Page 2682 - Politics
Journalists' body seeks justice for killings of Khashoggi, Sohail Khan
Journalists and defenders of free expression are among the first casualties of fearless and investigative reporting, a network of editors and journalists from South Asia said on Sunday, demanding swift and transparent investigation into the killing of Saudi commentator Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi mission in Istanbul. "Time and again, journalists and defenders of free expression who are in the front line of seeking transparency but are among the first casualties of fearless and investigative reporting," said a statement by the South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN). The Saudi government maintains that Khashoggi was accidentally killed in a brawl, but several reports say the incident was premeditated and cited Turkish officials' claim that he was brutally tortured, decapitated and his body dismembered, it said. Some reports have even linked the event to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "The need for governments to look out for the safety of journalists is especially crucial ..
Saudi writer saw Turkey as base for a new Middle East
Friends say Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a proud Arab who wanted to set up a base in his ancestral homeland of Turkey, contributing to the growing community of exiled Arabs who have taken refuge there. For Khashoggi, a history lover, the growing Arab community and Turkey's power in the region echoed aspects of the Ottoman empire, when Istanbul was at the center of a rich and multicultural Middle East. With millions of Arab exiles who fled their homes because of wars or oppression, Turkey has become a fertile ground for talent and ideas, a place where Khashoggi could have pursued his own projects, including a pro-democracy group, a media watch group, a forum to translate economic studies and launching online magazines. Khashoggi was planning to marry his Turkish fiance on October 3, a day after he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get his divorce from a previous marriage confirmed. He had bought a home in Istanbul and friends said he planned to split his time ...
Train services partially resume in Amritsar; protesters booked
Amid tension and tight security, train services were partially restored on the Amritsar-Jalandhar railway section as the Punjab Police booked unidentified protesters on Sunday who clashed with the police at the spot where 59 people were crushed by a speeding train on Friday.
Slovakia may 'freeze' ties with Vietnam over kidnapping: Ministry
Slovakia may freeze diplomatic relations with Vietnam if allegation that it used the EU country to secretly transport a Vietnamese oil executive back to Hanoi are confirmed, a Slovak foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Sunday. "Unless we get a plausible explanation from Vietnam of how their kidnapped citizen was transported to Vietnam, our bilateral relations will be frozen," foreign ministry spokesman Boris Gandel told AFP. Gandel was referring to the kidnapping of Vietnamese citizen Trinh Xuan Thanh from Germany in July 2017. A senior Communist party functionary facing corruption charges, Thanh had been seeking political asylum in Germany. The kidnapped Thanh was spirited back to Hanoi, allegedly via Slovakia, and has since been sentenced to two life terms on charges of corruption during his time as the head of state-run PetroVietnam Construction, a subsidiary of the country's largest oil firm. In July, a German court sentenced a Vietnamese man to nearly four years in jail for ...
Punjab CM embarks on 5-day Israel visit
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Sunday embarked on a five-day visit to Israel. Singh had postponed the visit in the wake of the Amritsar train accident in which 59 people were killed and 57 injured on Friday. Earlier, he was to leave for Israel on the evening of October 19. Singh left for Israel on Sunday. The Punjab chief minister, who is leading a high-level delegation, will meet several Israeli ministers and top-ranking officials during the visit, officials said here. The Punjab government would sign two pacts in the fields of agriculture and water conservation with Israel. Punjab is also interested in tapping into Israel's state-of-the-art technology and expertise in intelligence and homeland security to boost its security apparatus, the officials said. The chief minister is accompanied by his media advisor Raveen Thukral, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Vini Mahajan, ACS Development Viswajeet Khanna and DGP Intelligence Dinkar Gupta.
Forum wants probe into disappearance of Azad Hind Fauj fund
Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the formation of 'Azad Hind government' headed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1943, an organisation of lawyers and retired government officials on Sunday urged the Centre to declassify all files on Bose and his army.
Saudi account of Khashoggi's death meets growing scepticism
Saudi Arabia faced a growing chorus of incredulity Sunday over its belated explanation of how critic Jamal Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and the whereabouts of his body. After a fortnight of denials, Saudi authorities admitted on Saturday that the Washington Post columnist was killed after entering the consulate on October 2, a disappearance that sparked outrage and plunged the Gulf kingdom into a spiralling international crisis. Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body, with pro-government media in Turkey reporting the existence of video and audio evidence to back those claims. Police have searched a forest in Istanbul where they believe his body may have been dumped. After initially saying Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, and then that they were investigating his disappearance, Saudi authorities backtracked and admitted the 60-year-old was killed in a "brawl" with .
Gorbachev slams Trump's 'lack of wisdom' over nuclear treaty plan
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Sunday slammed as unwise a decision by US President Donald Trump to quit a nuclear arms treaty he signed with the late Ronald Reagan in 1987. "Is it really so hard to understand that dropping these agreements... shows a lack of wisdom?" 87-year-old Gorbachev said in an interview with Interfax news agency. "Getting rid of the treaty is a mistake," he said, stressing that officials "absolutely must not tear up old agreements on disarmament." "All the agreements aimed at nuclear disarmament and limitation of nuclear arms must be preserved to save life on Earth," he said. Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States plans to leave the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF. Gorbachev warned that Trump's move would "undermine all the efforts put in by the Soviet leadership and by the US itself to reach nuclear disarmament.
Goa Cong seeks appointment with ailing Parrikar
The Goa Congress Sunday said it would seek an appointment with ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to apprise him of how BJP leaders and state bureaucrats were taking "advantage" of his absence from office. Congress' Goa unit spokesperson Swati Kerkar said the chief minister's office and the BJP have been claiming that Parrikar's health was improving but appointments sought by her party had been denied on health grounds. Parrikar is suffering from a pancreatic ailment and is currently being treated at his residence here after returning to the state on October 14 from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. "We want to bring to the Chief Minister's notice how his office and the party are taking undue advantage of his absence to threaten staffers whose family members are associated with the Congress," Kerkar said. She alleged that the state administration had "collapsed" and bureaucrats were taking advantage of the situation as there was "no one" to hold them ...
Brexit transition must be short or allow 'route out': London
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday that any extension to a proposed transition period after Britain leaves the European Union must be strictly time-limited or have a "route out". "There needs to be something which allows us to control how long we are there for to avoid any sense that we are left indefinitely in a sort of customs union limbo," he told the BBC. "That wouldn't be acceptable." Raab added: "It would be rather odd if we ended up in that bridging temporary mechanism without a route out, so it could be time-limited, there could be another mechanism." The comments came as Prime Minister Theresa May faces a furious backlash in Britain after indicating at an EU summit last week that she could accept a longer post-Brexit implementation phase than previously envisaged. The shift aims to break an impasse in negotiations between London and Brussels over how to keep the Irish border open after Brexit, by giving the two sides more time to agree their future relationship. But it
Political parties express deep anguish over civilian deaths near Kulgam encounter site
Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir Sunday expressed deep anguish over the death of six civilians in a blast at an encounter site in Kulgam district after a gunfight in which three militants were killed. The officials said immediately after the gunfight ended and the forces withdrew from the spot, civilians rushed to the encounter site where an explosive substance went off resulting in the death of six civilians. "Despite requests to not visit the spot till thorough search is done for explosives, several civilians visited the encounter site immediately after the operation. While they were there, some explosive substance went off, resulting in on the spot death of a civilian and injuries to several others," they added. National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah expressed shock and deep anguish over the death of civilians near the encounter site in Laroo area of Kulgam in south Kashmir. "It is heart rending to learn about such incidents which
Kejriwal kicks off door-to-door donation collection for 2019 LS polls
AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday visited households in the New Delhi area to collect donations and ask for votes for his party in next year's parliamentary polls. People were "very happy" with the work done by the Delhi government and they will give donations and votes to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he said. Kejriwal's cabinet colleagues, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, MPs and MLAs, along with AAP workers, also took to the streets, visiting people in various parts of the city seeking donations and votes for the party. Interacting with the residents of his New Delhi Assembly constituency, Kejriwal said the BJP MPs in Delhi did nothing except "creating hurdles" in the work of the AAP government. The donation campaign -- "Aap Ka Daan, Rashtra Ka Nirman" -- was launched by Kejriwal last Monday. The campaign will go on for four months, with around 3,000 AAP workers going door to door in all the seven Parliamentary constituencies in ...
Uddhav attacks BJP, says Central govt doesn't need friends
In the first of his statewide rallies, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Sunday made a veiled attack on the BJP by claiming that the ruling dispensation at the Centre "did not need political alliances". Thackeray Sunday addressed public meetings at Shirdi and Ahmednagar. "When Atal ji's (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) government was there (at the Centre), it had the support of many political friends. (However), the current government does not need any political alliances," he said. In another swipe at the Union government, of which his party is a constituent, Thackeray asked people to find out the veracity of claims made in the speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am asking party workers to find out how many people really benefited from the schemes of the BJP-led Central government. You should put up a poster of your findings next to that of PM Modi and let people decide," Thackeray told the gathering. He targeted the BJP for "spreading lies" and raising the issue of ...
Make Kalam, not Kasab as your role model: MRM to Muslim youths
In a bid to keep Muslim youths away from fundamentalism, the RSS-backed Muslim Rashtriya Manch has started a drive to encourage them to adopt former President APJ Abdul Kalam as their role model" and not Ajmal Kasab of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack notoriety. We have initiated a campaign to make former President Kalam, who was also known as the missile man and made the country proud, as the role model of Muslim students. We are organising national level seminars for this, MRM convenor Muhammad Afzal told PTI. He said the campaign's objective is to strengthen patriotism among the Muslim students and encourage them to take the path of Kalam. When asked about the need for such a campaign, Afzal said, "We want to convince Muslim students that their role model should be former President Kalam and not terrorist Kasab. We will tell the difference between the two." Many a times, Muslim youths divert towards Kasab. We want them to bring close to Kalam's ideologies. It will help the country ...
Congress leader Padmalochan Panda joins BJP
Senior Congress leader and former Odisha minister Padmalochan Panda of Balasore district formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday. Panda, a three-time MLA from Simulia assembly segment in Balasore district, had resigned from Congress on October 7. "There is no future either in the Congress and the BJD. Therefore, I joined the BJP for the overall development of the state," Panda said. Padmalochan Panda joined the saffron party in presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP state president Basant Panda. Panda was the minister of State for Fisheries and Animal Resources Development and Panchayatiraj departments from February 22, 1999 to March 5, 2000. Senior Congress leader Subhankar Mohapatra has also joined the BJP along with Padmalochan Panda. Welcoming Panda and Mohapatra, Pradhan said their joining will strengthen BJP in the state.
Israel arrests Palestinian governor of Jerusalem: officials
Israeli forces have arrested the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem for unspecified offences he allegedly committed in the occupied West Bank, the Palestine Liberation Organization said Sunday. Adnan Gheith was arrested on Saturday evening in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood Beit Hanina, the PLO said. On Sunday morning, he was taken to the Ofer Israeli military court, where he is being detained ahead of a hearing that will take place within four days, the PLO said in a statement. PLO secretary general Saeb Erekat said the arrest was "a new step... against the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem," and constitutes a violation of Israel's own terms regarding Palestinian institutions in the city. "The threats and detentions against Palestinian political and community leaders, including the abduction of Governor Gheith, should only be taken as part of Israel's plan to eliminate any foundations for a political solution based on two-states on the 1967 border," Erekat said in a statement. The ...
Kejriwal begins door-to-door campaign for 2019 LS polls
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday launched the party's door-to-door campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the national capital.
Opp alliance must not be aimed at "containing" Cong: Khurshid; all must make sacrifices
As opposition parties mull an anti-BJP front for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid says any grand alliance must not be aimed at "containing Congress" and that all its constituents must make sacrifices and adjustments with the sole objective of defeating the BJP-led NDA. Khurshid also feels it will be difficult for the Congress to come to power on its own. "All our leaders have made it very clear that an alliance (is needed) to change the country's government. The BJP must go. Whatever it takes to sacrifice, adjust and negotiate to make the alliance a reality, Congress is willing to do, Khurshid told PTI here in an interview. "But it is only fair that it should be the same attitude of other (opposition) parties. The alliance must not be for containing Congress, the alliance must be for removing BJP and we are willing for anything," he said. When asked whether it is possible for the Congress to come to power on its own, the former external affairs minister
DMK calls district secretaries meet on Oct 25
A meeting of the DMK district secretaries and those in-charge of the party's parliamentary constituencies in the state would be held here on October 25. The meeting would be held at the party headquarters 'Anna Arivalayam' at 10 AM, DMK General Secretary K Anbhazhagan said in a party statement Sunday. The announcement comes days after a high level executive committee meeting was held setting in motion internal deliberations to face the eventuality of both Lok Sabha and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections being held together. "We had a broad discussion about all electoral issues. Soon, a meeting of party's top functionaries will be held to be followed by the general council meeting and ahead of elections we will reveal our stand," Stalin had said then. Congress and Indian Union Muslim League are the allies of DMK. In the 234-member House, DMK has 89 MLAs, Congress 8, IUML 1.
Tejashwi Yadav calls Nitish power-hungry
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday called Chief Minister Nitish Kumar greedy for power, over the rising crime graph the state. Yadav questioned the Chief Minister's silence on important issues including special status for Bihar.Yadav, was in Patna, at an event to pay homage to the first Chief Minister of Bihar, Krishna Singh.Speaking at the event, Yadav said, "Nitish Kumar has become so helpless that he is unable to take action against culprits. He has become so greedy that he doesn't see anything beyond his CM post. Now wherever he goes he is welcomed with shoes and he says that we are doing it"Continuing his tirade against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the RJD leader criticised the state government over the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case and also stated that Bihar's crime rate has been highest ever since Nitish Kumar came in power and sided with the Bharatiya Janata Party."The two engine government of Bihar has failed in providing better facilities and ...