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Trump taps US Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state

By www.jpost.com
Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 01:29:49 GMT

Rubio, 53, has said in recent interviews that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory that Russia has taken in the last decade.

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Demonstrators with Nazi flags target a Michigan production of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’

By www.jpost.com
Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:41:22 GMT

Demonstrators held flags with Nazi swastikas and reportedly chanted a pro-Donald Trump slogan.

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Pressure on an Atomic Level

By www.ipsnews.net
Published On :: Mon, 28 Oct 2024 07:42:07 +0000

Violence in the Middle East has escalated dramatically since the Hamas terrorist attack in October 2023 and the fallout that has since followed. There is tension, if not a state of war, between all the major opponents on the ground. Israel is directly facing off with mainly non-state actors from other countries, who have more […]

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Qatar’s bait and switch game as mediator and host

By www.jpost.com
Published On :: Sat, 09 Nov 2024 22:08:52 GMT

Qatar is arguing that it won’t act as a mediator any longer, threatening the fate of the hostages because a deal would be harder without Doha in the middle.

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Education Cannot Wait Interviews Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine

By www.ipsnews.net
Published On :: Mon, 04 Nov 2024 18:07:08 +0000

Matthias Schmale is the Assistant Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine. Schmale brings more than 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work. He previously served as Senior Adviser to the UN Development Coordination Office’s regional team for Africa, as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (a.i) in Nigeria, and in several high-level […]

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Asian Impact Webinar 79: Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2024 Launch

By www.adb.org
Published On :: 2024-09-25

Uncovering crucial gaps in climate change data systems reveals how these deficiencies hamper our understanding of climate impacts on vulnerable populations in developing Asia. How can we empower national statistical systems in collecting and analyzing data they need to effectively tackle climate change?

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Policy Environment and Regulatory Reforms for Private and Foreign Investment in Developing Countries: A Case of the Indian Power Sector

By www.adb.org
Published On ::

To attract infrastructure investment to meet national goals for providing electricity to consumers, India needs continued macroeconomic stability as well as an improved policy and regulatory environment.

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Arrested facilitator of 2023 Peshawar Police Lines blast was ‘our own policeman’: KP IG

By www.dawn.com
Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:33:21 +0500

A suspect who was allegedly involved in the 2023 blast at Peshawar Police Lines mosque, that claimed 84 lives, was arrested a day earlier and has been identified as police constable Muhammad Wali, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IG) Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur revealed in a press briefing on Tuesday.

On Jan 30, 2023, a powerful explosion ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area where between 300 and 400 people — mostly police officers — had gathered for prayers.

The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attack. It later distanced itself from the blast but sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.

Addressing the press conference in Peshawar today, IG Gandapur said the “remaining missing link” was related to who had facilitated Qari, the alleged suicide bomber.

“As a result of that effort, […] we arrested this person along with two suicide jackets from near Jameel Chowk on Peshawar’s Ring Road on 11/11, meaning yesterday,” the IG stated, referring to the facilitator.

“Based on the interrogation, it was deduced that the facilitator was our own policeman,” who he identified as Muhammad Wali.

“The suspect operated in line with the order of the banned organisation Jamaatul Ahrar and has received Rs200,000 through the hundi-hawala system,” KP IG said, adding that the policeman also received Rs40,000 to Rs50,000 from the banned group per month.

“He received Rs200,000 which cost the lives of hundreds of people who were martyred. He sold his [own] brothers for this,” the IG added.

The top cop further revealed that the suspect dropped off the suicide bomber at the Pir Zakori bridge.

“After the blast occurred, he contacted his handler named Junaid and informed him about the success of the operation via Telegram,” he stated.

While the police already knew that Jamaatul Ahrar was involved in the blast, the suspect was the “missing link” who acted as a local facilitator.

The police inspector general said that Muhammad Wali was also involved in other incidents.

In Feb 2024, the suspect handed a pistol to a person from Jamaatul Ahrar named Saifullah in Lahore to target a member of the Ahmadiyya community, the KP IG said.

He targeted a priest at Peshawar’s Jameel Chowk in Jan 2022, he added.

According to Gandapur, social media played a key role in such incidents, adding that “Fitna al Khawarij and other extremist organisations use social media to brainwash and radicalise people”.

In July, the government, through an official notification, designated the TTP as Fitna al Khawarij, while mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.

Then-KP IG Moazzam Jah Ansari had said in February last year that the suicide bomber was “clad in a police uniform”. He had said that technical evidence and information collected suggested that the blast was the work of TTP’s Jamaatul Ahrar faction.

In March 2023, the KP Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said the mastermind and the handler of the suicide bomber had been traced, stating that both of them were Afghan nationals.

Then-CTD chief Shaukat Abbas said the suicide bomber was identified only by his alias “Qari” and his handler was identified as Ghaffar aka Salma. He had further confirmed that the attack was carried out by Jamaatul Ahrar.

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Pakistan

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