World

Kiev, Oct 8 (IANS) An explosion on Saturday that rocked the crucial Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea, a hated symbol of the Kremlin's occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula, is just "the beginning", President Volodymyr Zelensky's aide Mikhail Podoliak said in Kiev.

The bridge was closed in the early hours of Saturday after a truck exploded, damaging the road and causing a huge fire, RT news reported.

"Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," Podoliak said in a tweet.

Ukrainian officials had earlier threatened to attack the bridge on numerous occasions since Russia launched its ongoing invasion of Kiev on February 24, RT reported.

In August, Podoliak had said that Europe's largest bridge "should be destroyed" because it's "an illegal construction and the main gateway to supply the Russian army in Crimea".

Zelensky and other members of his team have also stated that Ukraine will use force to retake Crimea, which overwhelmingly voted to reunite with Russia in a referendum in 2014, RT reported.

Following the blast at around 6 a.m. on Saturday, images on social media showed a fiercely burning fire engulfing at least two railway carriages from a train on the bridge, accompanied by a vast column of black smoke, reports The Guardian.

The explosion, which witnesses said could be heard kilometres away, took place while a train was crossing the bridge, although it was not immediately clear what caused it.

Some images appeared to show a second fire at some distance from the main blaze.

Later images also appeared to show part of road bridge that runs parallel with the train tracks had collapsed, The Guardian reported.

The bridge is both highly symbolic to Russia and an important logistical supply route for Russian forces in Crimea and in southern Russian-occupied Ukraine.

The Russian news service TASS said a fuel tanker was involved.

"According to preliminary data, a fuel tank (railroad) car has been on fire at one of the sections of the Crimean bridge, shipping arches aren't damaged," said Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian occupation head of the Crimea.

Another Moscow-appointed official said: "A cistern carriage is burning with fuel on one of the bridge sections. Shipping arches aren't affected. Too early to talk about reasons and consequences. Work is under way to put out the fire."

However, video footage taken from the road span appeared to show fires burning fiercely in several railway trucks along the length of the train, numbering at least half a dozen with the train stationary on the bridge, The Guardian reported.

The railway span is part of a pair of parallel bridges, crossing the Kerch Strait linking Krasnodar in Russia and Crimea, which was built by Russia after its invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

About 19-km long, the road bridge was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, with the railway bridge opening two years later.

--IANS
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Jerusalem, Oct 8 (IANS) The Police in Israel have arrested eight residents, all between the age groups of 13 to 15 for stabbing an Indian-origin teenager to death at a birthday party in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, local media reported.

Yoel Lehingahel, 18, had immigrated from India less than a year ago with his family to Nof Hagalil, a city in the Northern district of Israel. He belonged to the north-eastern Indian-Jewish community of Bnei Menashe.

Along with a 15-year-old resident of the nearby Chatzor Haglilit town, police have detained seven more youths, all aged between 13 and 15, the Times of Israel reported.

A fight involving more than 20 teens broke out at a birthday party which was attended by Lehingahel, Meir Paltiel, who works with the community of Indian-Jewish immigrants to Israel, news portal Ynet reported.

In a Facebook post, Ronen Plot, Mayor of Nof Hagalil, described Lehingahel as a "happy" boy who had expressed his desire to join an IDF combat unit.

"A whole life cut short because of an act of violence, which in my eyes was an act of terror in every way," Plot said.

Lehingahel was a member of the Bnei Menashe Jewish community that has been immigrating to Israel over the past two decades from the north-eastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram.

Some 3,000 Bnei Menashe have immigrated to Israel in recent years, with another 7,000 remaining in India.

They are believed to have descended from the biblical tribe of Manasseh, one of the 10 Lost Tribes exiled from the land of Israel more than 2,700 years ago.

--IANS
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Tehran, Oct 8 (IANS) The Iranian Legal Medicine Organisation confirmed that the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini was not a result of alleged blows to her head or vital organs, a state news media outlet reported.

In its final statement on Amini's death, the forensic organisation on Friday said the conclusion was drawn after examining the CT scans of Amini's brain and lung as well as her corpse, and according to the results of her autopsy and pathological tests.

Amini died because of ineffective cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the early minutes, which caused severe brain hypoxia, it noted, adding she was pronounced dead on September 16 at Tehran's Kasra hospital after multiple organ failure despite all efforts to save her.

She underwent craniopharyngioma surgery at Milad Hospital in Tehran in 2010 to remove a brain tumor, according to forensic organisation, Xinhua news agency reported.

Protests over Amini's death erupted across Iran, first in her native province of Kurdestan before spreading to several other cities, including the capital Tehran.

--IANS
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Ottawa, Oct 8 (IANS) Canada has confirmed 1,411 cases of monkeypox, including 38 hospitalisations, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.

Of the confirmed cases, 674 are from Ontario, 521 from Quebec, 167 from British Columbia, 41 from Alberta, three from Saskatchewan, two from the Yukon and one each from Nova Scotia, Manitoba and New Brunswick, the health agency added on Friday.

The rollout of second doses in Canada started this week. The second dose, only for people who do not have symptoms, can be administered 28 days after the first, Xinhua news agency reported.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from person to person through close contact with an infected person, including through hugs, kisses, massages or sexual intercourse, according to experts.

--IANS
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By Susitha Fernando
Colombo, Oct 8 (IANS) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered the Auditor General to investigate into the reasons for economic crisis the country is going through in a case filed against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his two brothers -- former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.


Granting leave to proceed for the fundamental rights petition filed by academics and civil rights activists, the five-judge bench ordered the country's Auditor General on Friday to conduct an audit inquiry on the reasons for not seeking International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance early when the country was facing a worst-ever economic
crisis and the decision to settle the sovereign bond of $500 million in January this
year using the existing limited foreign reserves.

The court also directed the Auditor General to investigate on the decision made by the Monetary Board artificially manipulate exchange rates and set the value of the Sri Lankan rupee at Rs 203 against the US Dollar.

The Court also directed the Central Bank Governor to produce copies of all communications and recommendations shared between the then President Gotabaya, Prime Minister Mahinda and Finance Minister Basil, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, former Governors of the Central Bank and the Central Bank.

The petitioners have requested the court to take necessary action to find out the causes of the economic crisis the country is going through and find people responsible for it.

The Indian Ocean island is going through its worst-ever economic crisis since its independence from the British colony 74 years ago and uncontrollable inflation, and dollar crunch has forced shortages in all essentials, including food, fuel, medicine and electricity.

--IANS
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By Arul Louis
United Nations, Oct 7 (IANS) India has joined the US in condemning North Korea's missile launches as a threat to the international community and warned that they could be in pursuit of its leader Kim Jong-un's threat of pre-emptive nuclear strikes.


India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj joined US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Wednesday to issue a joint statement, along with nine other countries, to "strongly condemn North Korea's long-range ballistic missile launch which overflew Japan on October 4 and its seven other ballistic missile launches conducted since September 25".

"North Korea made its intentions clear in April and September when its leader signalled an effort to accelerate North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and even alluded to pre-emptive use of nuclear forces," the statement said referring to the country by the initials of its formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

"We are witnessing North Korea's pursuit of this objective," the statement warned.

The launches "violate multiple Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to not only the region, but to the entire international community", said the statement issued after a meeting of the Security Council on North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

China and Russia stood isolated in the Security Council by defending North Korea at the meeting while all the other 13 Security Council members crticised Pyongyang.

China's Deputy Permanent Representative Geng Shuang linked Pyongyang's missile launches to the joint military exercises by the US and other countries in the region.

Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva said her country opposed new sanctions on North Korea, whose activities she blamed on US military activity.

Speaking at the Security Council, Kamboj said that the "proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies" by North Korea "have an adverse impact on peace and security in the region, including on India".

She was alluding to Pakistan bartering its nuclear technology for North Korea's missile technology.

India reiterated the importance of "addressing the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to North Korea in our region", she said.

Referring to the global instability on several fronts that could be exacerbated by North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes, she said: "The Global South has already been disproportionately affected by the prevailing geopolitical situation and related challenges. It is therefore important, to continue to make all efforts to maintain peace and stability."

Speaking outside the Security Council chamber with diplomats from the 11-member group that included Japan, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, France and Britain, Thomas-Greenfield said: "The US and those who have joined me at the podium today remain committed to diplomacy and continue to call on North Korea to return to dialogue."

"But we will not stay silent as North Korea works to undermine the global nonproliferation regime and threaten the international community," she added.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
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Islamabad, Oct 7 (IANS) Four persons are planning to have me killed and if something happens to me, then their names will be released, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan warned on Friday, the media reported.

In an address to a 'jalsa' in Mianwali, the PTI chairman -- who is embroiled in the recent audio leaks controversy -- said: "The tape, which includes the names of four people, will be released if something happens to me", The News reported.

This is not the first time that the PTI chairman has claimed that his life is under threat, as after his ouster from the Prime Minister's Office, Khan and his party's leaders have time and again stated that plans were being hatched to assassinate him.

In light of the threats to him, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also ordered to beef up the security given to his predecessor, following which nearly 100 police personnel were provided to keep Khan safe.

Without providing the names of the people planning to have him killed, Khan told the 'jalsa' that if he were to be assassinated, then the people behind the plot will claim that a "religious fanatic has killed me", The News reported.

"The people making plans against me will fail," the PTI chairman said, who has been at loggerheads with the incumbent government and plans to hold a long march seeking to oust the rulers from office.

Hinting that his party workers and leaders would not heed the government's threats of putting them behind bars and thwarting his "Azadi March", Khan said: "We are planning to start a 'fill the jail campaign'."

--IANS
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By Ashe O
Washington, Oct 6 (IANS) Former US President Donald Trump, who was 'permanently suspended' by Twitter in January last year, may return to the micro-blogging platform if Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk buys out Twitter, as he has sweetened the deal now by reconsidering his original offer of $44 billion.


Musk has said that he would lift the ban on Trump once he buys Twitter.

Trump's Twitter account was permanently suspended 'due to the risk of further incitement of violence', the company had said after the supporters of then President Trump stormed the US Capitol on January 6 last year.

Twitter had said the decision was made "after close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account".

Musk's decision this week to once again move forward with his deal to acquire Twitter could see the return to the platform of Trump, once the world's most influential 'tweeter', CNN reported.

Though Trump has originally stated that he would stick to his own social media platform, Truth Social, rather than return to Twitter, the former President may find the lure of tens of millions of Twitter followers difficult to resist.

"I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump; I think that was a mistake," Musk had said at a conference some time ago, pledging to reverse the ban were he to become the company's owner.

Despite agreeing to take over the company earlier this year, Musk soured on the idea over the summer and spent months battling to get out of it. Twitter sued him to force him to complete the deal. His U-turn and decision to go ahead with buying the company came to light in a securities filing on Tuesday, just two weeks before he and Twitter are due to go to court.

Twitter said on Tuesday that it was intent on closing the deal, opening the possibility that Musk could take over the company within weeks, if the deal is completed.

The company's board and shareholders had previously approved the deal, but uncertainties remain. Twitter will have to decide how to play ball with Musk, taking into account his prior waffling on the deal - a negotiation process that could come down to how to ensure the world's richest man will actually cut a check this time, CNN said.

If the deal goes through, it could soon return to Trump what was once his preferred social media platform. Trump, whose tweets as President often drove the agenda in Washington, had almost 90 million followers before he was banned permanently by the platform two days after the January 6 attack on the Capitol (though it's unclear whether Trump would automatically regain his followers if unbanned).

It may be recalled that a few weeks after he began his bid to take over Twitter, Musk had argued, "Banning Trump from Twitter didn't end Trump's voice, it will amplify it among the right and this is why it's morally wrong and flat out stupid."

Musk has also said he's against permanent bans more broadly, which could open the door for far-right personalities and conspiracy theorists to return to the platform.

Jack Dorsey, who was the CEO of Twitter when the company banned Trump, but has since left the company, responded to Musk's comments saying he agreed that there should not be permanent bans. He said Trump's ban was a "business decision" and it "shouldn't have been".

Musk's comments came just as Trump was about to begin posting on his own social media platform, Truth Social. Trump told Fox News at the time that he would not return to Twitter, even if he were allowed.

"I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth," Trump told Fox News.

He added, "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to stay on Truth."

But relations between the pair seem to have soured since, with the men publicly trading barbs over the summer. After Trump called Musk a "bullsh*t artist" at a rally in July, Musk responded by tweeting, "I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset."

Trump has not commented on Musk's decision to revive the deal this week. Trump's potential return to Twitter comes just a few months before he could also be allowed to return to Meta's Facebook and Instagram. Unlike Twitter, which said it had permanently banned Trump, Meta (formerly Facebook) said it would review its ban after two years - meaning the former President could be returning to its platforms as soon as January 2023, just when the next presidential race is set to begin.

--IANS
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Lahore, Oct 6 (IANS) The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced the start of the inaugural women's league, which will run alongside season eight of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, from March 3-18 next year.

"I am delighted to announce the women's league. This league will attract young women cricketers to this great sport and help our current players further enhance their skills when they will get to share dug-outs with the overseas players. The league will feature present and past trailblazers in women's cricket in what promises to be an exciting 13-match event," said PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja in an official statement.

The final of the inaugural women's league, set to join the world of women's T20 franchise cricket, will be a standalone fixture between the top-two sides following 12 league matches and will take place a day before the final of PSL's season eight. Some matches of the women's league will take place before season eight fixtures of PSL, which will be running from February 9 to March 19.

"To amplify the coverage and promotion of this initiative, some of the matches will precede the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 matches. "This event is aligned to our strategy of making Pakistan a stronger cricket playing nation across all formats and genders. We are not only creating attractive brands to strengthen our cricket economy, but through this tournament are also providing career opportunities to our women cricketers," added Raja.

In the inaugural women's league, four city-based sides, each comprising 12 local and six foreign players, will compete for the biggest prize in Pakistan women's domestic calendar on a double-league format.

"The more our women cricketers will participate in high-pressure events, the more they will learn. The PCB is a strong proponent of empowering women to shine brighter. By engaging our women, which form 49 per cent of the country's population, we will enhance the economic and social prosperity of our country," concluded Raja.


--IANS
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By Arul Louis
New York, Oct 6 (IANS) An Indian-origin eight-month baby, her parents and an uncle who were kidnapped in California have been killed in "a horribly, horribly senseless" crime, according to the local sheriff.



Their bodies were found in a remote farm on Wednesday, Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke said.

"There is a special place in hell" for the person who committed the crime, he said at a news conference near where the bodies were found.

He said that he hoped the district prosecutor would demand the death penalty.

The suspect in the kidnapping, who was arrested on Tuesday after he had tried to kill himself, was talking to investigators, he said.

Baby Aroohi Dheri, her parents, Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and uncle, Amandeep Singh, 49, were kidnapped on Monday from the family's trucking business in Merced, about 225 kilometres southeast of San Francisco.

Warnke said that the victims' family had been informed and arrangements were made through contacts to get them "spiritual guidance to get through this".

The bodies were found near each other by a farm worker, who informed the authorities, Warnke said.

Earlier at a morning news conference, Warnke ruled out that the kidnapping was a hate crime and said money was the likely motive.

The suspect, Jesus Manuel Salgado, was convicted in 2005 of an armed robbery and paroled in 2015.

His prior record points to a financial motive, he said.

Delgado had told his family that he was involved in the kidnapping and they reported it to the authorities, Warnke said.

Before officers reached him, he attempted suicide and was taken to a hospital, he said.

Officers waited there for medical clearance to speak to him, he said.

After the bodies were found, Warnke said there was a lot of circumstantial evidence against Delgado and they were trying to build direct evidence.

He said he was emotional at the news conference because a child has been killed.

"I am just livid inside because this was totally, completely senseless; a whole family has been wiped out", he said.

He said that a phone belonging to the family had been found by a farm worker on a street in the area where the body was found.

The family's bank card had been used at an ATM and they were trying to get a clear picture of the person who withdrew the money.

At the morning news conference, a chilling surveillance video of the kidnapping was shown.

Jasdeep Singh and Amandeep Singh were first led at gunpoint with their hands tied and driven away in Amandeep Singh's truck.

The suspect returned a few minutes later and took Jasleen Kaur and the baby in the same vehicle.

Later the truck was found burning, which led to the discovery of the kidnapping.

The family's cousin, Sukhdeep Singh, and another relative, Balwinder Saini, made a plea at the news conference for the return of the family or information about them.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at aru.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
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