Diplomat Times (Samarkand)- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived in Uzbekistan’s historic city of Samarkand in order to be part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. The SCO summit is set to deliberate on regional security challenges, boosting trade and energy supplies among other issues, according to news agency PTI reports.
Notably, the SCO is holding its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan after two years and the summit will see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Landed in Samarkand to take part in the SCO Summit,” Modi tweeted.
The United States of America marks the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks
Diplomat Times(New York)- Located at the World Trade Center in New York City, the 9/11 Memorial Museum tells the story of 9/11 through media, narratives, and a collection of monumental and authentic artefacts, presenting visitors with personal stories of loss, recovery, and hope.
PHOTO BY JIN S. LEE
The annual event at the site of the World Trade Center off West and Vesey streets takes place this Sunday beginning at 8:40 a.m. The ceremony is expected to end at noon. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff are expected to attend.
The ceremony traditionally includes a reading of the victims’ names, as well as moments of silence at the points when the planes struck both towers, when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon, when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and when both towers collapsed.
Access to the plaza is not open to the public during the ceremony. The museum will also be closed to the public throughout the day, open only for the families of 9/11 victims.
At 3 p.m, the Memorial Plaza opens to the public, where people can view the Tribute in Light, which will remain lit until midnight.
We reaffirm our pride in this nation’s servicemen and servicewomen, and we keep all of them and their families in our thoughts and prayers – including those young men and women whom we’ve lost from here at home, and their families, friends, and loved ones. As events continue to unfold across the world, our veterans and their families must know that as a nation, we value, we respect, and we honor their remarkable service and sacrifice. Every day they remind us that America’s fundamental values cannot be overcome, and we thank them said Archbishop Bishop Melchideck and CEO United Airlines flight 93 Memorial.
United Airlines flight 93 Memorial (File Photo)
On Sunday, President Joe Biden plans to speak and lay a wreath at the Pentagon, while first lady Jill Biden is scheduled to speak in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked planes went down after passengers and crew members tried to storm the cockpit as the hijackers headed for Washington.
Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She is 96 and has reigned for 70 yearsafter ascending the throne in 1952.
For at least 12 days after her death, Britain will grind to a halt, potentially costing the UK economy billions in lost earnings.
But it’s not just the economy. Prince Charles may change his name and the words of the national anthem will be updated as well.
Britain’s overseas outposts will also be in mourning .
The British Embassy in Spain.Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
Social functions will be canceled and the Union Flag will be flown at half-mast until after the funeral, just like in the UK. Officials will enter a period of mourning and dress appropriately. Condolence books will be prepared for visitors to leave messages.
But the ambassador also stressed that there is a lot of uncertainty about what will actually happen, as it has been so long since the death of a British monarch.
Flags will fly at half-mast
The Union Flag on Victoria Tower on December 6, 2013, the day after Nelson Mandela’s death.Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Flags will be flown at half-mast until 8 a.m. the day after the funeral, according to guidance from the Greater London Lieutenancy, with the exception of Proclamation Day (more on that shortly). Churches may also toll their bells to mark the day of the Queen’s death or the day after.
The day of the funeral will be declared a bank holiday.
Late Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo Credit: PM Modi twitter)
Queen Elizabeth II stalwart of our times, personified dignity: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid heartfelt tributes to Queen Elizabeth II as he hailed her “inspiring leadership”.
Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister recalled his memorable meetings with the Queen during his UK visits in 2015 and 2018.
“I will never forget her warmth and kindness. During one of the meetings, she showed me the handkerchief Mahatma Gandhi gifted her on her wedding. I will always cherish that gesture,” PM Modi tweeted
Liz Truss’s Cabinet is the most diverse Cabinet ever assembled
Foreign Minister Liz Truss (47) has won the race for the post of leader in the ruling Conservative Party. He defeated the former finance minister Rishi Sunak of Indian origin in a tough struggle. Now she will take over as the Prime Minister. They will be faced with the challenges of dealing with inflation, industrial unrest and the possibility of recession in the country. The inflation rate in the country has reached 10.1 percent in July. With the announcement of the victory of Liz Truss, the process of transfer of power has started. Incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who announced his decision to step down as prime minister in July after being embroiled in several scandals, will go to Scotland on Tuesday to formally submit his resignation letter to Queen Elizabeth II. Truss will also accompany them. The Queen will administer the oath to them to form the government. Today she will go to the House of Commons as prime minister for the first time.
Those serves, unleashed over the course of a 27-year professional career, arguably heightened the power and intensity of the women’s game, forcing her opponents to game plan for each wicked volley.
Williams’ presence as a Black woman in a historically white, patriarchal sport, her commitment to activism and her willingness to bare her personal challenges to the public forced sports journalists to reevaluate professional norms that urged them to focus only on what happened between the lines.
Sports journalism emerged in the late 19th century and fully established itself as a distinct journalism genre when newspaper publishers, in an effort to attract wider audiences, moved away from being partisan party organs. Sports quickly became a lucrative way to sell newspapers.
Those apolitical origins shaped its future trajectory. Success often depended on access to players and front office personnel, as well as cozy relationships with league officials. Chief among the outcomes of that arrangement was the general reluctance among sports journalists to cast a critical eye toward the role sports plays in our communities and greater society.
In general, Americans often imagine sports as aligned with the values they hold dear. Journalists and public officials regularly talk about sports as the embodiment of a meritocracy and a reflection of the power of the individual to overcome any biases or challenges.
Such media narratives fail to address how sports, despite all their feel-good moments, play a role in contributing to forms of discrimination and alienation.
Serena Williams stretches for a backhand during the 1998 French Open when she was 16 years old. Clive Brunskill /Allsport via Getty Images
Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, hospital officials in Moscow said.
Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, forged arms reduction deals with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since World War Two and brought about the reunification of Germany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) talk during a press conference. EPA/CARSTEN REHDER GERMANY OUT
Gorbachev’s achievements
Gorbachev’s accomplishments were numerous. They included the negotiation of arms reduction treaties with the United States during a number of summits with US President Ronald Reagan. His suggestion to Reagan in Reykjavik that the US and USSR should eliminate nuclear weapons blindsided a US foreign policy establishment that initially saw Gorbachev as little more than a younger version of the gerontocrats he had succeeded.
After initially vacillating, he admitted the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, accepting that doing so would weaken him both at home and abroad. In 1988 he unilaterally drew down Warsaw Pact forces in Europe without waiting for a reciprocal agreement with NATO nations.
Earlier in his tenure he had developed a personal rapport with Margaret Thatcher, who famously told the BBC he was a man the West could do business with. He withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1988-89, and admitted their presence was a violation of international law.
In March 1990, Mr. Gorbachev became the first president of the Soviet Union, winning 59 percent of the vote in the Congress of People’s Deputies.Credit… V. Armand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
He refused to intervene in many of the spontaneous demonstrations seeking to overthrow entrenched communist leaders across the Warsaw Pact, pressuring them not to use force against their own citizens.
New Delhi (Diplomat Times) 29, August 2022 | (ANI)
By diplomat times
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Delhi on Monday.
Former Australian Prime Minister Rudd is in Delhi with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the launch of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s new report on how India can reach net zero. As is the case for any country, India has a huge opportunity ahead of it in reducing emissions, Rudd said earlier on Sunday.
In a tweet after the meeting, Jaishankar wrote, “Great to meet former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd this morning. Interesting discussion on the state of the world, as always.”
Diplomat Times (New Delhi) – United Nations General Assembly, UNGA President and Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid on Sunday called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in New Delhi. Welcoming Abdulla Shahid to India, Mr. Dhankhar said, his dynamic leadership of the 76th UNGA and his presidency priorities, in particular on revitalizing the UN, has universal appeal. In a tweet, Vice president said that he is confident that his visit will further strengthen India’s close and multi-faceted ties with Maldives.
Shahid is on a two-day visit to India where he is likely to meet senior leadership, focussing on ongoing issues at the UN body and the country’s engagement with the world organisation.
Shahid’s one-year tenure as the President of the 76th session of the General Assembly will end next month.
: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the rain-related floods have wreaked havoc in Pakistan. The devastations are spread from one corner of the country to the other. Rain-related floods have ruined peoples’ shelters, crops and everything. Punjab, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Gilgiti and Sindh provinces have been hit very badly. The Sindh province has undergone the worst of all-time high catastrophe.In an interview with BBC,the PPP Chairman said that every district of Sindh has been badly affected and the Sindh government has marked them as the worst calamity-hit zones.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the rain-related floods have so far rendered above 80, 000 homeless in district Larkano alone.The PPP Chairman was of the view that amid this escalating catastrophe, the resources are very limited to cater to the needs of those affected. There is an immediate need for tents, raw and cooked foods and medicine to help the affectees.He said that the rains that started from June continued till the end of August, and still the relief and rescue process is on the go.He said that a large-scale migration has already set in as the people are shifting from flood-affected areas to safer dry areas. The government will provide all necessities such as tents and food and arrangements have been made at schools, colleges and government buildings for their temporary shelters.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the next process will be the rehabilitation of the affected areas, the houses of the victims and the infrastructure of flood-hit areas will have to be rebuilt.Counting on the high numbers of casualties and damages, the PPP Chairman feared an increase in human casualties.Talking about the politics of the opposition, the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that it is sad that amid this huge devastation politicking is being intensely done. He said that wherever there is a flood or an earthquake in the world, the whole country unites and helps the victims. He said what could be said if the opposition wants to keep busy in political point scoring. The PPP Chairman said that it is our priority to lessen the agonies of the flood victims. Wherever the victims can get relief, including the federal and provincial governments, let us deliver that relief.The PPP Chairman said that this time it rained so heavily that he had to postpone his visit to the European Union because it was the call of the duty to stay among those affected.He was of the view that there will be time for doing other activities including politics. It is time to assist the flood victims now.He said that our rivals whether in the government or in the opposition, always lacked interest in such matters.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pointed out that the current opposition was in the government in 2020, but it did not support the flood victims of our province.He said that Imran Khan’s own province has been affected but sadly he is busy in political point scoring. He is holding political gatherings.The PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that there is no government in the world, which is capable of dealing with a natural calamity on this huge scale, but they spare nothing and try their best to make redressal.He said that it is our top priority to provide tents to the victims for temporary shelters.He said that the Sindh government had 90, 000 tents available which do not suffice our needs. At least 1 million tents are required.He said that the government and the society are working together to provide food and assistance to the affectees.The PPP Chairman said that during the 2020 floods, the victims did not get anything, but today the victims are expected to receive assistance through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).He admired the secure system of the BISP, through which people are being helped out.He said that before the BISP, there was no victim assistance system available in the country, through which we would have helped people in difficult times.
Japan will give its slain former leader a state funeral.
The funeral will cost$1.83 million.
Funeral would be paid for solely with state funds.
JAPAN:(International Desk) Japan will spend $1.83 million on a state funeral for slain former leader Shinzo Abe, the government said on Friday, despite growing opposition from a public angered by revelations of the ruling party’s ties to the Unification Church.
The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege, decided the state funeral would be paid for solely with state funds.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving but divisive premier, was shot and killed at an election rally on July 8, and although funeral services were held soon after, Japan has decided to hold a state funeral at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan arena on Sept. 27.
But opinion polls show persistent opposition to the idea. In the latest, published on Sunday, 53% of respondents were against a state funeral.
“Abe was highly regarded both within Japan and internationally, and there have been many messages of condolence (since his death),” chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference.
“We believe it is necessary for Japan as a country to respond to that as international etiquette, and so we decided that it is best to conduct this funeral as an official event hosted by the government and have international visitors attend,” he said.
Japan’s last fully state-funded funeral for a prime minister was for Shigeru Yoshida in 1967. Subsequent ones have been paid for by both the state and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which Abe was an influential member.
