Brazil President Stable After Surgery, Starts Walking In Physio Sessions

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is clinically stable one day after hip surgery and has begun to walk in physiotherapy sessions, the Sirio-Libanes Hospital in Brazil's capital said on Saturday.

Lula underwent surgery on Friday for arthrosis of the right hip caused by the extremely painful wear and tear of the cartilage on the head of the femur.

His doctors expect him to remain in the hospital until Tuesday when he will move to the presidential residence from where he will govern for three weeks as he recovers.

The arthroplasty procedure, under general anaesthetic, involved removing the head of the femur to implant a prosthesis.

The orthopaedic surgeon who did the surgery, Giancarlo Polesello, said Lula would have to avoid standing for too long and would need to use a walker in the first weeks, as the procedure affects the patients' balance.

Lula has said he has been in constant pain for more than a year, though this has not stopped him from travelling to dozens of countries since he took office in January.

Lula will only resume presidential trips abroad at the end of November when he plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates to attend the COP28 global climate meeting.

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"Britain, Canada Should Take...": UK Faith Adviser On Khalistani Issue

Expressing his concerns over the recent rise in the incidents of Khalistan extremism, Colin Bloom, former adviser to the UK government said that the situation has escalated because the 'Western governments' have "not done enough" to tackle the sinister and aggressive behaviour of extremists.

Mr Bloom stressed that both the British and Canadian governments should take more proactive measures to address this issue. He warned that the situation could spiral "out of control" if the issue is not addressed.

Mr Bloom is the author of 'The Bloom Review, Does Government do God?'. He was also appointed by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson as an Independent Faith Engagement advisor in order to make suggestions on how the government should interact with religious organisations in England.

In an exclusive interview with news agency ANI, Colin Bloom said, "What I think we're seeing at the moment is a rise of pro-Khalistan extremism...Now, look, just for the record, I am 100 per cent in favour of free speech and people being free to think and believe and support pretty much anything that they want, so long as they don't harm and intimidate and harass other people."

"But what we saw with the Indian High Commissioner was very much an overreach of free speech...This was, in fact, limiting the free speech of the people who run the Gurdwara in Glasgow and of the High Commissioner himself," he added.

Earlier in the day, a planned interaction of the Indian High Commissioner to Britain, Vikram Doraiswami at the Glasgow Gurdwara was disrupted by some "extremist elements". Scotland Police has responded to the incident and said an investigation is happening in the case.

However, Mr Bloom also highlighted that the majority of the Sikh population in the UK does not share extremist ideologies and is feeling let down by these radical elements within their community.

"And I think what we're seeing is this increase in activity partly because Western governments have not done enough to address and tackle this rising extremist and sinister and aggressive behaviour," he said.

He added, "I'm very concerned that the vast majority of British Sikhs, many of whom wrote to me and I interviewed as part of my evidence gathering for the report, are being let down by these very small numbers within their own community and by the British government and I guess would be the same in Canada, the Canadian government who are not doing enough to protect them from these fringe elements that exist within their community".

Regarding the rising extremism in Canada, Mr Bloom emphasised that the UK, US, Canada, and other Western governments should collectively address the issue. He called for an improvement in the British government's efforts to protect British Sikhs who want no involvement with such extremist elements.

In another incident on Saturday, a Sikh restaurant owner, who earlier received threats from Khalistani elements for being vocal against them, alleged that his car was shot at and vandalised by the extremists in West London.

"I think the British government do need to improve their game. I think they've done a lot in the last few years, but I think they need to do a lot more to protect the vast majority of British Sikhs who want nothing to do with this nonsense...I guess that the Canadian government and the American government and other Western governments also need to do more to make sure that this small minority is not ruining the lives of others," he said.

The British author also cautioned, stating that if the issue is not addressed, it will get "out of control" harming more people. He also advised that the authorities need to take a closer look at online materials being put out.

"And I think that is where we've got to be really very careful because if this issue with these extremists within the Sikh community, if it's not addressed, if it's not dealt with, then it will get out of control and more people will be intimidated, more people will be harmed...There's no doubt in my mind that there are extremists within all faith communities, but there are extremists within the Sikh community that they need to be dealt with," Bloom further said.

Notably, the report by Colin Bloom for the UK government warned that some pro-Khalistan Sikh groups aim to artificially inflate their influence by lobbying political bodies under the guise of human rights activism, presenting a false appearance of legitimacy. 

It is to be noted that the subversive, sectarian, and discriminatory activities of these groups do not reflect the true nature of the majority of British Sikh communities.

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Case Against Imran Khan's Lawyer After Fistfight During Live TV Debate

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senator Afnan Ullah Khan got an FIR filed against the former Prime Minister Imran Khan's lawyer, Sher Afzal Khan, for allegedly assaulting him on a live media show, Dawn News reported on Saturday.

The Pakistan-based news daily reported that the FIR was registered at the Aabpara police station on Friday under relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Dawn News reported that the PML-N senator stated in the FIR, "During the heated debate, Sher Afzal Marwat suddenly attacked me and tried to hit me and also threatened that I will face the consequences and he will not spare me and gave life threats."

Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) Senator Afnan Ullah Khan were recently involved in a fight on a television channel, Geo News reported.

The incident was confirmed by both the leaders and has been shared by the senator on microblogging website X - formerly known as Twitter.

The video showed the two having a heated argument in which both resorted to using abusive language. Marwat then suddenly attacked the senator. At first, both pushed each other. They eventually resorted to slaps and started punching each other.

Finally, the TV show's crew intervened and separated the politicians.

Taking to X,  Afnan Ullah said Mr Marwat attacked him, adding that he does not believe in violence but is a "soldier of Nawaz Sharif".

"The beating that I gave to Marwat is an important lesson for all PTI and especially Imran Khan. They will not be able to show their face to anyone and will be forced to wear big dark sunglasses," the senator said, as per Geo News.

Sher Ali Khan Marwat in a post said the TV show host was "spreading misinformation" about the "unpleasant incident".

"He is spreading rumours that my opponent was a superman. He is not telling the reality which is that Afnan Ullah ran away from the studio and took shelter in a nearby room, which I came to know after watching his programme today," Mr Marwat said.

He added that he plans to "initiate a defamation case and criminal complaint" against the senator.

This was not the first time that such an incident had taken place on a live television show.

In 2021, former PPP lawmaker Abdul Qadir Mandokhel and then-PTI leader Firdous Ashiq Awan, who has now joined the Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), got into a fight during a live show.

In a viral video of the incident, the two could be seen getting into a heated verbal exchange on a television show.

In a verbal duel during the show, Abdul Qadir Mandokhel accused Ashiq Awan of indulging in corruption.

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New York's Heavy Rain "New Normal" Due To Climate Change, Says Governor

Torrential downpours after a week of mostly steady rainfall that brought flash flooding to New York City on Friday was an impact of climate change and likely reflects a "new normal," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Saturday.

"Of course, we know, this is the result of climate change. This is unfortunately what we have to expect as the new normal," Hochul said in an address.

Almost eight inches (20 cm) of rain fell in some parts of the most populous city in the U.S., enough to enable a sea lion at Central Park Zoo to swim briefly out of the confines of her pool enclosure.

Another few inches could fall in the region before the storm system pushed out to sea later on Friday, forecasters said.

Hochul warned of "life-threatening" floods and declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley.

She hailed the response of authorities and said on Saturday that no fatalities were reported despite the heavy rain.

Flooding had caused major disruptions to New York's subway system and the Metro North commuter rail service, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which operates both. Some subway lines were suspended entirely, and many stations were closed. Some bus routes slowed to a crawl, trapping riders for hours. Officials warned some New Yorkers to avoid travelling unless they were fleeing a flooded area.

Hochul said on Saturday a state of emergency, which allows faster allocation of resources to deal with a crisis, will remain in effect for the next six days.

The New York governor added she spoke to the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and said they were prepared to support a federal emergency declaration of disaster if necessary.

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Scotland Cops Launch Probe After Indian Diplomats Not Allowed In Gurdwara

Scotland Police said it responded to a report of disturbance in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow around 1:05 pm (local time) on Friday, adding that an inquiry is ongoing to establish the full circumstances around the incident.

The statement by the Scotland Police comes after India's High Commission in London on Saturday said it reported to authorities in the UK the "disgraceful incident" at the Glasgow Gurudwara where elements from outside Scotland "deliberately disrupted" a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner to Britain, Vikram Doraiswami.

"We were called around 1.05pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow, "Scotland police spokesperson said in an email statement to news agency ANI

"There were no reports of any injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances."

India's High Commission in London on Saturday said elements from outside Scotland "deliberately disrupted" a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner to the UK.

"On September 29, 2023, three persons- all from areas outside Scotland-deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner (HC) and the Consul General (CG) of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues," the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement.

"The organisers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival," it added.

The Indian High Commission said it reported the incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police. Multiple community organisations, including the organisers, have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits, according to the statement.

"One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HC's car door - a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organisers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided," the India's High Commission added in its statement.

The statement was released after social media videos showed Mr Doraiswami being accosted near the parking area of the Gurudwara located on Albert Drive in Glasgow by pro-Khalistani elements, who blocked the Indian envoy from entering the Gurudwara.

In the video, some of the men are heard saying, "All Indian envoys must be subjected to this as India was targeting them".

The incident was condemned by several British MPs.

The UK's Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, on Saturday said she was "concerned" to learn that Indian High Commissioner Mr Doraiswami had been stopped from meeting the Gurudwara Committee in Glasgow.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the security and safety of foreign places is of utmost importance and places of worship in the United Kingdom should be open to all.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan posted, "Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all."

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Car Vandalised By Khalistani Elements: Sikh Restaurant Owner In London

A Sikh restaurant owner, who earlier received threats from Khalistani elements for being vocal against them, has now claimed that his car was shot at and vandalised by the extremists in West London.

A video posted on X by Insightuk2, which describes itself as a social movement of British Hindus and Indians, claimed that some unidentified assailants allegedly opened fire at the car of Harman Singh Kapoor, adding that his family has been subjected to constant threats of violence and rape by alleged Khalistani supporters.

However, there has been no formal statement from the UK police on these claims.

Notably, the claims came to the fore on the very day elements from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami.

"They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival," India's High Commission to UK said in a statement.

A UK-based journalist and researcher, Charlotte Littlewood, in a post shared on X, claimed that the attack on Mr Kapoor's family was ongoing.

"Attack on Harman Singh Kapoor family is ongoing. They are awaiting police as Khalistani extremists are thought to have shot at their vehicle in London. As feared the Canada row has emboldened extremists - we will see more of this," her post read.

Earlier in the day, she also questioned the decision to remove the panic alarm from the car of the family amid the diplomatic fallout of Canada's claim of an Indian hand in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

"At this heightened time of threat following the India-Canada row. Where the Khalistani extremists are threatening India High commissions in the West and assassinating Indian officials in India. How was the decision made to remove their panic alarm? (sic)," her post added.

Meanwhile, INSIGHT UK, also alleged that Khalistani extremists were threatening Sikhs in the UK.

It also alleged that no arrests were made despite several months of alleged torture of Harman Kapoor's family.

"The Police have made no arrests in what has been months of torture for this family. When will action be taken against these Khalistani extremists who pose a serious law and order threat @metpoliceuk," INSIGHT UK posted on X, adding, "Why is the UK government not taking stringent action against an extremist ideology with a history of terrorism."

Earlier, on May 4, Mr Kapoor and his family alleged that they have been receiving constant online threats after they posted a video about the Khalistan movement on social media, Khalsa Vox reported.

The alleged threats were made despite repeated assurances by the police of safety and special safeguarding measures. The family had experienced three attacks, and do not feel safe, according to Khalsa Vox, a portal on news related to Punjab politics, history, culture, and heritage.

Harman's restaurant was attacked by pro-Khalistan supporters, an incident that occurred just days after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalised in April 2023.

Harman then posted a video which garnered two million views in two days, leading to abusive calls, social media trolling, and threats against him and his family.

Harman said following the video, he received death threats and his restaurant was attacked. The attackers demanded that he remove the video, raise pro-Khalistan slogans and burn the Indian flag, or face death.

Harman said his wife and his daughter even received several rape threats. "Our address was put online with calls to rape and kill them. Videos of miscreants licking the pictures of my wife and daughter were posted as well," he added, according to Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights.

An independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had expressed concerns over the rising influence of pro-Khalistan extremists within the British Sikh community, Khalsa Vox reported.

The Bloom Review, an independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, called on the Rishi Sunak government to address the issue urgently and safeguard most of the Sikhs in the UK who do not support their extremist ideology.

The report stressed time-bound action on the issue. The report noted that the Sikh communities in the UK face coercion and intimidation by fringe Khalistani elements, Khalsa Vox reported. These pro-Khalistan groups artificially inflate their influence and attract disproportionate attention by lobbying political bodies under the guise of human rights activism.

According to the news report, the actions of pro-Khalistan groups create a false image of legitimacy which is not in accordance with the beliefs of the Sikh faith.

It is important to understand that Khalistani separatists do not represent the views of most of British Sikh communities, as per the Khalsa Vox report.

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Brazil President "Stable" After Hip Replacement: Doctors

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in "stable" condition a day after undergoing hip surgery, and began physical therapy Saturday morning, his doctors announced.

The 77-year-old leader widely known as Lula "spent the night in a stable state, walked in the morning and began physical therapy" in his hospital room in Brasilia, a medical bulletin said.

Doctors said Friday that the hip replacement surgery had gone off "without complications" and that Lula could probably leave the hospital no later than Tuesday.

While he will likely need a walker to get around at first, the image-conscious Lula has said he will not be photographed "with a walker or on crutches. You will see me handsome, as always."

The veteran leftist politician will have to put a hold on the busy schedule of foreign trips he has maintained since taking office in January.

While he'll be able to "work normally," Lula will have to stay put in Brasilia for at least four weeks, doctors said.

At the same time, Lula's personal physician Roberto Kalil Filho said the head of state should be able to travel to the UN climate conference in Dubai in late November.

That session holds particular importance for Lula, a self-proclaimed champion of the environment who has promised to end Amazon deforestation by 2030.

Lula, a former trade union leader, was previously president from 2003 to 2010. Last year he defeated far-right president Jair Bolsonaro in elections in a stunning return to power.

He has survived previous health problems: a bout with throat cancer in 2011, vocal-cord surgery last November and, last March, a case of pneumonia.

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Emergency Declared In New York As City Flooded By Heavy Rains

Heavy rains overnight in the northeastern United States left parts of New York under water on Friday, partially paralyzing subways and airports in America's financial capital.

LaGuardia airport closed down one of its terminals, with social media images showing passengers walking through water well above the tops of their shoes.

Mayor Eric Adams urged people not to venture out because the streets were blocked and subway stations flooded.

"If you are home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now, some of our subways are flooded and it's extremely difficult to move around the city," he said.

Images from around New York showed cars half-submerged and traffic snarled, with some major roads completely blocked.

Shopkeepers in flooded stores were trying to protect merchandise and push the water back into the streets.

The sprawling New York subway system was also hit, with several lines closed in Brooklyn.

Cab driver Ahmed Abdou, 50, originally from Egypt, blasted officials for struggling to cope with what he said was a regular phenomenon.

"The subway in the city is terrible," he said. "All the storms, they come every year at the same time. We should anticipate it better."

But Rohit Aggarwala Overall, the city's Environmental Protection Commissioner, said global warming had advanced faster than the city could act.

"This changing weather pattern is the result of climate change. And the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond," Overall said.

- State of emergency -

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared an official state of emergency for the city of 8.5 million and its densely-populated suburbs, including Long Island to the east and the Hudson river valley to the north.

The National Weather Service warned of flooding through late Friday with as much as two inches (5.1 centimeters) of rain falling per hour.

It said total accumulation on Friday could hit seven inches (18 centimeters), warning of flash flooding in urban and poor drainage areas.

At Grand Central Terminal, in the heart of Manhattan, Sue Evangelista, a 63-year-old retiree, waited five hours for a train to take her and her husband to Connecticut.

But the train was canceled, leaving them and thousands more who live in the city's suburbs stranded.

"I think once they start calling the trains, it's going to be a mad rush because now people are going to start getting out of work, and it's going to get more crowded," she said.

The rain came from a low pressure system along the mid-Atlantic coast, which pulls in moist air from the ocean.

In September 2021 Hurricane Ida brought extensive flooding to the region, especially Brooklyn and Queens, leaving 13 people dead, many of them trapped in basement apartments.

Both boroughs were hit with some of the worst flooding Friday, and residents were warned to take special care.

"If you live in these boroughs or in a basement apartment or flood-prone area, please make sure you have plans and are prepared to move to higher ground," urged New York City Emergency Management commissioner Zach Iscol.

In the subway -- one of the world's largest systems with 420 stations and more than 30 lines -- water poured down the steps and through the ceilings of some stations.

The subway is essential to the lives of millions of city residents, but a number of lines, including in Brooklyn, were shut down because of the flooding.

Hochul said it was crucial to get the subway back up running, because many children rely on it to get to and from school -- to the ire of parents who wondered why schools were open in the first place on Friday, with many children who made it to their classrooms amid the downpour now stuck there.

"This morning's events have made it glaringly apparent that New York City and State must improve their processes for communicating with New Yorkers about sudden and extreme weather before it happens," Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said in a statement.

"The climate catastrophe is here, and we must act accordingly."

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Trump Co-Defendant In Georgia Election Conspiracy Trial Pleads Guilty

A co-defendant of Donald Trump pleaded guilty Friday in a case alleging a  criminal conspiracy to overturn the former US president's 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia.

Scott Hall, 59, was indicted in August along with Trump and 17 others by a Fulton County grand jury.

Hall, a bail bondsman, is the first defendant charged in the sprawling racketeering case to plead guilty.

He originally faced seven felony charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to defraud the state.

He pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to interfere with the performance of election duties at a live-streamed hearing on Friday before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.

Hall was sentenced to five years of probation, a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.

He also agreed to write a letter of apology to the citizens of Georgia and to testify at the upcoming trials of other co-defendants in the case.

Hall and several other co-defendants were charged with tampering with voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, following the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and the other co-defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty to charges of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, where Biden won by some 12,000 votes.

The twice-impeached former president also faces federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and is to go on trial in that case in Washington in March 2024.

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Man Charged With 1996 Killing Of Rapper Tupac Shakur: Prosecutor

A former gang leader has been charged with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, a prosecutor said Friday.

The development is the latest in a long-running case that has gripped the public imagination after the death of an artist whose spectacular career was cut short at the age of just 25.

Duane "Keffe D" Davis was indicted by a grand jury in Nevada, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told a court.

"The presumption is great that he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur, and he will be found guilty of murder with use of a deadly weapon," he said.

Shakur, the best-selling hip-hop artist behind hits such as "California Love," was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.

Shakur had a brief but stratospheric career, rapidly rising from backup dancer to self-styled gangsta rapper and one of the most influential figures in hip-hop, selling 75 million records.

He became a key figure in a vaunted rivalry, egged on by promoters, between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop.

Though born in New York, Shakur moved as a teenager with his family to California, becoming one of the most identifiable figures in the West Coast scene.

The circumstances of Shakur's death in September 1996 remain murky, and theories have long abounded.

Shakur's murder was followed six months later by the gunning down of his rival, East Coast rapper Christopher "The Notorious BIG" Wallace.

Many believe they were slain as part of a rivalry between their music labels, LA-based Death Row and New York's Bad Boy Entertainment.

But some music historians say the coastal rift was exaggerated for commercial reasons.

Shakur -- whose mother Afeni was active in the Black Panther movement and named him after Tupac Amaru, a revolutionary Inca chief -- used his lyrics to highlight issues facing Black Americans, from police brutality to mass incarceration.

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European Countries Record Hottest September Amid Warmest Year In History

Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland announced their hottest Septembers on record on Friday, in a year expected to be the warmest in human history as climate change accelerates.

The unseasonably warm weather in Europe came after the EU climate monitor said earlier this month that global temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere summer were the hottest on record.

French weather authority Meteo-France said the September temperature average in the country will be around 21.5 degrees Celsius (70.7 degrees Fahrenheit), between 3.5C and 3.6C above the 1991-2020 reference period.

Average temperatures in France have been exceeding monthly norms consistently for almost two years.

In neighbouring Germany, weather office DWD said this month was the hottest September since national records started, almost 4C higher than the 1961-1990 baseline.

Poland's weather institute announced September temperatures were 3.6C higher than average and the hottest for the month since records began more than 100 years ago.

National weather bodies in the Alpine nations of Austria and Switzerland also recorded their hottest-ever average September temperatures, a day after a study revealed Swiss glaciers lost 10 percent of their volume in two years amid extreme warming.

The Spanish and Portuguese national weather institutes warned abnormally warm temperatures were going to hit this weekend, with the mercury topping 35C in parts of southern Spain on Friday.

Records 'systematically' broken

Scientists say climate change driven by human activity is driving global temperatures higher, with the world at around 1.2C of warming above pre-industrial levels.

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service told AFP earlier this month that 2023 is likely to be the hottest year humanity has experienced.

Higher temperatures are likely to be on the horizon as the El Nino weather phenomenon -- which warms waters in the southern Pacific and beyond -- has only just begun.

The disruption to the planet's climate systems is making extreme weather events like heatwaves, drought, wildfires and storms more frequent and intense, causing greater losses of life and property.

World leaders will gather in Dubai from November 30 for crunch UN talks aimed at curbing the worst effects of climate change, including limiting warming to 1.5C, a goal of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.

Slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions -- notably by phasing out the consumption of polluting gas, oil and coal -- climate finance and boosting renewable energy capacity will be at the heart of the discussions.

"Until we reach carbon neutrality, heat records are going to be systematically broken week after week, month after month, year after year," UN climate report lead author Francois Gemenne told AFP this week.

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Top US Military Officer Steps Down With "Dictator" Swipe At Donald Trump

General Mark Milley stepped down Friday as the top US military officer with a parting swipe at his former boss Donald Trump, saying no soldier ever swore an oath to serve a "wannabe dictator."

The stunning rebuke from Mark Milley on his last day as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff illustrated the way the US military has been dragged into the increasingly volatile political arena since the Trump era.

At an elaborate military ceremony for his departure -- attended by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden -- Mr Milley did not name Trump, but there was no doubt about the target of his barb.

"We don't take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator," Mr Milley said of American soldiers. "And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator."

Mark Milley will be replaced as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Air Force General Charles "CQ" Brown -- just the second African American to hold the top military job.

A barrel-chested army veteran of countless foreign deployments and high-level command posts, Mr Milley served in uniform for four decades.

But he faced his highest-stakes challenge when Trump appointed him in 2019 to the career pinnacle of senior military advisor to the president.

During a four-year term -- continuing under President Biden from 2021 -- Mr Milley managed the harrowing exit of US troops from Afghanistan, special forces operations in Syria, and the enormous program to assist Ukraine's desperate fight against Russian invasion.

As chairman, "it was one crisis right after another," Mr Milley told AFP last month.

Mark Milley's years at the top, however, also saw the military involved in an unusual number of politicized controversies.

While the Biden administration has pressed for changes including renaming bases named after Confederate leaders in the Civil War, senior Republicans have repeatedly lashed out at what they claim are "woke" leftist policies in the ranks.

And that was nothing compared to the precarious situation Mark Milley found himself in during the lead-up to and aftermath of the 2020 presidential election -- in which Trump, in an unprecedented political nightmare for the United States, refused to accept defeat.

At the height of tensions after Trump supporters broke into the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Mark Milley secretly called his Chinese counterpart to reassure Beijing that the United States remained "stable" and had no intention to attack China, according to the book "Peril" by Bob Woodward.

That revelation has caused lasting fury for Trump, who just this month wrote on his social media network that "in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!" for Mark Milley.

Threats and attacks

The barely veiled threat from Donald Trump -- the clear frontrunner to be the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election -- prompted Mr Milley to take "appropriate measures" for his safety, he told CBS News.

Joe Biden lashed out Thursday during a speech at Donald Trump's "heinous statements" and attacked the "deafening" silence from Trump's fellow Republicans on the threat.

Mr Milley's replacement, chosen by Joe Biden, will become the second Black top Joint Chiefs officer after Colin Powell. Austin, meanwhile, is the country's first Black secretary of defense.

Brown -- who officially takes the reins from Mark Milley at midnight (0400 GMT) on Saturday -- was commissioned as a US Air Force officer in 1984 and is an experienced pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours, 130 of them in combat.

Brown, known to most as "CQ," even once survived ejecting from an F-16 during training over Florida.

He has commanded a fighter squadron and two fighter wings, as well as US air forces under the Central Command and Indo-Pacific Command, and served as chief of staff of the Air Force.

Following the 2020 murder of Black man George Floyd by a white police officer in Minnesota, Brown recorded an emotional video about his personal experiences, including with discrimination in the American military.

He said he felt pressure to "perform error-free," and worked "twice as hard" to prove wrong those who expected less of him because of his race.

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S Jaishankar, Top US Diplomat Hold Talks, No Mention Of India-Canada Row

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington on Thursday and discussed a full range of issues, including key outcomes of India's G20 presidency, creation of India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, according to the US Department of State, the two leaders

"Good to be back here. And we, of course, had the prime minister here this summer. Thanks to the US for all the support to the G20 Summit," Mr Jaishankar said while appearing before the media along with Mr Blinken ahead of the meeting held at the State Department.

While addressing the media, Mr Blinken said he had "very good discussions" over the last few weeks including at the G20 and on the margins of the UN General Assembly session in New York. He said he was looking forward to his discussions with the Indian counterpart.

The two leaders did not take any questions from the media.

Mr Jaishankar is currently on a five-day official trip to Washington.

"Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinken at State Department today. A wide ranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodi's June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments. Laid the groundwork of our 2+2 meeting very soon," he posted on X.

Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinken at State Department today.

A wide ranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodi's June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments.

Laid the groundwork of our 2+2 meeting very soon. pic.twitter.com/mOw9SIX1dO

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 28, 2023

"The Secretary and the External Affairs Minister also emphasised the continued importance of cooperation ahead of the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue, in particular in the areas of defence, space, and clean energy," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement after the meeting.

New Delhi will host the fifth edition of India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, Mr Jaishankar announced on Thursday. Although he did not reveal the dates of the meeting, it is learnt that the ministerial dialogue would be held in the first half of November.

The two sides remained tight-lipped about the direct or indirect implications of the India-Canada row over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia early this year.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has alleged that the Indian government was behind the killing of  Nijjar on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has rejected Canada's allegations as "absurd" and "motivated".

Secretary Blinken refused to respond to reporters' questions about the row.

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"Dangerous Happening": Biden On Trump's Potential Return To White House

Issuing blunt new warnings about his predecessor Donald Trump's potential return to the White House, US President Joe Biden cited "potential threats" to the country's democracy, stating that something "dangerous" is happening in America.

Stating that democracies die when people "remain silent" and "don't stand up", he urged the voters to prioritise the health of American institutions.

"There's something dangerous happening in America now…There's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy: The MAGA movement," Biden said during his speech in Arizona on Thursday.

"We should all remember: Democracies don't have to die at the end of a rifle. They can die when people are silent, when they fail to stand up," he added.

"There's no question that today's Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA Republican extremists," Biden said, using the acronym for Trump's political movement, adding, "Their extreme agenda, if carried out, would fundamentally alter the institutions of American democracy as we know it," CNN reported.

"Make America Great Again" is a political slogan popularized by Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Notably, the stark message was Biden's most forceful attempt at calling out Trump's antidemocratic behaviour since the former president was criminally charged for his attempts to subvert the 2020 election results.

According to CNN, it also gives an idea about Biden's forthcoming reelection message, one centred on Trump's own words and actions as threats to democracy.

Biden said that his predecessor was guided not by the Constitution or decency, but by "vengeance and vindictiveness."

The US President remained mostly silent when indictments and arrests of the former president piled up over the summer. However, as Trump's prohibitive lead in the Republican primary remains unchanged – and as Biden's own standing remains mired in low approval – the president is sharpening his attacks on his most likely 2024 rival as a danger to democracy, CNN reported.

"Trump says the Constitution gave him the right to do whatever he wants as president," Biden said, referencing his most likely GOP challenger by name. "I've never heard presidents say that in jest."

"I believe in free and fair elections and peaceful transfer of power. I believe there's no place in America – none, none, none – for political violence," CNN quoted Biden as saying.

Meanwhile, the speech came at a time of political uncertainty for Biden, as he faces persistent questions about his age, disapproval of his handling of the job and an indictment of his son, Hunter. Also, the House Republicans held their first hearing in an impeachment inquiry into Biden on Thursday.

"Let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy. And I will always defend, protect, and fight for our democracy. That's why I running," he said at a Broadway theatre last week.

Two days later, he amplified his warnings to a group of lawyers – and said he was confident he could defeat Trump for a second time.

"I'm now running again. Because guess what? I think that it's likely to be the same fellow, and it's likely that I think I can beat him again," CNN quoted him as saying.

In the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections, Biden delivered a resounding message in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall, warning of "MAGA forces" that "tried everything last time to nullify the votes of 81 million people."

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"They Can Speak For...": US On India's Response On Canada's Allegations

US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said that India can speak for itself regarding the Canadian allegations related to Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing and the ongoing investigations.

He mentioned that Washington has urged New Delhi to collaborate with the Canadian investigation.

During the press briefing, State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller was asked whether the issue of Canadian allegations will be raised during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken.

"One of the practices I'm going to continue to try to adhere to, is to not speak publicly about what, Secretary Blinken or other representatives of this department will say in their meetings before the Secretary has a chance to say it directly to those counterparts," Miller said.

He added, "We have consistently engaged with the Indian Government on this question and have urged them to cooperate. And that engagement and the urge for them to cooperate will continue".

On being further asked about India's response to the US' call for cooperation in the investigation, Miller refused to comment on what is said in private diplomatic conversations.

"They can speak for themselves. I'm not going to speak to what they say in private diplomatic conversations. I will speak to what I say or what we say and that is we urge them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation," he added.

Early last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive statement  alleging the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it 'absurd' and 'motivated'.

Earlier, Antony Blinken had said that Washington is "deeply concerned" about the allegations made by the Canadian PM about the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, adding that the US wants to see accountability and called it "important" that the investigation runs its course and leads to the result.

"We are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister Trudeau has raised. We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues, and not just consulting, coordinating with them on this issue," Blinken said.

He added, "And from our perspective, it is critical that the Canadian investigation proceed. And it would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability, and it's important that the investigation run its course and lead to that result," he added.

Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations of Indian involvement in the killing.

Amid strained ties, India issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are travelling to Canada to exercise "utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence" in the country.

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Biden Warns Democracies "Can Die When People Are Silent, Fail To Stand Up"

President Joe Biden urged Americans to stand up for democracy in a speech Thursday that accused " rival Donald Trump and "extremist" Republicans of trying to subvert US institutions.

"Democracies don't have to die at the end of a rifle. They can die when people are silent and they fail to stand up," said Biden, particularly criticizing Republicans for failing to speak up after Trump accused America's top military officer of treason.

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Swedish PM Summons Army, Police Heads As Gang Violence Rocks Nation

Sweden's prime minister summoned the head of the armed forces and the police commissioner in a bid to stem gang violence, he said on Thursday, following a wave of violence that has taken at least 11 lives in September alone.

Two people were killed in separate shootings in Stockholm on Wednesday, and a woman in her 20s, thought to be an innocent bystander, was killed when a bomb tore up a house in Uppsala in the early hours of Thursday.

"This is a difficult time for Sweden. A 25-year-old woman went to bed last night on a completely ordinary evening but never got to wake up," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said during a rare televised address to the nation.

"We will hunt the gangs, we will defeat the gangs," he said.

Kristersson formed a centre-right minority government after last year's election with support of the populist and anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, ending eight years of Social Democrat-led governments in Sweden.

His coalition won the election partly on a promise to stem growing gang violence, and it has launched a series of initiatives, such as greater powers to police and harsher punishment for gun crimes.

The measures have yet to take effect, but Kristersson blamed former governments for the problems.

"It is an irresponsible immigration policy and a failed integration that has brought us here," Kristersson said.

Sweden had liberal immigration policies for many decades and took in more immigrants per capita than any other European nation during the 2015 migration crisis. Those policies were reversed by the former Social Democrat-led government, but have been tightened by Kristersson's government. About 20% of Sweden's 10.5 million inhabitants were born abroad.

Earlier on Thursday, the opposition Social Democrats, the biggest party in parliament, called on the government to change the law, allowing the military to help stop the gang violence.

"This is not Sweden, this is not how Sweden is supposed to be," Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson told a news conference.

Kristersson said he had summoned the national police commissioner and the supreme commander of the armed forces to evaluate the options.

The police estimate that about 30,000 people in Sweden are directly involved with or have ties to gang crime. The violence has also spread from major urban areas to smaller towns where violent crime was previously rare.

Earlier this week, two people were shot dead and two injured when a gunman opened fire at a bar in Sandviken. The 11 shooting deaths this month make September the deadliest month since December 2019.

"The criminal conflicts in Sweden are a serious threat to the safety and security of the country," National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg said in a statement.

"Innocents are murdered and injured. We are doing everything we can within the police and together with others to stop the development."

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Women, Children In China Facing Repression, Female Activists Tell UN

Female human rights activists from Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong jointly highlighted China's forceful repression of women at the UN Human Rights Council calling it the worst human rights violations in the country.

They mentioned about China's 2023 review by the UN Women's Rights Committee during a side event at the 54th UN Human Rights Council titled "Findings of the UN Women's Rights Committee on China: Perspectives of affected communities".

The Committee of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in its final observations based on experts' recommendations in May this year, asked the Chinese government to ensure the protection of women's rights to comply with the Convention.

The Committee listed a series of areas of concern and recommendations. It included abolishing the coerced residential (boarding) school system imposed on Tibetan girls and authorising the establishment of and subsidising private Tibetan schools.

Regarding Uyghur women in the Xinjiang province, the CEDAW recommendations asked China to end, prevent and criminalise the use of coercive measures, such as forced abortions, forced sterilisations, other forms of gender-based sexual violence and other cruel, inhuman or degrading family planning practices that are allegedly inflicted on women in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and in predominantly Uyghur-populated areas.

Zumretay Arkin of the World Uyghur Congress raised the separation of Uyghur children from their parents. Uyghur children are sent to state-boarding schools, where they are subjected to another form of re-education and repressive language policies.

Speaking to ANI, Zumretay said, "According to the report (UN) and our own reporting Uyghur women are facing multiple challenges such as extrajudicial detentions in concentration camps. We estimate that around 3 million Uyghur and Turkic people and of course among these numbers there are also women and children".

"Beyond this, there are also forced marriages between Uyghur women and Han (Chinese) men who are also receiving incentives and also subsidies from the government to encourage these inter-ethnic marriages", she said.

Zumretay also said that Uyghur women are also separated from their children who are taken to state-run boarding schools where they are eroded of their linguistic rights, cultural, and religious rights as well. Also, Uyghur women are also subjected to forced labour where they work in small factories to produce garments and other products".

"Uyghur women are also discriminated in daily life and most importantly they are forcibly sterilised. I think this is great concern that we have is forced sterilisation that started in recent years with this ongoing campaign that the Chinese government has been carrying", she added by doubting China implementing recommendations by the UN Women's Rights Committee.

Pema Doma, a Tibetan-born human rights and climate activist highlighted the issue of coerced residential (boarding) school system imposed on Tibetan girls.

She said, "The Chinese government has shown an unwillingness to listen to the international committee' calls to listen to the voices of Tibetans from inside Tibet and around the world and that actually highlighted the reason why it's more crucial now than ever for international communities and governments to come out and say `this is wrong' – the separation of over 1 million Tibetan children from their mothers and families - `this is not rights'."

"There is no way which any society or any media spokesperson from the Chinese government can ever speak in a way that this could be something that would benefit the Tibetan people", Pema added.

Linda Wong, a lawyer from Hong Kong and Faye Chan of Chinese Human Rights Defenders virtually joined the side event.

The UN also recommended in the report that China must ensure girls and women belonging to ethnic minorities have access to instruction in their mother tongue, such as Tibetan, Uyghur and Kazakh, and reverse the closure of schools providing instruction in minority languages.

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One Of UK's Most Photographed Trees "Cut Down With Chainsaw"

One of the UK's most photographed trees, located next to the Roman-era Hadrian's Wall in northeast England, has been "deliberately felled," the authority responsible for the local National Park said Thursday.

"Northumberland National Park Authority can confirm that sadly, the famous tree at Sycamore Gap has come down overnight," it said in a statement.

"We have reason to believe it has been deliberately felled."

"We are working with the relevant agencies and partners with an interest in this iconic North East landmark and will issue more details once they are known."

The tree was notable not only for being next to the ancient wall, but also for its cinematic setting -- standing alone in a dramatic dip -- and featured in Kevin Costner's 1991 blockbuster film "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves".

Pictures posted on social media show the sycamore, which won the Woodland Trust's Tree of the Year in 2016, reduced to a short stump, with the rest of the tree dumped on the wall.

Northumbria Police said they had launched an investigation and that they were trying to establish if a criminal offence had occurred.

Local MP Mary Foy called it "a heartbreaking act of mindless vandalism of a much loved, famous landmark in the North East.

"A very sad day for the iconic Sycamore Gap, which will upset so many people around the country -- and even across the world," she added.

Local councillor Steven Bridgett wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the tree "has definitely been cut down using a chainsaw."

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American Soldier, Who Illegally Entered North Korea, Back In US

American soldier Travis King has returned to the United States after being freed by North Korea, a Defense Department official said Thursday.

"I can confirm that he has landed in the US," the official told AFP, without providing further details.

A US official previously said King would be taken to the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas upon his return to the United States -- the same place that American basketball star Brittney Griner was evaluated after being released by Russia.

After a drunken pub fight, an incident with police and a stay in South Korean jail, Private Second Class King was being taken to the airport in July to fly back to Texas.

But instead of travelling to Fort Bliss for disciplinary hearings, he snuck away, joined a Demilitarized Zone sightseeing trip and slipped over the border.

Last month, Pyongyang confirmed it was holding him, saying King had defected to North Korea to escape "mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US Army."

But after completing its investigation, Pyongyang has "decided to expel Travis King, a soldier of the US Army who illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK, under the law of the Republic," the Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday, using the North's formal acronym.

King's border crossing came with relations between the two Koreas at one of their lowest points ever, with diplomacy stalled and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calling for increased weapons development, including tactical nuclear warheads.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a treaty, and most of the border between them is heavily fortified.

One of the last US citizens to be detained by the North was student Otto Warmbier, who was held for a year and a half before being released in a coma to the United States. He died six days later.

Around half a dozen American soldiers made rare defections to the North after the Korean War and were used for the country's propaganda.

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Apple iPhone Pro And Pro Max Users Complain Device Getting "Too Hot"

Some of the first owners of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are complaining that the new devices get too hot during use or while charging, a potential setback for the company's flagship product.

The gripes have spread across Apple online forums and social media networks, including Reddit and X. Customers say that the back or side of the phone becomes hot to the touch while gaming or when conducting a phone call or FaceTime video chat. For some users, the issue is more prominent while the device is plugged in to charge.

Apple technical support staffers have been fielding calls about the issue as well. They've referred customers to an old support article on how to handle an iPhone that feels too hot or cold. The notice says overheating could occur when using intensive apps, charging or setting up a new device for the first time.

A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

The iPhone accounts for about half of Apple's revenue, and new models are closely scrutinized for any potential flaws. Sometimes problems crop up that have to be addressed by Apple - with software updates or other fixes - but often the concerns fade on their own.

Apple also has a rigorous testing process in place that's meant to catch any pitfalls before the iPhone goes into mass production.

Having devices get warm is not an unusual phenomenon, especially given the supercharged processors that power modern gadgets. The question this time is whether the heat problem persists and goes beyond what consumers think is acceptable.

The issue could be caused or compounded by the iPhone setup process. When users get a new phone, re-downloading all of their apps, data and photos from iCloud can be a long and processor-intensive procedure. Some users say they believe the issue could also be triggered by certain apps running in the background, such as Instagram or Uber.

Several people have posted videos of them checking the phone's temperature with a thermometer. "iPhone 15 Pro Max gets really hot easily," according to one post. "I'm just browsing social media, and it's burning up." Another said that the device got hot enough to be felt through a carrying case.

But it's not a universal issue. Other iPhone 15 Pro owners have said they aren't experiencing the problem or that the heat is in line with prior models. For some customers, putting the iPhone in a case at least stopped the device from feeling hot to the touch.

One user complained that the iPhone 15 Pro Max got hot enough to switch off during a call and then took a few minutes to come back on. Apple's devices do occasionally shut themselves off when they overheat or are exposed to the sun for too long.

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max include a new A17 chip with a more powerful graphics engine. That component, which is meant to help improve gaming performance, could be a contributing factor. The latest iPhone models also have a titanium frame, a switch from the stainless-steel design used since 2017.

The issue comes on the heels of customers complaining about the FineWoven material used in the latest iPhone 15 cases. That fabric, which replaces leather as part of Apple's environment push, is prone to scratches and gets dirty more easily, some customers have said.

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Kim Jong Un Makes 'Exponential' Nuclear Growth Supreme Law To Defy US

North Korea enshrined its policy of exponentially growing its nuclear forces into its constitution, in a show of defiance to US requests to return to stalled talks through which Pyongyang could secure economic aid in exchange for disarmament.

Leader Kim Jong Un told a session of the Supreme People's Assembly - its rubber-stamp legislature - he was making the move to counter threats from the US and its partners to stifle Pyongyang's atomic ambitions and destroy its system.

"The DPRK's nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything," Kim was quoted Thursday as saying by the state's Korean Central News Agency, which referred to the country by its formal name.

Kim also stressed "the need to push ahead with the work for exponentially boosting the production of nuclear weapons and diversifying the nuclear strike means and deploying them in different services," KCNA said. His speech appears to have coincided with his country's decision to expel US soldier Travis King, who entered North Korea without permission in July.

The North Korean leader began the year with a fresh threat to dramatically expand North Korea's nuclear arsenal, implying plans to boost output at an unprecedented pace.

He has also unveiled new systems to deliver nuclear strikes since then, including the launching this month of a submarine his nation said was capable of tactical nuclear attacks. South Korea's military expressed doubts about the capabilities of the vessel.

While Kim has repeatedly surprised his doubters with the expansion of his missile program, his heavily sanctioned state appears to lack the domestic capacity to quickly double, triple or quadruple his production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium. At best, he might hope to ratchet up his output of fissile material, which non-proliferation experts estimate could be used to arm about a half dozen bombs each year.

Kim just returned from a trip to Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin and toured an array of weapons plants. The US has accused Kim of supplying munitions to help the Kremlin's war machine in its assault on Ukraine.

The trip raised the possibility that North Korea might be looking at technology transfers of dual-use materials that could be delivered under the guise of helping its civilian space and nuclear programs and still appear to be in accordance with international norms. But the materials could also be used to further North Korea's ability to build missiles and nuclear bombs - in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Siegfried Hecker, a professor emeritus at Stanford University and one of the few American scientists who has participated in inspections of North Korea's main nuclear facilities, said Russia could offer aid to Kim to get its long-planned experimental light water reactor operational under the premise of peaceful electric power generation.

"North Korea could then repurpose it for plutonium production," he said in an interview with the 38 North specialist website. "For the shorter term, what concerns me most is Russia clandestinely supplying plutonium directly."

This would allow North Korea to exponentially increase it stockpiles of the fissile material that could be used in weapons such as miniaturized warheads, he said.

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Indian Man Convicted For Orchestrating $2.8 Million Healthcare Fraud In US

An Indian national has been convicted by a federal jury in Michigan for orchestrating a USD 2.8 million healthcare fraud and engaging in money laundering.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Yogesh Pancholi, 43, owned and operated Shring Home Care Inc, a home health company based in the US state of Michigan.

Despite being excluded from billing Medicare, Mr Pancholi purchased Shring using the names, signatures, and personal identifying information of others to conceal his ownership of the company, a statement said.

In a two-month period, Mr Pancholi and his co-conspirators billed and were paid nearly USD 2.8 million by Medicare for services that were never provided.

Mr Pancholi then transferred these funds through bank accounts belonging to shell corporations and eventually into his accounts in India.

After being indicted, and on the eve of trial, Mr Pancholi, using a pseudonym, wrote false and malicious emails to various federal government agencies alleging a government witness had committed various crimes and should not be allowed to remain in the US in an attempt to keep the witness from testifying, federal prosecutors said.

The federal jury in the Eastern District of Michigan convicted Mr Pancholi of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, two counts of substantive health care fraud, two counts of money laundering, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of witness tampering.

The sentencing is scheduled for January 10.

He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy and witness tampering convictions, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each of the healthcare fraud and money laundering counts.

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India-Canada Row Didn't Come Up In S Jaishankar's Meeting With Blinken: US

US State Department on Wednesday informed that the India-Canada diplomatic standoff regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar didn't come up during last week's meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Mr Jaishankar had met his US counterpart Mr Blinken in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa were also present at the Quad meeting.

"That was not a bilateral meeting. It was a meeting of a number of countries. Did not come up in that meeting. We have engaged with our Indian counterparts on this issue and urged them to fully cooperate with the Canadian investigation," said State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller, while answering to India-Canada diplomatic row.

"As we have made clear, we have raised this. We have engaged with our Indian counter on this and encouraged them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation and we continue to encourage them to cooperate," he added.

Early last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive statement accusing the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it 'absurd' and 'motivated'.

Earlier, Antony Blinken had said that Washington is "deeply concerned" about the allegations made by the Canadian PM about the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, adding that the US wants to see accountability and called it "important" that the investigation runs its course and leads to the result.

"We are deeply concerned about the allegations that Prime Minister Trudeau has raised. We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues, and not just consulting, coordinating with them on this issue," Mr Blinken said.

He added, "And from our perspective, it is critical that the Canadian investigation proceed. And it would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability, and it's important that the investigation run its course and lead to that result," he added.

Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations of Indian involvement in the killing.

Amid strained ties, India issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are travelling to Canada to exercise "utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence" in the country.

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North Korea Makes Nuclear Weapons Status Part Of Constitution

North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature has enshrined the country's status as a nuclear weapons power in the constitution, state media reported Thursday.

"The DPRK's nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything," leader Kim Jong Un said at a meeting of the State People's Assembly that was held Tuesday and Wednesday, the KCNA news agency said.

DPRK is the acronym for the country's formal name.

North Korea has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year and relations with South Korea and the United States are very tense, amid fears that Pyongyang might conducts its first nuclear test since 2017. It has conducted six in all since 2006.

A year ago the assembly passed a law declaring North Korea to be a nuclear weapons state and Kim said this status was "irreversible." That new law also allowed for the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.

Now, further dimming hopes for denuclearisation, the assembly has gone further by stipulating that nuclear weapons status in the constitution itself.

"This is a historic event that provided a powerful political lever for remarkably strengthening the national defense capabilities," Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim also said the United States, South Korea and Japan had formed a "triangular military alliance" and this "finally resulted in the emergence of the 'Asian-version NATO', the root cause of war and aggression."

"This is just the worst actual threat, not threatening rhetoric or an imaginary entity," Kim said.

North Korea has conducted a string of banned weapons tests so far this year, the last one involving two short-range ballistic missiles on September 13 as Kim prepared to travel to Russia for a summit with President Vladimir Putin.

It also last month failed in its second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit.

South Korea and the United States have ramped up defence cooperation in response, staging joint exercises as well as naval drills with Japan.

Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years, and diplomacy is stalled after failed attempts to discuss Pyongyang's denuclearisation.

On September 2, North Korea staged a "simulated tactical nuclear attack" drill with mock atomic warheads attached to two long-range cruise missiles that were test-fired into the ocean, KCNA reported.

It said the operation was a "counteraction drill" in response to joint military activity by US and South Korean forces that the agency said had escalated tensions in the region.

Kim's visit to Russia -- his first abroad since the coronavirus pandemic -- fanned Western fears that Moscow and Pyongyang will defy sanctions and strike an arms deal.

Moscow is believed to be interested in buying North Korean ammunition to continue fighting in Ukraine, while Pyongyang wants Russia's help to develop its internationally condemned missile programme.

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Justin Trudeau Apologises After Nazi Veteran Honoured In Canada Parliament

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday apologised after the former speaker of the House of Commons chamber praised a Nazi veteran during a session where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present.

"This was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada," Mr Trudeau told reporters, saying he would shortly stand up in the House of Commons to formally offer Parliament's "unreserved apologies" for what happened.

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Indian-Origin MP Alok Sharma Says Won't Contest Next UK Election

Indian-origin Conservative Party member of Parliament and former president of the COP26 climate summit Alok Sharma has announced his intention to not contest the next UK general election.

The 56-year-old Agra-born MP, who was knighted as Sir Alok in King Charles III's 2023 New Year's Honours list for his contribution to combatting climate change through his leadership at COP26, said he would continue to champion environmental causes in the House of Commons for the remainder of his term.

Mr Sharma's Reading West constituency has undergone a boundary change and will become Reading West and Mid Berkshire in time for the next general election, expected in 2024.

"I have this evening informed my local Conservative Association that I have decided not to stand at the next general election and, therefore, do not seek to be adopted as the Conservative candidate for the revised seat of Reading West & Mid Berkshire," Mr Sharma said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday night.

I have this evening informed my local Conservative Association that I have decided not to stand at the next General Election

My statement below

? pic.twitter.com/KbrnTr82EJ

— Sir Alok Sharma (@AlokSharma_RDG) September 26, 2023

"This has not been an easy decision for me. It has been the honour of my life to serve as the MP for a constituency in the town where I grew up and a privilege to serve in government and represent the UK on the international stage," he said.

"I will continue to support my Conservative colleagues and serve my constituents diligently for the remainder of my time as an MP, as well as champion in Parliament the causes I care deeply about especially climate action," he added.

Mr Sharma was selected as a parliamentary candidate in 2006 and has served as a Tory MP since 2010. In his role as Cabinet minister since then, he has been appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and International Development until he was conferred a Cabinet-level role as COP26 president by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in January 2021.

Under British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he has been on the backbenches and most recently spoke out to express his concerns about the government's delay in certain targets towards meeting the country's climate action Net Zero pledge by 2050.

"Chopping and changing policies creates uncertainty for businesses and the public. Ultimately, this makes it more difficult to attract investment and pushes up costs for consumers," he said last week.

Mr Sharma joins a number of other Tory colleagues, including former defence secretary Ben Wallace, who have announced plans not to contest the next general election.

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Girl Stabbed To Death On Way To School In Latest Knife Attack In London

London police said they had arrested a teenager after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death on her way to school on Wednesday, stoking fresh concern about the scale of knife crime in the UK.

Emergency services including an air ambulance were called to the scene in Croydon, south London, at around 8.30 am (0730 GMT) following reports of a stabbing.

Paramedics battled to save the girl but she was pronounced dead at the scene 50 minutes later, police said, adding that a 17-year-old boy was later arrested.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "heartbroken" by the fatal incident and pledged to "continue working day and night to end the scourge of knife crime in our city".  

According to official figures, 99 people under the age of 25 were killed in England and Wales with a knife or sharp object in the year to March 2023. Of those 13 were under the age of 16.

The deaths were among 50,000 stabbing incidents in the year to March 2023, a five percent increase on the previous year and a 75 percent increase on a decade ago, the figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. 

Police said the suspect in custody was being questioned by detectives.

"Our immediate thoughts are with this young girl's family who are facing the most tragic of news. Our officers are with the girl's family to support them," said Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain of the Metropolitan Police.

Victor Azare, a 50-year-old security guard on his way home after a night shift, said he and others chased a boy in a school blazer after seeing him stab the girl in the neck with a knife that was "black, thin, and about a foot (30 centimeters) long".

"We tried to catch him and a lot of people tried to save the girl. I was so shocked, I was shaken. It's somebody's daughter," he told British media.

Media reports said the girl had just got off a bus at the time and appeared to have been having an argument with a boy who then attacked her.

The girl, whose identity has not yet been released, was a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School, a private girls' school in Croydon.

"We are deeply shocked by the senseless and tragic death of our much-loved and valued friend and pupil," the school said in a statement.

"It will take some time for the Old Palace community to come to terms with this terrible news.

"Above all, we send our love and deepest sympathies to the girl's family at this unimaginably distressing time," it added.

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Bhutan Backs India, Japan Inclusion In UN Council As Permanent Members

Supporting India's bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Bhutan Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji has said that Bhutan continues to believe that in a reformed Council, India and Japan must be included as permanent members as well as members from the African Union.

While addressing the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, he said, "We believe that the UNSC must evolve to stay relevant and effective to address the multifaceted challenges of our times and in this regard, Bhutan supports the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories of the Security Council."

Extending support for India during his UNGA address today, he further added by saying, "We continue to believe that in a reformed Council, India and Japan must be included as permanent members so as members from the African Union..."

The Bhutanese Foreign Minister underscored that effective multilateralism must address the issues faced by less-developed states.

"Effective multilateralism must address the concerns of less powerful nations of the world. The global governance architecture has not delivered the equity and inclusion that is required to ensure that the ideals of the common agenda are carried out. The increasing fragmentation, polarisation, and growing inequity we witness in the world today only serves as an urgent cry for strengthening multilateralism to forge greater political resolve, solidarity and to practice compassion," he said.

Moreover, he also stated that Bhutan has consistently maintained that the reform of the UNSC must progress hand in hand with the reform of the entire UN system.

"The reform must accommodate the interest and concerns of all member states, particularly of those unrepresented and under-represented," the Bhutan Foreign Minister added.

Addressing the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, earlier today, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on the United Nations to make reforms to stay relevant in the modern world and said that the issue cannot remain "indefinite" and "unchallenged". 

Mr Jaishankar took a jibe at some nations and said, "In our deliberations, we often advocate the promotion of a rules-based order. From time to time, respect for the UN Charter is also involved. But for all the talk, it is still a few nations that shape the agenda and seek to define the norms. This can't go on indefinitely nor will it go unchallenged.  A fair, equitable, and democratic order will surely emerge once we all put our minds to it. And for a start, that means ensuring that rule-makers do not subjugate rule-takers."

Hailing the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member in the G20 grouping under India's G20 presidency, Mr Jaishankar emphasised that the adoption of reform would make the Security Council relevant to the modern world. 

"It was also noteworthy that at India's initiative, the African Union was a permanent member of the G20. By doing so, we gave voice to an entire continent which has long been its due. This significant step in reform should inspire the United Nations, a much older organisation, to also make the Security Council contemporary. Broad representation is after all, a pre-requisite for both effectiveness and credibility," said Mr Jaishankar.

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Biden Joins Protesting Auto Workers, First For Sitting US President

US President Joe Biden joined striking auto workers on the picket line in Michigan Tuesday in a historic first for a sitting US president, a day before rival Donald Trump makes his own bid for the blue-collar vote in the battleground electoral state.

Wearing a baseball cap with the logo of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, the 80-year-old Democrat told banner-waving employees through a megaphone that he was on their side.

Republican Trump will visit Michigan on Wednesday, turning the strike into a bitter early confrontation between the two top candidates for an election that is still more than a year away.

Biden told workers that the "Big Three" automakers -- Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis -- were "doing incredibly well, and guess what, you should be doing incredibly well too."

"You deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits," he said to cheers from the crowd.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described it as a "historic" trip.

"Today will mark the first time a sitting president has visited a picket line in modern times," Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One. "This is an important message to America's auto workers."

The UAW's outspoken chief Shawn Fain greeted Biden on the tarmac in Detroit and accompanied him to the picket line.

For Biden, facing concerns about his poll ratings, his age, and the economy, the trip is a golden opportunity to woo working-class workers and union members.

'Huge'

"That is huge," auto worker Patrick Smaller, 56, said about Biden's visit as he stood on the picket line outside a massive Ford plant in Wayne County, Michigan on Tuesday.

"He believes in what we stand for."

As cars and trucks honked in support, another worker, Tiara Conner, said Biden's visit was "great". 

She said she was "not surprised" that Trump was visiting too, adding: "I just hope that he (Trump) is also here for the right reasons and standing in solidarity with us." 

The current and former presidents are both targeting the blue-collar vote in Michigan, a key swing state that Trump won in 2016 and then Biden flipped back in 2020.

But their messages there are very different as they look towards a rematch next year.

Biden has consistently talked up his pro-union credentials, and an endorsement from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union helped him secure the presidency three years ago.

"I always support the UAW", Biden said on Monday.

Trump however will be focusing on winning back the working class voters who helped propel him to the White House in 2016, rather than unions with whom he has long had difficult relations.

'Take your jobs'

Trump has focused on attacking Biden's drive to fund a shift to more environmentally friendly electric vehicles, saying it is driving jobs abroad.

"Remember he wants to take your jobs away and give them to China," Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social.

Trump also accused Biden of copying his plans and of "pretending" to be a picket.

However, Biden says his push for electric vehicles is part of a plan to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and put the country in the lead of a global race to develop green technology.

Jean-Pierre said Biden was "fighting to ensure that the cars of the future will be built in America, by unionized American workers in good paying jobs, instead of being built in China." 

Biden's Michigan trip carries a political risk as he must tread a fine line between backing the workers and trying to end a strike that is costing the economy billions of dollars.

The White House deflected a barrage of questions about whether Biden was taking sides in the dispute, saying the president wanted a "win-win" agreement and would not get involved in negotiations.

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Family Grapples With 'Unbearable Pain' After US Woman Killed By Alligator

The daughter of a United States woman who lost her life to a 14-foot alligator expressed that her family was grappling with excruciating sorrow and agony. The alligator was found in a canal with a body in its jaws on Friday in Florida, as reported by the New York Post. It was sighted by a witness on a residential street in Largo, a small community located just four miles south of Clearwater Beach.

Breauna Dorris, the victim's daughter, posted on Facebook that her mother, Sabrina Peckham, was homeless and living in a forested area close to the incident scene. Dorris speculated that her mother, aged 41, might have been on her way to her campsite when the alligator attack occurred. She also refuted several rumors circulating on social media that suggested her mother had 'taunted' the alligator.

"Some details I would like to clarify are that my mother did not 'taunt' the alligator, as some news outlets and comments are suggesting," Ms. Dorris wrote. "My mother was a part of the homeless population that lived in the nearby wooded area. It is believed that she may have been walking to or from her campsite near the creek in the dark, and the alligator attacked from the water," she added. Ms Dorris said, "Regardless of the circumstances, no one deserves to die in this manner."

Addressing her mother, she wrote, "To my mother: I love you more than I ever expressed, I miss you more than you'll ever know, and I pray that you are looking down over me and your grandchildren."

Furthermore, she mentioned, "Within 24 hours, we have raised over $4,000, which will be used for funeral and burial expenses."

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This Japanese Company Is Working On World's First Drug To Grow New Teeth

Japanese researchers are working on a world-first drug that could help patients grow completely new teeth, Japam Times reported. Toregem Biopharma, funded by Kyoto University, which is developing the groundbreaking drug is set to conduct clinical trials on healthy adults in July 2024 and wants the drug on the market by 2030. 

Notably, humans and animals alike possess ''tooth buds'', that have the potential to become a new tooth, in addition to baby and permanent teeth. However, in most cases, these buds don't develop and eventually disappear. The company has now developed an antibody drug that inhibits the protein in the mouth that suppresses growth and stops "tooth buds" from developing.

In 2018, the antibody-drug was administered to ferrets, resulting in the successful growth of new teeth. These ferrets had both baby and permanent teeth like humans.

The company plans to conduct trials on patients with anodontia, a congenital condition in which some or all permanent teeth are absent. The children will be injected with one dose to induce teeth growth.

"Missing teeth in a child can affect the development of their jaw bone. We hope the drug will serve as a key to solving those problems," said Katsu Takahashi, co-founder of Toregem Biopharma and head of dentistry and oral surgery at Kitano Hospital in Osaka.

They are also hoping to utilize the drug in the future for adults who have lost teeth due to cavities.

Toregem's president Honoka Kiso wrote on the company's website she had lost teeth due to a bone disease when she was a teenager.

"I wanted to study the cause of my illness and how to regenerate lost teeth. Toregem Biopharma first hopes to treat patients with congenital tooth loss who do not grow permanent tooth buds due to genetic causes. Our final goal is to offer advanced and scientifically driven clinical solutions for the growth of teeth derived from their own tissues,'' she said. 

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"Stay Vigilant": Canada's Advisory For Citizens In India Amid Row

Canada has updated travel advisory for its citizens in India asking them to "stay vigilant and exercise caution" in the context of recent developments as there are calls for protests and some "negative sentiment" towards Canada on social media.

Tensions flared between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

"In the context of recent developments in Canada and in India, there are calls for protests and some negative sentiment towards Canada on social media. Please remain vigilant and exercise caution," the Canadian government said in an update on Sunday.

This comes after New Delhi issued a similar advisory for Indian nationals and students living in Canada and halted visa services late last week, Global News reported.

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China's Virologist Warns Against Another COVID Outbreak: ''Highly Likely''

China's famous virologist Shi Zhengli, also known as ‘Batwoman', has warned that another coronavirus outbreak is “highly likely” to take place in the future, South China Morning Post reported. The virologist in a recent research paper, titled 'Assessment and sero-diagnosis for coronaviruses with risk of human spillover' warned that the world must be prepared for another disease, just like COVID-19, because "if a coronavirus caused diseases to emerge before, there is a high chance it will cause future outbreaks."

In the study, Ms Zhengli and colleagues from the Wuhan Institute of Virology evaluated the human spillover risk of 40 coronavirus species. They found that half of these species are ''highly risky''. Of these, six are already known to have caused diseases that infected humans, while there is evidence that a further three caused disease or infected other animal species.

''It is almost certain that there will be future disease emergence and it is highly likely a [coronavirus] disease again,'' the study warned.

The study was based on an analysis of viral traits, including population, genetic diversity, host species, and any previous history of zoonosis, SCMP reported. Further, the study also identified hosts of the pathogen including natural hosts like bats and rodents, or possible intermediate hosts including camels, civets, pigs, or pangolins.  

However, other Chinese virologists dismissed the claims, while some others were reluctant to comment on Ms Zhengli's latest findings.

Meanwhile, another scientist from China's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told the publication on condition of anonymity that ''Chinese authorities are downplaying COVID-19, and some cities have stopped releasing infection data.''

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been under increased scrutiny, with some US politicians promoting the theory that COVID-19 originated from an accidental leak from the lab. However, the head of US intelligence said there is no evidence for the claim, as per an AFP report. 

In May this year, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief also remarked that the world must get ready for the next pandemic, ''Disease X'', which might be "even deadlier" than Covid-19.  According to WHO website, the term "represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease".

It could be a new agent - a virus, a bacterium, or a fungus - without any known treatments. The WHO started using the term in 2018. A year later, COVID-19 began to spread across the world.

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Militarisation Of Russian Schools Intensified Since Ukraine Invasion

Militarisation of Russia's public schools has intensified since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In schools across the country, service in the armed forces is being glorified, reported CNN.

Playgrounds in schools are becoming parade grounds. At schools from the Pacific to the Black Sea, children in nursery grade don uniforms and take part in marching practice. Older kids are being taught how to dig trenches, throw grenades and shoot with real ammunition.

Service in the armed forces is being glorified in schools across the country. "Voluntary companies" of teenagers are being formed and the national curriculum is being changed to emphasize the defence of the motherland. Russia's children are in short being prepared for war.

The militarsation of Russia's public schools is driven not by a spontaneous surge of patriotic feeling, but by the government in Moscow, as per CNN.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in August signed a law introducing a new mandatory course in schools, "Fundamentals of Security and Defense of the Motherland".

The Education Ministry subsequently promoted courses as part of this initiative to include excursions to military units, "military-sports games, meetings with military personnel and veterans," and classes on drones, as per CNN.

High school students would also be taught to use live ammunition "under the guidance of experienced military unit officers or instructors exclusively at the firing line," according to the ministry.

The program, which is currently being tested, will be introduced in 2024. It was designed to instill in the students "an understanding and acceptance of the aesthetics of military uniforms, military rituals and combat traditions," according to an Education Ministry document uncovered by the Russian independent media outlet Important Stories.

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