Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/4/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-accused-of-ai-assisted-genocide-in-gaza

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) chief justice and seven judges have received “suspected anthrax-laced letters” with “threatening messages” just a day after the Supreme Court of Pakistan took suo motu notice over the allegations of the high court jurists against intelligence spy agencies. A police team comprising experts launched a thorough probe to collect facts and ascertain powdery substance after the eight IHC judges received “suspicious letters containing suspected anthrax powder along with a threatening message”, Geo News reported citing sources. The letter was sent by a woman namely Resham without mentioning her address, the sources said. They added that a staffer of a judge accidentally dropped the envelope containing the suspicious powdery substance and later he felt extreme irritation in eyes and burns on skin around his lips. Following the incident, Islamabad Inspector General (IG) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) police have been summoned to the Islamabad High Court. All suspicious letters have been handed over the police for further investigation. Subsequently, a case was lodged at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Police Station in the federal capital over complaint of a branch clerk Qadir Ahmed who received and dispatched the post. The development came just a day after the Supreme Court took suo motu notice and formed a seven-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to hear the matter after the six IHC judges blamed spy agencies for meddling in judicial affairs. The seven-member bench will hold the maiden hearing on the issue tomorrow (Wednesday). Apart from the CJP the bench also comprises Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mussarat Hilali, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. The explosive letter which surfaced last week triggered a crisis and the Supreme Court led by CJP Isa has been under pressure to hear the matter under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. Just a day earlier, over 300 lawyers belonging to different bar associations across the country lauded the judges’ and called upon the apex court to hear the matter under its suo motu jurisdictions. The IHC judges — Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz — wrote the letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), urging the body to convene a judicial convention over the alleged interference of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1174961-ihc-cj-among-eight-judges-receive-threatening-letters-containing-suspected-anthrax-powder

At least 29 people have been killed and one injured in a fire at a nightclub in central Istanbul during daytime renovation work, according to the office of the city’s governor. “The number of people who lost their lives in the fire … has increased to 29,” Governor Davut Gul’s office said in a statement on Tuesday. “One person hurt in the fire was still being treated in hospital,” it added. The fire broke out on Tuesday on the ground floor of a 16-storey building located in the residential Gayrettepe district. Television images showed flames and a column of thick smoke rising from upper storey windows. The fire began at 12:47 (09:47 GMT) and was brought under control by firefighters hours later, the governor’s office said. An investigation into the incident was launched, it said. Arrest warrants were issued for five people, including the management of the club and the person responsible for the renovations, state media reported. By late afternoon around 20 fire trucks and ambulances were still crowded around the building. “They were preparing for the Eid holiday, which will take place next week,” she said. Our correspondent said the number of deaths, which was initially lower, increased as people died after being transferred to the hospital for treatment. The Masquerade website said it would be closed from March 10 to April 10 “due to our new design renovation”. It can host up to 4,000 people with DJ performances and stage shows several times a week, it says. Authorities cut power, water and gas to the area and building residents were evacuated as a precaution. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/2/at-least-25-killed-in-fire-at-istanbul-nightclub

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-five-aid-workers-killed-after-delivering-food

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) have arrested multiple terrorists and facilitators for their involvement in the deadly suicide attack in Shangla’s Bisham city that killed multiple Chinese nationals, Geo News reported citing sources. The sources within CTD said that more than 10 terrorists and accomplices have been apprehended and that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-affiliated outfits are believed to be involved in the March 26 deadly attack. The attack, which saw a suicide bomber crashing his explosives-laden vehicle into the car carrying Chinese nationals, resulted in the deaths of five Chinese citizens, including a woman, and a Pakistani driver. Following the incident, the country’s civil and military leadership notably Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir condemned the attack vowing that the perpetrators responsible for the heinous attack would be brought to justice. Meanwhile, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at Rawalpindi’s Nur Khan Airbase and a 30-second silence was observed as bodies of the deceased Chinese nationals were airlifted back to China. Floral wreaths were laid on behalf of the president, prime minister, army chief, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. In the aftermath of the attack, Chinese companies overseeing operations at the sites of the Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha Dams, temporarily suspended the civil work at both sites owing to security concerns. Around 991 Chinese engineers were working on both projects, while the local staff has been told to stay at home till further instructions, an official working on the project confirmed to the publication. Last week, a Chinese investigation team has also arrived in Pakistan to investigate the incident after China’s military expressed its willingness to work with Pakistan to enhance the capability of the two countries to tackle various security risks and challenges including terrorist attacks The CTD sources say that the terrorist commander, responsible for bringing the suicide bomber to Pakistan from Afghanistan, has also been arrested as well as four other facilitators. Furthermore, the investigation has revealed that the explosive-laden vehicle used in the deadly attack was prepared in Afghanistan and was subsequently transported to Dera Ismail Khan’s Darazinda via the Pak-Afghan Chaman border crossing in Balochistan. From there, the vehicle was transported to Chakdara in Lower Dir — via a smuggler of non-custom paid vehicles — for which the driver was paid Rs250,000. However, security forces have also arrested the facilitator responsible for transporting the vehicle from Chaman to Chakdara. Investigation team sources say that the car was then brought to the incident site on the day of the attack after being parked for 10 days at the cost of Rs500 per day. The mastermind of the attack, Hazrat Bilal, is also wanted by the security forces for his involvement in the Dasu dam attack, the sources added. With two accomplices of the suicide bomber already in custody, CTD expects that it will soon arrest Bilal as well. The arrests, as per the CTD sources, have been made by utilising the mobile and SIM data of the suicide bomber which he had procured through a third person. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1174552-terrorists-facilitators-behind-deadly-shangla-attack-arrested

Eight Chinese migrants have been found dead on the coast of southern Mexico, authorities said, after their boat capsized along a popular but perilous route for illegally entering the United States. The bodies of the seven women and one man were discovered Friday on a beach in San Francisco del Mar, Oaxaca, the state’s prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Treacherous boat rides up the coast of Mexico are often used by migrants hoping to cross into the US in an attempt to bypass checkpoints on closely monitored land routes. The Oaxaca prosecutor’s office said the migrants had traveled on a boat operated by a Mexican man, which set off Thursday from Tapachula, Chiapas state, near the Guatemala border. One Chinese man survived the trip, the statement said. It did not explain what happened to the boat’s operator. The prosecutor’s office said it was working with federal agencies to investigate the incident and the Chinese embassy in Mexico to identify the bodies. CNN has reached out to the Chinese embassy in Mexico for comment. The number of Chinese migrants illegally entering the US from Mexico has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2023, more than 37,000 Chinese citizens were picked up by law enforcement crossing illegally into the US from Mexico, US government data shows – compared with an average of roughly 1,500 per year over the preceding decade. And though still dwarfed in number by migrants from regional neighbors like Mexico, Venezuela and Guatemala, Chinese people are on track to be the fastest growing group making those crossings, according to a CNN analysis earlier this year of law enforcement data. A dangerous but popular route A Chinese migrant who arrived in the US via the ocean route in late 2022 told CNN that her boat almost capsized at sea after departing from Tapachula under the cover of darkness. Iris Wang, 35, said she chose to take the boat to reach Oaxaca instead of the bus to avoid running into police on the road, without fully anticipating the danger. “Those few hours were a nightmare that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. It was too terrifying,” she said. Wang said she and more than three dozen migrants were crammed into a boat roughly the size of two sedans. The vessel was so crowded that they had to sit with their legs crossed and couldn’t move at all. The boat departed after midnight and immediately ran into a fierce storm in the pitch-black ocean. “We were all shaken with fear. The waves were so high that we were repeatedly thrust into the air, all intertwined together, before falling to hit the bottom of the boat with a loud, painful bang. If it was a little higher, we would have been knocked out of the boat,” she said. “I kept shaking and crying, and I silently chanted in my mind: I can’t die like this.” Looking back at the journey, Wang said she felt incredibly lucky to have survived. “I never want to see the sea at night again,” she said. The influx of Chinese migrants spotlights the urgency many now feel to leave their homeland, even amid what Chinese leader Xi Jinping has claimed is a “national rejuvenation.” Many Chinese who left the country point to a struggle to survive. Three years of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions left people across China out of work – and disillusioned with the ruling Communist Party’s increasingly tight grip on all aspects of life under Xi. And hope that business would fully rebound once restrictions ended a year ago has vanished, with China’s once envious economic growth stuttering. Other migrants nod to restrictions on personal life in China, where Xi has overseen a sweeping crackdown on free speech, civil society and religion in the country of 1.4 billion.Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/01/americas/mexico-coast-eight-chinese-migrants-found-dead-intl-hnk/index.html

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/1/israels-war-on-gaza-live-twenty-one-al-shifa-patients-have-died-amid-siege-who

US President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to stand by Pakistan’s new government in taking on challenges facing the country and the region, in a sign of thawing of relations that had gone cold after the cipher controversy stirred up the Imran Khan-led government. Biden expressed these views in first dimplomatic outreach to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The US commander-in-chief in his letter emphasised the importance of the partnership between the two nations in ensuring regional and global security. Furthermore, Biden underscored shared priorities in areas such as public health, economic development, and education, affirming a commitment to advancing together.  He also expressed Washington’s desire to strengthen the alliance with Pakistan, particularly through initiatives like the US-Pakistan Green Alliance Framework aimed at environmental improvement. “The enduring partnership between our nations remains critical to ensuring the security of our people — and people around the world — and the United States will continue to stand with Pakistan to tackle the most pressing global and regional challenges of our time,” Biden wrote in the letter. “That includes advancing our shared vision for a future of greater health security, economic growth, and access to education for all.” “Through our US-Pakistan “Green Alliance” framework, we will also continue to strengthen our climate resilience, support sustainable agriculture and water management, and assist with Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating floods in 2022,” he added. Referring to the aftermath of the devastating floods in 2022, the US president doubled down on the commitment to support Islamabad in recovery efforts, as well as initiatives related to water management and agricultural development. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1173613-in-first-letter-biden-says-us-not-to-leave-pakistan-alone-in-face-of-global-regional-challenges

One year after the start of the war in Sudan, children are dying of hunger and sick people are not buying medicine so that they can afford food as the population slips towards famine. In mid-April last year, a rivalry between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamad Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo broke into open conflict. Since then, the fighting and significant destruction, paired with much lower agricultural production, have sent food prices soaring and made it extremely hard to find enough to eat. “Civilians are dying in silence,” said Mukhtar Atif, a spokesperson for the “emergency response rooms” (ERRs), a volunteer network helping civilians across the country. Atif’s network provides a single meal a day to about 45,000 people out of about 70 community kitchens in Khartoum North, one of the three cities of the national capital region. The ERRs are a lifeline for thousands across Sudan, but their access is limited at times and they rely on donations, most of which come via mobile banking apps, impossible to use since a near-total communication outage began in February. Without it, hundreds of kitchens were forced to close, and the queues got even longer at the few still functioning, people standing for hours for little more than a pot of fuul, a traditional dish of stewed fava beans. While battles mostly centred in Khartoum in the beginning, they spread outwards as each of the parties consolidated power in the areas it controlled. The fighting has severely restricted the regular movement of food and aid convoys, and the hunger crisis in Sudan has deepened. Nearly 25 million people – half Sudan’s population – need aid, the UN has estimated. The conflict has forced more than eight million people to flee their homes, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. A UN source, who asked that their name be withheld due to the subject’s sensitivity, said both warring sides are posing obstacles, trying to prevent food from getting to areas controlled by their rival. The army has imposed bureaucratic hurdles: An aid convoy in Port Sudan, under the control of the army, needs five different stamps before being able to move to reach civilians in need – a process that can take from days to weeks, the source said. In January, more than 70 trucks were left waiting for clearance for more than two weeks. Al Jazeera reached out to an army representative to ask whether it prevented aid from reaching areas under RSF’s control. By the time of publication, the army had not replied. Where the paramilitaries hold sway, the RSF’s command and control structures make it challenging to facilitate access on the ground, due to a lack of communication between those on the ground and higher-up officials within the RSF. More than 70 aid trucks have been stuck in North Kordofan state since October, the source said, in an area the army controls but surrounded by RSF. The convoy cannot leave unless their safe passage is guaranteed through some form of taxation, be it money, goods or fuel. RSF spokesperson, Abdel Rahman al-Jaali, did not respond to written questions about whether his forces are profiteering from aid convoys as alleged.Play Video Connectivity and desperation The food crisis has been compounded by the nearly two-month mobile network shutdown, which has also cut people off from remittances sent by relatives overseas, a critical lifeline for many that they have been using to receive via mobile banking apps. Over the past three weeks, Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communication service has offered rare moments of connectivity. But even that has become a business: In some areas, people have to pay up to 4,000 Sudanese pounds ($6.60) to connect for 10 minutes. Without cash, people have begun resorting to extreme mechanisms to put food on the table. Parents are skipping meals for their children, selling their last possessions, begging for money or diverting money from medicine to food, WFP officials and activists on the ground said. Dallia Abdelmoniem, a political commentator working in policy and advocacy for Sudanese think tank Fikra, received reports of women forced to exchange sex for food or become mistresses to RSF fighters to ensure their families’ safety and access to food. A second activist who has been working with female victims of gender-based violence in Sudan said survival sex has emerged as a “common trend”. In tandem with the hunger crisis is the collapse of the healthcare system. Each week, two or three children die of hunger at the Al-Baluk Hospital, the only remaining functioning paediatric health facility in the capital, Khartoum, according to a Lancet report on March 16. UK charity Save the Children said 230,000 children, pregnant women and new mothers could die in the coming months due to hunger.Play Video Video Duration 03 minutes 10 seconds03:10 A bleak forecast All these factors have paved the way for a humanitarian catastrophe, experts and aid groups have warned, as May’s lean season – when food stores are depleted and prices are at their highest – approaches. But food monitoring groups and UN agencies have warned that the season has already begun, as fighting has forced farmers to abandon their land. Sudan’s cereal production in 2023 was nearly halved, according to a report published last week by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The sharpest reductions were reported where conflict was most intense, including the greater Kordofan state and regions in Darfur where FAO estimated production was 80 percent below average. Nearly five million people are one step away from famine, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). Another 18 million people face acute food insecurity, a threefold increase since 2019, WFP data shows. In December, the RSF captured Gezira state – a hub for trade and humanitarian operations and Sudan’s breadbasket that used to produce nearly half the country’s wheat and stock nearly all of its grain. “We are expecting the situation to deteriorate with a real possibility to see hunger at catastrophic

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah