MCNA - Dec 2022; Vol 1 Issue 4

Australian

One of the many projects was the ACU ‘IumiTugedaHelpem Solomon AelansDefComiuniti’ project’s completion of phase 1. During this phase, ACU has employed deaf graduates at San Isidro Care Centre and School for the Deaf to teach hearing participants how to teach

sign language in their home provinces.

ACU is implementing this project with the Catholic Education Office of the Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara, who operates San Isidro Care Centre and School for the Deaf in West Guadalcanal. IumiTugedaHelpem

Iran to disband morality police amid ongoing protests

yet to be confirmed by other agencies, were made at an event on Sunday, BBC reported.

Iran has seen months of protests over the death of a young woman in custody, the report said.

Mahsa Amini had been detained by the morality police for allegedly breaking strict rules on head coverings.

Montazeri was at a religious conference when he was asked if the morality police was being disbanded.

London, Dec 4 (IANS) Iran’s morality police, which is tasked with enforcing the country’s Islamic dress code, is being disbanded, the country’s attorney general said, according to a media report.

Attorney general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri’s comments,

“The morality police had nothing to do with the judiciary and have been shut down from where they were set up,” he said.

Control of the force lies with the interior ministry and not with the judiciary.

On Saturday, Montazeri also told

the Iranian parliament the law that requires women to wear hijabs would be looked at, BBC reported.

Even if the morality police is shut down this does not mean the decades-old law will be changed. Women-led protests, labelled “riots” by the authorities, have swept Iran since 22-year-old Amini died in custody on September 16, three days after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran.

Her death was the catalyst for the unrest but it also follows discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and corruption, BBC reported. If confirmed, the scrapping of the morality police would be a concession but there are no

Research on for sustainable fishery business models for PNG

The recent tokstori is a continuation of a series of six-monthly learning events for Education

Sector Support Program (ESSP)

The NGO grantees, aiming to

5

Dr Nalishebo Meebelo wins ECU’s International Alumni Award 2021

Edith Cowan University (ECU)recognised and announced the 2021-2022 Alumni’s making a mark in local communities, and on the world stage and one of the winners of the International Alumni Award 2021 isDrNalisheboMeebelo of Zambia.

DrNalisheboattained three degrees at ECUbetween 2001 and 2009. Upon completion, she was hired to work at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as a CAADP Facilitator.In that role, she facilitated the first ever Conference of African Ministers of Agriculture and Land (CAMA) in 2009.

With a passion for international

development, she has worked to support African governments in developing holistic national and regional agricultural sector strategies, promoting

Australia’s initiative to provide renewable electricity in PNG

Australia through Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research has been undertaking a small research activity, focused on women, about how to develop sustainable small scale fishery business models, to improve the livelihoods of communities living along the Fly River in Papua New Guinea.The Fly River in Western Province ofPapua

New Guinea is home to the most diverse freshwater fish fauna in Australasia. Communities along the Fly River, especially women, depend on the river’s resources for subsistence.

But the size of Western Province presents barriers for development. From the mouth of the Fly River, it takes nearly 74 hours by dinghy to reach the town Kiunga. Communities along the Fly River,

especially women, depend on mud crabs and processing tilapia and other fisheries products for subsistence, and if they are lucky exchange them for cash or much needed goods.

Previous and existing business models have not been successful but efforts are now underway to investigate how their situation can be improved.

Access to solar power is integral to development, creating income generation opportunities for women and their families. Meet Martha Aire, a single mother to three children from Pirive village in Northern Province of Papua New Guinea who was one of 420 recipients of a home solar light system under the PawarimKomuniti, Light for Learning project.

Through reliable access to light, Martha has established a small market to generate income, has more time to prepare meals in the evening, and keep her family safe and comfortable.

PawarimKomuniti is just one

example of Australia’s ongoing commitment to providing national access to clean, renewable electricity under the Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership - PEP.

Dr Nalishebo Meebelo continued on pg.

continued on pg. 5

High Commission, Solomon Islands and Australian Catholic University (ACU) together are supporting NGO projects which are underway to improve access to quality education for children across Solomon Islands.

Solomon AelansDefComiuniti project aims to increase the number of sign language trainers and provide deaf language training courses for communities across several provinces.

promote and facilitate learning about innovative approaches that can contribute to sustainable change in the education sector for NGOs, Ministry of Education and Human Resources

Volunteers recognized for selfless work New computer lab for Solomon Islands’students

Every year,

Thistlethwaite awards volunteers in the community for their selfless work. ‘Friends of Malabar Headland’ always nominates one of the great bush care volunteers. This year it was Jenny Onyx who received the award for her amazing work as a bushcarer for the last decade.

The Volunteer of the Year (the Vi Robbins award) went to a Holocaust survivor, a lady who gives free talks about inclusiveness and the dangers of racism, and has done this for many years.

Speaking about the awards

These awards help to recognise the valuable contribution local volunteers make to our community.”

Friends of Malabar Headland members have looked after the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub for 36 years, weeding bitou, lantana and pampas. Their mission is to preserve and protect the environmental, historical, cultural and aesthetic values of Malabar Headland.

Community gathering on 11 December

MCNA News Desk

Solomon Islands Brisbane Community(SIBC) is organizingthe end of year community gathering at Orleigh

Park, West End on 11December at 1:30pm. The organizers say that it will be a fun day to share food, sing carols and catch up on some stories and laughs.

The lab and supporting ICT equipment was provided through an exchange program between BECS and the Australian Catholic University (ACU).

Using the new resources, BECS teachers and grade 6 students are developing their ICT skills while the ACU trainee teachers have been building their teaching skills and learning about Solomon Islands culture.

Solomon IslandslaunchesNational Kava Quality Standard

MCNA News Desk

In a milestone move for its emerging kava industry, the Solomon Islands launched its National Kava Quality Standard and a Kava Industry Working Group (Kava IWG) recently. Developed with the support of Australia and New Zealand through PhamaPlus, the kava quality standard and IWG mark

a significant progress in the ongoing efforts to improve kava quality in the Solomon Islands and grow export and trade opportunities.

The Standard provides minimum requirements for kava products used as food or beverage when mixed with water.

The implementation of the kava quality standard will be led and

coordinated by industry leaders through the Solomon Islands Kava IWG, a national group that brings together the various actors across the kava value chain in Solomon Islands.

The launch event also featured a kava tasting session where development partners, stakeholders and members of the media tried some locally produced kava.

Emerging Leaders dialogue organized

The 2022 Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue was organized in

Sydney recently. The team at Meta for hosted the dialogue. Some valuable discussions took place on the role of technology

in informing and connecting communities across the region.

MP Matt Thistlethwaite said, “I was delighted to join with our outstanding local volunteers for the Kingsford Smith Community Service Awards in Randwick.

MCNA News Desk

Australia has provided a new computer lab to the Bishop

MCNA News Desk

Federal MP Matt

Epalle Catholic School (BECS) through New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility Program.

MCNA News Desk

On

CounsellorMika Kontiainenrecognized the broad range of work Australian Volunteers are doing in Solomon Islands.

Australian Volunteers are providing hands on mentorship and advice in many different areas in Solomon Islands such as health – in the National Referral Hospital advising in paediatrics diabetic foot care, internal medicine and laboratory services,

and rehabilitation, Sport – in the Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport, including assisting Solomon Islands prepare for the Pacific Games, Vocational Training – assisting Don Bosco Technical Institute with its corporate communication capabilities, Tourism - assisting the Central Provincial Government with strategies for sustainable tourism, Governance – working with the Solomon Islands Tertiary Education and Skills Authority on governance arrangements.

MERI Program aims to improve market governance in PNG

WIL Action Plan launched

The Australian High Commission launched its refreshed Women in Leadership (WIL) Action Plan recently to ensure continuation of its global commitment to gender equality in the workplace.

Australia is committed to fostering diverse and inclusive workplace cultures where everyone feels safe, respected,

and valued, and can contribute to their full potential at work.

In this respect dynamic Papua New Guinean women leaders spoke of their experiences in their respective fields about their life journey, including LTCOL

Nancy Wii – Commanding Officer Air Transport Wing, Angeline Johns – Associate Director ANZ, Doreen Iga - Co-Team Leader Building Community

Engagement in Papua New Guinea and the Deputy Team Leader of Incentive Fund Julienne Leka-Maliaki at the launch.

These women shared their experiences as women in leadership roles and the challenges they have faced and how they overcame these to be where they are today.

New classrooms for students in Solomon

Islands’ Malaita Province

Advancing women’s access to economic opportunities to better support their families and communities is a priority of the Papua New Guinea Australia Partnership’s Market Economic Recovery & Inclusion (MERI) Program.

As part of this commitment in the Western Highlands, Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea Jon

Philp met with the provincial administration, market vendors association and UN Women to discuss ways to continue improving governance in the markets.

The MERI Program highlights the importance of markets as economic and social hubs and has provided an opportunity for growers in Mt Hagen to supply fresh produce to the markets in NCD.

MCNA News Desk

Australian High Commission, Solomon Islands are providingManawai Community High School (CHS) students in the south of Malaita Province of Solomon Islands with three new classrooms.

Through the Solomon Islands Education Sector Support Program (ESSP), 215 Prep-Year 9 students from Manawai and surrounding communities will benefit from the new education infrastructure which includes three classrooms and two storage rooms for safely storing school resources.

The building includes catchments for rainwater collection and a water tank that will enable safe access to water for consumption and other water, sanitation and hygiene purposes for all staff and students at the school.

CHS Principal Micah Sonny received the keys for the new building on behalf of Manawai CHS from ESSP representatives

Linda Wate, Deputy Secretary, Teaching and Learning for the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD), Mika Kontiainen, Counsellor, Human Development for the Australian High

Commission to Solomon Islands, and Olivia Benton-Guy, Second Secretary, Development for the New Zealand High CommissionHoniara, Solomon Islands.

Increasing access to education through improved school infrastructure, especially for rural communities, is a priority for ESSP partners.

ESSP is a partnership between the governments of Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand which aims to improve access to quality basic education for all children in Solomon Islands.

MCNA News Desk

MCNA News Desk

International Volunteers Day Human Development

MCNA News Desk

Challenging the stereotypes

MCNA News Desk

Julieth Jiap and Tracey Paira

are role models for women in construction who are supporting some of the most significant development projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Every day, these women are challenging harmful stereotypes about women’s abilities in what is typically been a male-dominated industry globally.

Julieth and Tracey work across several construction projects under the Papua New Guinea Australia Partnership’s Economic

continued from pg. 1

and Social Infrastructure

Program. They are experts in their fields and are proud to be breaking the gender bias.

Building Services Engineer

Julieth says “to become an inclusive environment, we need women to challenge traditional assumptions in engineering.

For example, coming from the building construction industry, how many shopping malls in PNG have an inclusive change room for parents with nursing infants and toddlers?”

DrNalisheboMeebelo wins ECU’s International Alumni Award 2021

evidence-based analyses, toward enhancing poverty reduction, eliminating hunger and boosting

food security and nutrition in Africa.

Projects underway for quality education in Solomon Islands

2022 Partners Lunch organized

MCNA News Desk

In a bid to advance multiculturalism in Queensland the 2022 Partners Lunch was organized recently.

TheLunch offered an opportunity to share the powerful stories of Multicultural Australia’s clients and communities and their experiences on a wide range

of the projects Multicultural Australia is collaborating on and how it’s making a difference.

Development (MEHRD)and other stakeholders.

Through ESSP support, NGOs will continue to work closely with MEHRD to continue implementing initiatives to reach the most disadvantaged Solomon

Islands’ communities.

ESSP 2020-2023 is a partnership between the governments of Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand to improve access to quality basic education for all children in Solomon Islands.

continued from pg. 1

Iran to disband morality police amid ongoing protests

guarantees it would be enough to halt the protests, which have seen demonstrators burn their head coverings.

Iran has had various forms of ‘morality police’ since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but the latest version - known formally as the Gasht-eErshad - is currently the main agency tasked enforcing Iran’s Islamic code of conduct. They began their patrols in 2006 to enforce the dress code which also requires women to wear long clothes and forbids shorts, ripped jeans and other clothes deemed immodest, BBC reported.

Indian-origin science teacher wins PM’s prize in Australia

Melbourne-based Veena Nair, who is ViewBank College’s Head of Technology and STEAM project leader, has been awarded for demonstrating practical application of STEAM to students, and how they can use their skills to make a real impact in the world.

for Art. Art brings in out of the box thinking, and it brings in creativity because students need steam skills to innovate, to become resilient and to take risks,” she said.

in Mumbai, where she provided computers to low socio-economic schools and taught students how to code.

as changemakers at a global level.

MCNA News Desk

Melbourne, Dec 5 (IANS)

An Indian-origin teacher in Australia has received the 2022 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in secondary schools.

“To be recognised in the Prime Minister’s prizes for science, I am deeply humbled. I am very grateful to my school, to my colleagues, to my students, and to my family,” Nair said in a video message.

“Many people know about STEM -- science, technology, engineering and maths, but STEAM is with an A, which is

As a leading educator in STEAM, Nair has more than 20 years of experience in teaching science-based subjects across India, the United Arab Emirates, and now Australia.

Through her work, she has increased the number of students who receive first round offers to study engineering and technology subjects at university, especially young women and students from diverse backgrounds. Nair began her teaching career

Nair’s students participate in the Swinburne Youth Space Innovation Challenge -- a 10-week program that sees secondary students competing to create the best experiment to launch into space.

The winning project is then sent to the International Space Station. She also supports the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet program, a STEM-based enterprise development program that gives students the opportunity to engage with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Via this program, she has led a team of Australian teachers to conduct STEAM workshops for teachers in low socio-economic schools in Mumbai.

Nair is a BSc in Physics and a BEd in Science and Mathematics from the University of Mumbai and an MEd (maths education) from Deakin University.

She won the Educator of the Year Award by the Design and Technology Teachers’ Association of Australia in 2018.

The annual awards celebrate the contributions of 12 of the country’s leading scientists, innovators and science teachers.

Fundraising campaign organized

World of Food Festival celebrated

The Governor of Western Australia (WA) Chris Dawson APM and Mrs Dawson opened up the Government House Gardens for the Consular Corps of WA, who organized a day of international food and cultural performances recently, bringing together the many representatives of the approximately 60 Consulates that are based here in Perth.

The Festival is an annual event celebrating WA’s cultural connections through food. The event is organized by the Consular Corps of WA. The event showcases the culinary delights of many of the nations represented by the

AJST’s 2022 annual general meeting on 17 December

forward ideas and suggestions. Elections will be held for the positions of president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, committee members.

Members may also volunteer to join the Social Working Group, which organizes a regular program of social events for the Society.

Immediately after the AGM, the Society will also be holding their annual bōnenkai.

MCNA News Desk

MCNA News Desk

The Australian Alumni Association of Cambodiaand

campaign

Cambodia Australian Network of Students, in partnership with Australia Awards Cambodiaorganized

MCNA News Desk

local Consulates in Perth. The free event provided the opportunity for the people of Perth to celebrate WA’s multiculturalism,

MOSAIC choir gears up for Christmas festivities

MCNA News Desk

After forming at the MOSAIC Multicultural Festival in September this year, the MOSAIC choir has been working hard rehearsing. They can be seen at their debut performance at the City of Logan Christmas Carols. The MOSAIC choir will be performing four songs all sung in language – Spanish, Brazilian, Zulu and South African. The choir comprises people from all walks of life, but who all have a love of multicultural arts. The festive spirit at the City of Logan Christmas Carols at Griffith University’s Meadowbrook

campus will be on 10 December from 2pm.

There will be plenty of free activities to do and see including Santa photos, gingerbread workshop, face painting, roving entertainment, Christmas putt.

There will also be a stage show, featuring The Accidents, a 7-piece band, local community choirs, First nations singer, various dance groups, Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman live show for kids, The Grinch live show for kids and many other items.

This is a pet, alcohol-free and no-smoking family event.

Australia helping disabled children in Philippines

MCNA News Desk

Australia has been instrumental in working with the Bangsamoro Government and Department of Education Philippines to deliver inclusive learning experiences for children with disabilities in remote and conflict-affected communities. Children with disabilities in the Bangsamoro are benefiting from Australia-supported community

learning centres. With a learning centrewhich is easily accessible in their neighbourhood,disabled children are able to attend school, and fully participate with the help of learning facilitators.

AKAP Bangsamoro is a Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) program that is supported by the Australian Government through the Pathways

program, in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd). Operating in 93 villages without schools across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the initiative supports thousands of school aged children and is implemented by the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) and BRAC International.

AAYMP organizes Mentor Me ReConnect Program

Olympian Peter Bol is WA Young Australian of the Year

MCNA News Desk

Middle-distance runner and Olympian Peter Bolhas been declared the WA Young Australian of the Year. Olympian NagmeldinBolis WA’s Young Australian of the Year for both his athletic achievements and his work off the field.

The 28-year-old became the first Australian to make it into an 800m final in 53 years after

winning his semi-final at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.

Middle-distance runner NagmeldinBol,who was born in Sudan,had come to Australiawhen he was just 8 years old and he shot into famevery quickly and became a star athlete.

Besides training and studying, Bol works as a coach, mentor, keynote speaker and has been doing philanthropic activities.

Connecting through Sport’ a great success in 2022

The Session 3 of the African Australian Youth Mentoring Program (AAYMP) a 3rd Iteration of the Mentor Me ReConnect Program and Stop the Violence Phase III training was held at the

Edith

Mount Lawley Campus on 26th November 2022.

The next session, an open forum will be organized on the 10 December at the OACWA Community Hub in Nollamaraon the theme

the Importance of Formal Education.

This program is being sponsored /supported by Office of Multicultural Interests,Edith Cowan University (ECU), Curtin University

Supporting good governance in Cambodia’s mining industry

MCNA News Desk

Multicultural Australia’s ‘Connecting through Sport’has proved to be very successful this year. As many as 6,000 young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds participated in Multicultural Australia’s ‘Connecting through Sport’ program this year.

Multicultural Australian youth

played AFL, netball, football and tennis in their local communities and developed their confidence, challenged themselves and made new friends in the process. Sport has the power to bring people together and champion diversity and inclusion, and multicultural Australia is excited to welcome more multicultural youth to the program in 2023.

Of soldiers and their triumphs and tragedies

MCNA News Desk

Multicultural Australia Cultural Support Worker, MasoodEhsan, was the Pashto Language Consultant for First Casualty, a theatre production set in 2011 about Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

In a bid to support Cambodia’s significant and largely untapped mineral resources, Australia is supporting the Cambodian government and other stakeholders to set up the foundations for the mining sector there to be a safe and sustainable contributor to inclusive economic development for the country.

The first cohort of Cambodian participants in the Australia Awards short course on ‘The Fundamentals of Governance for Mining Industry Regulators’ have just completed their

course. It included a three-week tour to Australia where the group met state and federal government agencies, private sector companies, and civil society organizations to learn first-hand about Australia’s experience developing and implementing good governance frameworks and practices.

As a final piece of assessment, the participants presented their plans to develop an online mining license register and shared their recent experiences in Australia with Cambodian stakeholders.

For Masood, it was an opportunityto showcase Pashto language and culture to be accurately.

“I helped the team pronounce Pashto words correctly and gave them advice on how Pashto people would greet each other, eat food and act when they’re with friends,”Masood said. He also said that he loved getting a taste of the arts.

“It was a great experience. I really enjoyed attending the opening and I was surprised when they called out my name and thanked me for my work,” he added.

Written by a serving soldier and

veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, First Casualty is a debut play which is an authentic account of the real lives of Australian troops at war, their triumphs and the tragedies, the strains and the sacrifices, the pressure and the release. This is neither an anti-war story nor a pro-war story. This is a story of soldiers as the sons, the husbands, the fathers, and the people.

MCNA News Desk

MCNA News Desk

Cowan University (ECU)

Indian food stall at World of Food Festival

Perth: The Governor of Western Australia, Chris Dawson APM together with MrsDarrilyn Dawson, visited the Indian food festival at the 11thWorld of Food Festival 2022recently at Government

House Western Australia. Consul General received the Governor and introduced him to Indian culinary dishes being served there. CG and his family visited all food stalls and enjoyed dishes, including from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Italy & Poland.

Indian food stall at the Festival presented several popular dishes, including snacks, drinks, curries and naans.

Bharatanatyam dance featured in the cultural presentation from India

Multicultural Australia CEO attends hearing for the Domestic violence protection

MCNA News Desk

Multicultural Australia CEO Christine Castley, Chief Client Officer, Rose Dash, and Research and Advocacy Manager, Emma Phillips, attended a Public Hearing for the Domestic and Family Violence Protection (Combating Coercive Control) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 at Parliament House in Brisbane recently.

The hearing gathered evidence

from key stakeholders, including Multicultural Australia, to inform the Committee’s inquiry into the bill and supplement evidence provided in written submissions. Multicultural Australia also shared the unique struggles and experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse communities who face domestic and family violence, to ensure that the voices of multicultural communities are heard and help inform appropriate legislative and policy reform.

Australia helping countries in marine resource replenishment

International Research (ACIAR) has been assisting the improvement of its culture methods, hatchery production, grow-out technologies and fisheries management in South-East Asia, including like Vietnam and the Philippines, for the last more than a decade.

There is a vast economic and livelihood potential of community-based sea cucumber farming. That is why the Australian Centre for

The Philippines, in particular, was among the top global producers of wild caught sea cucumbers. This is owing to the fact that the Philippines is a very biodiverse country.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the UP Marine Science Institute and the University of

the Sunshine Coast are using research for development to improve culture methods, hatchery production, grow-out technologies and fisheries management for these high-value species.

The Philippines have over 100 species of sea cucumbers of which at least 40 are commercially processed. Sea cucumbers are also important in replenishing nutrients in the sea. Sustainable sea cucumber farming has the potential of changing the lives of Filipino fishermen and protecting natural stocks of these marine animals in the wild.

‘Shaping Your Future’ concludes with success

MCNA News Desk Australia and the Philippines have committed themselves to their maritime cooperation by taking many important steps recently. Australia and Philippines are working closely on maritime issues such as advancing maritime security

in a bid to ensure the marine environment is protected.

In that respect one of the steps taken was when the Australian Border Force visited Manilarecently to engage with the Philippine Coast Guard on enhancing training, capacity building and vessel sustainment.

The final 2022 intake of ‘Shaping Your Future’, Multicultural Australia’s career mentoring program, wrapped up with a networking event at Deloitte, Brisbane. Over the six-week program, the mentees developed their skills in networking, communication, and confidence, and received coaching from their mentors. Multicultural Australia’s mentors had the opportunity to develop the mentees’ cultural intelligence and the mentors themselves

learned how to create conducive milieu for individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Shaping Your Future, now in its fifth year, is a program that has

been transformational for all involved and plays an important role in changing the conversation about refugee and migrant communities in Queensland.

Australia and Philippines forge close maritime ties

MCNA News Desk

MCNA News Desk

MCNA News Desk

N.Korea to hold parliamentary meeting in Jan

a key party meeting late this month to review this year’s achievements and discuss policy projects for next year, decisions of which and related budgets are expected to be approved in the SPA meeting in January.

S.Korea to decide on indoor mask mandate by end of month

Seoul, Dec 7 (IANS) North Korea plans to convene a meeting of its rubber-stamp Parliament in Pyongyang in January to discuss next year’s tasks and budget issues, according to its state media on Wednesday.

The standing committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to hold the 8th session of the 14th SPA on January 17, 2023, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

said.

The session is mainly intended to discuss issues related to tasks for 2023, state budget issues and organisational matters, Yonhap News Agency quoted the KCNA as saying.

The SPA is the highest organ of state power under the North’s constitution, but it actually rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).

North Korea also plans to hold

The North’s legislature used to hold a plenary session in April to discuss issues of state budget and cabinet reshuffle.

In recent years, however, it convened such meetings twice per year, including those held in February and September this year.

At the September SPA session, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un publicly announced the legalisation of nuclear weapons, as the SPA approved a new law that allows for a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

Moon’s chief of staff banned from overseas travel over hiring scandal

Prosecutors Office recently banned Noh Young-min -- who served as presidential Chief of Staff to then President Moon Jae-in from 2019 to 2020 -- from leaving South Korea, they said.

Seoul, Dec 4 (IANS) Prosecutors have imposed an overseas travel ban on a former Presidential Chief of Staff for alleged involvement in a hiring scandal, sources said on Sunday.

The Seoul Central District

Noh is under suspicion of pressuring Korea Integrated Freight Terminal Co. to hire Lee Jung-geun, a former Deputy Secretary General of the then ruling Democratic Party (DP), as a full-time adviser, Yonhap news agency reported.

Although the terminal operator is wholly owned by CJ Logistics Corp., the company runs business at the land owned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It has been

cases of abuse between June and August, including holding one-year-olds in their care upside down by their feet, forcibly removing their pants, and threatening them with knives, among other abusive acts.

customary for the Ministry to recommend the advisory post.

Lee, who made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the National Assembly in April 2020, became the full-time adviser for Korea Integrated Freight Terminal in August that year after being recommended to the lucrative post by the land Ministry. She received about 100 million won ($76,900) for a one-year job.

Prosecutors suspect that Noh played a role in the hiring process.

Separately, Noh is also under prosecution investigation over the 2019 repatriation of two North Korean fishermen against their will.

the police out of concern that the evidence may be destroyed, Xinhua news agency reported.

Tokyo, Dec 4 (IANS) Three female teachers, who previously worked at a nursery school in the central Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka, were arrested on Sunday for repeatedly abusing infants in their care, local media reported.

The teachers were detained hours after police searched the private school called Sakura Hoikuen in Susono city, local reports said on Sunday. This came after the city’s Wednesday disclosure that the teachers were involved in 15

The three, who were among the six teachers in charge of the one-year-olds’ class but left the nursery school recently, admitted the abusive behaviour but claimed they were trying to discipline the children, according to the city in Shizuoka prefecture.

According to local reports, the police will examine the records they have acquired as they believe the abuse at the nursery was continuous. The school had forced all of its workers to sign an oath not to divulge what happened there, so the search was believed to be conducted by

percentage points from the previous week, posting an increase for the second consecutive week in a Realmeter poll, while negative assessment slid by 1.9 percentage points to 58.9 per cent, Yonhap news agency reported.

The poll was conducted on 2,507 people nationwide from Monday to Friday last week.

Toshihiko Sakurai, the school’s head, was questioned and required to produce the work records of the three teachers as part of a special audit that the municipal and prefectural governments began on Saturday, said local officials.

The school had previously been asked by local officials in mid-August to provide a detailed account of the abuse inflicted on each child, but the school, including its head, kept silent on the accusations for three months, informed sources said.

One father said on Thursday he was totally shocked by the revelations of abuse at his daughter’s school and that it was impossible to comprehend people carrying out such heinous acts.

“President Yoon’s decision to respond in principle with a return-to-work order amid economic crisis seems to have worked as momentum for the increase in positive assessment,” Bae said.

Seoul, Dec 7 (IANS) The South Korean government will decide whether to lift the indoor mask mandate by the end of this month, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said on Wednesday.

The mandate is the last remaining Covid-19 restriction South Korea has kept in place following the scrapping of all other distancing rules, reports Yonhap News Agency.

“(The government) will come up with the final plan by the end of this month after discussing ways to adjust (indoor) mask mandate rules,”” Lee said during a virus response meeting.

The move comes as a series of local governments, including the central city of Daejeon and

Lee highlighted the importance of maintaining a single quarantine system, citing lingering concerns over a surge in winter.

The country reported 74,714 new Covid-19 cases, including 60 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 27,483,568, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

This is the second consecutive day that cases have stayed above 70,000 amid lingering concerns of a winter surge.

The country added 54 additional fatalities, raising the death toll to 30,847.

Seoul, Dec 5 (IANS) South Korean

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating rose to 38.9 per cent amid the government’s stern response to an ongoing strike by unionised truck drivers, a poll showed Monday.

Positive assessment of Yoon’s performance climbed 2.5

This is the first time in five months Yoon’s approval rating surpassed the 37 per cent mark and Yoon’s disapproval rating went below 60 per cent.

Bae Cheol-ho, a senior analyst at Realmeter, cited the government’s stern response to the strike by members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union as part of the reason for Yoon’s rising support rating.

The suspension of Yoon’s routine Q&As with the press is another part of the rise in the approval rating as the move prevented unnecessary controversies, Bae noted.

Yoon indefinitely suspended doorstepping with the press as of November 21 following a quarrel between one of his aides and a reporter from national broadcaster MBC.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.

London, Dec 4 (IANS) In the face of the most widespread national protests since the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square demonstrators in 1989, the Chinese government has abruptly abandoned its flagship zero-Covid policy, according to a media report.

In Beijing, people prepared to go into shopping malls or on public transport without a recent negative test, The Guardian reported. Elsewhere, they were allowed to enter parks and supermarkets without checks, or told they could quarantine at home - rather than a government facility - if they had come into contact with a case.

Now Beijing has decided to move on.

Sun Chunlan, vice-premier and Covid chief, announced last week that the country’s health system had “withstood the test” of Covid-19 and China was in a “new situation”.

After years of telling its citizens that the only way to stay safe from Covid was to avoid it entirely, the policy pivot required a new message. Beijing has opted for presenting the prevailing Omicron variant as a less lethal version of the original disease, The Guardian reported. The problem, epidemiologists warn, is that Beijing’s stance

does not reflect studies on the impact of Omicron, and the country is ill-prepared for a wave of deadly Covid infections that it may soon face.

“China has to find a way out of this. So I think it’s quite helpful for them to be able to argue that the virus has evolved in some way that makes it easier to open up,” said Linda Bauld, professor of public health at Edinburgh University, The Guardian reported.

“With Omicron, certainly from the studies [so far], there may be some small reduction in disease severity but not a huge one.”

Omicron has proved less deadly as it spread across countries such as Britain, but by the time it had become dominant, about 95 per cent of the UK population had some form of antibodies from vaccines or previous infections, Bauld said.

China has relatively low vaccination and booster rates, particularly among the vulnerable elderly - only 40 per cent of the over-80 population have had booster shots. Almost no one has natural antibodies from previous infections.

China’s healthcare system was weak and patchy even before the pandemic and has been undermined by years of fighting Covid, The Guardian reported.

S.Korean Prez Yoon’s approval rating rises to 38.9%: Poll

Japan’s nursery school teachers arrested over abuse of infants

Fears of deadly infection surge as China abandons zero-Covid policy

South Chungcheong province, announced their plans to drop the facial covering mandate.

5 members of new militant group arrested in Dhaka SL to launch mobile app for tourist safety next year

be able to know whether they have any plan centering the upcoming elections after arresting their leader,” he said.

Asaduzzaman also said that the youths had left home for pilgrimage but joined the militant outfit instaed.

Dhaka,

Demra area, CTTC officials said.

The officials said that after the group was formed in 2017, the members began training in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

CTTC chief Md. Asaduzzaman said the group’s head Shamin Mahfuz has been arrested and they were likely planning an act of sabotage inside the country.

“big mistake” by extending the tenure of then military chief Bajwa in 2019, according to a media report.

In an interview with a local TV channel, the ex-premier regretted that he put his trust in the then army chief.

“I would believe in everything General Bajwa would tell me because our interests were the same... That we had to save the country,” Khan said, Express Tribune reported.

Kahn, who was ousted from power via opposition’s no-confidence motion in April this year, said he also received reports from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on “what games were being played against

under Khan’s pressure, Geo News reported.

“Imran’s recent diatribe against parliamentary democracy is the latest in a series of attacks that fly in the face of how democracy functions in modern nation-states,” Sharif said in a tweet.

The arrested militants were identified s Md Abdullah (22), Md Tajul Islam (33), Md Ziauddin (37), Md Habibullah (19), and Md Mahamudul Hasan (18), the CTTC chief told IANS on Monday.

Police seized three mobile phones and 12 pages of militancy-related fatwa documents from their possession.

his government”.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief claimed that the then military establishment was in contact with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to topple his government and the plot against his government became clear following the removal of Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed as ISI chief in October 2021, Express Tribune reported. When asked about Moonis Elahi’s recent claim that General Bajwa asked him to support the PTI, Khan said, “It is possible that he [Moonis] was asked to support Imran Khan while the other one [Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain] had been asked to go with PML-N.”

Pakhtunkhwa assemblies if the coalition government agrees to conduct elections by the end of March next year -- another announcement to pressurise the coalition alliance.

Colombo, Dec 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka will introduce a mobile app for the safety of tourists coming to the South Asian country, Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando said here.

He told reporters that the mobile app will also help boost Sri Lanka’s tourism, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Minister said that he has already informed a select group of parliamentarians about this proposal, and the mobile app will be launched in January 2023.

With this app, tourists will be able to check their locations,

and take some steps to ensure their safety if they face any danger.

A detachment of tourist police will be deployed at all beaches that are frequented by tourists, Fernando said.

Tourism, which is one of Sri Lanka’s leading foreign exchange earners, has suffered a setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic and political crises in the country.

Sri Lanka aims to attract around 1.5 million tourists in 2023 and 3 million tourists in 2024.

Ethnic minorities, including Indians, face racism in Belfast: Study

slamabad, Dec 4 (IANS) Pakistan Prime

castigated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for “aiming to seek power even if it means undermining the country’s foundations”, local media reported. The PTI and the coalition government are at loggerheads as the former presses on holding early elections. However, the ruling alliance has ruled out snap polls and vowed to not come

As the PTI chief speaks against state institutions and hurls abuses against the ruling alliance leaders, Sharif believes that his politics’ sole aim was coming back to power through any means.

“His (Khan’s) politics is aimed at making his way to power even if it means undermining foundations this country stands on,” the Prime Minister said, Geo News reported.

The PM’s statement came after the PTI chief shared his willingness to halt the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber

the latest official data.

The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed Bangladesh exported goods worth $5,092.56 million in November, which was 26.01 per cent higher than the same month a year ago, Xinhua news agency reported.

In an interview with a private news channel, Khan said: “If they are ready for elections by the end of March, then we won’t dissolve the assemblies. Otherwise, we want to conduct polls by dissolving the KP and Punjab assemblies.”

“How long will they take to decide? They either have to say yes or no. We have already decided,” the former premier said underlining his conditional stance on talks with the government on the election date.

Do they want polls to take place in 66% of the country and then conduct general elections,” Khan questioned, suggesting they announce the election date soon.

$21.95 billion, up 10.89 per cent year-on-year.

Of the total earnings, the EPB data showed the country’s income from ready-made knitwear and woven garment items surged 15.61 per cent to $18.33 billion during the cited period.

Inequalities were reported in areas across education, housing, work, civic and political participation by more than 150 people from black, Asian, minority ethnic communities in a study commissioned by Belfast City Council in partnership with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Public Health Agency.

Chinese and Indian communities have been established in Northern Ireland, the UK, for decades, and now represent the largest second and third generation migrant populations.

According to the 2021 Census, the largest ethnic group in Belfast included people who identified as White (92.9 per cent), followed by Chinese (1.37 per cent), Indian (1.26 per cent), people of mixed ethnicity (1.2 per cent), and Black African (1.19 per cent)

in part due to discrimination in the labour market, but also due to language barriers and difficulties accessing work-related training.

Many described having taken lower-income jobs on arrival with the expectation of progressing, yet remain in jobs far below their qualifications, even after becoming fluent in English.

More recently arrived migrants highlight the difficulty of navigating basic services and accessing education and work opportunities to improve their prospects.

House ownership is seen as desirable but difficult due to low-income, insecure occupations, cost of living and availability of credit networks.

As far as civic and political participation goes, most of these minorities have the right to vote, with less than half having ever used it.

Trust in political representatives is particularly low across all ethnic and national groups in this study. A fifth of participants had personally contacted a councillor, MLA, and/or MP.

Dhaka, Dec 4 (IANS) Bangladesh exported goods worth more than $5 billion in November, the highest ever in a month, as demand for ready-made garment items continued to soar, according to

The EPB data showed that Bangladesh’s total exports in the first five months of the current 2022-23 fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023) reached nearly

Bangladesh saw exports soar more than 34 per cent to $52.08 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year (July 2021-June 2022), official data showed.

5.2-magnitude earthquake jolts Dhaka

on Monday, according to athe Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).

Kazi Zebunnesa, a meteorologist from BMD, told Xinhua news agency that the epicentre of the earthquake was at a depth of 10 km in the Bay of Bengal.

Agargaon Seismic Centre in Dhaka.

The earthquake occurred at 9.02 a.m.

Just three-quarters of minority ethnic and migrant participants felt safe and secure in Belfast, compared to more than 90 per cent of the city’s residents overall, the study found.

Dhaka, Dec 5 (IANS) A 5.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Dhaka

The meteorologist said the epicentre was 520 km away from

Fire service officers said they had not received any report of damage or casualty yet. Bangladesh, which sits in a seismic zone, is prone to tremors.

Two-fifths of parents reported that their children experienced racist bullying in schools, and 38 per cent of participants have experienced a racist hate crime in Belfast, and 41 per cent experienced discrimination in other contexts.

Professionals generally reported poor promotion prospects in work with just under a third of participants are unemployed,

The study comes after Britain’s Indian-origin Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently revealed that he experienced racism growing up in the UK but the country has made incredible progress since then in tackling the issue.

According to the 2021 census which was released last week, Indians became the largest non-white ethnic group in the UK with the number of Persons of Indian Origin rising to 3.1 per cent of the total population from 2.5 per cent (14.12 lakh) recorded in the 2011 census.

Dec 5 (IANS) Five members of the new militant outfit in Bangladesh, Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, were arrested by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). The arrests took place on November 30 from Dhaka’s

London, Dec 4 (IANS) Ethnic minorities in the UK’s Belfast region, including Indians, face challenges of racism, isolation and poverty, impacting their participation in political, social, and economic life, a new study has revealed.

“We will

Bangladesh records highest monthly exports of over $5 bn in Nov

Imran accuses Gen Bajwa of playing ‘double game’ against his govt

Imran seeks power even if it undermines Pakistan’s foundations: Shehbaz Sharif

Islamabad, Dec 4 (IANS) Former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, has accused ex-Pakistan Army Chief, General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, of playing “double game” against his government, admitting that he committed a

Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday

Suicide bombing hits Indonesia police station, 3 personnel injured

a.m. at the Astana Anyar sub-district’s police station, Bandung police chief Aswin Sipayung said.

“The bomber came into the police station when the policemen were having a regular ceremony. The bomber pointed a knife at the policemen. Then an explosion occurred,” Xinhua news agency quoted the top official as saying.

3 killed in Thai railway track blast

Jakarta, Dec 7 (IANS) A suicide bombing occurred at a police station in Bandung, the capital city of Indonesia’s West Java

province, on Wednesday, killing the bomber and injuring three policemen.

The explosion took place at 8.20

Police were carrying out an investigation at the scene, he said.

Philippine inflation rate accelerates to 8% in Nov

country’s average inflation rate from January to November 2022 stood at 5.6 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

In November 2021, the inflation rate was 3.7 per cent.

In a news conference, PSA Officer-in-Charge Deputy National Statistician Divina Gracia Del Prado said services and non-food items such as electricity, food and beverage services, and transport services were the top sources of inflation in November.

“Higher prices of vegetables, fruits, and rice (resulted from) lower production brought about by the onslaught of typhoons and higher cost of inputs.

Similarly, sugar production is still reeling from the damage caused by recent typhoons,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

Bangkok, Dec 6 (IANS) An explosion at a railway track in Thailand’s Songkhla province on Tuesday killed at least three people and injured four others, authorities said According to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), the incident occurred at 6.24 a.m., and the blast hit a section of the track where repair work was ongoing, reports Xinhua news agency. The victims were three SRT officials.

freight train.

Songkhla Governor Jessada Jitrat visited the scene to assess the situation in order to prevent the reoccurrence of such attacks.

Meanwhile, a bomb disposal squad and security officials have launched investigations into Tuesday’s explosion.

According to local media, the attack on December 3 was believed to be carried out by the southern insurgents.

Manila, Dec 6 (IANS) The year-on-year inflation rate in the Philippines accelerated to 8 per cent in November from 7.7 per cent in October, the highest since 2008, official figures revealed on Tuesday

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the

Most key commodity groups registered faster inflation, particularly the food and non-alcoholic beverages index, which accelerated to 10 per cent from 9.4 per cent in October.

The 6.5 per cent increase in restaurant and accommodation services from 5.7 per cent in October also contributed to the inflation.

The government raised its inflation projection for 2022 to 5.8 per cent from the previous assumption of 4.5 to 5.5 per cent due to the persisting high prices of food and transport costs, he added.

Meanwhile, the PSA said the core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items in the headline inflation, rose to 6.5 per cent in November from 5.9 per cent in October.

In November 2021, core inflation was 2.4 per cent.

Indonesia plans to build nuclear power plant, seeks investors

Sunday.

The agency’s Director for Nuclear Installation and Material Control, Haendra Subekti, said in a statement that to realise the target, Indonesia is currently looking for investors to help finance the plant’s construction, Xinhua news agency reported.

the nuclear power plant will not be in earthquake-prone areas.

“For now, there have been a few private companies that are willing to invest, but we’re expecting more investors to come,” he said.

The section was only 200 metres away from the point where another explosion occurred on December 3, which derailed a

Separatist movements and organised crimes have occurred periodically in southern Thailand for decades.

Indonesia’s Semeru volcano erupts, residents evacuated

Jakarta, Dec 4 (IANS) Semeru volcano on Indonesia’s Java island erupted on Sunday, spewing a 1.5-km high ash column, authorities said.

As of Sunday afternoon, the country’s Volcano Disaster Mitigation of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation has raised its volcanic alert level for Semeru volcano to level 4, the highest level of a four-tier volcanic alert system.

Jakarta, Dec 5 (IANS) Indonesia aims to develop a nuclear power plant in 2039 to achieve net zero emissions and support domestic needs for energy, the country’s Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN) said on

“We have drafted the regulations on the nuclear infrastructure safety, preparing the location for the plant and formulating the trial operation. All of these have been nearly completed,” Subekti said, adding that the location of

Indonesia’s plan to establish a nuclear power plant has been stipulated under a government regulation on the operation of risky businesses. The plant aims to provide new and renewable energy for the Southeast Asian country so that it can reach its zero emissions target.

FAO steps up emergency cash transfers for drought-hit Somalis

targeted at some of the hardest hit and most difficult-to-access areas of southern Somalia.

“We need to rethink how and when we reach the most vulnerable with assistance and provide dignified support that protects people’s livelihoods, it will save lives,” Peterschmitt said.

The authorities said they had been evacuating residents of the two nearest villages, Supit Urang village and Sumber Wuluh village, and had warned other locals to stay away at least 13 kilometre from the eruption range, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We’ve also told all people living surrounding the volcano to not do any activities around Besuk

Kobokan riverside as the river has a potential to flow hot clouds and lava,” the spokesman of Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Abdul Muhari, said in a written statement.

On December 4, 2021, the Semeru volcano also erupted, killing at least 51 people and injuring 169 others.

Mogadishu, Dec 9 (IANS)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN has said that it has scaled up emergency cash transfers to respond to the drought emergency in the most drought-affected rural areas of Somalia.

Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO

Representative in Somalia, however said on Thursday that the UN food agency’s famine prevention plan is currently only 26 per cent funded.

“Famine prevention must begin in rural areas, at the centre of the crisis where food-producing communities are hardest hit by drought,” Peterschmitt added in

a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

According to the FAO, nearly 6.7 million Somalis are no longer able to make ends meet, including more than 300,000 people who are already facing famine conditions, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said about half of those most affected by the drought are in rural communities, and many are in areas that are difficult to reach with traditional humanitarian assistance due to insecurity.

The FAO has collaborated with some donors in supporting thousands of vulnerable families with emergency cash transfers,

FAO said cash transfers can be a better option than other forms of assistance using a secure mobile money system, with verification and accountability mechanisms.

“The cash transfer system is much more efficient than traditional types of aid,” said Ishaku Mshelia, FAO Somalia’s Deputy Emergency Coordinator. Mshelia said that the system is designed in a way that makes it easy for the participants to directly receive support even if humanitarians can’t always reach them.

He added that the organisation is also rolling out Remote Voice Verification in its various cash transfer projects to further simplify verification and accountability mechanisms for participants.

United Nations, Dec 9 (IANS) In eastern Congo last week, M23 rebels killed at least 131 civilians, including 17 women and 12 children, a UN spokesman said.

“An additional 8 people were shot and wounded, 60 people were abducted and at least 22 women and five girls were raped,” said Stephane Dujarric, the Chief Spokesman for UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres, on Thursday.

“Our colleagues say the victims were arbitrarily executed with bullets and with knives.”

The UN mission, known as MONUSCO, and human rights partners confirmed the toll after a preliminary investigation into what was described as a reprisal attack November 29-30 against civilians in the villages

of Kishishe and Bambo in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu province, Dujarric added.

“The UN peacekeeping mission condemns in the strongest terms this unspeakable violence against civilians and calls for unrestricted access to the scene of the events as well as to the victims to provide emergency humanitarian assistance,” he said.

“The mission welcomes the decision of the Congolese authorities to initiate legal proceedings against the perpetrators of these violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

The Spokesman added that the mission is ready to aid efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and calls for an immediate end to the violence against civilians, Xinhua news agency reported.

M23 kills 131 civilians in eastern Congo: UN

Out of 19 abducted from Nigerian mosque, six rescued

shooting and injuring two people during the attack, Xinhua news agency reported.

Protesters attack govt building in

Syria

Abuja, Dec 5 (IANS) Nigerian police have confirmed that they had rescued six people out of 19 who were kidnapped from a mosque in the country’s northern state of Katsina late

Saturday.

Gambo Isah, a spokesman for the state police, told reporters in Katsina city that the gunmen stormed a local mosque in the Maigamji community of Katsina,

A total of 19 people were taken away by the gunmen following the attack. Two of the victims were rescued by policemen late Saturday while four others were rescued on Sunday, Isah said. He said the police would continue to beam the searchlight on the remaining 13 victims still in the kidnappers’ den.

Armed attacks have been a primary security threat in Nigeria’s northern and central regions, leading to deaths and kidnappings in recent months.

Fate of eight ex-Indian Navy personnel in Qatar hangs in the balance

how this could have happened when the eight were working under a policy to train personnel of friendly navies. This has been endorsed by Indian Ambassadors to Qatar,” Maj Gen Singh (retd) tweeted.

Consular access was granted to the eight only once on October 3, when it came to be known that they are in solitary confinement.

According to a source, they have been wrongly charged with espionage, apparently on the behest of one of India’s neighbours.

Damascus, Dec 5 (IANS) A group of Syrian protesters carried out sabotage acts and attacked a government building in the southern city of Sweida, the Interior Ministry said.

The group, “some of whom with guns”, cut off a main road in the city by burning tires before heading to the building and storming it, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying in a statement on Sunday.

It said that some of the attackers opened fire randomly, wounding one security personnel and a number of civilians before entering the building, damaging offices and stealing official documents.

The group also set nearby cars on fire and attempted to break into the police department, but they were pushed back by the guard corps, the statement added.

One guard was killed while defending the police station, the Ministry said, adding that the police will track down the assailants.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the mob was protesting the deteriorating

living conditions in the city, as an acute fuel shortage has worsened over the past two weeks.

The Observatory said that one person was killed, and six others wounded during the run-in with the security forces in Sweida. Due to the fuel shortage, the government has slashed the fuel allocated to government institutions and establishments by 40 per cent.

Earlier on Sunday, Oil and Mineral Resources Minister Bassam Toumeh told local media that a Syria-bound oil tanker, which has been held in Greece for months, has reached the country’s shore.

The Minister stressed that the work is incessant to achieve fuel stability.

UN refugee chief urges more support for vulnerable Lebanese, Syrian refugees

Kolkata, Dec 4 (IANS) While all eyes are on the ongoing football World Cup in Qatar, little is known of the fate of eight ex-Indian Navy personnel imprisoned in that country for over 90 days now.

The Indian Ex Servicemen Movement (IESM) has now written to India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, seeking his intervention. Copies of the letter have been forwarded to the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and three services chiefs.

According to Major Gen. Satbir Singh (retd), chairman, IESM

and advisor, United Front of Ex Servicemen, the Ex-Indian Navy personnel were working for Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services in Doha, as per a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Qatar. Their job was to train Qatar Navy personnel.

“The families of the Ex-Indian Navy personnel lost contact with them on August 30. From their office in Doha, the families came to know that they were picked up around midnight from their homes by the State Security Bureau, Ministry of Interior, Qatar. One wonders

“This is mischief of the worst kind. The Ex-Indian Navy personnel are Cdr Purnendu Tiwari, Capt Navtej Singh Gill, Cdr Birendra Kumar Verma, Capt Saurabh Vashisht, Cdr Sugnakar Pakala, Cdr Amit Nagpal, Cdr Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Ragesh,” the source added.

In his letter to the External Affairs Minister, Maj Gen Singh has noted how the families of the eight are anxious about their health conditions.

“Their release and repatriation at the earliest are desired,” he has stated in the letter. The retired general, in one of his tweets, has also expressed apprehension that unless the Indian government takes immediate action, the eight may face torture to extract false confessions.

Iran accuses US of ‘seeking to cause chaos’ to force concessions in nuke talks

some other Western countries of “inciting riots and supporting terrorists” in the country.

Speaking of his recent phone call with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Amir-Abdollahian said, “Only a lasting agreement capable of safeguarding Iranian people’s interests would be valuable to Iran.”

Beirut, Dec 4 (IANS) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has appealed for sustained international support to vulnerable Lebanese and refugees in the crisis-stricken country.

“Now, more than ever, we must not decrease the support that is provided to Lebanon, both to support Lebanese in need and the hundreds of thousands of refugees that they have generously hosted for so many years,” Grandi, who was finishing a three-day visit to Lebanon, was quoted by a UN statement as saying on Saturday.

He pledged to continue working towards finding long-term solutions for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and in the region, said the statement, adding these solutions include resettlement of refugees to third countries and the voluntary, safe and dignified return of refugees to Syria,

Xinhua news agency reported. The UN body and its partners are also working with the Syrian government, host countries and other stakeholders to address refugees’ concerns about safety and security, livelihoods and housing once they return, it added.

Lebanon is hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with a government estimate of 2 million Syrian refugees currently living in the country.

Iran accuses Western officials of ‘false human rights gestures’

Tehran, Dec 5 (IANS) The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has condemned officials of some Western countries for making “false human rights gestures” by “dividing terrorism into good and bad”.

Tehran, Dec 5 (IANS) Iranian

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has accused the US, along with some other Western countries, of “seeking to cause chaos” in Iran to force its concessions in the talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal. Amir-Abdollahian made the accusation at a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic following their meeting in Serbia’s capital

Belgrade, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We do not let anybody incite riots and terrorism in our country,” he was quoted by the Iranian Students’ News Agency as saying.

Protests have erupted in Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital on September 16, a few days after her collapse at a police station.

Iran has accused the US and

Iran signed the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed its sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.

The talks on the JCPOA’s revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough was achieved in the latest round of negotiations in early August.

Nasser Kanaani made the remarks on his Twitter account after posting a screenshot of a Sky News report that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to give the British police new powers to clamp down on “illegal protests”, Xinhua news agency reported. These officials, who are self-purported human rights defenders, work for the regimes that have “a history of coups, conspiracies, interference ... and waged wars that took millions of lives”, Kanaani said.

“Public protests in Britain, Germany, France, Canada and Australia are bad and deserve strong responses, but riots in their target countries are good

and deserve support!” he added. “Death is good, but for the neighbor,” the Iranian spokesman derided.

In September, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital a few days after collapsing at a police station, sparking protests across Iran.

Iran has accused the US and some other Western countries of “inciting riots and supporting terrorists” in the country.

COP15: Canada commits $350m biodiversity finance for developing nations

commitment to ensuring COP15 is a success by working with international partners to reach an agreement on an ambitious post-2020 GBF. The GBF would provide a collective roadmap that will guide worldwide efforts on biodiversity conservation until 2030.

now.

“With a million species at risk of extinction around the world, COP15 is a generational opportunity to work together to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and create a nature-positive world.

Montreal, Dec 7 (IANS) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Canada will provide a new contribution of $350 million to support developing countries -- home to the vast majority of the world’s biodiversity -- to advance conservation efforts.

This funding will support the implementation of the future Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). This is in addition to the more than $1 billion, Canada has already pledged to support climate action projects that address the effects of climate change on biodiversity loss in developing countries.

The Prime Minister was in Montreal on Tuesday to welcome delegates from around the world to the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

As a global leader in conservation, Canada stepped up to be the host location for COP15 from December 7 to 19 and renew the call for ambitious action to protect nature.

In his opening remarks, Trudeau highlighted Canada’s

The new investment further positions Canada as a global leader in protecting nature. It is in addition to billions of dollars in historic investments Canada has made since 2016 to conserve nature and biodiversity here at home and around the world. By stepping up and bringing the world together in Montreal, Canada can stop biodiversity loss and build a healthy planet for future generations.

“When people think of Canada, they think of our landscapes and the richness of our nature -- parts of who we are. Today, we welcome the world to Montreal to continue working together to make sure the planet we leave to our kids and grandkids has clean air, clean water and an abundance of nature to enjoy,” said Trudeau, whose speech was interrupted by a group of indigenous youth from Canada’s west coast.

“Canada is a place of free expression where individuals and communities are free to express themselves openly and strongly, and we thank them for sharing their perspective,” he told the crowd.

In his address, Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said the fight to protect nature has never been more important than it is right

“Canada stepped up to welcome the world for this conference and sees it as an opportunity to rally federal, provincial, territorial and indigenous ambition to protect 30 per cent of our lands and waters by 2030.”

Climate and development groups welcomed Trudeau’s announcement.

Eddy Perez, International Climate Diplomacy Director, Climate Action Network, said: “Investing in the protection, conservation and restoration of wetlands, forests, oceans and wildlife is investing in life. As a wealthy country -- and one that still exploits and consumes far more than its fair share of resources -- its Canada’s responsibility to support biodiversity efforts around the world.

“The new funding for international solidarity for biodiversity is an encouraging sign, and it must not stop here. Canada must now convince other wealthy countries to step up and commit to increasing international public support for biodiversity by the end of this COP.”

From the red sand beaches of Prince Edward Island in the Atlantic, to the snow-capped Rockies in the West, to the permafrost that covers much of the Canadian Arctic -- Canada is known for landscapes.

COP15: Installation calls to secure nature-positive world by 2030

Chennai, Dec 3 (IANS) The Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu will be planting six lakh tree saplings in order to improve the green cover in the district in a span of six hours.

The move is likely to fetch the district a Guinness World record.

The saplings to be planted include medicinal plants, fruit-bearing trees and rainforest trees.

The district administration is joining hands with Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Tamil Nadu Forest Department to achieve the feat.

The six lakh saplings will be planted on 1,017 acre across Oddanchatram and Idayakottai taluks of the Dindigul district.

The district has already planted five lakh tree saplings block-wise.

Tamil Nadu Agricultural

University students will do the preliminary work, including pre-cultivation works. The district administration has already set up borewells and other facilities with the support of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and Waterworks Department.

Dindigul District Collector, S. Vishakan told IANS, “The project is aimed to increase the green cover of the district and this is a follow-up of the five lakh saplings that have already been planted.”

The Forest Department of the district is actively involved in procuring the saplings along with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and HR&CE Department.

Dindigul District Forest Officer, S. Prabhu told IANS, “The idea is to plant six lakh saplings in six hours and this is to create awareness on the impact of trees and how it reverses climate change.

Australia not on track to meet emissions target: Report

Canberra, Dec 2 (IANS) Australia is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target, a government report has revealed. In his first annual climate change statement to Parliament, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen revealed the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 are currently projected to be 40 per cent lower than in 2005, reports Xinhua news agency.

Montreal, Dec 7 (IANS) A giant jenga tower is on display at The Palais des congres de Montreal where the UN biodiversity conference is taking place for COP15 from December 7-19.

The installation made of recycled cardboard boxes resembles the complex web of life and the risk “we all face if we continue with a business-as-usual approach to our relationship with nature”. Each brick nudged out of place represents the precarious position “we put our planet in, with each species lost, ecosystem degraded and livelihood ruined because of human-caused damage to biodiversity”.

The jenga tower has been installed by the Nature Positive

pavilion, and highlights the call from more than 350 civil society organisations -- representing humanitarian, development and conservation organisations; faith groups; indigenous peoples; business coalitions; artists; youth; and more -- for governments to strengthen the draft global biodiversity framework to secure a nature-positive world by 2030, in support of climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The jenga tower serves as a stark reminder to delegates in Montreal of the very life support systems we all rely on.

By removing the foundational building blocks of nature, we risk destroying our societies and humankind. But there is still time to act. Governments meeting in Montreal this week can set a new course for our future and our children’s future,” said WWF International Director General, Marco Lambertini.

“COP15 must be the moment the world comes together to secure an ambitious global biodiversity agreement, capable of reversing nature loss and delivering a

nature-positive world this decade.”

“Unlike a round of jenga, the biodiversity crisis is not a game we can afford to lose. Nature provides everything our societies and economies are built upon, yet we are dangerously close to bringing down this complex, life-sustaining system,” said Eva Zabey, Executive Director, Business for Nature.

“This COP offers an unmissable opportunity for governments to agree a Paris-style goal for nature that mobilises all parts of society towards halting nature loss this decade. Business stands ready to play its part, provided ambitious policies are agreed in the coming weeks to steer corporate action. Right now, companies are calling for the political leadership that will empower them to contribute to a nature-positive future.”

Andrew Deutz, Director of Global Policy, Institutions and Conservation Finance at The Nature Conservancy, said this jenga represents the dangerous game “we play with biodiversity”.

Delhi’s air continues to be ‘very poor’

New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) The air quality of the national capital on Tuesday morning continued under the “very poor” category as the quality index was recorded at 321 level.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 321 in the “very poor” category this morning. The concentration of both PM 2.5 and PM 10 in the environment was recorded at 321 and 196 respectively under “very poor” and “moderate” category respectively

on Tuesday.

As per the SAFAR forecast, the city’s air quality will continue in “very poor” category with slight improvement with AQI escalating to 310 on Wednesday.

Notably, he AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”; 51 and 100 “satisfactory”; 101 and 200 “moderate”; 201 and 300 “poor”; 301 and 400 “very poor”; and 401 and 500 “severe”.

Meanwhile, to prevent further deterioration of the air quality, the Sub-Committee for operationalisation of the revised GRAP on Sunday invoked the Stage

III of the GRAP with immediate effect in the Delhi-NCR, in addition to all action under Stage I and Stage II of the GRAP.

Based on it, the transport department of Delhi govt restricted the entry of BS-III, Petrol and BS- IV, Diesel LMVs (4 wheelers) in NCT of Delhi, with immediate effect on Monday.

The air quality index at Pusa, Lodhi Road, and Mathura Road were recorded 324, 303 and 266 respectively in the very poor and poor category this morning as per the SAFAR system.

It marks a significant improvement from the 30 per cent reduction that was projected under the former federal government’s climate policies but is still short of Australia’s commitment under the Paris Agreement.

In June, less than a month after winning power in the general election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese formally committed to reducing emissions from 2005 levels by at least 43 per cent by 2030 -- up from the former government’s 28 per cent target.

On Thursday night, Bowen tabled a report from the Climate Change Authority (CCA) that found reaching the new target will require significant action.

“Since 2009, Australia has decarbonized its economy at an average annual rate of 12 million tonnes of carbon a year,” he said.

Paris, Dec 7 (IANS) Global renewable energy capacity is expected to almost double in the next five years as the ongoing energy crisis is driving a sharp acceleration of installations of renewable power projects, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said its annual report on the sector.

Global renewable power capacity is expected to grow by 2,400 gigawatts (GW) over the 20222027 period, which will allow it to overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by early 2025, the IEA said in the report “Renewables 2022” released on Tuesday.

Renewables are set to account for over 90 per cent of global electricity expansion over the next five years, and will help keep alive the possibility of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the agency said.

“Renewables were already

“To achieve a 43 per cent reduction by 2030, and net zero by 2050, this decarbonization rate needs to be at least 17 million tonnes of carbon a year. We will need to achieve the same emissions reduction in the next eight years that has been achieved in the last 18.”

Parliament in September voted to enshrine the 2030 and 2050 targets in law -- a step that was not necessary but that the government said would give businesses and industry certainty.

The CCA report found the government’s promise to have 82 per cent of the electricity grid powered by renewable sources by 2030 is at risk from supply chain disruptions, workforce shortages, and long approval times for major projects.

5 years: IEA

expanding quickly, but the global energy crisis has kicked them into an extraordinary new phase of even faster growth as countries seek to capitalize on their energy security benefits. The world is set to add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the previous 20 years,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.

According to the report, the amount of renewable power capacity added in Europe in the 2022-2027 period is forecast to be twice as high as in the previous five-year period.

TN district to create world record by planting 6L tree saplings in 6 hrs

Global renewable energy capacity set to double over next

G20 steered by India can become powerful instrument for global security, world economy

India, largely because Pakistan and China, the two hostile neighbours of this country now in strategic alliance, are out to damage India’s national security - particularly its internal stability and cohesion.

adversaries to foster faith-based militancy and terrorism by exploiting the Muslim minority here.

been carrying out a separatist movement on the slogan of Plebiscite.

By D. C. Pathak

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has struck a note of confidence about India playing an effective role during its G20 Presidency, in dealing with multiple challenges including geopolitical tensions and a global economic slowdown amid rising food and energy prices.

He has announced that India’s G20 Presidency will be ‘inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action oriented’ and in keeping with his belief in India as a world power, declared that “over the next one year, we will strive to ensure that the G20 acts as global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action”.

The Prime Minister is well attuned to the need for preserving India’s national security and safeguarding the country’s economic interests. Challenges on the security front need an in-depth examination.

It is important that India mobilises the democratic world against the new global terror rooted in ‘radicalisation’ and gets the Muslim countries and international institutions projecting Islam as a religion of peace, to come out with a proclamation that in today’s world, Jehad is not the route to solving political disputes.

India can build on the statement of R20 - the forum launched by Indonesia at Bali as a prelude to G20 - for promoting inter-faith dialogue, presenting Islam as a moderate belief system and calling for inter-religious harmony and respect for other faiths.

The Bali meet that witnessed an overwhelming presence of the orthodox Sunni leadership of the world steered by Mecca-based Rabita-e-Alam-e-Islami, gave an opening to India to internationally carry forward the message of equality of all religions and isolate countries like Pakistan that shelter radical Islamic extremists.

In an effective follow-up, India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, convened the bilateral India- Indonesia security dialogue in Delhi on November 29 to which Ulema and other spokespersons of religions were invited for deliberating on inter-religious goodwill and peace and recording a strong disapproval of terrorism, extremism and radicalisation.

Indonesia and India together account for the biggest chunk of Sunni Muslims in Asia who were keen to secure recognition of Islam as a religion of peace.

The Delhi initiative will help India in countering the anti-India narrative being built by lobbies, particularly in the West, on issues of democratic rights, treatment of minorities and the alleged rise of ‘majoritarianism’ in this country.

While terrorism and radicalisation, the twin threats to the democratic world, are acquiring geopolitical dimensions, their impact in South Asia in particular is of mounting concern for

A discussion on radicalisation is not about a religion or the merits of a faith, but an examination of the misuse of religion for political objectives on a scale that could be pushing the world towards a clash of civilisations and religion-based conflicts of global dimensions.

Also, in the Indian context, it is not a community question so much - members of all communities in India are preoccupied with livelihood matters and pursuit of welfare of their families - as the matter of communally-minded elite and many Ulema running the politics of the minority community by invoking the card of religion and exploiting the Islamic mandate that ‘faith’ embraces all aspects of the life of a Muslim - personal, socio political and even economic - leaving no space between religion and politics.

India is vulnerable to the historical memories of Partition - a religion-based division of the country coinciding with Independence - that saw unprecedented violence and loss of human lives. The legacy of communal conflicts inherited by free India was beginning to taper off when in the closing part of the eighties, a fresh wave of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan culminated in the call for Nizam-e-Mustafa by Gen Ziaul Haq.

The JeI Pakistan rose to become the main instrument of the regime for implementing the agenda of Gen Zia, who went on to declare at the fourth Islamic summit at Casablanca in 1984 that Muslims from Algeria to Philippines were part of the ‘Ummah’ and urged the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to keep them united.

This set off a powerful PanIslamic movement on the Indian sub-continent and created an environ in which the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was launched by an AMU-based professor, who was also a Majlis-e-Shora member of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.

SIMI got linked up with OIC affiliated international organisations and injected a degree of militancy in its work of uniting Muslim youth for establishing an Islamic rule. Inevitably, this kind of campaigning led to the formation of Indian Mujahideen (IM) as an offspring of SIMI that got involved in acts of serious violence.

SIMI turned out to be an example of how communal militancy could graduate into terrorism in the name of ‘Islam’.

This trend has to be checked and reversed for safeguarding India’s internal security. Following a ban on SIMI, another organisation rose on its trail, this time in Kerala - the Popular Front of India (PFI) - which got linked up with Jeddah-based World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) as also with the Karachibased Dawat-e-Islami with its suspected Pak ISI connections.

PFI has also been banned after an investigation by NIA proving the point that India has to be extremely watchful against the surreptitious attempts of our

Down the years, a repeat of the hateful communal approach of Pakistan towards India is reflected in the first ever National Security Policy of Pakistan released by then Prime Minister Imran Khan at the beginning of this year.

Describing India as the principal adversary of Pakistan, it alleged that the present pro-Hindu dispensation in India has put the security of Muslim minority here in jeopardy and invoking the call of regarding Muslims of India as a part of Ummah, asserted that Pakistan has a right to take full interest in them.

This was evident in the move of Pakistan to get OIC to demand ‘national apology’ from India for the ‘insult’ allegedly caused to Prophet Mohammad by a ‘party functionary’ in the course of a TV debate. The beheading of two Hindus by Islamic fanatics in the wake of this event was not unequivocally condemned by the Ulema and the elite leading the minority community.

The decision of Pakistan to put Indo-Pak relations in HinduMuslim framework creates a potentially subversive environ on India’s domestic front and paves the way for the spread of faith-based militancy.

Terrorism by definition is resort to ‘covert’ violence for a perceived ‘political cause’ - cause needs ‘commitment’ which in turn is determined by ‘motivation’.

Motivation can be ideological as is the case with Naxalism or an assertion of ethnic identity as was the reason behind the insurgencies of Northeast, but the new global terror uses faith for motivation which can be very strong in Islam for the pull of ‘exclusivism’ and ‘superiority’ that it is able to exercise on people for turning their minds - radicalisation can convert a poorly placed Madrasa trained youth as easily as it can do in the case of an educated individual of means.

The background of Paksponsored cross-border terrorism in Kashmir, its enlargement into a ‘proxy war’ against India and the course of escalation of this threat in recent years indicate three flag marks that can be easily identified as the source of escalation of Indiacentric security threats.

They might have a wider geopolitical impact too but they leave India with the burden of preparing to deal with the situation through a strategy entirely of its own since the world at large might not share this country’s concerns beyond a point.

First was the success of anti-Soviet armed campaign in Afghanistan - that was run on the war cry of Jehad - in which Pak-sponsored Hizbul Mujahideen, Saudi funded Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the radical Taliban-Al Qaeda combine all took a leading part.

The victory of Jehad in Afghanistan that caused the dismemberment of USSR and ended the Cold War, was credited to Pakistan by the US and having emerged as a special favourite of Americans, the Pak ISI lost no time in planning a replication of the Afghan Jehad in Kashmir where the Jamaat-e-Islami’s Hizbul Mujahideen had till then

This got replaced by the new call in the name of Islam that would derive strength from the projection of Kashmir valley as a Muslim majority territory.

In 1993 a powerful radical group called Harkat-ul-Ansar comprising Taliban Mujahideen, infiltrated into the Valley for the first time and kidnapped a number of Western tourists - it was giving vent to the hostility of Islamic radicals against the USled West that was rooted in the historical memory of the failed anti-British Jehad launched by the Wahhabi Ulema on the Indian subcontinent in the middle of 19th century.

Interestingly, Pak ISI had advised the HuM in the Valley to logistically support the radical outfit which showed how Pakistan was using all groups of militants - from the Hanafi Jamaatis and the Lashkar of Ahle Hadis orientation to the Wahhabis of Al Qaeda - in its covert offensive against India.

It was Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who sent Taliban - fundamentalist militant products of Deobandi Madrasas - to Afghanistan in 1993 to quell the turbulence created there by the conflict between Northern Alliance and the warring Islamic factions and helped the installation of the first Taliban Emirate at Kabul in 1996.

Al Qaeda acquired a free run of Afghanistan as Mullah Omar was a close relative of Osama bin Laden. When the Emirate bared its fangs against the US, the latter had to work for its ouster. This in turn laid the run up for 9/11 that was followed by the ‘war on terror’ led by the US-led world coalition.

The second flag mark of the rise of radicalisation as a phenomenon fostering terrorism is the role of Pakistan through the entire course of the ‘war on terror’ which was essentially a combat between US-led World Coalition and Islamic radicals in the wake of 9/11.

Pakistan came on board - India had already joined in- only after a certain degree of coercion from the Bush regime had come into play but its participation in the ‘war on terror’ was always duplicitous as it tried to have a foot in each camp and remained on the right side of the TalibanAl Qaeda combine.

In the years of ‘war on terror’, Pakistan kept up its covert offensive against India in Kashmir using outfits like HuM, LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad which were India-specific and which did not target the West.

This secured for Pakistan the benefit of the US policy makers deciding to make a facile distinction between ‘good terrorists’ and ‘bad terrorists’ on a politically tinted reading that radicals attacking American interests were a prime adversary for the US whereas the militants who fought against India in Kashmir could be deemed to be doing so in pursuit of a political dispute between India and Pakistan.

US felicitously drew a line between ‘radical’ Islam and ‘political’ Islam at the cost of India - as it continued to believe that Pakistan could still be relied on as an ally.

By the time US policy makers woke up to the collusion of

Pakistan with radical forces, Pakistan had seized the opportunity of projecting itself as a mediator between US and Taliban in a situation where the US was desperate about pulling out troops from the messy battlefield of Afghanistan.

The US put up with the return of Kabul Emirate of Taliban - a development it knew had come about only because of the total support of Pakistan to Taliban - in lieu of a flimsy assurance of Taliban that Afghan territory will not be allowed to be used by Al Qaeda for another 9/11 type of attack.

Unlike Imran Khan, who went over his Generals to denounce the decision of Pakistan of supporting the US in the ‘war on terror’, his successor Shehbaz Sharif is trying to bring Pakistan closer to the US once again, taking advantage of the traditional goodwill that Pentagon has had for Pakistan’s military establishment.

India has no problem with all of this provided the US do not revive the policy of ‘good terrorists’ vs ‘bad terrorists’ on the Kashmir front.

Fortunately, Indo-US friendship under the Modi regime is now strong enough to withstand any attempt of Pakistan to hoodwink the US on the decision of the Indian Parliament to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution three years ago.

The third marker that has paved the way for the spread of radicalisation is the firming up of Sino-Pak axis against India with its geopolitical bearing on the rest of the world.

China supported the moves of Pakistan to keep India from building influence in Afghanistan and after the reinstallation of Taliban Emirate in Kabul, entered into a huge ‘give and take’ with Pakistan for working together on Afghanistan.

India’s strong objection to Pakistan ceding territory in northern PoK to China for establishing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), our preparedness to deal with any aggression of China on LAC in Eastern Ladakh and India’s constitutional move to dispense with the special status of J&K, have driven China and Pakistan into each other’s fold and Pakistan in return for China’s backing of cross-border terrorism in Kashmir, has apparently given an assurance that after the return of Taliban in Afghanistan, no questions would be raised on the treatment of Muslim minorities in China.

The alliance between a Marxist dictatorship and an Islamic state is sustained by their common hostility towards India, just as a stark opposition to the US puts the radical Taliban and China on the same side of the fence, geopolitically.

China’s consistent opposition to UN’s moves to designate Pakbased militants as international terrorists and supply of drones to Pakistan by China for covert operations in Kashmir and Punjab, indicate a collective intention of these two adversaries to fish in the troubled waters of India.

This collusion is particularly marked in the period since the abrogation of Article 370 relating to J&K.

(The writer is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau. The views expressed are personal)

IND vs BAN, 2nd ODI: Rohit Sharma becomes first Indian to hit 500 sixes in international cricket

batter has more than 400 sixes. MS Dhoni with 359 sixes is the closest to Rohit among Indian players.

The likes of Shahid Afridi (476), Brendon McCullum (398), Martin Guptill (383) are the third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the list of most number of six hitters in international cricket.

Surprise package Ramos notches hat-trick as Portugal rout Switzerland 6-1, reach quarters

Dhaka, Dec 7 (IANS) Captain Rohit Sharma became the first Indian, and just the second batter world-wide, in international cricket to hit 500 sixes during the second ODI against Bangladesh, here on Wednesday.

Walking out to bat at No.9 after injuring his hand while in the field, Rohit put up a strong fight

late in the run chase. He played a sensational knock (51 not out off 28 balls) with three fours and five sixes, to give India a chance but in the end, failed to get them over the line.

Rohit’s tally of 500 international sixes is bettered by only West Indies legend Chris Gayle, who has 533 sixes. No other Indian

Chasing a target of chase of 272, India were 65/4 before Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel put on a century stand to resurrect India’s innings. However, Iyer and Axar fell in quick succession and Shardul Thakur followed them too which brought Rohit to the middle. His half-century propelled India late in the run chase.

The Indian skipper brought the equation down to 12 runs needed off two balls and hit a six from there, but couldn’t find the boundary off the last ball as Bangladesh won by five runs.

Ramos says hat-trick beyond ‘wildest dreams’

21-year-old Benfica forward said, reports Xinhua. Ramos revealed that Ronaldo was one of his boyhood idols and praised the 37-year-old for his support.

“Cristiano as our captain did what he always does,” he said. “He helped us and he encouraged us - not only me but all of my teammates.”

Portugal will now turn their focus to Saturday’s quarterfinal against Morocco at Al Thumama stadium in Doha. It will be the European team’s first appearance in the last eight of the World Cup since 2006.

Doha, Dec 7 (IANS) A hat-trick from Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos helped Portugal to coast to an emphatic 6-1 win over Switzerland and set up a quarter-final clash with dark horses Morocco.

On Tuesday at Lusail Stadium in Qatar, the 21-year-old striker, who replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting lineup, scored three decisive goals in the 17th, 51st and 67th minute to notch the first hat-trick of the tournament and to live up to the faith reposed by Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

Sommer with a thunderbolt. He received the ball with his back towards goal, took a touch to turn and let fly and it took off with incredible venom and flew into the top corner, 1-0.

Ramos, who had three international goals before going into the match having scored his first goal for his country in a November 17 friendly against Nigeria, where Portugal clinched a 4-0 win, scored with just 17 minutes on the pitch.

Lusail (Qatar), Dec 7 (IANS)

Goncalo Ramos said he had exceeded his “wildest dreams” by scoring a hat-trick in Portugal’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the World Cup round of 16 on Tuesday.

Ramos, who replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal’s lineup,

struck in the 17th minute at Lusail stadium before adding two more goals early in the second half in his first international start.

“Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be in the starting 11 in the knockout phase,” the

“We shouldn’t think too much about the result of this match because it will be a new game against Morocco that will start 0-0,” Ramos said.

“We have to take things one game at a time and focus 100% on Morocco without thinking about anything else.”

Australia’s Labuschagne overtakes Root to take top spot in ICC Test rankings for batters

have earned him 50 rating points and he leads compatriot Smith by 42 rating points. Labuschagne has regained the No. 1 position after Root overtook him in midJune with successive centuries against New Zealand.

Smith himself has gained two slots after contributing to the win with unbeaten scores of 200 and 20, along with Labuschagne registering the fifth instance of two Australians scoring double-centuries in the same Test.

wickets each in the match. Centurions Zak Crawley (up two places to 46th), Harry Brook (up 90 places to 70th), Ben Duckett (re-entered at 127th place) and Ollie Pope (up two rating points) have all gained in the weekly update as have Anderson (up two places to third) and Robinson (up seven places to a career-best eighth).

Dubai, Dec 7 (IANS) Charismatic Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has overtaken England’s Joe Root to grab the top spot in the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after becoming just the eighth player to score a double-century and a century in the same Test.

Labuschagne, who was just two points behind Root before the two ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Tests completed over the past week, now enjoys a big lead at the top even as Root has slipped to fourth place -- behind Steve Smith and Babar Azam, according to ICC.

Labuschagne’s scores of 204 and 104 not out in the first Test against the West Indies in Perth

Smith’s tally of 893 rating points is his highest since January 2021.

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has moved up one place to 15th among bowlers after an eight-wicket haul that helped complete a 164-run victory and consolidate his team’s top position in the WTC points table.

For the West Indies, captain Kraigg Brathwaite is back in the top 20 after scores of 64 and 110 in the Perth Test while Kyle Mayers has progressed to 41st in the bowlers’ rankings.

England’s epic 74-run win in the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi reflects in the rankings for their batters as well as the seam bowling pair of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who finished with five

Pakistan openers Abdullah Shafique (up five places to 15th) and Imam-ul-Haque (up 12 places to 38th) have attained career-best rankings after slamming centuries in the first innings and figuring in a 225-run stand.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings, India’s Shreyas Iyer has moved up seven places to joint-20th after scores of 24 in the first match of their ongoing series against Bangladesh and 49 in the preceding final match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series against New Zealand.

Charith Asalanka of Sri Lanka (up three places to 34th), KL Rahul of India (up four places to 35th) and Afghanistan’s Najibullah Zadran (up four places to 41st) are among the others to progress in the rankings for ODI batters.

Pepe, handed the captain’s armband in the absence of Ronaldo who was left on the bench by Santos, scored the second goal for Selecao das Quinas in the 33rd minute. Raphael Guerreiro was also on target for Portugal scoring the fourth goal for his team in the 55th minute.

Switzerland pulled one back in the 58th minute with Manuel Akanji scoring a consolation goal. Thereafter, Portugal brought in Ronaldo in the 73rd minute as a substitute much to the roar of the crowd but he could not add his name on the scorers list, instead it was Rafael Leao, who added a sixth one in the injury stoppage time to complete a resounding win

Portugal meant business in the last 16 tie and the absence of Ronaldo in the starting eleven had no effect on the level of performance. Using the two defenders on the wings as an attacking option, Portugal took the attack into the rival camp and with Joao Felix serving as a perfect link between the defence and offense.

Felix, was not afraid to move deep in the Switzerland with his dribbling skills and also had the foresight to slice open the defence with his prodding runs in the rival half. He also fell back and also showed his defending skills along with his offensive ones.

The man was everywhere. He was orchestrating play from deep in the pitch, making darting runs in from the wings and has been dragging Swiss players out of position all night. They could not cope with his movement.

Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva also pulled the strings in midfield and supplemented Felix’s work.

After much attacking play, Portugal opened the scoring with a gem of a goal from Ramos, who beat Switzerland keeper Yann

Ramos, who plays in the Portuguese Primeira Liga has been in terrific form this season, scoring 14 goals and six assists for his club this season across all competitions and is also the top scorer in the league, with nine goals in 11 appearances.

Portugal added a second one through 39-year-old Pepe, who finished off the set piece with a towering header from a corner taken by Bruno Fernandes to double the lead, 2-0.

In the second half Portugal continued to draw Switzerland in circles and it took them six minutes into the second half to make it 3-0.

Ramos, a product of Benfica’s youth academy, scored his second one of the night as he met a hard, low cross of Dalot and darted in to guide it at the far post for Portugal’s third, 3-0. Defender Guerreiro, who time and again joined the attacking flock got his name on the goal scorers list, finishing off a move with another thunderbolt after set up by Ramos, 4-0.

Three minutes later, Akanji made it 5-1 pulling one back for the Swiss, tapping home a corner at the far post which travelled above everyone’s head and ended at the feet of the Swiss striker, 4-1.

Ramos added his personal third catching the Swiss defence napping as he latched on to a pass from Felix inside the box and chips over the onrushing Sommer to make it 5-1.

Leao completed the tally with an injury added goal for Portugal with another beauty of a goal, as he found space on the left wing, cut back and let fly from the corner of the box with Sommer only able to see it flyover him into goal.

Portugal take on Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday and join The Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, France, England and Croatia in the last eight stage of the tournament.

FIFA World Cup: Morocco stun Spain via penalties to reach quarterfinals

the World Cup quarterfinals for Morocco when he sent Spain’s keeper the wrong way.

Spain, the 2010 champions became another major European casualty after Belgium and Germany crashed out, with the former succumbing to Morocco in a Group stage match.

Both teams took several shots at the goal during regulation time but were unable to make a dent in the scoreboard.

The Spaniards raised the pressure to a peak on the Moroccan defence around the 80th minute when two attempts closely missed the net.

Barty awarded Australian sport’s highest honour

Canberra, Dec 9 (IANS) Retired tennis star Ashleigh Barty has been awarded Australian sport’s highest individual honour for a second time.

At the annual Sport Australia Hall of Fame event on Thursday night Barty became the third person to win The Don Award -- named after cricket great Don Bradman -- multiple times.

Entering 2022 as the world No. 1, Barty in January became the first homegrown Australian Open singles champion since 1978.

By Mukesh Sharma

Doha

(Qatar),

Dec 7 (IANS) A resilient Morocco shocked a bungling Spain 3-0 in a FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match decided via a penalty shootout here on Tuesday.

With the surprising victory, Morocco became the only African and Arab nation to reach the quarterfinals in Qatar.

Spanish team members and fans were devastated at the end of the

shootout at the Education City Stadium in the Qatari capital when their team failed to convert even one shot from the spot -- Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved efforts by Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets while Pablo Sarabia struck the post. In contrast, Abdelhamid Sabiri and Hakim Ziyech scored theirs and though Badr Benoun was thwarted by Unai Simon, Achraf Hakimi sealed a maiden entry in

Both halves of extra time show Spain dominating Morocco but they were unable to breach the latter’s red defence wall.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui’s men have been on a nine-game unbeaten run including this match and have received accolades for their team spirit.

Morocco will take on the winner of the Portugal-Switzerland game being played tonight. It will be the last Round of 16 match at the tournament.

solution

services which are there to get the quick fix. We have a sport that can still facilitate three formats. We’ve got a 50-over World Cup in India next year and once that’s completed, just play less of it. Give that next two years clear space,” opined Fleming.

According to the report, 41,918 fans attended the first Test between West Indies and Australia at Perth across five days and just 42,819 collectively attended the three ODIs against England in mid-November.

Less than two months later, the three-time Grand Slam champion announced her shock retirement from tennis at the age of 25, reports Xinhua. “This year was certainly my most enjoyable Australian Open, result aside, that had nothing to do with it. It felt free. I played without consequence, I played like a little kid,” Barty said on Thursday night.

“In my eyes, there was no pressure. It was just about me trying to redeem myself, in a way, and playing how I’d always wanted to play - go out there and play like the kid that fell in love with sport.”

Barty described the decision to retire as her “perfect ending”,

shutting down suggestions she could return to the court.

The Don is awarded to the athlete or team that most inspired Australia through their performance and example.

Barty, who previously won in 2019, joins Olympic gold medalists Steve Hooker and Sally Pearson as multiple winners.

Middle and long distance runner Ron Clarke, who set 17 world records in a highly decorated career, and Shane Warne, widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket, who died in March aged 52, were posthumously elevated to legend status in the hall of fame.

Brazil cruise past S.Korea 4-1; set up Last 8 clash with Croatia

Adelaide, Dec 7 (IANS) Former Australian pace bowler Damien Fleming believes playing less of T20 Internationals (T20Is) and allowing the domestic T20 league competitions to continue could be the fix needed to overcome the dwindling crowds at cricket stadiums.

Australia have seen record low crowds of late with the stadiums, including the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), seeing a massive dip in numbers even during the ICC T20 World Cup held recently.

Several experts have blamed the poor spectator turnout to the saturated cricket schedule and Fleming feels all three formats of the game need to be given “clear space and times”.

“Play less international T20s and

let the domestic T20 competitions just go about it. You’ve got to give (all three formats) clear space and times,” Fleming said on SEN 1170 Breakfast on Wednesday.

“Since the T20 World Cup began on October 16, there have been 46 T20 matches, three ODIs and the first of five Test matches against the West Indies and South Africa,” said the report. However, Fleming is not in favour of completely doing away with a format but the cricket boards across the world should discuss on how to juggle limited-overs cricket.

“Test cricket is a bit like vinyl which is trendy these days. 50-over cricket is a bit like the CD which has its own particular taste. T20s are like streaming

Fleming said not much should be read into crowd behaviour given the number of fixtures and had a positive outlook for the rest of the summer.

“They started the Test match (against West Indies) on a Wednesday and that’s not friendly for people who are at work or kids who are at school.

It’s not in school holidays and it’s against an opposition that, let’s be honest, not a lot of the public knew before that Test match.

“There’s a few contributing factors to the crowds but the atmosphere for the average crowd of 10,000 was pretty good to be honest. The Gabba, in a couple of weeks’ time and is getting closer to those school holidays, is almost sold out,” added Fleming.

By Mukesh Sharma

Doha, Dec 6 (IANS) A fabulous show of football by Brazil sent South Korea packing in their FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match at the 974 Stadium in Doha on Monday.

The Koreans were completely outplayed by the Brazilian side in the first half as the South Americans scored 4 goals in a span of 29 minutes. The Asian side could salvage its reputation in the second half, but just, with the help of a 76th minute goal. The match ended 4-1 with Brazil set to take on Croatia in a quarter final clash.

The men in yellow began the assault on their Asian rivals when Vinicius Junior, assisted by Neymar Jr netted home in the

seventh minute by a right foot shot. As a sea of yellow cheered their side incessantly in the 40,000-capacity stadium made with shipping containers, Brazil scored the second goal with the help of a penalty taken by Neymar Jr in the 13th minute.

Brazil’s third goal came in the 29th minute when Richarlison shot from the centre of the box to make it 3-0. He was assisted by Thiago Silva.

Lucas Paqueta, assisted by Vinicius Junior, made no mistake in the 36th minute to make it 4-0 for the South American side.

Several South Korean fans left the stadium in tears as their team became the last Asian side to exit from the tournament on Tuesday.

Aussie great Damien Fleming provides

for bringing crowds back to cricket stadiums

Sikh woman shot dead outside gas station in Canada Pakistan in financial emergency

the Creditview-Britannia roads area around 10.40 pm.

“Upon arrival police located the victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.

Toronto, Dec 5 (IANS) In a “targeted” killing, a 21 year-old Canadian-Sikh woman died after being shot multiple times outside a gas station in Mississauga, police said. Pawanpreet Kaur, a resident of Brampton, died on December 3 at th Petro Canada gas station in

Life saving measures were attempted however the victim succumbed to her injuries, a Peel Regional Police statement said.

Police are on a lookout for the suspect who was dressed in all dark clothing and was observed leaving the scene on foot following the incident.

Calling it a targeted incident, the police has launched a

homicide investigation. No weapon has been recovered so far from the crime scene, police said.

They have asked anyone with information or dashcam footage that may have captured the moments leading up to, during, or after the incident to contact the investigators, adding that there is no threat to the public safety.

The incident comes just days after 18 year-old Indian-origin Sikh Mehakpreet Sethi was stabbed to death at the parking lot of a high school in Surrey.

Christian Michel alleges abuse in Tihar Jail to UK PM

Antony in February 2013. Yet, even after nearly 10 years neither has reached a stage of proceeding to trial.

The ED filed a charge sheet against Michel in June 2016 accusing him of receiving a commission to the tune of 30 million euros in the transaction.

Michel denies the allegation.

corruption activities (implicating the Congress’ Gandhi family) related to the AW case and threatened him with prosecution if he refused to sign”.

The Briton did not oblige. He was subsequently forcibly taken to India.

Islamabad, Dec 6 (IANS) The consistent depreciation of the Pakistani rupee is deepening the economic crisis in the country, said the Pakistan Business Forum (PBF).

In a statement, PBF CEO Ahmad Jawad said: “Pakistan’s economy continues to slump despite resumption of the much-awaited International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Programme. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar must announce a clear policy on the rupee to ease the pain of traders and to save the industries.

“We still have foreign debt of $130 billion and $73 billion due in three years. Our deficit for next three years is a minimum of $20 to $30 billion. Additionally, super inflation is killing the poor. This is a financial emergency.”

reports The Express Tribune.

“Adding to their miseries, the government is also considering imposing GST -- all negative indicators for the country’s economy,” he added.

“Even bond and currency markets, which had shown more confidence in Pakistan after the IMF deal, are pricing in high once again over concerns of the country defaulting on its foreign debt,” said Jawad.

London, Dec 7 (IANS) Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam case, has claimed in a signed five-page hand-written letter from Tihar Jail to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that he is “being abused in a Delhi jail” and is being held “without trial, without charge, without bail” since four years.

A source close to the Briton corroborated that the letter dated November 5 is indeed in Michel’s hand-writing.

The communication is copied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and Michel’s British lawyer Toby Cadman, among others.

Sunak’s office did not respond to a request from IANS to confirm receipt of the letter or react to its contents.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have been investigating allegations of kickbacks in a 2010 deal to buy 12 AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters for Rs 3,600 crore. They were asked to do so by the then Defence Minister A.K.

In 2019, the highest court in Italy dismissed any wrongdoing on the part of Michel, describing the imputations against him as a “hypothesis”.

Michel pointed out to Sunak that a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in November 2020 censured the Indian government and called for his immediate release and reparation to be paid to him in accordance with international law.

He complained that the British foreign office told him that “the Working Group is not a judicial body and its opinions are not legally binding”.

He went on to comment in the letter: “A pretty shameful thing to write when one considers that the UK is a UN founding member, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the UN.”

The WGAD report recorded that Michel’s lawyers submitted to it that in January 2018 a deputy director of CBI “allegedly attempted to coerce Mr Michel into signing a 20-page pre-drafted statement admitting

highway increased to 34 as rescue efforts ended, local media reported.

The landslide hit the PereiraQuibdo Highway in the western-central department of Risaralda on Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Michel conveyed to Sunak: “The issues raised by this despatch and the evidence adduced are of very considerable national and international interest, concerning credible allegations of international human rights abuses, kidnap, imprisonment and torture.”

He included the United Arab Emirates authorities in his charges.

On Tuesday, livelaw.in reported that Chief Justice S.Y.. Chandrachud, hearing a bail petition on behalf of Michel, remarked: “He has already been put in jail for four and a half years (six months in Dubai before he was allegedly renditioned to Delhi) just because he’s a foreign national. Ordinarily if he was an Indian national, the court would be willing to grant bail.”

He proceeded to ask Additional Solicitor General, S.V. Raju, who was pleading on behalf the ED: “Only because he’s a foreign national, does that warrant a complete deprivation of his liberty or can we impose some conditions so we can ensure his appearance?”

The Supreme Court listed the matter for hearing in the second week of January 2023

confirmed that 34 bodies were found after the tragedy.

He further said that “high inflation, unemployment and low profitability continue to plague the business community and despite that the government has withdrawn its electricity concession given to exporters and is projected to increase the levy on petrol and diesel to Rs50 per litre by January 2023”,

“Since the end of August, the yields on some of the government’s international bonds have jumped by a third, while the currency is one of the worst performing in Asia.

“Is it not shameful for Pakistan that we rejoice in repaying the $1 billion Sukuk, but don’t take any steps to save the dollars we are wasting. Using daylight will save $3.5 billion,” claimed the PBF CEO.

Bogota, Dec 7 (IANS)

On Tuesday, Governor of Risaralda Victor Manuel Tamayo

Colombia’s national unit for risk and disaster management warned that other spots along the highway are also at risk of landslides and is working on plans to close certain parts of the road to prevent further tragedies.

London, Dec 7 (IANS) British businessman Charlie Mullins has apologised for a “racist joke” he made at 2022 British Curry Awards, which was slammed by Indian-origin TV presenter Ranj Singh, and drew sharp reactions from the community.

The 70 year-old founder of Pimlico Plumbers, London’s largest independent plumbing company, had attended the annual ceremony as a guest, alongside the likes of Chris Tarrant, Merlin Griffiths, Nina Wadia and Ranj Singh.

“I was really honoured to be a guest at the British Curry Awards and had a wonderful evening with a bunch of like-minded hard-working entrepreneurs doing good work for charity,” the Metro reported Mullins as saying in a statement.

have more Asian representation at their awards.

In an open letter, Singh said that he was not the only person who felt “uncomfortable” at the awards ceremony.

“I cannot stay silent... Dear @ BritCurryAwardsa please, let’s talk about this... when the host is white, the judging panel is entirely white, the performers onstage are over 90 per cent white, are we really representing our community fairly?”

Singh asked.

While mentioning about the joke, he wrote: “Paraphrased slightly, but this is a joke made on stage at the @ BritCurryAwards by a white person tonight: Why has India never won the World Cup?

Because every time they get a corner, they build a shop on it. I’m sorry but how is this OK?.”

Rome, Dec 5 (IANS) Italy hosts the highest number of unofficial Chinese “police stations” out of a network of more than 100 around the world, a report by a Spanish civil rights group has claimed.

Milan was allegedly used by two local Chinese public security authorities as a European testing ground for a policing strategy to monitor the Chinese population abroad and force dissidents to return home, the Guardian quoted the report by the Madridbased Safeguard Defenders as saying.

Safeguard Defenders reported in September that 54 such stations allegedly existed around the world, prompting police investigations in at least 12 countries

including Canada, Germany and the Netherlands.

In a report published on Monday, the civil rights group said it had identified 48 additional stations, 11 of which are in Italy.

Other newly identified stations were in Croatia, Serbia and Romania, it said.

The Italian stations are in Rome, Milan, Bolzano, Venice, Florence, Prato -- a town near Florence that hosts the largest Chinese community in Italy -- and Sicily, reports the Guardian.

China has said the offices are merely “service stations” set up to assist Chinese citizens with bureaucratic procedures such as renewing a passport or driving licence.

The investigation carried out by

Safeguard Defenders was based on publicly available Chinese statements and data, and was limited to stations established by local Chinese public security authorities in countries where there is a large Chinese community.

Safeguard Defenders claimed that while the stations were not directly run by Beijing, “some statements and policies are starting to show a clearer guidance from the central government in encouraging their establishment and policies”.

The civil rights group alleges that the unofficial police stations are used by China to “harass, threaten, intimidate and force targets to return to China for persecution”.

“I didn’t mean to cause offence with anything I said and if I did I very much regret that. I had a great time, and I know we raised loads of money for some very good causes,” the entrepreneur, who sold off his business for more than 140 million pounds last year, said. “Why has India never won the World Cup? Because every time they get a corner, they build a shop on it,” Mullins said at the glitzy event, also known as the Curry Oscars.

He was awarded an OBE in the 2015 New Years Honours list for services to plumbing.Soon after this, Singh took to Twitter and called out to the award organisers and urged them to

Former Crimewatch host Rav Wilding also took offence at the joke, he said: “Ranj that’s just made me so angry. That’s not ok at all.”

Singh, who stars on ‘This Morning’, concluded his post by saying: “We are better than this. We are a magnificent people. We have done so much and still have so much to offer. Let’s do better together.”

He added that he is proud of his Indian heritage, the Indian community and those who came to the UK before him, which is why he cannot stay silent on such things.

“We are not beyond criticism (and that includes me). But we are open to learn and grow,” he wrote with a heart emoji.

UK bizman apologises after Indianorigin doc slams his ‘racist joke’

Death toll from Colombia landslide rises to 34, rescue work ends

Italy home to highest number of unofficial Chinese ‘police stations’: Report

The death toll from a landslide that buried several vehicles on a Colombian

Budget-friendly international destinations to visit

By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

Travelling is not just leisure, for many people it is a way of

life, a necessity to suffice innate cravings. International travel is full of excitement, delight, and,

most importantly, adventure. The most important consideration while deciding on a vacation is the budget.

Planning a budget trip can be challenging, and if you are looking for an international destination, Alapati Krishna Mohan,

MD – Southern Travels shares a handy list of must-visit countries for Indian globetrotters.\

One of the most well-known places in the world for travellers and is also one of the pocket-friendly countries to visit from India. With its abundant natural beauty, cultural legacy, and history, you will surely leave with a satisfied soul.

Tourists are drawn to adventure activities such as sightseeing, yacht or boat cruises, local mar-

ket tours, caving, cultural tours, island tours, and wildlife tours.

Some must-visit places in Vietnam are Hanoi, HoChi Minh City, Sapa, NhaTrang, Mekong Delta, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay.

Furthermore, a quality trip to Vietnam for three to four nights will cost you somewhere around Rs. 25,000.

Bali, an island in Indonesia, is a popular destination on many people’s bucket lists for a good reason. Bali sings of a harmonious fusion of people and food, green and blue water bodies, primitive culture and environment, etc. The paradise island is full of varieties; within a few hours, you can travel from a beach to a rainforest to a mountain. Along with taking advantage of Bali’s nightlife, you can explore Uluwatu, Ubud,

Jimbaran, and many islands. You can also check out some of Bali’s top eateries because there aren’t many places to get a bad meal on the island. Additionally, the neighbourhood “warungs” frequently have very low prices and serve Balinese specialities like NasiGoreng (fried rice) and Mie Goreng (fried noodles). And, four days of accommodation in Bali will cost you around Rs. 20,000.

Thailand is the most popular tourist destination for travellers on a tight budget since it allows you to mingle with gregarious and friendly locals and offers a variety of activities to do. The night skyline, authentic spas to soothe your senses, clubbing, swimming in turquoise waters, affordable street food, and high

One of the most exciting new tourist attractions is Baku, an exciting fusion of oil-driven modernity and Asian traditions. Modern skyscrapers contrast with the historic mosques and other local features in the city, which gives a beautiful blend of old and contemporary architecture. It is the perfect unexplored tourist destination, and there are many things to do there, such as trying the local cuisine, touring mediaeval palaces, or taking a stroll through the city to take in

the more modern architecture.

You can visit the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the renowned stone Maiden Tower, both of which are located in the mediaeval-walled old city. Also, you can explore and witness the contemporary landmarks, which include the Zaha Hadid’s designed Heydar Aliyev Center and the Flame Towers, three-pointed skyscrapers covered with LED screens. Overall, the four-day stay in Baku will somewhere cost you Rs.18,000.

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country that includes the Malay Peninsula as well as the island of Borneo. It is famous for its beaches, rainforests, and a cultural blend of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and European influences. Lodging for three to four days trip to Malaysia will cost you

street markets of

and Pattaya are those fun activities in Thailand where you can discover anything you’re interested in. And last but not least, the friendly and laid-back Thai people are the best hosts to make your journey memorable.

Bangkok for its city parties, Pattaya for its nightlife, Chiang Rai

for mountain hiking, KohSamui, and Krabi for their gorgeous, undeveloped beaches are just a few of the destinations that one must visit.

Additionally, accommodation for a four-day trip to Thailand will run you about Rs. 12,000 in total.

around Rs. 12,000.

Trekking in Taman Negara National Park, seeing the culture of Kota Bharu, and observing orangutans at Sepilok are all options to explore the beauty of Malaysia. Also, make sure a refreshing sunbathe in Langkawi, Petronas Towers in Kuala

It has everything – gorgeous scenery, the best facilities and accessibility. The beaches here come with luxurious facilities for couples and their loved one.

Vietnam, Bali, Thailand, Malaysia and Baku should be on your list

Bali

Baku

Vietnam

Lumpur, Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, and escape to Genting Highlands.

Malaysia

Bangkok

Thailand

New findings emerge about Anne Heche’s death

Los Angeles, Dec 7 (IANS)

Actress Anne Heche was not impaired by drugs at the time of her devastating car crash on August 5, according to a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Tests did show, however, that Heche, 53, had used both cocaine and cannabis previously, reports ‘People’ magazine.

“The hospital admission blood showed the presence of benzoylecgonine, the inactive metabolite of cocaine, which means she used in the past but not at the time of the crash,” a

spokesperson for the Coroner confirmed to ‘People’.

Cannabinoids were found in her urine but “not detected in the admission blood and is consistent with prior use, but not at the time of the injury.” Toxicology also showed she had fentanyl in her system, though the coroner’s report indicated that it was “obtained after she received treatment at the hospital and therefore is consistent with therapeutic use.”

“This is supported by the lack of fentanyl in the blood specimen drawn at admission to the

Kanye West urges Jews to ‘forgive Hitler’ in interview

community. In the beginning of the video, McInnes, who founded right-wing extremist group Proud Boys in 2016, said that he set up the interview to try to “prevent Ye West from becoming an anti-Semite or a Nazi.”

to stop hating on Adolf Hitler. “Jewish people - forgive Hitler today,” he added. “Let it go. Let it go. Stop trying to force it on other people.”

hospital,” the report states. Additionally, the report indicates that Heche’s burns were so bad that they prevented her body from effectively absorbing oxygen, which led to her “anoxic brain injury.” This is ultimately what killed her.

According to aPeoplea, on August 5, Heche was behind the wheel of her Mini Cooper when she crashed into a Los Angeles home. Both her car and the residence caught fire, and it was later revealed through audio file recordings from the Los Angeles Fire Department that Heche was

trapped in her vehicle for about 45 minutes before being rescued. According to the coroner’s narrative, the actress was involved in two minor crashes prior to plowing into the home at around 80 MPH. There were no skid marks at the scene, according to the report.

Suffering third and second-degree burns and a fractured sternum, she was rushed to the UCLA Ronald Ragan Hospital before later being transported to a specialty burns ICU at West Hills Hospital.

Robert Downey Jr. reacts to Quentin Tarantino’s Marvel criticism

Los Angeles, Dec 7 (IANS) Rapper Kanye West once again made another round of anti-semitic comments.

On Tuesday, December 6, the 45-year-old rapper/designer had a sit-down with Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes where he claimed that Jewish people need to “forgive Hitler”, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Titled “Saving Ye”, the 45-minute interview saw McInnes and Ye discussing the disgraced artist’s hate speech against the Jewish

He explained, “I’m going to talk him off the ledge and bring him back to the understanding that our problem is liberal elites of all races, Kamala Harris is a major problem. Barack Obama is a major (problem). Barack Obama is what started this whole mess. I would argue we weren’t really into racism before he came along.”

Kanye, however, opted to double down on his views instead.

“Jewish people can’t tell me who I can love and who I can’t love,” he said in the discussion, which was moderated by far-right personality and one of Ye’s campaign team member Nick Fuentes. “You can’t force your pain on everyone else.”

He then urged Jewish people

He added that he didn’t want his name involved in the discussion, reports aceshowbiz.com.

He continued, “Like, homie. Homie, homie. Nah, nah. You gotta stand on this one on your own. That’s all that was about.

You know, I didn’t say nothin’. It’s just, at the end of the day, I just had to let everybody know that don’t blame me for s**t.”

Kanye went on to say that Jews gave the Nazi leader a bad reputation because “they were upset that Hitler was kicking them out of the country.” He later compared the Holocaust to abortion.

“The Holocaust is not the only holocaust. So for them to take that and claim when we have abortions right now. That’s eugenics. That’s genocide. That’s a holocaust that we’re dealing with right now,” the ‘Donda’ artist said.

He additionally blasted Jewish people for not believing that Jesus is the “king of all kings” and the real king of the Jews.

“I think the Jewish like Mossad and Rahm Emanuel and Bibi Netanyahu and all of them, I think they really got soft out here.

the interview, which video has since been taken down from the podcast’s YouTube channel, “Cube’s really set me up for this. You’ve really influenced me to get on this anti-Semite vibe. I’m here to finish the job.”

Los Angeles, Dec 6 (IANS) Actor Robert Downey Jr. has spoken up on the most recent attack at Marvel Cinematic Universe by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

In an interview with ‘Deadline’ about the Netflix documentary about his father Robert Downey Sr., the ‘Iron Man’ actor fought back at Quentin Tarantino’s claims that Marvel actors “are not movie stars,” reports aceshowbiz.com.

“I think our opinions on these matters say a lot about us. I think that we are in a time and place that I unwittingly contributed to, where IP has taken precedence over principle and personality. But it’s a double-edged sword,” he said.

“A piece of IP is only as good as the human talent you get to represent it, and you can have some great IP even if it’s coming from an auteur or a national treasure of a writer-director, and if you don’t have the right kind of artist playing that role, you’ll never know how good it could have been.”

a lake, and now we’re just trying to catch people’s attention as things are moving by quickly in a stream. I think that’ll change again, but this is just where we’re at. And to accept it and be grateful that you get to participate is the right place to start.”

Los Angeles, Dec 6 (IANS)

Rapper Ice Cube once again responded to Kanye West’s claims saying that he got inspired by Cube’s controversial social media posts.

During his appearance on ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson’, Cube insisted that he had nothing to do with anti-semitism. “I mean, you know, when somebody turn it out-when a n***a turn the party out and say, you know, he did it ‘cause of you, you got to say somethin’ about that,” Cube said.

Cube added, “Talk your s**t if you want to, but don’t blame me for s**t. If I ain’t up there speaking for myself, don’t blame me.”

Prior to this, Cube addressed Ye’s comments on Twitter.

“I hate that my name was dragged into this Drunk Champs bulls**t. I don’t know what Ye meant by his statements, you’re gonna have to ask him. I didn’t put the batteries in his back. Please leave my name out of all the anti-semitic talk. I’m not antisemitic and never have been.”

The ‘Donda’ artiste claimed Cube inspired him to be on “this anti-Semite vibe.” He said in

While it’s unclear what Ye was referring to, Cube did once call Jerry Heller a “white Jew” and a “devil” that should have a bullet in his “temple” during the song “No Vaseline”. He was also criticised for posting anti-Semitic images on social media in 2020 and publicly backed Louis Farrakhan, who’s considered a well-known anti-Semite.

“This is CUBE,” he explained on June 10, 2020, after people questioned if the tweets were the work of a hacker.

“My account has not been hacked. I speak for no organisation. I only speak for the meek people of thee earth. We will not expect crumbles from your table. We have to power of almighty God backing us all over the earth. NO MORE TALKING. Repent.”

Cate Blanchett wraps up Warwick Thornton’s ‘The New Boy’

Los Angeles, Dec 7 (IANS)

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett has wrapped up shooting for ‘The New Boy’, a drama film by Australian Indigenous filmmaker Warwick Thornton.

Blanchett takes both a starring role and a producer credit in the film, reports ‘Variety’.

Set in 1940s Australia, ‘The New Boy’ is the story of a nineyear-old Aboriginal orphan boy (portrayed by newcomer Aswan Reid) who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery, run by a renegade nun (Blanchett). There his presence disturbs the

delicately balanced world in a story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival. Other established names in the cast include Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair. An ensemble of new faces including Shane Brady, Tyrique Brady, Laiken Woolmington, Kailem Miller, Kyle Miller, Tyzailin Roderick and Tyler Spencer round out the cast. Thornton is one of Australia’s most celebrated filmmakers. His ‘Samson And Delilah’ won the Camera d’Or for best first film at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Instead of attacking one another, RDJ believes that all genres of films should co-exist together. “I think that creatively it is a waste of time to be at war with ourselves. I think this is a time when everything is so much more fragmented now that I think you have this kind of bifurcation,” he elaborated.

“Throwing stones one way or another ... and I’ve had my reactions in the past when people said things that I felt were discrediting my integrity ... I go, ‘You know what? Let’s just get over it. We’re all a community. There’s enough room for everything,’ and thank God for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’. That’s all I have to say. We need the big stuff to make room for films like ‘Armageddon Time’.”

The 57-year-old further stressed that things evolved over time and one must embrace the change.

“I’m not talking about trickle-down entertainment. I’m just saying that things are always changing ...,” he said. “So, I would just say, before we cast aspersions on each otherundergo your own renaissance and see if it doesn’t change your mind a little bit.”

“Reinvent yourself before you decide that somebody else doesn’t know what they’re doing or that something is keeping you from doing your best, or that something is better than something else,” he further urged, before borrowing words from his former Marvel colleague, “You know, we’re in this age now where [Jon Favreau] said it best: We used to try to make waves in

During the same interview, Downey Jr was asked what he misses the most about being the centre of the Marvel Universe. He responded: “What I miss most? Being in the trenches with Kevin Feige throughout; the beginning with Jon Favreau, it’s like a beautiful dream now; the middle, with Shane Black on ‘Iron Man 3’, we’d just had Exton and shot it mostly in Wilmington, NC,” Downey said. “It was idyllic and subversive. And ‘The End’, when I realised I’d made so many close friends in the MCU cast, and the Russo Brothers helping me embrace Tony’s arc.”

Tarantino criticised the Marvelisation of Hollywood during his appearance on ‘2 Bears, 1 Cave’ podcast last month.

“You have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters,” he said. “But they’re not movie stars. Right?

Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I’m not the first person to say that. I think that’s been said a zillion times ...But it’s like, you know, it’s these franchise characters that become a star.”

Simu Liu was the first MCU star who reacted to Tarantino’s claims.

Samuel L. Jackson then weighed in on it during his appearance on ‘The View’.

Pushing back on his pal and frequent collaborator’s criticism, he said, “It takes an actor to be those particular characters, and the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, asses in seats? What are we talking about?”

The 73-year-old added, “That’s not a big controversy for me to know that apparently these actors are movie stars. Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther. You can’t refute that, and he’s a movie star.”

Ice Cube refuses to be blamed for Kanye West’s anti-semitic antics

Los Angeles, Dec 7 (IANS) Five women have filed a lawsuit against channel NBC and actor Bill Cosby under a New York state law that temporarily suspends the statute of limitations for older sexual assault claims.

The women alleged on Monday that Cosby either raped them or forced them into sexual acts.

Four of the allegations date from the late 1980s or 1990, when the actor was at the height of his fame as the star of ‘The Cosby Show’ on NBC. The fifth allegation involves Cindra Ladd, a former Hollywood executive

who has accused Cosby of raping her in 1969, reports ‘Variety’.

One of the plaintiffs is Lili Bernard, an actress who guest starred on ‘The Cosby Show’, and who first came forward with her allegation at a press conference with Gloria Allred in 2015. Bernard filed a separate suit against Cosby in New Jersey in 2021.

Bernard also attended the civil trial in Santa Monica, Califprnoa, in June 2022, at which a jury ordered Cosby to pay $500,000 to Judy Huth for sexually assaulting her when she was 16 years old, in 1975.

Bernard, Ladd, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, and Jennifer Thompson filed the New York lawsuit under the Adult Survivors Act, which opens a one-year “lookback window” for accusers to file civil claims of sexual assault, regardless of the statute of limitations.

The window opened on November 24, six months after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the law. Unlike similar statutes in New York and other states, the

law applies to accusers who were adults at the time of the alleged assaults.

Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said the five women were part of a “parade of accusers” who had come forward between 2014 and 2016.

“As we have always stated, and now America can see, this isn’t about justice for victims of alleged sexual assault, it’s ALL ABOUT MONEY,” Wyatt said. “We believe that the courts, as well as the court of public opinion, will follow the rules of law and relieve Mr. Cosby of these alleged accusations. Mr. Cosby continues to vehemently deny all allegations waged against him and looks forward to defending himself in court.”

Cosby, now 85, was convicted in Pennsylvania in April 2018 for a criminal sex assault case. But in 2021, he was released after spending nearly three years in prison after the conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court.

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Los Angeles, Dec 6 (IANS) If you can’t do what Julia Roberts did for her BFF George Clooney, are you even a BFF? ‘Erin Brockovich’ star Julia Roberts wore a gown covered with photos of Hollywood star George Clooney.

The two have worked together in many movies like ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, ‘Ocean’s Twelve’, ‘Money Monster’ and ‘Ticket to Paradise’.

The 55-year-old actress made her fun fashion statement to show support for George, 61 at the Kennedy Center Honours ceremony in Washington DC, reports ‘The Mirror’.

Her dress featured framed snaps of the actor throughout his career, dating from his early days as Doug Ross on ER. The actress rounded up her look with a black jacket.

George won a lifetime achievement honour for his role in US cultural life.

Julia appeared in the first two instalments of ‘Oceans’ franchise as Tess Ocean, with George playing her on-screen husband Danny Ocean.

public declaration of love for sister Jamie Lynn Spears, not long after labelling her “scum”, reports ‘The Mirror’.

The very public falling out in the summer came after the younger Spears released her memoir titled ‘Things I Should Have Said’. Following its release, Brit branded her sister a “f***ing liar” but the pair appear to have patched up their differences, if the now unavailable post is to be believed.

In it, which was posted on Britney’s birthday, the star wrote: “You’re my heart so I’m thinking about you ... congratulations on being so brave, inspiring, and showing guts and glory in your show (sic).”

‘The Mirror’ further states that Britney then appeared to reply to Jamie Lynn’s quote about wanting to feel ‘worthy’ while ‘proving herself’ on the gruelling show, which will premiere on January 4, 2023.

Los Angeles, Dec 7 (IANS) Actress Jenna Ortega is facing backlash after she confessed that she filmed the dance scene on the hit Netflix series ‘Wednesday’ while testing positive for Covid. The 20-year-old actress made the confession during an interview with NME. During the candid chat, she revealed that her infamous dance scene was filmed during her “first day with COVID so it was awful to film,” reports aceshowbiz.com.

“I woke up and it’s weird, I never get sick and when I do it’s not very bad. I had the body aches,” Jenna further described the symptoms. “I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat and was scratching the walls of my esophagus.”

Additionally, Jenna said she was given “medicine between takes” while “waiting on the positive result” of a COVID-19 test.

“I asked to redo it but we didn’t have time. I think I probably could have done it a bit better,” she said, after proudly revealing she “choreographed” her own moves.

Following the confession, social media critics were quick to criticise her decision to film the scene despite experiencing COVID symptoms. “It was dangerous, unethical, and extremely selfish thing to do, both on her part, and on the part of the directors and producers,”

one person tweeted, “There’s absolutely no positive way to spin an actress knowingly exposing hundreds of cast members and crew to COVID.”

Another insisted that the star “filming that dance scene while she had COVID is not impressive.” The said person added, “It’s horrible. Absolutely callous disregard for her coworkers,” and said they hope to see Jenna’s interview with NME “cited in a lawsuit.”

“Jenna Ortega having COVID on set and working unmasked around other unmasked performers is not a flex. She should not be praised for ‘working while sick.’ The above line crew could’ve possibly disabled or killed someone for their irresponsibility,” someone else pointed out.

A separate critic stated that they were “disappointed to learn that Jenna Ortega had COVID symptoms on set but was still allowed” to film the dance scene. They then asked, “I wonder how many people got sick? And how many people those people got sick?”

Indeed, Jenna delivered a memorable dance that has become the talk of social media. The dance scene has gone so viral that “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps has increased its Spotify streams by 9.5 per cent since “Wednesday” debuted.

Ashton Kutcher was desperate to ‘reclaim’ health after suffering rare disease

Los Angeles, Dec 6 (IANS) Actor Ashton Kutcher was desperate to “reclaim his health” after losing his vision when he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. The 44-year-old star waged a year-long battle with the autoimmune disease vasculitis in 2019 which left him unable to see, hear or walk and explained that he just “woke up one day” with an array of problems, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Los Angeles, Dec 6 (IANS) Pop icon Britney Spears has left social media platform Instagram as she has decided that enough is enough, for now at least, and has deactivated her page

shortly after sharing a number of gushing statements regarding family members.

The ‘Baby One More Time’ singer confused her millions of fans earlier in the week with her

She continued: “You ain’t alone ... if anybody knows what that feels like ... I get it,” in an apparent reference to her now-terminated conservatorship.

He said: “I woke up one day and was having vision issues, could hardly see. Knocked out my hearing, which threw off my equilibrium, my balance and I couldn’t walk. I had vasculitis that you’re very well aware. There’s a standard you become accustomed to in your life, like being able to see clearly. And then suddenly you can’t see, like you have this occlusion and you can’t see. And then, like, ‘Why are you not f****** talking louder because I can’t hear you?’ You want to reclaim the health that you once had!”

The ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’ actor, who managed to complete a marathon in New York City last month, went on to explain that

he now has has a mental attitude towards life since he made a full recovery which enables him to keep going.

Speaking on the premiere episode of Paramount+’s new health series, ‘The Checkup With Dr. David Agus’, he added: “Part of it is this mental thing I have around achieving a full comeback from waking up at the hospital. I was unable to walk and I was like, wait a second, if I can go from not being able to walk to running a marathon in a three-year span, then I can let that be a part of the past and be like, ‘I’m back. I’m good.”

Britney Spears ‘did it again’, has deactivated her Instagram

Julia Roberts wears a gown with George Clooney’s framed

Bill Cosby faces new sexual assault lawsuit from five accusers in New York

Jenna Ortega draws flak after revealing she filmed ‘Wednesday’ dance scene while having Covid