World

Damascus, Sep 18 (IANS) Israel has carried out 25 missile strikes inside Syria in 2022, killing 27 government soldiers and injuring 23 civilians, a war monitor reported.

The Israeli attacks destroyed about 73 targets, including buildings, warehouses, headquarters and vehicles, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Saturday.

The injured include a girl and at least three women, the Britain-based watchdog added.

The report comes just hours after an Israeli midnight missile strike on the airport of the capital Damascus and military sites south of the capital, killing five soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported.

--IANS
int/khz/

Johannesburg, Sep 18 (IANS) Four cases of avian flu or bird flu were confirmed among the endangered penguins at Boulders Penguin Colony in Cape Town, News24, a local news website reported, citing a clinical veterinarian.

As of Friday, there had been four confirmed cases and another seven suspected cases, said Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) management.

Once seabirds show symptoms of bird flu, they usually die soon afterward, News24 reported on Saturday, quoting David Roberts, a clinical veterinarian at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) as saying.

The flu strain is the same as the one detected in seabirds in the Western Cape last year. That outbreak saw thousands of birds die in vulnerable colonies. Now, conservationists worry the same fate could await the endangered penguins, if no quick action is taken.

Roberts said that it could also pose a significant risk to breeding colonies if there is an outbreak in endangered species like the African Penguin, Cape Cormorant and Cape Gannet, Xinhua news agency reported.

The outbreak of bird flu in 2021 killed an estimated 230 African penguins, he added.

"At the peak of the outbreak, more than 500 affected birds were collected per day. The population-level effect was of an unprecedented scale, and nearly 15 per cent of the South African population of Cape cormorants died from avian influenza in less than four months," he said.

The outbreak devastated the endangered Cape cormorant population in the Western Cape, resulting in the deaths of 24,000 birds. The worst-affected area was Dyer Island off Gansbaai, home to a Cape cormorant breeding colony.

According to Roberts, the actual number of deaths was likely to be far higher. Before the outbreak, there were an estimated 57,000 Cape cormorant breeding pairs in South Africa. However, the population had dropped by 50 per cent over the last 30 years.

Bird flu refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza virus. Strains of the influenza virus primarily infect birds.

--IANS
int/khz/

Dakar, Sep 18 (IANS) Senegalese President Macky Sall appointed a new Prime Minister, a position he abolished in 2019 and reinstated in 2021.

According to a presidential decree, the Inspector of taxes and domains Amadou Ba was appointed the Prime Minister and he received instructions to form a cabinet during Saturday.

Aged 61, the new Prime Minister was Minister of Economy and Finance (2013-2019) under the regime of Macky Sall, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad (2019-2020), Xinhua news agency reported.

In place since November 2020, the outgoing government had 33 Ministers and four Secretaries of State.

--IANS
int/khz/

MUNICH, Sep 18 (IANS) Germany's Oktoberfest, the largest folk festival in Germany, started in Munich, Bavaria, after a two-year Covid-induced break.

Covering an area of 34.5 hectare, the festival is expected to receive millions of visitors from all over the world with special Oktoberfest beers and hearty specialties like fried sausages and pork knuckles.

At Sunday noon, the Mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter tapped the first Oktoberfest beer barrel, marking the opening of the Munich Oktoberfest, which will last until October 3, Xinhua news agency reported.

The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810. There have only been 26 cancellations in its long history, mostly due to wars and pandemics.

--IANS
int/khz/

By Ashe O
Washington, Sep 17 (IANS) When Florida Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Raymond J. Dearie, a former Chief Federal Judge in New York, to sort through more than 11,000 documents - including classified materials - that FBI agents seized from former president Donald Trump's Florida residence last month, jurists across both the Republican and Democrats side hailed the move.


The 78-year-old Dearie, a former Chief Federal Judge in New York and the then President Ronald Reagan appointee, was described by his peer group lawyers and colleagues as an exemplary jurist who is well suited to the job of special master, having previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), which oversees sensitive national security cases.

The Department of Justice also said he was acceptable to them after Judge Cannon rejected two candidates proposed by them.

In 2015, Dearie took the unusual step of reducing the prison sentences of three convicted Canadian terrorists, saying he had been "haunted" by the case and his growing sense that their sentences were unfair. Under federal law, Dearie had been required to sentence the men to 25-year terms for conspiring to acquire missiles on behalf of the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group fighting the government of Sri Lanka. He later cut those sentences to 15 years.

While the DOJ has been hit by Florida Judge Cannon's ruling to slow down investigation into Trump's classified documents case until Dearie reviews the documents in public interest to prevent reputational harm with a possible indictment of the former President, the DOJ has continued to maintain that a special master is legally unnecessary and should not be charged with reviewing any of the 100 or so seized documents marked as classified.

Appointing a special master to review these documents, prosecutors argued in numerous court filings, would slow down a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information and could pose a national security risk, according to multiple reports in the media outlets.

Here's everything you need to know about Dearie and what he will be doing in this high-profile and unusual investigation.

What is a special master? A special master is an impartial outside expert who can essentially be viewed as a judge's helper, said David R. Cohen, an attorney and longtime special master. In theory, the special master can help with whatever a judge needs.

In this case, Cannon appointed a special master to sort through the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago on August 8 to see if any should be shielded from criminal investigators because of attorney-client or executive privileges.

How did Judge Cannon choose Dearie? When Cannon granted Trump's request to appoint a special master earlier this month, she asked the Justice Department and Trump's legal team to jointly submit a list of potential candidates. In a subsequent joint filing, the Justice Department named two judges as candidates. Trump's side proposed a lawyer who is not a judge, and Dearie. Trump's lawyers then told the judge they did not believe any of the Justice Department's candidates would be suitable special masters. The Justice Department said they thought Dearie would be acceptable. Days later, Cannon named Dearie for the high-profile job.

Is Dearie still working as a judge? Yes, Dearie still serves as a judge in Brooklyn federal court, albeit on senior status, which means he can take a reduced caseload if he chooses. He has also recently signalled that he plans to leave the bench. It is not immediately clear if the appointment will speed his departure from Brooklyn federal court or if court administrators will work out some other accommodation for the unusual dynamic of a judge appointing another judge a special master.

What will he do as a special master in this case? The Justice Department and Trump's lawyers have held drastically different positions on what the special master should do in this case. Trump wants the special master to search through all the seized documents - including the classified ones - to see if any are protected by attorney-client or executive privileges and should not be used in the investigation.

On the other side, the Justice Department has questioned whether Trump, who is no longer President, can even invoke executive privilege - a power that Presidents can assert to shield communications from courts, Congress, or the public.

Either way, the Justice Department did not want classified documents to be part of the special master review, saying that privilege would not apply to them or to the unclassified documents, and that delaying investigators' access to those sensitive documents could pose national security risks.

Ultimately, Cannon ruled in Trump's favour. She also denied a bid by prosecutors to allow them to use the seized material in their ongoing criminal investigation before Dearie conducts his review.

How long does Dearie have to complete the job? Cannon ordered Dearie to complete his review by November 30. She said he should prioritise sorting through the classified documents, though she did not provide a timeline as to when that portion must be completed.

The Justice Department had asked in a previous court filing for the review to be completed by October 17. And Trump's lawyers had said a special master would need 90 days to complete a review.

Does Dearie have the necessary clearance to sift through these highly classified materials? Because Dearie previously served on the FISA court, it will probably not take much time or effort to get him authorised to review the classified material, and he may not have to travel far to look at them. New York City has a number of federal facilities in which Dearie could review highly classified material, which is important since the storage and safekeeping of such documents is the crux of the case.

Can Dearie get help for his review? In theory, yes. Special masters typically have others help them review documents. But in this case, staff assistance could be complicated by the 100 classified documents, and whether any potential assistants have the necessary security clearances. It is possible that Dearie could end up reviewing that material on his own, and hiring others to help him with the non-classified documents.

Now what? The Justice Department is expected to file an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. Depending on what part of Cannon's decision the government challenges, the appeal may or may not interfere with the special master's review.

Once Dearie completes his review, he would deliver his recommendations to Cannon on what documents should be shielded from investigators. It's up to Cannon to decide whether she will follow those recommendations.

--IANS
ash/vd

Islamabad, Sep 17 (IANS) Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned former premier Imran Khan to stop the pursuit of making the appointment of the new army chief controversial as it "will embolden India", adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will instate him in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

Shelving Khan's demand of postponing the appointment of the army chief till August, Asif said he will not let the former Prime Minister put the country at stake and appease India, Samaa TV reported.

"The appointment will be made in November as per schedule," he said during a presser.

He also remarked that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief is rewarding India by promoting political uncertainty in the country, Samaa TV reported.

Earlier in the press conference, Asif termed the Sharif's visit to Samarkand for the SCO Summit as "extremely successful".

He said the premier met with the heads of 10 countries during the two-day visit who promised to extend support to the flood-stricken people of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister represented Pakistan in the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO on Thursday and Friday.

Asif said the meetings with Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and Turkish heads of state were the highlight of Sharif's visit.

"All these countries promised assistance to Pakistan," he maintained.

The Defence Minister also announced that the premier will visit Beijing in the first week of November at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

--IANS
san/ksk/

Kathmandu, Sep 17 (IANS) At least 17 people were killed and five remain unaccounted for due to landslides in Nepal's Achham district, a local official said on Saturday.

Incessant rain since Friday morning triggered the overnight landslides, which swept away houses in three different parts of the district, the official told Xinhua news agency.

"Rescue teams have recovered the dead bodies of 17 people and rescued 11 injured people from the scenes," he said.

"The search for five missing people is ongoing," the official said, noting that the army and the police have been mobiliaed for the rescue operations.

Of the injured, three were in serious condition and have been airlifted for treatment in the neighbouring province.

--IANS
ksk/

By Rahul Kumar
New Delhi, Sep 17: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday that the Indian Ocean region should be open to all for freedom of navigation. He also said that Sri Lanka was open to the navies of all countries, hinting at a possibility that Chinese ships are likely to pay a visit to Sri Lankan ports in the future.


Wickremesinghe added that Sri Lanka does not want to be part of any "big power rivalry" in the Indian Ocean region and lamented the fact that geopolitics had made Sri Lanka a "punching bag". In a bid to defend the visit of a Chinese research ship to the Hambantota port, he also said that the Chinese operate around 17 ports in the Indian Ocean including the Hambantota Port.

So, what has prompted Wickremesinghe to launch a tirade about the Indian Ocean not being free and open? Is he sending a signal to China which has kept mum about restructuring debt despite numerous requests to Beijing since Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Colombo in January 2022.

Dhananjay Tripathi, Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at South Asian University, Delhi, told India Narrative: "The timing of his statement is a bit confusing because the world including Japan are helping Sri Lanka come out of the crisis. It is possible that Wickremesinghe is posturing keeping Beijing in mind because China has not said anything about restructuring the loans it gave to Sri Lanka."

An agreement over restructuring of bilateral loans is important to Colombo as this is one of the requirements for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out agreement. But China has been evasive over restructuring its infrastructure loans that enabled Colombo to build the Hambantota port, an international airport that lies unused, the Lotus Tower and similar other projects.

Without a Chinese nod over bilateral debt restructuring, Sri Lanka's IMF bail out could face hurdles. Japan and India are in agreement over restructuring their debts and paving the way for IMF support. Japan has even taken a lead in trying to organise a meeting of Sri Lanka's creditors.

This year Colombo weathered a major economic challenge with New Delhi's $4 billion support. It enabled the country to pull back from the brink of a major humanitarian disaster after it had little forex for importing essential commodities including food and oil.

India too has hinted that it does not intend to continue financial support to Sri Lanka as it has given enough. Media reports in Sri Lankan newspapers have said that India now hopes the IMF will take over.

"India's statement is not borne out of frustration. It is just fanciful to think that India alone will keep helping Sri Lanka in its financial crisis while the world watches. India has responded well as a neighbour at a time when financial crisis was as its peak. Now, the international community has to pitch in and help," says Tripathi.

The island nation has hired international consultants to help it restructure its debt with its major bilateral lenders. But Sri Lanka is still learning how to placate a silent China and balance itself between powers.


(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

Tokyo, Sep 17 (IANS) The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on Saturday that it is ready to issue a special typhoon warning for some areas in the Kyushu region as an "unprecedented" storm is expected to approach.

Large and powerful typhoon Nanmadol is forecast to make landfall in Kagoshima and bring record rain to the prefecture and nearby areas, with the JMA calling for maximum vigilance as damaging winds and high waves are expected, possibly triggering landslides and flooding, reports Xinhua news agency.

The JMA said it may issue the most serious typhoon alert as early as Saturday evening for Kagoshima and other areas in Kyushu, which would be the first such alert for Japanese prefectures apart from Okinawa.

The director of forecasts at the weather agency said that the typhoon had rapidly intensified since Friday night and become a dangerous storm like people have never experienced before.

As of Saturday afternoon, Nanmadol, rated as large in scale and violent, was about 200 km east of Minamidaito island and moving northwest at 10 km per hour.

It was carrying winds near its centre of 198 km per hour with maximum gusts of up to 270 km per hour, with an atmospheric pressure of 910 hectopascals at its centre.

--IANS
ksk/

Damascus, Sep 17 (IANS) Five soldiers were killed during an Israeli missile attack on the international airport in Damascus and military sites south of the capital, the military said on Saturday.

The Syrian air defences were triggered by the attacks, shooting down a number of the Israeli missiles, Xinhua news agency quoted the military as saying.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the attacks targeted the countryside of Damascus and the Sayyida Zainab area, where the Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia armed group, is present.

--IANS
ksk/