Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in Poland on the first leg of his two-nation visit during which he will also travel to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and share perspectives with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict. Prime Minister Modi's visit to Poland is the first trip by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in the past 45 years. During his stay in Poland, Modi will meet President Andrzej Sebastian Duda and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. "My visit to Poland comes as we mark 70 years of our diplomatic relations. Poland is a key economic partner in Central Europe," he said. "Our mutual commitment to democracy and pluralism further reinforces our relationship. I look forward to meeting my friend Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda to further advance our partnership," Modi said in his departure statement earlier today. "I will also engage with the members of the vibrant Indian community in Poland," Modi said. Prime Minister Modi's discussions with the Polish leadership during his two-day visit will allow the two sides to exchange views at the top level on a variety of subjects and it will be a kind of real "useful exchange" of views, Indian Ambassador to Poland Nagma Mohamed Mallick told PTI Videos. From Warsaw, Modi will travel to Kyiv on the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since the country became independent in 1991. "From Poland, I will be visiting Ukraine at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This is the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine," he said. "I look forward to the opportunity to build upon earlier conversations with President Zelenskyy on strengthening bilateral cooperation and share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict," he said. "As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region," he added. Modi said he was confident that his visit to Warsaw and Kyiv "will serve as a natural continuation of extensive contacts with the two countries and help create the foundation for stronger and more vibrant relations in the years ahead". The prime minister will travel to Kyiv from Poland in a 'Rail Force One' train that will take around 10 hours. The return trip will also be of the same duration. Modi's visit to Kyiv comes nearly six weeks after his high-profile trip to Moscow which triggered criticism from the US and some of its Western allies. India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has been calling for resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 05:57 PM IST | Warsaw | PTIA case was filed on Wednesday against Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 86 others on charge of attacking a procession in Sylhet city which left several people shot and injured during the recent mass protests on August 4, taking the number of cases against her after her ouster to 33. Juber Ahmed, acting president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's Sylhet city unit, filed the case with the court of Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Suman Bhuiya.Hasina's sister Sheikh Rehana is also an accused in the case. According to the case statement, the accused attacked a peaceful rally, brought out by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its associate organisations in Sylhet City's Bandarbazar area on August 4, which left several shot and injured, The Daily Star newspaper said. Awami League's general secretary and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former foreign minister Hasan Mahmud, former law minister Anisur Rahman, and former advisor to the prime minister Salman F Rahman were among people named in the case. With this case, Hasina is now facing 33 cases against her, including 27 for murder, four for crimes against humanity and genocide, and one for abduction, the paper said. Hasina fled to India on August 5 after resigning from her post amidst unprecedented anti-government student-led protests. The Hasina-led government was replaced by an interim government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser. Bangladesh's interim government has said it will try those involved in the killings during the recent mass movement of the students against the Hasina-led government in the International Crimes Tribunal. Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students against a controversial quota system in government jobs first started in mid-July. On Tuesday, she along with five other was implicated in a case lodged over the murder of private company employee Firoj Talukder in indiscriminate shooting from a helicopter by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) during recent anti-discrimination students' movement. Earlier Hasina, her son Sajeeb, daughter Saima and sister Rehana and 17 others were sued in a case filed over the killing of a fruit seller in the capital's Jatrabari on August 5. The victim's father, Sultan Miah, filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shakil Ahmed. Another case was filed against Hasina and 49 others over the death of Md Omar Faruque, a student of Kabi Nazrul Government College, at Laxmibazar of Sutrapur on July 19. Hasina and 24 others were sued for the death of 18-year-old garment worker Sohel Rana in the city's Adabor area on August 5. In Savar, Hasina and 75 Awami League men were sued over the murder of a barber shop worker on August 5. In Narayanganj, a case was filed against Hasina, seven former ministers and lawmakers and 179 others for killing a bus helper in the Kanchpur area of Sonargaon upazila. In Rangpur, Hasina, her sister and 49 were sued over the killing of a vegetable trader during the quota reform movement on July 19. In Joypurhat, a murder case has been filed against Hasina along with 216 others in connection with the death of an auto driver in front of a police station on August 5. In Bogura, Hasina and Obaidul Quader have been sued for the murder of a rickshaw puller on August 4. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 04:29 PM IST | Dhaka | PTIMasked police officers in Romania carried out fresh raids early Wednesday at the home of divisive internet influencer Andrew Tate, who is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. Romania's anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said it was searching four homes in the counties of Bucharest and nearby Ilfov, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. The agency added that hearings will later be held at its headquarters. Tate's spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said in response to the raids that although the charges in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering and added that his legal team is present. Petrescu did not address the allegations involving minors. Dozens of police officers and forensic personnel were scouring Tate's large property on the edge of the capital Bucharest. During the entire criminal process, the investigated persons benefit from the procedural rights and guarantees provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as the presumption of innocence, DIICOT noted in its statement. The 37-year-old Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, 36, both former kickboxers and dual British-US citizens who have both amassed millions of social media followers, were arrested in 2022 near Bucharest along with two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four last year. They have denied the allegations. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors' case file against the four met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors' evidence and case file. After the Tate brothers' arrest in 2022, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to the Bucharest and Ilfov counties, and later to all of Romania. Last month, a court overturned an earlier decision that allowed the Tate brothers to leave Romania as they await trial. The earlier court ruled on July 5 that they could leave the country as long as they remained within the 27-member European Union. The decision was final. Andrew Tate, who is known for expressing misogynistic views online and has amassed 9.9 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various social media platforms for misogynistic views and hate speech. In March, the Tate brothers also appeared at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case, after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a UK case dating back to 2012-2015. The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the the Tates to the UK, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 01:50 PM IST | Bucharest | APUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without securing a cease-fire deal, warning on Tuesday that 'time is of the essence' even as Hamas and Israel signalled that challenges remain. After meetings in fellow mediating countries Egypt and Qatar, Blinken said that because Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge gaps with the militant group, the focus turns to doing everything possible to 'get Hamas on board' and ensure both sides agree to key details on implementation. 'Our message is simple. It's clear and it's urgent," he told reporters before leaving Qatar. "We need to get a cease-fire and hostage agreement over the finish line, and we need to do it now. Time is of the essence.' There has been added urgency to reach a deal after the recent targeted killings of militant leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah in Iran and Lebanon, both attributed to Israel, and vows of retaliation that have sparked fears of a wider regional war. Few details have been released about the so-called bridging proposal put forth by the US, Egypt and Qatar. Blinken said it is 'very clear on the schedule and the locations of (Israeli military) withdrawals from Gaza.' Hamas earlier Tuesday called the latest proposal a reversal of what it had agreed to, accusing the US of acquiescing to new conditions from Israel. There was no immediate US response to that. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, met with right-wing groups of families of fallen soldiers and hostages in Gaza. The groups, which oppose a cease-fire deal, said Netanyahu told them Israel will not abandon two strategic corridors in Gaza whose control has been an obstacle in the talks. Netanyahu's office did not comment on their account. A senior U.S. official rejected as 'totally untrue' that Netanyahu had told Blinken that Israel would never leave the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors. Such statements are 'not constructive to getting a cease-fire deal across the finish line,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Blinken's private diplomatic talks. Blinken's meetings in Egypt, which borders Gaza, and in Qatar, which hosts some Hamas leaders in exile, came a day after he met Netanyahu. Wide gaps appeared to remain between Israel and Hamas, though angry statements often serve as pressure tactics during negotiations. Netanyahu's meeting with the families came as Israel's military said it recovered the bodies of six hostages taken in Hamas' October 7 attack that started the war, bringing fresh grief for many Israelis who have long pressed Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire that would bring remaining hostages home. New protests were held Tuesday. 'The longer they're there, the more body bags we get,' said one protester, Adi Israeli, in Tel Aviv. Israel's military said it recovered the six bodies in an overnight operation in southern Gaza, saying they were killed when troops were operating in Khan Younis. Hamas says some captives have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, though returning hostages have talked about difficult conditions, including lack of food or medications. The recovery of the remains also is a blow to Hamas, which hopes to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal and a lasting cease-fire. The military said it had identified the remains of Chaim Perry, 80; Yoram Metzger, 80; Avraham Munder, 79; Alexander Dancyg, 76; Nadav Popplewell, 51; and Yagev Buchshtav, 35. Kibbutz Nir Oz, the farming community where Munder was among around 80 residents seized, said he died after "months of physical and mental torture.' Israeli authorities previously determined the other five were dead. Hamas is still believed to be holding around 110 hostages captured during the October 7 attacks, when militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israeli authorities estimate around a third are dead. Over 100 other hostages were released during last year's cease-fire in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, often multiple times. An Israeli airstrike Tuesday killed at least 12 people at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City. The Palestinian Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run government, said around 700 people had been sheltering at the Mustafa Hafez school. Israel's military said the strike targeted Hamas militants who had set up a command center there. 'We don't know where to go ' or where to shelter our children,' said Um Khalil Abu Agwa, a displaced woman. An Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah hit people walking down the street and seven were killed, including a woman and two children, according to an Associated Press journalist who counted the bodies. Another airstrike in central Gaza killed five children and their mother, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where an AP journalist counted the bodies. Palestinians displaced by recent Israeli evacuation orders crowded into already teeming areas. One child in Deir al-Balah slept on cardboard as insects flew around his face. 'Are they going to dig the ground and dump us there, or put us on a boat and throw us in the sea? I don't know,' said one man, Abu Shady Afana. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 08:56 AM IST | Jerusalem | APA small plane crashed in a West Texas neighbourhood Tuesday, killing the pilot and a passenger and setting off a large fire on the ground that injured a woman, authorities said. Witnesses said the plane struggled to gain altitude after taking off from an Odessa airport and then struck a power line before crashing in an alley at about 7 am, according to authorities. Both people aboard the plane died. 'It's obvious the pilot attempted to avoid the houses,' Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said. The large fire on the ground came after a couple of explosions after the plane crash, he said. In addition to a couple of mobile homes, some outbuildings in backyards also caught on fire, said Odessa Fire Rescue Chief Jason Cotton. The woman who was injured had to be rescued from one of the burning mobile homes and was taken to a hospital, he said. There was also damage to vehicles, fences and a restaurant in the city of about 114,000. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified the pilot as Joseph Vincent Summa, 48, of the Houston suburb of Bellaire, and the passenger as Joleen Cavaretta Weatherly, 49, of Orange, which is east of Houston. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a Cessna Citation business jet. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 08:46 AM IST | Odessa | APTaiwan’s military launched surface-to-air missiles in live-fire drills conducted Tuesday in response to growing military pressure from China. The exercises took place at the Jiupeng Military Base in a remote area in southern Taiwan. Among the missiles launched were Taiwan’s domestically made Sky Bow III anti-ballistic missiles along with the U.S.-made Patriot PAC II and surface-to-air Standard missiles. China claims the democratically ruled island of Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary and ramped up its military threat in recent years. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 07:40 AM IST | Jiupeng | AgenciesPolice divers resumed searching Tuesday for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, believed trapped some 50 meters (164 feet) underwater in the hull of a superyacht that sank in a storm off Sicily. Divers in wetsuits and oxygen tanks returned to the site off Porticello, near Palermo, to tag-team in 12-minute underwater search shifts where the luxury sailboat went down. Fire rescue crews reported that divers only made it to the bridge during a first search, and were unable to access the below-deck cabins because they were blocked by furniture that had shifted during the violent storm that toppled the vessel early Monday. Fifteen people survived, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her. One body has been recovered, identified as the on-board chef, officials said. The Bayesian, a 56-metre (184-foot) British-flagged luxury yacht, had been moored about a half-mile off Ponticello when a storm rolled in around 4 a.m. Monday. Who is Mike Lynch? Tech tycoon Mike Lynch, one of six people missing from a sunken yacht off Sicily, had been trying to move past a Silicon Valley debacle that had tarnished his legacy as an icon of British ingenuity. Lynch, 59, struck gold when he sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. But the deal quickly turned into an albatross for him after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale. He was fired by HP and was later extradited from the UK. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 07:38 AM IST | Porticello | AgenciesThe Philippines has agreed to a request by the United States to temporarily host a US immigrant visa processing centre for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America, the treaty allies announced on Tuesday. The Philippines government’s approval of the request, which initially faced local concerns over potential security and legal issues, reflects how relations between Manila and Washington have deepened under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said the agreement was undergoing final domestic procedures and needs to be finally ratified by Marcos before it takes effect. A senior Philippine official said only 150-300 applicants would be accommodated under the deal. The US Department of Foreign Affairs said the US government will bear the costs for the stay of the Afghan nationals. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 07:35 AM IST | Manila | AgenciesRussian authorities struggled Tuesday to put out a massive fire in the southern Rostov region for a third consecutive day after an oil depot was hit by Ukrainian drones as Ukrainian forces push into Russia’s Kursk region. The fire at the depot in the town of Proletarsk burned across an area of 10,000 square metres, according to Russian state news agencies. There are 500 firefighters involved in the operation, and 41 of them already have been hospitalised with injuries, according to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, citing local officials. Ukraine’s Army General Staff claimed responsibility Sunday for attacking the oil depot, which was used to supply the needs of Russia’s army, calling it a measure “to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian Federation.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 07:33 AM IST | Kyiv | AgenciesThe Israeli military said Tuesday that it recovered the bodies of six hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that started the war in Gaza, as US and Arab mediators tried to advance an agreement to halt the fighting and release scores of other militant-held captives. The military said its forces recovered the bodies in an overnight operation in southern Gaza, without saying when or how the six died. A forum for hostage families said they were kidnapped alive. Hamas says some captives have been killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes. The recovery is a blow to Hamas, which hopes to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting cease-fire. But it was also likely to increase pressure on Israel’s government to reach a deal to release dozens of hostages who are still believed to be alive. Hamas is still believed to be holding around 110 hostages captured in the October 7 attack. Israeli authorities estimate around a third of them are dead. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his ninth visit to the region since the start of the war, said Monday that Netanyahu has accepted a proposal to bridge gaps in the cease-fire talks, which have dragged on for months, and called on Hamas to do the same. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 August,2024 07:30 AM IST | Jerusalem | Agencies'This is New Bangladesh' -- screams one of the graffiti spray-painted on the gates of an official bungalow in the Dhaka University area -- one of the hotbeds of the recent anti-government protests in Bangladesh. Another mural carries the slogan 'Long Live the Resistance' with images of the country's national flag and human hands painted on the wall. For the very few non-Bangladeshi nationals in the capital city here, these artworks invite both a sense of curiosity and intrigue, while some of the university students PTI spoke to claim that these were made by "a group of fine arts students of the Dhaka University in the last few days". The murals look fresh with glowing and vibrant paints but they all carry a poignant message written mostly in Bengali, and some of these mock the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina who on August 5 resigned and fled to India after unprecedented anti-government protests. "These murals and artworks were made by some of the students of the fine arts department at DU (Dhaka University). This is to memorialise the struggle of the students and others in bringing a change of regime and hopefully, the system ahead, as also to inspire others," Abdur Rahman, a Dhaka University student, told PTI here. A native of the historic Comilla district of Bangladesh, about 100 km from Dhaka, Rahman is currently a first-year undergraduate student in the English Department of the 103-year-old university that is no stranger to mass protests historically. The public square facing the TSC (Teacher Student Centre) of the university has the famous 'Anti-Terrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture' opened in 1997 where many students gather these days to raise voices for their two principal demands --"no political interference in University and Dhaka University Students Union's election be held as soon as possible". As one moves towards the road leading to the Shaheed Minar -- a monument dedicated to the Bengali language movement in the country -- located in the Dhaka University area, walls on both sides burn bright with thematic murals, some of them being giant ones which catch the eyes of passersby. Some stop by to click pictures or take selfies for memories. Several hundreds of people have been killed in the protests in Bangladesh, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of jobs in civil services, and injuries suffered in its aftermath. The fall of the Hasina government after sustained protests has been described by many Bangladeshis as the 'Second Independence of Bangladesh', or the birth of a 'New Bangladesh' or 'Notun Bangladesh' (in Bengali). Dhaka or Dacca as it was called during the British rule served as an important city in the Bengal Presidency of undivided India and then as the capital of East Pakistan from 1947-1971 after the Partition. Bangladesh was born in 1971 when Mukti-jodhas and Indian troops fought shoulder-to-shoulder against the Pakistani forces resulting in the birth of a new nation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as its first president. Much of the legacy of 'Bangabandhu' as he was called, is under attack at present following the protests, his towering statue in Dhaka toppled on August 5, while his old murals were being defaced across the city. Many of the new murals in the Dhaka University area, mention the date '36 July', a rather quirky coinage by local protesters to describe 'August 5'. '36 July We Will Never Forget We Will Never Forgive' -- reads another mural. "The protests ran through July month which has 31 days, and the 'victory' was achieved on August 5 with the fall of a 'corrupt and dictatorial government'. But, they wanted to memorialise July, so an extra 'five days' were added symbolically to call it 'July 36' (instead of August 5). The bloody month got 'extended', and so these artworks are in a nod to that sentiment and to honour those killed," Rahman said. An interim government has come, but one will have to see when fresh elections are held, said Md Rifat Hossain, 21, a first-year undergraduate student of economics at Dhaka University. An interim government with Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus as the Chief Adviser was sworn in on August 8 following the dissolution of the Parliament, a decision prompted by a demand by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. As Bangladesh awaits the next election and the new government, these painted walls of Dhaka will perhaps serve as an artistic reminder of the churn the country went through for the desired change. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
20 August,2024 04:41 PM IST | Dhaka | PTIADVERTISEMENT
