Fake Social Media Posts Claim India Becoming Permanent Member Of UNSC

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended and addressed the 79th UN General Assembly Session in New York last month, multiple social media users have shared posts claiming that India had secured a permanent seat in the UN Security Council with veto power.

The PTI Fact Check Desk found the claim to be false. India is yet to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. As of now, only five countries — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — are permanent members of the UNSC and have veto power.

A Facebook user, in his post on October 2, wrote: "Congratulations "India got veto power" 180 countries of the world supported India, China's protest cooled down, India's decades old dream came true. This is - Modi's India's superpower. It is possible only if Modi is there." To check the veracity of the claim, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google. However, our search did not yield any credible reports supporting this claim. Had any such development taken place, it would have grabbed the headlines across global media, particularly in India.

The PTI Fact Check Desk then scanned the official website of the United Nations, which clearly mentioned that only five countries – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – are permanent members of the UNSC.

The UNSC is composed of five permanent member nations along with ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the United Nations General Assembly.

Currently, Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Switzerland are the 10 non-permanent members of the UNSC.

India has argued for decades that it deserves to be a member of the UNSC. It last sat at the UN high table as a non-permanent member in 2021-22. While several countries, including the US, the UK, Russia, France, Portugal and several other countries have backed India's permanent membership bid, China has been stonewalling India's efforts with its veto power in the UNSC. From our investigation, it is clear that India is neither a permanent member of the UN Security Council nor holds veto power. The social media posts were shared with a fake claim.

For verification or truth of any claim viral on social media, contact PTI Fact Check Desk's WhatsApp number 91-8130503759.

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India At UN Condemns Pak's "Unsubstantiated Allegations" Regarding J&K

India exercised its right of reply against Pakistan at the Joint General Debate on decolonization at the United Nations on Monday. Counsellor Eldos Mathew Punnoose from India condemned Pakistan's "unsubstantiated allegations" regarding the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

He emphasised the need for Pakistan to cease its ongoing human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

Targeting Pakistan, he said, "Unsubstantiated allegations by Pakistan largely pertain to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. India would like to reiterate that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are, were and will be an integral and inalienable part of India. Clearly, Pakistan does not merit a response on the internal affairs of India."

He further said, "At this juncture, we also advise Pakistan to stop the grave and ongoing human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (PoJKL). The world is witness to the divisive activities that Pakistan tries to undertake day in and day out. India would like to stress that our foundations are built on the enduring pillar of democratic values, unlike Pakistan's."

Stepping up his criticism of Pakistan, he said that the nation is familiar with sham elections, incarceration of opposition leaders, and suppression of political voices.

"Given their tainted democratic record, Pakistan considers real democratic exercises as a sham, as reflected in their statement. All countries speak from their experience. Sham elections, incarceration of opposition leaders and suppression of political voices are what Pakistan is familiar with," Punnoos said.

"It is natural that Pakistan must be disappointed to see real democracy at work. It was only last week that election results were announced in Jammu and Kashmir. Millions of voters in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have spoken. They exercised their right to vote and have chosen their leadership according to the Constitutional framework and universal adult suffrage. Clearly, these terms must be alien to Pakistan," he added.

He further criticised Pakistan by highlighting the country's notorious reputation for supporting terrorism and engaging in transnational crimes. "It is ironic that a country which is infamous across the globe for state-sponsored terrorism and transnational crimes cast aspersions on the world's largest democracy. It has been Pakistan's consistent state policy to employ cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbours," Punnoos added.

He also said that Pakistan has been implicated in several attacks, including the attack on the Indian Parliament. "The list of attacks orchestrated by Pakistan is indeed long. In India, they have targeted our Parliament, market places and pilgrimage routes, among several others. Normal Indian citizens have been victims of such dastardly and inhumane acts by Pakistan," Punnoos said.

He also compared India and Pakistan, praising the former for its "pluralism, diversity and democracy," and highlighting the latter's "terrorism, parochialism and persecution."

Punnoos said, "India symbolises pluralism, diversity and democracy. In contrast, Pakistan reminds the world of terrorism, parochialism and persecution. Religious and ethnic minorities and their places of worship are targeted and vandalised on a regular basis. It is important for Pakistan to first look inward and set own house in order instead of meddling in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries."

He added, "Pakistan's obsession with India and their past practice corroborate that they will continue to use this august forum for spreading their malicious propaganda against my country. They will exercise their right of reply but I shall refrain from responding to it... As such, facts speak for themselves. Lies are lies, even if they are repeated over and over by Pakistan."

Meanwhile, Punnoose emphasised India's pivotal role in the global struggle against colonialism, highlighting the country's unwavering commitment to freedom.

He said, "India has been a global champion and leading voice in the struggle against colonialism. In 1962, India was also elected as the first chair of the Decolonisation Committee, a committee of 24, which was established to monitor the implementation of the 1960 Declaration on Granting of Independence to colonial countries and peoples and consider applications in this regard. Since the establishment of the Decolonisation Committee, India has been actively contributing towards its functioning. We have also been working constructively on the decolonisation agenda..."

Notably, Pakistan regularly brings up the Jammu and Kashmir issue at UN platforms and other international forums, irrespective of the agenda of the meetings.

India has repeatedly rejected Pakistan's attempts to raise the Kashmir issue on international platforms, asserting that the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh are "integral parts of India" and Pakistan has no "locus standi" to make statements regarding India's domestic matters.

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Kremlin Condemns NATO's Nuclear Drills, Cites Escalation Amid Ukraine War

The Kremlin said that NATO's annual nuclear exercise involving nuclear-capable military aircraft, which began on Monday, was fuelling tensions in light of the "hot war" unfolding in Ukraine.

NATO was due to begin its annual "Steadfast Noon" nuclear exercise on Monday, the alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday, something he cast as a powerful display of deterrence capabilities against a backdrop of heightened nuclear rhetoric from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

F-35A fighter jets and B-52 bombers will be among some 60 aircraft from 13 nations taking part in the exercise, hosted by Belgium and The Netherlands, NATO officials said.

"In the conditions of a hot war, which is going on within the framework of the Ukrainian conflict, such exercises lead to nothing but further escalation of tension," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov said it was also impossible to hold nuclear arms talks with the U.S., something Washington has signalled it is open to, because Western nuclear powers were involved in the conflict against Russia and any security talks would therefore need to be much broader in scope.

U.S. President Joe Biden said after the award of the Nobel Peace Prize last Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a movement of Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War Two, that the U.S. was ready to engage in talks with Russia, China and North Korea without preconditions to reduce the nuclear threat.

"In the context of the war that is being waged against Russia with the indirect and even direct involvement of nuclear powers such as the United States, Great Britain and France, it is absolutely impossible to talk about this without linking the issue to all other aspects of security," said Peskov.

"In fact, our president has already spoken about this. Russia considers such contacts necessary and they cannot be postponed, but we must consider all security issues as a whole, taking into account the current state of affairs."

Peskov dismissed a statement from Bruno Kahl, the head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, who said earlier on Monday that Russian forces would be in a position to attack NATO territory by the end of this decade at the latest.

"Russia has never moved with its military infrastructure towards NATO, it has always been the other way round," said Peskov.

"To say therefore that it is the Russian armed forces that pose a danger to anyone is absolutely wrong, illogical, and, most importantly, contradicts the entire course of history, which has led to the confrontation that we are now all experiencing together."

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Taliban Introduces Law Banning Media Publishing Images Of Living Things

Afghanistan's Taliban morality ministry pledged Monday to implement a law banning news media from publishing images of all living things, with journalists told the rule will be gradually enforced.

It comes after the Taliban government recently announced legislation formalising their strict interpretations of Islamic law that have been imposed since they swept to power in 2021.

"The law applies to all Afghanistan... and it will be implemented gradually," the spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) Saiful Islam Khyber told AFP, adding that officials would work to persuade people that images of living things are against Islamic law.

"Coercion has no place in the implementation of the law," he said.

"It's only advice, and convincing people these things are really contrary to sharia (law) and must be avoided."

The new law detailed several rules for news media, including banning the publication of images of all living things and ordering outlets not to mock or humiliate Islam, or contradict Islamic law.

Aspects of the new law have not yet been strictly enforced.

Taliban officials continue to regularly post photos of people on social media.

"Until now, regarding the articles of the law related to media, there are ongoing efforts in many provinces to implement it but that has not started in all provinces," Khyber said.

He added "work has started" in the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and the neighbouring Helmand province, as well as northern Takhar.

Journalists Summoned

Journalists in Kandahar told AFP on Monday they had not received any statement from the ministry or been stopped by morality police for taking photos and videos.

In central Ghazni province on Sunday, PVPV officials summoned local journalists and told them the morality police would start gradually implementing the law.

They advised visual journalists to take photos from further away and film fewer events "to get in the habit", a journalist who did not want to give his name for fear of reprisal told AFP.

Reporters in Maidan Wardak province were also told the rules would be implemented gradually in a similar meeting.

Television and pictures of living things were banned across the country under the previous Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, but a similar edict has so far not been broadly imposed since their return to power.

When the Taliban authorities seized control of the country after a two-decade-long insurgency against foreign-backed governments, Afghanistan had 8,400 media employees.

Only 5,100 remain in the profession, including 560 women, according to media industry sources.

Afghanistan has also slipped from 122nd place to 178th out of 180 countries in a press freedom ranking compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

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Man With Shotgun And Loaded Handgun Arrested Near Trump's California Rally

A man found illegally in possession of a shotgun and a loaded handgun was arrested by sheriff's deputies assigned to protect a Donald Trump rally in Coachella, California, the Riverside County sheriff's office announced Sunday.

The Secret Service said that it was aware of the arrest and that neither Trump nor rally attendees had not been in any danger during the incident, which took place on Saturday.

"While no federal arrest has been made at this time, the investigation is ongoing," the organization tasked with protecting presidents and presidential candidates said in a joint statement with the FBI and the US Attorney's office.

The sheriff's team said the man, which it identified as 49-year-old Vem Miller of Las Vegas, was later released on bail and faces a court hearing on January 2.

They added that the deputies, manning a checkpoint near the rally, arrested Miller as he drove up in a black SUV.

They later booked him at a local detention center on charges of possessing a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine.

The incident comes on the heels of two assassination attempts -- one in Pennsylvania in which a bullet grazed Trump's ear, and a second, aborted attempt at his Florida golf course.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco -- a Trump supporter who also addressed the Republican's rally in Coachella on Saturday -- said that there was "absolutely no way that any of us are going to truly know what was in his head."

"If you're asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt," Bianco, a former member of the far-right Oath Keepers group, told a press conference.

Bianco said the man had "multiple" passports and IDs with different names in his vehicle, which was unregistered. He said any further charges would come from federal authorities.

There was no immediate comment from the Trump campaign.

Trump's decision to hold a rally in California surprised political analysts, who note that the state is heavily Democratic, but he drew a large crowd, even in temperatures near 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius).

Coachella is known for its annual music festival.

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Hezbollah Airs Audio Recording From Ex Chief Killed In Israeli Strikes

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Sunday aired an audio recording of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah just over two weeks after an Israeli air strike killed him in southern Beirut.

"We count on you... to defend your people, your families, your nation, your values and your dignity, and to defend this holy and blessed land and this honourable people," said Nasrallah, who was killed on September 27, in a recording it said was made as he addressed the Iran-backed group's fighters during a military manoeuvre.

Many other senior commanders of the movement have also been killed.

The Israeli military said about 115 projectiles fired by Hezbollah had crossed into Israeli territory by Sunday afternoon.
A Hezbollah fighter was captured emerging from a tunnel in south Lebanon on Sunday, Israel's military said, the first such announcement since the start of the ground offensive.

'Shocking violations'

United Nations peacekeepers on Sunday accused Israeli troops of breaking through a gate and entering one of their positions in south Lebanon.

It is the latest of several incidents the UNIFIL mission has reported since Thursday, leaving five Blue Helmets previously injured.

"At around 4:30 am, while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF (Israeli military) Merkava tanks destroyed the position's main gate and forcibly entered the position" in the Ramia area, before leaving 45 minutes later, said the peacekeeping force (UNIFIL).

On Saturday, several kilometres (miles) to the northeast, Israeli "soldiers stopped a critical UNIFIL logistical movement near Mais al-Jabal, denying it passage", it added.

"We have requested an explanation from the IDF for these shocking violations," UNIFIL said.

The Israeli military later said a tank "backed several meters into a UNIFIL post" while "under fire" and attempting to evacuate injured soldiers.

Netanyahu had earlier on Sunday called on the UN chief to remove peacekeepers in southern Lebanon out of harm's way, after the mission rejected requests to abandon their positions.

He said that the peacekeepers' presence had "the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields".

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Netanyahu's call, saying it "represents a new chapter in the enemy's approach of not complying with international" norms.

UNIFIL, with about 9,500 troops, is in southern Lebanon under the longstanding UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called it "absolutely unacceptable" that UN troops are "deliberately targeted by the Israeli armed forces".

Lebanon calls for ceasefire

Earlier Sunday Israeli warplanes also hit a 100-year-old mosque in the village of Kfar Tibnit near the border, NNA said.

"It was a significant place because families used to gather in the square right next to it (the mosque) on special occasions," Mayor Fuad Yassin told AFP.

Hamas sparked the ongoing war in Gaza with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

The number includes hostages killed in captivity.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 42,227 people, the majority civilians, have been killed since Israel's military campaign began there. The UN acknowledges these figures to be reliable.

In support of Hamas, Hezbollah started firing into northern Israel in October last year, triggering a near-daily exchange of fire until the war escalated in late September.

Netanyahu vowed to fight Hezbollah until Israelis displaced by the violence could return to their homes.

Since then, more than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and a million others have been displaced, according to Lebanese officials.

Mikati said his government would ask the UN Security Council to issue a new resolution calling for a "full and immediate ceasefire".

In a visit to Baghdad ahead of Israel's expected retaliation for Iran's October 1 missile attack on Israel, Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Tehran was "fully prepared for a war situation".

He added: "We do not want war."

The Pentagon later said it would deploy a high-altitude anti-missile system and its US military crew to Israel to help the ally protect itself from potential Iranian attack.

In north Gaza, Israeli forces have for days essentially besieged an around Jabalia, with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, saying the fighting was causing more suffering for hundreds of thousands of people trapped there.

"For over a week there has been no hope, no water and no means of life," said local resident Muhammad Abu Halima, 40.

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Trump Claims He Spoke To Israel PM Netanyahu "Two Days Ago"

Former US President Donald Trump, who is the Republican presidential candidate, said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "like two days ago."

Trump was asked when last he spoke to the Israeli leader during a Fox News interview that aired on Sunday.

"Like two days ago and he came to my house in Florida, Mar-a-Lago with his wife who was lovely," he responded.

Trump met with Netanyahu at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in July. It was their first meeting since the end of Trump's presidency.

US President Joe Biden also spoke with Netanyahu last week amid tensions with Iran. Their Wednesday call was the first known conversation between the two leaders since August. It coincided with a sharp escalation of Israel's conflict with Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.

Trump called the lack of conversation between Biden and Netanyahu in nearly two months "pathetic."

"I can tell you that Bibi has been very strong," Trump said. "He's not listening to Biden."

Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been tense, strained over the Israeli leader's handling of the war in Gaza and the conflict with Hezbollah. Israel has said it will pursue its military operations until Israelis are safe.

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