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Islamabad, PakistanCNN —  Police in eastern Pakistan have smashed an illegal organ harvesting ring, arresting eight people for surgically removing kidneys from hundreds of patients for wealthy people needing a transplant, authorities said Monday. The alleged gang leader, identified as “Dr Fawad,” is accused of conducting 328 operations on people to remove their kidney and selling them to clients for up to 10 million Pakistani rupees ($34,000) each, said Mohsin Naqvi, the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Fawad was allegedly assisted in the operations by an unnamed car mechanic who administered the anesthesia, Naqvi said. The chief minister said the gang lured patients from hospitals and performed the operations privately in the region of Taxila, the city of Lahore and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. “They were able to do this in Kashmir because there is no law regarding kidney transplant, so it was easier for them to carry out the operations there,” Naqvi said. Three deaths have so far been confirmed, according to the chief minister, but authorities were still confirming the data. “There must be more operations that must have been carried out, the number is the only ones we’ve confirmed,” he added. Fawad had previously been arrested five times but was released on each occasion and was able to resume his operations, Naqvi said. Some of the patients whose organs were harvested did not know their kidney was removed, he added. Police spent almost two months investigating the case after a man came forward saying he was convinced by one of the alleged gang members to get medical treatment done privately. US government announces plan to overhaul organ transplant system Later, when he went to another doctor for further treatment, he was told he didn’t have a kidney, according to the chief minister. Naqvi said he is working with the Inspector General of Police of Punjab to strengthen the country’s cyber laws so adverts for such illegal kidney transplants are banned online. “Our entire focus is to track other gangs who are operating like this,” he said. Pakistan made the commercial trade of human organs illegal in 2007 and a strengthened law in 2010 made the harvesting and trafficking of organs punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a 1 million rupee ($3,400) fine. Before the legislation, the country was a center for the organ trade for foreigners and wealthy Pakistanis in search of a transplant, and the buying and selling of kidneys was a regular practice, with some impoverished Pakistanis selling their kidneys in order to survive. But the practice has continued and local media have reported that illegal kidney transplants have made a comeback in recent years. Source:https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/03/asia/pakistan-kidney-trafficking-ring-intl-hnk/index.html

MEXICO-At least 10 people were killed and two people seriously injured on Sunday night after the roof of a church in northern Mexico collapsed, officials said. Preliminary reports indicate that about 100 people were inside the building in Ciudad Madero at the time of the incident, according to a statement from security services in the state of Tamaulipas. Thirty people were believed to be buried in the rubble, Reuters reported. At least 60 people were injured, with two people sustaining serious injuries, Tamaulipas security spokesperson said. Units from the National Guard, State Guard, Civil Protection and the Red Cross were assisting in the rescue operation. Bishop Jose Armando Alvarez, from the diocese of Tampico, said the roof of the church collapsed while worshipers were taking communion, Reuters reported. He urged other members of the community to pray for survivors. “In this moment the necessary work is being carried out to pull out the people who are still under the rubble,” Bishop Armando said in a recorded message shared on social media, according to Reuters. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/03-Oct-2023/10-killed-after-mexico-church-roof-collapses

A lightning strike caused a massive gas explosion at a food waste recycling facility in the UK, local media reported on Monday. Eyewitnesses described a dramatic fireball illuminating the night sky following the blast, which occurred at Severn Trent Green Power’s Cassington AD (anaerobic digestion) facility near Yarnton, located north of the city of Oxford. Severn Trent Green Power, which specializes in converting food waste into biogas, reported that the lightning strike triggered the explosion of one of its biogas tanks around 7.20 p.m. local time. Residents in Witney, Burford, Chipping Norton and Milton-under-Wychwood reported experiencing power outages, according to the BBC. Thames Valley Police confirmed their presence at the scene and issued a statement saying it is believed that lightning struck gas containers at the site during adverse weather conditions this evening, resulting in a significant fire. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/03-Oct-2023/lightning-strike-causes-large-gas-explosion-at-recycling-plant-in-uk

MIANWALI   –  A police constable was martyred af­ter a group of terrorists attacked a Punjab Highway Patrolling Post in Mianwali. A crossfire also left two terrorists dead and another severe­ly injured. According to a Punjab Police spokesman, a group of more than 10 terrorists attacked Eisa Khel Kundal patrolling post in ear­ly hours on Sunday. An exchange of fire took place between the sus­pects and Punjab police officials who foiled the attempt of the suspects to enter the patrolling post’s building. The fir­ing left two suspects dead while a police head constable Haroon Khan martyred. The spokes­man further said the gun battle ensued for about four hours and the PHP officials repulsed the at­tack. Punjab police chief Dr Usman Anwar said the deceased suspects were involved in terror­ists activities across the country. He said a hunt had been launched to trace the runaway sus­pects. He said the Punjab police along with oth­er security forces were fighting the terrorists, adding CTD has so far conducted 130 intelli­gence-based operations. The Punjab police were put on high alert to pro­tect life and property of the masses, the Punjab IG said. A spike in ter­rorism has recently been witnessed in recent days as terrorists are either attacking law enforce­ment agencies or com­mitting suicide attacks. On Friday, two suicide bombings in Baloch­istan’s Mastung and Khy­ber Pakhtunkhwa’s Han­gu had left 64 martyred and over 75 injured. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/02-Oct-2023/cop-martyred-2-terrorists-gunned-down-in-mianwali-post-attack

FO says Islamabad stands with Ankara in fight against terrorism ANKARA  –  Two attackers detonated a bomb in front of Turkish government build­ings in Ankara on Sunday, leaving both of them dead and two police of­ficers wounded, and a Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. Authorities called it the first terrorist attack in the capital in years. CCTV footage showed a vehicle pull­ing up to the Interior Ministry’s main gate and one of its occupants quickly walking toward the building before be­ing engulfed in an explosion, while the other remains on the street. The blast killed one of the attackers and authorities “neutralised”, or killed, the other, the interior minister said of the incident that rattled a central dis­trict that is home to ministerial build­ings and nearby parliament. In a speech at the opening of a new parliamenta­ry session hours later, President Tayyip Erdogan called the morning attack “the latest attempt” to inflict terror on Turks. “Those who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their goals and never will,” he said. The ANF News website, which is close to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, said a group called the ‘Immor­tals Battalion’ had carried out the at­tack, citing a PKK statement. The statement described the bomb­ing as a ‘suicide attack’ planned to coin­cide with the opening of parliament and carried out by “a team of ours linked to our Immortals Battalion”. A senior Turk­ish official told media the attackers had hijacked the vehicle and killed its driv­er in Kayseri, a city 260 km (161 miles) southeast of Ankara, before carrying out the attack. One of the injured officers suffered shrapnel injuries, he added. “Two terrorists came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the en­trance gate of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried out a bomb attack,” Ali Yerlikaya, the interior minister, said on social media platform X. Meanwhile, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Sunday strong­ly condemned the dastardly terrorist attack in Ankara and expressed soli­darity with Turkiye. “Pakistan strongly condemns the dastardly terrorist at­tack in Ankara today. We stand in com­plete solidarity with our Turkish broth­ers and sisters in the fight against the scourge of terrorism. I have no doubt that under the dynamic leadership of my brother (President Recep Tayyip Er­dogan), the resolute Turkish nation will emerge ever stronger from this chal­lenge,” PM Kakar wrote on his X handle. Separately, in a press release shared by PM Office Media Wing, the Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said, “Pakistan resolutely stands with Tur­key in its fight against the scourge of ter­rorism…. The Turkish nation will defeat this menace and emerge ever stronger.” Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/02-Oct-2023/terrorists-carry-out-attack-in-ankara

MURCIA-At least 13 people have died in a fire at a nightclub in the south-eastern Spanish city of Murcia. The blaze broke out in the Fonda Milagros nightclub in the Atalayas area, at around 06:00 (04:00 GMT). Video shared online showed flames raging above the building and thick, dark smoke pouring out of its windows. It is not clear what caused the fire, which broke out when the club was still busy. Officials say the number of deaths could rise. Fourteen people are still missing as emergency services continue searching the building. Police said the fire started at the Fonda Milagros nightclub – known as La Fonda – before spreading to its neighbouring clubs, Teatre and Golden. Local media report that all fatalities are believed to have happened in La Fonda. Diego Seral, of the national police, said “substantial structural damage” had caused a collapse inside La Fonda. A 28-year-old woman sent a voice note to her mother when the fire had started, according to the La Verdad de Murcia newspaper, saying: “Mummy, I love you, we’re going to die.” It She had gone out with her partner and some friends from the nearby town of Caravaca de la Cruz. is not clear if she survived. “They went because in Caravaca there are no nightclubs,” the woman’s father, named as Jairo, told the paper. “It was the second time she had been.” Four people are being treated in hospital for smoke inhalation, and a local sports venue is being used to provide counselling for those affected. Among the victims identified so far, many were attending a birthday party, La Verdad de Murcia newspaper reported. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/02-Oct-2023/nightclub-fire-kills-13-in-spain

ROTTERDAM-A 32-year-old man has been arrested in the Dutch city of Rotterdam following two deadly shooting incidents on Thursday, Rotterdam police said. The number of dead from the shootings is currently unknown. “The two shooting incidents in Rotterdam have resulted in fatalities. We will first inform family and relatives and will explain more later,” the city’s police said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. The suspect was arrested “under the helipad” of Erasmus University’s Medical Center, authorities said. He was armed with a handgun when he was detained. Earlier in the day, police said they received several reports of two shooting incidents in the area of the Erasmus University Medical Center at around 2:25 p.m. local time (8:25 a.m. ET), adding that the incidents took place in a house and in a classroom. The university hospital warned people “not to come” to the medical center due to “various incidents,” in a post on X, previously known as Twitter. Per earlier X posts by police, the suspect was wearing “combat-style” clothes, was tall, with black hair and carrying a backpack. His motive is not yet known. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/29-Sep-2023/multiple-deaths-after-shootings-erupt-in-dutch-city-police-say

New York City is under a state of emergency due to massive flooding on Friday from a storm system expected to dump up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain across the city over a 24-hour period. “This is time for heightened alertness and extreme caution,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a virtual news conference. The torrential rains have already flooded the subway system, while parts of LaGuardia Airport have been shut down, resulting in cancellations and delays throughout the metropolis. Residents of America’s most populous city of nearly 8.5 million people are all under a flash flood watch for the entire day, causing chaos, especially for those who are outdoors. “If you are at home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place,” Adams emphasized. “If you are out … and encounter a flooded area, be it on a roadway or a subway station, do not enter.” New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a joint state of emergency with Mayor Adams and announced that the National Guard had been deployed to help rescue crews save stranded motorists and those flooded in their homes during this life-threatening weather event. “If people decide to venture out in a vehicle, they do so at their own peril because even 6 inches of rain, one foot of rain, it may look pretty innocuous, it’s safe, but that is a condition where your vehicle can be swept away,” said Hochul. “We lose more lives of people during flooding events … the reason people lose their lives in a flood event, more often than that is they’re swept away in their vehicles.” Officials are stressing safety as the heavy rain and flooding continue as efforts continue to get the subways back up and running. In the meantime, more buses are being put on the streets to help commuters eventually get back home. “We want to make sure we can get the subways, the trains, our communication system, our transportation system up working because there’s children who use the subways to get home from school, people need to be able to know if they can get home from work,” said Hochul. “And so that is priority number one, to make sure our subways and our railway systems are safe.” The storm system is expected to hover over New York City for about 20 hours and officials are warning residents not to be fooled by any lull in the bad weather. “This is a dangerous weather condition and it is not over and I don’t want those gaps in heavy rain to give the appearance that it is over. It is not,” said Adams. “We could possibly see eight inches of rain before the day is over.” Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/30-Sep-2023/new-york-city-under-state-of-emergency-as-massive-flooding-takes-hold

Four Pak Army soldiers were martyred while three terroists were killed in a crossfire near Pak-Afghan Border, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday. According to the military’s media wing, security forces thwarted an attempt of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists’ bid to infiltrate from Afghanistan into Pakistan. The incident took place on September 28 at 5:45pm (PST), the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement, as law enforcers ramp up efforts against terrorists having safe havens in Afghanistan. As a result of the standoff, four soldiers — Havildar Sattar, Lance Naik Sher Azam, Lance Naik Adnan, and Sepoy Nadeem — embraced martyrdom after having fought valiantly. The soldiers also sent three terrorists “to hell”, the ISPR said, noting that “few” other militants were also injured during the gunbattle. “Security forces of Pakistan will continue to thwart efforts of the enemies of peace and prosperity in the country,” the military’s media wing added. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/29-Sep-2023/four-soldiers-martyred-3-terrorists-killed-in-border-clash-ispr