by Bakhtar News Agency, several media representatives presented a detailed overview of the current situation of the media landscape in Herat, with a particular emphasis on economic challenges. They called for enhanced access to timely information for journalists and financial support to sustain media operations.
The Acting Minister recognized the vital role that media plays in promoting transparency and the dissemination of national achievements. He urged local media outlets to actively contribute to showcasing the country’s development efforts and emphasized that the Ministry is fully dedicated to addressing the needs and concerns of Herat’s media sector.
Shamel Ahmad Mashal, Head of the Committee for Media Support and Oversight in Herat, noted that access to information in the province is superior to other regions and urged the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology to consider reducing frequency fees for media outlets to ensure their continued operation.
In addition, Mawlawi Ahmadullah Muttaqi, Director of Information and Culture in Herat, reiterated the department’s role as a hub for journalists and reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to providing support and addressing the challenges faced by media professionals.
The Committee for Media Support and Oversight reports that currently, 65 media outlets, including visual, audio, and print, are operational in the western region of Afghanistan.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/mullah-khairullah-khairkhwa-reaffirms-commitment-to-address-media-challenges-in-herat/
----------
India
Samajwadi Party Muslim MLA's "Muslim Population Rising" Remark Draws BJP Fire
September 30, 2024
by Saikat Kumar Bose
Lucknow: A Samajwadi Party MLA's remark in which he said the population of Muslims is increasing and the BJP's rule will come to an end soon has sparked a political row in Uttar Pradesh.
Mehboob Ali, MLA from Amroha and a former state minister, made the remarks at a public gathering in Bijnor. "Your rule will come to an end. The population of Muslims is increasing. We will come to power. The Mughals ruled for 850 years, they could not... those who are burning the country must note that the people have woken up. They gave a reply in Parliament (polls). And in the coming days, in 2027, you will surely go and we will come," he is heard saying in a video. The Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are due in 2027.
The Samajwadi Party legislator's remarks have drawn a sharp response from the BJP.
Subrat Pathak, former MP and BJP general secretary in Uttar Pradesh, said the MLA's remarks raise questions the Samajwadi Party must answer. "Is this why (Samajwadi Party chief) Akhilesh Yadav is busy dividing Hindus? So that a particular community's wish is fulfilled?"
Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com
The BJP leader said Akhilesh Yadav must remember that the country had changed. "The Hindus have made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time and Yogi Adityanath the Chief Minister for two terms."
Post a commentSamajwadi Party leader Sunil Sajan said the party does not agree with Mehboob Ali's remark that the BJP will be defeated because the Muslim population has increased. "But it is true that inflation has increased, unemployment has increased, BJP's corruption has increased, their lies have increased, their politics of hate has increased... the borders are not secure, states are burning and the Prime Minister is silent. So a large population wants to ensure the BJP's defeat. So the BJP is not here for long," he said.
Source:ndtv.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mehboob-ali-akhilesh-yadav-samajwadi-party-mlas-muslim-population-rising-remark-draws-bjp-fire-6682437
---------
Centre nod to plug security gaps along Pakistan border amid surge in terror attacks in Jammu
Imran Ahmed Siddiqui
30.09.24
The Centre has given a go-ahead to the recommendations of a committee, which suggested upgrading fencing and other security infrastructure in “vulnerable” stretches along the India-Pakistan border amid a surge in militant attacks in Jammu, sources said on Sunday.
A security official attached to the Union home ministry said the committee was recently set up to determine the efficacy of structures guarding the border that runs through Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan and Jammu in checking infiltration.
“The government has given go ahead to the committee’s recommendation, which has suggested that the government should focus on Jammu, which has become the new infiltration zone along the India-Pakistan border. The committee has said that the fencing also needs to be upgraded with modern technological tools in Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat to make the frontier impregnable,” the security official told The Telegraph.
Sources in the security establishment said officials found at least 15-20 vulnerable points in Jammu. “They also suggested an upgrade of technology for better upkeep of fencing as over the years the maintenance work had been neglected,” said an official of the border management wing of the home ministry.
Sources said security officials have also suggested strengthening round-the-clock surveillance and patrolling on the borders besides using hand-held thermal imager, unmanned aerial vehicles and upgrading the intelligence set-up.
Source:telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/modi-government-nod-to-plug-security-gaps-along-pakistan-border-amid-surge-in-terror-attacks-in-jammu/cid/2051763
----------
23 terror hits in J&K so far this year, down from 222 in 2014
Sep 30, 2024,
NEW DELHI: The marked improvement in security situation in J&K since the last assembly elections — with terror-related incidents this year down to one-tenth of the levels seen in 2014 — has been a major contributory factor in the good turnouts witnessed in most parts of Kashmir region, according to J&K administration sources. This, an official said, is significant as these are the first assembly polls in J&K after the nullification of Article 370 and its reorganisation into a Union Territory in 2019.
However, polling percentages in all but one district of Jammu division, where voting is over, have dipped sincembere 2014. A plausible explanation could be the recent spike in terror activities in the region, among other things. Till Sept 27, 15 terror attacks and encounters had left 11 civilians and 17 security personnel dead in Jammu region.
Of the 13 J&K districts that went to the polls in the first two phases on Sept 18 and 25, eight recorded average turnouts lower than in 2014 assembly polls. While five of these 13 districts are in Jammu region, three are in Kashmir Valley.
Only one among the six Jammu districts where polling has been conducted in Phase 1 and 2 has shown a rise in voter turnout as compared to the 2014 polls, while four of the seven such districts in Kashmir recorded an upward trend in polling percentages. A comparison with 2024 LS polls shows that all but one district — Reasi in Jammu region — witnessed a lower turnout in the current polls.
Reasi had witnessed the biggest terror attack of the year in July, with firing by terrorists on a bus killing eight passengers and the bus driver. Also, encounters with terrorists have caused multiple security forces casualties in Poonch and Rajouri in the recent months.
Overall, terror-related incidents in J&K are down from 222 in 2014 to 23 so far this year, with 15 reported in Jammu region and 8 in Kashmir. Security forces’ fatalities too have fallen to 25, of which 17 were in Jammu region alone, from 47 in 2014, as have civilian killings from 28 in 2014 to 16 (11 in Jammu region & 5 in the Valley) in 2024.
As many as 45 terrorists were killed this year against 110 in 2014. Of these, 35, including 18 foreign terrorists and 17 local terrorists, were neutralised in Kashmir while Jammu saw the end of 10 terrorists.
As compared to 2014 that saw 23 grenade attacks, nine IED strikes and 41 hartal calls, 2024 has witnessed zero such incidents. “Four of the seven districts — Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama and Srinagar, all once terror hotbeds — fared better in terms of voter turnout as compared to 2014 assembly polls,” a security official pointed out.
Even the campaign and the two polling days so far were peaceful and incident-free, with no poll boycotts called by the separatists, who rather joined the democratic exercise as candidates, or the usual law and order disruptions like stone-pelting that would keep the Kashmiri voters indoors, said another officer.
Source:indiatimes.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/23-terror-hits-in-jk-so-far-this-year-down-from-222-in-2014/articleshow/113797640.cms
----------
J&K: Constable, militant killed in Kathua gunfight ahead of last phase of Assembly polls
Muzaffar Raina
30.09.24
A head constable and a militant were killed in a gunfight in Jammu’s Kathua district amid peak electioneering for the last phase of the Assembly polls on Tuesday.
Twenty-four Assembly seats in Kathua, Jammu City, Samba and Udhampur are going to polls on October 1.
Officials said the operation against militants was launched in Kathua on Saturday after inputs about the presence of militants in the area.
“In the ongoing operation in village Kog (Mandli), Kathua Police HC Bashir Ahmed made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, heroically taking down a terrorist. While he succumbed to his injuries, the other officers, including Deputy SP Sukhbir and ASI Niaz are stable,” additional director-general of police (Jammu zone), Anand Jain, said in a post on X.
The officer said the operation was launched after the police got information that three to four militants were hiding in the area.
When the search party approached the militants, they came under fire, he said.
The ADGP said adequate security arrangements were in place in all poll-bound areas to ensure violence-free voting.
During a rally in Jammu’s Jasrotia, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge fell sick while speaking about the rising militancy in Jammu and paying tribute to the slain constable.
He later received medical attention and told the crowd that he would not die until Prime Minister Narendra Modi was removed from power.
“I am not going to die so early. I will stay alive till PM Modi is removed from power,” he said.
The Congress leader said he wanted to talk but felt dizzy.
“I have sat down. Please pardon me,” he said.
Source:telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/jammu-and-kashmir-head-constable-militant-killed-in-gunfight-in-kathua-district/cid/2051753
----------
Won't die till Modi removed from power: Kharge assures after falling ill in J&K
29.09.24
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge fell ill while addressing a public rally on Sunday in the Jasrota belt of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.
After receiving medical attention, Kharge said he is not going to die before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is removed from the power.
Congress leaders said Kharge is now stable after a check-up by doctors.
Kharge fell ill while he was paying tribute to a head constable who was killed in an ongoing operation with terrorists in Kathua. Two other police personnel have been injured in the incident and one terrorist has been killed.
"He was addressing a public rally in Jasrota when he felt uneasy and dizzy. His colleagues helped him onto a chair," Congress general secretary Gulam Ahmed Mir told PTI.
He added that the Congress president is stable.
After being administered medical assistance at the rally venue, Kharge said, "I am 83 years old. I am not going to die so early. I will stay alive till PM Modi is removed from power..." "I wanted to talk. But due to dizziness, I have sat down. Please pardon me," he said.
Later, highlighting the role of Congress prime ministers, Kharge added, "Who has freed Bangladesh. Indira Gandhi did it. 'Jai Jawan Jain Kisan' slogan was given by us. Pakistan was defeated by us. Lal Bahadur Shastri defeated it. This is Congress." Kharge had flown to Jasrota to address a rally to garner support for his party candidates in the assembly polls.
He is also scheduled to address another public rally in Ramnagar in Udhampur district.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress vice president Ravindra Sharma said Kharge felt dizzy and was taken to a room, where doctors were called for a check-up. They will advise whether he can attend the second rally or not, he said.
Source:telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/wont-die-till-narendra-modi-removed-from-power-mallikarjun-kharge-after-falling-sick-in-jammu-and-kashmir/cid/2051711
----------
Controversial BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya takes out 'Hindu rashtra' rally through Jaipur's Muslim majority areas
Rakhee Roytalukdar
29 September 2024,
Jaipur: Rajasthan’s BJP MLA and self-proclaimed saffron saint, Balmukund Acharya today took out a so-called Hindu rashtra rally through Muslim-majority areas in the old Walled city here. The police granted permission despite opposition from activists...
The rally specifically took the Ram Navami route and passed through Muslim dominated areas like Ramganj, Choti Chaupar and others. Hundreds joined the rally wearing saffron pagris, and waving saffron flags, with mini-trucks on bikes and on foot and r...
Many citizens have been opposing the unnecessary rally organised by the controversial Acharya, saying it is clearly an attempt to spread hatred and create divisions in the peaceful society. People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) protested against ...
Source:deccanherald.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/rajasthan/controversial-bjp-mla-balmukund-acharya-takes-out-hindu-rashtra-rally-through-jaipurs-muslim-majority-areas-3211958
----------
Mideast
US Airstrikes Kill 37 Islamist Militants Affiliated with The Extremist "Islamic State” In Syria
29 Sep, 2024
Thirty-seven Islamist militants affiliated with the extremist "Islamic State" (IS) group and an al-Qaeda affiliate called Hurras al-Din were killed in two airstrikes in Syria this month, the US military said Sunday.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement posted on X that the strikes took place on September 16 and September 24, adding that there was no indication that any civilians were harmed.
The September 24 strike killed nine "terrorist operatives," including a senior Hurras al-Din leader in northwestern Syria. The U.S. military said he was responsible for overseeing military operations.
And on September 16, a "large-scale airstrike" was conducted on an IS training camp in a remote, undisclosed location in central Syria. It killed at least 28 militants, including at least four senior leaders.
"The airstrike will disrupt ISIS' capability to conduct operations against US interests, as well as our allies and partners," the statement read. ISIS is another acronym to denote the "Islamic State" group.
What are the US military's goals in Syria?
There are about 900 US troops in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors.
Their main mission is to prevent a comeback by the extremist IS group. The group swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory.
US forces are advising and assisting their main allies in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
They are not far from strategic areas where Iranian-backed militant groups are present, including a key border crossing with Iraq.
Source:dw.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.dw.com/en/syria-us-airstrikes-kill-37-islamist-militants/a-70355869
----------
Islamic Countries Must Give Deterrent Response to Zionist Regime: Lebanese Speaker
Sep 29, 2024,
He made the remarks during a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri on Sunday in which he extended condolences over the martyrdom of Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah.
At this time that Lebanon is facing different problems including the increasing number of war refugees, Qalibaf said “we stand by Lebanon as always and will not hesitate to provide any assistance”.
The Lebanese speaker, for his part, hailed the late Nasrallah as a significant and influential figure in the Middle East, noting that even those who were not considered as his lovers, had a great respect for him.
Noting that unity is the most urgent issue of Lebanon in the current situation, he said that despite all the challenges, the Lebanese tribes have provided shelter to the refugees.
The Zionists are trying to depopulate the south of Lebanon, he said, stressing that in reaching this goal, they do not distinguish between the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
Source:irna.ir
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://en.irna.ir/news/85612265/Islamic-countries-must-give-deterrent-response-to-Zionist-regime
----------
Islamic Resistance in Lebanon: We targeted city of Safed with rocket barrage
29 Sep 2024
Occupied Al-Quds - Saba: The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah announced on Sunday the targeting of the occupied city of Safed with a rocket barrage.
According to the Ma'an news agency, Hezbollah said in a statement: "In support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the barbaric Zionist invasion of cities, villages and civilians, the mujahideen of the Islamic resistance bombarded the occupied city of Safed with a rocket barrage."
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announced that it would continue its operations and confront the brutal Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
In this context, the resistance confirmed the bombardment of its mujahideen on Sunday Ofik Basaliya camp from Fadi Wahed rockets.
In addition, the mujahideen of the resistance targeted the movements of enemy soldiers in the settlement of al-Manara with rockets. The Sa'ar settlement was also a target of the resistance, as the mujahideen targeted it with rocket weapons.
Source:saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3377862.htm
----------
French FM in Beirut, despite air strikes: ministry
September 30, 2024'
BEIRUT, Lebanon: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon on Sunday night, his ministry said, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since Israeli air strikes intensified one week ago.
The arrival of Barrot, who earlier called for an immediate halt to the strikes, came as the foreign ministry announced that a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, though details were unclear.
Barrot oversaw delivery of 11.5 tonnes of French humanitarian aid, Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
After a meeting about the status of French nationals, Barrot on Monday will meet officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
He is also due to meet the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south.
"We confirm the death of a second French national," his ministry said Sunday, adding that further details will be supplied later.
The death comes after an 87-year-old French woman died last Monday after a blast in a village in south Lebanon.
Israel's military on Sunday said it struck more targets of Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah, after its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a Beirut air raid on Friday.
The violence has raised strong fears of even further escalation in the Middle East.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also appointed a former foreign and defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, as special envoy to Lebanon.
Le Drian has visited the country six times, most recently at the beginning of the week.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573296/middle-east
----------
4 killed as Israel strikes apartment in central Beirut, first hit outside Hezbollah-controlled Dahiyeh
NAJIA HOUSSARI & AGENCIES
September 30, 2024
BEIRUT: Four people have been killed in an Israeli strike targeting an apartment in Beirut’s Kola district on Sunday, witnesses said, in the first such attack in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict.
There have been conflicting reports on who the intended targets were, with some news outlets claiming they were officials of The Islamic Party or Islamic Group — also known as Jamaa Islamiya — and others claiming they were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Sources close to Arab News identified those killed in the strike as senior Jamaa Islamiya members Zakariya Bazzi and Ali Rahal and two others.
Agence France Presse also quoted its own source, and The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed official with Lebanese Civil Defense, said the targets were Jamaa Islamiya members.
Reuters, also quoting unnamed sources, said the PFLP had admitted that three of its leaders were killed the strike.
Formed in 1960, Jamaa Islamiya, like Hamas, traces its origins to the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. It has been the target of several Israeli strikes since the escalation began on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The PFLP said the three leaders were killed in a strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district.
The PFLP, a Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization, is the second-biggest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization, next to Fatah.
The strike marks the first time Israel has carried out attacks within Beirut’s city walls since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel last year.
Television footage showed the partially flattened floor of the building targeted by the strike, in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Kola, near the road linking the capital to Beirut airport.
The strike happened hours after Israel hit targets across Lebanon and killed at least 105 people as Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence — including a major strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah — but had not hit locations near the city center.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
Earlier, Hezbollah confirmed that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of the militant group’s Central Council, was killed Saturday, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader slain in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. They include founding members who had evaded death or detention for decades.
Hezbollah also confirmed that Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in an airstrike Friday strike that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 other Hezbollah militants were killed, including one in charge of Nasrallah’s security detail.
The Lebanese health ministry documented at least 105 people killed around the country in airstrikes Sunday. Two strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the Lebanese health ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and injured at least 47. There were other strikes.
The Israeli military previously said it also carried out another targeted strike on Beirut, but did not immediately provide details.
Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern and western Bekaa and in the south, besides strikes on Beirut. The strikes have targeted buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.
In a video of a strike in Sidon, verified by The Associated Press, a building swayed before collapsing as neighbors filmed. One TV station called on viewers to pray for a family caught under the rubble, posting their pictures, as rescuers failed to reach them. The Lebanese health ministry reported at least 14 medics were killed over two days in the south.
Meanwhile, wreckage from the strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah was still smoldering. AP journalists saw smoke over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check on what was left of their homes and others to pay respects, pray or simply to see the destruction.
In response to the dramatic escalation in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah significantly increased its attacks in the past week, from several dozen to several hundred daily, the Israeli military said. The attacks injured several people and caused damage, but most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems or fell in open areas.
The army says its strikes have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities and the number of launches would be much higher if Hezbollah had not been hit.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573292/middle-east
----------
Israel’s prime minister appoints a former rival to strengthen his hold on office
September 30, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Sunday a former rival, Gideon Saar, as a member of his Cabinet, expanding his coalition and strengthening his hold on office.
Under their agreement, Netanyahu said Saar would serve as a minister without portfolio and serve in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees the management of the ongoing war against Israel’s enemies across the Middle East.
Saar, 57, had hoped to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu’s. But a deal to become defense minister fell through several weeks ago after fighting intensified with Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border, leaving the popular Gallant in office for the time being.
Saar is a veteran politician who himself has had a strained relationship with the prime minister. He was once a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud party, but angrily left it four years ago after accusing the prime minister of turning it into a “cult of personality” as he battled corruption charges.
Since then, however, Saar has struggled as leader of a small conservative party, enjoying little support with the broader public. While he and Netanyahu have little love for one another, they share a hard-line ideology toward Israel’s Arab adversaries.
In recent months, Saar has said Israel must fight until Hamas is destroyed. He also has called for tougher action against Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran. And like Netanyahu, he strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In a joint statement, they said they had put their differences aside for the good of the nation.
Netanyahu’s decision appears to have been driven in part by domestic politics. He faces a number of key political battles in the coming weeks — including the contentious issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox men into the army, passing a budget and taking the stand in his long-running corruption trial. Saar is expected to help Netanyahu on many of these issues.
His appointment also will likely scale back the influence of ultranationalist members of his coalition. Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, are religious ideologues who have threated to bring down the government if Netanyahu makes too many concessions in any ceasefire deal. Ben-Gvir has also drawn international criticism for provocative visits to a contested Jerusalem holy site.
Sunday’s agreement gives Saar, who hopes to be prime minister one day, an opportunity to revive his political career, while expanding Netanyahu’s majority coalition to 68 seats in the 120-seat parliament.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573288/middle-east
----------
Second French national killed in Lebanon: ministry
September 29, 2024
PARIS: A second French national has been killed in Lebanon, France’s foreign ministry said Sunday, as Israel carried out fresh strikes against the country’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
The announcement came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot flew into Beirut Sunday evening for talks with the authorities there and bringing humanitarian aid.
“We confirm the death of a second French national,” said the foreign ministry statement, adding that they would release more details later.
Last Monday, an 87-year-old French woman was killed when her home collapsed following an explosion in the south of the country.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573279/middle-east
----------
Top UNHCR official warns of crisis fatigue amid ‘massive’ Lebanon displacement
CASPAR WEBB
September 29, 2024
NEW YORK CITY: With the Lebanese prime minister warning that up to 1 million people might be displaced amid war in his country, a top UNHCR official has sounded the alarm on the “numbing” of the world to human suffering, and the difficulty of responding to crises in Lebanon, Sudan and elsewhere.
A “massive increase in displacement” is taking place in Lebanon, warned Raouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant high commissioner for operations, appealing for the international community to overcome its crisis fatigue and support a humanitarian response to the conflict.
He was speaking to Arab News in New York City on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly.
It comes as Israel ramped up its aerial campaign against Hezbollah across Lebanon, with strikes into the heart of Beirut and elsewhere killing hundreds of people last week.
The escalation has compounded woes for the UN’s refugee agency, which is battling crises in some of the world’s most impoverished and conflict-ridden countries.
Two of its workers were killed last week in Lebanon. The agency said it was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the deaths.
Dina Darwiche, from the UNHCR’s Bekaa office in the country’s east, was killed alongside her youngest son as an Israeli missile struck her home on Monday.
Ali Basma, who worked with the UNHCR’s Tyre office in the south, was also confirmed dead on Monday.
“On our colleagues, it’s the drama of the context where civilian populations are the victims of indiscriminate bombing, indiscriminate airstrikes — this is what we’re observing,” Mazou told Arab News.
“They were not at work at the time when it happened. They were living their normal lives. But it reminds us of how civilians are exposed. In addition to that, we also have situations where colleagues in the course of their duty are targeted or find themselves killed.
“And that’s another concern that we have. Humanitarian workers being exposed to danger as they are performing their functions.
“In this specific case it wasn’t — they were not at work — but still, this is something that, to us, of course, is extremely concerning.”
The escalation in Lebanon is “not something the world needs right now,” Mazou added, warning that the “massive numbers” being displaced in the country also includes the 80,000 Lebanese who fled to neighboring Syria in the past week, according to the government.
In response to the conflict, the UNHCR is executing its contingency plans and beginning distribution of pre-positioned aid, but urgently needs assistance as part of a wider international response, Mazou said.
The body will also “strengthen its presence” to protect the most vulnerable, he added.
But with conflicts in the region already raging in Sudan, Gaza, Syria and Yemen, there is a “difficulty” in mobilizing adequate resources for Lebanon, the assistant high commissioner said.
“We have core relief items already pre-positioned in the region which we can give fairly fast. We have the presence of colleagues. The presence of colleagues is absolutely essential. There are many other items that are necessary and which we will provide,” he added.
“We are now coming up with an appeal that we are going to issue, to ask for support from the international community.
“But that is happening at a time when it is already difficult to mobilize resources. There are many other crises around the world, so it’s already difficult. And now we have another crisis added to the to the existing one.
“So, we’re very worried. We hope we will be able to mobilize, but we are really appealing to the international community to provide the resources that are required.”
For Mazou, the proliferation of conflict has not only tested the logistical strength of the UNHCR, but has also “numbed” the global community to human suffering.
“We all become numb. There’s a new conflict, there’s a new crisis — we simply do not have the normal reaction of outrage that we should normally have,” he said.
The result is that many of the countries receiving refugees from the world’s conflicts — some of which are already impoverished and unstable — are unable to provide sufficient protection and support.
Host countries are often “in very difficult situations” themselves, and, faced with accepting millions of refugees, are too often left to handle the problem alone, Mazou said.
“They provide a global public good by receiving refugees, but they need the support of the international community. If you don’t give that support, at the end of the day, it’s the victims who are again exposed to more danger.”
Chad, for example, hosts about 2 million refugees, including from Sudan.
“That is completely untenable for a country that is fairly poor and also a country that is suffering from the economic impact of the war in Sudan. The whole eastern part of Chad was depending on Sudan now finds itself in a situation where it can no longer benefit from the economic trade that was taking place.
“It’s the countries which are receiving these refugees, whether it is Chad, whether it is the Central African Republic, whether it is Libya, whether it is Egypt — countries which are struggling in providing the protection and the system that is required. They need the support of the international community,” Mazou said.
A lack of international support in the humanitarian response to crises has dire effects on the ground, meaning a greater risk of famine, sexual violence against women and children losing access to education, Mazou warned.
“What are the consequences? The consequences are that you do not provide the basic assistance that is required, whether it is food assistance with the risk of famine, women finding themselves exposed to sexual violence or children who absolutely do not have access to school. Children in Sudan have not had access to school for all this time.”
The civil war in Sudan has pushed the UNHCR’s mandate to its limit.
After 17 months of conflict, the country is now victim to the world’s worst hunger crisis, and humanitarian agencies are struggling to respond.
More than 10 million people have been forcibly displaced from Sudan, pushed into neighboring countries and beyond, with the UNHCR recently declaring emergencies in Uganda and Libya related to the conflict.
At the UN this week, Filippo Grandi, the UNHCR’s high commissioner, recounted two visits to the country earlier this year, describing conditions there as “apocalyptic” and urging donors to fill the “severely underfunded” response plan.
“I can frankly hardly think of any other conflict where our, by now, chronic inability to bring about peace is so much in evidence — is more in evidence than the Sudan conflict,” he said.
“If people don’t die because of bullets, they starve to death. If they manage to survive, they must face disease or floods or the threat of sexual violence and other horrifying abuse, which if perpetrated in other places, would make daily headlines. It doesn’t in this situation.”
With famine declared at a displacement camp within El-Fasher in North Darfur, the UN’s main food relief body, the World Food Programme, is struggling to deliver aid to the country amid blocking by government forces and their Rapid Support Forces paramilitary rivals.
Humanitarian workers operating in the country have also been targeted or killed in deliberate attacks.
For Mazou and the UNHCR, opening access to aid in Sudan is of the utmost priority.
“For us, it’s first making sure that humanitarian access is granted. We’ve been talking to the parties to the conflict. They know that they have the responsibility, they have accountability that they must provide humanitarian access. But that’s something that we keep on repeating,” he said.
“And then we need to have the resources to make sure that we can carry the humanitarian assistance that is required to the populations in need in asylum countries first.
“I think it’s important in today’s world to underline the fact that asylum countries are willing to provide asylum, and that’s not the case everywhere,” he added, citing Chad, the Central African Republic, Libya and Egypt.
Disputes, rivalries and buck-passing among developed countries on the issue of hosting refugees has been a matter of chronic concern for the UNHCR.
Its commissioner, Grandi, as well as a host of humanitarian leaders, have long cited the contrasting reactions of many European countries to the Syrian and Ukrainian refugee crises as evidence of “double standards.”
European countries positioned on the edges of the continent — including Spain, Greece, Croatia and Italy — have engaged, openly or secretly, in violent pushback policies to turn back refugees at their borders, according to a series of reports published by Amnesty International in recent years.
In the years preceding the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many of the countries neighboring the latter had complained of an inability to shoulder the burden of hosting refugees from outside Europe, Mazou said.
But following the outbreak of the war, these countries “received several million” Ukrainian refugees, in a sign that “people do realize that it is their responsibility to provide asylum” in a crisis, he added.
“That is something that we must all underline,” Mazou said.
“Not only the high commissioner, but a number of humanitarian leaders have stressed the importance of supporting countries regardless of where they are located, to make sure that the assistance that is required is provided.”
With the UNHCR drawing on all its resources to meet the mounting demands of refugees fleeing crises around the world, Mazou highlighted international support as the backbone of his agency’s operations.
“We have to put in place mechanisms and to respond to the needs of the people,” he said.
“We continue to appeal to make sure that the needs of all refugees around the world are responded to and that we are in the position of mobilizing for all countries around the world and not just one crisis.”
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573264/middle-east
----------
Lebanon says over 100 killed in new Israeli strikes
September 29, 2024
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people on Sunday, after Israel’s military said it had kept up its bombardment of Hezbollah targets there and also struck Yemen.
The health ministry in a revised toll issued late Sunday put the total killed at 105 and 359 wounded.
The attacks come after an air strike on Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs on Friday killed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which has engaged in cross-border fire with Israel for almost a year.
Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas militants in Gaza, who attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the war in the Palestinian territory.
After Israel turned its focus north from Gaza to Lebanon and cross-border fire escalated, Israeli attacks have killed hundreds since last Monday, the deadliest day since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
Lebanon’s health ministry said there had been deadly air raids near the main southern city of Sidon Sunday, while dozens more had died in the east, in the south and in and around Beirut.
France’s foreign ministry said Sunday a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, after a woman died following a south Lebanon blast on Monday.
The announcement came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon, the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since the Israeli air strikes intensified.
Barrot spoke earlier with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and said Paris sought “an immediate halt” to Israeli strikes.
France also appealed for Hezbollah and its backer Iran to abstain from any action that could lead to “regional conflagration.”
Pope Francis, asked about Israeli air strikes on civilians, said a country “goes beyond morality” when defense is not proportional to the attack.
Israeli military operations in Lebanon seek to downgrade Hezbollah’s capacity to attack Israel, eliminate the group’s military leadership and “clean” the border areas from fighters, an Israeli security official said Friday.
Israeli leaders say they want their citizens displaced from the north to be able to safely return.
Israel’s military said dozens of its warplanes had attacked targets of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in war-ravaged Yemen Sunday, including around Hodeida port, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid.
Houthi media reports said the strikes had killed four people and wounded 33.
The Yemen raids came a day after the Houthis said they targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with a missile, trying to hit it as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from New York.
Separately, Israel’s military said the air strike that killed Nasrallah had “eliminated” another 20 Hezbollah members, after earlier strikes killed Nasrallah’s right-hand man Fuad Shukr and the head of the elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Aqil.
Israel also said Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah’s central council, was killed in a strike on Saturday.
Hezbollah has yet to officially announce his death, but a source close to the group said Qaouq had been killed.
Israeli bombardment has killed more than 700 people in a week, including 14 paramedics over a two-day period, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel’s military said late Sunday it had hit 120 Hezbollah targets.
Hezbollah said it had again fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Safed.
Hezbollah is a powerful political, military and social force in Lebanon, but the killing of Nasrallah — its figurehead who enjoyed cult status among supporters — has dealt it a seismic blow.
Netanyahu said Israel had “settled the score” with his killing.
But in the northern Israeli town of Rosh Pina, Matan Sofer had mixed feelings. Sofer, 24, welcomed the “good news” of Nasrallah’s death but wondered if “we risk it getting worse.”
US President Joe Biden — whose government is Israel’s top arms supplier — said Sunday a wider war “really has to be avoided.”
Analysts told AFP Nasrallah’s death leaves a bruised Hezbollah under pressure to respond.
For Tehran, his killing “has not altered the fact that Iran still does not want to get directly engaged” in the ongoing conflict, said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.
Iran said a member of its Revolutionary Guards was also killed alongside Nasrallah.
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon” and more than 50,000 have fled to neighboring Syria.
Prime Minister Mikati said up to one million people may have been uprooted, in potentially the “largest displacement movement” in Lebanon’s history.
In Gaza, the territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli strikes Sunday killed several people.
Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,595 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573263/middle-east
-----------
Arab World
Ancient Saudi Kingdoms Festival Returns to AlUla with Heritage-Led Program
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: AlUla, the historic heart of the Incense Road, has announced visitors can now book tickets for a collection of extraordinary experiences set in heritage sites for this year’s Ancient Kingdoms Festival, launching on Nov. 7.
Presented by AlUla Moments, the festival returns with a jam-packed program of daytime discoveries, adventure-filled exploration and theatrical after dark journeys inspired by the stories of AlUla’s ancient past, and delivered by some of the world’s best immersive experience creators, an official statement said.
Participating heritage sites include the Nabataean city of Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site; Wadi Al-Naam, a spectacular valley of iconic rock art; and the mudbrick maze of AlUla’s Old Town, recognized as one of the world’s best tourism villages.
Events include the “Incense Road Experience” in AlUla’s Old Town, an immersive adventure that invites visitors to traverse a historic maze of atmospheric mudbrick buildings as live performances and technology meet interactive storytelling and explorations of archaeological treasures.
Those in search of intrigue can look forward to “Masterpieces of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples,” a showcase exhibition taking place at Maraya, the world’s largest mirrored building.
Presented for the very first time in Saudi Arabia, visitors will encounter exceptional art history from Pompeii and Herculaneum alongside iconic works depicting enduring icons like Alexander the Great, Roman Emperor Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius.
The fan-favourite “Hegra After Dark” is another back by popular demand — offering a flavour of the ancient world even bigger and bolder than before. Praised by travelers and media alike, this world-leading immersive nighttime summit returns to Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site with a magical “theater of life” expedition through the spectacular landscape and Nabataean era.
Also starring in the Ancient Kingdoms Festival schedule is the “Stories from the Sky” Hegra drone show, a jaw-dropping audio-visual production illuminating ancient monuments; and “Hegra Candlelit Classics,” back with a trio of immersive one-of-a-kind musical experiences.
The full offer for this year’s Ancient Kingdoms Festival also includes epic parades, treasure hunts in historic hunting grounds, yoga in the UNESCO Memory of the World site Jabal Ikmah, sky tours across Nabataean tombs and hands-on activities for families.
The festival will run from Nov. 7 to 30.
The full program and booking details can be found on experiencealula.com.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573243/saudi-arabia
----------
Muslim World League Chief, Al-Issa, Discusses Law, Religion at Harvard Law SchoolEvent
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: Secretary-General of the Muslim World League Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa has delivered the lecture “Law and Religion: Prospects for Peace and Combating Societal Divisions” at Harvard Law School.
The event was attended by faculty members, policymakers and students, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
Al-Issa focused on the diverse interpretations of religious and legal texts and the potential contradictions that may arise, particularly in religiously diverse nations.
He spoke of the principles necessary to maintain social unity, and addressed various religious and legal interpretations.
A discussion facilitated by Prof. Martha Minow, a senior member of the Faculty of Law, followed the lecture. This provided an opportunity for Al-Issa to elaborate on the roles of religion and law in fostering community cohesion and addressing division.
He outlined the challenges and threats facing societies today, along with proposed solutions and the essential guidelines for effective and fruitful dialogue.
The discussion also touched on historic and contemporary conflicts, examining the religious perspective on them and the associated legal responsibilities.
Al-Issa highlighted the MWL’s contributions, including the Charter of Makkah and initiatives aimed at building bridges between Islamic sects.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573236/saudi-arabia
----------
Saudi Arabia announces monthly financial support to address humanitarian situation in Gaza
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced the provision of monthly financial support to Palestinians to help address the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings.
The move is a result of the Kingdom’s keenness to provide all forms of assistance and support to Palestine and its people in the face of the suffering caused by the Israeli occupation and its flagrant violations of all international laws and norms, Saudi Press Agency said.
The Kingdom reiterated its emphasis on the tireless efforts made by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in communicating with members of the international community in order to reach a ceasefire, protect civilians, and provide more humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.
The Saudi leadership is also keen to find a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue that enables the Palestinian people to obtain all their legitimate rights and establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Kingdom affirmed that it pays the utmost attention to the Palestinian cause and has made every possible effort to contain the crisis in the Gaza Strip and address the critical humanitarian situation there since the beginning of the crisis last year.
The Kingdom was able to unify the Arab and Islamic position toward this crisis by chairing the ministerial committee assigned by the joint Arab Islamic extraordinary summit held in November 2023 to support Palestinians, confront the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and break the siege imposed on it, SPA said.
This resulted in a number of countries recognizing the State of Palestine and demanding that it be accepted as a full member of the United Nations, SPA added.
The support comes as a continuation of the humanitarian and development aid provided by the Kingdom to the Palestinian people in the past, which amounts to more than $5.3 billion.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573275/saudi-arabia
----------
Saudi English authors hope to appeal to an international audience
MARCO FERRARI
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi English-language authors are taking advantage of new publishing opportunities and aiming to spreading cultural awareness to an audience of international readers.
The Riyadh International Book Fair, which has long been a focal point for literary activity in the Kingdom’s capital, is supporting emerging authors who cater to English readers at home and abroad.
Fatemah Abdullah Al-Qahtani is a professor of creative practices at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.
In the past she faced rejections from regional publishers, who advised her to write in Arabic instead, before British publisher Austin Macauley this year decided to publish her book, “Creativity and Conservatism.”
Speaking to Arab News at the book fair, she described how her writing is aimed both at foreign audiences and the younger generation of Saudis who read English fluently.
“It’s an international language, especially with this new generation of teenagers now in Saudi Arabia.”
“Creativity and Conservatism” is described as an investigation into the formation of Saudi female artistic identity.
The book links the rich history of religion to the emerging artistic scene in the Kingdom.
“I talk about this from a pro-faith perspective,” she said. “I don't try to underestimate all of these schools of art. No, actually, the Saudi woman is smart enough to use it, to express it in her art practice.”
Al-Qahtani’s work argues that art from the Najd region — home of the Hanbali school of Islam — is influenced by the concepts of halal (permissible) and haram (forbidden).
In the Eastern Province, Al-Qahtani links the prevalence of surrealist art emerging from the region with its high percentage of Shia Muslims.
Western cities such as Makkah and Madinah are the centers of religion in the Kingdom, and they have historically been the most multicultural areas in the Kingdom.
For Al-Qahtani, this can be seen in the quality of artwork produced in the west, notably the trailblazing Safeya Binzagr who passed away earlier this month.
The author argues that the Shafi’i school of Islam in the south of the Arabian Peninsula influenced the art of the region, with its geometrical shapes and bright colors often seen adorning doors on local homes.
Religious history laid the foundations for a collective understanding of art, according to Al-Qahtani.
“Even though I believe in the principle of individualism, especially in art, you need to be completely free: Art for art. However, it’s hard to avoid all of this. It’s rooted deeply in our mind, in the subconscious,” she said.
Halah Alshathri works full time as a vice president of admin and financial services at Jazira Group in Riyadh.
She draws on her experiences in the corporate world and in her spare time writes motivational material, providing advice to readers on how to master their chosen field.
Her new book — “Values of Mastery” — was a bestseller at the fair and was sold out soon after a public signing.
“I was eager to publish in the English language,” she said, “because we have a good chance and a good opportunity to introduce how our society is coming out and supporting women in the working field.”
Focused on reaching the widest possible audience, Alshathri wants the world to know about the successes of Saudi women in business today.
Asked why she thought her book was so popular, Alshathri said that the growing competitiveness in the Gulf job marketplace was leading people to search for new ways to find an edge.
“The working environment has been very competitive … especially now in Saudi Arabia and in the GCC, for men and women.
“Everyone wants to do well, do better, and make a better social life and a working life and maybe also financial life.”
With a little adjustment, she believes anyone can optimize their life, make the most of their talents, and seize opportunities to better themselves.
“If you have the right values, with the right skills, you will get the opportunities right in front of you. You will work smarter and not harder.”
“You will not just be a working machine,” she added. “Actually, you use your mind, your soul and your heart in there, because you think of yourself, you think of others.”
Leen Al-Tamimi is a children’s author who wants her allegorical work to tell a universal message, not linked to any specific culture.
The best way to do that, for her, is to write in English, and to base her stories in far-off lands.
“The Farmer with a Heart of Gold” is a tale that teaches children the importance of behaving well, even in difficult circumstances.
“These are all universal values, not related to a certain culture or religion,” she explained. “This is why it was important for me for the story to be in English, and for the story to be for children, to kind of share those universal values that we all have as humans, not because we’re Saudi or we’re English or because we’re American or whatever we are.”
Al-Tamimi first wrote the story 10 years ago, when she was 16. At the time, she could not find an avenue for publication.
“Back then, things were a bit different. They weren’t as easy and they weren't as clear how to move forward with publishing a book,” she said.
“The support that we see today from publishing houses is amazing, honestly, compared to what existed back then.
“The book fair was a huge bonus for me for finding the best publishing house for the story,” she said.
As well as transcending cultural barriers, Al-Tamimi, like Al-Qahtani is interested in spreading her moral message to the next generation of Saudis.
“I always believe that children are the key to making the changes that we’re looking for in society,” she said.
“If you want to make a change, if you want to spread something positive, I always believe that you start with the children, and you create a better generation moving forward.”
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573246/saudi-arabia
-----------
Saudi Arabia expresses concern over Lebanon situation, pledges medical and relief aid
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has expressed deep concern over the recent developments in Lebanon, calling for the preservation of Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Saudi Press Agency reported.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Kingdom reaffirmed its support for the Lebanese people as they face the repercussions of ongoing events and emphasized the need to mitigate their humanitarian impact.
Saudi Arabia also urged the international community to take responsibility for safeguarding regional security and peace, stressing the importance of preventing further conflicts and tragedies in the region.
In line with its commitment to supporting Lebanon, the Kingdom’s leadership issued directives to provide urgent medical and relief aid to the Lebanese people.
This assistance aims to help Lebanon navigate its current challenges and alleviate the critical circumstances affecting the nation, SPA added.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573287/saudi-arabia
----------
Saudi aid chief meets UN counterterrorism chief in New York
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, general supervisor of the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, met with UN Under-Secretary-General for Counter Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov, at the 79th UN General Assembly meeting, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
During the meeting, the two officials discussed humanitarian and relief issues.
Voronkov praised the humanitarian projects provided by the Kingdom through KSrelief to alleviate the suffering of people in need around the world.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573278/saudi-arabia
----------
Drones cut carbon emissions by 66% at Saudi reserve
September 29, 2024
RIYADH: The use of drones has resulted in a 66 percent decrease in carbon emissions at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Nature Reserve, its development authority said on Sunday.
According to the authority, there has been a substantial increase in vegetation cover, which grew to 8.5 percent from 1.4 percent in 2018.
Spanning 91,500 sq. km, the park is the second-largest royal reserve, home to 138 wildlife species and 179 plant species. It is known for its rich ecology, stunning landscapes and heritage sites.
The reserve pioneered a groundbreaking environmental protection and monitoring project by using 40 drones to bolster surveillance of illegal activities such as logging and overgrazing.
This has notably improved the operational effectiveness of environmental security and protection teams while also contributing to training environmental observers and rangers.
According to the authority, advanced technologies are used to decrease carbon emissions and support the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative by phasing out fossil fuel-powered four-wheel-drive vehicles and replacing them with drones.
This helps improve environmental protection and access to rugged terrain while facilitating the distribution of seeds across vast areas.
Source:arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573241/saudi-arabia
---------
North America
Biden says he will talk to Netanyahu as Israel pummels Sunni terror targets in Beirut
By Andrea Margolis
September 29, 2024
President Biden said on Sunday that he intended to talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imminently, shortly before the Israel-Hamas war intensified in Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an airstrike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday evening, marking the first time the Israeli military implemented an airstrike on the central part of the city amid the yearlong Israel-Hamas war.
Speaking from Dover Air Force Base earlier that afternoon, Biden confirmed to reporters that he planned to speak with Netanyahu. The conversation took place hours before the airstrike began.
"Yes, I will be talking to him," the Democrat said. "And I'll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him."
When asked about avoiding an "all-out war" in the Middle East, Biden said the U.S. has "to avoid it."
"We really have to avoid it," Biden said. "We have already taken precautions relative to our embassies and personnel who want to leave."
"And, but, we're not there yet, but we're working like hell with the French and many others to avoid [more] war."
The Associated Press first reported the airstrike on Sunday evening, citing witnesses in central Beirut. The airstrike came the same weekend that the IDF systematically targeted Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group that supports Hamas.
The IDF had only targeted south Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, before Sunday's strikes. Dozens of people in Lebanon were killed by the IDF over the weekend, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli military also confirmed that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, was eliminated by IDF forces.
Source: foxnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.foxnews.com/world/biden-says-he-talk-netanyahu-israel-pummels-sunni-terror-targets-beirut
----------
California governor blocks landmark AI safety bill
João da Silva
September 30, 2024
The governor of California Gavin Newsom has blocked a landmark artificial intelligence (AI) safety bill, which had faced strong opposition from major technology companies.
The proposed legislation would have imposed some of the first regulations on AI in the US.
Mr Newsom said the bill could stifle innovation and prompt AI developers to move out of the state.
Senator Scott Wiener, who authored the bill, said the veto allows companies to continue developing an "extremely powerful technology" without any government oversight.
The bill would have required the most advanced AI models to undergo safety testing.
It would have forced developers to ensure their technology included a so-called "kill switch". A kill switch would allow organisations to isolate and effectively switch off an AI system if it became a threat.
It would also have made official oversight compulsory for the development of so-called "Frontier Models" - or the most powerful AI systems.
The bill "does not take into account whether an Al system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data," Mr Newsom said in a statement.
"Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions - so long as a large system deploys it," he added.
At the same time, Mr Newsom announced plans to protect the public from the risks of AI and asked leading experts to help develop safeguards for the technology.
Over the last few weeks, Mr Newsom has also signed 17 bills, including legislation aimed at cracking down on misinformation and so-called deep fakes, which include images, video, or audio content created using generative AI.
California is home to many of the world's largest and most advanced AI companies, including the ChatGPT maker, OpenAI.
The state's role as a hub for many of the world's largest tech firms means that any bill regulating the sector would have a major national and global impact on the industry.
Mr Wiener said the decision to veto the bill leaves AI companies with "no binding restrictions from US policy makers, particularly given Congress’s continuing paralysis around regulating the tech industry in any meaningful way."
Efforts by Congress to impose safeguards on AI have stalled.
OpenAI, Google and Meta were among several major tech firms that voiced opposition to the the bill and warned it would hinder the development of a crucial technology.
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9jwyr3kgeo
----------
SpaceX docks at ISS to collect stranded astronauts
Christy Cooney
September 30, 2024
A SpaceX capsule sent to bring back two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) has docked.
The Dragon capsule, which has two empty seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, docked at 17:30 eastern time (22:30 BST).
The pair arrived at the station on Boeing's new Starliner capsule for an eight-day mission in June, but were forced to remain there because of a fault discovered during the flight.
They are now expected to return to Earth in February.
The Dragon capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday carrying Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
Hague, who has done a previous stint on the ISS, and Gorbunov will join the space station's crew before taking Wilmore and Williams back to Earth.
The launch had been scheduled for Thursday but was delayed because of Hurricane Helene, which has caused huge destruction across the south-eastern US, including Florida, in recent days.
The docking occurred as the space station flew 265 miles (426km) above Botswana in southern Africa.
Footage from inside the ISS showed Hague and Gorbunov smiling and posing for photos with the rest of the crew after their arrival.
The original Starliner flight, which launched on 5 June, was that capsule's first test flight with astronauts on board and Boeing's first attempt to take astronauts to the ISS.
During the flight it experienced a number of problems, including leaks of helium - which is used in its propulsion system - and issues with several of its thrusters.
Engineers at Boeing and Nasa spent months investigating, but in late August Nasa decided that it would not be safe to try to bring Wilmore and Williams home aboard the Starliner.
The capsule had already been delayed for several years because of setbacks during its development, as well as issues discovered during uncrewed test flights in 2019 and 2022.
Nasa retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011, leaving it reliant on Russia's Soyuz craft to get to and from the ISS.
Having two American companies to perform the missions has been a key goal of the agency's for some time, and in 2014 Boeing and SpaceX were awarded contracts worth $4.2bn (£3.2bn) and $2.6bn (£2bn) respectively.
In 2020, SpaceX - founded by billionaire Elon Musk - became the first private company to take astronauts to the ISS.
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clylvz1ppdmo
----------
Ukraine to seize money from pensioners’ bank accounts
30 Sep, 2024
The Ukrainian government has introduced controversial pension provisions that could lead to billions of hryvnias being withdrawn from pension accounts, according to an analysis of Ukraine’s 2025 budget draft by business news site Ekonomicheskaya Pravda (EP).
The outlet studied the bill approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on September 13, which was presented to the parliament last week. According to a report published on Friday, the government plans to cut social spending by more than 10%, or around $1.2 billion, primarily by decreasing subsidies to Ukraine’s pension fund.
The most contentious provision, outlined in Article 41, mandates Oschadbank – the financial institution managing pension accounts in Ukraine – to transfer funds from accounts with no activity over the past 12 months back to the government.
Additionally, the government proposed seizing funds from the accounts of displaced pensioners who miss their “physical identification” deadline by more than six months. Internally displaced pensioners or those living abroad are required to confirm their status annually. Otherwise, they risk losing payments.
Oschadbank declined to comment on the number of affected pensioners’ accounts or the total amount that could be seized.
The Ministry of Finance estimates this sum to be at least $275 million, according to EP. The Ministry of Social Policy told EP that the new provision would primarily affect those who received internally displaced person status prior to February 2022.
Some lawmakers oppose this provision and are preparing for “fierce political battles” over the 2025 budget, the publication noted. Ukraine’s draft state budget shows a deficit of 1.6 trillion hryvnias ($38.68 billion), with 2.22 trillion hryvnias ($53.6 billion) allocated to defense.
Source:rt.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.rt.com/russia/604920-ukraine-seize-money-pensioners/
---------
US election will decide Ukraine conflict – NATO state’s ex-PM
29 Sep, 2024
The outcome of the Ukraine conflict will be decided by the upcoming US presidential election in November, former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis believes.
Speaking to the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday, Babis said that “even the EU and NATO countries are not united on how to proceed in Ukraine,” adding that the bloc should pursue peace rather than anything else.
“But let us be realistic: the US elections will decide the war in Ukraine,” Babis stated, adding that “a [Donald] Trump win would be good for Europe because he promised to end the war immediately.”
The remarks come as Babis’ ANO party secured a major win in regional elections last week, coming out on top in ten of the country’s 13 regions. On Saturday, the party also won partial elections for the Czech Senate, dealing another blow to the ruling five-party coalition led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
The election setbacks suffered by the ruling coalitions, as well as the internal strife it has experienced lately, including Fiala sacking his deputy and the leader of the allied Pirate Party, seem to have given Babis confidence that he will be able to return to power in the parliamentary election next October.
“I would say that the ruling parties have another full year to prove to the citizens of the Czech Republic that they are completely incompetent and unqualified to govern the country, as they have been demonstrating these past three years,” Babis stated.
The Czech Republic has been one of the top supporters of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, actively supplying assorted weaponry and munitions to Kiev. Earlier this year, Prague launched an “ammunition initiative,” a multinational project to procure munitions for Ukraine.
Earlier this week, however, German media reported that some of the munitions procured under the initiative turned out to be defective, detonating shortly after leaving the barrel and exhibiting otherwise dangerous properties. Prague has acknowledged the issue but insists that the number of “isolated” incidents with the faulty munitions remained “small.”
“We know that we are purchasing not only new ammunition but also old stocks, which may have potential issues,” Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said.
Source:rt.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.rt.com/news/604914-us-election-ukraine-conflict/
----------
South Asia
IEA Ministry Emphasizes Uninterrupted Consular Services for Citizens Overseas
2024-09-29
KABUL(BNA): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reaffirmed that access to consular services is a fundamental right of Afghan nationals living abroad, emphasizing that this right should not be linked to the formal recognition of the government.
According to a statement from the Ministry, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is committed to ensuring that consular services are provided to Afghan citizens abroad through diplomatic channels.
The Ministry highlighted, “As outlined in the Vienna Convention, consular services are independent of diplomatic recognition. Linking consular affairs to political considerations not only creates challenges but also undermines the rights of the people.”
The Ministry further added, “We will continue our efforts and dialogue with relevant countries to ensure that consular services are initiated in a manner that is mutually acceptable and grounded in established principles.”
Source:bakhtarnews.af
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-emphasizes-uninterrupted-consular-services-for-citizens-overseas/
----------
Dhaka airport area ‘silent zone’ from tomorrow
Sep 30, 2024
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has declared the surrounding area of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport a "silent zone".
Confirming the development, DNCC's Public Relations Officer Moqbul Hossain said the 1.5-kilometre area stretching from Scholastica School to Hotel Le Méridien (north to south) will be a "silent zone".
The decision will be effective from October 1, he added.
Following the decision, the airport area will be horn-free as no vehicles will be allowed to honk there, the DNCC official said.
On September 10, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the environment ministry, announced that the surrounding areas of the Dhaka airport will be declared a "silent zone" soon.
"Measures will be taken to make surrounding areas stretching one kilometre north and one kilometre south of the airport 'horn-free,' as no vehicles will be allowed to use horn while passing these areas from October 1," said a press release quoting Rizwana, issued in this regard on that day.
Source:thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/news/double-murder-no-arrests-after-3-days-3715676
----------
Plot to kill Joy: Shafik Rehman's punishment suspended for a year
Sep 29, 2024
The home ministry has suspended the punishment of senior journalist Shafik Rehman and businessman Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan for one-year in a case filed over the plotting to abduct and kill Sajeeb Wazed Joy.
The verdict was suspended subject to surrender and appeal to the Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court-2.
The ministry's Security Service Division issued a notification in this regard on September 22 following an opinion from the law ministry after Shafik Rehman and Mizanur Rahman appealed against the punishment, the notification reads.
The case was filed on August 3, 2015, by the Detective Branch (DB) of police with Paltan Police Station. The DB pressed charges against the five accused on February 20, 2018.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Asaduzzaman Nur convicted and sentenced five people, including Shafik Rehman, to seven years' imprisonment on August 17, last year for plotting to abduct and kill Sajeeb Wazed Joy, former ICT affairs adviser to the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The other convicts are Mahmudur Rahman, former acting editor of now defunct daily Amar Desh; Mohammad Ullah Mamun, vice-president of Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas); and his son Rizvi Ahmed Caesar; and Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, alias Milton Bhuiyan.
The court delivered the verdict in their absence.
Earlier in the day, Mahmudur Rahman was sent to jail after his surrender before the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mahbubul Haque seeking bail in the case.
Source:thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/35-arrested-locally-made-weapons-explosives-joint-drive-geneva-camp-3715351
----------
35 arrested with locally made weapons, explosives in joint drive at Geneva Camp
Sep 29, 2024
A joint forces team, consisting of the army, police, and Rapid Action Battalion, arrested 35 people, including several alleged drug dealers, and recovered arms and ammunition during an operation at Geneva Camp in the capital's Mohammadpur area today.
Of the arrestees, four are drug dealers, including Picchi Raja, while others were involved in various criminal activities, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release today.
Two pistols, 20 rounds of ammunition, numerous sharp weapons, 12 packets of splinters, 53 petrol bombs, and 50 helmets were seized during the drive, the release added.
"Local residents have accused Picchi Raja and his followers of running a drug trade in different parts of Mohammadpur. On August 5, firearms were looted from the police and police stations and those have reportedly been used in frequent shootings at Geneva Camp," it said.
Source:thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/35-arrested-locally-made-weapons-explosives-joint-drive-geneva-camp-3715351
----------
Herat’s New Industrial Town to Spur Economic Growth, Says Commerce Minister Azizi
2024-09-29
KABUL(BNA): Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi, has revealed plans to establish a new industrial town in Herat, during a meeting with the provincial governor and prominent investors.
As reported by Bakhtar News Agency, Minister Azizi commended the efforts of Governor Sheikh Mawlana Islam Jar for fostering a conducive environment for private sector growth. He noted that the improved security in Herat has drawn investors from various provinces to the industrial sector in the region.
Minister Azizi also announced that efforts to develop industrial towns are ongoing, with the new industrial town set to span 50,000 acres. This initiative is expected to further boost economic activity and attract additional investments.
Meanwhile, Herat Governor Sheikh Mawlana Noor Ahmad Islam Jar, referring to the industrialists as the “economic Mujahideen,” assured full support from the local administration in facilitating investments and creating favorable conditions for business growth.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/herats-new-industrial-town-to-spur-economic-growth-says-commerce-minister-azizi/
----------
Islamic banks see rise in gross default loan
Sep 29, 2024
Bangladesh's Islamic banks recorded an increase in their gross non-performing loan (GNPL) and unclassified rescheduled loan (URSDL) ratio in 2023 from a year ago, reflecting a deterioration of asset quality.
The Shariah-based banks' GNPL rose to 4.8 percent of total investments in 2023 from 4.1 percent a year ago.
Similarly, the URSDL grew 3.4 percentage points to 14.7 percent in the last calendar year in comparison with the previous year, according to the Financial Stability Report 2023 published by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) today.
The ratio of unclassified rescheduled loans in the overall banking sector was 14.5 percent in 2023, which was lower than that of the Islamic banks.
The BB said the asset quality indicators of the Islamic banks, measured by GNPL and NNPL (net NPL) ratios, indicated their better performance compared to the banking industry in both 2022 and 2023.
It said GNPL and NNPL ratios reached 4.8 percent and negative 0.1 percent respectively at the end of December 2023.
However, the GNPL and URSDL ratios of the Islamic banks deteriorated in 2023 compared to those of 2022, the BB report said.
The central bank said Islamic banks in Bangladesh, as a whole, demonstrated better performance in terms of total deposit growth in 2023.
"However, the banks recorded lower growth in total assets, investments (advances), and shareholders' equity," it added.
The BB report said the performance of Islamic banks improved marginally in terms of efficiency indicators in 2023 from the previous year.
"This improvement was mainly attributable to the improvement in return on assets (ROA) and net non-interest income (NNII)."
On the contrary, asset quality, growth, capital adequacy, and liquidity indicators of the Islamic banks declined somewhat at the end of December 2023.
"The increase in nonperforming and rescheduled investment ratios largely led to the deterioration of asset quality while the growth indicator declined due to slower growth of assets, investments, and equity of the Islamic banks during 2023."
The latest Financial Stability Report said except deposits, aggregate investments namely loans and advances, shareholders' equity, and assets of Islamic banks posted a slower growth in 2023 from the previous year.
"As a result, the market share of Islamic banks declined in terms of total investment, assets, and deposits compared to those of the previous year."
For example, the share of Islamic banks in terms of total asset deposits in the banking sector dropped to 21.7 percent of total deposits in 2023 from 22.6 percent a year ago.
Islamic banks' share in total investments or loans fell to 25.9 percent at the end of 2023 from 26.3 percent, the data shows.
Source:thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/islamic-banks-see-rise-gross-default-loan-3715461
----------
Southeast Asia
‘Veto Power, Islamophobia AndPalestine’: Malaysia Reaffirms Firm Stance On Universal Issues In UNGA Speech
30 Sep 2024
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan’s statement at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York reflects Malaysia’s firmness and consistency on various universal issues including justice for Palestine.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said such statements are crucial for seizing the opportunity to express Malaysia’s views and stance on the international stage regarding various emerging issues that require attention.
“The statement by Tok Mat (Mohamad) reflects the entire content of the government’s position. Yes, this is our (Malaysia) stand.
“We understand that international issues are very dynamic, but the most important thing is our firmness and consistency in using the UN forum to voice our views,” he said at a press conference at the ministry’s monthly assembly here today.
At the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Malaysia expressed a firm stance on issues such as veto power, Islamophobia, and Palestine.”
Malaysia also made a strong appeal for the full implementation of Resolution ES-10/24, urging the UN Security Council (UNSC) to act decisively to stop Israel’s illegal occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) for the sake of justice for the Palestinian people.
In another development, Saifuddin Nasution hoped the debate on constitutional amendments related to citizenship will be given priority at the Dewan Rakyat session which will begin on Oct 14.
“During the last Dewan Rakyat session, I had tabled it for the second reading, but the Dewan Rakyat session was postponed for another meeting agenda. We hope that the matter will be given priority at the coming Parliament session,” he said.
Last March 27, Saifuddin Nasution was reported to have said that the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 is proof of the government’s commitment to deal with issues related to the granting of citizenship. — Bernama
Source:malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/30/veto-power-islamophobia-and-palestine-malaysia-reaffirms-firm-stance-on-universal-issues-in-tok-mats-unga-speech-says-saifuddin-nasution/152111
----------
Subsidising rich kids for top govt funded schools must stop, says PM Anwar
30 Sep 2024
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today hinted at the possibility of ending the practice of assisting students from wealthy families in enrolling in top government-funded public schools.
Anwar suggested that the government plans to revamp anti-poverty programs, which will include safeguards for stricter allocation usage, as he acknowledged the legacy problems with socio-economic funding that often end up “subsidising the elites.”
This hint comes amid the Anwar administration’s push to plug leakages through major internal reforms.
For poverty alleviation programmes, his government continues to phase out various blanket aid distributions and has moved towards targeted interventions under a broader attempt at cutting wastes that Anwar said has mostly benefited the rich.
“How is it that many students in the science schools or Malay institutions, which are meant for the poor, come from elite families?” Anwar asked at the National Symposium to End Poverty here.
“They benefit the families of top civil servants, politicians, and elite businessmen; their children are all sent to the best schools funded by the government at a very high rate, making it very unfair,” the prime minister added.
“By right, if a wealthy child is sent to an engineering faculty (as an example), it doesn’t matter if they’re Malay, Chinese, or Kadazan; if they’re rich, they should pay more.”
Top publicly-funded universities and schools like the Mara Junior Science College were founded to help good students from middle and lower income families only to become a seedbed for children from wealthy families, whose enrolment is usually aided by the connections their parents have.
Critics of the patronage system said the culture has kept children from disadvantaged families from moving up socio-economically compared to the wealthier ones, fueling calls for the system to be eradicated.
“Leakages, including students who come from the wealthiest families, being allowed to enroll in top science secondary schools that are heavily subsidised by the government, must end,” Anwar said.
“This is a hint I’m giving early before I announce the next federal budget next month. If the country is really to be just, we must be fair to those who most need it, such as vulnerable groups,” the prime minister added.
Source:malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/30/subsidising-rich-kids-for-top-govt-funded-schools-must-stop-says-pm-anwar/152083
----------
Anwar’s leadership sincerely addressing long-standing issues for Indian community - Xavier
BERNAMA
30-09- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Under the leadership of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s MADANI government, every sector is witnessing growth and this includes a sincere commitment to addressing long-standing issues faced by the Indian community in Malaysia.
Former Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources and Selangor State Assemblyman Datuk Dr Xavier Jayakumar stated that although some in the country may not acknowledge this for political reasons, the government’s efforts to bring about change are evident and the victory in the Johor Mahkota by-election stands as proof that the people recognise the good it is doing.
“Everyone is aware that the problems the Indian community face did not arise overnight, nor will they be resolved immediately. However, we must acknowledge that the government has already begun taking steps to alleviate these issues, and it must be recognized that the Prime Minister is working sincerely and honestly to address them.
“As evidence, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently held his third meeting with the Indian representatives in Parliament, State Assemblies, and the Senate, outlining both what the government has already done and what it plans to do for the Indian community,” he said in a statement.
He added within just a year and a half of taking office as Prime Minister, Anwar has had three meetings with Indian representatives, demonstrating the importance he places on the Indian community and this also reflects his genuine concern for the community and he said during the third meeting last week, many issues faced by the Indian community were raised.
Xavier posed the question asking which previous Prime Minister has met twice a year with Indian representatives in Parliament, State Assemblies, and the Senate.
Previously, many of the problems faced by the Indian community were due to those who claimed to be partners in the nation’s development but failed to grant the community the status of true partners.
“We know that the leadership of that time, along with the government officers, did not show concern for our issues or consider our problems as those of the nation,” he said.
“If we can eliminate racial and religious bias from the minds of government officials and leaders, then we can easily resolve all the problems in the country. All citizens, regardless of race and religion, will receive government services without discrimination,” he said.
In such a scenario, Xavier stressed that there will be no need for the Prime Minister to personally intervene in solving issues affecting minorities; government officials themselves can resolve these problems.
“For example, processing an identity card application or approving it should be the duty of a government officer. Whether the application is delayed or swiftly approved depends on the official, if that officer holds the belief that we too are their fellow Malaysians, the issue can be resolved at the official level.
“Many matters that remain unresolved for years, awaiting special recommendations from ministers or the Prime Minister, are due to a lack of this consideration by officials,” he said.
He added that the mental distress, educational, economic, and social impacts caused by such delays are immeasurable and this is why the Prime Minister’s guiding slogan, “All Malaysians are my children,“ is a powerful mantra for national unity.
Source:thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://thesun.my/local-news/anwar-s-leadership-sincerely-addressing-long-standing-issues-for-indian-community-xavier-DH13057602
----------
Police seek help to find missing man
BERNAMA
30-09- 2024
IPOH: Police have appealed for help from the public to trace a man who has been missing since Sept 13.
Kerian police chief Supt Juna Yusoff said the man is identified as Zakaria Mamat, 51, from Batu 12 1/2, Jalan Pantai, Kuala Kurau.
“The man is 157 centimetres tall, weighs 60 kilogrammes, has short hair, a thin moustache and a slim build, he has a pitted scar on his left arm.
“He was last spotted wearing a red T-shirt and grey trousers,“ he said in a statement today.
Anyone with information on Zakaria can contact investigating officer, Sergeant Major Sukri Azali, at 016-4452598 or the Kerian Police Headquarters at 05-7212222.
Source:thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://thesun.my/local-news/police-seek-help-to-find-missing-man-KH13057409
----------
GISBH: Remand period of several individuals extended
BERNAMA
30-09- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: The remand order for a number of individuals linked to GISB Holdings (GISBH) and detained during Op Global that was carried out to combat child exploitation activities and alleged doctrines of religious fanaticism has been extended to allow police to continue their investigations.
IN SELANGOR: An application by the police at the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court to remand seven individuals aged between 18 and 55 for seven days was granted by Deputy Registrar Nurshahira Abdul Salim to allow police investigations to be conducted in accordance with Section 31(a) of the Children Act 2001 and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act 2022.
In Kelantan, the Machang Magistrate’s Court allowed the remand period of a 66-year-old integrated primary school teacher linked to GISBH to be extended for three days starting tomorrow to assist the police investigation in accordance with Section 8(2) of the Printing and Publishing Act 1984.
In the meantime, Kelantan PAS Deputy Commissioner Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said no PAS Kelantan member was involved with GISBH or Al-Arqam and insisted that the two entities are different.
Since the first phase Global Op started on at the beginning of September, more than 300 people including GISBH’s top management were arrested, 572 victims were rescued and eight individuals were charged in court on 33 charges.
He added that the Kelantan government would allow all matters related to GISBH to be handled by the authorities for investigations and the necessary actions to be taken if proven that they have breached the law from the religious point.
Meanwhile, Kelantan Mufti Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad said there was no necessity for a new fatwa in relation to GISBH, except if there were other elements found by the authorities.
He said the fatwa used to declare the religiously deviant and un-Islamic for venerating leaders as prophets with divine powers by the National Fatwa Council on Aug 5, 1994 was still relevant and can be used if there was evidence of wrongdoings in GISBH.
On Sept 11, the police through Op Global raided 20 charity homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan linked to GISBH, because they were suspected of being involved in child and religious exploitation activities.
The raids exposed cases of exploitation of children, abuse and doctrines which led to the arrest of several leaders linked to GISBH.
Source:thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://thesun.my/local-news/gisbh-remand-period-of-several-individuals-extended-JH13056791
---------
Sabah CM announces 3,000 new affordable homes under Rumah Mesra SMJ for next year
30 Sep 2024
KOTA KINABALU, Sept 30 — The state government will build 3,000 units of Rumah Mesra SMJ next year to assist families and individuals who do not yet own a home, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
“Previously, we have allocated 20 SMJ houses each for all the 73 state constituencies throughout Sabah, but beginning next year, we will double this amount,” he said.
The Chief Minister also reiterated that the State Government had formally requested the Federal Government to allocate 5,000 units of affordable housing under the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) scheme for Sabah.
“This allocation is a critical step toward addressing the housing needs of our communities, particularly for those in the lower income groups.
“The proposed distribution of these 5,000 units includes 1,000 each for Tawau and Sandakan and 3,000 for Kota Kinabalu.
“This is our commitment to ensure that every qualified Sabahan has access to affordable and quality housing,” he said in his speech for officiating the Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) Nite 2024 at Magellan Sutera Harbour here on Saturday.
Hajiji’s text speech was delivered by State Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe.
The Chief Minister urged all developers to collaborate and work together to ensure that housing solutions meet current demands and promote inclusivity and sustainability.
“The success of our initiatives relies on your innovation, commitment and willingness to adapt to the changing needs of our communities,” he said, adding that a collaboration between the government and private sector demonstrates a powerful synergy to create sustainable communities that cater to the needs of all income levels.
“As we navigate these changes, it is essential to recognise the complementary roles we all play. The government is dedicated to laying down the infrastructure and supportive policies necessary for the industry’s success.
“In turn, I urge you to align your projects with our broader sustainable and responsible development vision. Together, we can create housing solutions that not only address current market demands but also enhance the quality of life for our residents. Your innovation and responsiveness are crucial in this partnership,” he said.
Moving forward, Hajiji said priority must be given to the sustainability of housing projects and the community’s well-being.
“I urge you to incorporate sustainable practices into your developments using eco-friendly materials, promoting energy efficiency, and practising responsible land use.
“By committing to sustainability, we not only protect our natural resources but also enhance the liveability of our state for future generations,” he said.
He said Shareda has done well under the stewardship of president Datuk Sr Chua Soon Ping, but the Chief Minister also wants to see consistency in the association’s good efforts, especially in synergising their resources and forging partnerships to transform vision into reality.
“This is indeed a noble aim. And as your theme – A Night of Synergy suggested, it is imperative that you work collaboratively to create a future where every Sabahan has a place to call home, a future where communities thrive comfortably and harmoniously,” he said. — The Borneo Post
Source:malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/30/sabah-cm-announces-3000-new-affordable-homes-under-rumah-mesra-smj-for-next-year/152084
----------
Pakistan
Police clash with demonstrators in Karachi amid nationwide protests over Nasrallah’s killing
Imtiaz Ali | AFP | Shakeel Qarar
September 29, 2024
Police fired tear gas and protesters pelted stones in Karachi on Sunday evening during a rally that was part of nationwide protests condemning Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and its ongoing bombing campaign in Lebanon.
Thousands of people protested across Pakistan after Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that its longtime chief had been killed by an Israeli air strike in Lebanon, according to AFP.
Tel Aviv said it conducted an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier in what would be a devastating blow to the group as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks.
In Karachi, a large number of protesters, including women and children, attended the rally denouncing the Hezbollah chief’s killing, raising slogans against Israel and its long-time ally, the United States.
Karachi Police said in a statement that the religiopolitical party, Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM), organised the rally in the metropolis.
“[The rally] was going to start at PIDC intersection, before moving towards Mai Kolachi Road via the ICI Bridge before culminating at the US Consulate,” the statement said.
According to the police, several protesters began their rally from the Old Numaish roundabout and marched along the main MA Jinnah Road. When they descended from the Native Jetty Bridge and attempted to approach the consulate, police contingents stationed there prevented them from moving further.
The police had already set up containers and created temporary barriers on MT Khan Road and Mai Kolachi Road leading toward the consulate. However, protesters tried removing the obstacles which led to the clashes.
Footage on social media showed clouds of tear gas and protesters congregating near Bahria Complex on MT Khan Road, west of the consulate, waving Hezbollah flags and chanting slogans. Protesters were also seen throwing stones at police clad in riot gear.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Asad Raza told Dawn.com that several officers, including station house officer (SHO) Mouchko, were injured after protesters pelted stones at the police.
Meanwhile, a journalists’ organisation, Crime Reporters’ Association, said in a statement that some reporters covering the incident were beaten and injured, allegedly by the protesters. It added that DSNG vans belonging to a few private news channels were also damaged.
“An understanding had been reached with the protestors to hold a peaceful demonstration, while the police had offered to facilitate a meeting between some rally leaders and a representative from the US Consulate,” said DIG Raza.
“However, the protestors violated this understanding and damaged the containers put near the US Consulate and tried to proceed further,” he said.
The DIG added that aside from pelting stones at the police, some protestors also allegedly resorted to aerial firing, which compelled the law enforcers to take action.
“The police resorted to tear gas shelling to disperse them,” said the DIG.
He admitted that “some arrests” were made but those detained were released after successful negotiations with the protest organisers as they ended their demonstrations.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar took notice of the incident and sought details from DIG South.
“Civilians, including journalists, should be rescued and more police should be deployed to stop the rioting and stone pelting,” the minister said in a statement on X.
“All possible steps should be taken to establish the rule of law and protect the life and property of citizens.”
Police response ‘shameful’
MWM Sindh’s information department released a statement outlining the purpose of the rally and condemning the police response, calling it “shameful”.
“On the martyrdom of Hezbollah chief … Nasrallah, religious parties organised a rally … to the American Embassy and also staged a sit-in,” the statement read.
It added that during the rally, MWM leader Syed Baqir Zaidi delivered a speech, stating, “Hassan Nasrallah played a crucial role in making Hezbollah the strongest Palestinian resistance group.
“The American embassies in different countries of the world are the bases of sedition and corruption,” the statement quoted Zaidi as saying.
He, per the statement, demanded that the embassy “should be abolished from Pakistan” and the “American ambassadors be deported.”
“Police shelling of the rally held in mourning for his [Nasrallah’s] martyrdom is shameful. The Sindh government has made it clear that it stands with America and Israel instead of the victims of Gaza.”
JI Senator arrested during Islamabad protest
Protests also took place in Islamabad, and according to AFP, around 4,000 people gathered in the capital to protest Nasrallah’s killing.
During one of the protests, former senator Mushtaq Ahmed of the Jamaat-i-Islami, his wife, and 10 protesters were arrested while demonstrating outside the Islamabad Press Club.
Sitting in the back of a police vehicle, the ex-Senator claimed that authorities had attacked the demonstrators.
“They attacked us, including women and children,” he said in a video posted on X.
“Now they are arresting us,” he added, accusing the government of being an “arm of Israel”.
Protests in the capital continued despite the Punjab government imposing Section 144 in the province from September 28-29.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.
Israel’s ‘reckless act’
Pakistan on Sunday condemned Israeli “adventurism” in the Middle East region, terming the killing of Nasrallah in Lebanon a “reckless act”, constituting a major escalation.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the growing Israeli adventurism in the Middle East. Its unbridled attacks on civilian populations and disregard of international law have reached alarming levels,” a statement released by the Foreign Office read.
Source:dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.dawn.com/news/1861935/police-clash-with-demonstrators-in-karachi-amid-nationwide-protests-over-nasrallahs-killing
---------
PTI Rawalpindi protest: KP to take legal action against police for crackdown
By Abubakar Saddiq & Shabbir Dar & Sheeba Haider
September 29, 2024
RAWALPINDI/PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Sunday said that it would take legal action against Punjab police's crackdown against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers during the their protest in Rawalpindi.
In a statement, Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif said: "The government had planned a Model Town-like tragedy yesterday. [Our] workers were [subjected] to straight firing [and] our women [workers] were shelled upon."
The announcement comes after the Imran Khan-founded party "called off" its protest in Rawalpindi due to violent clashes between police and workers on Saturday.
The former ruling party had announced holding a demonstration in the city, however, the Punjab government had then imposed Section 144 banning all political gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, protests and similar activities.
With PTI workers attempting to head towards the Liaquat Bagh, the police had resorted to teargas shelling to disperse the crowd which was then retaliated by party activists who started hurling stones and glass bottles at the law enforcers.
Speaking to Geo News on yesterday's events, Barrister Saif said that the KP government will approach the courts and directions will be issued to the provincial advocate general for taking legal action in this regard.
Which law justifies the use of shelling against peaceful workers, questioned the provincial government official.
His remarks come after KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur, irked by police action, said that they would reply to every bullet, shell and baton that would be used against its supporters.
"More than 50 PTI workers have been injured in shelling as shells and bullets were fired every three kilometres on us," he said in a statement on Sunday, adding that bullets were fired on three of their workers and the whereabouts of one of them could not be traced.
PTI leaders booked under terrorism, other provisions
Meanwhile, cases have been lodged against 58 local PTI leaders at Rawalpindi's Waris Khan police station.
The leaders who have been booked under various provisions include Seemabia Tahir, Shehryar Riaz, Ejaz Khan, Rashid Hafeez, Ajmal Sabir and others along with 150 unknown individuals.
The cases include provisions of terrorism, attempted murder, vandalism, and interference in government matters.
As per the first information report (FIR), the suspects raised anti-state slogans in Liaquat Bagh and were armed with weapons, batons and sticks.
It also says that police personnel Muneeb Abbas and Ajmal Khan suffered injuries due to assault by the PTI workers who also damaged officers' vehicles via stone pelting.
The suspects snatched government weapons, resorted to aerial firing and spread fear in the area, added the FIR.
Source:thenews.com.pk/
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1235055-pti-rawalpindi-protest-kp-to-take-legal-action-against-police-for-crackdown
----------
LawyersIn PakistanCall Upon Judges To ‘Boycott Constitutional Court’
Sumair Abdullah
September 30, 2024
KARACHI: Over 300 senior lawyers from across the country have urged judges of the superior judiciary not to become part of any proposed constitutional court even if such a bill is passed by parliament.
In an open letter addressed to the judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the High Courts on Sunday, the senior lawyers stated, “We urge you — the judges of our constitutional courts — not to recognise this proposed court if such a bill is passed.”
“We urge those of you who may be hand-picked to serve on it, not to do so. Complicity will be no defence of the Constitution; it will be its defacement,” the letter stated.
The signatories include senior lawyers Munir Ahmed Khan Kakar, Abid Saqi, Riasat Ali Azad, Abid Hassan Minto, Bilal Hassan Minto, Salahuddin Ahmed, Afzal Harifal, Abdul Moiz Jaferii, Mohammad Jibran Nasir and others.
“Our higher judiciary has, for many decades now, lent legitimacy to a sustained assault on our Constitution and on our democracy. We remember the pen that first carved necessity on the tombstone of our first Constituent Assembly. We remember all the times, since, that it prevented an elected government from completing its term. We remember, also, the last time a PCO was upheld.”
The lawyers were of the opinion that there was no difference between a PCO (Provisional Constitution Order) court and the proposed constitutional court.
The letter stated, “We see the proposed court as no different; it will be a PCO court, and those who take the oath to serve on it will be PCO judges. But we also remember how you, yourselves, corrected history by overturning that same decision. Indeed, we recall all this, especially because your own judgments now recount how our courts failed us. This moment offers you a choice. The very fact that an attempt is being made to mutilate our courts speaks to the reality that — today — you are not yet on the wrong side of history. And so, we urge you: do not yield. When today’s history is recorded in tomorrow’s judgments, let it say that you were not complicit,” it added.
It mentioned that the draft of the proposed amendments was introduced under the cover of darkness. “An assault on our Constitutional compact is being cloaked in the thin garb of arguments grounded in the supremacy of law. These are arguments that do not withstand the slightest intellectual scrutiny, given any serious consideration. Behind ill-considered references to foreign jurisdictions, and critiques of the judicial system that this amendment cannot actually fix, is a plain proposal,” the letter claimed.
“Judges of the high courts are to be controlled, the Supreme Court is to be amputated, and its served limb replaced with loyalists handpicked by those who always wielded power,” it alleged, declaring that the lawyers refuse to engage, in good faith, with any such ideas because they were not ideas rotted in good faith.
A week ago, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), as well as the bar councils and associations from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were unanimous about the competence of parliament to bring a constitutional amendment, they had reservations over any changes being made to the basic structure of the Constitution.
Earlier, practising lawyers of the apex court and other high courts have also shared their concern in their open letter regarding the “potential violations” of judicial independence and constitutional principles.
The letter goes on to state that the proposal to allow the transfer of high court judges from one province to another was a mala fide attempt to further subvert not only judicial independence but also provincial autonomy.
Last week, speaking on the Dawn News programme ‘Doosra Rukh with Nadir Guramani’, the legal adviser Barrister Aqeel Malik had said that they will convene a National Assembly session in the first week of October to present and seek approval for the controversial “Constitutional Package”.
Source:dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.dawn.com/news/1861997/lawyers-call-upon-judges-to-boycott-constitutional-court
----------
18 suspects in case of burning Umerkot doctor’s body remanded
Our Correspondent
September 29, 2024
UMERKOT: Mirpurkhas antiterrorism court on Saturday remanded in judicial custody 18 suspects in the case of torching body of blasphemy suspect, Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar, till Oct 2.
Nine of the suspects had been arrested earlier and the other nine were nabbed by Umerkot police and produced in the court on Saturday. They were identified as Lakhmeer, Arshad Ali, Aleem Samejo, Mashooq Khaskheli, Fakeer Mohammad Palijo, Mohammad Saleem Sand, Badar Panhwar, Abdul Ghaffar and Daud Ranghar.
The court also sent to jail nine suspects out of 150 booked by police for setting on fire a police van in front of local press club on Sept 17 during a violent protest against the blasphemy suspect.
The two FIRs registered against Dr Shahnawaz at Sindhri police station accusing him of attacking police party had been declared false and disposed of.
Meanwhile, complainant in the FIRs Ibrahim Kunbhar, brother-in-law of Dr Shahnawaz, told Dawn that he was not taken into confidence over change of investigation officer and said investigation of both cases of torching of the body and police van had been transferred to Mirpurkhas DSP without consulting with the bereaved family. The transfer within the division would not have any affect on the probe, he said.
TLP chief irked by FIR against party leader
Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi said in a press statement issued here on Saturday that increasing incidents of blasphemy was a worrying sign.
He reacted strongly to registration of what he regarded as a false case against TLP emir of South Sindh, Pir Agha Umar Jan Sirhandi. The case should be closed immediately and an impartial investigation should be conducted into the Umerkot incident, he demanded.
He saw increasing incidents of blasphemy in recent days as part of a nefarious conspiracy. “We will not allow any conspiracy to succeed,” he added.
He wondered how the law of this country could allow registration of false FIRs against peaceful people. The Umerkot incident was being probed with a biased mind to appease anti-religion elements, he said.
He said that people were forced to take law into their own hands against suspected blasphemers as they had no confidence in the country’s judiciary.
He announced that Pir Ayub Jan Sirhandi and other religious leaders would lead a peace procession being organised by Jamaat Ahle Sunnat from Mirpurkhas to Umerkot on Oct 3, and a Hurmat-i-Rasool conference would be held in Umerkot on Oct 6.
Source:dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.dawn.com/news/1861803/18-suspects-in-case-of-burning-umerkot-doctors-body-remanded
----------
Africa
Independence Anniversary: Brightest Days Are Ahead – Akpabio To Nigerians
30 September 2024
By Udeze Ekene
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has assured Nigerians that the brightest days of the country are ahead.
Akpabio said that though many challenges across all sectors face Nigeria, Nigeria’s spirit of determination would conquer them.
The Senate President stated this on Sunday at the Inter-denominational Church Service held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja as part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary.
He noted that the road ahead to actualizing the Nigeria of our dream might be bumpy and filled with setbacks, but united by faith and love, “we will prevail“.
“As we celebrate today, let us also acknowledge the challenges we face. Yes, the road ahead may be bumpy. Yes, there will be setbacks. But together, united in our faith and love for Nigeria, we will prevail.
Our journey to become a prosperous nation is just beginning and I urge each of you to be patient, to hold on to hope and to believe that change is not only possible but inevitable.
“Nigeria’s brightest days are ahead of us. Together, with unwavering belief, we will build a nation that our children and generations to come will be proud of,” Akpabio said.
The former governor of Akwa Ibom State praised Nigerians for their indomitable spirit and resilience. He explained that President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda would rejuvenate the economy and uplift Nigerians.
“Undoubtedly, the Nigerian nation is defined by resilience. From our earliest struggles for independence to the challenges of modern governance, we have continually shown our indomitable spirit.
“When faced with adversity, we rise. When confronted with challenges, we unite. Today, I thank God for the Nigerian spirit that has led us through turbulent times, across our Red Seas and Jordan Rivers, over our hills and mountains and through every valley we have encountered.
“As we commemorate Nigeria’s independence today, let us celebrate the achievements that have brought us this far. Every milestone we have crossed is a testament to our collective will, strength and determination as Nigerians. Our nation is in the process of a renewed hope project that is tailored to rejuvenate our economy, empower our people and lift up the most vulnerable among us,” Akpabio added.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/09/30/independence-anniversary-brightest-days-are-ahead-akpabio-to-nigerians/
----------
Jonathan Flushed Out Boko Haram But Service Chiefs Can’t Pick Up Turji – Ndume
29 September 2024
By Enioluwa Adeniyi
The lawmaker representing Southern Borno, Senator Ali Ndume, has revealed that former President, Goodluck Jonathan effectively tackled the Boko Haram insurgency in the final months of his administration by employing the services of Private Military Consultants (PMCs).
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the recent 10th Senate retreat focused on reviewing the 1999 constitution in Kano, Ndume reflected on the significant impact of this strategy.
He highlighted how the collaboration between PMCs from South Africa and the Nigerian Army led to a substantial defeat of insurgents in Maiduguri in 2014.
He said, “I have been Chairman of the House Committee on Army and I am from Borno State where it all started. We fundamentally have three challenges in the country, Boko Haram, Bandits or Kidnapping and IPOB. All these three, interacting with all security agencies, if the government is very serious about these, it can be addressed in six months and at most one year.
“These bandits are not trained and not equipped. Most of the equipment they used is that delivered to them or taken over from our armed forces. In today’s technology, with advancement in ICT, if they can trace where an individual or politically exposed persons effectively, what stops you from tracing where Turji or other criminals are? So there is something fundamentally wrong there.
“And I commend the Chief of Army Staff who cried out to say that with the meagre resources, put together the security agencies, securing 230 million people is unrealistic. So, the response to it immediately is to recruit more people into the Nigerian Army. We have the youths who are willing to serve but no opportunity or encouragement. We can’t move forward when 70 per cent of our population are the youths and mostly from the poor. And they are losing faith in the country and being too desperate. Before our forefathers were captured to go and be sold as slaves. Today, our youths are taking the risks of going to Niger and others to go and become slaves on their own. They even pay for it.
“I have been advocating for one thing. Boko Haram reached its last peak in 2014, during the last days of Jonathan and somebody advised him to engage Private Military Consultants, (PMC) from South Africa and they entered agreement with them. They said they should give them two or three months to flush Boko Haram out and they did.
“When the consultant came, they were 14. They collaborated with the Nigerian armed forces and recruited from the youths, the civilian JTF who knows the bad guys and went after them to pick them up. And that was when you heard Boko Haram ran away from Maiduguri. Otherwise, there were some areas that in the afternoon you dare not go there. But Alhamdulillah, it has gone down in Maiduguri to three spots, Lake Chad region, Mandara mountain and Sambisa. So operating in those areas, if you have men on the ground, drones, Boko Haram will be history.
“These bandits go to the extent of recording themselves and broadcasting it, yet all the service Chiefs and ministers were in Sokoto, and could not get Turji.”
He pointed out that with the capacity of the Nigerian Armed Forces in tackling security challenges bedeviling the country, it only takes commitment of raising the number of personnel and provision of the right equipment to bring an end to the current acts of insecurity bedevilling the country adding that incorporating modern technology will also go a long way in tackling banditry in the country.
He added, “The Nigerian army is known for their agility, professionalism, competence and commitment but once you don’t have enough personnel, good training, equipment, arms and ammunition, there will be no result and no magic. If you give them (Service Chiefs) what it takes and give them a deadline, they will achieve it, especially when you give them the special forces and give the PMC the contract.
“You have the terrorists, Boko Haram having the more sophisticated arms, and I go round and I observe I have not yet seen a Nigerian Army in any formation having enough number of new AK 47 not to talk of AK 49. The only time I saw new AK 47 and AK 49 is in Abuja whether in presidency or escorting a General at the front. Let us be serious. Let us concentrate on the security and welfare of the citizens. Let us not treat our problems superficially by pretending. There is hunger in the land. We have not cultivated 5 per cent of our lands in Nigeria.”
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/09/29/jonathan-flushed-out-boko-haram-but-service-chiefs-cant-pick-up-turji-ndume/
----------
Vice President, Kashim Shettima Returns To Nigeria After UNGA In New York
29 September 2024
By Udeze Ekene
Vice President, Kashim Shettima has returned to Nigeria after the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York, the United States.
Kashim Shettima landed in Abuja, on Sunday. The Vice President, who represented President Bola Tinubu, presented Nigeria’s National Statement at the General Debate, as well as engaged in several bilateral meetings and numerous sideline events at the General Assembly.
According to his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, “he will proceed to join President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to mark some events put together as part of activities commemorating Nigeria’s 64th Independence anniversary.”
Naija News reported that at the 79th UNGA, Nigeria Secured $600,000 for flood relief and $5 million for agricultural reforms from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Specifically, the Foundation pledged $600,000 for flood relief in Borno State and other health sector initiatives, with an additional $5 million grant approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics of industrial cassava.
Speaking, Shettima told the Foundation’s Global Development Programme Director, Dr Christopher Elias that Nigeria “recognizes the critical importance of food security and industrial agricultural development. The Cassava Accelerator programme, in particular, holds immense potential for our economy.
“We are pursuing a whole-of-government approach to digitisation and data exchange systems, which we believe will revolutionize our public services.”
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/09/29/vice-president-kashim-shettima-returns-to-nigeria-after-unga-in-new-york/
----------
Adopt Class Suicide In Oil Sector – Okechukwu Tells Tinubu
29 September 2024
By Udeze Ekene
The former director general of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has urged President Bola Tinubu to adopt the theory of class suicide in the oil sector to ensure optimal performance.
The Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) stated that the time had come for the President to whip all stakeholders involved in the oil sector for him to achieve his governance goals.
Okechukwu stated this on Sunday while reacting to a statement from the spokesman of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Olufemi Soneye.
Soneye, last Saturday, in Abuja, at an interactive session with National Assembly Correspondents stated that Nigeria can achieve production of 3 million crude oil barrels per day with the cooperation of all stakeholders.
“Three million barrels oil production per day is achievable in Nigeria if all the stakeholders work in synergy for that purpose from the security agencies both government and private owned, to oil companies and host communities.
“With the expected synergy from all the relevant stakeholders in the war against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, the enabling environment would be in place for optimal oil production to the volume of 2.5 to 3 million bpd,” he said.
In reaction, Okechukwu explained that the revelation NNPC spokesman should wake the President to act. He noted that income from 3 million barrels of crude oil per day would address the 133 million multidimensional poverty challenge facing the country.
“As a foundation member of the APC, when I recall with nostalgia that we promised change to Nigerians; one is compelled to appeal to Mr. President as our leader to as a matter of urgent national importance, adopt Amilcar Cabral’s ageless maxim – class suicide – and whip all concerned in line to actaulise the three million bpd,” he said.
He added, “This will lift 133 million Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty, restore hope in our democracy and indeed Renew Nigerians hope.”
He continued, “If our armed forces cannot guide our oil field professionally; which democracy said Mr President cannot order for modern gadgets and expertise to turn around the oil industry and bail us out? That is why one recommends for class suicide, albeit stepping on the toes of Oil Mafia.”
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/09/29/adopt-class-suicide-in-oil-sector-okechukwu-tells-tinubu/
-----------
Europe
Here’s why Putin decided to send a nuclear message to Washington
29 Sep, 2024
Updating Russia’s nuclear doctrine is certainly not a spontaneous step. It is long overdue and is linked to the fact that the current level of atomic deterrence has proven inadequate. Especially given that it failed to prevent the West from waging a hybrid war against our country.
Until recently, the desire to inflict a strategic defeat on us was considered insane and impossible, given that Russia is a nuclear superpower. But it turns out that it is taken seriously in some minds in the West. That is why the current level of nuclear deterrence has proved inadequate in the face of the US-led bloc’s growing involvement in the conflict against Russia, which has already turned into discussions about strikes by Western long-range missiles deep into our territory.
In this regard, lowering the threshold for the use of atomic weapons and expanding the number of situations in which Moscow allows this step is long overdue. Just as the wording of the previous version of the doctrine, which stated that the use of nuclear weapons in a non-nuclear conflict was only possible in the event of a threat to Russia’s very existence as a state, was no longer in line with global realities. Now this threshold has been lowered, and the use of nuclear weapons in a non-nuclear conflict is possible in the event of a critical threat to the country’s sovereignty.
I repeat: not the very existence of our state, but critical threats to its sovereignty.
That is why the use of nuclear weapons is now permitted both against a non-nuclear state that commits aggression and against nuclear states that support it. This is a response to the proxy war that is being waged against us and which is becoming more and more intense.
As for President Vladimir Putin’s public announcement of the changes, this is of course related to the discussion I mentioned earlier about the use of Western long-range missiles deep into our territory. Russia really believes that this would mean a transition to direct warfare, and in order to get this message across, the president has decided to announce some changes and concrete manifestations of lowering the nuclear threshold here and now to show the West that the risks for it are increasing. And they need to understand that entering into a direct war against us would be much worse for them than the defeat of Ukraine on the battlefield.
As for the reactions of parties not involved in our conflict with the West, my personal experience of communicating with experts from such countries shows that China, despite its public stance on the inadmissibility of the use of nuclear weapons, the need for denuclearization and almost a ban on atomic bombs, understands the situation in which Russia finds itself. It also understands the need to strengthen deterrence, even though it professes the doctrine of no first use of nuclear weapons.
This means that Russia must qualitatively intensify its work with friendly countries on nuclear policy and convince our partners that lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons is aimed at eliminating their use, or at least reducing the risk of such a step. I am sure that the vast majority of countries, the majority of the world, will understand this.
Incidentally, Washington’s recent calls to resume negotiations on the START treaty were precisely to make it easier for it to wage a hybrid war against us, and even to make it easier for the Americans to enter into a direct war against Russia. The US wants to take the issue out of the picture and pretend that there is no connection between atomic weapons and the proxy war they are already waging. To this end, they want to drag us into negotiations on nuclear armaments.
That is why Russia is now rejecting these negotiations, because first the US must stop trying to inflict a strategic defeat on us. Only then will we return to a dialogue on strategic stability. This is absolutely right, because the link between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons has always been there. Since Washington’s own first use of the atomic bomb in 1945, the aim of this instrument has been to ensure superiority in conventional warfare and then in nuclear warfare. The US, I repeat, wants to destroy this logic, and Russia, of course, is not interested.
Source:rt.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.rt.com/russia/604913-putins-message-to-america/
----------
Far right in Austria 'opens new era' with election victory
29 Sep, 2024
Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) has opened the door to a new era, its leader Herbert Kickl has told supporters, as they celebrated an unprecedented election victory.
Kickl's party won 29.2% of the vote according to official provisional results - almost three points ahead of the conservative People's Party (ÖVP) on 26.5%, but far short of a majority.
Kickl's victory is only the latest in a string of far-right election successes in Europe and he praised voters for their "optimism, courage and trust" in delivering a "piece of history".
The FPÖ has been in coalition before, but the second-placed ÖVP has refused to take part in a government led by Kickl.
Kickl's main rival, incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the ÖVP, has said it's “impossible to form a government with someone who adores conspiracy theories”.
There was a high turnout of 74.9% as Austrian voters took part in an election dominated by the twin issues of migration and asylum, as well as a flagging economy and the war in Ukraine.
As half the map of Austria turned dark blue, FPÖ general secretary Michael Schnedlitz said "the men and women of Austria have made history today", although he refused to say what kind of coalition his party would try to build.
An analysis of voters suggested those aged 35-59 were most likely to vote for the far right, and marginally more women than men.
Kickl's party has won 58 seats in the 183-seat parliament, with the conservatives on 52 and the Social Democrats on 41.
The Freedom Party's fiery leader had promised Austrians to build "Fortress Austria", to restore their security, prosperity and peace, and he has aligned himself closely with Viktor Orban in neighbouring Hungary.
Social Democrat leader Andreas Babler warned that Austria must not go the same way as Hungary.
Kickl had also spoken of becoming Volkskanzler (people's chancellor) which for some Austrians carries echoes of the term used to describe Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
The party was founded by former Nazis in the 1950s. Two days before the vote some of its candidates were caught on video singing an SS song at a funeral.
As the FPÖ's victory became clear, a small group of protesters appeared outside parliament carrying anti-Nazi banners.
Forming a coalition is likely to prove complicated for Kickl, who is a divisive figure.
The Social Democrats, Greens and Neos have all ruled out a partnership with the far right.
The only possible coalition Kickl's party could form is with the conservatives, although the FPÖ would have to find a solution to the ÖVP's refusal to have Kickl as chancellor.
When Geert Wilders' Freedom Party won the Netherlands' election last November, he dropped his bid to become prime minister so that three other parties would agree to form a coalition. However, Kickl is keen to lead his country, promising Austrians to act as their "servant and protector".
Political analyst Thomas Hofer told the BBC it was by no means clear that Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of government, would give Kickl a “direct mandate to form a coalition”.
The ÖVP could in theory scrape together a coalition with the Social Democrats if the latest projections are correct, and could attract the liberal Neos party or the Greens.
Equally, Karl Nehammer may come under pressure from within the ÖVP to drop his objection. One leading FPÖ figure said after such a historic defeat he should resign, although that was rejected by the general secretary of Nehammer's party.
President Van der Bellen has voiced reservations in the past about the FPÖ because of its criticism of the EU and its failure to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The party opposes EU sanctions on Moscow, citing Austria's neutrality, and many of its MPs walked out of a speech to the parliament in Vienna last year by Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.
Kickl's victory is the latest in almost a year of vote successes for radical right-wing parties in Europe.
Italy's Giorgia Meloni heads a right-wing coalition as leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party and Germany's AfD topped the polls in the eastern state of Thuringia last month. France's National Rally won the vote in European elections last June.
Unlike Kickl, Italy's prime minister has given her full backing to the EU's defence of Ukraine in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel congratulated Kickl, posting a picture of the two together, and Marine le Pen of the National Rally said "this groundswell carrying the defence of national interests", after the votes elsewhere in Europe, confirmed the "people's triumphs everywhere".
Geert Wilders said times were changing, and that "identity, sovereignty, freedom and no more illegal immigration/asylum" was what millions of Europeans were longing for.
Kickl has tapped into fears about immigration in Austria and he has made the most of anger at the government's handling of the Covid pandemic, embracing conspiracy theories about obscure treatments for the virus.
For Kickl and his party, Sunday's election victory represents a significant recovery from 2019, when they came a distant third in the wake of a video sting scandal that engulfed their former leader.
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rdygy5888o
---------
How sailors say they were tricked into smuggling cocaine by a British man
Colin Freeman
29 Sep, 2024
For Daniel Guerra, an aspiring Brazilian sailor keen to travel the world, the job ad was a dream come true.
A British yacht owner was seeking two deck-hands to help sail his boat from Brazil across the Atlantic, one of the great ocean journeys.
There would be no salary, but all expenses paid - and, crucially, Mr Guerra would gain some of the sailing experience he needed to qualify as a sea captain.
"My dream was to become a captain and go work in Europe," remembers the 43-year-old, who saw the advert from an online sailing recruitment agency.
"So I was super happy, knowing that my path to my dream was beginning."
Things looked even better when Mr Guerra and his fellow recruit, Rodrigo Dantas, 32, met their new British employer.
They had feared he might be some snobbish yachtie or posing Instagrammer, who would make sure they knew who was boss.
But no. George Saul was a smiling, friendly figure, who did not insist on formalities. The sailors, he said, could even call him by his nickname - "Fox".
"I used to work on some boats and the owners were old, super demanding, super rude and talked down to me," adds Mr Dantas. "He was like, very cool, very friendly."
Fox even passed the approval test of Mr Dantas’s parents, who were worried about their son doing such a long journey on a yacht owned by a total stranger, and asked to meet him for themselves.
To borrow the old sailing expression, they liked the cut of his jib. They learned that Fox had brought the Rich Harvest over to Brazil for renovations, and wanted a competent crew to sail it back to Europe on his behalf.
As well as the rookies, Mr Dantas and Mr Guerra, there would be two others, including a qualified captain.
"I said: 'Look, watch out for my son'," remembers Mr Dantas’s father, João. "He said: 'Don't worry, I'll take care of Rodrigo.'”
As it turned out, his parents were not the only ones who wanted to check that all was well on board the Rich Harvest.
Before the departure from Brazil, local police spent around six hours searching the yacht for drugs, with the help of a sniffer dog.
They did not find what they were looking for, though, and the sailors assumed it was just a routine check.
They had heard stories about cocaine being planted on boats, and now at least knew they were in the clear.
"When you travel through an airport... your bags go through the X-ray machine," says Mr Dantas. "So I thought, well, it's an international trip and they're coming to inspect the boat."
Such worries were far from their mind when they eventually embarked on their epic journey on 4 August 2017, the Brazilian coastline slowly receding behind them.
With them were an additional crew member, Daniel Dantas (no relation of Rodrigo Dantas) and the yacht's newly hired captain, Frenchman Olivier Thomas, 56, a replacement for a previous British captain whose sailing skills had not proved up to scratch.
Fox, meanwhile, had made his way back to Europe by plane two days before.
"It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, sun," recalls Mr Guerra, who posted a message of thanks to Fox on his Facebook page.
It read: "I'm really grateful, Fox, for this... chance to learn and for our bond that has made me stronger. Thanks mate."
After two weeks of sailing, the yacht developed engine problems, forcing it to stop in Cape Verde, an archipelago off the coast of West Africa.
Once more, Mr Guerra and Mr Dantas found reasons to look on the bright side. The islands are a tourist paradise, and Fox said he would wire them money to enjoy themselves while repairs were done at a local marina.
And when yet more police came to search the vessel, Mr Guerra was not worried.
"They didn't find anything in Brazil," he thought to himself. "They won't find anything in Cape Verde either."
The Cape Verdean police were even more thorough than their Brazilian counterparts, using specialist cutting equipment to open up the yacht's innards.
Hidden inside below false floors, they found nearly 1.2 tonnes of cocaine - worth an estimated £100m ($134m) if sold on Europe’s streets.
"I felt that all my freedom was going down the drain,” said Mr Guerra. "I was furious, couldn't accept what was happening, you know? I’d been really fooled.”
Finding Mr Fox - a BBC investigation into a plot to smuggle cocaine valued at more $100m to Europe.
In March 2018, the crew went on trial in Cape Verde, protesting their innocence.
They had never even heard of Rich Harvest or its owner until they answered the job advert, they insisted.
They were sentenced, however, to 10 years in jail each - in what was hailed as one of the country's biggest busts.
But while the haul was impressive, the man Brazilian police regarded as the big catch got away.
They believed that the mastermind of the operation was Fox, whose yacht was first drawn to their attention by a tip-off from the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA).
Brazilian police believe he was the leader of the operation to smuggle the drugs.
In August 2018, Fox was arrested in Italy, where Brazilian police filed extradition proceedings. They wanted him to be returned to Brazil to answer the allegations against him.
But the paperwork arrived too late, and he was freed - much to the frustration of Brazilian police inspector Andre Gonçalves.
He feared that Fox had subsequently gone into hiding.
"We were left with that feeling that after all our work, we’d never get to the bottom of it," he told the BBC. "It was very, very frustrating."
Mr Gonçalves said his team had kept both Fox and the yacht under surveillance in Brazil. They believe the "renovations" on the boat were partly to fit it with secret compartments, and that the drugs were loaded on to the vessel before the sailors were hired.
Mr Gonçalves admits that at first, he presumed the four sailors were involved too.
"If someone is on a boat that's full of drugs, you think that person must have something to do with it," he said.
But as he dug into their backgrounds, he could find nothing previously linking them to the drug world or to Fox.
"The deeper I went I still couldn't find a connection… but at the same time it strengthened the evidence we had against Fox."
The sailors' pleas of innocence also got backing from an unlikely source - fellow Briton Robert Delbos, a man who was alleged to be an accomplice of Fox.
Delbos, 71, is a convicted drug trafficker, having been jailed for 12 years in 1988 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cannabis into the UK.
Before the Rich Harvest left Brazil, Mr Gonçalves's team observed Delbos supervising the first stages of the yacht's renovations.
They initially suspected he was fitting secret compartments, and filed successful extradition proceedings for him around the same time as those against Fox.
Delbos spent months in a Brazilian supermax prison awaiting trial, but he too said the drugs were later planted without his knowledge.
He was acquitted after the judge in his case ruled it could not be proved that he knew about the smuggling plan.
In an interview with the BBC, he claimed that even drug traffickers had codes of ethics, and that Fox had violated them by using innocent sailors as mules rather than hiring professional smugglers.
"This is completely beyond the pale. I mean, you don't do this," he said.
"He was a stupid man who was greedy. Instead of paying the crew properly and getting himself a professional, bloody smuggling crew - he hired four innocent guys."
As doubts about the sailors' guilt grew, their families began a campaign on their behalf, which became a cause célèbre in Brazil.
In 2019 their convictions in Cape Verde were overturned, and they were allowed to go home.
Fox, meanwhile, has never faced trial, and returned to the UK.
The 41-year-old lives in Norwich in eastern England where he grew up, attended college locally, and was an accomplished amateur yachtsman - sailing off the nearby Norfolk coast.
Today, he resides in a Norwich suburb and runs a property firm.
He belonged to a local business networking association, and on his social media feed last March, posted photos of himself with the city's then Lord Mayor, James Wright.
There is no suggestion that Mr Wright was aware of the accusations against Fox.
The BBC tracked Fox down as he arrived at one of his networking association's weekly business breakfasts, at a Norwich hotel.
He declined to comment on the Rich Harvest and the sailors' ordeal.
Asked about the allegations that he was a drug trafficker, he replied: "I'm not."
An NCA spokesperson said if Brazilian police still wished to pursue the case, they would have to file an extradition request.
Brazil's ministry of justice said it did not comment on individual cases.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo Dantas and Daniel Guerra are trying to rebuild their lives in Brazil, their dreams of becoming yacht captains abandoned.
Mr Dantas says he struggled to find sailing work on his return home, with some employers assuming he must have been guilty after all.
Mr Guerra’s round-the-world sailing ambitions "stayed locked up in Cape Verde".
He says he lost his ability to trust people, vital during the challenges on any long yacht voyage.
Even now, he still wonders who Fox really was - that "cool" British guy he once felt so grateful to, whose job advert then turned his life upside down.
He says that he would "really like to see justice done", but has no wish to meet Fox ever again.
"If I meet him, it won’t be me who’s going to talk. It will be another Daniel. All the bad feelings I had in jail will come up and I won’t be able to be a civilised person."
Coming in October World of Secrets, Season 5: Finding Mr Fox.
A joint BBC Africa Eye, BBC Brasil and World of Secrets podcast investigation into a plot to smuggle cocaine valued at more $100m to Europe.
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9j2nlgezvo
----------
Kemi Badenoch maternity pay comments spark Tory row
29 Sep, 2024
A row over comments by leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch suggesting maternity pay had "gone too far" has dominated the first day of the Conservative Party conference.
The shadow housing secretary later told reporters she did not think maternity pay "needs changing at all" - insisting her comments had been about cutting business regulation and were "misrepresented".
But her remarks were seized upon by her leadership rivals as the race to replace Rishi Sunak ramped up.
One member of a rival camp told the BBC: “We’ve had a brilliant day and we’ve barely had to say a word!”
During an interview with Times Radio, Badenoch said a key theme of her Tory leadership pitch was to make sure the state interfered less with business.
Badenoch was asked if she thought maternity pay was at the right level.
She said: "Maternity pay varies, depending on who you work for - but statutory maternity pay is a function of tax, tax comes from people who are working.
"We’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.
"Businesses are closing, businesses are not starting in the UK, because they say that the burden of regulation is too high."
She was then asked if her comments meant "maternity pay is excessive".
Badenoch said: "I think it's gone too far - too far the other way in terms of general business regulation."
She added that "the exact amount of maternity pay in my view is neither here nor there."
Statutory maternity pay starts at 90% of average weekly earnings for six weeks - then falls to the lowest of either £184.03 or 90% of the mother's average salary for 33 weeks.
Kemi Badenoch is proudly outspoken and seeks to make a virtue out of saying things she thinks others are too meek to take on.
An example of that were her remarks this weekend that not all cultures are equally valid.
She has also repeatedly sought in this campaign to make an argument about broad principles, rather than specific policy promises.
What appears to have happened here is she has attempted to make a broad argument about the size and scope of government, while repeatedly being asked specific questions about maternity pay.
Following the interview, Badenoch posted on X: "Contrary to what some have said, I clearly said the burden of regulation on businesses had gone too far… of course I believe in maternity pay!"
She later followed this up with a second social media post, where she said: "Of course maternity pay isn’t excessive…no mother of 3 kids thinks that."
Fellow Tory leadership candidate, Robert Jenrick told a Conservative Party fringe event that he did "not agree with Kemi on this one".
Jenrick told Conservative Party members: "I am a father of three young daughters - I want to see them get the support that they need when they enter the workplace.
“Our maternity pay is among the lowest in the OECD. I think the Conservative Party should be firmly on the side of parents and working mums who are trying to get by.
“Nobody says it is easy having kids, why would we want to make it harder?"
Tom Tugendhat, who is also running to be the next leader of the party, said: "I think maternity and paternity care are very important.
"One of the things I missed out on, years ago is we didn't have the same rights on paternity care and I think many of us, fathers would have loved to spend more time with our kids."
The fourth Tory leadership candidate, James Cleverly, also rejected Badenoch's claims.
He said: "When it comes to working mothers the cost of childcare is too expensive."
Badenoch's supporters are weighing in too, trying to cool things down.
Julia Lopez, the shadow culture minister who is backing Badenoch in the leadership race, described the row as a "confected maternity pile-on".
"There is no-one in our party right now who knows more about the challenge of jockeying motherhood with professional life," Lopez said.
"In both rhetoric and reality, Kemi has backed women [including] by supporting maternity pay and better childcare - yet we still have challenges."
Her allies put the row down to what they see as a positive – “she doesn’t speak like a politician”, as one told the BBC. But it is also true that her remarks were at best ambiguous and did suggest, even if inadvertently, that maternity pay had gone too far.
Source:bbc.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm24vzd52p4o
----------