Afghan cancer patients who died in Pakistan jail were denied treatment, envoy says

Afghan cancer patients who died in Pakistan jail were denied treatment, envoy says
A policeman closes the door of the central prison in Karachi, Pakistan. (AFP)
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Updated 31 January 2023

Afghan cancer patients who died in Pakistan jail were denied treatment, envoy says

Afghan cancer patients who died in Pakistan jail were denied treatment, envoy says
  • Afghanistan consul claims jail authorities did not offer prisoners the medical help they needed
  • Prison says all inmates receive treatment, including three Afghan nationals who died of cancer and heart disease

KARACHI: Three Afghan men imprisoned in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi have died in jail from cancer and heart disease in the past four months, a Pakistani jailer and a senior Afghan diplomat told Arab News, with the latter alleging the prisoners were denied medical help.
Afghans have been arriving in neighboring Pakistan to escape persecution by the Kabul regime, to seek employment, and for medical help at hospitals, as the health system in their own country is on the brink of collapse.
Many lack proper travel documents, adding to the increasing number of those entering Pakistan illegally since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Since last year, Pakistan has been intensifying its crackdown on those who cross the border without valid documents.
In a letter seen by Arab News, the superintendent of a correctional facility in Karachi’s Malir district told the Sindh province’s prisons police chief on Monday that three Afghan prisoners awaiting trial there had died in custody due to health complications.
Taj Muhammad, who was arrested in January 2022, died nine months later, according to the letter, while Abdul Khalil died in December after being taken into custody the previous month. A third Afghan, Wali Khan, also arrested in November, died in late January this year.
Syed Abdul Jabbar Takhari, Afghanistan’s acting consul general in Karachi, said Khan died from a heart attack, while Muhammad and Khalil fell victim to cancer.
“These people died because they didn’t get treatment,” Takhari told Arab News, adding that his mission had informed Sindh authorities about the inmates’ health problems.
“They knew about their health condition as these people had come here for treatment.”
Takhari said that almost 870 Afghan nationals, many struggling with health issues, are being held in Sindh prisons.
By law jail authorities are not allowed to detain cancer or heart patients, he said.
“Instead, they should have been admitted to a hospital.”
Arshad Shah, superintendent of Malir Prison, rejected Takhari’s allegations, saying all inmates, including the three Afghan nationals, were given treatment.
“We have medical facilities, but the ones with serious conditions are sent to hospital, either to the Jinnah Hospital or the Civil Hospital,” Shah told Arab News.
Muniza Kakar, a lawyer who campaigns for the release of Afghan nationals in detention, said around 2,000 people had been arrested since authorities started the crackdown against Afghan nationals in July 2022.
“Of them, about 900 have been deported, some possessing refugees’ cards were released on bail, while around 1,000 are still languishing in jails in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkar cities of the province,” she said.
“These include women, children and aged people, and most of them are patients with serious diseases.”
Kakar gave the example of an Afghan asylum seeker who she alleged was not provided treatment after suffering a cardiac arrest in jail on Sunday.
“She was seen by a jail doctor and on Monday, she was brought to court where she fell down,” Kakar said. “She was taken to jail instead of being taken for treatment to a health facility.”

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Pentagon: Budget readies US for possible China confrontation

Pentagon: Budget readies US for possible China confrontation
Updated 53 min 48 sec ago

Pentagon: Budget readies US for possible China confrontation

Pentagon: Budget readies US for possible China confrontation
  • ‘This is a strategy-driven budget,’ US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
  • The testimony comes on the heels of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow

WASHINGTON: The US military must be ready for possible confrontation with China, the Pentagon’s leaders said Thursday, pushing Congress to approve the Defense Department’s proposed $842 billion budget, which would modernize the force in Asia and around the world.
“This is a strategy-driven budget — and one driven by the seriousness of our strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in testimony before the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense.
Pointing to increases in new technology, such as hypersonics, Austin said the budget proposes to spend more than $9 billion, a 40 percent increase over last year, to build up military capabilities in the Pacific and defend allies.
The testimony comes on the heels of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, which added to concerns that China will step up its support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and increasingly threaten the West.
China’s actions, said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “are moving it down the path toward confrontation and potential conflict with its neighbors and possibly the United States.” He said deterring and preparing for war “is extraordinarily expensive, but it’s not as expensive as fighting a war. And this budget prevents war and prepares us to fight it if necessary.”
Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kentucky, pressed the defense leaders on Xi’s meeting with Putin and its impact on US competition with China, which he called “the elephant in the room.” The US, he said, is “at a crucial moment here.”
The growing alliance between China and Russia, two nuclear powers, and Xi’s overtures to Putin during the Ukraine war are “troubling,” Austin said.
He added that the US had not yet seen China provide arms to Russia, but if it does, “it would prolong the conflict and certainly broaden the conflict potentially not only in the region but globally.”
Milley, who will retire later this year, said the Defense Department must continue to modernize its forces to ensure they will be ready to fight if needed. “It is incumbent upon us to make sure we remain No. 1 at all times” to be able to deter China, he said.
Two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan eroded the military’s equipment and troop readiness, so the US has been working to replace weapons systems and give troops time to reset. It’s paid off, Milley told Congress.
“Our operational readiness rates are higher now than they have been in many, many years,” Milley said. More than 60 percent of the active force is at the highest states of readiness right now and could deploy to combat in less than 30 days, while 10 percent could deploy within 96 hours, he said.
Milley cautioned that those gains would be lost if Congress can’t pass a budget on time, because it will immediately affect training.
Members of the panel, including Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., also made it clear that while they support the ongoing US assistance to Ukraine, “the days of blank checks are over.” And they questioned the administration’s ultimate goal there.
Milley said the intent is to make sure that Ukraine remains a free and independent country with its territory intact, maintaining global security and the world order that has existing since World War II.
“If that goes out the window,” he said, “we’ll be doubling our defense budgets at that point, because that will introduce not an era of great power competition, that will begin an era of great power conflict. And that will be extraordinarily dangerous for the whole world.”
The hearing was likely one of Milley’s last in front of Congress. His four-year term as chairman — capping a 43-year military career — ends in October. While many members took the opportunity to thank him for those years of service, it was also an opportunity to press him on one of the darkest moments of his chairmanship — the loss of 13 service members to a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate during the chaotic American evacuation from Afghanistan.
Questions remain about the bombing, and Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to completely withdraw from Afghanistan in August 2021. During an intense two-week evacuation, which took place as Kabul fell to the Taliban, US forces got more than 120,000 personnel out of the country, but paid a large price in the lives of US service members and Afghans. The withdrawal also left behind many Afghans who worked with and supported US troops during the war, and efforts to get them out continue.
“I can think of no greater tragedy than what happened at Abbey Gate. And I have yet to fully reconcile myself to that entire affair,” Milley told the panel members. He called the end state, which left the Taliban in control of the country, a strategic failure.
But that “did not happen in the last 19 days or even the last 19 months. That was a 20-year war,” Milley said. “There were decisions made all along the way which culminated in what the outcome was. And there’s many many lessons to be learned.”


UK: Man charged over 2 fire attacks on people near mosques

UK: Man charged over 2 fire attacks on people near mosques
Updated 55 min 51 sec ago

UK: Man charged over 2 fire attacks on people near mosques

UK: Man charged over 2 fire attacks on people near mosques
  • The West Midlands Police force said Mohammed Abbkr was charged over attacks in London and Birmingham
  • Abbkr, a resident of Birmingham who is originally from Sudan, appeared in court in the city on Thursday

LONDON: British police have charged a 28-year-old man with two counts of attempted murder after men were set on fire near mosques.
The West Midlands Police force said Mohammed Abbkr was charged over attacks in London and Birmingham, central England.
Abbkr, a resident of Birmingham who is originally from Sudan, appeared in court in the city on Thursday. He wasn’t asked to enter a plea and was ordered detained until his next hearing on April 20.
Abbkr is alleged to have sprayed a substance on two men and set it alight in separate incidents — one near an Islamic center in the Ealing area of west London on Feb. 27 and another near a mosque in Birmingham on Monday.
The Birmingham victim, 70-year-old Mohammed Rayaz, remains in a hospital with severe injuries. Hashi Odowa, 82, who was attacked in Ealing, suffered severe burns to his face and arms.
Counterterrorism officers supported the investigations, but police said officers were “keeping an open mind as to any potential motivation.”


Chronicle of a Ukrainian woman’s journey from administration to military training

Chronicle of a Ukrainian woman’s journey from administration to military training
Updated 16 sec ago

Chronicle of a Ukrainian woman’s journey from administration to military training

Chronicle of a Ukrainian woman’s journey from administration to military training
  • When the war began, Natalia Sensova faced a tough choice: To leave the country or defend her home and children
  • Dedication to protecting her country has made Sentsova a role model for many other Ukrainian women

KYIV, Ukraine: Natalia Sentsova, a mother, wife and grandmother from Ukraine, lived a relatively ordinary life before the sudden escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 22, 2022.

She was just an employee of the Ukraine administration with a keen interest in guns. But everything changed when Russian bombing targeted her neighborhood in the capital, Kyiv. Like many other Ukrainians, she faced a difficult choice: To leave the country or stay and defend her home and children.

Initially, Senstova left for another city but felt that she had to return and protect her loved ones. She learned about the existence of a center for training civilians on weapons and combat since the tumultuous events of 2014 at Maidan Square in Kyiv.

Natalia Sintsova, with her grandson. (Supplied)

However, since spring of last year, she has been closely linked to the Military Training Center, where she completed her training and helped train others who wished to obtain the same skills.

Sentova’s decision to become a part of the military training center surprised and astonished her relatives and friends. Soon, she started training her children on the basics of using weapons and first aid.

Many of her friends followed her lead, and they, in turn, completed the military exercise. Natalia’s dedication to protecting her country has made her a role model for many women who aspire to defend their homes and children.

Sentsova’s story exemplifies the bravery and strength of Ukrainian women who have had to defend their homes and families. (AN photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)

These days, she spends most of her days at the military training center and has developed a passion for using guns. Before the war, she was interested in guns, but since the war, the gun has become as basic as a toothbrush. She has no qualms about killing if necessary to protect her family and Ukraine. She says she will not go to the front lines, but will not hesitate to kill enemy soldiers if the need arises.

Sentsova’s story exemplifies the bravery and strength of Ukrainian women who have had to defend their homes and families. Natalia has not let the war change her feminine nature and approach. Despite the ongoing conflict and uncertainty about the future, Senstova says she remains committed to defending her country and preserving its independence.
 


Albanian PM brands Braverman’s comments on migrants ‘disgraceful’

Albanian PM brands Braverman’s comments on migrants ‘disgraceful’
Updated 23 March 2023

Albanian PM brands Braverman’s comments on migrants ‘disgraceful’

Albanian PM brands Braverman’s comments on migrants ‘disgraceful’
  • Edi Rama is in London for talks with UK counterpart Rishi Sunak
  • Braverman referred to Albanian migrants as ‘criminals’ in speech last year

LONDON: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has criticized UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman for her comments on migrants from his country.

Rama, who is in the UK to hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, called Braverman’s references to “Albanian criminals” illegally crossing the English Channel last year “disgraceful.”

He told the BBC: “Unfortunately, we have seen ourselves and our community being singled out in this country for purposes of politics. It has been a very, very disgraceful moment for British politics.

“What has been (said) by members of the Cabinet, starting with the home secretary, (is) the singling out of our community, which is not something you do in our civilization, and is something that does not represent Britain at all,” he added. “We will always refuse to have this mix between some criminals and the Albanians as such because giving to the crime an ethnic seal is itself a crime.”

Rama said that he was satisfied, however, with Sunak and his approach to the situation.

“We have set up a clear path toward tackling together whatever has to be excluded from our relations and from our world of law and justice, but at the same time making sure that some rotten apples do not define the Albanian community here and our relations,” he said.

Between May and September 2022, UK government figures show that Albanians made up 42 percent of the volume of people crossing the English Channel illegally in small boats. The number of Albanians claiming asylum in the UK in the 12 months until June 2022 was 7,627 — about double the number of the previous 12-month period.

Braverman provoked ire in October last year after she referred to the small boat arrivals as an “invasion,” suggesting many were abusing the law to claim asylum, and adding that the opposition Labour Party would facilitate the boat arrivals if in power.

“Many of (the Albanian asylum-seekers) claim to be trafficked as modern slaves … the truth is that many of them are not modern slaves and their claims of being trafficked are lies,” she told the Conservative Party conference.

Meanwhile, the home secretary told MPs in the House of Commons: “If Labour were in charge they would be allowing all the Albanian criminals to come to this country. They would be allowing all the small boats to come to the UK; they would open our borders and totally undermine the trust of the British people in controlling our sovereignty.”


Nigerian politician found guilty in UK organ harvesting plot

Nigerian politician found guilty in UK organ harvesting plot
Updated 23 March 2023

Nigerian politician found guilty in UK organ harvesting plot

Nigerian politician found guilty in UK organ harvesting plot
  • Ekweremadu and his wife were accused of arranging the travel of a 21-year-old man to the UK with a view to exploiting him for a kidney donation

LONDON: A senior Nigerian politician and his wife were found guilty Thursday of conspiring to transport a street trader to the UK as part of an organ-harvesting plot.
Ike Ekweremadu, who was deputy president of the Nigerian Senate and a lawyer, and his wife, Beatrice, were accused of arranging the travel of a 21-year-old man to the UK with a view to exploiting him for a kidney donation.
Prosecutors said the politician and his wife were behind the recruitment of the man at a Lagos street market, and that they arranged for the victim to provide a kidney to their 25-year-old daughter, Sonia, in an 80,000-pound (nearly $100,000) transplant operation at a London hospital.
The victim, who was transported to London in February 2022, believed he was being taken to the capital for work, and that under the agreement he would be paid thousands of pounds, prosecutors said.
Kidney donations are lawful in the UK, but it’s a criminal offense to reward someone with money or other material advantage for doing so.
The verdict is the first to convict suspects of an organ-harvesting conspiracy under the UK’s modern slavery laws.
As part of the ruse, the victim was described as Sonia’s cousin in his UK visa application, and the Ekweremadus pretended to doctors that the young man was related to Sonia.
But a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital became suspicious about the circumstances surrounding the proposed operation, and decided it couldn’t go ahead. The Ekweremadus then tried to find more potential donors in Turkiye, prosecutors said.
The case came to light when the victim reported to British police that he had been trafficked from Nigeria and that someone was trying to transplant his kidney.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Joanne Jakymec described the case as “horrific.”
“The convicted defendants showed utter disregard for the victim’s welfare, health and well-being and used their considerable influence to a high degree of control throughout, with the victim having limited understanding of what was really going on here,” she said in a statement.
Dr. Obinna Obeta, described by prosecutors as a medical “middleman” in the plot, was also found guilty Thursday at London’s Central Criminal Court. Sonia Ekweremadu, who has a serious kidney condition, was cleared by the jury.
The defendants were ordered to remain in custody, and their sentencing was scheduled for May 5.