World

Wellington, Oct 14 (IANS) New Zealand signed a new partnership agreement with the Cook Islands on Friday.

The new Statement of Partnership reflected a commitment to work together on issues of shared interests and importance, recognised the two countries' special links, and elevated the bilateral relationship to a new level of expanded cooperation, said New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta after signing it with the Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown in Rarotonga.

This statement emphasizes shared priority areas and common goals, such as addressing climate change and strengthening resilience, enhancing security, and ensuring a sustainable economic recovery from Covid-19, Xinhua news agency quoted Mahuta as saying.

New Zealand has supported the Cook Islands since the outset of the pandemic through vaccine rollouts, budget support, and improved access to advice and finance for businesses, she said.

The Minister added that further pandemic support to the Pacific country was also announced on Friday.

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Islamabad, Oct 14 (IANS) The Pakistan government will hang former Prime Minister Imran Khan upside down if he launches his long march in Islamabad, warned Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan.

"Imran Khan doesn't know what the government is planning to do with him this time around," Geo News quoted the Interior Minister as saying.

Hestressed that the government cannot guarantee the safety of anyone's life in the face of a charged mob.

"How will the government be able to guarantee the safety of anyone's life when an armed and charged mob attacks the federal capital?"

Rana Sanaullah warned that someone from the crowd could do anything, triggering a response from the police, Geo News reported.

The Minister said that the government has not revealed the strategy to cope with the PTI's long march.

Rana Sanaullah's remarks come as Imran Khan throws the gauntlet to the minister, saying the PTI will surprise him with its next move.

Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab on Interior Omar Sarfraz Cheema said that the Interior Minister will be arrested if he enters Punjab.

He said the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab has obtained the non-bailable warrant for the federal minister.

The arrest warrant is effective till October 19.

Cheema directed the IGP to provide assistance to the ACE Punjab for the arrest of Rana Sanaullah in a land acquisition case.

He directed Rana's arrest to be carried out in accordance with the law.

--IANS
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Lisbon, Oct 14 (IANS) The inflation rate in Portugal accelerated to 9.3 per cent in September, the highest since October 1992, the National Statistics Institute said.

The result represents a rise of 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, Xinhua news agency quoted the statistics office as saying.

The annual core inflation rate, which excludes energy and unprocessed food products, rose to 6.9 per cent in September, up from 6.5 per cent the previous month.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 1.2 per cent in September, up from a 0.9 per cent month-on-month rise in August.

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United Nations, Oct 14 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed a historic deal between Lebanon and Israel on the resolution of their maritime boundary dispute, said his spokesman.

"The Secretary-General welcomes the announcements that the governments of Lebanon and Israel have formally agreed to settle their maritime boundary dispute, as mediated by the US. He strongly believes this encouraging development can promote increased stability in the region and enhanced prosperity for the Lebanese and Israeli peoples," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday.

The UN remained committed to assisting the parties, as requested, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

The Secretary-General reiterated the commitment of the UN to support the effective implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which deals with the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as other relevant resolutions that remain essential to the stability of the region, it added.

On Tuesday, Israel and Lebanon made a "historic breakthrough" and agreed to establish a permanent maritime border between them.

A finalised deal would allow the neighbours, which remain formally at war, to exploit natural gas fields under the Mediterranean Sea.

While Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid said it would strengthen its security and inject billions into its economy, Lebanese President Michel Aoun described the terms as "satisfactory".

The details of the agreement, which covers an 860 sq.km triangle of the Mediterranean, have not been released.

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Washington, Oct 14 (IANS) At least five people died after a shooting in the US state of North Carolina, authorities have confirmed.

The incident took place late Thursday evening in the city of Raleigh, reports Xinhua news agency.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin told reporters that an off-duty police officer was among the victims.

Earlier in the evening, Raleigh Police Department had tweeted that they "are currently on the scene of an active shooting in the area of the Neuse River Greenway near Osprey Cove Drive and Bay Harbor Drive".

Later, the law enforcement added that "the suspect has been taken into custody".

In a statement, Baldwin said: "This is a sad and tragic day for the city of Raleigh... All of us in Raleigh right now need to come together. We need to support those in our community who have suffered a terrible loss. A loss of a loved one. We need to support the family of the police officer who was killed and also the police officer who was shot."

State Governor Roy Cooper said that "tonight, terror has reached our doorstep. The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh".

Cooper said he spoke with the Mayor and "instructed state law enforcement to provide assistance responding to the active shooter in East Raleigh".

"State and local officers are on the ground and working to stop the shooter and keep people safe," the Governor added.

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Tehran, Oct 12 (IANS) Iran has arrested an individual accused of spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in the southeastern province of Kerman, a senior official said.

The individual, who intended to perpetrate acts of sabotage and compromise security in the province, was arrested by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)'s intelligence forces, Xinhua news agency quoted Ebrahim Hamidi, Kerman's prosecutor general, as saying on Tuesday.

He said the "spy" was identified and arrested in a raid following extensive technical and intelligence measures by the country's security forces.

Hamidi noted that the individual had been carrying out activities in the province in the guise of a businessman, and had taken several trips to different countries, with the last one to a neighbouring country, aiming to transfer intelligence and provide training for acts of sabotage in Iran.

The prosecutor said using cyberspace and coded software, the individual had contacted Israeli organisations as well as military and intelligence institutions before being arrested by the IRGC.

The person was about to leave Iran when arrested.

--IANS
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Addis Ababa, Oct 12 (IANS) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that this year's first voluntary humanitarian return flight has departed from Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, with 129 Ethiopian migrants on board.

"The movement to Addis Ababa is an important lifeline for stranded migrants seeking a safe and dignified way to return home from Yemen," the UN migration agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the IOM, the flight is carrying migrants, including unaccompanied minors and those with medical conditions and other specific needs, who were left stranded as a result of insecurity and restrictions on their movement, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Migrants stranded in Sanaa have been left destitute and without food, shelter and other basic needs. Some have been waiting for an opportunity to return home for over a year," the statement quoted Matt Huber, IOM Yemen's acting chief of Mission, as saying.

"We hope we can continue to ensure that migrants who would like to go home can do so in the months ahead."

According to figures from IOM, more than 1,800 migrants stranded in Aden and Marib have departed on voluntary humanitarian return flights so far this year.

The IOM aims to support approximately 5,000 additional stranded migrants to voluntarily return home from the three locations in the coming months.

The UN agency estimated that 43,800 migrants are currently stranded throughout Yemen, many are held under the control of dangerous smuggling networks.

The vast majority hope to reach Saudi Arabia but are unable to continue their journeys.

Estimates suggest that thousands of Ethiopians are trafficked every year who hope to reach the Arabian Peninsula via Djibouti and Yemen and look for better economic opportunities in major Middle Eastern countries' informal job markets, mainly with an aim to find informal jobs in Yemen's northern neighbour Saudi Arabia.

Desperate Ethiopian migrants, who often attempt to cross the dangerous Red Sea route via the neighbouring nation Djibouti, regularly endure deadly incidents along the Red Sea as well as imprisonment and killings in the war-torn Yemen.

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Washington, Oct 12 (IANS) The US space agency has confirmed that when its spacecraft smashed into an asteroid last month, it altered its orbit by 32 minutes, calling it a "watershed moment" for planetary defense.

This marks humanity's first time purposely changing the motion of a celestial object and the first full-scale demonstration of asteroid deflection technology.

After 10 months of flying in space, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) -- the world's first planetary defence technology demonstration -- successfully impacted its asteroid target called Dimorphos last month, the agency's first attempt to move an asteroid in space.

"This mission shows that NASA is trying to be ready for whatever the universe throws at us. NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet," said agency Administrator Bill Nelson.

"This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and all of humanity, demonstrating commitment from NASA's exceptional team and partners from around the world," Nelson said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Prior to DART's impact, it took Dimorphos 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit its larger parent asteroid, Didymos.

Now, the investigation team has confirmed the spacecraft's impact altered Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos by 32 minutes, shortening the 11 hour and 55-minute orbit to 11 hours and 23 minutes.

This measurement has a margin of uncertainty of approximately plus or minus 2 minutes.

Before its encounter, NASA had defined a minimum successful orbit period change of Dimorphos as change of 73 seconds or more.

The early data show DART surpassed this minimum benchmark by more than 25 times.

"This result is one important step toward understanding the full effect of DART's impact with its target asteroid" said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"As new data come in each day, astronomers will be able to better assess whether, and how, a mission like DART could be used in the future to help protect Earth from a collision with an asteroid if we ever discover one headed our way," Glaze added.

The investigation team is still acquiring data with ground-based observatories around the world.

"DART has given us some fascinating data about both asteroid properties and the effectiveness of a kinetic impactor as a planetary defense technology," said Nancy Chabot, the DART coordination lead.

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Baghdad, Oct 12 (IANS) Iraq's Parliament has decided to hold a session on Thursday dedicated to electing the next President of the country.

On Tuesday, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi announced the decision in a press release after a regular session, noting that the agenda for Thursday's session would only include the election of the President, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the power-sharing system in Iraq after 2003, the presidency should be reserved for the Kurds, the Speaker's post for the Sunnis, and the Prime Minister's post for the Shias.

So far, disagreement persists between the two major Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, over the position of the President.

On Monday, Muhsen al-Mandalawi, first deputy of Parliament Speaker, said in a statement that some 170 lawmakers submitted a request to hold a session on Wednesday dedicated to electing the next president of the country, in an attempt to end the political deadlock a year after the October 10 elections last year.

Political tensions in Iraq have escalated in the past months between the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Sadrist Movement, the biggest winner in the October parliamentary elections in 2021, and his rivals in the Shia parliamentary parties in the Coordination Framework (CF).

Al-Sadr demanded in the past weeks to dissolve Parliament and hold early elections, but his demands were rejected by the CF parties which became the largest bloc after al-Sadr ordered his followers to withdraw from Parliament in June.

Over the past months, persistent disputes between the Shia parties have hampered the formation of a new government, which requires a two-thirds majority of the 329-seat Parliament under the Iraqi constitution.

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Kiev, Oct 12 (IANS) In the wake of Russian missile strikes all across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for fresh sanctions against Moscow for "such a new wave of terror".

He made the remarks while virtually addressing G7 leaders on Tuesday during an emergency meeting over the developments in Ukraine.

Addressing the bloc which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US, the President said: "For such a new wave of terror there must be a new wave of responsibility for Russia -- new sanctions, new forms of political pressure and new forms of support for Ukraine.

"The terrorist state must be deprived of even the thought that any wave of terror can bring it anything."

He went on to say that at the level of the entire G7 and the democratic world, "we must respond symmetrically: when Russia attacks the energy sector and energy stability of our countries, we must block its energy sector with sanctions, break the stability of Russian revenues from oil and gas trade".

"A tough price cap is needed for the exports of oil and gas from Russia -- zero profit for the terrorist state. Such steps can bring peace closer, they will encourage the terrorist state to think about peace, about the unprofitability of war."

Zelenksy also stressed on the "obvious fact" that there cannot be any dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Talks can be either with another head of Russia, who will comply with the UN Charter, the basic principles of humanity and territorial integrity of Ukraine, or in a different configuration, so that the key terrorist does not have the opportunity to influence key decisions through terror.

"Now one person is blocking peace, and this person is in Moscow," he added.

Responding to the Ukrainian leader's call, the G7 leaders in a joint statement condemned the missile attacks in the strongest possible and said that "we will hold President Putin and those responsible to account".

"We have imposed and will continue to impose further economic costs on Russia, including on individuals and entities -- inside and outside of Russia -- providing political or economic support for Russia's illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory," the leaders were quoted as saying in the statement.

They also condemned and "unequivocally reject the illegal attempted annexation by Russia of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions in addition to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. We solemnly reiterate that we will never recognise this illegal annexation or the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it".

The meeting came as at least 19 people were killed and hundreds more injured as Russian missiles hit regions across the country on Monday and Tuesday.

Some 83 missiles struck Ukraine on Monday -- the heaviest bombardment the country has witnessed since Russia waged its war on February 24.

Several strikes hit Kiev, the first time the capital city has been targeted in months.

According to Zelensky, 28 more missiles were fired on Tuesday, 20 of which were shot down, including Iranian combat drones.

--IANS
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