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Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/23/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-reportedly-planning-north-gaza-siege

Taiwan’s crucial tech industry has been unwittingly drawn into Middle East politics after revelations that thousands of exploding pagers used to kill members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group were manufactured using the branding of a Taiwanese firm. Taiwanese tech company Gold Apollo on Wednesday denied that it had manufactured the AR-924 model pagers that exploded en masse in Lebanon, saying they had been made by a European company named BAC through a licensing deal. “According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC,” Gold Apollo said in a statement. “We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design manufacturing of this product,” the company added. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said it had no record of direct exports of the devices to Lebanon and that the pagers may have been modified after manufacturing. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times and Reuters news agency, citing unnamed officials, reported that Israeli authorities had placed small amounts of explosive material in the pagers before the detonations. Analysts in Taiwan expressed doubt that the Taiwanese government or Gold Apollo would have willingly participated in the apparent attack, which Lebanese authorities say killed nine people and wounded more than 2,700 others. Still, the incident draws unwelcome attention to Taiwan and its globally renowned tech industry, which produces the lion’s share of semiconductors used to power practically all electronics worldwide. Jhy-Chern Liu, a professor at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, said he was “shocked” at the news and that people on the island were concerned. “Even though Taiwan has been very close to the US in all aspects, I do not believe that any companies in Taiwan would be involved in a deadly plot like this, considering that Taiwan is an open society and a full democracy. Any hint of ideas like this is simply impossible and unthinkable,” Liu told Al Jazeera. “I do not think the Gold Apollo company would be so unprofessional or stupid to be involved …,” Liu added. While Taiwan is unlikely to have been directly involved, the incident nonetheless raises uncomfortable questions for Taiwan’s tech industry going forward, given its importance for global supply chains, said Yachi Chiang, a professor in tech law at National Taiwan Ocean University. “This incident will be a huge, critical lesson for the industry,” Chiang told Al Jazeera. “The Taiwan tech industry used to think they are only manufacturers of hardware, so they have nothing to do with politics, they are doing their own business. But not any more.” The revelations have also brought the fallout of the war in Gaza to Taiwan’s front door. Taiwan typically keeps its distance from global conflicts and geopolitical controversies except in cases involving China, whose government in Beijing claims the self-governing island as a province. Since the war in Gaza began in October, Taipei has stayed largely silent on the number of Palestinian deaths, although it did condemn Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. Taiwan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, which, like most countries, does not officially recognise Taipei, but they both have close ties with the US. While Taipei is one of the most diplomatically isolated governments in the world with just 12 formal allies, it punches above its weight in global influence thanks, in part, to its powerful tech industry. The island is home to TSMC, which manufactures about 90 percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips, which make up the backbone of Taiwan’s export-dominated economy. About two-thirds of Taiwan’s exports, which account for about 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), are classified as machinery and electronics, ranging from advanced iPhone chips to small components like the screws used in car engines. Besides cutting-edge tech, Taiwan’s factories also produce more antiquated technology such as pagers, which run on less advanced chips than smartphones. Taiwan’s economy is also dominated by small and medium enterprises such as Gold Apollo, which was founded in 1995 and specialises in pagers and small wireless communication devices used by restaurants and hotels. Chiang said the incident in Lebanon highlighted the need for Taiwanese tech companies to pay more attention to their supply chains, even as Taipei has signed onto initiatives like the US-led Clean Network to keep Chinese tech out of Western telecom infrastructure. Advertisement “You may recall the United States, they advocated for the Clean Network, clean infrastructure – this is because in each of the links of this whole supply chain, it could be the weakest link, but we don’t know which link that might be,” she said. “That’s why it’s necessary to have a whole clean network and whole clean infrastructure – you can see the necessity here.” In Taiwan, where the public is used to China’s threats to “reunify” with the island by force if deemed necessary, Tuesday’s attack also prompted questions about the island’s security. Some Taiwanese netizens wondered if pagers could be used in a similar attack by Chinese tech companies in the future. “What we should worry about is that the other side of the Taiwan Strait will follow the same pattern and attack us,” one user wrote on the popular Reddit-like message board PTT. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/9/18/taiwan-dragged-into-middle-east-politics-after-deadly-pager-blasts

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller has reiterated Washington’s “longstanding policy” denying support to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme through “sanctions and other tools” in its bid ensure its own national security. Miller, in a a press briefing on Tuesday, said it is committed to protect its financial system from being used by “proliferators”. Responding to a query regarding the recently imposed sanctions — considered “biased and politically motivated” by Islamabad, as per the journalist — the spokesperson acknowledged Pakistan’s position as a long-term partner of the US, but also emphasised on the disagreements between Islamabad and Washington. “… and when we have disagreements, we won’t hesitate to act on those to protect America’s interests,” he said, emphasising on the country’s policy to deny support to Pakistan’s missile programme. “… we will continue to use our sanctions and other – our other tools to ensure our national security cannot be – cannot be impacted, and that the US financial system cannot be used by proliferators,” said Miller. The statement comes days after the US imposed sanctions. Washington had similarly targeted three China-based companies with sanctions in October 2023 for supplying missile-applicable items to Pakistan. The Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry, according to Miller’s statement last week, had worked with Pakistan to procure equipment for testing rocket motors for the Shaheen-3 and Ababeel systems and potentially for larger systems. The sanctions also targeted China-based firms Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Co, Universal Enterprise, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co, alongside Pakistan-based Innovative Equipment and a Chinese national, for knowingly transferring equipment under missile technology restrictions, said Miller. In the briefing, the spokesperson also addressed a question pertaining to the “real reasons and concerns” that triggered the sanctions imposed on a Chinese research institute and several companies involved in supplying Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme. “So the United States is committed to strengthening the international nonproliferation regime by taking action against networks supporting activities of proliferation concern,” said the spokesperson. He added that the executive order action that was taken last week follows Washington October 2023 and April 2024 designation of six Chinese entities and one Belarusian entity that have worked to supply Pakistan’s missile programme as well as the listing of numerous Pakistani and third-country entities on the Department of Commerce Entity List for decades. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1231452-pakistan-s-ballistic-missile-programme-sanctions-part-of-longstanding-us-policy

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-injured-in-lebanon-pager-explosions

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board’s (IWMB) rescue centre has said that the condition of an injured female leopard, rescued from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), has deteriorated recently. The news of the injured leopard’s critical condition comes after doctors at the Islamabad Wildlife Rescue Center (IWRC) found four bullet wounds in the leopard’s body in an X-ray report. The doctors have managed to remove one bullet from the wild cat’s wounds while two remain stuck near the leopard’s spine and one near the chest. The injured leopard was rescued from a water channel in AJK’s Haveli area by wildlife guards from the Azad Kashmir Wildlife Department from on September 7. It was then handed her over to the IWMB for treatment at the board’s rescue center, called the Islamabad Wildlife Rescue Center (IWRC). At the time of the leopard’s rescue, the animal was unable to stand or move its hindlegs despite exhibiting no visible external wounds or bleeding, leading the team to suspect severe internal injuries. The rescue team had managed to secure the startled animal by placing a rope around its neck and then safely encaging it in a net. The rescue team was forced to use traditional methods to rescue the animal due to a lack of specialised equipment, such as a dart gun. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1229637-rescued-injured-female-leopards-condition-deteriorates-in-islamabad

Severe flooding in northeastern Nigeria has killed at least 30 people and affected more than one million others, the authorities have said. The collapse of the Alau dam on the Ngadda river in Borno State on Tuesday caused some of the state’s worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago, and prompted residents to flee their homes. The state government said on Wednesday that the dam was at capacity due to unusually high rains. Officials expected the death toll to rise. The current flooding comes nearly two years after Nigeria’s worst flooding in a decade killed more than 600 people across the country. Ezekiel Manzo, spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency, on Wednesday put the death toll at 30. “One million people have been affected so far,” said an aide for Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, adding that as efforts to document displaced people begin, that number could rise to nearly two million. The swirling waters partially destroyed a local zoo and several animals escaped. Mary Mamza, a Maiduguri resident, said people were afraid to leave their homes after an escaped crocodile was killed near her home. West Africa has experienced some of its worst flooding in decades. More than 2.3 million people have been affected so far this year, which is a threefold increase from last year, according to the United Nations. African nations are losing up to 5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, a new report said on Monday after one of the continent’s hottest years on record. The World Meteorological Organization said many African nations are spending up to 9 percent of their budgets for climate adaptation policies. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/9/12/floods-in-northeastern-nigeria-affect-1-million-people

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/12/israels-war-on-gaza-live-women-children-blown-to-pieces-in-school-raid

At least eight Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and 16 others injured in the early hours of Saturday (September 7) when Pakistani forces retaliated against unprovoked cross-border firing from Afghanistan’s Pilwasin area. According to Geo News, sources linked with border security personnel confirmed two “key commanders” of the Afghan Taliban, Khalil and Jan Muhammad, were killed in the exchange of fire. “Afghan Taliban opened fire towards Pakistani check-posts using advanced weaponry in Pilwasin on the morning of September 7.” Besides a spike in terrorist activities within the borders, Pakistan has witnessed a significant surge in cross-border attacks from the neighbouring country targetting security forces in recent months. pak afghan border firingPlay Video Islamabad has time again called on the interim Afghanistan government to prevent its land from being used by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant organisations for carrying out attacks against Pakistan. Earlier this year, the government introduced a major policy shift under a decision to stringently enforce international laws at its borders with Afghanistan, to restrict the influx of militants and smuggled goods into the country. Afghanistan does not recognise the Durand Line, the border between the two countries, arguing it was created by the British to divide ethnic Pashtuns. The 2,640-kilometre border was established in 1893 through an agreement between British-ruled India and Abdur Rahman Khan, then ruler of Afghanistan. Both countries share 18 crossing points, with Torkham and Chaman being the most frequently used for trade and movement of people. These crossings connect Balochistan province to Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. In 2017, Pakistan started fencing the border with Afghanistan to contain terrorist cross-border movement, a move condemned by Kabul. Last month, three Pakistani soldiers embraced martyrdom in a gun battle with terrorists who were trying to infiltrate Pakistan via the Afghanistan border near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) district Bajaur, the Inter-Service Public Relation (ISPR) said. “Own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate. Resultantly, five Khwarij of Fitna al Khwarij were sent to hell, while four Khwarij got injured,” the ISPR said. The nation has been reeling under rising violent attacks since the Taliban rulers returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. More recently, a series of deadly terror attacks hit Balochistan in a single day, which claimed the lives of 50 people, including 14 security personnel. In response to these attacks, security operations were intensified across the region. In 2023, there were at least 170 militant attacks killing 151 civilians and 114 security personnel in Balochistan, as per the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee’s recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1228327-eight-afghan-taliban-fighters-killed-in-retaliatory-fire-along-pak-afghan-border

Torrential rains have caused havoc, landslides and a bridge collapse, and swept a bus into a torrent. At least 59 people have been killed in Vietnam amid landslides and floods triggered by Typhoon Yagi, according to state media reports. The typhoon was Asia’s most powerful storm this year and made landfall on Vietnam’s northeastern coast on Saturday, after causing havoc in China and the Philippines. Among the victims were six people, including a newborn baby and a one-year-old boy, who were killed in a landslide in the Hoang Lien Son mountains of northwestern Vietnam. Their bodies were discovered on Sunday, a local official told the AFP news agency. Other victims included a family of four who were killed after heavy rain caused a hillside to collapse onto a house in mountainous Hoa Binh province in northern Vietnam, state media reported. On Monday morning, a passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province. Advertisement Rescuers were deployed, but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place. In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed. Reports said 10 cars and trucks, along with two motorbikes, fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to hospital, but 13 others were missing. The Vietnamese government said the storm disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong in the northeast. The weather agency on Monday warned of more floods and landslides, noting that rainfall had ranged between 208mm and 433mm (8.2 inches to 17 inches) in several parts of the region over the past 24 hours. “Floods and landslides are damaging the environment and threatening people’s lives,” the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said in a report. Yagi weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but several areas of the port city of Hai Phong were under half a metre (1.6 feet) of water and there was no electricity. At Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 70km (43 miles) up the coast from the city, the disaster management authority said 30 vessels sank after being pounded by strong wind and waves. The typhoon also damaged nearly 3,300 houses, and more than 120,000 hectares (296,500 acres) of crops in the north of the country, the authority said. Before arriving in Vietnam, Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others. Typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land for longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/9/at-least-24-dead-in-vietnam-after-typhoon-yagi-triggered-landslides-floods

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-school-year-starts-without-60000-gaza-students