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A high-level inquiry has been ordered by the caretaker Punjab government after a violent mob set fire to a number of churches and vandalised Christians’ homes on Wednesday. Around 100 people have been arrested, a first information reporter has been registered, and paramilitary Rangers have been called in to take control of the situation. The mob made its way through a predominantly Christian area on the outskirts of the industrial city of Faisalabad after allegations spread that the Holy Quran had been desecrated. “This was a well thought out plan to disrupt peace and a high-level investigation is underway regarding the desecration of the Holy Quran and incidents that take place afterward,” a spokesperson for the provincial government said in a statement. The spokesperson said police “foiled” the bid to attack the homes of the minorities and that the “peace committee” mobilised to ensure similar attempts are thwarted. “The frequency and scale of such attacks — which are systematic, violent and often uncontainable — appear to have increased in the last several years,” said the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The rights group called for the setting up and equipping of special police forces to protect religious minorities’ sites of worship, as directed by a 2014 Supreme Court judgment. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar called for stern action against those responsible for Wednesday’s violence. “I am gutted by the visuals coming out,” he said. Police and rescue officials said at least four churches had been set on fire, while residents said as many as a dozen buildings with church status had been damaged. Several thousand police have been sent to secure the area and dozens of people detained, Amir Mir, the information minister for Punjab province, said in a statement that also condemned the alleged blasphemy. Yasir Bhatti, a 31-year-old Christian, fled his home in a narrow alley next to one of the churches that was ransacked by the mob. “They broke the windows, doors and took out fridges, sofas, chairs and other household items to pile them up in front of the Church to be burnt. They also burnt and desecrated Bibles, they were ruthless,” he told AFP by phone. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. Pakistani bishop Azad Marshall, in the neighbouring city of Lahore, said the Christian community was “deeply pained and distressed” by the events. “We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The United States on Wednesday urged Pakistan to investigate mob attacks against churches and Christian homes that broke out in the east of the country amid blasphemy rumors. “We are deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted in response to reported Quran desecration in Pakistan,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters. He said that while the United States backed free expression, “violence or the threat of violence is never an acceptable form of expression.” “We urge Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm,” he said. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1101080-punjab-orders-high-level-probe-after-faislabad-churches-vandalised

A huge wildfire in northern Canada is moving closer the city of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, and evacuation of the city’s 20,000 residents has been ordered, the territorial government said. Canada is enduring its worst-ever wildfire season with more than 1,000 active fires burning across the country, including 230 in the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife’s mayor Rebecca Alty said on Wednesday that authorities believe the progress of the wildfire would allow time for people to evacuate on Wednesday and Thursday, according to local media outlet Cabin Radio. “The city is not in immediate danger and there is a safe window for residents to leave by road or air,” Alty said, according to Cabin Radio. Rylund Johnson, a member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, said on social media that people had already started to evacuate the city voluntarily and were now under order to do so by noon on Friday. “Flights will start Thursday afternoon. If you have ground transportation, check if your friends and family have a ride,” he said on the social media platform previously known as Twitter. Shane Thompson, the Northwest Territories’ environment minister, told a news conference that the “wildfire situation has taken another turn for the worst”. “A fire burning west of Yellowknife now representing a real threat to the city,” he said, announcing the order for the city’s nearly 20,000 residents to leave by Friday noon by vehicle or air. Thousands of residents of the sparsely-populated northwest territory have been forced to evacuate from smaller communities, and the hamlet of Enterprise near the Alberta border was almost entirely destroyed by a blaze that swept through on Sunday. Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane said earlier on Wednesday that some Yellowknife residents were pre-emptively leaving the city. “I’ve never seen so many vehicles leaving town,” Cochrane said. “There’s all kinds of rumours out there, but be ready and evacuate if necessary. Be calm. Do not panic.” Yellowknife has a population of approximately 20,000 people and lies 400km (250 miles) south of the Arctic Circle. NWT Fire said the 163,000-hectare (402,781 acres) wildfire is currently 17km (around 10 miles) from Yellowknife and would likely reach Highway 3, the only highway connecting the city to the rest of Canada, on Thursday. Some areas along the highway had already been ordered to evacuate. “There is risk to the city of Yellowknife. Our team, alongside the city of Yellowknife, are doing everything possible to slow the growth of this fire and protect the community,” NWT Fire said. The Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency late Tuesday and the Canadian military has been mobilised to help tackle the blazes and airlift some residents to safety. Cochrane spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the wildfire situation on Wednesday afternoon. Trudeau reaffirmed the federal government’s ongoing commitment to help the territory, according to a readout of their conversation. Western Canada is enduring a heat wave that saw 19 daily heat records broken on Tuesday and is fuelling hundreds of out-of-control wildfires. Blazes have engulfed parts of nearly all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year, forcing home evacuations, disrupting oil and gas production and drawing in federal as well as international firefighting resources. Socure:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/17/huge-wildfire-forces-evacuation-of-canadas-northwest-territories-capital

More than 60 migrants are feared to have lost their lives after a boat carrying them was found capsized near the Cape Verde peninsula of Senegal in West Africa. BBC reported that more than 38 people — including children — were rescued from the island of Sal in Cape Verde. Footage from the scene after their arrival shows many were carried ashore on stretchers. It is believed that the majority of passengers on the boat — which spent more than a month at sea — are Senegalese citizens. However, reports claim that some also hail from Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. Following the tragic incident, Cape Verde officials have requested global action to help prevent additional migrant deaths. The vessel was first spotted on Monday, police told the AFP. Initial reports suggested the boat had sunk but it was later clarified that it had been found drifting. A Spanish fishing boat saw the wooden pirogue-style capsized boat some 320 kilometers (200 miles) off Sal, in the Cape Verde islands, and immediately contacted the authorities, according to the police. Four children, ages 12 to 16, are among the survivors, confirmed an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) official. The boat departed the Senegalese fishing community of Fasse Boye on July 10 with 101 people on board, according to survivors quoted by Senegal’s foreign ministry on Tuesday. Moda Samb, an elected official in the village, told the AFP news agency nearly all those on the boat had grown up in the community and that some local families were still waiting to hear whether their relatives were among the survivors. The ministry declared that it was coordinating with Cape Verdean authorities to set up the repatriation of Senegalese people. Jose Moreira, a health official on Sal, said the survivors were improving and were being looked after, with a focus on rehydration and tests for conditions like malaria. Health Minister Filomena Goncalves said, “We know that migration issues are global issues, which require international cooperation, a lot of discussions, and global strategy. “We all – all the nations – have to sit down at the table and see what we can do so that we don’t lose any more lives at sea, above all.” IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli said safe pathways for migration were “sorely lacking” and that their absence gave “room to smugglers and traffickers to put people on these deadly journeys”. It’s possible that the survivors wound up in Cape Verde, but it wasn’t their original destination. The archipelago is 600 kilometers (370 miles) off the coast of West Africa and is a major migratory route to the Canary Islands, a Spanish enclave that many people view as a gateway to the EU. It is one of the riskiest voyages a migrant may take, according to the IOM. As is always the case with irregular migration, the exact numbers are difficult to ascertain, but at least 67,000 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands between 2020 and 2023. Just over 2,500 people died during that time. The total includes all registered deaths, according to the IOM. Given the route’s erratic and covert nature, Poverty is frequently considered to be a significant issue. Many people view migration to Europe as a way to a better life and to send money back home to help their families. But there are also other elements at work. A large portion of West Africa is becoming more unstable, and terror insurgencies and coups are making an already difficult situation much worse. Ultimately, there are just as many motivations to relocate as there are migrants. Each person has a unique journey and background. It seems at least 60 of those came to a traumatic end in the Atlantic Ocean. Socure: www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1101098-migrant-boat-capsized-more-than-60-people-feared-dead-near-cape-verde

More than 3,000 tourists have been evacuated from a British holiday hotspot in France after ‘catastrophic’ wildfires ravaged homes and holiday campsites. The blazing wildfires have ripped through 500 hectares of land and seen thousands of terrified tourists flee for their lives from their holiday homes and campsites close to the Spanish border. The flames have so far gutted scores of homes and destroyed a campsite in the popular holiday region of Pyrenees-Orientales, southern France, as it swept through villages close to the seaside resort of Argeles. Video shows the flames getting perilously close to campsites, where children can be heard screaming in terror. Families quickly packed their belongings and fled in droves as black smoke filled the sky. More than 3,000 tourists have now been evacuated from their holiday campsites across the region to temporary accommodation in town halls. The local mayor described how she saw dozens of ‘families with flabbergasted children’ walk through the doors, some still in their swimsuits as they were unable to reach their campsite due to flames. Harrowing photographs show the extent of the damage caused by the wildfires, with the charred remains of a blackened campsite seen in the commune of Saint-Andre. Cars were incinerated and homes gutted by the blaze. Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12408257/More-3-000-tourists-evacuated-Brit-holiday-hotspot-catastrophic-wildfires-ravage-homes-campsite-near-French-seaside-resort.html

At least 35 people have died in an explosion at a petrol station in southern Russia, according to local officials. Russia’s Health Ministry said 115 people were injured in the blast and subsequent fire, and 35 of them died, including three children. A total of 65 of those injured, including 16 children, remained in hospital as of Tuesday afternoon the ministry said. Eleven people, including two children, were in a grave condition. Russian state media said some of those injured would be airlifted to Moscow for treatment. The explosion occurred on Monday night on the outskirts of the city of Makhachkala, the regional capital of Dagestan and more than 950 miles south of Moscow. A fire started at a car repair shop and spread to a nearby petrol station, triggering the blast and a fireball that engulfed an area covering around 600 square metres. The fire started at the repair shop and spread to a car as well, an unnamed witness told Russian newspaper Izvestia. “From there, everything went to our gas station. After the explosion, everything fell on our heads, we couldn’t see anything.” This handout photograph taken and released by Russian Emergency Ministry on 14 August 2023, shows rescuers pushing out a fire at a gas station in the city of Makhachkala Russian emergencies ministry members remove debris at the accident scene following an explosion at a gas station in Makhachkala in the region of Dagestan, Russia, 15 August 2023, Pictures from the site showed an inferno, as firefighters struggled to contain the damage. The authorities have begun a criminal investigation. Tuesday has been declared a day of mourning in Dagestan. Nearly 260 emergency workers were deployed to help evacuate buildings in the area. Source:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dagestan-petrol-station-fire-makhachkala-russia-b2393151.html

WASHINGTON: The US on Tuesday expressed its readiness to work with the caretaker government in Pakistan on issues of mutual interest, including the conduct of free and fair elections. “We look forward to working with the interim prime minister and his team as they prepare to hold elections,” the State Department principal deputy spokesperson said during the press briefing. He acknowledged that the US was aware of the allied government’s dissolution and the nomination of Senator Anwar Kakar as caretaker prime minister. “We, of course, will continue to partner with Pakistan on areas of mutual interest including our interest on Pakistan’s economic stability, prosperity and stability and the conduct of free and fair elections in the respect for democracy and rule of law,” the spokesperson maintained. Responding to a question, the spokesperson underscored that the US was in regular conversation with Pakistani leadership to discuss Afghanistan in detail including through the two countries’ counterterrorism dialogue and other bilateral consultations. “We have a shared interest with Pakistan, quite candidly, in combating threats to regional stability and remain ready to work with Pakistan to combat militant and terrorist groups,” he said, adding that the US also supports the Pakistani government’s own efforts to combat terrorism and ensure the safety and security of its citizens in a manner that promotes the rule of law. source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1100526-us-ready-to-work-with-caretaker-government

An explosion ripped through a hotel in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Khost on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others, police said. The blast occurred at a city hotel frequented by Afghan people and refugees from Pakistan’s former militant stronghold of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, said Mustaghfir Gurbaz, a police spokesperson in Khost. He said officers were investigating to determine what caused the blast and who was behind it. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Afghanistan’s Taliban government has blamed the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — for previous attacks. Gurbaz provided no information about the Pakistani refugees staying at the hotel. Authorities in Pakistan have said members of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, are hiding in Khost and elsewhere in Afghanistan. TTP is a separate group but is a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. Pakistani officials say many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban. Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/afghanistan-ap-pakistani-islamabad-islamic-state-b2392778.html

The death of a Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee has sparked outrage among the masses with protesters taking to the streets chanting anti-government slogans. 83-year-old Sayedee, the vice president of Bangladesh’s opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, passed away in a prison hospital on Monday evening. The prominent leader’s demise comes over a decade after his conviction by a war crimes court, an event that triggered some of the deadliest political unrest in the country. Following Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s death, mourners and supporters gathered outside the hospital premises, raising their voices with chants of “Allahu akbar.” Significant police personnel were deployed to manage the crowds. Supporters, grieving the loss of Sayedee, voiced their resolve not to let his bloodshed be in vain. Many pointed fingers at the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accusing it of contributing to the circumstances that led to the leader’s demise. These sentiments are deepened by the upcoming general elections scheduled for January, adding a layer of political complexity to the crisis. Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s health had been a concern for some time, as he was admitted to the hospital after experiencing a heart attack while incarcerated in Kashimpur Prison, located outside the capital, Dhaka. “He faced another heart attack today (Monday) at 6.45 pm (1245 GMT) and died at 8.40 pm,” hospital director Brigadier General Rezaur Rahman told AFP, adding he had had five stents inserted into his arteries. Jamaat-e-Islami announced Sayedee´s death on its Facebook page, where it accused the authorities of “slowly turning him into a martyr without treatment in the prison”. He was sentenced to death in 2013 by a war-crimes tribunal on eight charges of murder, rape, and persecution of Hindus, triggering deadly protests by thousands of supporters nationwide, leaving more than 100 people dead. The party said tens of thousands of its supporters were arrested in a subsequent crackdown, and the party was only this year able to hold public protests again. In 2014, Bangladesh´s Supreme Court said Sayedee should spend “the rest of his natural life” in jail for crimes during the 1971 liberation war with Pakistan. Delwar Hossain Sayedee shot to prominence in the 1980s after he started preaching in some of the Muslim-majority nation´s top mosques. In his heyday he would draw hundreds of thousands to his sessions and CDs of his speeches were top sellers. Even people who were not supporters of Jamaat attended his preachings. Jamaat-e-Islami was banned for much of the 1970s for its support of Pakistan during the war, but by the 1990s it had become the country´s third-largest party and the biggest religious outfit. Political analysts credit Delwar Hossain Sayedee´s preaching for transforming the party into a major force. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1100441-death-of-jamat-e-islamis-delwar-hossein-sayedee-in-jail-ignites-protests-in-bangladesh

The Afghan Taliban is marking the second anniversary of its return to power with a public holiday, celebrating the takeover of Kabul and the establishment of what it described as security across the country under an “Islamic system”. “On the second anniversary of the conquest of Kabul, we would like to congratulate the mujahid [holy warrior] nation of Afghanistan and ask them to thank Almighty Allah for this great victory,” the spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Now that overall security is ensured in the country, the entire territory of the country is managed under a single leadership, an Islamic system is in place and everything is explained from the angle of Sharia [Islamic law],” Mujahid said. Security was tight in the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday as soldiers stepped up checks. Convoys of Taliban members gathered at Massoud Square near the abandoned US embassy building. Some of the men carried their weapons, while others snapped selfies as anthems blared and boys sold the movement’s white flag inscribed with the Islamic declaration of faith. In Herat in the west, a crowd of Taliban supporters chanted: “Death to the Europeans, death to the Westerners, long live the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, death to the Americans.” A military parade was cancelled in Kandahar, the cradle of the Taliban movement, from where its reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, rules by decree. Akhunzada called off the parade himself so as not to disturb the public, provincial officials told journalists. A poster of Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is seen along a road in Kabul A poster of Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, is seen along a road in Kabul [Wakil Kohsar/AFP] The Taliban government is still not formally recognised by any country. The international community continues to grapple with how, and if, to engage with the Taliban authorities. After a lightning offensive as US-led foreign forces were withdrawing after 20 years of inconclusive war, the Taliban entered the capital on August 15, 2021, as the US-backed president, Ashraf Ghani, fled and the Afghan security forces, set up with years of Western support, disintegrated. Afghanistan is enjoying peace not seen in decades, but the United Nations says there have been dozens of attacks on civilians, some claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. The Taliban, which says it respects rights in line with its interpretation of Islamic law, has also stopped most Afghan female staff from working with aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed their travel in the absence of any male guardian. Taliban Palace: The second year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan | Witness Girls aged above 12 years have been mostly excluded from classes since the Taliban returned to power. For many Western governments, the ban is a major obstacle to any hope of formal recognition of the Taliban administration. But most Muslim-majority countries and Islamic scholars have rejected Taliban’s stand on women’s rights. Some Taliban leaders back education for women, with a senior leader saying that Islam grants women right to education and work. The Taliban hopes that progress will help bring foreign recognition and the lifting of sanctions, and the release of about $7bn in central bank assets frozen in the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2021 after the Taliban took control, half of which was later transferred to a Swiss trust. According to the UN special representative, the corruption that exploded as Western money poured in for years after the Taliban was toppled in 2001, has been reduced. There are also signs that a Taliban ban on narcotics cultivation has dramatically reduced poppy production in what has for years been the world’s biggest source of opium. But a group of UN experts hit out on Monday at pledges by Taliban authorities of a softer rule than during its first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. “Despite reassurances by the Taliban de facto authorities that any restrictions, particularly in terms of access to education would be temporary, the facts on the ground have demonstrated an accelerated, systematic, and all-engulfing system of segregation, marginalisation and persecution,” the experts said in a statement. “The gap between promises and practices by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities has widened, and the idea of a “reformed” Taliban has been exposed as mistaken,” they added. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/15/taliban-marks-two-years-since-return-to-power-in-afghanistan

LONDON – The United Kingdom on Tuesday advised its citizens in Pakistan to be cautious and limit their movement in certain areas amid rising terror threats. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office cautioned its nations not to attend any political demonstrations, huge crowds of people, and events. In the fresh advisory, UK nationals in Pakistan are told to avoid traveling to certain areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including the provincial capital Peshawar, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Tank, Banu, Lakki Marwat, Chitral, DI Khan, Swat, Buner, Lower Dir, Orakzai and other areas. The British government further warned its nationals living in the crisis-hit country to avoid travelling to Balochistan coastal areas and Pakistan-India’s Line of Control. The advisory warned people to keep themselves away from political protests being held in the country,  especially those ‘fuming anti-west sentiments’. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office further advised people to keep updated with local news. It said these public gatherings can turn violent and escalate quickly. British nationals were further told to keep vigilant about the weather updates in Pakistan during their travel. Source: https://pakobserver.net/uk-fresh-travel-advisory-warns-of-possible-terror-attacks-in-pakistan/