Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv
A view shows a damaged police car at the site of a Russian missile strike in the village of Budy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine on Jul. 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 13 July 2024
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Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Two dead in Russian ‘double tap’ attack on town near Ukraine’s Kharkiv
  • Prosecutors said the mid-afternoon missile attack targeted the railway station in Budy, southwest of Kharkiv
  • After rescue teams arrived, a second missile hit the area, injuring 23 people

KYIV: Russian forces launched a “double tap” missile attack on Saturday on a small town near Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, killing two people, an emergency services official and a police officer, officials said.
Officials also reported two dead in Russian attacks on the Donetsk region to the southeast.
Prosecutors said the mid-afternoon missile attack targeted the railway station in Budy, southwest of Kharkiv. After rescue teams arrived, a second missile hit the area.
They said 23 people were injured in the incidents.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the head of the Kharkiv district emergency services was killed, along with a police officer from a rapid reaction unit. Among the injured were three emergency workers, a policeman and about 20 civilians.
Reuters could not verify independently the accounts and Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. But Russian forces have used the “double tap” tactic to devastating effect.
Kharkiv remained out of Russian hands in the initial advance of the Kremlin’s forces after the February 2022 invasion.
The city and surrounding area have since come under constant attack, though Ukrainian officials say the frequency has diminished since US supplies of weaponry to Ukraine resumed after a break of several months.
Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said an attack by multiple rocket launchers hit a multi-story apartment building in Chasiv Yar — a town targeted by Russian forces as a key staging point in moving forward through Ukraine’s east.
And a guided bomb killed one person near the town of Kurakhove, where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front.


US House Republicans say Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses

US House Republicans say Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses
Updated 58 min 57 sec ago
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US House Republicans say Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses

US House Republicans say Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses
  • A 291-page report by three House committees alleged that Biden profited from an influence-peddling scheme to enrich himself and members of his family

WASHINGTON: US House of Representatives Republicans issued a report on Monday alleging Democratic President Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses, but it was unclear whether they would push for a vote following a probe the White House has long dismissed as politically motivated.
A 291-page report by three House committees alleged that Biden profited from an influence-peddling scheme to enrich himself and members of his family through foreign business dealings beginning in 2014, when Biden was vice president.
“The committees present this information to the House of Representatives for its evaluation and consideration of appropriate next steps,” the report said.
It was not clear if Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson would schedule a vote to impeach Biden in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 election, in which Republican Donald Trump is locked in a tight battle with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Even if the Republican-controlled House were to pass such a measure, it would be unlikely to remove Biden from office, given that he would need to be convicted by a Senate controlled 51-49 by his own Democratic Party. Biden, who withdrew his own reelection bid last month, is due to leave office when his successor is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Democrats have disparaged the effort as retribution for Trump, who was impeached twice by a Democratic-controlled House and acquitted each time by the Senate. The first impeachment alleged that Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to help smear Biden in return for US aid.
A House impeachment against Biden’s top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, was put to a swift end by the Senate in April.
Johnson, in a statement, commended the committees’ work and said House Republicans “encourage all Americans to read this report.”
The House investigators say that Biden used his influence to benefit the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, with partners from Ukraine, China, Russia and other countries.
Hunter Biden has been convicted on charges that he lied about his illegal drug use to buy a gun and is awaiting trial on charges of tax evasion, including an allegation that he accepted payments from a Romanian businessman who sought to influence US government agencies in connection with a criminal probe in Romania.
The impeachment inquiry, which lawmakers formally authorized last December and has been carried out by the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways & Means Committees, has been criticized by members of both parties for failing to produce hard evidence of wrongdoing by Biden.


Philippines seeks collaboration with Arab countries to empower halal entrepreneurs

Philippines seeks collaboration with Arab countries to empower halal entrepreneurs
Updated 19 August 2024
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Philippines seeks collaboration with Arab countries to empower halal entrepreneurs

Philippines seeks collaboration with Arab countries to empower halal entrepreneurs
  • Philippines wants to position itself as an Asia-Pacific hub of the halal industry
  • Officials are hoping to start closer cooperation in the field with Saudi Arabia

MANILA: The Philippines is seeking to collaborate with Arab countries to empower Filipino entrepreneurs and further expand its local halal industry, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos told Arab News.

Muslims make up around 10 percent of the 120 million predominantly Catholic population of the Philippines, where the government has been looking to significantly expand the domestic halal industry.

Manila wants to raise 230 billion pesos ($4 billion) in investments and generate 120,000 jobs by 2028 by tapping into the global halal market, which is estimated to be worth more than $7 trillion.

The NCMF, a government agency whose mandate is to promote the rights and welfare of Muslim Filipinos, has been central in the nation’s efforts to ensure that halal products and initiatives developed in the country comply with Islamic regulations.

This year, as the agency established the Halal Division under its Bureau of Muslim Economic Affairs, officials are working on increasing collaboration with Arab countries to accelerate efforts in the Philippines’ ongoing halal drive.

“We are hoping that Arab countries like Saudi Arabia can also provide us training on how they (develop) their halal ecosystem, or they want to invest here to build a halal hub, that is in the picture. I think Saudi is a good country to start,” Hamdan Moslem, the bureau’s development management officer, told Arab News.

Hazrat Adnan Macabando, also a development management officer at the bureau, said that empowering Muslim Filipinos to learn more about the halal ecosystem is important as “halal includes almost everything — cosmetics, food, travel, fashion,” he said.

The Philippines has set big targets to expand its domestic industry and aims to position itself as an Asia-Pacific hub of the halal industry.

Last October, the Department of Trade and Industry announced that the Southeast Asian country is aspiring to become “the most halal-friendly trade and investment hub in the Asia Pacific region.”

The DTI then launched a strategic plan to develop the halal industry in January to strengthen domestic halal trade and export, facilitate more investment to generate jobs, and address halal integrity across the nation.

“As we prepare our country to be a halal gateway and destination in the Asia Pacific, we need to upskill our human resources through capacity-building and build more awareness,” Aleem Guiapal, DTI Halal Industry Development program manager, told Arab News.

“We will be more keen and aggressive both in promoting a halal-friendly Philippines in the domestic trade and facilitating economic missions abroad.”


Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan applies to be Oxford chancellor

Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan applies to be Oxford chancellor
Updated 19 August 2024
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Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan applies to be Oxford chancellor

Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan applies to be Oxford chancellor
  • Khan graduated from Oxford in 1975 after studying philosophy, politics, and economics
  • Khan was ousted in 2022 and then launched a comeback campaign in which he criticized Pakistan’s powerful military

Islamabad: Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has applied to become the next chancellor of Britain’s prestigious University of Oxford, his party said.
Khan, prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has just marked one year in prison on various charges from corruption to inciting violence that he said are politically motivated and designed to keep him from power.
“Imran Khan had given instructions that he would like to submit his application and now the application scrutiny will take place,” Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, the London-based spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told AFP.
“It’s a ceremonial post but one with utmost prestige and importance and Imran Khan, being one of the larger or more popular names coming out of Oxford, it would be brilliant to see him as chancellor,” he said.
Conservative peer Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, announced in February he was stepping down as Oxford chancellor.
The list of candidates for the 10-year term will not be made public until October, according to the university’s website, with voting taking place at the end of the month.
Khan graduated from Oxford in 1975 after studying philosophy, politics, and economics.
He led a playboy lifestyle during his career as one of Pakistan’s greatest cricket players, regularly gracing the pages of Britain’s gossip magazines.
Married three times, including to British socialite and filmmaker Jemima Goldsmith, he later turned to philanthropy and politics.
He faced a backlash from women’s rights groups while prime minister for linking Pakistan’s high rates of sexual violence to the clothes that women wear.
Khan was ousted in 2022 and then launched a comeback campaign in which he criticized Pakistan’s powerful military, whose leading generals had once backed him, and drew massive crowds onto the nation’s streets.
“If he does become the chancellor, he would be the first of Asian descent. It wouldn’t be something only for Pakistan, but it would be a great achievement for all of Asia and the rest of the world,” Bukhari said.
Other prominent applicants and Oxford alumni include former foreign secretary William Hague and former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, according to British media reports.


Jill Biden’s speech at convention honors President Biden and marks an end for the first lady, too

Jill Biden’s speech at convention honors President Biden and marks an end for the first lady, too
Updated 19 August 2024
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Jill Biden’s speech at convention honors President Biden and marks an end for the first lady, too

Jill Biden’s speech at convention honors President Biden and marks an end for the first lady, too

CHICAGO: Jill Biden once said that she knew marrying Joe Biden – then a senator from Delaware — would mean “a life in the spotlight that I had never wanted.”
On Monday night, now very accustomed to that spotlight, the first lady will stand before the Democratic National Convention to do her part to highlight her husband’s 50 years of public service as his presidency begins to draw to a close.
Her words will mark the beginning of an end for her, too.
Before the president walks across the stage at the United Center to deliver the keynote speech on the convention’s opening night, the first lady will use her address to speak to his character and reiterate her support for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a person familiar with the first lady’s remarks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a speech not yet delivered.
Jill Biden will urge Americans to unite with “faith in each other, hope for a brighter future, and love for our country,” said the person, quoting from the first lady’s prepared remarks.
President Biden endorsed Harris shortly after he dropped out of the presidential race in July, and she has succeeded him as the Democratic Party’s nominee.
In the weeks before Biden decided to leave the race, the first lady had declared that she was “all in” on her husband’s reelection plan, even as Democrats began calling on him to drop out following his disastrous performance in a debate against Republican Donald Trump on June 27.
Biden himself had brushed aside those calls, repeatedly insisting that he was staying in the race. His wife, one of his fiercest supporters and defenders, backed him up.
“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” the first lady told a crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina, on July 8. “That’s the decision that he’s made, and just as he has always supported my career, I am all in, too.”
Biden pulled the plug on his campaign on July 21.
The first night of the four-day Democratic convention was rearranged after Biden bowed out. Now it will honor his record of public service, including six terms as a US senator from Delaware, eight years as vice president and one four-year term as president.
Jill Biden was with her husband through it all and now both are figuring out what they want to accomplish in the time they have left in the White House.
During the remaining months of the administration, which ends in mid-January, aides say Jill Biden will continue work on her favored causes: supporting military families through her Joining Forces initiative, reducing cancer’s toll through the Biden Cancer Moonshot, advancing research into women’s health under an effort launched in November 2023, and increasing opportunities for education.
She is also expected to campaign for Harris this fall.
The first lady charted a new path for presidential spouses when she became the first to hold a paying job outside the White House. She is an English and writing professor at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught since 2009, and has been working on her lesson plans for the coming fall semester, aides said.
As first lady, Jill Biden traveled to over 40 states, over 200 towns and cities, and 19 countries, most recently leading a delegation to support Team USA at the Olympic Games in France.
She spent the first year of the administration traveling around the United States encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In 2022, she traveled to Ukraine after Russia’s military invasion to show US support for Ukrainians.


Concerns remain in UK despite fewer police strip-searches of children

Concerns remain in UK despite fewer police strip-searches of children
Updated 19 August 2024
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Concerns remain in UK despite fewer police strip-searches of children

Concerns remain in UK despite fewer police strip-searches of children
  • Officers carried out 457 such searches in the year to June 2023 — equivalent to one child every 19 hours

LONDON: Police across England and Wales are conducting fewer strip-searches of children but “concerning practices” remain, including a “widespread failure” to comply with safeguarding procedures, a new watchdog report said Monday.
Officers carried out 457 such searches in the year to June 2023 — equivalent to one child every 19 hours — children’s commissioner Rachel de Souza found in her latest assessment of the contentious practice.
She noted numbers in all of 2022 were 42 percent down on 2020, hailing “clear and positive change” in its use.
But de Souza warned that the strip-searches, which have been repeatedly criticized for disproportionately targeting black boys and lacking oversight, were still being overused and under-regulated.
Her report — the third within two years — found black children were still four times more likely to be strip-searched than the overall child population.
Meanwhile half of the 2022-23 cases resulted in no further action being taken, “calling into question the necessity of such an intrusive search in the first place,” she noted.
The commissioner has been focusing on the policy following the high-profile case of “Child Q.”
The 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by female officers in 2020 after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis, despite them being aware she was menstruating.
London’s Metropolitan Police apologized for their conduct two years later, and three officers face gross misconduct disciplinary charges following a police watchdog investigation.
In her latest assessment, de Souza said her “firm recommendation” was for strip-searches on children only to be used when “there is a clear and immediate danger to the child or others.”
“The majority of searches are still conducted on suspicion of drugs and... could be preventable,” she noted.
The commissioner added there was “an urgent need to strengthen guidance around strip-searches, ensure oversight and inspection, and reform a culture that has allowed non-compliance to go unchallenged.”
A strip-search is defined in England and Wales as one that exposes intimate parts.
Police can carry them out on children prior to arrest as well as following detention, if guidelines are followed.
They include officers acting in a sensitive, proportionate way and an appropriate adult being present.
The new Labour government has vowed to implement new safeguards proposed by the previous Conservative government to improve enforcement of the guidance.
An interior ministry spokeswoman said that “no child should ever be strip searched without an appropriate adult unless there is a risk of serious harm to themselves or others.”
“Whilst there have been improvements, it is clear standards are not always being followed as they should,” she added, noting it will “carefully consider” the commissioner’s recommendations.