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Trump rules out changing date of November presidential electionUS President Donald Trump has ruled out making any changes in the date of the November 3 presidential election because of the coronavirus pandemic. “I never even thought of changing the date of the election. Why would I do that? November 3, it's a good number,” Trump told reporters at his White House news conference.His likely Democratic opponent Joe Biden last week said Trump was considering changing the date. "Mark my words, I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can't be held," Biden said during an online fundraiser.“No, I look forward to that election and that was just made a propaganda not by him but by some of the many people that are working writing little segments. I see all of the time statements made you say something statement made per Joe Biden, Sleepy Joe,” Trump said.“He didn't make those statements. Somebody did but they said he made it. No, let him know I am not thinking about it at all. Not at all,” he said. 

Trump rules out changing date of November presidential election

US President Donald Trump has ruled out making any changes in the date of the November 3 presidential election because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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"Next Dalai Lama must be chosen within China; India should not intervene"The successor of the Dalai Lama has to be decided within China and any interference by India on the issue will impact bilateral ties, Chinese authorities have said.In first clear assertion on the sensitive issue, senior Chinese officials and experts said the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama must be approved by the Chinese government and the selection should take place within the country based on an over 200-year-old historical process."The reincarnation of Dalai Lama is a historical, religious and political issue. There are established historical institutions and formalities for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama," Wang Neng Sheng, an official in the rank of vice-minister in Tibet, told a small group of Indian journalists in Lhasa.The Dalai Lama is 84 years old now and the issue of his successor has gained prominence in the last couple of years in the wake of his health issues."The Dalai Lama's reincarnation is not decided by his personal wish or by some group of people living in other countries," he added.Wang, the director-general at the government of Tibet Autonomous Region, said the current Dalai Lama was recognised by Beijing and his successor must be found through the "draw of lots in golden urn process" within China.Echoing Wang's views, Zha Luo, director at Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Centre, a government-run influential think tank, said any refusal by India to recognise the next Dalai Lama to be chosen within China will impact bilateral ties.The 14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a crackdown on an uprising by the local population in Tibet.India granted him political asylum and the Tibetan government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh since then."It will be a major political difference that would impact bilateral relations and any wise political leader wouldn't do that," said Zha whose team advises central government on policy issues for Tibet.He was asked what will happen if India refuses to recognise the next Dalai Lama chosen by China."Since the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is an important issue for China any friendly country or friend of China would not interfere or meddle on the issue," he added. Zha, however, called it a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question.India has maintained its stand on the Dalai Lama.ALSO READ: Dalai Lama is 'deeply sorry' for woman successor 'should be attractive' remark"Government of India's position on His Holiness the Dalai Lama is clear and consistent. He is a revered religious leader and is deeply respected by the people of India. There is no change in that position. His Holiness is accorded all freedom to carry out his religious activities in India," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson had told a media briefing in March last year.Wang said the process of selecting the next Dalai Lama must follow two clear steps: "It must go to draw of lots in the golden urn and the reincarnation must be recognised by the central government".He said the "centrality" of the central government must be recognised and that any personal move by the current Dalai Lama on the issue is not going to be recognised by the Chinese government or religious followers in Tibet."It was with the central government's recognition that the Dalai Lama became 14th Dalai Lama. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in that position," said Wang.He alleged that the Dalai Lama has been "inciting" and "misguiding" young Tibetan people for his political motives.Asked about the Dalai Lama's comments that he was ready to accept Tibet as part of China, Wang said he has been resorting to political rhetoric without taking any action."He still believes that Tibet is an independent country. Without any concrete moves from his side, his words do not mean anything," Wang added.Asked about the assertion by Chinese authorities on the Dalai Lama's successor, an official in the Tibetan government-in-exile called it a "ploy to politicise the issue of reincarnation.""It will help them strengthen their rule and obliterate Tibetan identity, culture, language and way of life," he said.Wang said there were around 10 rounds of discussions between private representatives of Dalai Lama and Beijing. The last round took place in 2011 in Beijing."The discussions were about the future of the Dalai Lama and did not include or touch on the topic of future of Tibet as a part of China's sovereign territory," Wang said.The Indian government had issued a note nearly a year back to senior officials, asking them not to attend events organised by the Tibetan government-in-exile.India has also been supporting the 'One China' policy, which states that Taiwan and Tibet are part of China's mainland. Beijing made the 'One-China' policy a prerequisite for countries to establish diplomatic ties with it.ALSO READ: Chinese group objects to Dalai Lama's birthday celebration in Ladakh's border villageWATCH VIDEO: China would be thinking it is going on its own border: Farooq Abdullah on reports of Chinese soldiers crossing to Ladakh /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_2123419696 = { "file": "https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_i8qe8xub_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_i8qe8xub_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "China would be thinking it is going on its own border: Farooq Abdullah on reports of Chinese soldiers crossing to Ladakh", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_2123419696 = ''; jwsetup_2123419696(); function jwsetup_2123419696() { jwvidplayer_2123419696 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_2123419696").setup(jwconfig_2123419696); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_2123419696, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_i8qe8xub\", ns_st_pr=\"China would be thinking it is going on its own border: Farooq Abdullah on reports of Chinese soldiers crossing to Ladakh\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"China would be thinking it is going on its own border: Farooq Abdullah on reports of Chinese soldiers crossing to Ladakh\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"China would be thinking it is going on its own border: Farooq Abdullah on reports of Chinese soldiers crossing to Ladakh\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2019-07-13\", ns_st_tdt=\"2019-07-13\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_i8qe8xub_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_2123419696.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_2123419696.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_2123419696.stop(); jwvidplayer_2123419696.remove(); jwvidplayer_2123419696 = ''; jwsetup_2123419696(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_2123419696.stop(); jwvidplayer_2123419696.remove(); jwvidplayer_2123419696 = ''; jwsetup_2123419696(); return; }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2123419696.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

"Next Dalai Lama must be chosen within China; India should not intervene": Chinese authorities

In first clear assertion on the sensitive issue, senior Chinese officials and experts said the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama must be approved by the Chinese government and the selection should take place within the country based on an over 200-year-old historical process.

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US Secretary of State Mike PompeoUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed with British NSA Mark Sedwill the current situation between India and Pakistan and the efforts to reduce tensions between the two South Asian neighbours, the State Department has said.Pompeo and Sedwill reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the US-UK special relationship and cooperation in the face of major global challenges, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said Friday.According to the State Department, the talk was reflective of the fact that the United States continues to engage its resources to reduce the tensions between the two nuclear countries."Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo met with UK National Security Advisor Mark Sedwill today to discuss key global priorities, including support for reducing tension between India and Pakistan, securing progress in Syria, and countering Iran's malign influence," Palladino said in a statement.Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in February 14.India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.The US, the UK and France, the three permanent veto-wielding members of the 15-nation United Nations Security Council, last month moved a fresh proposal in the UNSC to designate JeM's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discusses Indo-Pak situation with British NSA

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed with British NSA Mark Sedwill the current situation between India and Pakistan and the efforts to reduce tensions between the two South Asian neighbours, the State Department has said.

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FILEChina is seeking to set up more robust logistics in about a dozen countries, including three in India’s neighbourhood, to allow its army to project and sustain its power at greater distances, a Pentagon report has said.In addition to the three Indian neighbours -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar -- the other countries where China is considering to base its military logistics and infrastructure are Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan, the report said on Tuesday.In its annual report “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2020” that was submitted to the US Congress on Tuesday, the Pentagon said these potential Chinese military logistics facilities are in addition to the Chinese military base in Djibouti, which is aimed at supporting naval, air and ground forces projection.“A global PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) military logistics network could both interfere with US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the PRC’s global military objectives evolve,” the Pentagon said in the report.China has probably already made overtures to Namibia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, it said, adding the known focus areas of PLA planning are along the Seal Lines of Communication from China to the Strait of Hormuz, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.Similarly, the Pentagon said, Beijing uses One Belt One Road (OBOR) to support its strategy of national rejuvenation by seeking to expand global transportation and trade linkages to support its development and deepen its economic integration with nations along its periphery and beyond.“OBOR projects associated with pipelines and port construction in Pakistan intend to decrease China’s reliance on transporting energy resources through strategic chokepoints, such as the Strait of Malacca,” it said.China leverages OBOR to invest in projects along China’s western and southern periphery to improve stability and diminish threats along its borders, the report said.First announced in 2013, China’s OBOR initiative is a signature foreign and economic policy advanced by President Xi Jinping.According to the Pentagon, a global PLA military logistics network could both interfere with the US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States as the Chinese global military objectives evolve."Host nations can perform an essential role in regulating the PRC’s military operations as Chinese officials very likely recognise that a stable long-term relationship with the host nation is critical to the success of their military logistics facilities," it said.Chinese military academics assert that bases abroad can enable forward deployment of its forces and support military conflict, diplomatic signalling, political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and training.They also suggest that a military logistic network could enable intelligence monitoring of the US military.In August 2017, China officially opened its first military base in Djibouti.Chinese Navy Marines are stationed at the base with wheeled armoured vehicles and artillery but are currently dependent on nearby commercial ports due to the lack of a pier on base, the report said.Chinese personnel at the facility have interfered with US flights by lasing pilots and flying drones, and China has sought to restrict Djiboutian sovereign airspace over the base, the report said.

China seeks to set up military logistic facilities in about a dozen countries: Pentagon

China is seeking to set up more robust logistics in about a dozen countries, including three in India’s neighbourhood, to allow its army to project and sustain its power at greater distances, a Pentagon report has said.

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WHO approved a malaria vaccine for children – a global health expert explains why that is a big dealThe World Health Organisation recommended its first malaria vaccine for children on Oct. 6, 2021 – a breakthrough hailed by the UN agency as a “historic moment.” Approval of the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which goes by the name Mosquirix, provides a “glimmer of hope” for Africa, according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. It will now be rolled out to protect children against one of the world’s oldest and most deadly diseases.Here's what malaria and global child health expert Dr. Miriam K. Laufer said about the vaccine and the WHO announcement.What has the WHO announced?The WHO has recommended the use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, which is produced by GlaxoSmithKline. It is the first malaria vaccine to be recommended by the global health body. It follows a review of two years of piloting studies of the vaccine in three sub-Saharan African countries with a high burden of malaria: Malawi, Kenya and Ghana.After careful evaluation and extensive discussion, the WHO came to the consensus that the vaccine should be recommended for use in children living in areas of moderate to high malaria burden.Why is this seen as a major development?Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, every year. This is the first time that researchers, vaccine manufacturers, policymakers and advocates have successfully delivered a vaccine that has made it through clinical trials and received not only regulatory approval but also a recommendation from the WHO.This vaccine prevents about 30% of severe malaria cases that are more likely to lead to death.Although researchers knew that RTS,S was effective in well-controlled clinical trials, a few questions remained about whether it was feasible for sub-Saharan African countries to safely roll out the four-dose vaccine in a real-world setting. But since 2019, the malaria vaccine implementation program in Malawi, Kenya and Ghana has shown excellent vaccine uptake and a good safety profile. To date, the vaccine has been administered to around 800,000 children in those three countries.How big a killer is malaria?Malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by bites from infected mosquitoes, causes nearly half a million deaths per year, mostly in children in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a disease that preys on the poorest of the poor. It causes the most disease and death in places where people lack access to basic health care, where housing conditions allow mosquitoes to enter and where inadequate water management provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Despite international efforts to control it, the burden of malaria has continued and even increased over the past several years.How effective will the vaccine be compared to other treatments?We learned through the report of the trials to the WHO that the vaccine will be able to reach all children in areas of moderate to high risk of malaria. This will save lives from the deadly infection, especially among children with limited access to health services.Prevention is almost always more cost-effective than treating disease, especially with an infection as common as malaria. Drugs are sometimes used to prevent malaria, but they have to be given frequently, which is both expensive and inconvenient.In addition, the more often a drug is used, the more likely the malaria parasites will develop resistance to the drug.Why did it take so long to develop a vaccine?Lack of political will to develop a malaria vaccine certainly played a role in why it took so long. With no real market for a malaria vaccine in resource-rich countries like the US, pharmaceutical companies did not have a strong financial incentive to accelerate vaccine development.But the malaria parasite is also very complex, and the targets of the immune system are diverse, so developing an effective vaccine wasn’t easy.A vaccine developed against one malaria strain grown in the laboratory generally does not work against many of the malaria parasites that children encounter when bitten by infected mosquitoes, which is why even though RTS,S is a good vaccine, it protects against only 30% of infections.If you think about this in terms of the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers developed a vaccine against the strain of the disease that was circulating in early 2020. But now we see that the vaccine does not protect people quite as well against the new delta variant. Someday a variant may emerge that completely escapes the vaccine immune response.For malaria, there are many variants of many different proteins, so finding a vaccine that covers all of these was a huge challenge. (Except for the headline, IndiaTVnews.com has not edited the copy)Also Read | WHO trial to study potential of 3 anti-malarial drugs against Covid /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_3530356030 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/09/0_barne98u/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_barne98u_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Swami Ramdev tells how to increase immunity of children and protect them from dengue-malaria", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "586", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_3530356030 = ''; jwsetup_3530356030(); function jwsetup_3530356030() { jwvidplayer_3530356030 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_3530356030").setup(jwconfig_3530356030); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_3530356030, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_barne98u\", ns_st_pr=\"Swami Ramdev tells how to increase immunity of children and protect them from dengue-malaria\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Swami Ramdev tells how to increase immunity of children and protect them from dengue-malaria\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Swami Ramdev tells how to increase immunity of children and protect them from dengue-malaria\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-09-04\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-09-04\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/09/0_barne98u/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_3530356030.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_3530356030.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_3530356030.stop(); jwvidplayer_3530356030.remove(); jwvidplayer_3530356030 = ''; jwsetup_3530356030(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_3530356030.stop(); jwvidplayer_3530356030.remove(); jwvidplayer_3530356030 = ''; jwsetup_3530356030(); return; }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_3530356030.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

WHO-approved malaria vaccine for children is 'a big deal'. Heath expert explains

Approval of the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which goes by the name Mosquirix, provides a “glimmer of hope” for Africa, according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

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With an eye on China and the disputes in the South China Sea, India and the US today called for freedom of navigation and resolving of territorial and maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law. "In the Indo-Pacific region, in order to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region, this is also another objective of our strategic cooperation," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told reporters at the Rose Garden of the White House after his maiden meeting with President Donald Trump. Later, a India-US joint statement on the meeting said as responsible stewards in the Indo-Pacific region, Trump and Modi agreed that a close partnership between the United States and India is central to peace and stability in the region."Recognising the significant progress achieved in these endeavours, the leaders agreed to take further measures to strengthen their partnership," the joint statement said. In accordance with the tenets outlined in the UN Charter, they committed to a set of common principles for the region, according to which sovereignty and international law are respected and every country can prosper, the statement said. To this end, Trump and Modi reiterated the importance of respecting freedom of navigation, overflight, and commerce throughout the region, it said. The statement comes amid China being engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. China claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.Modi and Trump called upon all nations to resolve territorial and maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law. They also called for support in bolstering regional economic connectivity through the transparent development of infrastructure and the use of responsible debt financing practices, while ensuring respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, the rule of law, and the environment. Modi and Trump urged other nations in the region to adhere to these principles, the statement said. They strongly condemned continued provocations by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), emphasising that its destabilising pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes poses a grave threat to regional security and global peace. The two leaders called on North Korea to strictly abide by its international obligations and commitments. Modi and Trump pledged to work together to counter the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction programmes, including by holding accountable all parties that support these programmes. Trump thanked India for joining the US in applying new sanctions against the North Korean regime. "The North Korean regime is causing tremendous problems, and is something that has to be dealt with, and probably dealt with rapidly," he said. "Working together, I truly believe our two countries can set an example for many other nations, make great strides in defeating common threats, and make great progress in unleashing amazing prosperity and growth," Trump said.(With PTI inputs)

Modi-Trump meet: India, US call for freedom of navigation amid South China Sea disputes

With an eye on China and the disputes in the South China Sea, India and the US today called for freedom of navigation and resolving of territorial and maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law

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UK judge seeks clarity on terror charges against Dawood aide Jabir Motiwala A UK judge hearing the closing arguments in the extradition case of Pakistani national Jabir Moti, referred to as a "top lieutenant" in underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's organised crime syndicate, on Wednesday sought clarity from the US authorities about the terror aspect of the case.Moti is fighting his extradition to the US on drug trafficking and money laundering offences amounting to around USD 1.4 million. The US extradition request also states that Motiwala reported directly to Dawood, who is a designated terrorist and wanted for the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai."There is an added element to this case in that there is a clear reference to this man's (Moti) position, who is said to be a lieutenant of the man (Ibrahim) who is involved in the most horrendous crimes, including bombings in India," said Judge John Zani at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London."There must therefore be clarity on what will happen to this man (Moti) in the US… either this case has a terror element or not,” the judge said, directing that an additional question be sent to the US authorities to clarify the likelihood of an enhanced terrorism charge applied by the prosecutors if Moti is extradited to the US.The judge's intervention followed Moti’s barrister, Edward Fitzgerald, laying out as one of his central defence arguments that the US prosecutors had failed to provide an undertaking that his client will not be subjected to an additional terrorism charge over and above the drug trafficking allegation.The terror charge would put Moti at risk of being sentenced to life imprisonment without parole under US law, which his lawyer argued would be in breach of his human rights and therefore should block his extradition."There is an obfuscation of the true position and they are not prepared to give an undertaking because they probably intend to seek an enhancement (terror charge)," said Fitzgerald.During the closing submissions, Moti's team argued against extradition on additional human rights grounds because he suffers from longstanding depression and made three suicide attempts. This would make his confinement in a New York jail with "third world conditions" particularly inhumane.They also accused the US authorities of failure to submit a "sufficiently particularised allegation of conspiracy to import drugs to the US" as well as being guilty of abuse of process for gathering evidence in Pakistan in breach of international law.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the US government, have countered these claims to highlight the assurances given by the US authorities.Moti, also known as Motiwala or Siddiq, appeared in the dock for the hearing. Besides money laundering, he faces extradition to the US on charges of extortion and conspiracy to import unlawful substances such as heroine after his arrest by Scotland Yard’s Extradition Unit last year.While the submissions in the case closed this week, the judge will make a ruling after the additional clarity is received from the US on the terrorism aspect of the case.Judge Zani also indicated that he would be handing down his judgment partly open to the public and partly closed, due to some sensitive evidence presented in-camera to the court during the course of the trial.At previous hearings in the case, the UK court has heard that Dawood is a fugitive from Indian justice and currently in Pakistan."The head of D-Company is Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian Muslim currently in exile in Pakistan. Dawood and his brother and top lieutenant, Anis Ibrahim, have been fugitives from India since 1993, when D-Company was implicated in coordinated bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people," note excerpts of a US Attorney's affidavit for extradition read out in court previously."The present investigation has revealed that Jabir Motiwala is a top lieutenant in D Company who reports directly to Dawood," it adds. 

UK judge seeks clarity on terror charges against Dawood aide Jabir Motiwala

A UK judge hearing the closing arguments in the extradition case of Pakistani national Jabir Moti, referred to as a "top lieutenant" in underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's organized crime syndicate, on Wednesday sought clarity from the US authorities about the terror aspect of the case.

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China opens security office in Hong Kong to implement controversial lawBeijing’s national security office was inaugurated in Hong Kong on Wednesday, just over a week after China’s central government imposed a tough new law on the city that critics view as a further deterioration of freedoms promised to the former British colony. The inauguration came as Hong Kong’s education bureau announced Wednesday that schools must not allow students to play, sing or broadcast the protest anthem “Glory to Hong Kong” because it contains political messages. Last week, the city criminalized the pro-democracy slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” under the new national security law, which took effect on June 30.The national security law prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in the semi-autonomous territory’s internal affairs.Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam joined her predecessors Leung Chun-ying and Tung Chee-hwa in marking the opening of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong. Chinese Communist Party officials were also present, and security was tight.Following a flag-raising ceremony, at which the Chinese flag was hoisted outside the office, Lam and the former Hong Kong leaders unveiled a plaque bearing the name of the new agency. Officials present then congratulated one another on the opening.Under the national security law, police now have sweeping powers to conduct searches without warrants and order internet service providers and platforms to remove messages deemed to be in violation of the legislation.Critics see the law as Beijing’s boldest move yet to erase the divide between Hong Kong’s Western-style system and mainland China’s authoritarian way of governing.The fear is that the law erodes the special freedoms enjoyed in Hong Kong, which has operated under a “one country, two systems” framework since China took control of the city from Britain in 1997. That arrangement has allowed Hong Kong’s people freedoms not permitted in mainland China, such as public dissent and unrestricted internet access.After the law was imposed, a slew of tech companies, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, said they would stop processing requests from law enforcement officials for user data in Hong Kong, as they assess the ramifications of the law.On Wednesday, Microsoft and Zoom said they would take similar action.TikTok announced Tuesday that it would stop operations of its app in Hong Kong, and by Tuesday the app could not be downloaded from Hong Kong’s Apple and Google app stores.At a lawmakers panel on Tuesday, pro-democracy lawmakers grilled Hong Kong’s secretaries for security and justice over the law and its implementation rules.Pro-democracy lawmaker Jeremy Tam held up a blank white piece of paper — a move often used by demonstrators to protest against what they call the “white terror” of silencing political dissidence — and asked if doing do contravened the new security law. Other lawmakers followed suit. Tam did not manage to get an answer to his question before time was up.

China opens security office in Hong Kong to implement controversial law

Beijing’s national security office was inaugurated in Hong Kong on Wednesday, just over a week after China’s central government imposed a tough new law on the city that critics view as a further deterioration of freedoms promised to the former British colony.

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'We will get back land occupied by India': Nepal PM Oli on Kalapani issueNepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has said that his government will seek a solution to the Kalapani issue through diplomatic efforts and dialogue on the basis of historical facts and documents."We will get back the land occupied by India through holding a dialogue," Oli said while responding to questions in Parliament on Wednesday.He claimed that India built a Kali temple, created "an artificial Kali river" and "encroached the Nepalese territory through deploying the Army" at Kalapani. The river defines the border between the two countries.Oli's claim comes in midst of a raging boundary row between the two countries with India sternly asking Nepal not to resort to any "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims after Kathmandu released a new political map laying claim over Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.The ties between India and Nepal came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.Nepalese officials say that Nepal had control over the area before 1962, when the India-China war took place. At that time India stationed its army seeking permission from then Nepalese rulers for temporary purpose, but it never removed its forces, they claim.Although there are border issues in other areas such as Susta but the government has given priority to Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as Nepali territories have not been captured by deploying army in other parts of its international border, Oli said in response to a question in Parliament.Earlier this week, the Nepalese Parliament unanimously endorsed a proposal to consider a constitution amendment bill to pave way for putting the new political map that includes Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in Nepal's national emblem.A discussion on the issue started in the Parliament since Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Shivamaya Tumbahanfe tabled a bill for the second amendment to the Nepalese Constitution to incorporate the new political map of Nepal on May 31.Prime Minister Oli said he was happy to learn that the unprecedented unity has been shown both within and outside the Parliament on the issue of national unity and territorial integrity."Our ancestors founded and saved this country through their struggles. We will be able to establish our territorial integrity if we remain firm," he said.Prime Minister Oli also raised objection to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's reported remark that Nepal should not repeat the mistake which Tibet made."If Adityanath spoke about that, it was not appropriate," he said."It is not appropriate to threaten Nepal in that way... This should not have been spoken by a chief minister of UP," he said. "It is a deplorable matter, if he spoke so."Oli also complained about India's unwillingness to receive the joint report prepared by Eminent Persons' Group (EPG) of India and Nepal. Nepal is ready to receive the report, but it would be meaningless unless both the governments receive it, he said."As per the condition, India should first receive the report but it has not shown any interest to receive the report which was prepared two years ago," he claimed. 

'We will get back land occupied by India': Nepal PM Oli on Kalapani issue

PM Oli claimed that India built a Kali temple, created "an artificial Kali river" and "encroached the Nepalese territory through deploying the Army" at Kalapani. The river defines the border between the two countries.

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China has deployed rocket launchers to fend off Vietnamese combat divers on one of its man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, Chinese state media reported Wednesday.Offering new details on China's ongoing military build-up in the South China Sea, the state-run Defense Times newspaper said China installed Norinco CS/AR-1 55mm rocket defense systems on Fiery Cross Reef in the strategic Spratly chain. The newspaper said the rocket launcher has the capability to discover, identify and attack enemy combat divers.This comes just days after the two rivals said they would work to “manage and properly control” their maritime disputes.Although administered by China, Fiery Cross Reef is also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.The Defense Times report did not say when the defense system was installed, but alluded to them being a response to soaring tensions between China and Vietnam in 2014 after China sent a massive oil rig to the area near the Paracel Islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam.Just two days ago, the rivals said in a joint communique China released Monday that they had agreed to “manage and properly control maritime disputes, not take any actions to complicate the situation or expand the dispute, and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.”The United States has criticized the move and called it China's militarization of its maritime outposts and stressed the need for freedom of navigation by conducting periodic air and naval patrols near them that have angered Beijing, according to a Reuters report. Beijing has conducted extensive land reclamation work at Fiery Cross Reef, including building an airport. The reef is one of the several Chinese-controlled features in the South China Sea where China has carried out reclamation work.Last year, Hanoi lambasted Beijing after reports that China had placed HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, which is part of the Paracel Islands. More than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the disputed South China Sea every year. Besides China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan also have territorial claims in the area.

China installs rocket launchers on man-made island in South China Sea to deter Vietnamese divers: report

China has deployed rocket launchers to fend off Vietnamese combat divers on one of its man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea.

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Representational PicTwo police officers have been killed in a gunfight in the US state of Florida, according to authorities.The shooting took place near a highway intersection in Trenton City, Xinhua quoted the sheriff's office as saying on Thursday.Related Stories Florida shooting fallout: Donald Trump backs efforts to tighten gun background checksUS Navy jet crashes in Florida, 2 crew members killedAt least 4 dead, 9 injured in Florida university bridge collapseThe gunman struck when the officers were buying food through a restaurant window. The attacker was also killed. His identity and motive has not been made clear yet.

2 US cops killed in Florida gunfight

he shooting took place near a highway intersection in Trenton City, Xinhua quoted the sheriff's office as saying on Thursday.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.In a statement that can ease panic, a top US scientist Anthony Fauci has said that the new Covid variant Omicron is 'almost certainly' not more severe than Delta, AFP quoted the expert as saying.Fresh restrictions are being issued across the world especially in-relation to international travel after a new Covid variant Omicron -- which was first detected in in South Africa -- surfaced. Several countries including India have reported cases with the Omicron variant. European countries, so far, have reported the majority of cases with the new variant.Earlier on Monday, United States health officials said that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalisations.President Joe Biden's chief medial adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, told CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday that scientists need more information before drawing conclusion's about omicron's severity.Reports from South Africa, where it emerged and is becoming the dominant strain, suggest that hospitalisation rates have not increased alarmingly.“Thus far, it does not look like there's a great degree of severity to it,” Fauci said.“But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe or it really doesn't cause any severe illness, comparable to delta."Fauci said the Biden administration is considering lifting travel restrictions against non-citizens entering the United States from several African countries.They were imposed as the omicron variant exploded in the region, but UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has blasted such measures as “travel apartheid."“Hopefully we'll be able to lift that ban in a quite reasonable period of time,” Fauci said.“We all feel very badly about the hardship that has been put on not only on South Africa but the other African countries."Omicron had been detected in about a third of US states by Sunday, including in the Northeast, the South, the Great Plains and the West Coast. Wisconsin and Missouri were among the latest states to confirm cases.But delta remains the dominant variant, making up more than 99 per cent of cases and driving a surge of hospitalisations in the north.ALSO READ | Omicron variant community spread has started, says Britain's Health Minister Sajid JavidALSO READ | In a first, UAE moves to 4.5-day work week, Saturday-Sunday weekend to improve work-life balance

Omicron 'almost certainly' not more severe than Delta variant: Top US scientist Fauci

Several countries including India have reported cases with the Omicron variant. European nations have reported the majority of cases with the new variant.

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Pakistan: PTI wants PM Modi, others at Imran Khan's oath taking ceremony; asks Foreign Office for possibilitiesA top leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said today that the party has asked the Foreign Office to apprise it on whether foreign heads of state, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could be invited to Imran Khan's oath taking ceremony, a media report said today.The PTI, led by 65-year-old Khan, has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly after the July 25 elections and it is likely to form the government with the support of its allies and independents.Related Stories PM Modi calls up Imran Khan, says 'hope democracy will take deeper roots in Pak'Imran Khan’s PTI says decision to invite foreign dignitaries to oath ceremony pendingImran Khan invites Aamir Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Navjot Sidhu to oath-taking ceremony on August 11Khan has said that he would take oath as prime minister on August 11.The PTI had asked the Foreign Office if it would be possible to invite foreign dignitaries, including Prime Minister Modi, given the short period of time before the ceremony takes place, Dawn reported quoting PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry.Chaudhry said that the party was awaiting a response from the FO.On Monday, Prime Minister Modi telephoned Khan to congratulate him on his party's victory in the general elections and hoped that "Pakistan and India will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties".Khan thanked Modi for his wishes and emphasised that disputes should be resolved through dialogue.Indian celebrities like Bollywood star Amir Khan and cricketers Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavasker have been invited by the party for the ceremony, he said while talking to the media outside the Supreme Court, where he had gone to meet Chief Justice Saqib Nisar.The then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had travelled to New Delhi to attend Modi's oath taking ceremony in 2014 and the Indian premier had in December 2015 made a brief stopover in Lahore to greet his counterpart on his birthday.The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deteriorated bilateral ties.The two sides often accuse each other of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, resulting in civilian casualties. In his victory speech, Khan had said that better relations between Pakistan and India would be "good for all of us". 

Pakistan: PTI wants PM Modi, others at Imran Khan's oath taking ceremony; asks Foreign Office for possibilities

The PTI had asked the Foreign Office if it would be possible to invite foreign dignitaries, including Prime Minister Modi, given the short period of time before the ceremony takes place, Dawn reported quoting PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday condemned a deadly attack on a luxury hotel in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan province, saying it was an effort to "sabotage" the country's economic projects and prosperity.Three heavily-armed militants on Saturday stormed the Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel in Gwadar and opened random firing, killing a guard. All the three attackers were killed by the security forces."Such attempts especially in Balochistan are an effort to sabotage our economic projects and prosperity. The government will not allow these agendas to succeed," Khan said in a statement issued by his office.While condemning the attack, Khan appreciated the initial response by security guard and security forces in foiling greater loss to human lives.The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility of the attack.Gwadar port is one of the focal points of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with many Chinese workers from other provinces of Pakistan working at the port. China is investing heavily in Balochistan under the CPEC.The Chinese embassy in Pakistan also condemned the attack on the hotel and expressed condolences to the families of the security guard who was killed and two security men who were injured.The hotel, frequented by business as well as leisure travellers, is located on the Koh-e-Batil hill, south of West Bay on Fish Harbour road in Gwadar.All foreign and local guests staying at the hotel were safely evacuated.The provincial police chief further said that "the attackers may have come in a boat to launch the attack".Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani condemned "the terrorists attack" and instructed the authorities to "ensure the safety of all inside the hotel".He called for a "well planned and strong action against the terrorists", adding that he is "in touch with police and local administration" regarding the situation.On April 18, unidentified gunmen donning uniforms of paramilitary soldiers massacred at least 14 passengers, including Pakistan Navy personnel, after forcing them to disembark from buses on a highway in Balochistan.The CPEC, launched in 2015, is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking China's resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.The BLA is one of the most-organised terrorist group of Baloch nationalists fighting against security forces. The group was also involved in the terrorist attack at the Chinese consulate in Karachi last year.

Gwadar hotel attack a bid to 'sabotage' economic projects: Pak PM

Three heavily-armed militants on Saturday stormed the Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel in Gwadar and opened random firing, killing a guard. All the three attackers were killed by the security forces.

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At least one person was killed and three others were hurt in a shooting at a cafe in Morocco's tourist city of Marrakesh, local media reported.Two attackers entered the cafe and shot at the crowd before fleeing the scene with a motorcycle, Xinhua news agency quoted le360.ma news site as reporting on Thursday.As per reports, the cafe where the shooting happened is located in a very busy tourist section of the town, close to several popular hotels.Citing police sources, the news site said investigators think revenge as the motive behind the attack.No official statement has been issued from the police in this regard.- With IANS inputs 

One dead, three injured in shooting in Morocco cafe; attackers flee scene

Two attackers entered the cafe and shot at the crowd before fleeing the scene with a motorcycle, a report said.

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16 states sue Trump's emergency wall declarationA lawsuit against US President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to fund a wall on the US-Mexico border was filed by California along with 15 other states on Monday. According to a statement released by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday, the suit alleges the Trump administration's action violates the Constitution."President Trump treats the rule of law with utter contempt," Becerra said. "He knows there is no border crisis, he knows his emergency declaration is unwarranted, and he admits that he will likely lose this case in court."Related Stories Donald Trump is in 'very good health', says White House doctorTrump may not even be a free person in 2020: Democratic Senator Elizabeth WarrenUS shutdown averted, border deal reachedChina wants a deal with US very badly: Donald TrumpDonald Trump declares national emergency to build border wallUS President Trump claims Japan’s PM nominated him for Nobel Peace PrizeCalifornia to sue Trump administration over emergency declarationHeather Nauert withdraws nomination for US Ambassador to UN; announcement on new nominee soon Crime may have been committed by Trump, says Ex-FBI officialJoining California in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virginia. All the states involved in the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general.Trump declared a national emergency to fulfill his promise of completing the wall.The move allows the president to bypass Congress to use money from the Pentagon and other budgets.The states say diversion of military funding to wall-building will hurt their economies and deprive their military bases of needed upgrades. They say taking away funds from counter-drug efforts for the wall will also cause damage. California and New Mexico, the two Mexican border states in the lawsuit, say the wall will harm wildlife.California has repeatedly challenged Trump in court."President Trump is manufacturing a crisis and declaring a made-up 'national emergency' in order to seize power and undermine the Constitution," said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. "This 'emergency' is a national disgrace."(With agency inputs)

California, 15 other states file lawsuit against Trump's emergency wall declaration

The states say diversion of military funding to wall-building will hurt their economies and deprive their military bases of needed upgrades.

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Canada has said it would ban all flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days due to the growing wave of COVID-19 cases in that region.Canada has said it would ban all flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days due to the growing wave of COVID-19 cases in that region. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the ban would start late Thursday, speaking hours after India reported a global record of more than 314,000 new infections in the previous 24-hours.Ontario Premier Doug Ford, meanwhile, apologized Thursday for a failed attempt to close playgrounds and allow police to stop and question people who were not in their homes ù measures that created a backlash from police forces, health officials, and the public. The leader of Canada's most populous province, in his first public appearance since announcing the restrictions, said his government had moved too fast with the measures."They left a lot of people angry and upset. I know we got it wrong. I know we made a mistake and for that, I'm sorry and sincerely apologize", said Ford, who appeared to choke back tears at one point.But Ford said he won't resign despite widespread calls for him to do so. He also suggested his government will offer province-paid paid sick leave for COVID-19 patients but announced no details. The lack of such a program has led to widespread complaints.The pandemic restrictions Ford's government announced last Friday immediately ran into opposition. Police departments insisted they wouldn't use new powers to randomly stop pedestrians or motorists and doctors complained the rules focused on outdoor activities like playgrounds and golf rather than more dangerous indoor settings.Restaurants, gyms, and classrooms across the province already had been closed. Most nonessential workers are working from home. On Saturday, Ford retracted the ban on playgrounds, though outdoor recreation activities such as golf remain forbidden in Ontario, the only jurisdiction in North America that now bans it.Vaccinations have ramped up in Canada, but health experts say more contagious variants and a failure to take the right measures against the virus have led to the third wave of infections in Ontario. Ford himself is isolating after a staff member tested positive."Ford chose to walk people into a catastrophic third wave. He chose politics over public health. Today, he offered nothing", opposition New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath tweeted. "Ford must pass paid sick days, close non-essential businesses & send vaccines to hotspots".Also Read: Air India cancels UK flights from April 24 to 30 after Britain's travel restrictions decision

Canada bans all flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days amid spiralling Covid-19 cases

Canada has said it would ban all flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days due to the growing wave of COVID-19 cases in that region.

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The top United Nations envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories is welcoming the cease-fire in the latest war between Israel and the Hamas- militant group that rules Gaza. The top United Nations envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories is welcoming the cease-fire in the latest war between Israel and the Hamas- militant group that rules Gaza.Tor Wennesland said early Friday on Twitter that he extends his “deepest condolences to the victims of the violence & their loved ones.” He also thanks Egypt and Qatar for their work with the UN in brokering the deal that ended 11 days of fighting. He adds that now “the work of building #Palestine can start.”

UN envoy welcomes cease-fire in Gaza fighting

The top United Nations envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories is welcoming the cease-fire in the latest war between Israel and the Hamas- militant group that rules Gaza.

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People cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge while fleeing the town of Irpin close to Kyiv, UkraineRussia on Tuesday declared a ceasefire amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine from 10 am (Moscow time) (12:30 pm as per Indian Standard Time) to provide humanitarian corridors in the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a statement.The development comes following the third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Belarus on Monday, which apparently ended up in failure. In the meeting, both sides addressed the issues of civilian evacuation and the Ukrainian side assured Russia that the humanitarian corridor will start working from Tuesday."From 10:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on March 8, 2022, the Russian Federation declares a ceasefire and is ready to provide humanitarian corridors," the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry said, giving further details of the humanitarian corridors to be created in the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol for the evacuation of civilians."The Ukrainian side should also inform, in accordance with the established procedure, about the planned humanitarian operation before 03:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on March 8, 2022," the statement said, while additionally seeking written approvals of the proposed humanitarian corridors from Ukrain and also guarantees of security on the declared routes of humanitarian operations by the Ukrainian authorities.The Russian and the Ukrainian sides are also expected to be in continuous communication starting 9:30 am (Moscow time) for the mutual exchange of information on the preparation and carrying out the evacuation of civilians and foreign citizens.Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed his plans to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on March 10.Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" Ukraine. (With inputs from ANI)Also Read | IBM suspends business in Russia; says 'providing critical support to impacted areas'

Russia Ukraine War: Russia declares ceasefire for humanitarian corridors in Kyiv, Sumy

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed his plans to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on March 10.

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A full-blown conflict is the last thing China wants with India, a Chinese expert said on Wednesday, adding Beijing wants to see ties with India reach a "strategic high" akin to Sino-Russian relations.However, the strategist with China's leading think tank warned that Beijing would strongly defend its territory if the need arose.Yuan Peng also said that issues like the Doklam row between the militaries of India and China would be dealt "squarely" by Beijing.Yuan, Vice President at the China Institutes for Contemporary International Relations, said Beijing won't compromise on issues safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interests."The last thing we want to see is a full-blown conflict. Both sides should learn the lesson that we don't need to fight and that we should take Sino-Indian relations on a strategic high, like the China-Russia relationship."These issues should be handled in a proper way rather than letting them hijack bilateral relationship. We need more comprehensive mechanisms and dialogue," he added."This relationship is as important as other major country relations such as China and Russia. It is not something that China and India want to see. Both are rapidly emerging countries and partners within BRICS. We want to see the rise of the two countries like brothers."Yuan was talking to journalists on China's foreign policy in the next five years."When safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interests, we will always be assertive and strong because there is no room for compromise on these issues," said Yuan.Asked if he meant that China will deal strongly on issues like Dokalm, he said: "It will depend really on what kind of crisis it is. It will depend on the situation."In the past, we thought we would shelve differences. Now, we will face them squarely."Because even if we agree to shelve differences, the other party might not agree to do so. So we now face these problems head-on, and safeguard our legitimate interests. But we will do this in an incremental way."India and China were locked in a two-month military stand-off at Doklam in the Sikkim section of their border. The crises ended in August, with both sides retreating from the point of the face-off."Indeed, as far as protecting our interests on sovereignty and ensuring a stable and peaceful periphery are concerned, it is not so easy to strike a balance. No country will seek a peaceful external environment at the cost of its own interests."President Xi talked about peaceful development and also that we will never allow actions that hurt China's interests," Yuan added.

Full-blown war with India will be last option: Chinese expert

A full-blown conflict is the last thing China wants with India, a Chinese expert said on Wednesday, adding Beijing wants to see ties with India reach a "strategic high" akin to Sino-Russian relations.

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After Iraqi troops captured the ruined mosque at the heart of Islamic State's de facto capital Mosul on Thursday, Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi declared the end of self-styled caliphate of ISIS.Iraqi troops captured Mosul mosque after eight months of grinding urban warfare.With anti-Islamic State group forces on the offensive in both the Iraqi city of Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqa, Iraq's prime minister made the bold assertion of ISIS caliphate coming to an end.However, the deadly fight between Iraqi forces and ISIS fighter is still continuing in Mosul — filling field hospitals and forcing hundreds to flee."We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state. The liberation of Mosul proves that," al-Abadi said on Twitter, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "We will not relent. Our brave forces will bring victory," he added.Across the border in in Raqqa, coalition officials predicted a long, bloody battle ahead for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, whose fighters succeeded in completely encircling the militants' de-facto capital Thursday. U.S.-led coalition officials estimated that as many as 2,500 IS fighters remained in the city.Beginning at dawn, Iraqi forces began a push deeper into Mosul's Old City, where IS fighters were making their last stand. The Iraqi troops moved slowly along foot paths strewn with rubble, twisted metal and downed power lines. Many front-line positions were only reachable by climbing in and out of homes, across roof tops and through holes blasted into concrete walls.By early afternoon they had reached al-Nuri Mosque, at once a hugely symbolic win and a ruined prize. The site is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance in July 2014, declaring the self-styled Islamic "caliphate" encompassing territories then-held by the extremists in Syria and Iraq.But IS destroyed the mosque and its iconic leaning minaret last week, Iraqi and coalition officials said. The Islamic State group blamed a U.S. airstrike for the blasts, a claim rejected by a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition who said coalition planes "did not conduct strikes in that area at that time."The fight for the Old City has seen some of the most difficult urban combat yet for Iraqi forces in the campaign against IS. Eight months into the Mosul offensive, IS now holds less than two square kilometers (0.8 square miles) of the city, but the advances have come at considerable cost.Damaged and destroyed houses dot the Old City neighborhoods retaken by Iraqi forces and the stench of rotting bodies rises from beneath collapsed buildings."There are hundreds of bodies under the rubble," said special forces Maj. Dhia Thamir. "But they are all Daesh."Special forces Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi acknowledged that civilians have been killed by airstrikes and artillery in the recent fighting. "Of course there is collateral damage, it is always this way in war," he said. "The houses are very old, so any bombardment causes them to collapse completely."U.S.-led coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon told reporters at the Pentagon that "the Old City still remains a difficult, dense, suffocating fight — tight alley ways with booby traps, civilians, and (IS) fighters around every corner."Still, he said he expected victory to be "imminent," predicting it would come "in days rather than weeks."Even after Mosul is retaken, however, IS still controls significant pockets of territory in Iraq that Iraqi forces say will require many more months of fighting to liberate.Some 300 IS fighters remain holed up inside the last Mosul districts the militants hold, along with an estimated 50,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.The civilians who managed to escape Thursday fled on foot in waves. Soldiers shouted at men to lift their shirts to show they were not wearing explosives and rummaged through the few possessions people carried with them: identify papers, family photos, baby formula, diapers and clothing.Nearly 1,000 civilians fled the Old City on Thursday, according to Col. Ali al-Kenani, an Iraqi intelligence officer at a west Mosul screening center. Families covered in dust huddled in the shade of half-destroyed storefronts waiting for flat-bed trucks to move them to camps."We saw so many bodies stuck under the rubble as we fled," said Muhammed Hamoud who escaped the Old City with his wife and two children. "One man was still alive. He yelled for us to help him. We were able to dig him out, but he was so badly injured we had to leave him. We couldn't carry him with us."While Iraqi forces have had periods of swift gains during the Mosul operation, combat has largely been grueling and deadly for both security forces and civilians. Clashes have also displaced more than 850,000 people according to the International Organization for Migration.At a small field clinic not far from the front, medics were treating casualties in waves. An entire family suffering from shrapnel wounds from a mortar round was brought in a military vehicle as another Humvee rushed up to the clinic's doors with a body on the hood."What do we have?" a doctor yelled as a team scrambled to pull on plastic gloves and ready a cot."A martyr," the driver said. The medics stopped prepping bandages and began removing their gloves. The solider was already dead.(With AP inputs)

After capturing Mosul mosque, Iraq declares end of ISIS caliphate but fight goes on

With anti-Islamic State group forces on the offensive in both the Iraqi city of Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqa, Iraq's prime minister made the bold assertion of ISIS caliphate coming to an end.

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FILE - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches what it says a test launch of a hypersonic missile on Jan. 11, 2022North Korea is continuing to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from financial institutions and cryptocurrency firms and exchanges, illicit money that is an important source of funding for its nuclear and missile programs, U.N. experts said in a report quoting cyber specialists.The panel of experts said that according to an unnamed government, North Korean “cyber-actors stole more than $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021 from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia, probably reflecting a shift to diversify its cybercrime operations.”And the experts said in the report's section on cyber activities obtained Sunday by The Associated Press that an unidentified cybersecurity firm reported that in 2021 the North's “cyber-actors stole a total of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency through seven intrusions into cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms.”These cyberattacks “made use of phishing lures, code exploits, malware, and advanced social engineering to siphon funds out of these organizations' internet-connected 'hot' wallets into DPRK-controlled addresses,” the panel said, using the initials of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.The cryptocurrency funds stolen by the DPRK cyber actors “go through a careful money laundering process in order to be cashed out,"" the panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in the report to the U.N. Security Council.A year ago, the panel quoted an unidentified country saying North Korea's “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million.”In the executive summary of the new report, the experts said North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.“Although no nuclear tests or launches of ICBMs were reported, DPRK continued to develop its capability for production of nuclear fissile materials,” the panel said. Those fissile materials — uranium or plutonium — are crucial for a nuclear reaction.The experts noted “a marked acceleration” of North Korean missile launches through January that used a variety of technology and weapons. The experts said North Korea “continued to seek material, technology and know-how for these programs overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research.”A year ago, the panel said North Korea had modernized its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles by flaunting United Nations sanctions, using cyberattacks to help finance its programs and continuing to seek material and technology overseas for its arsenal including in Iran.“Cyberattacks, particularly on cryptocurrency assets, remain an important revenue source” for Kim Jong Un's government, the experts monitoring the implementation of sanctions against the North said in the new report.In addition to its recent launches, North Korea has threatened to lift its four-year moratorium on more serious weapons tests such as nuclear explosions and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and toughened them in response to further nuclear tests and the country's increasingly sophisticated nuclear and ballistic missile programs.The panel of experts said North Korea's blockade aimed at preventing COVID-19 resulted in “historically low levels” of people and goods entering and leaving the country. Legal and illegal trade including in luxury goods “has largely ceased” though cross-border rail traffic resumed in early January, it said.The panel has previously made clear that North Korea remains able to evade sanctions and to illicitly import refined petroleum, access international banking channels and carry out “malicious cyber activities.”UN sanctions ban North Korean coal exports and the experts said in the new report that although coal exports by sea increased in the second half of 2021, “they were still at relatively low levels.” “The quantity of illicit imports of refined petroleum increased sharply in the same period, but at a much lower level than in previous years,” the panel said, adding that direct deliveries by non-North Korea tankers has ceased and only tankers from the North delivered oil, “a marked change of methodology” probably in response to COVID-19 measures.The experts said North Korea also continues to evade maritime sanctions “by deliberately obfuscated financial and ownership networks.”While the humanitarian situation in the country continues to worsen, the panel said the almost complete lack of information from the country makes it difficult to determine the “unintended humanitarian consequences of UN sanctions affecting the civilian population.”(Except for the headline, Indiatvnews.com has not edited the copy)Also Read | Kim Jong Un's wife Ri Sol Ju makes rare public appearance in North Korea after months /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; 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North Korea stealing million dollars from cryptocurrency firms, exchanges in cyber attacks: UN

These cyberattacks “made use of phishing lures, code exploits, malware, and advanced social engineering to siphon funds out of these organizations' internet-connected 'hot' wallets into DPRK-controlled addresses,” the panel said.

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A handful of quick-thinking Las Vegas police officers may have prevented a thousand deaths after they stormed a hotel and killed the lone shooter, the Sheriff of America's gambling hub, who had visited Mumbai to study the 2008 terror attack, has said.Stephen Paddock, 64-year-old wealthy former accountant and high-stakes gambler has been identified by police as the man behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history when he opened fire from the Mandalay By Hotel and Casino on October 1, killing 58 people and wounding nearly 500 others, before turning the gun on himself as police closed in.Recalling the dreadful night, Joseph Lombardo, Sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said Paddock was firing into a crowd of 22,000 concert-goers using powerful guns.Lombardo said a small team of Las Vegas police officers — two K-9 officers, a detective and a SWAT team member — converged on the Mandalay Bay Hotel and minutes later, they breached the gunman's hotel room door on the 32nd floor.It was specialised training that allowed them to act so quickly, Lombardo told CBS' 60 Minutes."I think they prevented a thousand deaths, and I think it's important for the American public to understand that," Lombardo said on Sunday.Lombardo had traveled to Mumbai after the November 2008 terrorist attacks on hotels and other sites by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militants that left 164 people dead, including some American nationals.The sheriff said he had gleaned insight from the trip to Mumbai, and his department now reacts faster to such shootings, quickly forming a team to "cease the action" of the assailant on their own."Before we were trained to form a perimeter and hope for the best," Lombardo said. "Now we're trained to gather up and go get it." Sergeant Joshua Bitsko and Officer Dave Newton of the K9-unit had been training dogs when they heard the message over police radio about an active shooter.Newton said he saw so many guns. So many magazines."Stacks and stacks of magazines everywhere. Just in suitcases all neatly stacked against pillars, around the room, all stacked up, rifles placed all throughout. All kinds of monitors and electrical equipment he had in there. It just looked like almost a gun store," he said.Joshua said he saw shell casings all over the floor where Paddock stayed."I could smell the gun powder that had went off in the room. We were trippin' over guns. Trippin' over long guns inside. There was so many," he said.At least 23 guns - 12 of which were equipped with bump-stocks, or rapid fire devices - were found inside Paddock's hotel room.US authorities have received more than 1,000 tips, but are still struggling to determine what motivated Paddock, who did not have a criminal record, to carry out the carefully planned attack.No one knows when Paddock committed suicide, but the shooting stopped shortly after hotel security guard Jesus Campos and the first of Sheriff Lombardo's officers arrived on the 32nd floor.Meanwhile, country singer Jason Aldean visited University Medical Center on Sunday, just one week after the shooting that claimed the lives of 58 concertgoers and injured hundreds of others at the Route 91 Harvest festival.The hospital announced the visit in a post on Facebook. The post stated: "Our extreme gratitude to Country Music Star Jason Aldean for visiting UMC today.Jason spent time with our patients who were critically injured during the Las Vegas shooting. His visit helped heal hearts and cheer those who were wounded in this tragedy. #vegasstrong."His pregnant wife, Brittany, posted a photo on Instagram of the couple embracing and looking towards the Mandalay Bay, which is where Paddock shot from a hotel suite at concert attendees, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

26/11 Mumbai attack insight, quick action prevented a thousand deaths in Las Vegas: Sheriff

Recalling the dreadful night, Joseph Lombardo, Sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said Paddock was firing into a crowd of 22,000 concert-goers using powerful guns

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The military has been mobilised to clear roads and rescue people still trapped, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said in a video message.At least 21 tourists on Saturday froze to death in their vehicles due to unprecedented snowfall in Pakistan’s popular hill station Murree, Dawn newspaper reported. The report also said that in the 21 tourists that lost their lives, there were at least nine children. Around 1,000 cars were stuck on the hill station while the Punjab chief minister issued instructions for expediting rescue work and providing aid to the stranded tourists. According to a list issued by Rescue 1122, at least 21 people died, including nine children, it said. All the routes in Murree in Rawalpindi district were blocked after thousands of vehicles entered the city, leaving the tourists helpless on the roads.Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was shocked and upset at the tragic deaths of tourists on the road to Murree."Unprecedented snowfall & rush of ppl proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district admin unprepared. Have ordered inquiry & putting in place strong regulation to ensure prevention of such tragedies," Khan said in a tweet.The military has been mobilised to clear roads and rescue people still trapped, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said in a video message. He said Murree had "seen a huge number of tourists after 15-20 years", and due to that, a crisis took place.Rashid said the government was forced to close the road from Islamabad to Murree. The commissioners of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, deputy commissioners, police, are carrying out rescue operations, he said."As many as 1,000 vehicles have been stuck since night [...] some have been evacuated; 16-19 deaths took place in cars. The locals provided food and blankets to the stranded people," Rashid said.He said the authorities would evacuate 1,000 vehicles by Saturday evening, while the roads would remain closed to Murree till Sunday at 9 PM."We have also decided to ban tourists who are planning to visit Murree. This is not the time to come to Murree," the minister was quoted as saying by the Geo News.The Punjab government has declared Murree as a calamity-hit area after heavy snowfall wreaked havoc in the city. Taking notice of the chaos and emergency situation, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has directed to open the government’s offices and rest houses for the stranded tourists. The Pakistan Meteorological Department had predicted heavy snowfall in Murree and Galiyat from January 6 to 9.Follow Breaking LIVE updates HEREThousands of tourists, including women and children, have been trapped on the roads in the area since last night. Officials of the traffic police, however, were making their efforts to restore the flow of traffic on the roads Taking to Twitter, Rawalpindi deputy commissioner said, “Around 23,000 vehicles have been evacuated safely from Murree. Around 1,000 are still stranded."Opposition political leaders criticised the government for its handling of the influx of tourists and inadequate preparation.Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said he was heartbroken over the tragedy in Murree and questioned who was responsible for the deaths."Where was the government all the while? What arrangements did it make to deal with such an influx? Incompetence is fast turning into criminality. Prior arrangements & round-the-clock supervision were the normal SOPs in the past," he tweeted.Terming the deaths heartbreaking, PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman said governments "needed to be more vigilant about the flood of tourists on the Galiyat routes"."Instead of seeking more tourists, the government should have given a warning for jammed roads. These were tragic & avoidable losses that no one intended, but no one acted in time either. Lessons need to be learnt," she added."The job of governments is not only to count tourists but also to make advance arrangements and security measures for them [...] These deaths are not due to snowfall but due to government negligence," tweeted PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz.A large number of people were stranded and flights faced delays as the rain continued to lash the federal capital and Rawalpindi for the fourth consecutive day on Friday.Due to continuous snowfall and traffic congestion in Murree, the district administration imposed a ban on the entry of more vehicles. Snowfall, which began on Tuesday night, continued with regular intervals, attracting thousands of tourists. However, due to the rush of visitors, many families ended up getting stranded on roads. It has been reported that over 100,000 vehicles entered the hill station.In a statement, Chief Traffic Officer Taimoor Khan said the entry of vehicles into Murree had been banned from Friday night onwards and cars were being diverted from toll plazas and other entrances, the Dawn reported.He said since snowfall started on Monday morning, more than 155,000 vehicles had entered Murree and 135,000 had so far left. (with PTI inputs)ALSO READ | World's 2nd highest motorable road leading to China, Pak borders opened in extreme winters | WatchALSO READ | 16 killed, 26 injured as bus collides with truck in Jharkhand's Pakur   /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_4881342490 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2022/01/0_erd8ml3y/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_erd8ml3y_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Superfast 200: Watch the latest news from India and around the world | January 07, 2022", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "1187", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_4881342490 = ''; jwsetup_4881342490(); function jwsetup_4881342490() { jwvidplayer_4881342490 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_4881342490").setup(jwconfig_4881342490); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_4881342490, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_erd8ml3y\", ns_st_pr=\"Superfast 200: Watch the latest news from India and around the world | January 07, 2022\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Superfast 200: Watch the latest news from India and around the world | January 07, 2022\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Superfast 200: Watch the latest news from India and around the world | January 07, 2022\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2022-01-07\", ns_st_tdt=\"2022-01-07\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2022/01/0_erd8ml3y/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_4881342490.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_4881342490.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_4881342490.stop(); jwvidplayer_4881342490.remove(); jwvidplayer_4881342490 = ''; jwsetup_4881342490(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_4881342490.stop(); jwvidplayer_4881342490.remove(); jwvidplayer_4881342490 = ''; jwsetup_4881342490(); return; }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_4881342490.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

Pakistan: 21 tourists freeze to death in heavy snowfall in Murree, emergency declared

The military has been mobilised to clear roads and rescue people still trapped, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said in a video message. He said Murree had "seen a huge number of tourists after 15-20 years", and due to that, a crisis took place.

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Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan in disputed areaFighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out Sunday around the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian Defense Ministry said two Azerbaijani helicopters were shot down.Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan also said Armenian forces hit three Azerbaijani tanks. There was no immediate word on casualties.Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan that has been out of Azerbaijan’s control since the end of a war in 1994. Both sides have heavy military presence along a demilitarized zone separating the region from the rest of Azerbaijan.Azerbaijan’s defense ministry denied the claim that its helicopters and tanks had been hit. But President Ilham Aliyev said in a televised address to the nation that “there are losses among the Azerbaijani forces and the civilian population as a result of the Armenian bombardment.”Stepanyan said the fighting Sunday began with an Azerbaijani attack, but Azerbaijan said the Armenian side attacked and that Azerbaijan launched a counteroffensive.The news was harshly received in Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan.Turkey’s ruling party spokesman Omer Celik tweeted: “We vehemently condemn Armenia’s attack on Azerbaijan. Armenia has once against committed a provocation, ignoring law.” He promised Turkey would stand by Azerbaijan and said, “Armenia is playing with fire and endangering regional peace.”Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also took to Twitter to condemn Armenia. “Armenia has violated the ceasefire by attacking civilian settlements ... the international community must immediately say stop to this dangerous provocation.”Mostly mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh — a region some 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) or about the size of the U.S. state of Delaware — lies 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Armenian border. Local soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region.International efforts to settle the conflict have stalled and fighting sporadically breaks out. In July, one of the most severe outbreaks of fighting in years left 16 people from both sides dead.

Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan in disputed area

Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out Sunday around the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian Defense Ministry said two Azerbaijani helicopters were shot down.

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Mike PompeoVisiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday called for ending the continuing crisis between Qatar and mainly its Arab Gulf neighbours.Speaking at a joint news conference with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Pompeo said that the diplomatic rift among the Arab Gulf countries benefited their adversaries."We are all more powerful when we are working together and disputes are limited. When we have a common challenge, disputes between countries with shared objectives are never helpful," Pompeo said, reports Xinhua news agency.Pompeo arrived in Doha earlier in the day from Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as he continued his ongoing tour of the Middle East that has already taken him to Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and the UAE. He will travel to Saudi Arabia as his next stop. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar has strongly denied the accusations.Last week, Anthony Zinni, the US envoy tasked with resolving the Qatari crisis, announced his resignation, citing that he felt he reached a dead-end in the efforts to end the Gulf dispute. 

Mike Pompeo calls for ending Gulf dispute during Qatar visit

Speaking at a joint news conference with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Pompeo said that the diplomatic rift among the Arab Gulf countries benefited their adversaries.

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Pakistan PM Imran Khan during his speech at the UNGAPakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan threatened India of nuclear war during his speech in 74th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday. He rhetorically asked about "choice" he would have if two nuclear-armed countries of India and Pakistan waged war against each other. This is not the first time Imran Khan has made nuclear threat. Friday's threat is largely being seen as Imran Khan's attempt to mount more international pressure on India.Imran Khan raked up Kashmir issue at United Nations yet again. Pakistan has been trying to dig up the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and abrogation of Article 370 at various international forums. Pakistan has had failed to do so repeatedly as it did not get support from the international community. World powers like Russia and the US have been maintaining that the issue of Article 370 is an internal matter of India. Contrast this with PM Narendra Modi. He is fresh from 'Howdy, Modi!' event in which he was showered in praise by none other than US President Donald Trump himself. Prior to Imran Khan's speech. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the UNGA session. He underlined the need to tackle terrorism and appealed the international community to stand united against the scourge of terrorism.Also Read | Top 10 quotes from PM Modi's UNGA SpeechPM Modi UNGA Speech | Watch full video /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_9665324884 = { "file": "https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_y173u1m5_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_y173u1m5_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "PM Modi at UNGA: 'Yuddh nahi humne Buddha diya hai'", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_9665324884 = ''; jwsetup_9665324884(); function jwsetup_9665324884() { jwvidplayer_9665324884 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_9665324884").setup(jwconfig_9665324884); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_9665324884, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_y173u1m5\", ns_st_pr=\"PM Modi at UNGA: 'Yuddh nahi humne Buddha diya hai'\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"PM Modi at UNGA: 'Yuddh nahi humne Buddha diya hai'\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"PM Modi at UNGA: 'Yuddh nahi humne Buddha diya hai'\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2019-09-27\", ns_st_tdt=\"2019-09-27\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_y173u1m5_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_9665324884.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_9665324884.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_9665324884.stop(); jwvidplayer_9665324884.remove(); jwvidplayer_9665324884 = ''; jwsetup_9665324884(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_9665324884.stop(); jwvidplayer_9665324884.remove(); jwvidplayer_9665324884 = ''; jwsetup_9665324884(); return; }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9665324884.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }  

Imran Khan warns of nuclear war over Kashmir during his UNGA speech

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan threatened India of nuclear war during his speech in 74th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday. He rhetorically asked about "choice" he would have if two nuclear-armed countries of India and Pakistan waged war against each other.

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Iran closer to COVID-19 containmentIran is now closer to containing the spread of COVID-19 in most of the country, authorities have said. On Friday, the country reported 1,499 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 79,494, with 4,958 deaths. Meanwhile, Turkey was poised to overtake Iran as the hardest-hit country in the Middle East due to rapid growth of new cases."Despite circumstances arising from sanctions and economic warfare, no patient was left abandoned behind hospital doors and no patient lacked needed drugs and medical care during the peak of the virus across cities," Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki said. He said that Iran's virus response was developed on scientific models and years of past experience in "eradicating infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, polio, measles, mumps and tetanus".In Turkey, 4,353 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Friday, bringing the total number to 78,546. The death toll surged to 1,769, after 126 more deaths were reported.Turkey is set to replace Iran as the top country in the region with the most confirmed coronavirus cases as it has been witnessing daily fast growth in the new infections since it reported the first case on March 11.(With IANS inputs)Also Read | Iran reports over 1,600 new COVID-19 cases; death toll at 4,474Also Read | Iran begins lifting restrictions after brief coronavirus lockdown 

Iran closer to COVID-19 containment, Turkey may become worst-hit in Middle East

Turkey is set to replace Iran as the top country in the region with the most confirmed coronavirus cases as it has been witnessing daily fast growth in the new infections since it reported the first case on March 11.

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US pressing Pakistan to cooperate on fighting ISIS-K, Al QaedaThe US administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on fighting terrorist groups such as ISIS-K and Al Qaeda in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Politico reported.In response, Pakistan - long accused by US officials of aiding the Afghan Taliban - has hinted that Islamabad deserves more public recognition of its role in helping people now fleeing Afghanistan, even as it has downplayed fears of what Taliban rule of the country could mean, the report added.These exchanges and others, described in emails, sensitive but unclassified cables and other written materials obtained by Politico, offer a glimpse into how tensions between Washington and Islamabad linger after two decades of war in Afghanistan. They suggest that the two governments are far from lockstep on the road ahead, even now that the US has pulled its troops from Afghanistan.In one discussion with a US official, for instance, Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan appeared to question reports that the Taliban are carrying out revenge attacks in Afghanistan - including claims that the group has been executing its perceived enemies in door-to-door raids, the report added.Khan told the American official that, according to Pakistani "ground observations", the Afghan Taliban "were not seeking retribution, and in fact were going home to home to assure Afghans that there will not be reprisals", according to parts of a memo circulated among US diplomats. The US official, Ervin Massinga of the State Department, is described as noting that "he has seen reporting to the contrary and hopes the Taliban do not seek revenge".The Biden administration has been unusually circumspect about revealing its contacts and discussions with Pakistan. While Pakistan's actions often appear at odds with the US, it nonetheless is a nation with links to the Afghan Taliban whose cooperation on fighting terrorism can be helpful. It's also a nuclear-armed country American officials would prefer not to lose entirely to Chinese influence, the report said.President Joe Biden has not spoken yet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan's wait for a call from the American leader has been the stuff of Pakistan media gossip and memes, the report said.ALSO READ | Pakistan's duplicitous strategy in Afghanistan and elsewhere  

US pressing Pakistan to cooperate on fighting ISIS-K, Al Qaeda

In response, Pakistan - long accused by US officials of aiding the Afghan Taliban - has hinted that Islamabad deserves more public recognition of its role in helping people now fleeing Afghanistan, even as it has downplayed fears of what Taliban rule of the country could mean, the report added.

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People wait in line at a COVID-19 testing site in Times Square, New York, Dec. 13, 2021. The new omicron coronavirus mutant speeding around the world may bring another wave of chaos, threatening to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row.The White House on Wednesday insisted there was no need for a lockdown because vaccines are widely available and appear to offer protection against the worst consequences of the virus. But even if omicron proves milder on the whole than delta, it may disarm some of the lifesaving tools available and put immune-compromised and elderly people at particular risk as it begins a rapid assault on the United States."Our delta surge is ongoing and, in fact, accelerating. And on top of that, we're going to add an omicron surge," said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School. "That's alarming, because our hospitals are already filling up. Staff are fatigued," leaving limited capacity for a potential crush of COVID-19 cases from an omicron wave superimposed on a delta surge.Most likely, he and other experts said at a news briefing Tuesday, an omicron surge is already under way in the United States, with the latest mutant coronavirus outpacing the nation's ability to track it.Based on specimens collected last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said omicron accounted for about 3% of genetically-sequenced coronaviruses nationally. Percentages vary by region, with the highest 13% in the New York/New Jersey area. But Harvard experts said these are likely underestimates because omicron is moving so fast that surveillance attempts can't keep up.Globally, more than 75 countries have reported confirmed cases of omicron. In the United States, 36 states have detected the variant. Meanwhile, delta is surging in many places, with hot spots in New England and the upper Midwest. The five states with the highest two-week rolling average of cases per 100,000 people are New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota and Vermont.Universities are abruptly closing classrooms during finals week with infections multiplying at a fast rate. Both t he NBA and NHL have had to postpone games, and the NFL had its worst two-day outbreak  since the start of the pandemic, with dozens of players infected. Outside the U.S., the president of the European Union said omicron will become the dominant variant in a month and declared that 'once again, this Christmas will be overshadowed by the pandemic." Scientists around the world are racing to understand omicron, which has a large number of worrisome mutations in important regions of its genetic structure that could affect how it spreads from person to person. How quickly the number of cases doubles, known as doubling time, can give a preview of what the disease burden could be in a few weeks.CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that early data suggests omicron is more transmissible than delta, with a doubling time of about two days.In Britain, where omicron cases are doubling every two to three days,  the variant is expected to soon replace delta as the dominant strain in the country.The U.K. on Wednesday recorded the highest number of confirmed new COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began, and England's chief medical officer warned that the situation is likely to get worse as omicron drives a new wave of illness during the holidays."The data out of the UK are quite alarming at this point," and foreshadow what's to come in the United States, said Bronwyn MacInnis, director of pathogen genomic surveillance at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. For example, she said, by Tuesday afternoon, omicron was already the most common variant in London. In many ways, omicron remains a mystery. Hints are emerging from South Africa, where it was first reported, indicating it may cause less severe disease than delta but be better at evading vaccines.But, MacInnis warned: "There's much more that we don't know about this variant than we do, including the severity." At the same time, Lemieux said, there seem to be fewer tools to fight it. Some monoclonal antibody treatments don't work as well against omicron in lab tests, Lemieux said. Vaccines appear to offer less protection, although CDC officials said booster shots strengthen that protection.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday there is no need, for now, for an omicron-specific booster shot. The two-dose mRNA vaccines, the Pfizer and Moderna shots, still appear to offer considerable protection against hospitalization from omicron, Fauci said."If we didn't have these tools, I would be telling you to really, really be worried," Fauci said.Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said the U.S. has the tools to fight the virus, including omicron, and "there is no need to lock down." With vaccines available now for 95% of Americans, "we know how to keep our kids in schools and our businesses open. And we're not going to shut down."Health officials called on Americans to get vaccinated, get their booster shots, wear masks indoors and get tested before traveling and before holiday gatherings."Hospital capacity is already at a breaking point in many states because of severe cases of COVID-19," Michael Fraser, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said in a statement.Given the high level of transmission, MacInnis said there will undoubtedly be severe cases."No matter how severely it affects healthy, fully vaccinated and boosted populations, it will hit the most vulnerable among us the hardest still,ö she said. ôSo the elderly, the immunocompromised, other vulnerable populations will still be at greatest risk and still bear the brunt of this."READ MORE: Currently available boosters enough to fight Omicron variant: Dr Anthony Fauci

US faces a double coronavirus surge as omicron advances

The White House on Wednesday insisted there was no need for a lockdown because vaccines are widely available and appear to offer protection against the worst consequences of the virus.

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Mystery surrounds Ukraine plane crash killing 170 onboard, Tehran refuses to handover blackbox Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday. A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed earlier on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.Earlier today, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that crashed Ukraine plane had 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians on board. Detailing the casualties on Twitter, he also said there were 11 Ukrainians on board including nine crew, 10 from Sweden, four passengers from Afghanistan, three from Germany, and three from Britain. Ukrainian Boeing 737 plane with 176 people on board crashed near Tehran airport early on Wednesday. The plane reportedly suffered mechanical issues after which it fell on to the ground. There were no survivors in the deadly plane crash incident.Meanwhile, Vice president of operations at the Ukraine International Airlines said that a pilot error is unlikely to have caused the crash of Ukraine's Boeing 737 near Tehran.  "We know, as of today, that the aircraft went to the altitude of 2,400 meters (7,874 feet). The crew mistake is minimal. We simply do not consider it. Considering their experience, it is very hard to say that it could somehow be about the crew," Sputnik quoted vice president of operations at the Ukraine International Airlines sIgor Sosnovsky as saying at a briefing.Soon after multiple ballistic missiles were launched on Iraq airbases housing US troops on Wednesday, Iran has threatened to bomb Israel and Dubai if the United States retaliates to the missile attack. Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned the US and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack. More than a dozen missiles were fired at two Iraqi bases housing American troops in a revenge attack for the US drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on Friday. The warning was issued via a statement carried by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.'We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,' it said.   /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_1745003606 = { "file": "https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_pfi5tvgr_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_pfi5tvgr_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Iran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says missile attack 'slap in face' delivered to US", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_1745003606 = ''; jwsetup_1745003606(); function jwsetup_1745003606() { jwvidplayer_1745003606 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_1745003606").setup(jwconfig_1745003606); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_1745003606, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_pfi5tvgr\", ns_st_pr=\"Iran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says missile attack 'slap in face' delivered to US\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Iran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says missile attack 'slap in face' delivered to US\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Iran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says missile attack 'slap in face' delivered to US\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2020-01-08\", ns_st_tdt=\"2020-01-08\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://indiatv-vh.akamaihd.net/i/vod/0_pfi5tvgr_,20,21,22,.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_1745003606.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_1745003606.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_1745003606.stop(); jwvidplayer_1745003606.remove(); jwvidplayer_1745003606 = ''; jwsetup_1745003606(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_1745003606.stop(); jwvidplayer_1745003606.remove(); jwvidplayer_1745003606 = ''; jwsetup_1745003606(); return; }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_1745003606.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }  

Mystery surrounds Ukraine plane crash killing 176 onboard, Tehran refuses to handover blackbox

Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday. A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed earlier on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.

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31 ISKCON members in Bangladesh tested COVID-19 positiveThe ISKCON temple here in the Bangladeshi capital has reported 31 coronavirus cases, following which the authorities locked down the building to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, according to media reports on Sunday. Bangladesh has reported nearly 5,000 COVID-19 cases and 140 deaths due to the disease."As many as 31 members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) ashram located in Swamibag area have tested positive for the novel coronavirus," Gendaria police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Saju Miah was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune. "The infected have been isolated and are undergoing treatment...We have totally locked down the road of the area to prevent the virus from spreading," he said.The temple, which was closed for visitors since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Bangladesh on March 8, was locked down on Saturday. According to bdnews24, over 100 people, including priests, officials and devotees, reside in the temple. The report said the infections have baffled the authorities as to how the members of the temple, which was closed for outsiders, contracted the deadly virus."No one was allowed into the temple. I don’t understand how so many people have been infected given so much care was taken," Miah told bdnews24. 

31 ISKCON members in Bangladesh tested COVID-19 positive

The ISKCON temple here in the Bangladeshi capital has reported 31 coronavirus cases, following which the authorities locked down the building to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, according to media reports on Sunday. Bangladesh has reported nearly 5,000 COVID-19 cases and 140 deaths due to the disease.

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EU Ambassador to India Tomasz KozlowskiThe European Union wants implementation of the Iran nuclear deal even though the US pulled out of it and imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran, EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski said on Wednesday."Our understanding is that the EU is interested in implementing the Iranian nuclear deal," Kozlowski said during a media briefing here."From our point of view, failure of the Iran nuclear deal will have negative consequences for the security situation in West Asia," he said.The US pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Tehran signed with the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union and imposed the new sanctions on Iran over its alleged nuclear programme.This sparked concerns in New Delhi as Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to India.The sanctions also put in jeopardy the crucial Chabahar port in Iran being jointly developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan.However, earlier this month Washington exempted India from its sanctions on Iran oil imports and development of the Chabahar Port."I am positive about India's efforts to develop the Chabahar port," Kozlowski said.India is investing $500 million to develop the Chabahar port and a road link from there to Afghanistan to give access to that country, bypassing Pakistan.The port is also a key link in the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-km-long multi-modal network of ship, rail and road routes to move freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

EU favours implementation of Iran N-deal: Envoy

"Our understanding is that the EU is interested in implementing the Iranian nuclear deal," Kozlowski said during a media briefing here.

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A day after a video of a Pakistani girl allegedly naming her killer surfaced, one suspect was arrested in the country's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, police said.The footage that emerged on Monday evening purportedly shows Asma Rani in hospital shortly before her death, naming one Mujahid Afridi as her killer.Rani, a third-year medical student, was shot on Saturday afternoon in Kohat, and died in hospital on Sunday.Her family alleges that Afridi killed Rani after she refused to marry him, having also made previous threats against her.The country's Supreme Court also took suo motu notice of the murder on Tuesday.Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered that a report on the case be submitted in the court by Wednesday."We heard tales that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has become a lot better; what is the force doing after this girl was murdered in Kohat?" the Chief Justice asked, adding that there seems to be no mechanism set for the investigation.When first reporting the attack, Rani's brother Muhammad Irfan named two brothers - Afridi and Sadiq Ullah - as the attackers.Ullah was arrested in Kohat on Tuesday but his brother was yet to be found. Afridi is believed to have fled to Saudi Arabia. A red notice has been issued by Interpol for his arrest, Pakistan Today reported.Posting the video of his cousin seeming to name Afridi as her killer, Zaheer Khan Burki wrote on Facebook: "We demand the quick capture of Mujahid Afridi and want justice for Asma bibi."Protesters gathered in several locations across Pakistan on Tuesday to demand urgent action to locate and arrest Afridi.

Pakistani medico Asma Rani 'names her killer' before death

The footage that emerged on Monday evening purportedly shows Asma Rani in hospital shortly before her death, naming one Mujahid Afridi as her killer.

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File photo of Pakistan's cruise missile Babur Weapon System-1Pakistan successfully test-fired a cruise missile with enhanced range, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has said.The indigenously developed Babur Weapon System-1 (B), which has a range of 700 km, is a low flying, terrain hugging missile that carries certain stealth features and is capable of carrying various types of warheads, Xinhua news agency quoted an ISPR statement as saying late Saturday. "Babur Weapon System-1 (B) incorporates advanced aerodynamics and avionics that can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy," it said.Related Stories US $500 million Spike anti-tank missile deal between India and Israel back on table: NetanyahuIndia successfully test-fires nuclear capable Agni-I missile in Odisha Equipped with navigational technologies of Terrain Contour Matching and all-time Digital Scene Matching and Area Co-relation, the missile can engage various type of targets with pinpoint accuracy even in the absence of GPS navigation, making it an important force multiplier for Pakistan's strategic deterrence.Senior officials, scientists and engineers of strategic organization, which are involved in the country's missile system, witnessed the missile test on Saturday.

Pakistan test-fires enhanced cruise missile Babur Weapon System-1

"Babur Weapon System-1 (B) incorporates advanced aerodynamics and avionics that can strike targets both at land and sea with high accuracy," an official statement said.

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China 'chose' not to stop coronavirus from spreading across the world: TrumpAccusing China of not being transparent about the COVID-19, US President Donald Trump has said that Beijing could have stopped the deadly virus from spreading across the world but they "chose" not to. Trump has in the past expressed disappointment over China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.In May, he claimed that it was the “incompetence” of Beijing that led to the mass killing across the globe.More than 600,000 people globally, including 143,000 Americans have died due to coronavirus that emerged from China's Wuhan city.Over 14 million people across the world, including over 4 million in the US, have tested positive with this deadly virus that has brought the global economy to standstill.China has denied US’ claim of “covering up” the extent of its coronavirus outbreak and has accused the US of attempting to divert public attention by insinuating that the virus originated from a virology laboratory in Wuhan.“It came from China. It should have never been allowed to get out. They could have stopped it. They could have stopped it easily. They chose not to,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday.“We'll have further reports on that. But it came from China. They could have stopped it, but they didn't. They stopped it from going into China, but they didn't stop it from going to the rest of the world. It didn't stop it from going to Europe, to us,” he said.“They should have stopped it. They could have stopped it. They weren't transparent at all; they were the opposite. It's not good,” Trump said.Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Monday over the pandemic.“And all of us, and all of us together -- I've had many conversations with leaders all over the world over the weekend, and over the last couple of weeks in particular. And this is a pandemic that is flaring up all over the place. Countries thought they were in good shape and then, all of a sudden, they have a big flare-up,” he said.Coronavirus, he said, is a worldwide problem and the US is helping other countries with ventilators.“We're helping a lot of countries. They don't have ventilators, and we're sending thousands of ventilators to different countries. But I do want people to understand this is a worldwide problem caused by China, but it's a worldwide problem,” Trump said.“Countries are going through hell. We're going to give you a lot of briefings in the next week and over the next few weeks as to -- I think it's very important to do it, the vaccines and the therapeutics. I think I'm going to bring some of the great companies that are working, and very successfully in the past have worked on these things, and they're going to tell you very specifically what they're doing and how they're doing. But we think we're doing very well in that regard,” said the president.Meanwhile, the State Department on Monday announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his July 20-22 visit to the UK will meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to discuss global priorities, including coordination on COVID-19 recovery and issues related to the People's Republic of China (PRC).He will also discuss the ongoing negotiations for the US-UK Free Trade Agreement, an official statement said.In another development, Congressman Michael Burges said that China and the Chinese Communist Party continues to threaten American national security with cyber-attacks.“The US should get more specific with sanctions and use our economic power to punish hackers,” he demanded.

China 'chose' not to stop coronavirus from spreading across the world: Trump

Accusing China of not being transparent about the COVID-19, US President Donald Trump has said that Beijing could have stopped the deadly virus from spreading across the world but they "chose" not to.

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Ukrainian border guards stand at a checkpoint from territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists to the territory controlled by Ukrainian forces in NovotroitskeRussian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized the independence of Moscow-backed rebel regions in eastern Ukraine, a move that will further fuel tensions with the West amid fears of the Russian invasion.Putin’s move follows days of heightened tensions in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, where Ukrainian forces are locked in a nearly eight-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists that has left more than 14,000 people dead.Here is a look at the rebel-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine:SEPARATIST REBELLION IN THE EASTWhen Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president was driven from office by mass protests in February 2014, Russia responded by annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. It then threw its weight behind an insurgency in the mostly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine region known as Donbas.In April 2014, Russia-backed rebels seized government buildings in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, proclaimed the creation of “people’s republics” and battled Ukrainian troops and volunteer battalions.The following month, the separatist regions held a popular vote to declare independence and make a bid to become part of Russia. Moscow hasn’t accepted the motion, just used the regions as a tool to keep Ukraine in its orbit and prevent it from joining NATO.Ukraine and the West accused Russia of backing the rebels with troops and weapons. Moscow denied that, saying any Russians who fought there were volunteers.Amid ferocious battles involving tanks, heavy artillery and warplanes, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard. An international probe concluded that the passenger jet was downed by a Russia-supplied missile from the rebel-controlled territory in Ukraine. Moscow still denied any involvement.PEACE AGREEMENTS FOR EASTERN UKRAINEAfter a massive defeat of Ukrainian troops in August 2014, envoys from Kyiv, the rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe signed a truce in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in September 2014.The document envisaged an OSCE-observed cease-fire, a pullback of all foreign fighters, an exchange of prisoners and hostages, an amnesty for the rebels and a promise that separatist regions could have a degree of self-rule.The deal quickly collapsed and large-scale fighting resumed, leading to another major defeat for Ukrainian forces at Debaltseve in January-February of 2015.France and Germany brokered another peace agreement, which was signed in Minsk in February 2015 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the rebels. It envisaged a new cease-fire, a pullback of heavy weapons and a series of moves toward a political settlement. A declaration backing the deal was signed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.A FROZEN CONFLICT IN UKRAINEThe 2015 peace deal was a major diplomatic coup for the Kremlin, obliging Ukraine to grant special status to the separatist regions, allowing them to create their own police force and have a say in appointing local prosecutors and judges. It also envisaged that Ukraine could only regain control over the roughly 200-kilometer (125-mile) border with Russia in rebel regions after they get self-rule and hold OSCE-monitored local elections — balloting that would almost certainly keep pro-Moscow rebels in power there.Many Ukrainians see it as a betrayal of national interests and its implementation has stalled.The Minsk document helped end full-scale fighting, but the situation has remained tense and regular skirmishes have continued.With the Minsk deal stalled, Moscow’s hope to use rebel regions to directly influence Ukraine’s politics has failed but the frozen conflict has drained Kyiv’s resources and effectively stymied its goal of joining NATO — which is enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution.Moscow also has worked to secure its hold on the rebel regions by handing out more than 720,000 Russian passports to roughly one-fifth of their population of about 3.6 million. It has provided economic and financial assistance to the separatist territories, but the aid has been insufficient to alleviate the massive damage from fighting and shore up the economy. The Donbas region accounted for about 16% of Ukraine’s GDP before the conflict.EFFORTS TO REVIVE PEACE DEALAmid soaring tensions over the Russian troop concentration near Ukraine, France and Germany embarked on renewed efforts to encourage compliance with the 2015 deal, in hopes that it could help defuse the current standoff.Facing calls from Berlin and Paris for its implementation, Ukrainian officials have strengthened their criticism of the Minsk deal and warned that it could lead to the country’s demise. Two rounds of talks in Paris and Berlin between presidential envoys from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have yielded no progress.The lower house of the Russian parliament, meanwhile, urged Putin last week to recognize the independence of Ukraine’s rebel regions.PUTIN RECOGNIZES REBEL REGIONS’ INDEPENDENCEPutin’s recognition of the rebel-held territories’ independence effectively shatters the Minsk peace agreements and will further fuel tensions with the West. He said that Moscow would sign friendship treaties with the rebel territories, a move that could pave the way for Russia to openly support them with troops and weapons.The move follows several days of shelling that erupted along the line of contact in Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine and the West accused Moscow of fomenting the tensions to create a pretext for an invasion. Russia, in turn, accused Ukraine of trying to reclaim the rebel-held territories by force, the claim that Kyiv strongly rejected.On Friday, separatist leaders released video statements announcing the evacuation of civilians in the face of what they described as Ukrainian “aggression.” The data embedded in the video indicated that their statements had been pre-recorded two days earlier when the situation was still relatively calm, suggesting a deliberate plan to try to sever the regions from Ukraine.The rebel chiefs put out new video statements Monday urging Putin to recognize their regions’ independence and the Russian leader responded quickly by convening a carefully orchestrated meeting of his Security Council and then signing the recognition decrees in a televised ceremony.Also Read | Biden blocks trade, investment in parts of Ukraine recognised as independent by Russia

The story behind Ukraine’s separatist regions | EXPLAINED

Ukrainian forces are locked in a nearly eight-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists that has left more than 14,000 people dead.

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Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's President on Friday, marking the end of Robert Mugabe's 37-year reign.Thousands of people are expected to stream into Harare's National Sports Stadium to witness former Vice President Mnangagwa, 75, take the oath of office. Ahead of the swearing-in, Mnangagwa urged Zimbabweans to "remain patient and peaceful and desist from any form of vengeful retribution", the BBC reported.Mugabe is not expected to attend Mnangagwa's inauguration and the official explanation for his absence was that the 93-year-old needed to rest.Mnangagwa is better known as "The Crocodile". In a radio interview two years ago, he explained that a crocodile never leaves the water to search for food. Instead, it waits patiently for its prey to approach. "It strikes at the appropriate time," he said. His dismissal earlier this month led the ruling Zanu-PF party and the Army to intervene and force Mugabe to quit.The opposition is urging Mnangagwa, who has been part of the ruling elite, to end the "culture of corruption".The news on Tuesday of Mugabe stepping down sparked wild celebrations across the country. It came in the form of a letter read out in Parliament, abruptly halting impeachment proceedings against him.In it, Mugabe said he was resigning to allow a smooth and peaceful transfer of power and that his decision was voluntary. 

Emmerson Mnangagwa to be sworn in as Zimbabwe President

Ahead of the swearing-in, Mnangagwa urged Zimbabweans to "remain patient and peaceful and desist from any form of vengeful retribution"

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India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and America’s new National Security Adviser Jake SullivanAmerica’s new National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in his first call with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Wednesday reaffirmed the commitment of President Joe Biden to a strong and enduring bilateral strategic partnership based on shared commitment to democracy, the White House said.“Sullivan reaffirmed President Biden’s commitment to a strong and enduring US-India strategic partnership based on our shared commitment to democracy,” said the National Security Council of the White House in a statement. This was the first call between the two national security advisers.“They discussed the importance of continuing close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, promoting regional security, and renewing efforts to collaborate on global challenges, including COVID-19 and climate change,” said the statement.Sullivan, a close confidant of Biden, has so far spoken with his counterparts from eight countries.They are Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Adviser to the French President; Jan Hecker, Foreign and Security Policy Adviser to the German Chancellor; Dominic Raab, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs; Shigeru Kitamura, Secretary General of Japan’s National Security Secretariat.He has also spoken with National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib of Afghanistan; National Security Adviser Suh Hoon of the Republic of Korea and National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat of Israel. ALSO READ | NSA Doval meets Sufi leaders delegation seeking support in fight against radicalisation

US NSA Jake Sullivan dials Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, reaffirms commitment for strong, enduring relations

America’s new National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in his first call with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Wednesday reaffirmed the commitment of President Joe Biden to a strong and enduring bilateral strategic partnership based on shared commitment to democracy, the White House said.

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Ghani's close aides slated for top diplomatic missionsA number of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's close aides have been chosen for the country's key diplomatic offices abroad, a leaked list has revealed. In a report on Sunday, TOLO News said that the list has been leaked amid efforts by the government to bring reforms to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Meanwhile, the office of Chief Executive Abdullah. Abdullah has slammed the list, saying: "This is not acceptable for us and, meanwhile, it will not help good governance in Afghanistan-- it is a type of clearing-out and monopolization."But the MoFA said that based on the Constitution, the President has the authority to appoint heads of the country's diplomatic missions abroad."According to Article 64 of the Constitution, the President has the authority to appoint heads of diplomatic offices outside the country and representatives of Afghanistan at international organizations," Ministry spokesman Gran Hewad said.But some critics have said that President Ghani's close aides have been appointed to posts in foreign missions without having served at the MoFA.Last year, President Ghani appointed Walid Tamim, who was accused of corruption and embezzlement and whose case was referred to the Attorney General's Office, as Afghanistan's Ambassador to India, said TOLO News.But his credentials were not accepted by the Indian government.Sources have said former NDS chief Masoom Stanekzai has been considered for this post.Also Read:'Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul' is a map of memory's landscape​ 

Ghani's close aides slated for top diplomatic missions

Abdullah has slammed the list, saying: "This is not acceptable for us and, meanwhile, it will not help good governance in Afghanistan-- it is a type of clearing-out and monopolization."

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Italy reports 207,428 COVID-19 cases, cautious ahead of easing lockdownAmid the rising number of cases, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed 28,236 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities, and recoveries to 207,428 on Friday. Some 269 new fatalities were registered over the past 24 hours. There were also 2,304 new recoveries compared to Thursday, pushing to 78,249 the total number of recoveries since the pandemic broke out in the northern Lombardy region on February 21, Xinhua reported.The number of active infections dropped by 608 cases to a total of 100,943, according to the bulletin of the Civil Protection Department.Of all those actively infected, some 1,578 patients are in intensive care -- a decrease of 116 compared to Thursday, and 17,569 are hospitalized with symptoms -- down by 580."Some 81,796 people, equal to 81 percent of all those infected, are in isolation (at home) without symptoms or with mild symptoms," the Civil Protection Department noted.The latest data came as the country is preparing to ease the national lockdown put in place since March 10 and until May 3.The so-called "Phase Two" of the state of emergency will see the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors resume their productive activities on May 4.The government's plan of gradual reopening would continue with retailers, museums, galleries, and libraries on May 18, and then bars, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on June 1.Any of these businesses will be allowed to restart only on condition that they are able to respect workplace safety protocols, which were outlined by the government, trade unions, and business groups together earlier this month.Such a schedule would be subject to change in case new outbreaks occur across the country. In this perspective, the Health Ministry issued late on Thursday a decree containing the specific rules and criteria for assessing the situation in "Phase Two.""In the absence of a vaccine or an effective drug treatment, and due to the still low level of immunity among the population, a rapid and robust resumption of the virus transmission is still possible," it stated.The Health Ministry was therefore tasked with monitoring the epidemiological situation together with each regional government and Italy's National Health Institute (ISS).On the base of daily data, they would evaluate whether any region (or smaller area, such a province) shows signs of an "uncontrolled and unmanageable" resurgence of COVID-19, and therefore needs to fall again under stricter containment measures. This risk evaluation would be based on two key criteria, according to the Health Ministry.The first aimed at "maintaining a stable number of new infections, or having a limited increase of infections that can be investigated adequately and contained with local control measures."The second criterion was to "maintain or reduce the number of transmission cases within nursing facilities hosting vulnerable people (including hospital clusters), and to avoid any signal of overloading of the health services," the decree said.(With inputs from IANS)

Italy reports 207,428 COVID-19 cases, cautious ahead of easing lockdown

Amid the rising number of cases, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed 28,236 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities, and recoveries to 207,428 on Friday.

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Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is now expected to play a key role in negotiations between the Taliban and officials from the Afghan government that the militant group deposed in its blitz across the country.The Taliban's top political leader, who made a triumphal return to Afghanistan this week, battled the U.S. and its allies for decades but then signed a landmark peace agreement with the Trump administration.Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy leader for Mullah Abdul Hassan Akhunzada, who will lead the new interim government. The Taliban say they seek an “inclusive, Islamic” government and claim they have become more moderate since they last held power.Baradar's biography charts the arc of the Taliban's journey from an Islamic militia that battled warlords during the civil war in the 1990s, ruled the country in accordance with a strict interpretation of Islamic law and then waged a two-decade insurgency against the U.S. His experience also sheds light on the Taliban's complicated relationship with neighboring Pakistan.Baradar is the only surviving Taliban leader to have been personally appointed deputy by the late Taliban commander Mullah Mohammed Omar, giving Baradar near-legendary status within the movement. And he is more far more visible than the Taliban’s current supreme leader, Maulawi Hibatullah Akhunzada, who is believed to be in hiding in Pakistan and only releases occasional statements.On Tuesday, Baradar landed in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement he helped found in the mid-1990s. Ending 20 years of exile, he was thronged by well-wishers as he stepped off a Qatari government aircraft and drove off in a convoy.Baradar, who is in his early 50s, was born in the southern Uruzgan province. Like others who would eventually become Taliban leaders, he joined the ranks of the CIA- and Pakistan-backed mujahideen to fight against the Soviet Union during its decadelong occupation of the country that ended in 1989.In the 1990s, the country slid into civil war, with rival mujahideen battling one another and carving out fiefdoms. Warlords set up brutal protection rackets and checkpoints in which their forces shook down travelers to fund their military activities.In 1994, Mullah Omar, Baradar and others founded the Taliban, which means religious students. The group mainly consisted of clerics and young, pious men, many of whom had been driven from their homes and had known only war. Their unsparing interpretation of Islam unified their ranks and set them apart from the notoriously corrupt warlords.Baradar fought alongside Mullah Omar as he led the Taliban through its seizure of power in 1996 and its return to an insurgency following the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.During the group's 1996-2001 rule, the president and governing council were based in Kabul. But Baradar spent most of his time in Kandahar, the spiritual capital of the Taliban, and did not have an official government role.The U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, which had been planned and carried out by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida while it was sheltering under Taliban rule. Baradar, Omar and other Taliban leaders fled into neighboring Pakistan.In the ensuing years, the Taliban were able to organize a potent insurgency based in rugged and semi-autonomous tribal areas along the border. Baradar was arrested in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi in 2010 in a joint raid by the CIA and Pakistan's counterterrorism forces.At the time, he had been making peace overtures to Afghanistan's then-President Hamid Karzai, but the U.S. was bent on military victory and it appeared that Pakistan wanted to ensure control over any political process. Baradar's removal empowered more radical leaders within the Taliban who were less open to diplomacy.Karzai later confirmed the overtures to The Associated Press and said he had twice asked the Americans and the Pakistanis to free Baradar but was rebuffed. Baradar himself refused an offer of release in 2013, apparently because the U.S. and Pakistan conditioned it on his cooperation.Karzai, who is now involved in talks with the Taliban about shaping the next government, could once again find himself negotiating with Baradar.By 2018, the Taliban had seized effective control over much of Afghanistan's countryside. The Trump administration, looking for a way out of America's longest war, persuaded Pakistan to release Baradar that year and began pursuing peace talks with the Taliban.Baradar led the Taliban’s negotiating team in Qatar through several rounds of those talks, culminating in a February 2020 peace agreement. He also met with then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Under the deal, the Taliban agreed to halt attacks on international forces and prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a haven for terror groups in return for a full U.S. withdrawal, now planned for the end of the month.Last week, the Taliban pushed into the country's cities, seizing nearly all of the country in matter of days and then rolled virtually unopposed into the capital, Kabul.In his first comment after the capture of Kabul on Sunday, Baradar acknowledged his surprise, saying that “it was never expected that we will have victory in Afghanistan.”Wearing a black turban and vest over a white robe, the bespectacled Baradar looked straight into the camera. “Now comes the test,” he said. “We must meet the challenge of serving and securing our nation, and giving it a stable life going forward.”

Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be one of two deputies to Interim PM. Who is he?

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is the only surviving Taliban leader to have been personally appointed deputy by the late Taliban commander Mullah Mohammed Omar, giving Baradar near-legendary status within the movement. Here are more facts about him.

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Days after eight people were killed in the deadliest terror attack in New York since 9/11, US President Donald Trump today said that “ISIS will pay a big price for every attack on America”.Trump's strong statement came after the Islamic State terror group claimed that the attack on October 31 was carried out on its behalf by a domestically radicalised Uzbek immigrant to the US.Related Stories New York attack: Suspect Saipov ‘did this in the name of ISIS’, say policeNew York terror attack: PM Modi calls US President Trump; offers condolences, condemns terrorismDonald Trump condemns New York attack, says attacker should be put to deathNew York terror attack: Suspect Sayfullo Saipov ‘felt good’ about rampage, asked for ISIS flag in hospital Donald Trump vows to terminate green card lottery after New York attack"ISIS just claimed the Degenerate Animal (sic) who killed, and so badly wounded, the wonderful people on the West Side, was 'their soldier'," Trump said in a tweet."Based on that, the military has hit ISIS 'much harder' over the last two days. They will pay a big price for every attack on us!" Trump said before he boarded Air Force One for his maiden trip to Asia.Trump reiterated his tough message against ISIS just before he boarded Air Force One, on his way to Hawaii – the first stop of his Asia trip."What we're doing is every time we are attacked from this point forward and it took place yesterday, we are hitting them 10 times harder," Trump said."So when we have an animal do an attack like he did the other day on the West Side of Manhattan, we are hitting them 10 times harder," he said."They claim him as a 'soldier', good luck. Every time they hit us, we know it is ISIS, we hit them like you won't believe," he said.

ISIS will pay 'big price' for every attack on US, says Donald Trump

Donald Trump reiterated his tough message against ISIS just before he boarded Air Force One, on his way to Hawaii – the first stop of his Asia trip.

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Mysterious liver illness seen in kids in US, EuropeHealth officials in several countries are investigating mysterious cases of severe liver disease in children, and they think it may be related to a kind of virus usually associated with colds. The U.K. has been investigating at least 74 cases in which children came down with hepatitis, or liver inflammation, the World Health Organization said Friday. Three similar cases in Spain and a few in Ireland are being investigated, the WHO said.Meanwhile, U.S. health officials say they are looking into nine similar cases. All were in Alabama, but officials say they are looking to see if there are more elsewhere.“Given the increase in cases reported over the past one month and enhanced case search activities, more cases are likely to be reported in the coming days,” WHO officials said in a statement.The U.S. children ranged in age from 1 to 6 years old, and two required liver transplants. The European cases are in a similar age range, though some have been older, WHO officials said.The WHO first became aware of the unusual illnesses early this month, when they learned of 10 children in Scotland with liver problems. One got sick in January and the nine others in March. All became severely ill and were diagnosed with hepatitis after being taken to the hospital.The liver processes nutrients, filters the blood and fights infections. The infections caused symptoms like jaundice, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Hepatitis can be life-threatening if left untreated.Since then, British health officials have identified at least 64 more cases. None died, but six needed liver transplants, the WHO said Friday.Laboratory testing has ruled out the hepatitis type A, B, C and E viruses that usually cause such illnesses. Officials say they are not aware of international travel or other factors that might have put the kids at risk.But they noted there's been a recent surge in the spread of adenoviruses.There are dozens of adenoviruses, many of them associated with cold-like symptoms, fever, sore throat and pink eye. But some versions can trigger other problems, including inflammation in the stomach and intestines.Adenoviruses previously have been linked to hepatitis in children, but mostly in kids with weakened immune systems.Some of the European children tested positive for adenovirus, and some tested positive for COVID-19. But more lab work is needed to explore any potential associations with specific viruses, the WHO said.Alabama health officials say they have been looking into an increase in hepatitis in children since November. In each case, the child tested positive for adenovirus. Officials are exploring a link to one particular version — adenovirus 41 — that's normally associated with gut inflammation.None of the Alabama cases had any underlying health conditions that would seem to put them at risk for liver illness, health officials said.“At this time adenovirus may be the cause for these, but investigators are still learning more — including ruling out the more common causes of hepatitis,” the CDC said in a statement. Also Read | Pfizer vaccine less effective against Covid19 in kids aged 5-11: Study

Mysterious liver illness seen in kids in US, Europe; health officials clueless

The WHO first became aware of the unusual illnesses early this month, when they learned of 10 children in Scotland with liver problems.

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Bali reopens to foreign travelers as COVID-19 surge subsidesThe Indonesian resort island of Bali reopened for international travellers to visit its shops and white-sand beaches for the first time in more than a year Thursday — if they’re vaccinated, test negative, hail from certain countries, quarantine and heed restrictions in public.However, foreign visitors may be slow to arrive. No international flights to Bali were scheduled on the first day of the reopening and a tourism official forecast travel would pick up in November.Bali’s airport will welcome new foreign arrivals from 19 countries that meet World Health Organization’s criteria such as having their COVID-19 cases under control, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the government minister who leads the COVID-19 response in Java and Bali, said in a statement late Wednesday.He said all international flight passengers must have proof they’ve been vaccinated two times, test negative for the coronavirus upon arrival in Bali and undergo a 5-day quarantine at designated hotels at their own expense. They’ll also have to follow stringent rules at hotels, in restaurants and on beaches. “We have to do this with caution because we need to stay alert,” Pandjaitan said.President Joko Widodo credited Bali’s high vaccination rate for the decision to reopen. The country’s COVID-19 caseload has also declined considerably; Indonesia has had around 1,000 cases a day in the past week after peaking around 56,000 daily in July.Tourism is the main source of income on the idyllic “island of the gods” that is home to more than 4 million people, who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation. Bali’s tourist areas were deserted two decades ago after visitors were scared off by deadly terror attacks that targeted foreigners, but the island has worked to overcome that image.More than 6 million foreigners arrived in Bali each year prior to the pandemic.Foreign tourist arrivals dropped six-fold from 6.2 million in 2019 to only 1 million in 2020, while 92,000 people employed in tourism lost their jobs and the average room occupancy rate of classified hotels in Bali was below 20%. Statistics Indonesia data showed the island’s economy contracted 9.31% year-on-year last year.After closing the island to all visitors early in the pandemic, Bali reopened to Indonesians from other parts of the country in the middle of last year. That helped the island’s gross domestic product grow a modest 2.83% in the second quarter this year, ending five consecutive quarters of contraction.The July surge, fueled by the delta variant, again totally emptied the island’s normally bustling beaches and streets. Authorities restricted public activities, closed the airport and shuttered all shops, bars, sit-down restaurants, tourist attraction spots and many other places on the island. It reopened to domestic travellers in August.Sang Putu Wibawa, the general manager at Bali’s Tandjung Sari Hotel, said only two of its 40 rooms were occupied on average and he hoped the reopening would help the occupancy rate back to normal.“We have been waiting for this moment for so long,” he said. “This outbreak has hammered the local economy ... we are very excited to welcome foreign guests by observing health protocols.”Widodo said deciding to reopen Bali was based on its high vaccination rate as well as wanting to revive its economy. He said more than 80% of the Bali population has been fully vaccinated.“Based on this situation, I am optimistic and we have decided to reopen international flights to Bali,” Widodo wrote in his official Instagram on Saturday.Overall, 59.4 million of Indonesia’s 270 million people are fully vaccinated and another 43.2 million are partially vaccinated. Indonesia has confirmed more than 4.2 million cases and 142,811 deaths from COVID-19, the most in Southeast Asia.Tourists from 19 countries are now able to visit the Bali and Riau islands provinces — Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, and Norway.The tight timing is one reason tourists were not immediately arriving, said Putu Astawa, head of the Bali Tourism Office Airlines need time to schedule flights to Bali, while tourists need time to arrange travel documents such as tickets, insurance and virus tests as well as their five-day quarantine accommodations. He predicted new visitors would start coming in early November.

Bali reopens to foreign travelers as COVID-19 surge subsides

Tourism is the main source of income on the idyllic “island of the gods” that is home to more than 4 million people, who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation.

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Aung San Suu Kyi made her first visit as Myanmar’s leader on Thursday to the conflict-torn region where more than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled state-led violence that has spiraled into Asia’s worst refugee crisis in decades.Her visit to northern Rakhine state comes as Suu Kyi is under intense international scrutiny for her response to the exodus, which the UN has called ethnic cleansing, and as her government said it is working on a plan to repatriate those who fled to Bangladesh.Related Stories Rohingyas a major security concern, says Bangladesh; wants India to take more initiativesThousands more Rohingya Muslims cross border into BangladeshCrisis in Rakhine reaches beyond Myanmar's borders: UN expertSuu Kyi arrived in the state capital Sittwe in the morning and headed to restive northern Rakhine where many Rohingya villages were located. During a 2015 election campaign, she visited southern Rakhine, where there hasn’t been much conflict.“The state counselor just arrived but she is heading to Maungdaw, northern Rakhine, with the state officials,” said Tin Maung Swe, a deputy director of the Rakhine government, using Suu Kyi’s official title.Government spokesman Zaw Htay would not release Suu Kyi’s plans for the trip until later because of security concerns.More than 600,000 Rohingya from northern Rakhine have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar security forces began what they called a “clearance operations” in response to deadly attacks on police outposts by insurgents. The campaign has included the burning of Rohingya villages and accusations of widespread rights violations.Fleeing Rohingya have described arson, rape and shootings by Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs that left them no option but to make the dangerous and sometimes deadly journey through jungles and then by sea to Bangladesh.The Nobel Peace laureate’s global image has been damaged by the crisis and she has come under intense criticism to do more to end the violence and condemn those responsible. Several fellow peace prize winners have publicly condemned Suu Kyi for what they see as her apparent indifference to the plight of the Rohingya.Though Suu Kyi has been the de facto head of Myanmar’s civilian government since her party swept elections in 2015, the former political prisoner is limited in her control of the country by a constitution written by the junta that ruled Myanmar for decades. The military has effective veto power over all legislation and controls key ministries including those overseeing security and defense.The military is in charge of operations in northern Rakhine and ending them is not up to Suu Kyi.Even when Suu Kyi has spoken on the issue, she has drawn criticism. In a September speech, her first comments after the current crisis began, she asked for patience from the international community and suggested the refugees were partly responsible, saying more than half of the Rohingya villages had not been destroyed by the violence.Suu Kyi faces potential domestic backlash if she speaks on behalf of the Rohingya, who have been the target of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the Buddhist-majority nation. Many among the general public agree with the official government stance that there is no such ethnicity as Rohingya and those in the country have illegally migrated from Bangladesh.Though Rohingya first arrived generations ago, they were stripped of their citizenship in 1982, denying them almost all rights and rendering them stateless. They cannot travel freely, practice their religion, or work as teachers or doctors, and they have little access to medical care, food or education.Myanmar’s backers globally have also had to tread carefully, not wanting to undermine Suu Kyi’s weak civilian government at a time when the country is just emerging from decades of authoritarian rule. Still counties like the U.S. have warned Myanmar about potential repercussions it faces if it doesn’t address the crisis, including the risk of attracting international terrorists, scaring off investment, and ultimately stunting its transition to democracy.The government said Tuesday that it was ready to repatriate Rohingya who had fled, but it blamed Bangladesh for slowing the process.“We are ready to accept the refugees and to start verification and scrutiny process, but we have not reach to an agreement with the Bangladeshi authorities for repatriation,” said Zaw Htay, the government spokesman.It was not clear under what conditions the Rohingya would be allowed to return to Myanmar.

Suu Kyi visits Myanmar's Rakhine state torn by Rohingya conflict

Then Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited troubled Rakhine state for the first time since deadly violence broke out late August forcing over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

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Twitter is not blocking US President Donald Trump for his "nuclear button" tweet that stormed the social media, and many thought raised prospect of nuclear war with North Korea.Trump declared that his nuclear button was "much bigger" and "more powerful" than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's after the latter threatened the US about Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.Related Stories Nuclear button always on my table, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un warns US in New Year’s addressTrump attacks North Korea's Kim Jong, says 'even my table has a nuclear button, and it works too'After North Korean dictator Kim Jong's repeated threats to US, White House questions his mental health"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'nuclear button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food-starved regime please inform him that I too have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.A number of users reported the tweet to Twitter, with the expectation that threatening a war one is capable of starting should violate Twitter's revised "Terms of Service", given the company's recent crackdown on violent threats, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.In December, Twitter began enforcing new rules around violent and hateful content posted to its platform to reduce the amount of online abuse, hate speech, violent threats, and harassment associated with its service."You may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people," as per Twitter's rule about violent threats.But in response to Trump's threat on Twitter, the company said that it reviewed the case and "found that there was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behaviour."Twitter pointed out that tweets can sometimes appear to be abusive when viewed in isolation, but not when they are seen as part of a larger conversation taking place.Moreover, Twitter's rules do not apply to whatever Trump posts because of who he is and the "newsworthiness" of his statements. This, combined with another exception Twitter recently carved out for governments and military, allows Twitter to wash its hands of the matter, TechCrunch said.

Trump's 'nuclear button' threat tweet stormed social media, Twitter fails to block him despite backlash

A number of users reported the tweet to Twitter, with the expectation that threatening a war one is capable of starting should violate Twitter's revised "Terms of Service", given the company's recent crackdown on violent threats, a report said.

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American author George Saunders on Tuesday won the prestigious 2017 Man Booker Prize for his ‘unique’ and ‘extraordinary’ debut novel ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’. Saunders' win was announced by Lola Baroness Young, the chair of the judging committee, at a dinner at London's Guildhall late last night.It is the second year in a row an American has won the prize in its 49-year history, which was opened to US authors in 2014. He was in contention for the prize with two British, one British-Pakistani and two American writers.Saunders was presented with a trophy from the Duchess of Cornwall and a 50,000 pounds cheque by Luke Ellis, Chief Executive of Man Group. Saunders also received a designer bound edition of his book and a further £2,500 for being shortlisted.Saunders thanked his wife, Paula, referring to her as his "precious friend and artistic hero" for supporting him to achieve the "wonderful honour"."If you haven't noticed, we live in a strange time. So the question at the heart of the matter is pretty simple: do we respond to fear with exclusion and negative projection and violence? Or do we take that ancient great leap of faith and do our best to respond with love? And with faith in the idea that what seems other is actually no other at all, but just us on a different day," Saunders said upon receiving the prize."In the US we are hearing a lot about the need to protect culture. Well this tonight is culture, it is international culture, it is compassionate culture, it is activist culture. It is a room full of believers in the word, in beauty and ambiguity and in trying to see the other person's point of view even when that is hard.""The form and style of this utterly original novel reveals a witty, intelligent and deeply moving narrative. This tale of the haunting and haunted souls in the afterlife of Abraham Lincoln's young son paradoxically creates a vivid and lively evocation of the characters that populate this other world. Lincoln in the Bardo is both rooted in, and plays with history, and explores the meaning and experience of empathy," commented Young, 2017 Chair of judges.Young's fellow judges this year were writer and critic Lila Azam Zanganeh, novelist and poet Sarah Hall, the artist and author Tom Phillips, and the travel writer and novelist Colin Thubron"Lincoln in the Bardo" focuses on a single night in the life of Abraham Lincoln: an actual moment in 1862 when the body of his 11-year-old son was laid to rest in a Washington cemetery. Strangely and brilliantly, Saunders activates this graveyard with the spirits of its dead.The novel is published by Bloomsbury, making it the third consecutive year the prize has been won by an independent publisher, following Oneworld Publications' success in 2015 with Marlon James and 2016 with Paul Beatty. Bloomsbury has won the prize thrice before with Howard Jacobson (2010), Margaret Atwood (2000) and Michael Ondaatje (1992).The judges considered 144 submissions for this year's prize. The books losing out on the prize were "4321" by Paul Auster (US), "Elmet" by Fiona Mozley (UK), "Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid (UK-Pakistan), "History of Wolves" by Emily Fridlund (US) and "Autumn" by Ali Smith (UK).

American author George Saunders wins 2017 Man Booker Prize for ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’

It is the second year in a row an American has won the prize in its 49-year history, which was opened to US authors in 2014.

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Afghanistani Media Network confirms arrest of two journalists by TalibanThe Afghan media network has confirmed the arrest of two journalists -- Wares Hasrat and Aslam Hejab, by the Taliban. Both the journalists work for Ariana TV, a senior corresponded at Iran International News has said. Taking to Twitter, the correspondent said, "the Taliban didn't say why they arrested them but last night in one of the Ariana TV's programs, a guest criticised the Taliban and their behaver."Notably, The Free Speech Hub, an organization supporting open media in Afghanistan, in a statement said that the two reporters -- Aslam Hejab and Waris Hasrat were arrested by the Taliban on Monday and so far the reasons for their arrest remain unknown.Furthermore, the European Union, Amnesty International and UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) have called upon the Taliban to provide information about the case of two Ariana News reporters.On Tuesday, Amnesty International said that the arrest of the two journalists was "unjustifiable" and called on the Islamic Emirate to release them."Such escalating attacks on media freedom are a grave threat to the right to freedom of expression. The Taliban must unconditionally and immediately release them," Amnesty International said in a tweet.The EU ambassador to Afghanistan, Andreas von Brandt, also reacted to the arrest of the journalists. "Still hard to grasp why those you claim to work for justice and better governance don't respect journalists working to improve transparency, governance and justice in Afghanistan," he tweeted. (With inputs from ANI)Also Read | 7 killed, 9 injured in minivan bomb blast, Taliban officials say /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_2744211472 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/09/0_oakngccu/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_oakngccu_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Afghanistan faces food crisis under Taliban`s new government", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "161", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_2744211472 = ''; jwsetup_2744211472(); function jwsetup_2744211472() { jwvidplayer_2744211472 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_2744211472").setup(jwconfig_2744211472); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_2744211472, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_oakngccu\", ns_st_pr=\"Afghanistan faces food crisis under Taliban`s new government\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Afghanistan faces food crisis under Taliban`s new government\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Afghanistan faces food crisis under Taliban`s new government\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-09-17\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-09-17\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/09/0_oakngccu/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_2744211472.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_2744211472.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_2744211472.stop(); jwvidplayer_2744211472.remove(); jwvidplayer_2744211472 = ''; jwsetup_2744211472(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_2744211472.stop(); jwvidplayer_2744211472.remove(); jwvidplayer_2744211472 = ''; jwsetup_2744211472(); return; }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_2744211472.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }

Taliban arrest two journalists; reasons remain unknown: Afghan media

On Tuesday, Amnesty International said that the arrest of the two journalists was "unjustifiable" and called on the Islamic Emirate to release them.

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China's official media on Tuesday denounced as “groundless” report by a Pakistani TV channel that claimed the death of 158 Indian soldiers in Chinese firing on the border in Sikkim. The reaction comes just a day after New Delhi termed the report as “utterly baseless, malicious and mischievous”. Dunya News, an Urdu-language television channel in Pakistan, reported yesterday that at least 158 Indian soldiers were killed on Monday as China fired rockets across the border in Sikkim on Indian border installations. India's External Affairs Ministry on Monday rejected the report saying that no cognisance should be taken of these reports by responsible media.“Such reports are utterly baseless, malicious and mischievous,” MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in response to a query on reports in Pakistani media.On Tuesday, China’s official and mainstream media denied the report, citing official sources. Chinese media outlets have carried out a series of investigations, claiming that the fake news should not be taken seriously, reported People’s Daily online.People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of Chinese Communist Party, said that the Chinese embassy in India had noticed the report and has denounced its authenticity. The Global Times also published a report on Tuesday, calling the Pakistani media report "groundless and fake."Chinese authorities have officially not responded to the incident yet, while the fake news article is still posted on Dunya News’ website.Dunya news cited a two-minute video footage that was broadcasted by the China Central Television (CCTV). The video footage showed the Chinese soldiers attacking an Indian posts using rocket launchers, machine guns, and mortars.The report came amid heightened tension between Indian and Pakistan at the border in Doklam sector. The stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam along the Bhutan-Sikkim-China tri-junction emerged after Chinese troops were stopped by the Indian Army from constructing roads in the area.

‘Groundless and fake’, says Chinese media on Pak TV channel's report of death of 158 Indian soldiers in Sikkim

Dunya News, an Urdu-language television channel in Pakistan, reported yesterday that at least 158 Indian soldiers were killed on Monday as China fired rockets across the border in Sikkim.

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The suspected suicide bomber behind the attack at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester Arena which killed 22 people and injured dozens has been identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. Born in Manchester in 1994, Abedi was a business student who dropped out of the university, says a media report. Abedi was the second youngest of four children of a devoutly Islamic Libyan family who came to UK to escape the Gaddafi regime, a report in The Telegraph said. It is believed that he was known to the security services and had turned to radical Islam in recent years. It is quite surprising that the 22-year-old who carried out the deadly terror attack worshipped at a suburban mosque, where his father was a well-known face who sometimes performed the call to prayer. "The perpetrator was Salman Ramadan Abedi, who was born and brought up in Britain," British Prime Minister Theresa May said, condemning his actions as "callous and cowardly".According to The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Abedi’s family have lived in the Fallowfield area of south Manchester for at least 10 years. One member of Manchester’s Libyan community told The Guardian newspaper that Abedi was a quiet boy, and was always respectful towards him. “His brother Ismael is outgoing, but Salman was very quiet. He is such an unlikely person to have done this,” he said. The Times newspaper cited Abedi’s school friend saying that he had recently returned from Libya. He left three weeks ago and returned in the last few days. Police said that they were trying to ascertain whether Abedi worked alone, or acted as part of a larger network. Abedi's family was closely linked to the Didsbury Mosque, a Victorian former Methodist chapel in a leafy suburb that was bought in 1967 by donors from the Syrian Arab community.His father Ramadan had sometimes performed the call to prayer and his brother Ismael had been a volunteer.    One senior figure from the mosque, Mohammed Saeed, told The Guardian that on one occasion when he gave a sermon denouncing terror, Abedi stared him down."Salman showed me a face of hate after that sermon," Mohammed Saeed said, recalling his encounter with Abedi in 2015. "He was showing me hatred."The Press Association news agency cited a source saying that Abedi began studying business and management at Salford University in Manchester in 2014, but dropped out after two years and did not complete his degree. Abedi used an improvised explosive device, apparently packed with metal, to kill people in the concert and end his own life. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility of the attack. The terror group said that “a soldier of the caliphate planted bombs in the middle of Crusaders gatherings” and then detonated them. It did not say whether the attacker was killed. The claim, however, could not be verified, top US intelligence official Dan Coats said.   

Manchester Arena blast: Who was Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber behind deadly terror attack?

The suspected suicide bomber behind the attack at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester Arena which killed 22 people and injured dozens has been identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi

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Photo for representation only.An Afghan official says at least six civilians were shot and killed by gunmen in western Ghor province on Tuesday morning. Iqbal Nezami, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said that four other civilians were wounded after their vehicle was attacked near Faroz Koh, the provincial capital.The victims were all ethnic Hazaras, a Shia minority in Afghanistan that is frequently targeted by Sunni extremists in different parts of the country. Nezami says the Hazaras were travelling from Herat, another western province, to Ghor when they came under attack.   No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Taliban and militants from the rival Islamic State terror group are active in Ghor and have previously claimed attacks in the province. (AP)

Afghanistan: Gunmen attack vehicle, kill 6 civilian in Ghor province

The victims were all ethnic Hazaras, a Shia minority in Afghanistan that is frequently targeted by Sunni extremists in different parts of the country.

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The United States today said that the Trump Administration ‘is closely and carefully following the border standoff between India and China’. Addressing the media here, State Department Spokesman Heather Nauert urged the two countries to engage in dialogue to ‘reduce tension’."This is a situation that we are following closely and carefully. I'd have to refer you to the governments of India and China for more information on that," Nauert told reporters.Responding to a question, she said that the ‘Indians and Chinese are talking on those issues’. "They're going to talk to one another," she said ahead of the Beijing visit of the National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval to attend the BRICS meeting on July 27 and 28."We would encourage them to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing tensions," Nauert added.India yesterday said it is ready for talks with China with both sides first pulling back their armies to end the tense standoff in the Sikkim sector, stressing the need for a "peaceful resolution" of border issues. China, however, said that diplomatic channels with India remained "unimpeded" to discuss the military standoff but reiterated that the withdrawal of the Indian troops from Doklam area is a "precondition" for any meaningful dialogue.Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a faceoff in Dokalam area in the southernmost part of Tibet in an area also claimed by Indian ally Bhutan for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China claimed it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops.

‘Closely and carefully’ following India-China standoff, says US

Addressing the media here, State Department Spokesman Heather Nauert urged the two countries to engage in dialogue to ‘reduce tension’.

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Breaking News December 2 LIVEThe total number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed 64 million, including 1,486,609 fatalities. As many as 44,437,980 patients are reported to have recovered. Follow this breaking news blog for live updates on the coronavirus pandemic as it continues to pose a challenge for health workers and scientists who are in a race against time to produce a vaccine/medicine.IndiaTvNews.com brings you the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis that has resulted in job losses in millions and changing the way we work. Stay Home, Stay Safe, and Stay Informed as our team of dedicated editors/reporters bring you the latest news on coronavirus, coronavirus vaccine trial updates, photos, video, news, views and top stories from monsoon rains, business, politics, education, science, yoga, and much more in India and worldwide.

Breaking News December 2 | Highlight

Get all the latest news on coronavirus cases, news on the vaccine, business, politics, science, education and much more in India and worldwide.

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US man robs bank, throws money in air shouting 'Merry Christmas'An elderly man with a white beard robbed a bank and threw unaccounted cash into the air while shouting 'Merry Christmas' to passersby. The man identified as David Wayne Oliver, 65, reportedly robbed a Colorado bank.David was arrested at a nearby Starbucks coffee shop after he held up the Academy Bank in Colorado Springs on Monday afternoon. He was being held on $10,000 bond for allegedly robbing a Colorado bank and throwing the stolen cash into the air. Police said the suspect had "threatened the use of a weapon” and left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash.He stole an undisclosed amount of money but then bizarrely spilt it into the air, according to witnesses.A police spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment, but Colorado Springs television station KKTV reported that eyewitness Dion Pascale recounted Oliver stepped outside the bank and tossed the money “all over the place.”“He started throwing money out of the bag" before yelling, "Merry Christmas,” the TV station quoted Pascale as saying.Pascale said bystanders retrieved some of the money and returned it to the bank as Oliver walked to the Starbucks, sat down and appeared to be waiting for police to arrest him, KKTV reported.The Denver Post quoted police as saying “thousands of dollars” remained unaccounted for, adding there was no indication Oliver used a weapon in the heist.Oliver, pictured in police mug shots with grey-and-white hair and a full white beard, is being held at the El Paso County jail and is set to make his first court appearance on Thursday, jail records showed. It was not clear from the records if he has an attorney.

US man robs bank, throws stolen money in air shouting 'Merry Christmas'

An elderly man with a white beard robbed a bank and threw unaccounted cash into the air while shouting 'Merry Christmas' to passersby. The man identified as David Wayne Oliver, 65, reportedly robbed a Colorado bank.

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Punjab govt not to extend bail granted to Nawaz Sharif to treatment abroadPakistan's Punjab government on Tuesday decided not to extend the bail granted on medical grounds to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in London for treatment, according to media reports. Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said the Punjab Cabinet decided that there was "no legal, moral or medical basis without any concrete proof" for the further extension of the bail to the 70-year-old leader.Amid bickering between the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the three-time prime minister left for London for medical treatment on November 19, 2019. On December 23, he sought an extension in his stay abroad on the expiry of the four-week period granted by the Lahore High Court. Following this, the Punjab government constituted a four-member committee to decide on it and sought fresh medical reports to make an "informed decision".Addressing a press conference alongside other members of the Punjab Cabinet, including provincial health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, Basharat said: "The committee has decided that Nawaz Sharif's bail can't be extended further." He explained that the Lahore High Court order said Sharif was granted bail for eight weeks. However, a further eight weeks had passed since then as discussions were underway, the minister said."Till the Punjab government had not made a decision, this bail was to be automatically extended, therefore it was extended for 16 weeks," he said. After the passage of 16 weeks, Basharat said the provincial government wanted to be informed about developments regarding Sharif's health on the basis of which a decision to extend his bail could be made."Till today he (Nawaz) has not been admitted in any hospital in London," Basharat said, adding that nothing specific had been shared with the government regarding the PML-N supremo's health. Basharat said the Punjab government would now share its decision with the federal government, which will decide on the matter.In January, a picture of Sharif at a London restaurant along with some members of his family had surfaced on social media, raising questions about the condition of the former premier's health. Following this, on January 15, the Punjab government rejected Sharif's medical reports which had been submitted on December 23.Once again on January 30, the Punjab government asked Sharif to submit fresh medical reports so that a decision on his request seeking more time abroad could be made. ALSO READ | 60 new Coronavirus cases in South Korea; China death toll mounts to 2,442 ALSO READ | Over 80,000 people globally affected by new virus. Here's nation-wise data

Punjab govt not to extend bail granted to Nawaz Sharif to treatment abroad

Pakistan's Punjab government on Tuesday decided not to extend the bail granted on medical grounds to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in London for treatment, according to media reports.

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A file photo of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini (AP)Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday warned India of "isolation from the world of Islam" if it failed to stop the "massacre of Muslims," in a stern warning apparently delivered in the context of the last week's sectarian clashes in the National Capital that have left at least 53 persons dead."The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The government of India should confront extremist Hindus and their parties and stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam," Iran's Supreme leader said in a tweet.The threat from the top Iranian leader comes days after Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif hit out at New Delhi over the "wave of organised violence against Indian Muslims." "Iran condemns the wave of organised violence against Indian Muslims. For centuries, Iran has been a friend of India. We urge Indian authorities to ensure the well-being of ALL Indians and not let senseless thuggery prevail. Path forward lies in peaceful dialogue and rule of law," Zarif said in a tweet.The comments had evoked a sharp reaction from the Ministry of External Affairs, which termed the remarks as "unwarranted."At least 268 FIRs have been filed Delhi Police and close to a 1,000 persons arrested in the worst bout of violence in the National Capital since the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.According to a conservative estimate, close to 20,000 persons, mostly residents of Delhi's north-east district, have been rendered homeless in the riots.Also read: Iran frees 54,000 prisoners to curb spread of Covid-19 

Iran's Supreme Leader warns India of "isolation" from Islamic world if "massacre of Muslims" not checked

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday warned India of "isolation from the world of Islam" if it failed to stop the "massacre of Muslims"

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Indonesia landslideAt least 15 persons were killed in the landslide which has hit Indonesia's Java province, authorities said.According to a government official, around 20 persons are still missing in the Monday landslide which hit Sukabumi district, burying more than 30 houses, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. Rescuers are trying to recover the victims, however, they face a threat of another landslide, spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said late on Tuesday."Four other small scale landslides occurred. The loose soil texture and unstable earth conditions have endangered the rescuers, particularly when it rains," he said.Heavy rainfall was blamed for the disaster.Floods and landslides affect Indonesia every year during the rainy season, which lasts from December to February.

15 killed in Indonesia landslide

According to a government official, around 20 persons are still missing in the Monday landslide which hit Sukabumi district, burying more than 30 houses, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

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President Donald Trump predicted a “fantastic 2018” on Sunday night as he strolled down a red carpet to bid farewell to 2017 with an exclusive bash at his private club.Accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and son Barron, a tuxedoed Trump spoke to reporters as he entered the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago. He said the stock market will continue to rise and that companies are going to continue to come into the U.S.Asked for his reaction to North Korea leader Kim Jon Un’s remarks about having a nuclear button on his desk, Trump responded by saying, “We’ll see.”Guests gathered in the ballroom included senior White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.Earlier in the day, Trump capped 2017 with a video self-tribute touching on what he sees as the high points of his achievements and rhetoric from his first year in office. He gave a plug to American exceptionalism, too.President Donald Trump arrives for a New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort with first lady Melania Trump and their son BarronIn the video running 3½ minutes, scenes of Trump with military personnel, Border Patrol agents and other world leaders are set to a stirring soundtrack as he declares of his country: “We gave birth to the modern world and we will shape tomorrow’s world with the strength and skill of American hands.”Trump cited his success in placing a justice on the Supreme Court, his efforts to cut regulations and his big win on overhauling taxes, which he falsely described as the “largest tax cut in the history of our country.”Trump offered the video with a New Year’s Eve message: “What a year it’s been, and we’re just getting started. Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Happy New Year!!”President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who he invited to play golf, at Trump International Golf Club, FridayHe later offered another Twitter message, loaded with his signature bombast: “As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!”The White House said Trump been briefed on New Year’s Eve security precautions around the country and will continue to monitor those efforts.Trump offered his condolences Sunday to the victims of a shooting in suburban Denver that killed one sheriff’s deputy and wounded six other people, including four deputies. He tweeted: “We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all!”Trump had lunch with Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Sunday. The White House said they discussed hurricane recovery efforts, the need to improve infrastructure “and many other matters important to the people of Florida.”The governor came with some specific concerns: the need for repairs to the federally operated Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee and the recovery of Florida’s citrus industry from Hurricane Irma, said his spokesman, John Tupps.Trump has encouraged Scott to challenge Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, in 2018. Scott said in December that he had not made up his mind, though there have been multiple signs he is considering a run.

Donald Trump rings in ‘fantastic’ new year at Palm Beach club

Trump had lunch with Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Sunday. The White House said they discussed hurricane recovery efforts, the need to improve infrastructure “and many other matters important to the people of Florida.”

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2 dead, 8 injured in Pak explosionTwo people were killed and eight others injured in an explosion near a football ground in Pakistan's Balochistan province, an official said on Sunday.The explosion took place in Panjgur district when players of two teams and spectators were leaving the ground after a game, provincial spokesman Liaquat Shahwani told Xinhua news agency.He added that the injured included boys of a high school who were playing and watching the match.Several of them were in critical condition."The resolve of the provincial government to eliminate militancy cannot be deterred by such cowardly acts. The elements involved in the attack will be nabbed and brought to books," Shahwani said.Speaking to Xinhua, police sources said that the explosion was triggered by an improvised explosive device planted on a motorbike.Two vehicles were also damaged in the powerful explosion, the sources added.An inquiry into the incident was underway.No group or individual has claimed the attack.

2 dead, 8 injured in Pak explosion

The explosion took place in Panjgur district when players of two teams and spectators were leaving the ground after a game, provincial spokesman Liaquat Shahwani said.

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Indian school teacher becomes first foreigner to contract coronavirus in ChinaA 45-year-old Indian school teacher in the Chinese city of Shenzhen is undergoing treatment for a Streptococcal infection which was initially suspected to be a case of the mysterious SARS-like coronavirus prevalent in the country.Coronaviruses are a broad family of viruses, but only six are known to infect people. At the mild end, they cause the common cold, but SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a coronavirus that killed nearly 650 people in China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.Preeti Maheshwari, a teacher at an international school in Shenzhen, is being treated for Streptococcal infection, her husband Ashuman Khowal told PTI from Shenzhen.He said the doctors said she was being treated for the infection in the intensive care unit and is currently on a ventilator and other supporting systems. Initially it was suspected that Maheshwari may have been suffering from a new type of coronavirus. Khowal, however, clarified that his wife had been diagnosed as having Streptococcal infection.Chinese city of Wuhan is currently under the grip of a new mysterious viral pneumonia. According to the official media reports, tentative diagnosis of the pneumonia is caused by a coronavirus. The virus has caused alarm in China because of its connection to SARS.According to the reports from Wuhan, where the virus started surfacing few weeks ago, 17 new cases have been reported, taking the total number of cases to 62.A total of 19 people have been cured and discharged from the hospital, and the rest remain in isolation receiving treatment, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.Two people in Shenzhen are currently in quarantine at the Third People's Hospital, which specialises in the treatment of infectious diseases, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.India on Friday issued an advisory to its nationals visiting China following a second death due to the outbreak of the new strain of pneumonia in the Chinese city of Wuhan where over 500 Indian medical students are studying."An infection with a novel coronavirus has been reported from China. As on 11th January, 2020, 41 confirmed cases have been reported so far," said the travel warning issued by India.Travel-related cases have been reported, one each in Thailand and Japan. Over 500 Indian students study in the Wuhan city's medical colleges of the Chinese universities. Most of them appear to have left for home for the Chinese New Year holidays.The clinical signs and symptoms of coronavirus infection are mainly fever with a few patients having difficulty in breathing, the Indian travel warning said. Mode of transmission is unclear as of now. However, so far there is little evidence of significant human-to-human transmission, it said.The patients showed symptoms such as fever or cough, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said. Epidemiological investigations into the 17 new cases are underway and close contacts are being traced, the authority said, adding that Wuhan will continue to expand the search area, identify suspected cases and conduct sampling tests.Epidemiological analysis of the previously published cases found that some cases had no exposure to Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which is believed to be related to most of the infected cases. It has been temporarily closed while disinfection is carried out, the Xinhua report said.A total of 681 among 763 close contacts who were placed under medical observation have been released. No cases were found among the close contacts. 

Indian school teacher undergoes treatment for Streptococcal infection in China

A 45-year-old Indian school teacher in the Chinese city of Shenzhen is undergoing treatment for a Streptococcal infection which was initially suspected to be a case of the mysterious SARS-like coronavirus prevalent in the country.

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This Nov. 5, 1996 file photo shows fashion-wildlife photographer Peter Beard during the opening of his exhibition at the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris. Beard has been found dead three weeks after being reported missing from his cliff-side home at the tip of Long Island. Artist, adventurer and celebrated wildlife photographer Peter Beard was found dead in woods near his cliff-side home at the tip of Long Island nearly a month after his family reported him missing. He was 82. “He died where he lived: in nature,” his family said in a statement posted on Beard’s website Sunday night. In recent years, the once-swashbuckling explorer had developed dementia and had at least one stroke, according to the New York Times. His family confirmed that a body found Sunday in Camp Hero State Park in Montauk was Beard’s.The Suffolk County Medical Examiner hasn’t made an official identification but East Hampton Police Capt. Christopher Anderson said Monday “we’re reasonably confident” it’s Beard. He said the cause of death hasn’t been determined but neither foul play nor suicide is suspected.“Peter defined what it means to be open: open to new ideas, new encounters, new people, new ways of living and being,” his family said in its statement. “Always insatiably curious, he pursued his passions without restraints and perceived reality through a unique lens.”Beard was renowned for his photos of African wildlife, taken in the decades when he lived and worked at his tent camp in Kenya. His best-known work was “The End of the Game,” published in 1965. It documented the beauty and romance of Africa and the tragedy of its endangered wildlife, especially the elephant.He also photographed women in magazine fashion shoots and had well-documented romances with many of them, including Candice Bergen and Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, according to the New York Times. He was married for a time to model Cheryl Tiegs and was friends with Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Salvador Dali and the Rolling Stones.Beard was born into a wealthy family in Manhattan in 1938 and graduated in 1961 from Yale, where he studied with the artist Josef Albers and art historian Vincent Scully.After graduation, he travelled to Denmark and met and photographed Karen Blixen, who had written the memoir “Out of Africa” under the pen name Isak Dinesen. He later bought 45 acres abutting the African coffee farm where Blixen had lived.Beard is survived by his wife Nejma Beard, and daughter Zara.Also Read | Chinese mainland reports 11 new confirmed COVID-19 casesAlso Read | Coronavirus death toll crosses 1,70,000-mark globally; total cases nearing 2.5 million​

Wildlife photographer Peter Beard found dead near his home in New York

Peter Beard was born into a wealthy family in Manhattan in 1938 and graduated in 1961 from Yale, where he studied with the artist Josef Albers and art historian Vincent Scully.

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Four Indians arrested for entering US illegallyFour Indians were among six people arrested by the US border authority here for entering the country illegally, officials said. US Border Patrol agents from the Massena Border Patrol Station arrested the six individuals in connection to a failed smuggling attempt last week. The border patrol agents stopped a vehicle and found that four of the occupants were citizens of India who entered the US illegally and not at a designated port of entry.A second vehicle involved was also stopped. All occupants from both the vehicles were transported to the Border Patrol Station for processing, the officials said.The drivers of both the vehicle were charged with felony alien smuggling, a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison. Two of the arrested were charged with improper entry by alien."We have seen an increase in the amount of cross border activity over the last several months, leading to the arrest of several alien smugglers attempting to take advantage of the unique geographical make-up of the Massena Station's area of operation," Patrol Agent In-charge of Massena Station Wade Laughman said.US Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the nation's borders at and between official ports of entry.

Four Indians arrested for entering US illegally

Four Indians were among six people arrested by the US border authority here for entering the country illegally, officials said. US Border Patrol agents from the Massena Border Patrol Station arrested the six individuals in connection to a failed smuggling attempt last week.

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Russia invites US for upcoming talks on Afghanistan.  Russia has invited a US delegation to participate in the talks on Afghanistan slated to take place in Moscow on October 20, a top official said in Moscow.Moscow is also currently considering a proposal by Iran on hosting in Tehran a meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbours, Xinhua news agency quoted Zamir Kabulov, Russia's Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan, as saying on Friday.A day earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian assistance will be high on the agenda of the multilateral talks.Russia has also invited Taliban representatives to the meeting.The Moscow-format consultations on Afghanistan were launched in 2017 on the basis of the six-party mechanism for consultations among representatives from Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran and India.The first round of the consultations took place on April 14, 2017 and were attended by the Deputy Foreign Ministers and representatives of 11 countries, namely Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. 

Russia invites United States for upcoming talks on Afghanistan

A day earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian assistance will be high on the agenda of multilateral talks.

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IMF team in Pak to review performance.An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team has arrived in Islamabad to conduct the first quarterly review of Pakistans performance under its $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) finalised in May this year.The successful completion of the first review would enable Islamabad to draw about $453 million from the Fund in first part of December, taking the total amount to almost $1.44 billion. The IMF had made in July this year an upfront disbursement of $991 million on completion of all prior actions committed by Pakistan before signing the fund programme, Dawn news reported on Monday.The visiting team led by Mission Chief to Pakistan Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo will hold technical discussions with authorities from all the ministries, divisions and departments concerned to examine the latest data before winding up its trip on November 7 with policy-level talks with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Reza Baqir.The first quarterly review is expected to be completed on a positive note as authorities have generally shown good performance on most of the structural benchmarks and performance criteria set for the first quarter ending September 2019.Authorities in Islamabad said they were comfortable with overall progress on the fund programme in the first quarter as its revenue shortfall had been more than compensated by higher than estimated non-tax revenues supported by licence fees provided by telecom companies.They said the government had put on hold issuance of fresh guarantees to the power and gas companies to stay within the IMF benchmarks despite pressing needs.ALSO READ | IMF sees Indian economic growth rebounding to 7 pc next fiscalALSO READ | IMF says corporate income tax cut will help revive investment in India

IMF team in Pakistan to review performance

The successful completion of the first review would enable Islamabad to draw about $453 million from the Fund in first part of December, taking the total amount to almost $1.44 billion. The IMF had made in July this year an upfront disbursement of $991 million on completion of all prior actions committed by Pakistan before signing the fund programme, Dawn news reported on Monday.

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Italy registers 201,505 coronavirus cases, death toll at 27,359The total death toll due to novel coronavirus has claimes more than 27,000 lives. As of today, Italy's death toll stood at 27,359, bringing the total number of cases, including fatalities and recoveries, so far to 201,505, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.The Civil Protection Department on Tuesday confirmed that there were 2,091 new active coronavirus infections compared to Monday, bringing the nationwide total to 105,205, Xinhua reported.Of those infected, 1,863 are in intensive care -- down by 93 compared to Monday, and 19,723 are hospitalized in normal wards -- down by 630. The rest, or 79 percent of those who tested positive, are in isolation at home.The death toll from the coronavirus among Italy's doctors rose to 152 as of Tuesday, said the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCeO). The toll includes retired doctors who have returned to the front line in the virus battle.Italy's National Health Institute (ISS) said 20,618 health-care workers have been infected as of Monday, accounting for about 10 per cent of the country's total accumulated infections.Italy entered into a national lockdown on March 10 to contain the pandemic. The lockdown, expected to last until May 3, will be followed by a so-called "Phase Two," which involves the gradual resumption of social, economic and productive activities.Beginning May 4, the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors can resume work. Following them are retailers, museums, galleries, and libraries on May 18, and bars, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on June 1. All businesses will have to follow rigorous workplace safety protocols.(With Inputs from IANS)ALSO READ | Governor of Pakistan's Sindh tests COVID-19 positiveALSO READ | COVID-19 death toll in US crosses 56,000-mark; Trump raises forecast to 70,000 

Coronavirus cases in Italy surge past 2 lakh-mark; death toll at 27,359

The total death toll due to novel coronavirus has claimes more than 27,000 lives. As of today, Italy's death toll stood at 27,359, bringing the total number of cases, including fatalities and recoveries, so far to 201,505, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on Friday.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who is on a two-day Myanmar visit met the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on Friday.Seven agreements pertaining to several bilateral issues were signed in their presence.Mrs Swaraj arrived in Myanmar on Thursday. Over the two-day visit, the minister will hold talks with the country's top leadership on important bilateral and regional issues including the Rohingya refugee crisis.More than 6,70,000 Rohingyas, a mainly Muslim minority group, have fled Rakhine since August following a violent crackdown by the country’s security forces. They have been denied citizenship in Myanmar and are classified as illegal immigrants. The refugees have accused the troops of rape, torture, arson and murder. The United Nations has called the violence an attempt at “ethnic cleansing”.In December last year, India had sanctioned Rs 168 crore for the development of the north-western province of Rakhine. On Wednesday, India sent its second relief consignment to Bangladesh to help the displaced Rohingyas.Earlier in the day, she also met Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. On May 10, she met the President of Myanmar Win Myint in Naypyidaw.Her visit is a part of the ongoing high-level interaction between the governments of India and Myanmar, according to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement.The visit comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in September last year

External Affars Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Myanmar's State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, ink bilateral ties

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who is on a two-day Myanmar visit met the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on Friday.

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Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Monday, April 20, 2020, in Washington.An executive order will be signed to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. The decision comes in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 1,60,000 lives from across the world. Announcing the suspension of immigration to the United States, Trump took to Twitter and said, "In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!"Trump, however, offered no details as to what immigration programs might be affected by the order. The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trump’s tweeted announcement.Trump has taken credit for his restrictions on travel to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries, arguing it contributed to slowing the spread of the virus in the U.S. However, he has yet to extend those restrictions to other nations now experiencing virus outbreaks. Due to the pandemic, almost all visa processing by the State Department, including immigrant visas, has been suspended for weeks.More than 750,000 Americans have come down with COVID-19 and more than 42,000 have died. Also Read | China rejects Trump’s demand to allow US team to Wuhan to probe coronavirusAlso Read | US wants to send team of experts inside China for COVID-19 probe: Trump​

Trump to suspend immigration into United States due to coronavirus

"In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!", Donald Trump wrote on Twitter.

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 30-year scandal: Did Italian priest father a Kenyan boy?When Sabina Losirkale went into labor, her sister Scolastica recalls, priests and religious sisters filled the delivery ward waiting to see the color of the baby’s skin — and if their worst fears had come to pass.Scolastica and dozens of villagers peered in from behind the clinic fence, as well.A nun screamed. The boy was white — “a mzungu child,” Scolastica said, using Kiswahili slang.“How will we cover up this shame?” the sisters fretted, she recalled.The shame that brought this baby into the world: An Italian missionary priest, her family alleges, impregnated this Kenyan girl when she was just 16. But the nuns need not have worried about the scandal spreading.The priest — who to this day denies paternity — was transferred, and a Kenyan man was found for Sabina to marry. He would be listed as the father on the boy’s birth certificate.The church’s efforts to conceal what is alleged to have happened here would stretch over three decades — a testament to the extraordinary ways in which church officials have dealt with accusations that priests in the developing world have had sex with girls and young women. Here, the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis is just beginning to force a reckoning.The boy who was born to Sabina Losirkale on that day in 1989 has been an outcast of sorts for all of his life. Tall and light-skinned, with wavy hair, Gerald Erebon, now 30, looks nothing like the dark-skinned Kenyan man who he was told was his father, or like his black mother and siblings.“According to my birth certificate, it is like I am living a wrong life, a lie,” he said. “I just want to have my identity, my history.”Amid the torrent of sex abuse accusations that have rocked the priesthood, little attention has been paid to the pregnancies resulting from those illicit acts. And nowhere is this a more glaring issue than in Africa.While there are no official statistics, experts point to a “culture of silence and compromise” that has allowed abuses of all kinds to fester in African society, said Augusta Muthigani, in charge of education for the Kenyan bishops’ conference.“Matters of sexuality are not discussed openly,” she said.The continent has long lagged behind the United States, Europe and Australia in confronting the problem of priests having sex with children, given the church’s priorities here have focused on fighting poverty, conflict and traffickers who sell children off to war or work.Recently, East African bishops established regional child protection standards and guidelines to prevent child sexual abuse. And in parts of Francophone West Africa, the Catholic Church has launched safeguarding programs for society at large.Those initiatives, though, are relatively new, scattershot and underfunded. And eight months after Pope Francis summoned bishops from around the world for a summit to insist that clergy sexual abuse prevention be a priority for the universal church going forward, African bishops made no mention of it in their final declaration after a continent-wide assembly in July. All in a region where advocates say Catholic clergy routinely violate their vows of celibacy, including with children.The Rev. Mario Lacchin encountered Sabina Losirkale when she was a student at the Gir Gir Primary School in Archer’s Post, a dusty town on the highway to Ethiopia. The school was established by the Consolata Missionaries religious order, which had come to Archer’s Post to spread the faith to the semi-nomadic tribes of Kenya’s northern Rift Valley.Growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, the Losirkale girls and two cousins were often left on their own; their parents were poor shepherds and spent days away from home, seeking pasture in the bush for their animals.Starting about a year before she turned 16, Sabina skipped afterschool sports to go to the priests’ quarters to do housework, cooking and cleaning for the parish priests. Scolastica recalls she would sometimes see Sabina and Lacchin hugging as they said goodbye.Other times, Scolastica said, Sabina would come home from Lacchin’s house crying and asking for Scolastica to fetch water so she could bathe. Some nights she didn’t come home at all.At the time, the priest was in his early 50s.“I think Father Mario was taking advantage of my sister,” said the 45-year-old widow, looking through family photos in her one-bedroom, mud-brick home. “He bribed her with gifts, food, clothes. He was even buying us books. My sister used to come with books, pens, all we needed.”One night, Sabina vomited. It was the first indication that she was pregnant.Their parents were shocked and angry. They demanded to know who the father was.Lacchin was quietly transferred to a nearby mission; his driver and a catechist at Archer’s Post, Benjamin Ekwam, was chosen to marry Sabina.Nevertheless, people talked.“You know, it was very shameful in the community,” Scolastica said. “If someone wanted a child, a girl, they just married. So this was just an embarrassment to the whole community.”Sabina was just 16 when she gave birth March 12, 1989. She had conceived a few weeks after her 16th birthday. In Kenya, the legal age of consent was and is 18.The Vatican doesn’t publish statistics about the number of priests who have fathered children. The Holy See only publicly admitted that it’s a problem this year, and only then because it was compelled to acknowledge that it had crafted internal guidelines to deal with it.The man behind the disclosure was Vincent Doyle, an Irish psychotherapist and son of a priest who in 2014 launched an online resource, Coping International, to help children of priests.Doyle has been a thorn in the side of the Vatican ever since, seeking to raise awareness through the media about the plight of these children, who often suffer emotionally and psychologically. He has also begun advocating for their mothers, some of whom were just girls when they conceived.In recent months, he has forwarded three such cases to the Vatican: those of Erebon and of children born of a 17-year-old in Cameroon and a 15-year-old in the United Kingdom.All told, Doyle believes priests’ children number in the thousands, given the 415,000 Catholic clergy alive today and church teaching that forbids artificial contraception and abortion. Doyle estimates that about 5% of these births are the result of sex between a priest and a minor, though he has only anecdotal evidence.The Rev. Stephane Joulain, a leading expert in clergy sex abuse prevention in Africa, said the majority of cases of sexual abuse of minors in Africa involve foreign missionary priests. But he said there is a significant problem of local African priests fathering children, including to young mothers, because of cultural norms: “You become a man only when you have fathered children.”Many priests cite this pressure from family or tribe to explain why they have had offspring. Other priests, Joulain said, rationalize their behavior by saying celibacy is an imported “Western” tradition that has no place in Africa, where girls are often considered adult once they reach puberty, irrespective of the law.The flouting of celibacy vows among African clergy is no secret to the Vatican. Nearly every time a group of African bishops visited the Vatican during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, he would remind them of the need to train their priests to “embrace the gift of celibacy,” a reminder not often given to other bishops’ conferences, according to a review of his speeches to more than a dozen African bishops’ conferences.Decades ago, as in Erebon’s case, it was common for bishops and religious superiors to relocate an offending priest and try to find a man who would accept the woman and child as his own, Joulain said. If the mother was lucky, the order would provide financially for them.“Congregations were all dealing the same way with the same problem,” he said.Gerald Erebon grew up devoted to the Consolata Missionaries who employed his mother and her husband and, along with an Italian order of nuns in Archer’s Post, paid for his education. An altar boy, he entered the minor seminary after graduating from Gir Gir Primary School, hoping to join the order as a priest.He knew well he was different from his dark-skinned siblings and the rest of the Samburu and Turkana people of the region. His half-sister Lina Ben, 27, recalled her siblings teased Erebon mercilessly, as did the family of the man he knew as his father. They called him “bastard.” Even Erebon’s last name was different, belonging to his maternal grandfather.When Lina was 14, she asked her mother why Gerald didn’t look like her other children, and why his friends often referred to him as “mtoto was padre” — “child of the priest.”Her mother initially pushed her away, but eventually told her that “Dad to Gerald is a priest called Father Mario and he is not here.”Scolastica said her sister finally told her the secret in 2012, two weeks before she died.“Now that my days are over,” her sister told her, she could reveal all: “When Gerald will ask you who’s his father, just tell him: Father Mario.”In fact, neighbors took Erebon’s heritage for granted. “The people of Archer’s knew it was Father Mario. The people knew that the priest was responsible. Because even the boy — he resembled the priest when he was born,” said Alfred-Edukan Loote, who taught Erebon in primary school.Young Erebon often got into fights, raging at the children who teased him. He eventually was expelled from the minor seminary after he smashed a plate of hot food on the head of a boy who had called him son of a white man.After his mother’s death, Erebon asked Scolastica the question he never had the courage to ask his mother. She remembers hearing him cry over the phone when she told him.In mid-2013, Erebon reached out to Lacchin, sending him a series of emails over the span of two months, hoping to establish a relationship following his mother’s death. By now, the two men looked strikingly alike, tall and lanky with sharp cheekbones.“Ever since I knew you as my real biological father, I could not stop asking myself questions as to why I was born the way I was born, which consequently had put hate in me against you,” Erebon wrote.But he said he had since had a change of heart and now forgave him. “I love you father,” he wrote. “Let us not allow the past to affect our present and future.” He signed the email “Your son, Gerardo” — the Italian name that appears on his birth certificate.After Erebon received no response, he said he tried to meet Lacchin in person in Marsabit, where Lacchin was working as a church administrator. Erebon said Lacchin brushed off his overture. Told by the priest to take his complaint to the bishop, he did not.Five years later, Erebon — by then a student studying education at Catholic University of Eastern Africa, his tuition partially paid for by an anonymous donor — reached out to Doyle, the Irish psychotherapist.Doyle immediately contacted the Rome-based superior of the Consolata Missionaries, the Rev. Stefano Camerlengo, who sent a top official to investigate. The order arranged three meetings over the past year between Erebon and Lacchin in Nairobi, in what Camerlengo told Doyle was an effort at facilitating dialogue between the two.According to minutes of a Jan. 15 meeting prepared by a Consolata priest who attended, Lacchin denied paternity. He refused to take a DNA test “since it would mean that he is possibly the father, whereas he knows that he is not the father.”The Rev. James Lengarin, the Consolata’s deputy superior who investigated the case and hails from a town not far from Archer’s Post, said the order felt it could not compel Lacchin to take the DNA test, and that a slow process of reconciliation was the best course.“We didn’t feel that he should be constrained by obedience, by force of obedience, to do it,” Lengarin said, noting that Lacchin is now 83.He added that there was no reference in the Consolata’s archives to any problem with Lacchin in Archer’s Post, though an official history of the order in Kenya makes a cryptic reference to him in an entry about scandals involving some missionaries.After months of impasse, Doyle went directly to the Vatican and Interpol after acquiring the birth certificates of both Erebon and his mother, which showed that she had just turned 16 when she conceived.There are no known criminal proceedings against Lacchin in Kenya as a result of Doyle’s report to Interpol.While the birth certificates don’t prove a canonical crime of sexual assault of a minor — in 1988, the church’s internal code didn’t consider a 16-year-old a minor in sex abuse cases — Sabina’s sister and other villagers allege the two were engaged in a sexual relationship well before she turned 16.In many countries nowadays, such documented information would lead to the immediate removal from ministry of the priest pending a canonical investigation that could result in defrocking. Lacchin has continued in ministry, preaching at the Resurrection Gardens church in Nairobi as recently as this summer.Lengarin said the order had planned to continue its investigation and hoped Lacchin would be persuaded to accept a paternity test, but is now awaiting orders from the Vatican office that handles religious orders on how to proceed.The Vatican confirmed the office is investigating Lacchin, but declined further comment.Efforts to reach Lacchin for comment were unsuccessful. He didn’t respond to email, text message and phone calls. After witnessing him celebrate Mass at his Resurrection Gardens parish in July, the AP went back to the church and was told this week that he was visiting a sick sister in France and would take a period of leave at least through the end of October.In an Aug. 2 reply to Doyle, the undersecretary at the congregation for religious orders, the Rev. Pier Luigi Nava, criticized Doyle and asked for further information, saying it wasn’t clear what Erebon wanted, or if he intended to launch a criminal case in Kenyan or church courts.Erebon said he wants Lacchin’s help to obtain Italian citizenship for himself and his two children. But more than that, he wants a life that is based on the truth.“They created something which is not my real identity,” he said. “I just want to have my identity, my history, so that my children can also have what they really are: their heritage, history and everything.”

30-year scandal: Did Italian priest father a Kenyan boy?

When Sabina Losirkale went into labour, her sister Scolastica recalls, priests and religious sisters filled the delivery ward waiting to see the colour of the baby’s skin — and if their worst fears had come to pass.

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Russia warned on Tuesday that new sanctions and the use of force against North Korea's regime would be a path to catastrophe, after Pyongyang launched a missile that flew over Japanese territory before landing in the Pacific Ocean."I think we have to fight with all our strength against this option. If this ends in war, nobody will ever ask who is responsible. We will face a totally new reality and the tragedies will be countless," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told journalists in Astana, Efe reported.The UN Security Council, which is scheduled to hold a session in New York on Tuesday, must conclude that measures calling for the use of force are categorically unacceptable, Ryabkov said."Sanctions do not produce results. That is why the mechanism of political regulation of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear problem is important. This means intolerance toward new provocations from Pyongyang, but also toward a military escalation by the US and its allies in the region," the deputy foreign minister said.Russia and China have offered a road map involving the "double freezing" of both North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, and US military activities in the area, Ryabkov said.The UN Security Council meeting was urgently requested by the US, Japan and South Korea after the launch of the missile.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump and they agreed to put more pressure on Pyongyang.This was the 13th launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea so far this year.The first launch occurred on July 4 and led the Security Council to approve a package of new sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's regime.The latest missile, launched from the vicinity of the North Korean capital, is the first since 2009 to have flown over Japan, travelling more than 2,700 km and falling into the sea about 1,180 km off Cape Erimo, which is located in the northeastern end of the Japanese archipelago.The new weapons test came after Pyongyang on Saturday launched three short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan and tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.

Russia warns new sanctions, use of force against North Korea

The UN Security Council, which is scheduled to hold a session in New York on Tuesday, must conclude that measures calling for the use of force are categorically unacceptable, Ryabkov said

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Saudi government employees to return to work from August 30 (Representational image)The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has announced that government employees will return to work from August 30. The decision was based on the health reports of the kingdom's cities and governorates, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying on Saturday.It added that employees must follow anti-coronavirus precautions during working hours. The decision excludes high-risk employees, and no more than 25 per cent of staff in each department will be allowed to work remotely.Saudi Arabia ordered the closure of work places in most government and private sectors during the early spread of the virus.Earlier in the day, Saudi Health Ministry announced 184 new Covid-19 cases, raising the total number to 306,370.The recoveries rose to 78,441 with 1,374 new recovered cases, while the death toll reached 3,619 after 39 fatalities were added in the past 24 hours.

Saudi government employees to return to work from August 30

The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has announced that government employees will return to work from August 30. The decision was based on the health reports of the kingdom's cities and governorates, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying on Saturday.

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Abducted and converted Pakistani Sikh teenage girl refuses to go homeThe teenage Sikh girl, who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan's Punjab province, on Saturday refused to go home despite the provincial governor's plea, fearing threat to her life, an official said.Punjab Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar met the girl at a shelter home in Lahore and requested her to go back to her family but she refused, citing a threat to her life, he said.The girl, who is the daughter of a Sikh priest, was on Friday sent to Darul Aman (shelter home) on a court order after she told the judge that she married Mohammad Hassan of her locality with her own free will.Kaur's family alleged that she was converted to Islam at gunpoint and forced to marry a Muslim boy. Her family says she is 18 years of age.“On Saturday, Governor Sarwar met with the Sikh girl at Lahore’s Darul Aman and tried his best to persuade her to return her parents’ home but she declined,” an official of the Punjab government told PTI.He said the girl told the governor that she loved Hassan and married him with her own free will. Kaur said she feared for her life if she returned to her parents’ home in Nankana Sahib, 80 km from Lahore.An FIR was registered on Thursday against six people in the case. Police have arrested one of the suspects named Arsalan, a friend of the Hassan, who is also the prime accused in the case and currently on pre-arrest bail.Police on Saturday detained 10 more people, including relatives and friends of Hassan, in connection with the case. The official said that the governor even told her that "her marrying a man outside her religion is becoming a religious matter and there has been tension in Nankana Sahib among Sikhs and Muslims, but she did not budge.”The Sikh community in Nankana Sahib held protests demanding the return of the girl back to her family. Some reports also said that the Sikh community has announced a ban on the entry of Muslims in gurudwaras including Gurudwara Janamasthan, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, until the girl is reunited with her family and action is taken against the culprits.However, Pakistan's Gurudwara Parbhandik Committee Secretary-General Ameer Singh told PTI that the situation in Nankana Sahib has been under control and clarified that the Sikh community had not banned Muslims entry to gurudwaras in Nankana Sahib. Before the governor's meeting with the girl, a Sikh delegation called on him to discuss the matter.Under pressure, the Punjab government constituted a high-level committee to negotiate with Sikhs angry over the abduction and forced conversion of the girl. The committee told the family of the girl and the community members that she had embraced Islam of her free will after marrying Hassan.It also provided them with video proof of Kaur's marriage and her conversion to Islam besides copies of the documents from the National Database and Registration Authority, showing Kaur's age as 19 years.It also told them that Kaur filed a writ petition before the Lahore High Court against the local police, accusing them of harassment. The community members were informed by the committee that the girl also submitted a written statement in the court, stating that she had converted to Islam and married Hassan of her own free will and accused her family of “plotting to kill her”.However, the official of the Punjab government said the Sikh members rejected the video and documented evidence and maintained their earlier stance to reunite the girl with the family. They also demanded the police to bring the girl back to her parents’ house, irrespective of the conversion being forced or consensual.Another official of the government said that efforts are being made to put pressure on Hassan to divorce Kaur so that she could be sent back to her family.Earlier, a video of Kaur's family had gone viral on social media in which one of her family members alleged that a group of men had attacked their house and kidnapped the girl.The person in the video also claimed that the kidnappers again approached them and threatened them with consequences if they pursued the case and did not convert to Islam. He also warned of self-immolation along with his whole family in front of the Governor House in Lahore if the girl is not reunited with the family.India on Friday said it has raised with Pakistan the issue of a Sikh girl being abducted and forced to convert to Islam in that country. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in New Delhi said the ministry has received a number of representations from various quarters of civil society in India, including Sikh religious bodies, at the "reports of the incident of abduction and forced conversion of a minor Sikh girl in Pakistan". "We have shared these concerns with the government of Pakistan and asked for immediate remedial action," he said.

Abducted and converted Pakistani Sikh teenage girl refuses to go home: Official

The teenage Sikh girl, who was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam before being married to a Muslim man in Pakistan's Punjab province, on Saturday refused to go home despite the provincial governor's plea, fearing threat to her life

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Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly slammed the opposition parties who have called for a black flag protest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here to take part in the celebrations marking the UN ‘Vesak Day’."Are they Buddhists?" President Sirisena was reported as saying by Colombo Gazette. Opposition Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa, speaking at the joint opposition May Day rally at Galle Face, said that Modi was to discuss a deal on Trincomalee port which he says must be opposed."They are trying to sell Sri Lanka to India," he said.He also called on joint opposition supporters to take to the streets and push for an early election.Modi is to visit Sri Lanka to participate in the May 12-14 Vesak Day celebrations. He is slated to be the chief guest at the opening ceremony in Colombo. The visit will mark his second visit to the island country.It is the first time the UN Vesak Day is being held in Sri Lanka. A large number of local and foreign delegates are expected to participate. Vesak Day, also known as Wesak or Buddha Day, is a traditional holiday celebrated annually on the full moon of the ancient lunar month of Vesakha. It is celebrated by Buddhists and usually falls in May or early June. This year's theme is ‘Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.(With IANS inputs)

Sri Lankan President slams calls for black flag protest during PM Modi's stay

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly slammed the opposition parties who have called for a black flag protest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here to take part in the celebrations marking the UN ‘Vesak Day’.

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Canada approves first clinical trial for potential COVID-19 vaccineThe first Canadian clinical trial for a potential COVID-19 vaccine has been officially approved, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. At his press conference in Ottawa on Saturday, Trudeau said the Canadian Center for Vaccinology at Dalhousie University has been given the green light by Health Canada to begin clinical trials of the vaccine candidate, Xinhua news agency reported."If these vaccine trials are successful we could produce and distribute it here at home," Trudeau said. "Research and development take time, and must be done right, but this is encouraging news."Trudeau said the National Research Council of Canada will work with the manufacturers of the potential vaccine so that it will be able to be manufactured domestically should the trials be successful.As of Saturday afternoon, at least 75,770 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, with 5,677 deaths in the country.Health Canada reportedly has authorized 33 clinical trials for supportive care or treatments for COVID-19 to date.On May 12, the National Research Council of Canada announced a collaboration with CanSino Biologics Inc. (CanSinoBIO) to advance bioprocessing and clinical development in Canada of a candidate vaccine against COVID-19.Referred to as Ad5-nCoV, the vaccine candidate received Chinese regulatory approval earlier this year, allowing CanSino Biologics to move ahead with human clinical trials in China.It is one of only a handful of vaccine candidates in the world against COVID-19 so far approved for initial safety testing in humans, and was the first candidate vaccine to begin conducting Phase II human clinical trials.By bringing their respective technologies and expertise together to fight COVID-19, CanSino Biologics and the National Research Council of Canada are aiming to pave the way for future clinical trials in Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Immunization Research Network at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology. The vaccine is subject to approval by Health Canada, for which CanSinoBIO is in the process of filing a Clinical Trial Application.The Ad5-nCoV was developed using technology from both China and Canada. It was co-developed by the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology (BIB) and CanSino Biologics Inc. using a genetically engineered replication-defective adenovirus type 5 vector to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is grown using living cells that were designed and developed at the National Research Council of Canada.ALSO READ | Canadian zoo to return pandas to China over bamboo shortage

Canada approves first clinical trial for potential COVID-19 vaccine

The first Canadian clinical trial for a potential COVID-19 vaccine has been officially approved, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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Black smoke rises from fuel storage of the Ukrainian army following a Russian attack, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 25, 2022. U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said there's 'no clear evidence' that Vladimir Putin is scaling back military operations around Kyiv and suggested that the Russian president may have ordered some of his advisers fired or placed under house arrest.Biden told reporters that 'there's some indication' that Putin has taken those steps against some of his advisers. He added, "But I don't want to put too much stock in that at this time because we don't have that much hard evidence."The White House on Wednesday released unclassified intelligence findings that Putin is being misinformed by his advisors about how badly the Russian military is performing.The President made the comments after formally announcing that the U.S. would release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve in hopes of easing surging gasoline prices.Biden also reiterated that his administration remains sceptical that Russia will scale back operations around Kyiv as Moscow announced earlier this week.Russian forces continued to shell Kyiv suburbs Thursday, two days after the Kremlin announced it would significantly scale back operations near both the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv.

Russia Ukraine war: Biden says 'no clear evidence' of Putin scaling back military operations

Biden also reiterated that his administration remains sceptical that Russia will scale back operations around Kyiv as Moscow announced earlier this week.

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US to evacuate its citizens from quarantined cruise ship(representative image)The US has announced that it will evacuate American citizens trapped aboard the coronavirus-hit quarantined cruise ship, Diamond Princess off the coast of Yokohama in Japan. According to a report in Wall Street Journal, the State Department will evacuate hundreds of American citizens on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is under quarantine for the coronavirus in Japan.The US move will bring pressure on other countries to follow suit or for calls for a combined evacuation operation for those aboard the cruise as the number of infected people from coronavirus is going up every passing day. About 380 people will be offered seats on two planes back to the US and could arrive back home as early as Sunday.The cruise ship is the site of the maximum number of coronavirus infections infections outside China, the epicentre of the outbreak. According to the report, those having fever, cough or other symptoms will not be allowed on the flights.Evacuees will have additional health screenings in the US and some will probably undergo a mandatory quarantine which will be 14 days, an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was quoted as saying. The Diamond Princess cruise ship owned by Carnival Corp, has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama on February 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was found to be infected.The ship has been held in quarantine in a Japanese port since 3 February. Out of 3,700 people on board, 218 have tested positive for the virus. Three Indians have also tested positive and some others have sent a SOS message to the Indian government seeking help.The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has promised the necessary assistance for those stranded. The US move has not gone down well some on Twitter. One netizen said that imagine you are trapped and only the Americans are able to get out.ALSO READ | Global experts study promising drugs, vaccines for coronavirus ALSO READ | ALERT! Fraudsters prey on coronavirus fears, scam people through emails

US to evacuate its citizens from quarantined cruise ship

The US has announced that it will evacuate American citizens trapped aboard the coronavirus-hit quarantined cruise ship, Diamond Princess off the coast of Yokohama in Japan.

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China reports 16 new coronavirus casesChina has reported 16 new coronavirus infections, including 15 asymptomatic cases, in the first COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan, where all the 11.2 million population is being tested for the virus, health authorities said on Wednesday. China's National Health Commission (NHC) said five confirmed case and 16 asymptomatic cases were reported on Tuesday.Four locally transmitted cases were reported in Jilin Province. Jilin city is under lockdown after clusters of infections were reported last week.By Tuesday, Jilin province had reported a total of 133 confirmed locally transmitted cases, including two deaths and 106 who had been discharged from hospital after recovery.There are still 25 patients receiving treatment in hospital, with three in severe condition, all in the city of Jilin, and 1,181 people in close contact with the locally transmitted cases under medical observation, the local health commission said.Also 16 new asymptomatic cases were reported on Tuesday, including 15 in Wuhan. NHC said 368 asymptomatic cases were under observation.Asymptomatic cases pose a problem as the patients are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.Altogether 4,634 people had died of the disease.As of Tuesday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,965, including 87 patients who were still being treated, NHC said.Globally, the coronavirus cases touched 4,897,492 with 323,285 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

China reports 16 new coronavirus cases

China has reported 16 new coronavirus infections, including 15 asymptomatic cases, in the first COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan, where all the 11.2 million population is being tested for the virus, health authorities said on Wednesday.

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Strong earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hits JapanAn earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale was recorded in Japan, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said on Saturday. According to the USGS, the earthquake struck 90 km east-northeast of Namie. Initially, reports of magnitude 7.1 quake had surfaced, however, Japenese authorities later updated it to 7.3. The temblor occurred at around 11:08 p.m. (local time) with its epicentre at a latitude of 37.7 degrees north and a longitude of 141.8 degrees east, and at depth of 60 km, Xinhua reported.The quake logged Upper 6 in some parts of Fukushima Prefecture on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. The tremor was also felt in the capital of Tokyo.According to local media reports, power outages were reported in parts of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Tochigi prefectures.After a powerful earthquake rocked Japan, several videos of the tremors surfaced on social media. Take a look at them- 

Strong earthquake of magnitude 7.3 jolts Japan, power outages in parts of Fukushima, other places

An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale was recorded in Japan, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said on Saturday.

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Trump campaign raises USD 61 million in April, Biden USD 60 million amidst COVID-19 crisisUS President Donald Trump's re-election campaign has raised a record USD 61.7 million in April while his Democratic rival Joe Biden also collected USD 60.5 million at a time when the world's biggest economy has come to a virtual standstill and over 33 million Americans have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.Presidential elections are scheduled to be held on November 3 and the two campaigns as of now are raising funds virtually. Trump, 73, is seeking re-election in the presidential polls. Former vice president Biden, 77, is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic party. He is likely to be formally nominated by the Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin in August.The two campaigns have taken a hit as no public meetings are being held due to the social distancing measures in the country, the worst hit nation. The US has reported over 80,000 deaths and over 1,347,000 cases of coronavirus infections, according to the latest tally by Johns Hopkins University.The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced that Donald J. Trump for President Inc, its authorised joint fundraising committees, and the RNC raised USD 61.7 million in April, a record for the month. This brings the total haul cycle to over USD 742 million to date, USD 288 million more than the Obama re-election effort had at this point. The joint entities continue to be in a strong financial position, with over USD 255 million cash in hand."While the day-to-day life may have slowed this past month, enthusiasm and support for this President has not. With their time, resources and ultimately their vote, Americans across this country continue to put their faith in President Trump," RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said.On the other hand, the average online donation to the Biden campaign was USD 32.63, showing a continued grassroots strength even in the time of the coronaviurs crisis. The Biden for President (BFP) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that they have raised a combined USD 60.5 million in April."April was one of the toughest months in the history of our country. We now have over a million confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 80,000 deaths. 33 million Americans have lost their jobs to the pandemic. As a nation, we've experienced enormous pain. "We've also witnessed incredible acts of heroism -- from healthcare workers, first responders, grocery store workers, truckers, teachers and millions more," Biden said in an e-mail address to his supporters."But look, the pain I've seen and the heroism I've witnessed have only inspired me to work harder than I ever have before. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times that we are in the battle for the soul of this nation. And this crisis has shown us what is at stake if we lose."The trust you all have put in me as your presumptive nominee is humbling. So I’m proud to announce that for the month of April, we raised USD 60.5 million between my campaign and the Democratic National Committee. And the average online donation to my campaign was only USD 32.63," Biden said. Trump 2020 Campaign Manager Brad Parscale said that once again their colossal fundraising haul reaffirms that President Trump will lead an unstoppable juggernaut this November."While the do-nothing Democrats have recklessly held up funds for our nation's small businesses and played political games with the lives of the American people, President Trump's consistent record of unprecedented action is met with overwhelming enthusiasm and support," he said. 

Trump campaign raises USD 61 million in April, Biden USD 60 million amidst COVID-19 crisis

US President Donald Trump's re-election campaign has raised a record USD 61.7 million in April while his Democratic rival Joe Biden also collected USD 60.5 million at a time when the world's biggest economy has come to a virtual standstill and over 33 million Americans have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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California school shooter diesA 16-year-old gunman who shot himself after a shooting spree in a school in California that claimed the lives of two students and injured three others, has died in a hospital, authorities said. According to US media reports, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced on Friday that shooter, Nathaniel Berhow, a junior at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, died in the afternoon. Berhow carried out the 16-second gun attack shortly before classes began on Thursday which coincided with his 16th birthday.After shooting his five classmates, Berhow shot himself in the head with the last bullet.No motive has been established so far, with police saying the attacks "still remains a mystery", the BBC reported.The identities of the two victims as well as the injured were not yet revealed.Sheriff's Captain Kent Wegener said that the suspect had no known connection to the victims.The attack occurred on the day when a Senate debate on gun control legislation was taking place. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, was arguing for gun control when he was given a note with the news.In a statement, newly-appointed Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said that his department took school shootings "very seriously" and would help the authorities "develop trainings and resources to improve response capabilities and better protect soft targets", the BBC reported.According to the Washington Post, more than 230,000 young people in the US have experienced gun violence at school since the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999.The US journal Education Week has been listing school shootings since 2018. It said that there has been 22 incidents that have resulted in death or injury so far in 2019.There were 24 such incidents last year, it added, but the casualty toll was higher, at 114.It includes the 17 people killed in the deadliest incident - at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine's Day.ALSO READ: Donald Trump Impeachment: Highlights from Day 2 of public hearingsALSO READ: I have the right to speak, the freedom of speech: Trump​

16-year-old California school gunman dies

The US journal Education Week has been listing school shootings since 2018. It said that there has been 22 incidents that have resulted in death or injury so far in 2019. There were 24 such incidents last year, it added, but the casualty toll was higher, at 114.

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China, Myanmar pledge to strengthen communicationChina and Myanmar have pledged to strengthen communication and high-level exchanges, according to a meeting held between Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Wang said in light of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations next year, China and Myanmar should hold a series of celebrations, plan and prepare for high-level exchanges, comprehensively push forward cooperation in areas including economy, trade, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Xinhua news agency reported.Wang said China and Myanmar should also carry forward the "Paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, deepen the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and jointly build a community of shared future. Wang said China is willing to promote China-Myanmar Economic Corridor from concept and plan into substantial implementation and build it into a flagship program of joint construction of the Belt and Road between the two countries.Wang said infrastructure connectivity is framework of China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the two sides should cooperate on pressing forward projects including Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and border economic cooperation zones. Wang stressed that China always upholds democratisation of international relations, advocates equality among countries, opposes interference in internal affairs of other countries, and disapproves of complicating bilateral issues by involving more parties.Wang said China's development will bring opportunities to the world, especially neighbouring countries and China will stand firm with people of Myanmar during the future development process of the country.Suu Kyi appreciated support extended by China on safeguarding national sovereignty, opposing foreign interference, promoting social and economic development of Myanmar, adding that Myanmar is willing to strengthen communication with China on international and regional issues and jointly uphold the purpose and principles of the UN Charter. She said the two sides will seize the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations as an opportunity to strengthen high-level exchanges, jointly build the Belt and Road as well as China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.Wang also met with U Kyaw Tint Swe, minister of the State Counsellor's Office, U Thuang Tun, minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, U Han Zaw, minister for Construction, U Kyaw Tin, minister for International Cooperation, and attended the signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement on the same day.Wang said China pays close attention to Rakhine issue and is ready to provide assistance on repatriation-related work and help promote economic development in Rakhine and improve people's livelihoods. Meanwhile, Myanmar hopes that China continues to play an important and positive role in Rakhine issue.ALSO READ | Saudi Arabia ends gender-segregated entrances for restaurantsALSO READ | Graffiti supporting London Bridge terrorist appears near his UK home

China, Myanmar pledge to strengthen communication

Wang said in light of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations next year, China and Myanmar should hold a series of celebrations, plan and prepare for high-level exchanges, comprehensively push forward cooperation in areas including economy, trade, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Xinhua news agency reported.

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Singapore-China to launch 'fast lane' for essential travel early next monthSingapore and China will launch a "fast lane" arrangement early next month to facilitate essential travel for business and official purposes between the two countries, as they emerge from the coronavirus pandemic with control measures in place, according to a media report.The arrangement would first apply to Singapore and six provinces or municipalities directly under the Chinese central government -- Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday night, the The Straits Times reported.This arrangement will be gradually expanded to the other Chinese provinces and municipalities. Both countries agreed to explore the increase of air links between them as part of the fast lane, following a video conference meeting between Chee Wee Kiong, Permanent Secretary of Singapore's MFA, and China's Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui on Thursday.The two countries stressed the importance of securing the connectivity of production and supply chains, and agreed to improve the efficiency of freight linkages and customs clearance, including facilitating the flow of goods such as essential medical supplies and food, according to The Straits Times report.Singapore will soon relax its circuit breaker measures, starting from June 2, and gradually resume economic and social activities. Singapore's National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on COVID-19, had said on Thursday that resuming essential travel was being considered.The city state is working on reopening its borders - establishing "travel bubbles" with countries where the virus situation is under control and having green lane travel arrangements with certain countries."The conversations and discussions we're having with countries vary; some (are) at more advanced stages, some we're just starting," Wong had said of resuming travelling.Regular travels were stopped and operations were suspended at two terminals of the four-terminal Singapore's Changi Airport amid the COVID-19 crisis. 

Singapore-China to launch 'fast lane' for essential travel early next month

Singapore and China will launch a "fast lane" arrangement early next month to facilitate essential travel for business and official purposes between the two countries, as they emerge from the coronavirus pandemic with control measures in place

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A man with his face painted with colours of the national flags of Russia and Ukraine, hold portraits of Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy requesting them to stop the war, in Bhopal, March 12, 2022.President Joe Biden on Wednesday flatly called Russia's Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the unfolding onslaught in Ukraine, where hospitals and maternity wards have been bombed. But declaring someone a war criminal is not as simple as just saying the words. There are set definitions and processes for determining who's a war criminal and how they should be punished.The White House had been avoiding applying the designation to Putin, saying it requires investigation and an international determination. After Biden used the term, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president was “speaking from his heart" and renewed her statements that there is a process for making a formal determination.In popular usage, though, the phrase has a taken on a colloquial meaning as a generic term for someone who's awful."Clearly Putin is a war criminal, but the president is speaking politically on this,” said David Crane, who has worked on war crimes for decades and served as chief prosecutor for the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone, which tried former Liberian President Charles Taylor.The investigations into Putin's actions already have begun. The U.S. and 44 other countries are working together to investigate possible violations and abuses, after the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry. There is another probe by the International Criminal Court, an independent body based in the Netherlands."We're at the beginning of the beginning,” said Crane, who now heads the Global Accountability Network, which works with the international court and United Nations, among others. On the day of the invasion, his group set up a task force compiling criminal information for war crimes. He's also drafting a sample indictment against Putin. He predicted an indictment of Putin could happen within a year. But there is no statute of limitations.Here's a look at how this all works:WHO IS A WAR CRIMINAL?The term applies to anyone who violates a set of rules adopted by world leaders known as the law of armed conflict. The rules govern how countries behave in times of war.Those rules have been modified and expanded over the past century, drawn from the Geneva Conventions in the aftermath of World War II and protocols added later.The rules are aimed at protecting people not taking part in fighting and those who can no longer fight, including civilians like doctors and nurses, wounded troops and prisoners of war. Treaties and protocols lay out who can be targeted and with what weapons. Certain weapons are prohibited, including chemical or biological agents.WHAT SPECIFIC CRIMES MAKE SOMEONE A WAR CRIMINAL?The so-called “grave breaches” of the conventions that amount to war crimes include willful killing and extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity.Other war crimes include deliberately targeting civilians, using disproportionate force, using human shields and taking hostages.The International Criminal Court also prosecutes crimes against humanity committed in the context of “a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”These include murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, rape and sexual slavery.The most likely way that Putin could come into the picture as a war criminal is through the widely recognized legal doctrine of command responsibility.If commanders order or even know or are in a position to know about crimes and did nothing to prevent them, they can be held legally responsible.WHAT ARE THE PATHS TO JUSTICE?Generally, there are four paths to investigate and determine war crimes, though each one has limits.One is through the International Criminal Court. A second option would be if the United Nations turns its work on the inquiry commission over to a hybrid international war crimes tribunal to prosecute Putin. A third would be to create a tribunal or court to try Putin by a group of interested or concerned states, such as NATO, the European Union and the U.S. The military tribunals at Nuremberg following World War II against Nazi leaders are an example.Finally, some countries have their own laws for prosecuting war crimes.Germany, for example, is already investigating Putin. The U.S. doesn't have such a law, but the Justice Department has a special section that focuses on acts including international genocide, torture, recruitment of child soldiers and female genital mutilation.WHERE MIGHT PUTIN BE PUT ON TRIAL?It's not clear. Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and would not send any suspects to the court's headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. The U.S. does not recognize the authority of the court, either.Putin could be tried in a country chosen by the United Nations or by the consortium of concerned nations. But getting him there would be difficult.HAVE NATIONAL LEADERS BEEN PROSECUTED IN THE PAST?Yes. From the post-World War II tribunals in Nuremberg and Tokyo to more recent ad hoc tribunals, senior leaders have been prosecuted for their actions in countries including Bosnia, Cambodia and Rwanda.Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial by a U.N. tribunal in The Hague for fomenting bloody conflicts as Yugoslavia crumbled in the early 1990s. He died in his cell before the court could reach a verdict. His Bosnian Serb ally Radovan Karadzic and the Bosnian Serb military leader, Gen. Ratko Mladic, were successfully prosecuted and are both now serving life sentences.Liberia's Taylor was sentenced to 50 years after being convicted of sponsoring atrocities in neighbouring Sierra Leone.Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre, who died last year, was the first former head of state to be convicted of crimes against humanity by an African court. He was sentenced to life.

Explainer: Who's a war criminal and who gets to decide?

Declaring someone a war criminal is not as simple as just saying the words. There are set definitions and processes for determining who's a war criminal and how they should be punished.

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Islamic State claims responsibility of Sikh temple attack in Kabul that killed 11The global terrorist organization Islamic State on Wednesday claimed responsibility of the Sikh temple attack in Kabul that killed 11 people and several injured. A gunman stormed a religious gathering of Afghanistan’s minority Sikhs in their place of worship, Gurudwara, in the heart of Kabul’s old city on Wednesday.Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said police responded promptly to the attack.Earlier this month, Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate struck a gathering of minority Shiite Muslims in Kabul, killing 32 people.Sikhs have suffered widespread discrimination in the conservative Muslim country and have also been targeted by Islamic extremists. Under Taliban rule in the late 1990s, they were asked to identify themselves by wearing yellow armbands, but the rule was not enforced. In recent years, large numbers of Sikhs and Hindus have sought asylum in India, which has a Hindu majority and a large Sikh population.In July 2018, a convoy of Sikhs and Hindus was attacked by an Islamic State suicide bomber as they were on their way to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Nineteen people were killed in that attack.ALSO READ | US makes new terms for violence reduction in AfghanistanALSO READ | Gunman attacks Sikh religious site in Kabul; 4 killed

Islamic State claims responsibility of Kabul's Gurudwara attack that killed 11

The global terrorist organization Islamic State on Wednesday claimed responsibility of the Sikh temple attack in Kabul that killed 11 people and several injured.

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Oli reiterates Nepal will get back territories of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh from IndiaAmid efforts to restore normalcy in bilateral relations that soured over a bitter border row, Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said on Sunday that he will get back the territories of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh from India. Oli's remarks during an address to the National Assembly, or upper house, comes just days ahead of the Nepalese foreign minister's visit to New Delhi on January 14 - the senior most political leader from Nepal to visit India after strain in bilateral ties."Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh which are located east of the Mahakali River belong to Nepal as per the Sugauli Treaty. We will get them back through diplomatic talks with India,” Oli said."Our foreign minister will visit India on January 14 during which his discussion will be centred on the issue of the map that we have published with the inclusion of the three territories," said Oli, who had triggered the border row last year after his government came out with a new political map that showed Indian territories as part of Nepal.After Nepal released the map last year, India reacted sharply, calling it a "unilateral act" and cautioning Kathmandu that such "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it.India said that Nepal's action violated an understanding reached between the two countries to resolve the boundary issues through talks.The bilateral exchanges that had stalled due to the bitter boundary dispute were reset in the later part of 2020 with a series of high-level visits, as New Delhi emphasised that it sees itself as the Himalayan nation's "foremost friend" and development partner.Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla's maiden visit to Nepal in November was largely aimed at resetting bilateral ties. Shringla met Prime Minister Oli and other top political brass and emphasised that India and Nepal are on the same page and share the same vision.Shringla’s trip followed earlier ones by Indian Army chief Gen. MM Naravane, and a whirlwind tour by Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Kumar Goel to Kathmandu in a bid to mend ties. Senior BJP leader and the party's head of the foreign affairs department Vijay Chauthaiwale also visited Nepal in early December.Addressing the lawmakers, Oli said that his government has made sincere efforts to strengthen bilateral ties with both India and China."We are working to deepen ties with India based on sovereign equality. In fact, we want to deepen the relationship with India in true sense and we should not hesitate to raise our issues of genuine concerns with India," said Oli, who is known for his pro-Beijing leanings.The prime minister also said that recent high-level visits from India and China were goodwill ones. "They came here to convey their good wishes. There is nothing to worry much about that," he was quoted as saying by My Republica newspaper.Oli also defenced his decision to dissolve parliament, saying "I was forced to dissolve the House of the Representatives as some people in my party did not allow the government to perform well."President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved Parliament in December on the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli and announced mid-term general election in April-May, a decision termed “unconstitutional, impulsive and autocratic” by the Opposition and dissidents in the ruling Nepal Communist Party.Oli had earlier claimed that efforts were being made to oust him after his government redrew the country's political map by incorporating three strategically key Indian territories.

Oli reiterates Nepal will get back territories of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh from India

Amid efforts to restore normalcy in bilateral relations that soured over a bitter border row, Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said on Sunday that he will get back the territories of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh from India.

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CPEC project- File photoAvoiding any direct comment on Pakistan’s latest move on exercising administrative authority on Gilgit-Baltistan, Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday reiterated that CPEC, which traverses through the disputed region, will not affect its stand that the Kashmir issue should be resolved between India and Pakistan. On May 21, Pakistani Cabinet approved Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 which aims at providing more authority to the central government in administering the region. The order is being seen as Pakistan’s efforts towards incorporating the disputed region as its fifth province. Related Stories All parties should speak in one voice on Gilgit, Balochistan: Venkaiah NaiduOur position on Kashmir not affected by CPEC, says ChinaIndia had summoned Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah on May 27 and lodged a strong protest over Islamabad's latest move relating to administrative authority over the Gilgit-Baltistan region, saying any action to alter the status of any part of the territory under its "forcible and illegal occupation" has no legal basis. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it conveyed to Shah that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which also includes the so-called 'Gilgit-Baltistan' areas, is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947.    The move has also sparked anger in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing that “Kashmir issue is a historical baggage between India and Pakistan and therefore shall be resolved between the two sides through dialogue and consultation”. Asked to comment on the Pakistan government’s Gilgit-Baltistan Order, Hua reiterated Beijing’s stand that the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which goes through Gilgit and Baltistan, will not affect its stand that the Kashmir issue should be resolved between India and Pakistan. “We have stressed many times that the CPEC is an initiative for economic cooperation. This is a cooperation framework which serves the purpose of economic development and the people’s livelihood. This initiative does not affect our position on the Kashmir issue,” she said. Pakistan has bifurcated occupied Kashmir into two administrative parts - Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Gilgit-Baltistan was treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan till now. It is believed that China’s concerns about the unsettled status of Gilgit-Baltistan prompted Pakistan to change the region’s status.(With PTI inputs)

China avoids comment on Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan Order, says CPEC will not affect its stand on Kashmir issue

On May 21, Pakistani Cabinet approved Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 which aims at providing more authority to the central government in administering the region. The order is being seen as Pakistan’s efforts towards incorporating the disputed region as its fifth province.

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China will never seek hegemony: Xi JinpingChina will not develop at the expense of other nations, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday during a speech to mark 40 years of reform. In his speech from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Xi said despite China's growth, it would "never seek global hegemony" and also highlighted Beijing's contributions towards a "shared future for mankind", the BBC reported.Late leader Deng Xiaoping's campaign of "reform and opening up" was initiated in 1978 and the program was ratified on December 18 that year.Related Stories Armies of India, China to resume annual military drill in DecemberUS will reach fair trade deal with China, says Donald TrumpChina set to give USD 6 billion in aid to Pak as PM Khan meets President Xi, says media reportPacific island region not sphere of influence of any country, says China Pak received ‘big’ package of aid from China, not to reveal amount under instructions from President Xi: Imran KhanTrade war will have no winners, says China's President Xi JinpingChina rejects US hacking report ahead of Trump-Xi meetingPM Modi to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on sidelines of G20 SummitG20 Summit: PM Modi meets Chinese President, says this year was good, next will be better Xi spent much of his long speech listing examples of China's progress over the past decades, praising them as "epic achievements that moved heaven and earth".He said that given its success, "no one is in a position to dictate to China what to do or not to do".At the same time, he stressed what he described as Chinese efforts to work towards the greater global good, saying Beijing was a "promoter of world peace," a "defender of international order" and holding "a leading role in dealing with climate change".Xi described Deng's reforms as a "break from the shackles" of previous mistakes.The reform path turned the country away from the old style communism of Mao Zedong when collectivisation had led to an impoverished and inefficient economy.He said the last 40 years had been a "quantum leap for socialism with Chinese characteristics," driving China's "great rejuvenation in modern times".The transformation focussed on agricultural reform, private sector liberalisation, industry modernisation and opening to international trade, the BBC quoted the President as saying.(With IANS inputs)

China will not develop at expense of other nations, will never seek hegemony: Xi Jinping

He said that given its success, "no one is in a position to dictate to China what to do or not to do".

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The government of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has readied evacuation plan to relocate locals to safe areas due to recent "provocation" by Indian forces at the Line of Control (LoC), a media report said today. The decision has been taken amidst no let-up in LoC ceasefire violations by the Indian forces in the recent days, the Express Tribune quoted local government sources as saying. Related Stories India issued demarches to Pakistan, China on dams in PoK: GovtIslamabad to set up USD 1.51 bn hydropower project in PoKPoK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has directed the district machinery and local authorities in the areas located along LoC to make standby arrangements for relocating thousands of people whose lives have come under direct threat after the tension at border, the paper reported. On a small-scale, the public in the villages directly affected by LoC firing have been relocated. Further the evacuation activities would be extended to the sector-level if LoC ceasefire violations did not stop, the paper said. "The instances of ceasefire violations by the Indian forces recorded an alarming increase since the start of the month February" following which the government has readied evacuation plan, the paper quoted a cabinet member as saying. Last week, Haider instructed authorities to give state funerals to those killed due to alleged firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control.

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir starts evacuation plan amid LoC ceasefire violations

The decision has been taken amidst no let-up in LoC ceasefire violations by the Indian forces in the recent days, the Express Tribune quoted local government sources as saying.

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Deputy PM Taliban Abdul Salam Hanafi (FILE)A high-level Taliban delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan's interim government Abdul Salam Hanafi on Wednesday met with an Indian delegation in Moscow during which the Indian side expressed its readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country, which is now ruled by the insurgent group.The Indian delegation led by JP Singh, the joint secretary of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division of the Ministry of External Affairs, which was here to attend the Moscow Format meeting at the invitation of Russia, held talks with the Taliban leaders on the sidelines of the conference, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a brief statement.There was no official word from Indian government on the meeting. India had its first formal contact with the Taliban in Doha on August 31. However, the meeting on Wednesday was the first formal contact between the two sides after an interim Cabinet was announced by the Taliban last month.The Indian side expressed readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Mujahid was quoted as saying by Afghanistan's Tolo news. India has in the past provided assistance both for infrastructure as well as for humanitarian purposes to Afghanistan.The two sides also emphasised the need to take into account each other’s concerns and improve diplomatic and economic relations, Mujahid said.The Moscow format was established in 2017, based on a six-party consultation mechanism of the special envoys of Russia, Afghanistan, India, Iran, China and Pakistan to address Afghan issues. Several rounds of talks have been held in Moscow since 2017. This was the first Moscow format dialogue since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August.The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, two weeks before the US was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war.During the Moscow Format meeting, Hanafi called on the international community to recognise Afghanistan’s interim government, which is dominated by the Taliban’s established leaders, including those who are on the UN blacklist."Afghanistan’s isolation is not in anyone’s interests. 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'India ready to provide humanitarian aid', say Taliban after Deputy PM meets Indian delegation in Moscow

There was no official word from the government on the meeting between Taliban Deputy PM Abdul Salam Hanafi and Indian diplomats in Moscow. India had its first formal contact with the Taliban in Doha on August 31.

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Dhaka: 5 workers killed in shoe factory fire.  At least five workers died after a fire swept through a show factory in Old Dhaka on Friday.The workers at the factory in Old Dhaka’s Showari Ghat died from suffocation, firefighters said, Dhaka Tribune reported.The bodies were recovered from the ground floor of the multi-storey building. They were then sent to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, Chawkbazar police Officer-in-Charge Md Abdul Qaiyum said.Eight units of the Fire Service rushed to the spot around 1:15 am and doused the fire around 3:00 am, the report added.The fire created huge smoke leading to the suffocation of the workers. Fire officials say the factory authorities kept some drums filled with chemicals abruptly on the ground floor.The number of people working in the factory at the time of fire could not be known immediately, it said. /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; firstjw = document.getElementsByClassName('jwvidplayer')[0]; cs_jw_script = document.createElement('script'); cs_jw_script.src = 'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/internal-c2/plugins/streamingtag_plugin_jwplayer.js'; firstjw.parentNode.insertBefore(cs_jw_script, firstjw.nextSibling); } var jwconfig_9625986037 = { "file": "https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/09/0_2rusu21e/master.m3u8", "image": "https://thumbs.indiatvnews.com/vod/0_2rusu21e_big_thumb.jpg", "title": "Massive fire breaks out at factory in Patna Sahib", "height": "440px", "width": "100%", "aspectratio": "16:9", "autostart": false, "controls": true, "mute": false, "volume": 25, "floating": false, "sharing": { "code": "", "sites": [ "facebook", "twitter", "email" ] }, "stretching": "exactfit", "primary": "html5", "hlshtml": true, "sharing_link": "", "duration": "60", "advertising": { "client": "vast", "autoplayadsmuted": true, "skipoffset": 5, "cuetext": "", "skipmessage": "Skip ad in xx", "skiptext": "SKIP", "preloadAds": true, "schedule": [ { "offset": "pre", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PreRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" }, { "offset": "50%", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_MidRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=" }, { "offset": "post", "tag": "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/8323530/Eng_Video_Desktop_PostRoll&description_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatvnews.com&tfcd=0&npa=0&sz=640x480&gdfp_req=1&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&impl=s&correlator=", "type": "linear" } ] } }; var jwvidplayer_9625986037 = ''; jwsetup_9625986037(); function jwsetup_9625986037() { jwvidplayer_9625986037 = jwplayer("jwvidplayer_9625986037").setup(jwconfig_9625986037); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('ready', function () { ns_.StreamingAnalytics.JWPlayer(jwvidplayer_9625986037, { publisherId: "20465327", labelmapping: "c2=\"20465327\", c3=\"IndiaTV News\", c4=\"null\", c6=\"null\", ns_st_mp=\"jwplayer\", ns_st_cl=\"0\", ns_st_ci=\"0_2rusu21e\", ns_st_pr=\"Massive fire breaks out at factory in Patna Sahib\", ns_st_sn=\"0\", ns_st_en=\"0\", ns_st_ep=\"Massive fire breaks out at factory in Patna Sahib\", ns_st_ct=\"null\", ns_st_ge=\"News\", ns_st_st=\"Massive fire breaks out at factory in Patna Sahib\", ns_st_ce=\"0\", ns_st_ia=\"0\", ns_st_ddt=\"2021-09-15\", ns_st_tdt=\"2021-09-15\", ns_st_pu=\"IndiaTV News\", ns_st_cu=\"https://vod-indiatv.akamaized.net/hls/2021/09/0_2rusu21e/master.m3u8\", ns_st_ty=\"video\"" }); }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('all', function (r) { if (jwvidplayer_9625986037.getState() == 'error' || jwvidplayer_9625986037.getState() == 'setupError') { jwvidplayer_9625986037.stop(); jwvidplayer_9625986037.remove(); jwvidplayer_9625986037 = ''; jwsetup_9625986037(); return; } }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('error', function (t) { jwvidplayer_9625986037.stop(); jwvidplayer_9625986037.remove(); jwvidplayer_9625986037 = ''; jwsetup_9625986037(); return; }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('mute', function () { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('adPlay', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('adPause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('pause', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('error', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); jwvidplayer_9625986037.on('adBlock', function (event) { ga('send', 'event', 'JW Player Events', 'Errors', event.message); }); }   

Dhaka: Five workers killed in shoe factory fire

Eight units of the Fire Service rushed to the spot at around 1:15 am and doused the fire at around 3:00 am, the report added.

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World Health Organisation staffer tests positive for coronavirusA staff member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the Geneva headquarters has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the mysterious new strain of coronavirus. WHO in its press conference earlier had asked for a more proactive approach from the world to counter coronavirus."We have seen a rapid escalation in social distancing measures, like closing schools & canceling sporting events & other gatherings. But we haven't seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation & contact tracing, which is the backbone of the COVID19 response," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom had said.   

World Health Organisation staffer tests positive for coronavirus

A staff member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the Geneva headquarters has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the mysterious new strain of coronavirus.

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Breaking News October 11The total number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed 37 million, including more than 1,077,458 fatalities. More than 28,111,951 patients are reported to have recovered. Follow this breaking news blog for live updates on the coronavirus pandemic as it continues to pose a challenge for health workers and scientists who are in a race against time to produce a vaccine/medicineIndiaTvNews.com brings you the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis that has resulted in job losses in millions and changing the way we work. Stay Home, Stay Safe, and Stay Informed as our team of dedicated editors/reporters bring you the latest news on coronavirus, coronavirus vaccine trial updates, photos, video, news, views and top stories from monsoon rains, business, politics, education, science, yoga, and much more in India and worldwide. 

Breaking News: October 11, 2020 | Highlights

Get all the latest news on coronavirus cases, news on the vaccine, monsoon rains, business, politics, science, education and much more in India and worldwide.

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US President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that he would respond to any threats "with fire and fury like the world has never seen," following reports that Pyongyang has developed miniaturized nuclear warheads that can be mounted on a ballistic missile."North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," Trump said to reporters at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Efe reported."He has been very threatening, beyond a normal statement," Trump said regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "As I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before."Trump did not elaborate on his point and made no other specific remarks, but his comments come shortly after the daily Washington Post reported data from a new report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency about North Korea.According to this DIA report, which was finalized last month, North Korea has managed to produce a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can be placed onto one of its ballistic missiles.The document obtained by the Washington daily said that the intelligence community found that North Korea has produced nuclear arms that it can deliver many thousands of miles via ICBMs.In addition, Pyongyang on Tuesday threatened to take serious action following the imposition of sanctions last Saturday by the UN Security Council, a measure North Korea called "illegal" and a "terrorist act."The UN sanctions come in response to the first intercontinental ballistic missile test in North Korea's history on July 4, a test that was a milestone and was followed by the launching of a second ICBM on July 28.

Will respond with fire and fury like the world has never seen: Trump warns North Korea

Trump did not elaborate on his point and made no other specific remarks, but his comments come shortly after the daily Washington Post reported data from a new report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency about North Korea

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Pakistan's opposition leaders Shahbaz Sharif, seated center, Asif Ali Zardari, second right, and lawmakers from the government's coalition party, give a press conference about the country's latest political situation, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 28, 2022.Pakistan Political Crisis: Pakistan PM Imran Khan, who is facing no-trust vote, suffered another blow on Wednesday after a key partner of the ruling coalition said it will support Opposition's no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. Post this development, the embattled Imran Khan has now effectively lost majority in Parliament.Addressing a press conference, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a key ally of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led coalition government, formally announced that it was joining the opposition ranks. "We want to make a new beginning for politics of tolerance and true democracy," said MQM-P chief Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.The Khan government effectively lost majority after the MQM-P with its seven members decided to join the opposition. Another ally of the ruling coalition, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) with five members in the lower house had announced on Monday that it had "accepted the opposition's invitation" to vote against Khan.Who are top contenders to form government if Imran Khan steps down?The current united opposition is led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif (brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father Asif Ali Zardari. Plus now, the no trust motion has received support from MQM, and BAP. But who are likely contenders for the Pakistan Prime Minister's chair if Imran Khan resigns.Maryam Nawaz was sentenced to seven years in prison and £2 million fine on corruption charges in the Avenfield reference case in July 2018. But in September same year, her sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court.Meanwhile, earlier in the day, while briefly talking to the media after a special session of cabinet, which was chaired by the premier, Rashid said Khan also shared the “threatening letter” with the cabinet colleagues, who in return expressed complete trust in him.To a question if Khan would announce his resignation in his speech, Rashid said: "No way. He will fight till the last ball."The minister also said that Khan himself or foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi may also brief the parliament in-camera about the threatening letter.Pakistan plunged into uncertainty on March 8 after the combined opposition submitted the motion with the National Assembly, which will convene on Thursday to debate the motion.Prime Minister Khan, who needs 172 votes in the house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him, is facing his toughest political test since assuming office in 2018 as defections in his party and cracks in the ruling coalition appeared to have made his position fragile.Geo News earlier reported that MQM-P lawmakers Farogh Naseem and Aminul Haque, serving as federal ministers, submitted their resignations to the prime minister.Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides. The PTI has 155 members in the 342-member National Assembly and needs at least 172 lawmakers to retain power. Khan is facing a rebellion by his about two dozen lawmakers and allied parties.No prime minister in Pakistan's history has ever been ousted through a no-confidence motion, and Khan is the third premier to face the challenge. No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Khan strictly directed his party lawmakers to either abstain or not attend the National Assembly session on the day of voting on the no-confidence motion against him, which is likely to be held in the first week of April.Khan came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control, giving air to the sails of opposition ships to make war on his government.(With PTI inputs)ALSO READ | Who is Shehbaz Sharif, top contender for Pakistan PM's post if Imran Khan resignsALSO READ | What 'threatening letter' that Imran Khan brandished in Islamabad rally actually states

Pakistan political crisis: Top contenders for PM post if Imran Khan steps down

Pakistan News Updates: The Imran Khan government effectively lost majority after the MQM-P with its seven members decided to join the opposition. Another ally of the ruling coalition, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) with five members in the lower house had announced on Monday that it had "accepted the opposition's invitation" to vote against Khan.

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Air Canada fined for not using French languageAir Canada has been ordered to pay a French-speaking couple 21,000 Canadian dollars ($15,700) and write them a letter of apology for violating their linguistic rights.Ontario couple Michel and Lynda Thibodeau filed 22 complaints against the airline in 2016, the BBC reported on Saturday.Among them, they argued that the word "lift" was engraved on the buckles of their seatbelts in English but not in French, while French translations of words such as "exit" were in smaller characters.They also said the English-language boarding announcement for their Montreal-bound flight was more thorough than the French version.A Judge ruled on Friday that the airline had breached Canada's bilingualism laws.In the ruling, the Judge agreed that the airline had "not upheld its linguistic obligations".Air Canada reportedly told the court it would work to replace the signs.The flag carrier is subject to the country's Official Languages Act, which seeks to ensure that English and French are given equal status.

Air Canada fined for not using French language

Ontario couple Michel and Lynda Thibodeau filed 22 complaints against the airline in 2016, the BBC reported on Saturday. Among them, they argued that the word "lift" was engraved on the buckles of their seatbelts in English but not in French, while French translations of words such as "exit" were in smaller characters.

33ba9303fddc863da998861b78e0e42b

Myanmar charges Suu Kyi, giving legal basis to detain herPolice leveled their first formal charge against Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, members of her party said Wednesday, giving military authorities who staged a coup a legal reason to detain her at least through the middle of the month.The charge — that Suu Kyi was in possession of illegally imported walkie talkies — came to light two days after she was placed under house arrest and appeared to be an effort to lend a legal veneer to her detention, though the generals have previously kept her and others locked up for years.The military announced Monday that it would take power for one year — accusing Suu Kyi’s government of not investigating allegations of voter fraud in recent elections. Suu Kyi’s party swept that vote, and the military-backed party did poorly.National League for Democracy spokesman Kyi Toe confirmed the charge against Suu Kyi that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. He also said the country’s ousted president, Win Myint, was charged with violating the natural disaster management law. A leaked charge sheet dated Feb. 1 indicates they can be held until Feb. 15.“It was clear that the military were going to look for some legal cases against the leaders of the National League for Democracy and especially Aung San Suu Kyi to actually legitimize what they’ve tried to do,” said Larry Jagan, an independent analyst of Myanmar affairs. “And that is really a power grab.”Police and court officials in the capital Naypyitaw could not immediately be contacted.At the same time that authorities were working to keep Suu Kyi in detention, hundreds of lawmakers who had been forced to stay at government housing after the coup were told Wednesday to leave the capital city within 24 hours and go home, said a member of Parliament from Suu Kyi’s party who is among the group. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared drawing the attention of the military.The coup was a dramatic backslide for Myanmar, which had been making progress toward democracy, and highlighted the extent to which the generals have ultimately maintained control in in the Southeast Asian country.In response to the coup, Suu Kyi’s party has called for nonviolent resistance, and scores of people in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, honked car horns and banged on pots and pans on Tuesday night in a protest. Supporters of the military have also staged demonstrations.Medical workers have also declared they won’t work for the new military government in protest of the coup at a time when the country is battling a steady rise in COVID-19 cases with a dangerously inadequate health system. Photos were shared on social media showing health workers with red ribbons pinned to their clothes or holding printed photos of red ribbons.There were also protests in neighboring Thailand, where Khin Maung Soo, a Myanmar national, said Wednesday that he was demonstrating to “show the world that we are not happy with what happened.”He added: “We want to the world to know, and we want the whole world to help us too.”The takeover marked a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country toward democracy and then became its de facto leader after her party won elections in 2015.Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the army during her years in detention. But after her shift from democracy icon to politician, she worked with the generals and even defended their crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, damaging her international reputation.The international community, which had enthusiastically supported Myanmar’s nascent democracy, now faces a test. The United States has threatened sanctions and has labeled the takeover a coup. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday but took no action.The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 leading industrial nations on Wednesday issued a statement calling for Suu Kyi and others to be released and for power to be restored to the democratically elected government.While in power, Myanmar’s new leader said the military government plans to investigate alleged fraud in last year’s elections. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing announced the moves Tuesday at the first meeting of his new government in the capital, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.While the military has cited the government’s failure to properly investigate allegations of electoral irregularities as one of the reasons for the coup, the state Union Election Commission has said there were no significant problems with the vote.Analysts have said the landslide victory of Suu Kyi’s party may have caught the military by surprise — and made the generals concerned that it had too much power, even though the constitution had been carefully written to ensure the military maintained significant control, including with an allocation of 25% of the seats in Parliament.Min Aung Hlaing also said that COVID-19 containment measures taken by Suu Kyi’s government would be continued.Myanmar has confirmed more than 140,600 cases including some 3,100 deaths. Its health care infrastructure is one of the weakest in Asia, according to U.N. surveys.A statement issued Wednesday in the name of the executive members of Suu Kyi’s party said that authorities began raiding the party’s offices in Mandalay and other states and regions on Tuesday and seized documents and laptop computers.The statement on the Facebook page of party spokesman Kyi Toe said locks were broken at several offices. It denounced the raids as illegal and demanded that they stop.READ MORE: US in touch with nations like India and Japan on Myanmar: State Department official READ MORE: Hundreds of Myanmar lawmakers under house arrest after coup, Suu Kyi detained

Myanmar charges Suu Kyi, giving legal basis to detain her

​Police leveled their first formal charge against Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, members of her party said Wednesday, giving military authorities who staged a coup a legal reason to detain her at least through the middle of the month.

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Pakistan's anti-corruption authorities today arrested the son-in-law of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif from an airport here in connection with corruption cases pending against him. A team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took former army captain Muhammad Safdar into custody minutes after his arrival from London at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport along with his wife Maryam Nawaz. Safdar has been nominated by NAB in one of three corruption cases filed on September 8 against Pakistan's former premier Sharif, his daughter Maraym, sons Husain and Hasan and his son-in-law Safdar. The couple had arrived to appear before an anti-graft tribunal in connection with the NAB reference pertaining to London properties owned by the Sharif family. Safdar was later presented before a court in Islamabad, NAB officials said. Maryam, who was not detained, separately appeared in the same court for the first time. However, Sharif and his two sons were absent as they are in London where 67-year-old Sharif's wife is battling throat cancer. Sharif attended the previous two hearings but went to London last week to see his ailing wife. The court held brief hearing and took a break before announcing the hearing will resume shortly. During the brief hearing, Maryam was given copies of the case documents. Sharif's lawyer also presented an application to exempt him from appearance today as he was with his wife in London. The trial judge had earlier issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of Safdar and Sharif's two sons for failing to appear in court in the last hearing held on October 2. The court, however, repeated the bailable warrants for Sharif's daughter. "We are going back and will appear before the court and go through the wheels of justice. We respect the rule of law and the Constitution," local media quoted Maryam as saying. Asked whether her brothers would return to Pakistan to face the NAB references against them, she said, "Hassan and Hussain would themselves tell you about their decision". Safdar told Geo News that the couple had decided to return to Pakistan on the advice of their lawyers. Sharif had to step down as prime minister and president of the ruling PML-N party after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal. Sharif was re-elected as the president of the ruling PML-N on October 3 and immediately demanded that those who disqualified him should respect the people's mandate and democracy. 

Ousted PM Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law arrested on return to Pakistan

Pakistan's anti-corruption authorities took Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law and former army captain Muhammad Safdar into custody minutes after his arrival from London.

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People celebrate the UAE 50th National Day, at EXPO 2020 Dubai, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday announced to change its existing five-day workweek to a four-and-a-half day starting January 1, becoming the world's first country to make the employee-friendly transition as part of its efforts to improve productivity and work-life balance.According to the new schedule, Monday to Thursday the work timings would be from 7.30 am to 3.30 pm, followed by a half-day on Friday from 7. 30 am to 12.00 pm, said the UAE Government Media Office. Saturdays and Sundays are full-day holidays under the new rule.The government said, "Longer weekends to boost productivity and improve work-life balance; starting from 1st of January, 2022."In line with the announcement, the government said all Friday sermons and prayers would be held after 1.15 pm henceforth.Further, employees would be offered flexible working hours and work-from-home options on Friday.The government's move is expected to make it come closer to timings of the US, the UK and Europe, boosting commerce.The new system will first be implemented in all federal government entities; schools, colleges and private institutions are expected to follow suit.The Emirati governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have already announced the four-and-a-half day workweek.The UAE Government Media Office said the extended weekend comes as part of efforts to boost work-life balance and enhance social wellbeing, while increasing performance to advance the country's economic competitiveness.From an economic perspective, the new working week will better align the Emirates with global markets, reflecting the country's strategic status on the global economic map, the Khaleej Times reported.“It will ensure smooth financial, trade and economic transactions with countries that follow a Saturday/Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger international business links and opportunities for thousands of UAE-based and multinational companies,” the media office said.The move will ensure smooth financial, trade and economic transactions with countries that follow a Saturday/Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger international business links and opportunities for thousands of UAE-based and multinational companies, the Gulf News reported.The new working week will also bring the UAE's financial sector into closer alignment with global real-time trading and communications-based transactions such as those driving global stock markets, banks and financial institutions.The move is expected to boost not only trading opportunities but also add to the flexible, secure, and enjoyable lifestyle the UAE offers its citizens and residents, the report said.ALSO READ | Shocking report from Pakistan, around 37 percent population struggling to get foodALSO READ | Biden, Putin set video call today as Ukraine tensions grow

In a first, UAE moves to 4.5-day work week, Saturday-Sunday weekend to improve work-life balance

The UAE government said that long weekends to boost productivity and improve work-life balance will come into effect from January 1, 2022.

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India thwarts Pak attempt to raise Kashmir issue at Male, tells it to end state support to terrorIndia on Sunday thwarted an attempt by Pakistan to raise the Kashmir issue during the South Asian Speakers' Summit in the Maldives, saying Islamabad should end all state support to terrorism which is the "biggest threat" to humanity.The two sides had a heated exchange during summit held in the Maldivian Parliament where the representatives of the South Asian countries had gathered.Pakistan's Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri tried to raise the Kashmir issue during the discussion on Sustainable Development Goals.India immediately raised a point of order after which the presiding officer asked Suri to let the Indian representative, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, to speak, but he did not pay any heed, leading to commotion.In a strong response, Harivansh hit out at Pakistan for raising India's internal issue and politicisation of the forum."We strongly object to the raising of internal matter of India in this forum. We also reject to the politicisation of this forum by raising the issues which are extraneous to the theme of this summit," Harivansh said."There is a need for Pakistan to end cross border terrorism and all kinds of state support to the same in the interest of regional peace and stability. Terrorism is the biggest threat to the entire humanity today."Therefore, unanimously we should not allow in this august gathering any kind of circulated statement to become a part of the proceedings," he said.Pakistan Senator Quratulain Marri objected to Harivansh's remarks and said that SDGs for women and youth cannot be achieved without human rights.Harivansh hit back at Pakistan saying a country that perpetrated a genocide of its own people has no moral right to speak on the human rights issue.Raising a point of order again, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman retorted: "Excellency, I would like to ask what moral rights this country has to raise issues related to human rights? The world knows how they committed genocide in a part of their own country and that country is now separate entity called Bangladesh. "Since they have raised human rights issue of Kashmir, I would like to state facts that Pakistan has occupied our part of Kashmir known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "This Pakistan-occupied Kashmir comprises 2 areas, the so-called Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) which Pakistan has illegally occupied through armed action in 1947. "Pakistan has kept people of this region guessing on their status. As a constitutional entity, the so-called 'AJK' is unique. It has been given the trappings of a country with a President, a Prime Minister and a Legislature of its own. But the so-called AJK is neither a country nor a province," he said, as Marri was on her feet again protesting India's remarks.The Karachi Agreement (April 28, 1949) truncated POJK and brought more than 85 per cent of the land, strategically important for its connectivity with China and control of rivers, under Pakistan's direct control, Harivansh said. From the time of the Karachi Agreement, the so-called AJK President and Prime Minister have enjoyed only titular power, that too at the pleasure of the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs, he said.Amid the commotion, Speaker Nasheed tried to calm down the two sides, as the Pakistani representative continued her fulminations.The Indian delegation in the summit is led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.ALSO READ | Officer who quit IAS over Centre's Kashmir move refuses to join duty despite noticeALSO READ | Pak Minister Mahmood Qureshi raises Kashmir issue with counterparts from Sri Lanka, New Zealand and AzerbaijanALSO READ | Five Jammu and Kashmir residents booked for posting 'sensitive remarks' on Facebook /* .jw-reset-text, .jw-reset{line-height: 2em;}*/ .jw-time-tip .jw-time-chapter{display:none;} if ('' == comscore_jw_loaded || 'undefined' == comscore_jw_loaded || undefined == comscore_jw_loaded) { var comscore_jw_loaded = 1; 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India thwarts Pak attempt to raise Kashmir issue at Male, tells it to end state support to terror

Pakistan's Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri tried to raise the Kashmir issue during the discussion on Sustainable Development Goals.

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Tour company Thomas Cook collapsesLongtime British tour company Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding, and travel bookings for its more than 600,000 global vacationers were cancelled early Monday.The British government said the return of the firm’s 150,000 British customers now abroad would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process is set to begin later Monday and officials warned that delays are inevitable.The Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook has ceased trading, its four airlines will be grounded, and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will lose their jobs. The company several months ago had blamed a slowdown in bookings because of Brexit uncertainty for contributing to its crushing debt burden.The 178-year-old company had said Friday it was seeking 200 million pounds ($250 million) to avoid going bust and was in weekend talks with shareholders and creditors to stave off failure. The prominent firm, whose airliners were a familiar sight in many parts of the world, also operated around 600 UK travel stores.The company’s chief executive Peter Fankhauser said, “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.”He said a deal had been “largely agreed” but that “an additional facility” requested in the last few days presented an insurmountable challenge but provided no further details.“I would like to apologize to our millions of customers, and thousands of employees,” he said in a statement.Britain’s CAA said it had arranged an aircraft fleet for the complex British repatriation effort, which is expected to last two weeks.“Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will endeavour to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates,” the aviation authority said in a statement.Describing the repatriation plan, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said dozens of charter planes, from as far afield as Malaysia, had been hired to fly customers home free of charge. He said hundreds of people were staffing call centres and airport operations centres.“The task is enormous, the biggest peacetime repatriation in UK history. So there are bound to be problems and delays,” he said.A website set up by the aviation authority to aid the firm’s customers crashed shortly after the company collapse was announced.Unions representing the Thomas Cook staff had urged the British government to intervene to prop up Thomas Cook.Most of Thomas Cook’s British customers are protected by the government-run travel insurance program, which makes sure vacationers can get home if a British-based tour operator fails while they are abroad.Thomas Cook, which began in 1841 with a one-day train excursion in England and now operates in 16 countries, has been struggling over the past few years. It only recently raised 900 million pounds ($1.12 billion), including receiving money from leading Chinese shareholder Fosun.An estimated 1 million future travellers will find their bookings for upcoming holidays cancelled. They are likely to receive refunds under the terms of the government’s travel insurance plan.In May, the company reported a debt burden of 1.25 billion pounds and cautioned that political uncertainty related to Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union at the end of October had hurt demand for summer holiday travel. Heatwaves over the past couple of summers in Europe have also led many people to stay at home, while higher fuel and hotel costs have weighed on the travel business.The company’s troubles were already affecting those travelling under the Thomas Cook banner.A British vacationer told BBC radio on Sunday that the Les Orangers beach resort in the Tunisian town of Hammamet, near Tunis, demanded that guests who were about to leave pay extra money for fear it wouldn’t be paid what it is owed by Thomas Cook.Ryan Farmer, of Leicestershire, said many tourists refused the demand since they had already paid Thomas Cook, so security guards shut the hotel’s gates and “were not allowing anyone to leave.”It was like “being held hostage,” said Farmer, who is due to leave Tuesday. He said he would also refuse to pay if the hotel asked him.The Associated Press called the hotel, as well as the British Embassy in Tunis, but no officials or managers were available for comment.ALSO READ | Thomas Cook crisis: As company demands extra fees, customers held hostageALSO READ | Thomas Cook India sees 22 percent growth in bookings this summerALSO READ | Thomas Cook India partners with RBL Bank

Lakhs of holidaymakers stranded as British travel firm Thomas Cook collapses

The British government said the return of the firm’s 150,000 British customers now abroad would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process is set to begin later Monday and officials warned that delays are inevitable.