Category: World

Kandahar, Afghanistan: The Taliban said Wednesday they had captured the strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak along the frontier with Pakistan, continuing sweeping gains made since foreign forces stepped up their withdrawal. “The (Taliban) Mujahideen have captured an important border town called Wesh in Kandahar. With this, the important road between (Spin) Boldak and Chaman and Kandahar customs have come under Mujahideen control,” a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement.

TEL AVIV: The United Arab Emirates opened an embassy in Israel Wednesday, housed in Tel Aviv”s new stock exchange building, in the latest normalisation move under a deal brokered by Washington last year. The venue in the heart of Israel”s financial district highlighted the central role economic cooperation has played since the UAE became only the third majority-Arab country to recognise the Jewish state. At the ceremony, attended by new Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Emirati ambassador Mohamed al-Khaja called the embassy opening “an important milestone in the growing relationship between our two countries”. “The UAE and Israel are both innovative nations, we can harness this creativity to work towards a more prosperous and sustainable future for our countries and our region,” he said. Herzog called for the “historic agreement” with the UAE to be “extended to other nations seeking peace with Israel. ” Israel and the UAE have signed a raft of deals — ranging from tourism to aviation to financial services — since normalising ties as part of the so-called Abraham Accords brokered by former US president Donald Trump”s administration.

DUSHANBE: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday expressed commitment to strengthen bilateral relations in all spheres of cooperation. In a meeting held on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Dushanbe, the two sides reviewed the implementation status of the decisions taken during Russian foreign minister’s visit to Pakistan in April 2021. It was agreed to work closely to further strengthen bilateral relations in all spheres, the Foreign Office said in a statement. The regional security situation, particularly Afghanistan also came under discussion. Foreign Minister Qureshi briefed his Russian counterpart on Pakistan’s constructive approach towards the Afghan peace process. Reiterating continued support, FM Qureshi emphasized close coordination between the two countries to help achieve negotiated political settlement. The two Foreign Ministers agreed to remain in contact for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

LAHORE: Mushaal Hussein Mullick, Chairperson of Peace and Culture Organization and wife of jailed Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Muhammad Yasin Malik, said on Tuesday that India was conspiring to demolish 500 mosques in the occupied Kashmir. “These mosques have already been demarcated and there are plans to construct temples on the land of these mosques for the Hindus settlement in Jammu Kashmir,” she said this while addressing a seminar at the Government College University Lahore. The seminar was organised by the University’s Kashmir Society (GCU-KS) to commemorate the Kashmir Martyrs” Day, and pay tribute to the martyrs of July 13, 1931, and all other Kashmiri martyrs. GCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Asghar Zaidi chaired the seminar which was also addressed by Muhammad Zulqarnain Chheena, a career diplomat and former first secretary of Pakistan Mission to United Nations, and Rehana Hussein Mullick, the mother of Mushaal Mullick. Speaking on the occasion, VC Prof. Zaidi said the GCU was going to host the country’s biggest Students’ Societies’ Summit next month and the Kashmir issue would be the focus of its deliberations. He laid stress on fighting the Kashmir issue with lawyers at the international forums vigorously. He hoped that time was not far away when Kashmiris would get their right of self-determination. The Vice Chancellor also announced the opening of Allama Iqbal Law School at the GCU. He also mentioned that this year two students with hearing disabilities joined the University, and they were also participating in this seminar. He explained that the University hired a special sign instructor for them who was also accompanying them at the seminar. Zulqarnain Chheena said Jammu & Kashmir was not a part of India: it never was and it never would be. He said, India had no legitimate claim over the occupied valley and was just a military occupier. He said universities should publish comprehensive literature for youth on the Kashmir issue. He also stressed for promoting the culture of Kashmir.

BEIJING: A Chinese man has been reunited with his kidnapped son after a 24-year search that saw him travel half a million kilometers across China on a motorbike, chasing tip-offs on the boy”s whereabouts. Guo Gangtang”s son was just two years and five months old when he was abducted from in front of the family home in eastern Shandong province, where he was playing unattended. Traffickers snatched the boy and sold him to a family in central China, the Ministry of Public Security said Tuesday. Kidnapping and child trafficking became widespread in China from the 1980s, when the draconian one-child rule was enforced, and a cultural obsession with sons fuelled demand for abducted boys. After years of searching, police told Guo on Sunday that a DNA test had confirmed that a 26-year-old teacher living in central Henan province was really Guo”s long-lost son. Guo is seen sobbing into his palms while his wife hugs their son, Guo Zhen, during a reunion event in a photo released Tuesday by the public security ministry. “Now that the child has been found, everything can only be happy from now on,” Guo said through tears in a video released by the state-run China News Service. After his son was abducted in 1997, then 27-year-old Guo quit his job and criss-crossed the country on a motorbike with large flags bearing his son”s photo tied to the back. His 500,000-kilometer crusade — that included battling highway robbers, sleeping under bridges and even begging when his money ran out — inspired the 2014 Chinese blockbuster “Lost and Love”.

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has issued the first smart Hajj card for the current Hajj season, which is linked to all the services such as entering the camps, using transportation, entering hotels, and paying through ATMs. It also helps guide lost pilgrims, controlling entry to the camps and timing of grouping and transportation. This came during an inspection visit to the holy sites to check on the readiness of the facilities to receive pilgrims in presence of the Governor of Makkah Al-Mukarramah Region and Chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal. The card will serve pilgrims throughout their journey. The Emir of Makkah inaugurated the project of the Security Control Centre in Shumaisi, which is located on an area of 1.6 million square metres, Gulf Today reported. The project is supported by smart systems on the sorting and inspection paths, and a unified digital portal that contributes to facilitating traffic and reducing the waiting time for those arriving in Makkah from 45 minutes to 7 minutes. The development work also included increasing the vehicle crossing lanes to 16.Al-Faisal inaugurated the Welcome and Reception Centre project, which aims to facilitate the movement of pilgrims to and from Makkah Al-Mukarramah.

ISLAMABAD: The Saudi Arabia”s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has inspected the pilgrims reception centers for Hajj season this year 1442 AH in Makkah. Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr. Abdelfattah Bin Suleiman Mashat, said that the ministry had identified three mechanisms for receiving pilgrims. The first mechanism includes those who arrive at the centers by buses approved by the ministry in coordination with the Hajj companies, then pilgrims permits are verified and the smart card “Shayir” is read, then pilgrims will be transported by buses to the Grand Mosque to perform the arrival tawaf, Saudi Gazette reported. The second mechanism includes pilgrims arriving at the centers by buses from Hajj companies, after the completion of their reception procedures they will be transported to the Grand Mosque by buses approved and authorized by the ministry to perform the arrival tawaf. The third mechanism is allocated to those who arrive at the reception centers individually by private cars, after the completion of their reception procedures will be transported to the Grand Mosque by buses approved and licensed to perform the arrival tawaf.

TEHRAN: Iran confirmed Tuesday ongoing “negotiations” with the United States over a potential prisoner swap, after a US official said Washington is working to release its detained citizens. The US envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said on Saturday that President Joe Biden insists on the release of all Americans and will not accept a “partial deal”. Malley called the release of Americans detained in the Islamic republic a “priority” and said that negotiations with Iran have “made some progress,” NBC News reported. Asked about Malley”s remarks, Iran”s government spokesman Ali Rabiei confirmed the talks and said Tehran calls for the release of all Iranian prisoners, not just those held in the US. Iran “is ready to swap all political prisoners in exchange for freeing all Iranian prisoners across the world,” he told reporters at a televised press conference. They include those “who have been detained upon US orders” or at Washington”s request, he added, saying that “the negotiations on this issue are ongoing”. Iran”s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Monday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had “put forth a plan to swap all Iranian and American prisoners”, state news agency IRNA reported.

Kabul: The Taliban do not want to battle government forces inside Afghanistan”s cities and would rather see them surrender, a senior insurgent leader said Tuesday, as the militants also warned Turkey against extending its troop presence. The hardline group has swept through much of the north as foreign troops complete their withdrawal, and the government now holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be resupplied by air. On Tuesday, the head of a Taliban commission that oversees government forces who surrender urged residents of Afghanistan”s cities to reach out to them. “Now that the fighting from mountains and deserts has reached the doors of the cities, Mujahiddin (Taliban) don”t want fighting inside the city,” Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a message tweeted by a Taliban spokesman. “It is better. . . to use any possible channel to get in touch with our invitation and guidance commission,” he said, adding this would “prevent their cities from getting damaged”. The strategy is one well-worn by the Taliban — particularly during their first rise to power in the 1990s — cutting off towns and district centres and getting elders to negotiate a surrender. Muttaqi”s comments came as the defence ministry said Afghan forces had cleared Qala-i-Naw city after days of fighting. The Badghis province capital saw sustained street fighting last week in the first assault by the Taliban on a major urban centre since foreign troops commenced their final withdrawal in May. The call also came the same day as a video emerged that CNN said it had verified showing a group of Afghan commandos being gunned down by the Taliban in June after surrendering.