Home Blog Page 146

Hamas attack on Israel thrusts Biden into Mideast crisis and has him fending off GOP criticism

Kyung An
-
0
Hamas attack on Israel thrusts Biden into Mideast crisis and has him fending off GOP criticism

Hamas attack on Israel thrusts Biden into Mideast crisis and has him fending off GOP criticism

By MATTHEW LEE AND AAMER MADHANI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadly Hamas militant attack on Israel and the massive retaliation it provoked from Jerusalem have thrust President Joe Biden into a Middle East crisis that risks expanding into a broader conflict and has left him fending off criticism from GOP presidential rivals that his administration’s policies led to this moment.

The potential for prolonged and expanding violence could test Biden’s leadership on both the world stage and at home as he tries to navigate between demonstrating unflinching support for Israel and fostering a broader peace in the combustible Mideast, where sympathetic militants were quick to loudly praise the action by Hamas. Hundreds have been killed on both sides.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group welcomed the attack as a response to “Israeli crimes.” The Iran-backed group, which holds similar goals as Hamas for the destruction of the Israeli state, fired rockets and shells on Sunday at three Israeli positions, drawing a response from Israel’s military with armed drones. A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader lauded the operation by Hamas, which said it was ready for a potentially long fight.

READ MORE : Brutal Russian strike on café, shop in eastern Ukraine kills at least 51 civilians

Several 2024 Republican presidential contenders immediately tried to pin a portion of the blame on Biden. They sought to tie his recent decision to release $6 billion in blocked Iranian funds in exchange for freeing five Americans who had been detained in Iran to Saturday’s complex attack by air, land and sea.

The White House pushed back fiercely against the GOP criticism, noting that the money unfrozen last month in the prisoner swap has yet to be spent by Iran and can only be used for humanitarian needs.

Iran has historically maintained strong ties with both Palestinian Hamas and Hezbollah.

A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said it was “too early to say whether the state of Iran was directly involved in planning or supporting” the complex attack but noted Iran’s deep ties to Hamas.

Biden and top aides spent Saturday consulting with European and Middle East leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In remarks before reporters at the White House, Biden called the attacks “unconscionable” and pledged his administration would ensure Israel has “what it needs to defend itself.”

“Let me say this as clearly as I can: This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage,” Biden said.

The attack only adds new complications as the Biden administration and Iran are locked in disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Still, the administration hasn’t given up hope on reviving a deal brokered during the Obama administration — and scrapped during the Trump White House — that eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear program.

Biden administration officials have also been working on brokering a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the most powerful and wealthy Arab state. Such a deal has the potential to reshape the region and boost Israel’s standing in historic ways.

But brokering such a deal was already seen as a heavy lift as the kingdom has said it won’t officially recognize Israel before a resolution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The new conflict adds an enormous new roadblock to Biden’s ambitions, although the administration official said the White House did not see the Hamas attack derailing the effort.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry in a statement did not condemn the Hamas attack, but noted the kingdom’s “repeated warnings of the dangers … of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities.”

Netanyahu vowed in his own national address to avenge the startling attacks, pledging to “bring the fight to them with a might and scale that the enemy has not yet known.”

Another point of criticism leveled at the administration by Republicans is that its decision shortly after taking office to reverse a Trump-era ban on assistance to the Palestinians, including civilians in Gaza, may have helped fund the operation.

Biden administration officials did not address whether Iran, in anticipation of using the money — now held in Qatari banks — for food, medicine, medical supplies and agricultural products, may have diverted other funds to Hamas or other proxies.

In a briefing with Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff on Saturday, administration officials said the U.S. had warned Iran “through interlocutors” that direct involvement in the Gaza situation would imperil any future initiatives the U.S. might consider with the Islamic Republic, according to a congressional aide familiar with the session.

The officials did not elaborate on who the interlocutors were or what future initiatives would be in jeopardy, although acting deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast, Barbara Leaf, both spoke to officials in Lebanon about the situation. Some Lebanese officials maintain contact with Iran, which supports the militant group Hezbollah in the country.

Administration officials roundly rejected this, saying their efforts to help Palestinian civilians in Gaza and elsewhere do not involve money that Hamas can use or divert.

___
Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Jill Colvin in New York and Thomas Beaumont in Waterloo, Iowa contributed to this report.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

US Sports Star, Bears legend Dick Butkus passes away at 80

Kyung An
-
0
US Sports Star, Bears legend Dick Butkus passes away at 80

US Sports Star, Bears legend Dick Butkus passes away at 80

By Larry Mayer

CHICAGO (CB) – Dick Butkus, a legendary Bears Hall of Fame middle linebacker and Chicago native who many still consider the most ferocious defensive player in NFL history, has passed away. He was 80.

The Butkus Family released the following statement: “The Butkus Family confirms that football and entertainment legend Dick Butkus died peacefully in his sleep overnight at home in Malibu, Calif. The Butkus family is gathering with Dick’s wife Helen. They appreciate your prayers and support.”

“Dick was the ultimate Bear, and one of the greatest players in NFL history,” Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said in a statement. “He was Chicago’s son. He exuded what our great city is about and, not coincidently, what George Halas looked for in a player: toughness, smarts, instincts, passion and leadership. He refused to accept anything less than the best from himself, or from his teammates. When we dedicated the George Halas statue at our team headquarters, we asked Dick to speak at the ceremony, because we knew he spoke for Papa Bear.

READ MORE : Broadcaster Rick Jeanneret Dead at 81, After Multi-Organ Failures

“If I had a choice, I’d sooner go one-on-one with a grizzly bear,” Green Bay Packers running back MacArthur Lane once said. “I pray that I can get up after every time Butkus hits me.”

“Dick was an animal,” Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones once said. “I called him a maniac, a stone maniac. He was a well-conditioned animal, and every time he hit you, he tried to put you in the cemetery, not the hospital.”

Butkus was voted to the Pro Bowl in each of his first eight NFL seasons and was also selected as an All Pro in seven of his nine years. He won two NFL Defensive Player of the Year Awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 in his first year of eligibility.

Butkus was named to the NFL All-Decade Teams for both the 1960s and 1970s, had his No. 51 jersey retired by the Bears and was voted to the NFL’s 75th and 100th Anniversary Teams.

Butkus also possessed extraordinary ball skills. He set an NFL record that has since been broken with 26 fumble recoveries and his 22 career interceptions are tied for 11th in Bears history with fellow Hall of Fame middle linebacker Brian Urlacher.

In the Chicago Bears Centennial Scrapbook that was published in 2019, Hall of Fame writers Dan Pompei and Don Pierson ranked Butkus as the second greatest player in franchise history behind only superstar running back Walter Payton.

Butkus told ChicagoBears.com in 2019 at the Bears100 Celebration in Rosemont that he felt fortunate to have starred in his hometown.

Linebacker Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears pursues the play against the Pittsburgh Steelers during a game Sept. 19, 1971, at Soldier Field in Chicago. Butkus played for the Bears from 1965-73. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

“It’s kind of a unique position because I don’t think many players actually have done that,” Butkus said. “I feel very lucky. My parents got to see probably 95 percent of the games that were in Chicago, so it was good for my family, and I liked it.

“Playing for someone who was involved in football since I can remember, who’s better to play for than a guy like George Halas that started it all? I just felt that everything happened for a reason.”

Asked about the ferocity and intensity he was known for, Butkus said: “I thought that was the way that everybody should have played. But I guess they didn’t because they were claiming that I had a special way of playing. You try to intimidate the person that you’re playing against and hit him hard enough so that sooner or later he’s going to start worrying about getting hit and forget about holding the ball. If it stood out, I guess no one else was doing it as much.”

Interestingly, one of the most memorable moments of Butkus’ career did not occur on defense. It came late in a 1971 game against Washington when the Bears were attempting an extra point to snap a 15-15 tie. Bobby Douglass scrambled to recover a bad snap, rolled to his left and lofted the ball into the end zone to Butkus, who caught the pass to give the Bears a thrilling 16-15 victory.

After retiring from the Bears, Butkus became a popular actor who starred in dozens of movies and television shows —many alongside fellow former football star Bubba Smith. Butkus had recurring roles on TV shows such as “My Two Dads,” “Vega$,” “MacGyver” and “Hang Time.” His movie credits include “Brian’s Song” (appearing as himself), “The Longest Yard,” “Johnny Dangerously,” “Necessary Roughness” and “Any Given Sunday.”

Butkus endorsed several products, most notably appearing in a series of commercials for Miller Lite alongside other former professional athletes.

Throughout his adult life, Butkus generously supported numerous charitable causes. He created and operated The Butkus Foundation, which instituted the Butkus Award to honor the nation’s best linebacker in professional, college and high school football. The Hall of Famer also started the Dick Butkus Center for Cardiovascular Wellness, a nonprofit organization based in Orange County, Calif., with a cardiac screening program that uses specialized testing to help identify those at risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac death.

In addition, the Butkus Foundation runs the “I Play Clean Campaign,” which educates and encourages high school athletes to train and eat well without resorting to illegal steroids and other performance-enhancing products.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Dr. Srinivas Eluri, a prominent diplomat hailing from the Telangana, has achieved a significant milestone on the international stage

Shasi Kumar
-
0
Dr. Srinivas Eluri, a prominent diplomat hailing from the Telangana, has achieved a significant milestone on the international stage

Dr. Srinivas Eluri, a prominent diplomat hailing from the Telangana, has achieved a significant milestone on the international stage

NEW YORK (DT) – Invited to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, Dr. Eluri actively participated in a crucial event—the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Conference, held from the 16th to the 24th of September 2023.

This event served as a platform to emphasize and discuss the crucial role of sustainable development goals in steering global progress. Dr. Eluri’s focal points during the conference were gender equality and nuclear disarmament, pivotal aspects in promoting world peace and stability.

READ MORE : America International University Chancellor Dr Park Met with Guinea Ambassador in Malaysia, discussed about education

In the realm of global security, Dr. Srinivas Eluri passionately underlined the urgent need for a ban on nuclear weapons. The existential threat posed by these devastating instruments cannot be underestimated. He stressed that the current trajectory of nuclear proliferation presents a significant question to humanity, one that demands immediate and unified attention.

His resounding call was for a collective cessation of nuclear weapon production. He implored nations to reconsider their priorities and channel their efforts towards peaceful coexistence rather than the relentless development and accumulation of these destructive arms.

READ MORE : World Environment Day 2023: Solutions to Plastic Pollution, History, Importance

Dr. Eluri’s address was multifaceted, touching upon fundamental human rights and ethical considerations. He highlighted the necessity of prioritizing humanitarian needs, particularly in the face of growing global challenges.

His assertion that “people need food, not missiles” encapsulates the essence of this humanitarian perspective, emphasizing the importance of addressing basic human needs. Moreover, the discourse extended to the inhumanity inherent in nuclear warfare. Dr. Eluri emphasized that nuclear warfare stands as a stark violation of human dignity and moral principles.

He implored for a collective conscience that categorically rejects the engagement in and endorsement of such inhumane practices.

Dr. Srinivas Eluri, at United Nations Headquarters. Photo : Provided

Additionally, the diplomat underscored the significance of inclusivity and global collaboration in decision-making processes concerning nuclear weaponry. Dr. Srinivas Eluri stressed that every nation’s opinion and concerns regarding nuclear weapons should be considered and weighted equally.

This democratic approach ensures that decisions related to nuclear armament are collective, well-informed, and representative of the global population’s diverse perspectives.

In conclusion, Dr. Srinivas Eluri’s presence and active contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Conference marked a crucial stride towards fostering a world driven by peace, humanitarian values, and sustainable development.

His articulate and impassioned address serves as a reminder of the collective responsibility we bear in shaping a future free from the shadows of nuclear conflict and oriented towards the welfare of all humanity.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Bangladesh gets first uranium shipment from Russia for its Moscow-built nuclear power plant

Qaseem Hassan
-
0
Bangladesh gets first uranium shipment from Russia for its Moscow-built nuclear power plant

Bangladesh gets first uranium shipment from Russia for its Moscow-built nuclear power plant

By JULHAS ALAM

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh on Thursday received the first uranium shipment from Russia to fuel the country’s only nuclear power plant, still under construction by Moscow. Once finished, the plant is expected to boost Bangladesh’s national grid and help the South Asian nation’s growing economy.

The Rooppur power plant will produce 2,400 megawatts of electricity — powering about 15 million households — when the twin-unit facility goes fully online. The plant is being constructed by Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation. Moscow has funded the construction with a $11.38 billion loan, to be repaid over two decades, starting from 2027.

Once Rooppur starts production, Bangladesh will join more than 30 countries that run nuclear power reactors.

READ MORE : Brutal Russian strike on café, shop in eastern Ukraine kills at least 51 civilians

The uranium, which arrived in Bangladesh late last month, was handed over to the authorities at a ceremony in Ishwardi, where the plant is located, in the northern district of Pabna on Thursday. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the ceremony — both by video link.

Putin said the plant will cover about 10% of Bangladesh’s energy consumption when launched. He said more than 20,000 people worked on its construction and that over 1,000 people were trained to operate it.

“Together with you, we are building not just a nuclear power plant, but the entire atomic industry,” Putin said.

Hasina said that Russia has promised to take back the spent fuel from Rooppur and she also assured her nation that the plant is safely constructed against damage from natural disasters.

A view of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant at Ishwardi in Pabna, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Oct.4, 2023. Photo : Mahmud Hossain/AP

On Thursday, Aleksey Likhachev, head of Rosatom, handed over the fuel at the function to Bangladesh’s Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman, according to the United News of Bangladesh news agency. The report provided no other details on the amount of uranium that was shipped.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — also joined by video conference, the report said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a ceremony marking the delivery of Russian nuclear fuel to the first power unit of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh, via videoconference call,in Sachi, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi are seen on the screen. Photo : Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/AP

Osman was cited as saying the first unit at Rooppur will become operational in July 2024 and the second in July 2025. The fuel is expected to allow the reactor to operate for one year, after which more fuel will have to be loaded.

The uranium was produced at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant in Russia, a subsidiary of Rosatom’s fuel manufacturing company Tevel.

Bangladesh and Russia have traditionally maintained good relations, which haven’t changed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Dhaka has signed several contracts with Moscow on cooperation in the nuclear power industry, trade and finances, and in other sectors.

Bangladesh has planned to rely less on natural gas, which now accounts for about half of power production in the country. It is also setting up coal-fired power plants while it has a long-term plan to source 40% of the nation’s electricity from renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power by 2041.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Brutal Russian strike on café, shop in eastern Ukraine kills at least 51 civilians

Rania Lampou
-
0
Brutal Russian strike on café, shop in eastern Ukraine kills at least 51 civilians

Brutal Russian strike on café, shop in eastern Ukraine kills at least 51 civilians

By SUSIE BLANN

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least 51 civilians were killed Thursday in a Russian rocket strike on a village store in eastern Ukraine, one of the deadliest attacks in recent months that came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended a summit of around 50 European leaders in Spain to drum up support from the country’s allies.

Zelensky denounced the attack on the store and cafe in the village of Hroza as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.”

He urged Western allies to help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses, saying that “Russian terror must be stopped.”

READ MORE : Europe Union’s top diplomat dismisses concern about bloc’s long-term support for Ukraine

“Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for only one thing: to make its genocidal aggression the new norm for the whole world,” he said. “Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defense, strengthening our soldiers, giving our country protection from terror. And we will respond to the terrorists.”

Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak and Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 6-year-old boy was among the dead, adding that six other people were wounded.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, a woman reacts near the bodies of victims of the deadly Russian rocket attack that killed more than 40 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, October 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

About 60 people were in the cafe, attending a wake after a funeral, said Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko, who provided the death toll. According to preliminary information from Kyiv, the village was struck by an Iskander missile. Emergency crews searched the smoldering rubble of damaged buildings. Ukrainian prosecutors released photos showing bloodied bodies.

Hroza and other parts of the eastern Kharkiv region were seized by Russia early in the war and recaptured by Ukraine in September 2022.

The attack came as Zelensky was in Granada in southern Spain to attend a summit of the European Political Community, which was formed in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives at the Europe Summit in Granada, Spain, October 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

“The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defense, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners,” he said in a statement posted on his Telegram channel.

Last winter, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy system and other vital infrastructure in a steady barrage of missile and drone attacks, triggering continuous power outages across the country. Ukraine’s power system has shown a high degree of resilience and flexibility, helping alleviate the damage, but there have been concerns that Russia will again ramp up its strikes on power facilities as winter draws nearer.

Zelensky noted the Granada summit will also focus on “joint work for global food security and protection of freedom of navigation” in the Black Sea, where the Russian military has targeted Ukrainian ports after Moscow’s withdrawal from a UN-sponsored grain deal designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country’s ports.

The UK Foreign Office cited intelligence suggesting that Russia may lay sea mines in the approach to Ukrainian ports to target civilian shipping and blame it on Ukraine.

“Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea,” it said, adding that the UK was working with Ukraine to help improve the safety of shipping.

Speaking in Granada, Zelensky emphasized the need to preserve European unity in the face of Russian disinformation and to remain strong amid what he described as a “political storm” in the United States.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, emergency workers search the victims of a Russian rocket attack that killed at least 47 people in the village of Hroza near Kharkiv, Ukraine, October 5, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Earlier Thursday, Russia targeted Ukraine’s southern regions with drones. Ukraine’s air force said that the country’s air defenses intercepted 24 out of 29 Iranian-made drones that Russia launched at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions.

Andriy Raykovych, head of the Kirovohrad regional administration, said that an infrastructure facility in the region was struck and emergency services were deployed to extinguish a fire. He said there were no casualties.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Flash floods kill at least 18 in northeastern India and leave nearly 100 missing

Shasi Kumar
-
0
Flash floods kill at least 18 in northeastern India and leave nearly 100 missing

Flash floods kill at least 18 in northeastern India and leave nearly 100 missing

By ASHOK SHARMA

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescue workers were searching for nearly 100 people on Thursday after flash floods triggered by sudden heavy rainfall swamped several towns in northeastern India, killing at least 18 people, officials said.

More than 2,000 people were rescued after Wednesday’s floods, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that state authorities set up 26 relief camps for more than 22,000 people impacted by the floods.

Eighteen bodies have been found so far, said Vinay Bhushan Pathak, the top state bureaucrat.

READ MORE :Death toll in Libya floods nearly 3,000 after Storm Daniel

Twenty-six people have suffered injuries and were undergoing treatment at various hospitals across Sikkim, he said.

Among the missing were 22 soldiers, officials said. One soldier who had been reported missing on Wednesday was later rescued by authorities, the army said in a statement.

The Press Trust of India news agency cited a statement by neighboring West Bengal state as saying that the bodies of four soldiers were found. However, it wasn’t immediately clear whether they were among the 22 missing soldiers, or had died separately.

Some army camps and vehicles were submerged under mud following the floods, the army said.

Pathak said that nearly 3,000 tourists and 700 drivers with their vehicles have been stranded in the flood-hit areas.

“We are evacuating them through helicopters provided by the army and the air force,” he said.

The army is extending medical aid and phone connectivity to civilians and tourists stranded in the areas of Chungthang, Lachung and Lachen in north Sikkim, the army statement said.

Eleven bridges were washed away by the floodwaters, which also hit pipelines and damaged or destroyed more than 270 houses in four districts, officials said.

The flooding occurred along the Teesta River in the Lachen Valley in Sikkim state and was worsened when parts of a dam were washed away.

Several towns, including Dikchu and Rangpo in the Teesta basin, were flooded, and schools in four districts were ordered shut until Sunday, the state’s education department said.

Parts of a highway that links Sikkim, the state capital, with the rest of the country were washed away.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office said in a statement that the government would support state authorities in the aftermath of the flooding.

The flooding was caused by cloudbursts — sudden, very heavy rains — which are defined as when more than 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) of rainfall occurs within 10 square kilometers (3.8 square miles) within an hour. Cloudbursts can cause intense flooding and landslides affecting thousands of people.

The mountainous Himalayan region where Sikkim is located has seen heavy monsoon rains this season.

Nearly 50 people died in flash floods and landslides in August in nearby Himachal Pradesh state. Record rains in July killed more than 100 people over two weeks in northern India, as roads were waterlogged and homes collapsed.

Disasters caused by landslides and floods are common in India’s Himalayan region during the June-September monsoon season. Scientists say they are becoming more frequent as global warming contributes to the melting of glaciers there.

“This is, incredibly sadly, another classic case of a cascading hazard chain that amplifies as you go downstream,” said Jakob Steiner, a climate scientist with the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, commenting on Wednesday’s flash flooding.

Earlier this year, Steiner’s organization published a report saying that Himalayan glaciers could lose 80% of their volume if global warming isn’t controlled.

In February 2021, flash floods killed nearly 200 people and washed away houses in Uttarakhand state in northern India.

___
Sibi Arasu contributed to this report from Bengaluru.

___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receive support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Suspect in Bangkok mall shooting that killed 2 used a modified mock gun, police say

Andy Sengiah
-
0
Suspect in Bangkok mall shooting that killed 2 used a modified mock gun, police say

Suspect in Bangkok mall shooting that killed 2 used a modified mock gun, police say

By JERRY HARMER AND JUTARAT SKULPICHETRAT

BANGKOK (AP) — The teenage boy who allegedly shot two people dead and wounded five others inside a major shopping mall in the center of Thailand’s capital used a mock handgun that had been modified to fire real bullets, police said Wednesday.

The suspect was taken into custody less than an hour after the first gunshots Tuesday afternoon at the Siam Paragon Mall, one of Bangkok’s biggest and most upscale shopping destinations.

Video uploaded to social media and broadcast on television showed a long-haired teenage boy in the custody of police. Major Thai media reported he was 14 years old and a student at a prominent private school. Recently appointed Police Chief Torsak Sukvimol confirmed only that he is a minor and had a record of being treated for mental illness.

READ MORE : Shocking Incident: Police Col. Wachira Yaothaisong Shot Himself, Investigation Underway

Assistant National Police Chief Samran Nualma said at a news conference Wednesday that the weapon used was “a plastic gun and adapted to use with real bullets.” It has variously been described as originally intended to fire blanks or BBs.

Samran said the authorities were looking into the regulation of such items. Mock weapons are popular among military buffs in Thailand and can be freely purchased. Licensing of real guns is restricted and limited to people 20 years or older. The penalty for unlawful possession of a firearm is up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 20,000 baht ($538).

The minister of Tourism and Sports, Sudawan Wangsuppakitkosol, confirmed at the news conference that a Chinese citizen and a Myanmar citizen had died. She said five people were hospitalized — one from China, one from Laos and three Thais — and that several were in critical condition.

“We need to rebuild confidence. We will discuss with the National Police putting safety measures in malls and communities to prevent such incidents,” she said.

Siam Paragon installed metal detectors at its entrances during political tensions several years ago, but recently they have been only casually monitored. Security guards were conducting hand searches of customers’ bags at entrances on Wednesday. Inside, workers were repairing the front of a luxury shop that was apparently damaged by the gunfire.

Thailand is relying on its once-robust tourism industry for a full economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic. It is especially encouraging visitors from China, who before the pandemic were by far the largest national group. But Chinese social media have lately been filled with warnings about safety in Thailand because of some high-profile crimes and scam operations.

Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand, though mass shootings are rare.

The incident occurred days before Thais are to mark the anniversary of the country’s biggest mass killing by an individual, a gun and knife attack at a rural day care center in a northeastern province that killed 36 people, most of them preschoolers, on Oct. 6, 2022.

In 2020, a disgruntled soldier opened fire in and around a mall in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, killing 29 people and holding off security forces for about 16 hours before eventually being killed by them.

Tuesday’s shooting prompted authorities to temporarily shut access to the nearby Siam Square elevated train stop, preventing commuters from exiting at the key transfer point as the evening rush hour began and intense rain pounded the city.

Although gun laws in Thailand are relatively restrictive, the country has one of the highest levels of gun ownership in Asia, according to GunPolicy.org, a research project at Australia’s University of Sydney.

There are about 10 guns per 100 people in Thailand, including those owned illegally, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia, the project said.

——-

Associated Press journalists Penny Yi Wang, Grant Peck, Tian Macleod Ji and Jintamas Saksornchai contributed reporting.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

New York City mayor heads to Latin America with message for asylum seekers: ‘We are at capacity

Kyung An
-
0
New York City mayor heads to Latin America with message for asylum seekers: ‘We are at capacity

New York City mayor heads to Latin America with message for asylum seekers: ‘We are at capacity

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said he will travel to Latin America to discourage people from seeking asylum in the city as it struggles to handle a massive influx of migrants that have overwhelmed its shelter system and strained financial resources.

The Democratic mayor is set to visit Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia during a four-day trip this week. The city has absorbed almost 120,000 migrants over the past year, with hundreds still arriving daily in need of housing and employment.

“We want to give an honest assessment of what we are experiencing here in this city,” said Adams. “We are at capacity.”

READ MORE : Mexico’s president says 10,000 migrants a day head to US border; he blames US sanctions on Cuba

“We’re going to tell them that coming to New York doesn’t mean you’re going to stay in a five-star hotel. It doesn’t mean that, the mere fact that you come here, you automatically are going to be allowed to work,” he said.

Adams has made a series of urgent pleas for a shift in federal immigration policy and for funding to help the city manage the arrival of migrants, which he said could cost the city $12 billion as it rents space at hotels, erects new emergency shelters and provides various government services for asylum seekers.

The trip will begin Wednesday in Mexico, where Adams will attend the North Capital Forum and meet with government officials. He will then travel to Quito, Ecuador, for additional meetings before he heads to Bogotá, Colombia and eventually to the Darien Gap, a dangerous section of the route many migrants pass through on their way to the U.S.

Adams has recently moved to tighten New York shelter rules by limiting adult migrants to just 30 days in city-run facilities amid overcrowding. The city has also been challenging a decades-old legal agreement that requires it to provide shelter to anyone who requests it. On Tuesday, the city asked a judge to allow the rule to be suspended during a state of emergency where the shelter population increases at a rapid rate.

City and state leaders in New York, Illinois and elsewhere have urged the federal government to make it easier for migrants to get work permits, which would allow them to pay for food and housing.

The Biden administration last month took a step toward complying with the demand by extending a temporary legal status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans in the U.S., which will make it easier for them to get work authorization. Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have announced $38 million in new state funding to help connect migrants with legal services.

Still, expediting work permits for migrants in general would take an act of Congress to shorten the mandatory six-month waiting period for work permits for asylum-seekers who cross the border illegally. With divided control of Congress, such legislation appears unlikely.

Chicago is also planning to send a delegation to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with government officials and nongovernmental organizations, and give migrants a more realistic portrayal of what they might expect in Chicago.

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff, said the Texas border trip will be used, in part, to warn migrants about Chicago winters.

“We want to manage the number of people that are coming and staying in Chicago,” she said.

___

For more AP coverage of immigration: https://apnews.com/hub/immigration

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Iraqi Christian religious leaders demand an international investigation into deadly wedding fire

Dr Mohd Ramzan Ali
-
0
Iraqi Christian religious leaders demand an international investigation into deadly wedding fire

Iraqi Christian religious leaders demand an international investigation into deadly wedding fire 

BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA AND BASSEM MROUE

BAGHDAD (AP) — Christian religious leaders in northern Iraq called for an international investigation Monday into a deadly wedding fire that killed more than 100 people last week and slammed the government’s probe, which had blamed the blaze on negligence and lack of precautionary measures.

An Iraqi Syriac Catholic priest, meanwhile, said widespread corruption in the country and the influence of armed militias on the government was one of the factors that enabled the fire.

Father Boutros Sheeto, spoke to The Associated Press over the phone from the town of Qaraqosh, where five members of his family, including his Iraqi-American sister, were buried on Monday morning. He claimed the fire was “intentional,” without offering any evidence.

READ MORE : A fire at a wedding hall in northern Iraq has killed around 100 people and injured 150

Scores of panicked guests surged for the exits on Tuesday night in the Haitham Royal Wedding Hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.

Iraq released the results of its probe on Sunday saying unsafe fireworks were the main reason that caused the fire that killed 107 and injured 82. Several local officials in Nineveh were also subjected to “administrative measures” because of negligence.

People gather at the site of a fatal fire, in the district of Hamdaniya, Nineveh, Iraq, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. A fire that the raced through a hall hosting a Christian wedding in northern Iraq killed multiple people, authorities said. Photo : Hadi Mizban/ AP

“We reject the idea that the cause of the fire was an accident,” Sheeto said. “We are confident that it was intentional and therefore we demand an international investigation.”

Ten of his relatives, including his sister Faten Sheeto who had traveled to Iraq from her home in Arizona to attend the wedding were killed by the fire.

Iraqi media quoted Chaldean Catholic Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako from Rome as saying the blaze “was the act of someone who sold his conscience and nation for a specific agenda.”

In July, Sako left his Baghdad headquarters and returned to northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region after Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid revoked a decree recognizing his position as patriarch of the Chaldeans, Iraq’s largest Christian denomination and one of the Catholic Church’s eastern rites.

Another Iraqi Christian religious leader, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Benedictus Younan Hanno said a probe should be done under “the supervision of international investigators,” and added that he and others among the Iraqi Christians do not accept the results of the Iraqi probe.

Iraqi women react during a funeral for the victims of a deadly fire at a wedding hall, in the district of Hamdaniya, Nineveh, Iraq, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. A fire that the raced through a hall hosting a Christian wedding in northern Iraq killed multiple people, authorities said. Photo : Hadi Mizban/ AP

On Monday, the Nineveh Heath Department updated the death toll to 113, including 41 who have not been identified yet. It said 12 people who suffered severe burns were sent for treatment abroad and eight will follow.

The tragedy was the latest to hit Iraq’s Christian minority, which has dwindled to a fraction of its former size over the past two decades.

The decline started before the militant Islamic State group’s persecution of religious minorities after the extremists captured large parts of Iraq in 2014. Christians were among groups targeted by militants as security broke down after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.

The number of Christians in Iraq today is estimated at 150,000, compared to 1.5 million in 2003. Iraq’s total population is over 40 million.

___
Mroue reported from Beirut

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

Asian Games 2023 : Anu Rani ‘s First Gold in women’s javelin throw at the Asian Games in Hangzhou

Shasi Kumar
-
0
Asian Games 2023 : Anu Rani ‘s First Gold in women’s javelin throw at the Asian Games in Hangzhou

Asian Games 2023 : Anu Rani ‘s First Gold in women’s javelin throw at the Asian Games in Hangzhou

Annu Rani finished on top of the podium with her season’s best throw of 62.92 metres in her fourth attempt.

Hangzhou (TFPJ) – India’s Annu Rani made history on Tuesday as she clinched the gold medal for the country in the women’s javelin throw final at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou.

Rani finished in top with her season’s best throw of 62.92 metres in her fourth attempt. The 31-year-old, who hails from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, is the first Indian woman to win a gold in javelin at the Asian Games.

Rani’s maiden gold is India’s 15th at these continental Games in China. India currently occupies the fourth position on the medals tally with 15 gold, 26 silver and 28 bronze.

China (159G, 87S, 46B) continues to lead the list ahead of Japan (33G, 46S, 64B) and Republic of Korea (32G, 42S, 64B).

READ MORE : Parul Chaudhary conquers 5000m gold, second medal at 2023 Asian Games

Athletics Federation of India post winning photo on their twitter/X handle and said Gold in women’s javelin throw at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Annu Rani best throw was 62.92m.

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube |

1...145146147...210Page 146 of 210

Explore

Countries

Crime & War

More

Others

Follow us

© DT Broadcasting Pvt Ltd formerly known as Diplomat Times Pvt Ltd Registered No: U60200DL2024PTC426518 , Diplomat Times International Co. LTD. (Thailand) Registered No: 0105566195031 | PT Diplomat Times International Broadcasting (Indonesia) 4023120636101176 | Trade Mark 4791109 | All Rights Reserved