A powerful suicide bombing at a rail station in southwestern Pakistan kills at least 26

Update A powerful suicide bombing at a rail station in southwestern Pakistan kills at least 26
Security officials examine the site of a bomb explosion at railway station in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan on Nov. 9, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 09 November 2024
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A powerful suicide bombing at a rail station in southwestern Pakistan kills at least 26

A powerful suicide bombing at a rail station in southwestern Pakistan kills at least 26
  • The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta
  • TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a destroyed tea stall

QUETTA, Pakistan: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a train station in restive southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 26 people, including soldiers and railway staff, and wounding about 62 others, some critically, officials said.
The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, according to Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government administrator.
When asked about a security breach that led to the bombing, Shafqaat told reporters that “it is usually very difficult to stop such suicide attacks.”
However, Shahid Nawaz, who is in charge of security at Quetta’s train station, insisted there was no breach as the attacker was disguised as a passenger and blew himself up among people at the station.
TV footage showed the steel structure of the platform’s roof blown apart and a destroyed tea stall. Luggage was strewn everywhere. Most of the victims were taken to a state-owned hospital and some to a military one.
Wasim Baig, a spokesman for the health department and police said over a dozen soldiers and six railway employees were among the dead at the station, where a walk-through gate has been installed to check whether anyone is carrying explosives. Still, there are multiple other entrances to the station without such security.
A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad.
A senior superintendent of police operations, Muhammad Baloch, said separatists frequently attacked soft targets.
“When their people are arrested, they also attack in retaliation. We all have to fight this war. We are resilient. Our teams are here and trying to save as many lives as we can.”
Police said some of the critically wounded passengers had died in the hospital, raising the death toll.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the bombing in a statement, saying those who orchestrated the attack “will pay a very heavy price for it,” adding that security forces were determined to eliminate “the menace of terrorism.”
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the bombing and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, as did the Russian Embassy in Islamabad.
Saturday’s assault came a little over a week after a powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in the province, killing nine people, including five children who were nearby.
In August, the BLA carried out multiple coordinated attacks on passengers buses, police and security forces across Balochistan, killing more than 50 people, mostly civilians.
Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest but also least populated province. It is a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority whose members say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. Along with separatist groups, Islamic militants also operate in the province.
The BLA mostly targets security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is working on major infrastructure projects. The group often demands the halt of all Chinese-funded projects and for workers to leave Pakistan to avoid further attacks.
Last month, the BLA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted a convoy with Chinese nationals outside Karachi airport, killing two. Beijing has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety of its citizens working in Balochistan and other parts of the country.


US Senate approves promotion of general involved in Afghanistan withdrawal

US Senate approves promotion of general involved in Afghanistan withdrawal
Updated 12 sec ago
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US Senate approves promotion of general involved in Afghanistan withdrawal

US Senate approves promotion of general involved in Afghanistan withdrawal
  • Donahue commanded 82nd Airborne Division, was last American soldier to leave Afghanistan as US forces evacuated in Aug. 2021
  • President-elect Trump has said he would ask for the resignation of every senior official “who touched the Afghanistan calamity”

WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Monday confirmed the promotion of Army Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who had been a commander in Afghanistan during the US withdrawal, after it was briefly blocked by a Republican senator.
Senator Markwayne Mullin had placed a hold on Donahue’s nomination to become a four-star general and the top commander of the US Army in Europe.
President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have decried the 2021 US military withdrawal from Afghanistan and vowed to go after those responsible for it. During his successful campaign for re-election, Trump said in August he would ask for the resignation of every senior official “who touched the Afghanistan calamity.”
Donahue was confirmed on Monday by unanimous consent, part of many military promotions approved as a group. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Donahue commanded the military’s 82nd Airborne Division during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and was the last American soldier to leave the country as US forces evacuated in August 2021.
While the image of Donahue, carrying his rifle down by his side as he boarded the final C-17 transport flight out of Afghanistan, has become synonymous with the chaotic withdrawal, he is seen in the military as one of the most talented army commanders.
Under Senate rules, one lawmaker can hold up nominations even if the other 99 all want them to move quickly.


UN warns global drought carries $300 billion annual cost

UN warns global drought carries $300 billion annual cost
Updated 10 min 1 sec ago
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UN warns global drought carries $300 billion annual cost

UN warns global drought carries $300 billion annual cost
  • Drought projected to affect 75% of the world’s population by 2050, a UN report cautioned
  • The UN urged investment in ‘nature-based solutions’ to cut the price of dessication and benefit the environment

RIYADH: Drought costs the world more than $300 billion each year, the United Nations warned Tuesday in a report published on the second day of international talks on desertification in Saudi Arabia.
Fuelled by “human destruction of the environment,” drought is projected to affect 75 percent of the world’s population by 2050, the report cautioned.
It said the crisis has already exceeded $307 billion in costs annually around the globe.
The warning coincides with a 12-day meeting in Riyadh for the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), seeking to protect and restore land and respond to drought amid ongoing climate change.
The UN urged investment in “nature-based solutions” such as “reforestation, grazing management, and the management, restoration and conservation of watersheds” to cut the price of dessication and benefit the environment.
Marked by devastating droughts in Ecuador, Brazil, Namibia, Malawi and nations bordering the Mediterranean, which sparked fires and produced water and food shortages, 2024 is on course to be the hottest year since records began.
“The economic cost of drought extends beyond immediate agricultural losses. It affects entire supply chains, reduces GDP, impacts livelihoods, and leads to hunger, unemployment, migration, and long-term human security challenges,” Kaveh Madani, a co-author of the UN report, said.
“Managing our land and water resources in a sustainable way is essential to stimulate economic growth and strengthen the resilience of communities trapped in cycles of drought,” Andrea Meza Murillo, a senior UNCCD official, said.
“As talks for a landmark COP decision on drought are underway, the report calls on world leaders to recognize the outsized, and preventable, costs of drought, and to leverage proactive and nature-based solutions to secure human development within planetary boundaries,” she added.


Life demanded for killer in femicide that outraged Italy

Life demanded for killer in femicide that outraged Italy
Updated 37 min 23 sec ago
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Life demanded for killer in femicide that outraged Italy

Life demanded for killer in femicide that outraged Italy
  • Prosecutors have asked for life in prison for Filippo Turetta for killing Giulia Cecchettin in November last year
  • Cecchettin was stabbed at least 75 times in a shocking murder that prompted protests over violence against women across Italy

ROME: A student who admitted murdering his ex-girlfriend in a brutal case that sparked outrage and soul searching in Italy will be sentenced Tuesday.
Prosecutors have asked for life in prison for Filippo Turetta, 22, for killing Giulia Cecchettin in November last year, just days before she was due to graduate from the University of Padua.
Cecchettin, also 22, was stabbed at least 75 times in a shocking murder that prompted protests over violence against women across Italy.
Turetta’s lawyer Giovanni Caruso has called the request for life imprisonment excessive, saying his client was “not Pablo Escobar,” the notorious Colombian drug baron.
When the trial opened in Venice in September, he warned against a “media trial” and last week insisted there were no “aggravating circumstances” such as cruelty, or premeditation.
But prosecutor Andrea Petroni said Turetta acted with “particular brutality,” attacking Cecchettin before fleeing with her in his car.
Her body was found a week after she went missing in a gully near Lake Barcis north of Venice.
Turetta was arrested a day later near Leipzig in Germany after his car ran out of petrol.
Giulia’s father, Gino Cecchettin, refused to comment on the potential sentence.
“I’m already dead inside... for me nothing will change. I will never see Giulia again,” he told RAI public radio last week.
“The only thing I can do... is to ensure there are as few possible cases like Giulia’s, that there are fewer parents who have to mourn a dead daughter.”
Cecchettin’s murder is one of a string of femicides that have made headlines in Italy in recent years, but it struck a nerve, pushing the issue to the forefront of public discourse.
At her funeral last year, thousands of people turned out to pay their respects and her father implored men to “challenge the culture that tends to minimize violence by men who appear normal.”
Giulia’s sister, Elena, called for a cultural revolution, urging sympathizers to “burn everything” – a message since scrawled on walls and protest banners, often alongside the phrase “Patriarchy kills.”
Out of 276 murders recorded by Italy’s interior ministry so far this year, 100 of the victims were women – 88 killed by someone close to them, the vast majority by a partner or ex.
This compares to 110 out of 310 murders in the same period last year, with 90 killed by someone close to them. In 2022, 106 women were killed by someone close to them, and 107 in 2021.
Cecchettin’s family has set up a foundation in her name, pressing for better education, more support for women facing violence and greater efforts to encourage equality and respect.
Last month, thousands of people marched through Rome and the Sicilian capital Palermo to mark an international day against femicide, many of them walking in Cecchettin’s name.
While denouncing historic discrimination against women and a lack of policies such as sex education in schools, some of the campaigners accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government in particular of failing women.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara sparked an uproar last month by saying that “male domination no longer exists” in law in Italy, and linking violence against women to illegal immigration.
Elena Cecchettin hit back that her sister, a biomedical engineering student, was killed by a “young white Italian.”
Meloni, Italy’s first woman prime minister, said last week that legislation was not lacking in Italy, but that “the challenge remains above all cultural.”
The leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party also made a link with illegal immigration – even though official figures from 2022 show that 94 percent of Italian female murder victims were killed by Italians.


Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit

Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit
Updated 46 min 45 sec ago
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Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit

Joe Biden kicks off two-day Angola visit
  • US president arrived in the oil-rich Portuguese-speaking country centered on a multinational project to rehabilitate a railway line ferrying minerals

LUANDA: US President Joe Biden is in Angola on Tuesday for the first and only visit to sub-Saharan Africa of his presidency, which is focused on a major infrastructure project that is a counterpoint to China’s investments.
Biden arrived in the oil-rich Portuguese-speaking country late Monday for a two-day visit centered on a multinational project to rehabilitate a railway line ferrying minerals from inland countries to the Angolan port of Lobito for export.
In anticipation of his trip, the Angolan government declared December 3 and 4 public holidays and deployed heavy security across the capital Luanda, a city of around 9.5 million people.
Biden, who hands over to Donald Trump on January 20, starts his visit on Tuesday with talks with President Joao Lourenco in the capital Luanda and is due to later deliver remarks at the National Slavery Museum.
On Wednesday, he is to travel to Lobito, an Atlantic port city about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Luanda.
The port is at the heart of the Lobito Corridor project that has received loans from the United States, the European Union and others to rehabilitate a key railway connecting the mineral-rich inland countries of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia with Lobito, from where they can be exported.
It is “a real game changer for US engagement in Africa,” John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, told reporters Monday.
“It’s our fervent hope that as the new team comes in and takes a look at this, that they see the value too, that they see how it will help drive a more secure, more prosperous, more economically stable continent.”
The Lobito project is a piece in the geopolitical battle between the United States and its allies and China, which owns mines in the DRC and Zambia among an array of investments in the region.
A similar railway project involving Chinese investment is aimed at ferrying minerals out via a Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean.
A senior US official told journalists ahead of Biden’s trip that African governments are seeking an alternative to Chinese investment, especially when it results in “living under crushing debt for generations to come.”
Angola, for instance, owes China $17 billion, about 40 percent of the nation’s total debt.
Lourenco, too, appears to want to diversify his country’s partnerships beyond China and Russia.
“We’re not asking countries to choose between US and Russia and China,” Kirby said. “We’re simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the people of the continent can rely on.”
Human rights organizations have urged Biden to raise Angola’s rights record.
Amnesty International said in a report last month that Angolan police had killed at least 17 protesters between November 2020 and June 2023 as part of a long-running crackdown on dissent.
It urged Biden, 82, to demand that Angola “immediately release five government critics arbitrarily detained for more than a year.”
Angola, a nation of 37 million people, was devastated by a 27-year civil war that started on independence from Portugal in 1975, when the UNITA rebel movement challenged the MPLA that is still in power.
During the Cold War years the United States funnelled covert aid to UNITA. It recognized the MPLA government only in 1993, becoming an importer of its oil.


Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after ‘alarming’ blood test: attorney

Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after ‘alarming’ blood test: attorney
Updated 03 December 2024
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Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after ‘alarming’ blood test: attorney

Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after ‘alarming’ blood test: attorney
  • Lawyer: Harvey Weinstein will remain at the hospital ‘until his condition stabilizes’
  • Weinstein had previously been hospitalized in September for emergency heart surgery before being reincarcerated

NEW YORK: Former Hollywood movie producer and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein was hospitalized after an “alarming blood test result,” his lawyer said late Monday.
Weinstein’s attorney Imran Ansari said via email that the 72-year-old was taken to a New York hospital for “emergent treatment due to an alarming blood test result that requires immediate medical attention.”
He will remain at the hospital “until his condition stabilizes,” his lawyer added.
US media reported in October that Weinstein was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.
The disgraced producer, who is currently serving a prison sentence at the notorious Rikers Island prison, “has been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions,” Ansari said.
In the same email, Weinstein’s spokesman Juda Engelmayer said his client “is suffering from a number of illnesses, including leukemia” and “has been deprived the medical attention that someone in his medical state deserves, prisoner or not.”
“In many ways, this mistreatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” Engelmayer added.
Weinstein had previously been hospitalized in September for emergency heart surgery before being reincarcerated.
The co-founder of Miramax Films is due to be retried in New York in 2025, after an appeals court last year reversed the ruling of his 2020 sentence for raping an actress, Jessica Mann, and sexually assaulting a production assistant, Mimi Haleyi.
The trial was due to begin in November, but has since been delayed.
Weinstein has appeared in court several times due to the proceedings, most recently in October, during which he arrived in a wheelchair, pale and visibly diminished.
Prosecutors in New York, meanwhile, have since charged him in a separate sexual assault case from 2006, to which Weinstein pleaded not guilty and attorneys requested a separate trial.
The next hearing in the case is set for January 29, during which a new trial date will be set for all charges.
Although Weinstein’s conviction in New York was overturned, he remains incarcerated for a separate 16-year prison sentenced issued in 2023 by a court in Los Angeles for additional rape and sexual assault charges.
In 2017, the allegations against Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement, a watershed moment for women fighting sexual misconduct.
More than 80 women accused him of harassment, sexual assault or rape, including prominent actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd.
Weinstein has claimed that any sexual relations in question were consensual.