25 militants killed, 11 Injured in infiltration qttempt on Pakistan-Afghan Border

Twenty-five militants were killed and 11 others were injured in an attempt to infiltrate Pakistani territory across the Afghan border.Radio Pakistan quoted a statement by the Pakistani army on Thursday as saying that militants tried to infiltrate across the border last night, but Pakistani forces confronted them and managed to eliminate them during an exchange of fire.The land border between the two neighboring countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, is witnessing the infiltration of armed elements in both directions, as authorities in Islamabad and Kabul are seeking to control the border through preemptive combing operations.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689553/international/25-militants-killed-11-injured-in-infiltration-qttempt-on-pakistan-afghan-border

Venezuelan opposition vows to make Maduro ‘yield’ on election ‘fraud’

Venezuelan opposition supporters gathered in Caracas yesterday, chanting “Liberty!” as their leader came out of hiding to lead a protest against what they call President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election fraud.Maria Corina Machado, who has kept a low profile amid threats from Maduro after the July 28 presidential vote, vowed in front of followers to not stop fighting until the opposition’s claim to victory is recognised.“They say that the regime will not yield. You know what: we are going to make it yield and (that) means respecting the will expressed on July 28,” Machado told a rally that attracted hundreds of supporters in an atmosphere of fear.“This protest is unstoppable,” she added.Machado arrived at the demonstration hiding her face under a black hoodie, which she took off only when she clambered onto the truck that served as her stage.“Brave! Brave!” supporters chanted as the truck passed them.“I’m fighting for Venezuela, to recover our democracy. We don’t want to live in a dictatorship,” demonstrator Laidy Molina, a 60-year-old nutritionist, told AFP.“We are afraid. We fear that they will put us in prison, that they will not respect the constitution but we must continue the struggle,” she added.Maduro has called for the arrest of Machado and the opposition’s presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who replaced her on the ballot after the regime barred her from running.Venezuela’s CNE electoral council — with most of its members loyal to 61-year-old Maduro — declared him the winner hours after voting closed, giving him 52 percent of ballots cast without providing a full breakdown.The opposition has published its own polling station-level records, which it says show that Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old retired diplomat, won by a landslide.Spontaneous protests erupted in the hours after Maduro’s claimed victory, with at least 25 civilians killed and more than 2,400 arrested.Several Latin American countries, the United States and the European Union have called on the CNE to release voting data that proves Maduro’s re-election to a third, six-year term until 2031.The CNE said it was unable to provide the data due to a computer hack, though election observers said there was no evidence of this.Yesterday’s rally was the fourth organised protest called by the opposition to denounce Maduro’s election “fraud.”“We have to protect ourselves, take care of ourselves,” Machado told supporters.“Every passing day we are making progress... We have succeeded in turning the cause for freedom in Venezuela into a global cause.”The ruling “Chavista” movement, named after Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez, had also called for demonstrations on Wednesday to mark its “victory.”Gonzalez Urrutia, last seen in public at an opposition rally on July 30, ignored summons on two successive days this week in an investigation by Maduro-aligned prosecutors into his alleged “usurpation” of official powers, disseminating false information, and incitement of insurrection, among other charges.The probe stems from the opposition publishing election results that the CNE claims only it has the right to do. The opposition coalition says Gonzalez Urrutia is the target of “judicial harassment.”The charges against him carry a potential 30-year sentence.On Tuesday, Maduro reshuffled his cabinet and named two of his closest allies to key positions.Diosdado Cabello, the number-two in the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), will now head the interior ministry, which is responsible for policing and security matters.Vice President Delcy Rodriguez will take over the role of oil minister in a country with the world’s largest crude reserves but an industry bent under US sanctions.Also on Tuesday, Machado accused the regime of “kidnapping” her lawyer.The authorities have not commented on the reported arrest, which would add to the more than 100 opposition activists taken into custody in recent months.Six of Machado’s most trusted collaborators, including her campaign chief, have taken refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689547/international/venezuelan-opposition-vows-to-make-maduro-yield-on-election-fraud

Thousands told to evacuate as ‘strong’ typhoon nears Japan

Japan braced yesterday for its strongest typhoon of the year, with authorities advising tens of thousands of people to evacuate and issuing the highest warning level for wind and storm surges on the main southern island of Kyushu.“Typhoon Shanshan is expected to approach southern Kyushu with extremely strong force through Thursday and it may make landfall,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.“It is expected that violent winds, high waves, and storm surge at levels that many people have never experienced before may occur,” said Hayashi, the top government spokesman.The approach of the storm, packing gusts of up to 252km per hour and already bringing widespread heavy rain, prompted auto giant Toyota to suspend production at all 14 of its factories.Two people remained unaccounted for on Wednesday after a landslide buried a house with five family members inside in Gamagori, a city in central Aichi prefecture. Rescuers worked around the clock and on Wednesday afternoon they pulled out a woman in her 70s.“She wasn’t breathing and was unconscious,” a Gamagori official told AFP. They were still searching for a man in his 70s and another in his 30s.For southern Kyushu the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) predicted 1,100mm of precipitation in the 48 hours to Friday morning, around half the annual average for the area comprising Kagoshima and Miyazaki regions.The JMA also issued its highest “special warning” for violent storms, waves and high tides in parts of the Kagoshima region of Kyushu, with authorities there advising 56,000 people to evacuate.Video on public broadcaster NHK TV showed roof tiles being blown off houses, broken windows and felled trees. “Our carport roof was blown away in its entirety. I wasn’t at home when it happened, but my kids say they felt the shaking so strong they thought an earthquake happened,” a local resident in Miyazaki told NHK. “I was surprised. It was completely beyond our imagination,” she said.The warnings indicate the “possibility that a major disaster prompted by (the typhoon) is extremely high,” Satoshi Sugimoto, chief forecaster of JMA, told a news conference.Japan Airlines cancelled 172 domestic flights and six international flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, while ANA nixed 219 domestic flights and four international ones on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The cancellations affected around 25,000 people.Kyushu Railway said it would suspend some Shinkansen bullet train services between Kumamoto and Kagoshima Chuo from Wednesday night and warned of further possible disruption.Trains between Tokyo and Fukuoka, the most populous city on Kyushu, may also be cancelled depending on weather conditions this week, other operators said. Shanshan comes in the wake of Typhoon Ampil, which disrupted hundreds of flights and trains this month.Despite dumping heavy rain, it caused only minor injuries and damage. Ampil came days after Tropical Storm Maria brought record rains to northern areas. Typhoons in the region have been forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change, according to a study released last month.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689541/international/thousands-told-to-evacuate-as-strong-typhoon-nears-japan

Starmer warns Oct 30 budget will be ‘painful’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned yesterday that his new government’s first budget in just over two months will be “painful”, asking the country to “accept short-term pain for long-term good”. Starmer, whose Labour Party won a landslide parliamentary majority on July 4, used his first major speech since then to lay the ground for the much-anticipated fiscal event on October 30.He also used the address, from the Downing Street garden, to attack the ousted Conservatives, reiterating claims they had left a £22-bn ($29-bn) “black hole” in the public finances. “There is a budget coming in October, and it’s going to be painful,” Starmer said.“Those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden,” he added, hinting at tax rises for some after October 30.Labour has pledged not to hike taxes on “working people”, which would appear to rule out raising income tax, other social security and VAT rates. But there is growing speculation that other taxes, like capital gains, could be targeted. Starmer insisted the UK must look beyond tinkering with taxes and that growing the economy remained the “number one mission”. But he also cautioned that his government’s fiscal inheritance would not be “easily fixed”. “We’re going to have to take tough decisions, I did not cater for a £22bn black hole,” he added. Political opponents have argued that the government was aware of the country’s perilous financial plight months ago and is preparing the ground for unpopular announcements.Labour has insisted the Tories misled the public and others on the issue, including the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).The independent fiscal watchdog has said it is investigating the last government’s spending forecasts in light of Labour’s black hole claims. In his speech, Starmer also addressed the recent anti-immigration riots sparked by the deadly Southport knife attack.Officials have blamed far-right elements for helping to stir up the disorder, which targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum-seekers as well as police officers and other properties. Attempting to link the disturbances to the Conservatives’ legacy, the UK leader said they “didn’t happen in a vacuum” and had “exposed the state of our country”. They “revealed a deeply unhealthy society...weakened by a decade of division and decline, infected by a spiral of populism which fed off cycles of failure of the last government”.“Every time they faced a difficult problem, they failed to be honest, they offered the snake oil of populism, which led to more failure,” Starmer argued.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689458/international/starmer-warns-oct-30-budget-will-be-painful

Zelensky to present Biden a plan to end Russia war

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that the war with Russia would eventually end in dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a strong position and that he would present a plan to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.The Ukrainian leader, addressing a news conference, said Kyiv’s three-week-old incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was part of that plan, but that it also comprised other steps on the economic and diplomatic fronts.“The main point of this plan is to force Russia to end the war. And I want that very much — (that it would be) fair for Ukraine,” he told reporters in Kyiv of the war launched by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.He did not elaborate further on the next steps, but said he would also discuss the plan with Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris and probably also with Republican Donald Trump, the two nominees for the US presidential election.Zelensky said he hoped to go to the United States in September to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and that he was preparing to meet Biden.His remarks indicated that he sees the main potential forum for talks as a follow-up international summit on peace, at which Ukraine has said it wants Russia to have representatives.The first summit to advance Kyiv’s vision of peace, held in Switzerland in June, pointedly excluded Russia, while attracting scores of delegations, but not from China, the world’s second largest economy, despite Kyiv’s push to win over the global south.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on August 19 that talks were out of the question after Ukraine launched a major cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on August 6.Zelensky has been adamant that Russia wants to dictate terms to Ukraine in any settlement of the war, something that Kyiv sees as unacceptable.Putin has said any deal needs to start with Ukraine’s acceptance of “realities on the ground”, that would leave Russia with possession of substantial chunks of four Ukrainian regions as well as Crimea. Now Ukraine says it controls more than 1,200 square km of Russia’s Kursk region.“There can be no compromises with Putin, dialogue today is in principle empty and meaningless because he does not want to end the war diplomatically,” Zelensky said at the news conference.He said the offensive into the Kursk region had reduced the number of governments around the world calling for Ukraine to make compromises with Russia to end the war and give up swathes of territory.On the battlefield, Zelensky mocked Putin, who he said was prioritising the capture of Ukrainian land over the defence of Russia’s own territory.He pointed to Kursk region where Ukraine has claimed the capture of 100 settlements, while Russian forces continue to inch forward in the eastern Donetsk region.The Ukrainian leader also said that Kyiv was continuing to make progress on its domestic weapons production and that it had conducted its first test of a domestically-produced ballistic missile.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689456/international/zelensky-to-present-biden-a-plan-to-end-russia-war

Railway track hangs off bridge after attacks

The mangled track of a Pakistan railway line hung over a dry river bed yesterday, after it was targeted in a series of co-ordinated attacks that killed dozens of people.The colonial-era bridge — a key link between Balochistan province and the rest of the country — was blown apart on Monday, with a section of a fallen tack blocking a motorway below and another hanging from a damaged column.Separatist militants killed dozens on Monday in several early morning attacks in the province which included taking control of a highway and shooting dead 23 people, mostly from Punjab province.Six people travelling on the motorway near to the Kolpur bridge were also shot dead after militants checked their IDs, according to government officials.“Explosives were used to attack our main bridge routes yesterday, which has stopped trains from travelling to other parts of the country,” Mohamed Kashif, a senior railway official in Balochistan, told AFP.“We’re working to clear the road as quickly as possible to ease traffic for the public,” he said.“We do not know how much time it would take to restore the bridge in Bolan.”The fallen tracks and rubble from the bridge that blocked the road below was being cleared by authorities.“It’s a steep mountainous area and fear is natural, but the journey has to go on. We often pass through here in a convoy of three or four vehicles,” a truck driver from the neighbouring province of Sindh told AFP, while waiting for the road to reopen.The Balochistan Liberation Army, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, is waging a war of independence against the state, which it accuses of unfair exploitation of resources by outsiders in the mineral-rich region.The BLA’s operation mostly targeted Punjabis, the largest and most dominant ethnic group in Pakistan.Security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades in impoverished Balochistan, but the co-ordinated attacks that took place in several districts throughout the province were one of the worst in the region’s history.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689455/international/railway-track-hangs-off-bridge-after-attacks

Apple to unveil its New iPhone in September

Apple is set to unveil its latest iPhone and Apple Watch models early next month as it will host its fall event on September 9 in Cupertino, California.Apple will likely unveil a series of new iPhones and updates to other devices and apps. Analysts see a strong upgrade cycle for the new iPhone series with AI features expected to be the key selling point for the new devices.At its developers conference in June, Apple announced a slew of AI features under the umbrella 'Apple Intelligence,' including a revamped Siri and an integration with ChatGPT.The upcoming launches are crucial for Apple as it looks to reverse a global sales slowdown, particularly in China, and lay out its artificial intelligence roadmap.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689409/international/apple-to-unveil-its-new-iphone-in-september

Dozens feared dead after dam bursts in eastern Sudan

Surging waters have burst through a dam, wiped out at least five villages and left an unknown number of people dead in eastern Sudan, officials said yesterday, devastating a region already reeling from months of civil war.Torrential rains caused floods that overwhelmed the Arbaat Dam on Sunday just 40km north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and base for the government, diplomats, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.“The area is unrecognisable. The electricity and water pipes are destroyed,” Omar Eissa Haroun, head of the water authority for Red Sea state, said in a WhatsApp message to staff. He said he had seen the bodies of gold miners and pieces of their equipment wrecked in the deluge, and likened the disaster to the devastation in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in September last year when storm waters burst dams, swept away buildings and killed thousands.On the road to Arbaat yesterday a Reuters reporter saw people burying a man and covering his grave with driftwood to try to prevent it from being washed away in mudslides.The dam was the main source of water for Port Sudan, which is home to the country’s main Red Sea port and working airport, and receives most of the country’s much-needed aid deliveries. “The city is threatened with thirst in the coming days,” the Sudanese Environmentalists Association said in a statement.Officials said the dam had started crumbling and silt had been building during days of heavy rain that had come much earlier than usual.Sudan’s dams, roads and bridges were already in disrepair before the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Forces began in April 2023.Both sides have since funnelled the bulk of their resources into the conflict, leaving infrastructure badly neglected. Some people had fled their flooded homes in five devastated villages and headed to the mountains where they were now stranded, the health ministry said.Yesterday, the government’s rainy season taskforce said 132 people had been killed in floods across the country, up from 68 two weeks ago. At least 118,000 people have been displaced by the rains this year, according to United Nations agencies.The conflict in Sudan began when competition between the army and the RSF, who had previously shared power after staging a coup, flared into open warfare.The two sides had been seeking to protect their power and extensive economic interests as the international community promoted a plan for a transition towards civilian rule.Overlapping efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire, including Saudi- and US-led talks in Jeddah, have not eased the fighting and half of the 50mn population lack sufficient food.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689394/international/dozens-feared-dead-after-dam-bursts-in-eastern-sudan

China says took ‘control measures’ against Philippine ships near disputed reef

China said it took “control measures” yesterday against two Philippine Coast Guard ships that had entered waters near the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard accused Manila of sending two ships to “illegally barge into waters near Xianbin Jiao”, using the Chinese name for the Sabina Shoal.The ships “continued to dangerously approach normally sailing Chinese coast guard ships, inciting hype”, it said in a statement. “The Chinese coast guard took control measures against the Philippine ships in accordance with the law,” it added. The Philippine Coast Guard said it sent two vessels to deliver provisions to one of its ships at Sabina Shoal.As the vessels neared the shoal, they were forced to abandon the resupply mission due to China’s “excessive” deployment of ships and rough sea conditions, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for Manila’s coast guard, told AFP. Spotted in the area were six ships from the China Coast Guard, three from the Chinese navy as well as 31 other vessels, Tarriela said. “We were boxed, we were surrounded and it was difficult for us to move forward,” he said.AFP correspondents were among several media outlets on board the Philippine Coast Guard vessels for the mission. Beijing claims most of the strategic South China Sea and has been involved in maritime confrontations with Manila in recent months, sparking fears of armed conflict that could draw in the United States, a Filipino military ally.Multiple confrontations have taken place in recent days around Sabina Shoal, located 140km west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200km from Hainan island, China’s nearest major landmass. “The Philippine Government deplores the repeated aggressive, unprofessional and illegal actions displayed by Chinese maritime forces against Philippine vessels and aircraft over the past week,” Manila’s National Maritime Council said in a statement on Monday.Both sides have in recent months stationed coast guard vessels near Sabina, where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island. On Sunday, Beijing said a Philippine vessel had collided with one of its ships near the disputed shoal. The Philippines slammed China’s claims as “completely unfounded”.In response to the clash, Beijing on Monday said fault “lies entirely with the Philippine side”.“The Philippine side has frequently dispatched coast guard, government, and other vessels to forcibly enter the waters near Xianbin Reef,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.He added that Manila has been “attempting to resupply the Philippine vessel that has been illegally stationed at the lagoon in the reef for an extended period, aiming to establish a long-term presence”.China deploys boats to patrol the busy South China Sea and has built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its claims. On Saturday, Manila accused China of recently firing flares at one of its aircraft as it patrolled over the South China Sea. And in June, the Philippine military said one of its sailors lost a thumb in the confrontation in which Beijing’s coast guard also confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment including guns.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689387/international/china-says-took-control-measures-against-philippine-ships-near-disputed-reef

Pakistani singles defy tradition, search for spouses in person

Dozens of young singles gathered this week to meet potential marriage partners in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, the first attempt by a UK-based matrimonial app to help people find spouses in person in the country.Typically, marriages in Pakistan are arranged by parents who look for suitable matches for their children from within their communities or the extended family. Dating apps are generally stigmatised and gender segregation socially and at work remains common in the country of 240mn people.The Lahore event was organised by Muzz, formerly Muzzmatch, which says its app is based on Islamic etiquette. The app is restricted to Muslim users, and, in a nod to traditional values, gives the option of blurring pictures except for specific matches and allows for chaperones to oversee meetings.Other smaller events are also emerging in the country to challenge traditional matchmaking norms.Despite criticism online in the past for the app, the Muzz event was attended by about 100 people.Aimen, a 31-year-old woman who did not want to be further identified, said she used the app on the recommendation of her US-based brother.“I used the app for two weeks, but then I saw an ad for this event and thought, why not meet people in person?” she told Reuters. She said that her mother would have accompanied her as a chaperone but couldn’t attend because of ill-health. Muzz, launched in 2015 in the Britain, which also has a sizeable Muslim population, has over 1.5mn users in Pakistan, its second-largest market after Morocco.Moaz, a 27-year-old man, said he has been using Muzz for a year and that he was hopeful of finding a wife through the app.“I do get matches, but they have different priorities,” he said adding that girls on the app expect him to involve his parents from the beginning.“That is not (immediately) possible,” he said, stressing the need of getting to know someone before taking the next big step.Annie’s Matchmaking Party, another Lahore event last week, used an algorithm to match 20 young professionals after a selection process and invited them to the meet.Noor ul Ain Choudhary, the 30-year-old organiser, faced criticism online that her event promoted a “hookup culture”. She countered that it aimed to provide a safe space for singles to meet and connect.“In Pakistan, we’ve had two options: biased arranged marriages or time-consuming dating apps with no guarantees. Safety during meetings is also a concern,” she said.Abdullah Ahmed, 22, was bullish about in person events and said he was convinced he may have found his perfect match at the Muzz gathering.“The highlight was meeting an amazing girl,” he said, beaming with excitement, adding that they instantly clicked and swapped social media handles.“We’re both Marvel fans! We’re already planning to catch the new Deadpool & Wolverine together,” he said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689309/international/pakistani-singles-defy-tradition-search-for-spouses-in-person

German police: Syrian suspect has confessed to festival knife attack

A Syrian man suspected of belonging to a “terrorist group” has given himself up and confessed to killing three people and wounding eight others in a knife rampage at a German street festival, officials said yesterday.The random attack as thousands of people gathered on Friday night in the western city of Solingen has stunned Germany.Two men aged 56 and 67 and a 56-year-old woman were killed, officials said.Four of the wounded remained in a serious condition. All of the victims were stabbed in the neck, according to police.Police said in a statement that the suspect was a 26-year-old Syrian who had “given himself up to authorities... and declared himself responsible for the attack”.German prosecutors said they had launched a “terrorist” investigation and ordered yesterday the pre-trial detention of the man, who is suspected of belonging to a “terrorist group”.The suspect identified as “Syrian national Issa Al H” will be detained over “strong suspicions of belonging to a terrorist group abroad” as well as of murder and attempted murder, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.The jihadist Islamic State group’s Amaq propaganda arm has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying “the perpetrator of the attack on a gathering of Christians” in Solingen “was a soldier of the Islamic State”.IS said the attack was carried out as “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”, in an apparent reference to the Gaza conflict.The claim could not be immediately verified.According to the Bild and Spiegel newspapers, the suspect arrived in Germany in December 2022 and had a protected immigration status often given to those fleeing war-torn Syria.German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said the suspect was not known to the security services as an extremist considered dangerous. Habeck — who called for tougher knife laws yesterday — said “Islamic terrorism” was one of “the biggest security dangers” Germany faces.Flowers, candles and messages lined the streets near the festival in Solingen, where the rampage took place as thousands of people gathered on Friday for the first night of a “Festival of Diversity”, part of a series of events to mark the city’s 650th anniversary.The whole festival has now been cancelled.The youth wing of Germany’s far-right, anti-immigrant AfD party, Junge Alternative, said it planned to hold a demonstration near the scene later yesterday, with a counter-protest also planned.Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due to visit the scene of the tragedy today.German officers indicated yesterday that a suspect arrested a day before at a raid at a hostel for asylum seekers, not far from the scene of the attack, was being considered a “witness”.A 15-year-old boy was also arrested, suspected of failing to report a criminal act.National and local leaders, including Scholz, said the country had been “deeply shocked” by the deaths in Solingen, a city of 160,000 people.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/689310/international/german-police-syrian-suspect-has-confessed-to-festival-knife-attack