Three suspected members of proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) were arrested in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on charges of terror financing. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), in a statement, said that two activists of the Hafiz Saeed-founded organisation were picked on terror financing charges. 'They were collecting and arranging funds for JuD. On this information, the CTD team raided the place and arrested the two activists namely Wajidullah and Muhammad Ali,' it said. Terror financing pamphlets and receipt books were recovered from them. 'Investigation has been launched and further disclosures are expected regarding JuD and FIF (Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation) networks in the area,' the CTD said. The FIF is a related organisation of the JuD, also founded by Saeed. Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan indicted four leaders of the JuD in terror financing cases. In February, Saeed had been sentenced to jail for 11 years on terror finance charges by the Lahore Anti-Terrorism Court under sections 11-N of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
Zardari shifted to hospital after feeling unwell
Former Pakistan president and Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari was shifted to a hospital, after he felt unwell on Sunday, according to a statement by the party. "Doctors are conducting his medical check-up and necessary medical tests," PPP said in its statement. Zardari, who is named in multiple corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court on medical grounds last year. During a hearing of Zardari's bail petition, his legal counsel advocate Farooq H Naek told the court that the former president is a chronic patient suffering from multiple ailments. On June 30 this year, an accountability court in Islamabad issued bailable arrest warrants against Zardari in the Toshakhana gifts case which also involves former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousuf Raza Gilani. The NAB has accused Zardari and ex-prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousuf Raza Gilani of misusing official gifts by foreign heads of states.
Pak HC stops auction of gurdwara land
A high court in northwest Pakistan has stopped the auction of a portion of land belonging to an ancient gurdwara and directed the country’s anti corruption watchdog to probe the matter. A bench of the Peshawar HC stopped the auction of the land on a writ petition filed by Sahib Singh through his lawyers. Singh had challenged the auction of the gurdwara land. The bench during the hearing of the petition directed the National Accountability Bureau to take action against those involved in the auction process.
Prominent Sunni cleric shot dead in Karachi
A prominent Pakistani Sunni Muslim cleric was shot dead along with his driver by unidentified assailants in Karachi, police said on Sunday. Maulana Dr Adil Khan, head of Karachi’s Jamia Farooqia seminary, was attacked in a market on Saturday, they said. Police said that when the cleric’s vehicle stopped in front of a busy shopping area, gunmen opened fire targeting the driver before firing three bullets that struck Khan’s head, neck and chest. The three attackers then fled on the back of a shared motorcycle. Police said it appeared to be a targeted attack. “We are gathering statements from witnesses,” police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said.
Two-year-old assaulted and killed in Pak
In a seemingly unending episode of rape and child abuse across Pakistan, a two-and-a-half year-old girl was abducted, assaulted and raped before being killed in the district of Charsadda. The minor had gone missing while playing outside her house. Police got information about the body of a girl being found, following which they shifted it to a Peshawar hospital for post-mortem. Police said that initial probe “suggests that the minor was assaulted before her murder”. “There were torture marks,” it said.
Iraqi militias offer truce for US troop withdrawal
Iraqi militias backed by Iran have agreed to temporarily halt attacks targeting the American presence in Iraq on the condition that US-led coalition troops withdraw from the country in line with a parliamentary resolution, three of the militia officials said. The officials spoke just hours after a roadside bomb targeted a convoy transporting equipment for the US led coalition on a highway south of Baghdad, damaging one vehicle, an Iraqi army statement said. Roadside bombs and rocket attacks targeting the US embassy have become a frequent occurrence. The militia factions offered a truce and will refrain from targeting the US in Iraq, including the US embassy, on the condition that American forces withdraw within an “acceptable time frame”, said Mohammed Mohie, a spokesman for the powerful Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah.
Azerbaijan and Armenia report shelling of cities
Azerbaijan and Armenia on Sunday accused each other of serious violations and crimes against civilians as a day-old humanitarian ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh looked increasingly frayed on Sunday. Azerbaijan said it had carried out airstrikes against an ethnic Armenian regiment, inflicting heavy losses. A spokesman for the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh said he did not have information about the alleged attack. Earlier, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of heavily shelling a residential area in Ganja, its second largest city, in the early hours of the morning, and of hitting an apartment building. The Azeri prosecutor general’s office said nine people had been killed and 34 wounded in the attack. The Armenian defence ministry called the Azeri allegations about the attack on Ganja “an absolute lie” and accused Azerbaijan of continuing to shell populated areas inside Karabakh.
Opposition wins first round in Lithuanian election
Lithuania's main centre-right opposition party led the first round of a parliamentary vote, election commission data showed, as high unemployment and rising debt hurt the ruling coalition. The Homeland Union, which has roots in the 1980s anti-Soviet independence movement, led the vote with 24.8% compared with 17.5% for the Farmers and Greens party (LVZS), an agrarian group that leads the coalition of Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis. Although a second round of voting could shift the balance again, the leader of LVZS acknowledged his party might be heading out of government as none of his coalition partners reached the 5% of votes needed to secure seats in parliament. "Working in opposition could be easier than in the government, and the salary is same either way," Ramunas Karbauskis told reporters on Monday, a day after the vote. Lithuania's economy has fared better than some European Union states in the coronavirus crisis, but the prime minister has faced criticism for failing to reduce unemployment, mounting debt and not doing enough to prevent a new surge in coronavirus infections.
Nobel peace prize for UN World Food Programme
The United Nations' World Food Programme won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to fight hunger in regions of conflict and hardship around the globe. From air-dropping food in South Sudan to creating an emergency delivery service to keep aid flowing despite coronavirus travel restrictions, the Rome-based organisation has long specialised in getting assistance to some of the world's most dangerous and precarious places. It provided assistance to almost 100 million people in 88 countries last year. “With this year's award, the (committee) wishes to turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announcing the award in Oslo. “The World Food Programme plays a key role in multilateral cooperation on making food security an instrument of peace.” The head of the organisation said his entire team deserved the award.
N Korea unveils ‘monster’ ICBM at parade
North Korea unveiled previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles at an unprecedented predawn military parade that showcased the country’s long range weapons for the first time in two years. Analysts said the missile, which was shown on a transporter vehicle with 11 axles, would be one of the largest road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles in the world if it becomes operational. “This missile is a monster,” said Melissa Hanham, deputy director of the Open Nuclear Network. Also displayed were the Hwasong-15, which is the longest-range missile ever tested by North Korea, and what appeared to be a new submarine-launched ballistic missile. A senior US administration official called the display of the ICBM “disappointing” and called on the government to achieve denuclearisation. “We will continue to build our national defence power and self defensive air deterrence,” Kim declared at the parade.
Mexican prez asks Pope Francis for conquest apology
Mexico’s president published an open letter to Pope Francis calling on the Roman Catholic Church to apologise for abuses of Indigenous peoples during the conquest of Mexico in the 1500s. In the letter published on Saturday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also asks the pope to lend Mexico ancient pre-Hispanic Mexican or colonial-era documents. “The Church, the Spanish monarchy and the Mexican government should make a public apology for the offensive atrocities that Indigenous people suffered,” the letter states. Obrador asked the pope to make a statement in favour of Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico’s 19th century independence leader who was once believed to have been excommunicated by the Church for his involvement in the uprising. But, researchers later said it appeared that Hidalgo had confessed his sins before he was executed.
Top US immunologist quits over Trump's response
Dr Rick Bright, a whistleblower who crossed swords with the Trump administration over claims his warnings over both coronavirus and the utility of hydroxychloroquine were ignored, left his role complaining that his plan to develop a national testing infrastructure had also been sidelined. Bright is an immunologist who formerly headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a department of health and human services (HHS) agency that works to prepare the nation for such threats as a pandemic or a bioterrorism attack. That agency is now playing a central role in the campaign to deliver a coronavirus vaccine. Lawyers for Bright say he was sidelined at the National Institutes of Health, where he had been transferred this spring after being ousted as head of a biodefense agency, adding that the NIH had ignored a national coronavirus testing strategy that Bright developed because he had become politically toxic within the Trump administration.
2020 saw warmest Sept on record
Worldwide, last month was the warmest September on record, topping a record set just a year before, European scientists said. It was also the hottest September on record for Europe. Northern Siberia, western Australia, west Asia and parts of south America recorded above-average temperatures. The announcement, by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an intergovernmental agency supported by EU, comes after nine months of wildfires. The agency said last month was 0.63° Celsius warmer than average.
Russia fires hypersonic missile in birthday blast for Putin
Russia's armed forces marked birthday of President Vladimir Putin's 68th birthday with the successful test launch of a hypersonic missile. The Tsirkon missile, which can travel at 8 times the speed of sound, was launched from a vessel in the White Sea in Russia's north-west, said the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov. It successfully hit its target in the Barents Sea, he added. The missile covered a distance of 450 km in four and half-minutes after reaching a hypersonic speed of more than Mach 8. President Putin takes pride in hypersonic weapons, contrasting Russia's status as world-leader in their development with the Cold War when Moscow played catch-up to the US in terms of military technology. Putin praised the test in remarks broadcast on television: “This is a major event not only in the life of the armed forces but also for all of Russia, for the whole country." Putin has previously argued that Russia had to develop new weapons in response to the development of the US missile defence system that threatens to erode Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
McAfee creator jailed in Spain for tax evasion in US
John McAfee, an anti-virus software creator indicted for fraud in the US, was in jail pending extradition procedures after being arrested in Barcelona airport at the weekend, sources said. McAfee was detained while boarding a flight to Istanbul with a British passport, police said. Mc-Afee’s representatives were not contactable. US prosecutors said McAfee evaded taxes and failed to file returns from 2014 to 2018 despite earning millions.
Floods in France, Italy sweep bodies out of cemeteries
Along with storm casualties, authorities on French and Italian coasts say corpses from cemeteries are being swept down the mountain by violent rains. A total of 12 deaths have been reported since the storm pounded France’s Alpes-Maritimes region and Italy’s Liguria and Piedmont last week. Authorities have said cemeteries in the French towns of Saint-Martin-de-Vesubie and Tende were partially washed out. Tende mayor said the village cemetery “was cut in two” and bodies were unearthed.
Negative views of China rise sharply across countries
Negative perceptions of China have risen sharply in many countries, especially in Australia and UK, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. The poll comes as China is engaged in multiple trade and diplomatic disputes, driven in part by a more aggressive diplomatic approach. The survey conducted across 14 countries showed a majority of people had an unfavourable view of China. It was conducted from June 10 to August 3 among 14,276 adults across the 14 countries. In Australia, 81% said they have an unfavourable view of China, a rise of 24 percentage points from last year. The rise corresponds with higher tensions in ties after Australia called for an international probe into the origins of coronavirus as well as the implementation of a new national security law in Hong Kong. The poll showed those with negative attitudes hit 74% in Britain, a rise of 19 percentage points compared to last year; 71% in Germany, a rise of 15 points; and 73% in the US, a rise of 13 points.
