UN chief meets Pakistan’s premier to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees following clampdown

UN chief meets Pakistan’s premier to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees following clampdown
In this photo released by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, left, meets with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 9, 2024.(AP)
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Updated 09 July 2024
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UN chief meets Pakistan’s premier to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees following clampdown

UN chief meets Pakistan’s premier to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees following clampdown
  • Pakistan PM asked for help from UNHCR to repatriate the refugees in “a safe and dignified” manner

ISLAMABAD: The head of the UN refugee agency met the Pakistani prime minister Tuesday to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees living in uncertainty since Islamabad began a persistent anti-migrant crackdown last year.
Pakistan has long hosted an estimated 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation. More than half a million others escaped Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, with thousands waiting in Pakistan for resettlement in the United States and elsewhere. Since the widely criticized clampdown started in November, an estimated 600,000 Afghans have returned home.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who arrived in Pakistan on Sunday, spent two days meeting Afghan refugees. He posted on social media platform X: “I spent time with Afghan refugees whose resourcefulness is testimony to their strength — and to Pakistan’s long hospitality.” Grandi added that his visit aimed to “discuss how we can best support both amidst growing challenges.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif told the UN refugee agency head that Afghan refugees were treated with “exemplary respect and dignity” despite facing multiple challenges, according to a statement released by his office Tuesday. Sharif also urged the international community to “recognize the burden being shouldered by Pakistan while hosting such a large refugee population and demonstrate collective responsibility.”
The prime minister also asked for help from UNHCR to repatriate the refugees in “a safe and dignified” manner.
Also on Tuesday, Grandi met with Asif Durrani, the country’s special representative for Afghanistan. Durrani wrote on X that the two sides “expressed readiness to find a durable solution to the Afghan refugee problem, including their repatriation”.
Since the crackdown, the neighboring Taliban-led government said it set up a commission to deal with repatriated nationals and has criticized Islamabad’s actions.
Pakistan has also faced a surge in militant attacks on security forces and civilians alike, mostly blamed on Pakistani Taliban — a separate militant group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban— straining the ties between the two countries.


France arrests 26 as South Asian migrant trafficking ring smashed

Updated 4 sec ago
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France arrests 26 as South Asian migrant trafficking ring smashed

France arrests 26 as South Asian migrant trafficking ring smashed
Traffickers are suspected of having smuggled several thousand people from India, Sri Lanka and Nepal
Authorities estimate the network generated several million euros in illegal profits

PARIS: French authorities arrested 26 people and seized 11 million euros ($12 million) as they smashed a migrant trafficking ring suspected of bringing several thousand people from South Asia into France, border police told AFP on Thursday.
Charging between 15,000 and 26,000 euros per person, the traffickers are suspected of having smuggled several thousand people from India, Sri Lanka and Nepal into France since September 2021, the force said.
Authorities estimate the network generated several million euros in illegal profits, which were laundered through construction companies, gold trafficking and informal transfers of money back to South Asia.
The arrests took place between March and November 2024, said Julien Gentile, director of the French border force at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.
“The smugglers facilitated migrants’ travel to the European Union via Dubai or African states, while providing them with illegally obtained tourist, work or medical visas,” said Gentile.
The head of the network is still at large, with France’s request for his extradition from Dubai yet to be agreed, according to the border force.
Of the 26 men arrested, 15 were placed in pre-trial detention with seven under judicial supervision.
The remaining four, who were recently arrested, were to be presented on Thursday to the investigating judge.
The 11 million euros’ worth of assets included properties, luxury cars, jewelry and gold.

Cellphone outage in Denmark causes widespread disruption and hits emergency services

Cellphone outage in Denmark causes widespread disruption and hits emergency services
Updated 6 min 22 sec ago
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Cellphone outage in Denmark causes widespread disruption and hits emergency services

Cellphone outage in Denmark causes widespread disruption and hits emergency services
  • The network provider, TDC Net, said in a press release Thursday afternoon that the problems were likely due to an update carried out in the past 24 hours
  • They had no reason to believe that disruptions could be due to cyberattacks

COPENHAGEN: One of Denmark’s largest cellphone networks suffered severe outages Thursday that prevented people from contacting emergency services, forced at least one hospital to reduce non-critical medical care, and prompted security services in some regions to patrol the streets in search of people in need of help.
The network provider, TDC Net, said in a press release Thursday afternoon that the problems were likely due to an update carried out in the past 24 hours and they had no reason to believe that disruptions could be due to cyberattacks.
TDC said later on Thursday that its operations had returned to normal and it was now investigating the cause of the outage.
Trains and buses in parts of the country also suffered delays due to signaling issues, with chaos in stations and people stuck on trains, Danish media reported.
The Center for Cyber Security, Denmark’s national IT security authority, and a branch of the Danish Defense Intelligence Service could not confirm if the two incidents were related.
TDC Net said Thursday evening it had implemented a fix that allowed customers to make calls, although with a reduced sound quality. The company urged customers needing to call 112, Europe’s emergency number, to remove the SIM card from their phone before placing the call.


Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign
Updated 28 November 2024
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Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign
  • Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices“
  • Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday sentenced a senior lawyer who had defended a jailed journalist in a high-profile case to seven years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive on social media.
Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices.”
Talantov was for many years president of the Udmurtia lawyer association and in 2021 was the defense lawyer for Ivan Safronov, a journalist covering military affairs whose arrest shook Russia’s media community.
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges.
A court in the Udmurt Republic found Talantov guilty of actions aimed at spreading hatred and of knowingly distributing “fake” information on the Russian army — charges made possible with a censorship law adopted shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.
In an emotional speech in court, Talantov said he feared he would not survive the prison term, but also stood by his convictions.
“I am 64 and it is hard for me to imagine that I will come out of prison alive,” Talantov said, according to an audio of the speech published by rights group Perviy Otdel.
Talantov has been in pre-trial detention for two and a half years and has spent two years in an isolation cell, saying the Russian national anthem blasts out there in the evening and at dawn, before a staunchly pro-Kremlin radio show is played.
“I am waiting for words of peace. They do not come,” he said.
He described his conditions as a “Middle-Ages cell with only a (toilet) hole and a tap,” saying “time kills a person” in isolation.
His voice breaking, he addressed his wife saying: “Olga, forgive me, I love you.”
According to a letter he sent to Perviy Otdel, Talantov was arrested while at his summer home in the summer of 2022.
More than 300 lawyers had signed a petition calling for his release at the time.


Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland
Updated 28 November 2024
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Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland
  • The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said
  • From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops

BERLIN: Germany has offered to re-deploy Patriot air defense systems to NATO ally Poland at the start of the new year, the German defense ministry said on Thursday.
The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said in a statement.
“With this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops together with three Patriot units to Poland.
They were based in the town Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.
The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November 2022, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.


Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons
Updated 28 November 2024
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Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons
  • Putin said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon

ASTANA: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would head off any attempt by Ukraine to acquire nuclear weapons and would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if such a scenario unfolded.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
Putin, speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb.”