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Banned outfit Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) “most wanted” terrorist was arrested by the police from Karachi’s Lyari area, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) South Asad Raza said Sunday. Identified as Mairaj alias Mama, the arrested terrorist used to provide information to BLA commander Jalal, said DIG South Raza.  According to the details provided by the DIG, Mairaj was involved in several terror activities including the 2017 attack on security forces in Balochistan.  The militant spied on an army vehicle which was travelling from Turbat to Gwadar after which the militants attacked and martyred the Pakistan Army soldiers. DIG South Raza said that the terrorist also spied on a military camp inside a school in Balochistan’s Naseerabad after which soldiers were martyred in an attack. The arrested militant was helped in the killing of four people, who were cousins of an officer working at an intelligence agency, by spying on them, said the DIG. Moreover, the terrorist also helped in attacking the Gwadar Port in the holy month of Ramadan, said the DIG, adding that the terrorist attack killed several soldiers. DIG Raza said that the arrested militant also attacked army soldiers in Nushki in which many were martyred.  Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1183179-most-wanted-bla-militant-arrested-from-karachis-lyari

Hundreds of students have been arrested across universities in the United States as protesters continue to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from companies enabling Israel’s nearly seven-month war on the Palestinian enclave. Police were out in full force on college campuses on Saturday, some using chemical irritants and Tasers to disperse the students, as more universities witnessed protests against the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip and seeking an end to US military assistance for Israel. In Boston, police detained about 100 people while clearing a protest camp at Northeastern University, with social media posts showing security forces in riot gear and officers loading tents onto the back of a truck. In a statement on X, Northeastern said the area on campus where the protests were held was now “fully secured” and “all campus operations have returned to normal”. The school said its move came after “what began as a student demonstration two days ago was infiltrated by professional organisers with no affiliation to Northeastern”. It added that detained individuals who produced a valid school ID were released and will face disciplinary proceedings, not legal action. In Bloomington in the Midwest, the Indiana University Police Department arrested 23 people as they cleared a campus protest camp, the Indiana Daily Student newspaper reported. On the opposite side of the country, the Arizona State University Police Department arrested 69 people for trespassing after the group set up an “unauthorised encampment” on campus. Arizona state officials said a protest group, “most of whom were not ASU students, faculty or staff”, set up a camp on Friday and ignored repeated orders to disperse. Meanwhile, at Washington University in St Louis, at least 80 people were arrested, including US presidential candidate Jill Stein and her campaign manager. Across the US, university leaders have tried, and largely failed, to quell the demonstrations, which often saw the police intervening violently, with videos emerging from different states showing hundreds of students – and even faculty members – being forcefully arrested. The protesters have demanded amnesty for students and faculty members disciplined or fired for protesting. About a week ago at Columbia University in New York, more than 100 pro-Palestinian activists were arrested. What started at the Columbia campus has turned into a nationwide showdown between students and administrators over pro-Palestine protests and the restrictions on free speech. In the past 10 days, hundreds of students have been arrested, suspended, put on probation and, in rare cases, expelled from colleges, including Yale University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and the University of Minnesota. A few universities had to cancel graduation ceremonies, while others have seen their buildings occupied by the protesters. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/28/hundreds-of-university-students-arrested-in-us-as-gaza-war-protests-spread

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-says-rafah-invasion-on-negotiation-table

Sindh government has removed the barricades placed outside the CM House on the orders of the top court KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday ordered the federal and provincial governments to clear public roads and pavements of all encroachments within three days. The development comes after the top court, on Thursday, directed the authorities in Karachi to remove barricades placed outside various buildings including Sindh Rangers headquarters, CM House and Governor House. A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, hearing a set of petitions regarding encroachment issued the written order today. In its order, the apex court said that the encroachments on public roads and pavements are made by those paid out of the public exchequer “Occupants of properties also assume that the pavement running in front of their property is theirs, to do with it as they please. Generators are also installed thereon. Pavements are for the use of the public; access thereto and use thereof cannot be prevented or restricted,” said the order.  It added that everyone, including the provincial and federal governments, and all those under them must abide by the law and cannot encroach upon public roads and pavements nor can block them which may stop or restrict public use thereof. Speaking about barriers that are placed to protect the buildings from terrorist attacks, the court stated that security can be ensured by placing the barriers within the premises. “Therefore, all are directed […] to clear public roads and pavements of all encroachments within three days, failing which the same should be demolished/removed by the relevant authority and the cost incurred thereon shall be recovered from those who encroached thereon,” the order added. The SC also said that this order to remove encroachments is applicable across Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Sindh government has removed the barricades placed outside the CM House on the orders of the top court. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1182831-sc-orders-federal-provincial-govts-to-remove-encroachments-within-3-days

At least 70 people have died from countrywide flooding in Kenya, a government spokesperson said Friday as authorities ordered more evacuations of people from at-risk areas due to ongoing heavy rainfall. “The official tally of fellow Kenyans who regrettably have lost their lives due to the flooding situation now stands at 70,” Isaac Maigua Mwaura wrote on X, adding this is “contrary to other figures.” Earlier Friday, a truck carrying people in Makueni County, southern Kenya, “was swept away by raging waters,” according to the Kenyan Red Cross, which described it as “a distressing incident.” More than 13,300 households have been displaced in the flooding, which has destroyed 22 roads, and affected 26 schools. The Red Cross says it has rescued 302 people since the onset of the heavy rain in March. This comes as Kenyan President William Ruto announced Thursday that he has authorized emergency crews to evacuate people living along riverbanks and other affected areas forcibly. “Unfortunately, we will have to move some of them even without them agreeing, because otherwise, they put themselves in danger,” Ruto said. The president said that he is working with multi-agency teams to “provide adequate support to all those in need and to move citizens who are in dangerous areas, that may be susceptible to floods, away from those areas.” According to the Red Cross, 26 of Kenya’s 47 counties have been affected by the flooding. On Thursday, the Kenya Meteorological Department issued an advisory, explaining that heavy rainfall will continue in several parts of Kenya, including Nairobi, although the intensity is likely to reduce on April 28. The flooding in East Africa has also affected Tanzania and Burundi. The Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Thursday that at least 155 people have been killed by flooding in the country. Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/26/africa/kenya-flooding-intl/index.html

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/27/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-bombards-gaza-as-student-protests-spread

Global attention has turned to universities across the United States, where students have erected encampments to demand action to end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. The growing protests have taken root on the campuses of some of the country’s top academic institutions, including Columbia and Harvard. And over the past weeks, they have spurred heated debates around freedom of speech, Palestinian solidarity activism in the US, and the use of force to disperse student protesters, among other issues. But the students at the heart of the movement say the reason they began their demonstrations – the pressing need to end Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza – risks being lost amid a cacophony of voices and distractions. “Gaza is why we’re here. Gaza is why we’re doing this,” said Rue, a student at The New School in New York City who asked to only be identified by her first name due to a fear of reprisals. They have also urged an end to reprisals against students who have spoken out in support of Palestinians and for administrators to pledge not to send police or other law enforcement agencies onto the campuses to break up their protests. Images of throngs of New York Police Department (NYPD) officers marching onto the Columbia University campus to disperse a Gaza protest encampment earlier this week galvanised students in other parts of the US to set up their own protest sites, too. A first-year PhD student at New York University (NYU), who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity due to a fear of reprisals, said students are acting “on the ideals and the histories that [they’re] being taught”. “As students who are being taught in class about colonialism, about Indigenous rights, about the effect of non-violent protest across history, it would be extremely hypocritical — or it would totally undermine the point of our education — if we didn’t act,” the 25-year-old said. “At the very least we can show that there was resistance” to what is happening in the Gaza Strip, the student added. “The horrors in Gaza are really beyond imagining. These small acts of resistance, these are small sacrifices — [they] are nothing compared to what is happening on the ground in Palestine.” ‘Scholasticide’ in Gaza Like other protesters across the US, many American students have said they felt an impetus to act given the US government’s long-standing support for Israel. The US gives Israel $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and President Joe Biden has continued to provide staunch support to the country amid the Gaza war. On Wednesday, Biden signed into law a massive funding package that will provide an additional $17bn to Israel. The Israeli military’s attacks on Palestinian students, teachers and academic institutions across Gaza during the war also have acted as a catalyst for the university protests, the students said. Last week, a group of United Nations experts noted that 80 percent of schools in the Palestinian enclave have been damaged or destroyed since the war began in early October. Nearly 5,500 students have been killed, alongside 261 teachers and 95 university professors. “It may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as ‘scholasticide’,” the experts said in a statement on April 18. “These attacks are not isolated incidents. They present a systematic pattern of violence aimed at dismantling the very foundation of Palestinian society.” Etta, a senior at NYU who also asked to only be identified by her first name due to a fear of reprisals, told Al Jazeera that it was “appalling” to see her university fail to acknowledge the destruction of Palestinian academic institutions. “As an institution that should have a function of education, of shaping minds, of academic freedom, they can’t even take the time to acknowledge, to mourn, to discuss the destruction of those institutions in Palestine,” Etta said. “There’s a refusal to even acknowledge that this is going on when we’re all bearing witness [to it].” ‘Bigger than us’ As uncertainty swirls around the future of the US university encampments amid threats they will be dismantled, the students say they remain committed to continuing their protests — and to keeping the focus on what’s happening in Gaza. “Palestine is the centre, liberation is the centre of this conversation,” said Etta. That was echoed by Rue, the student at The New School. “I feel like there’s a moral imperative that everyone does everything that they can to the best of their abilities to protest and fight against and end this genocide,” Rue told Al Jazeera. “We’re a part of something that is bigger than us,” she added. “We are part of a global movement right now and we’re really inspired and strengthened by the incredible solidarity [we’re] seeing across the United States, across different college campuses, across the world.” Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/26/with-eyes-on-us-college-campuses-students-stress-gaza-is-why-were-here

Three terrorists including two ringleaders — Sohail aka Azmato and Haji Gul alias Zarkavi — have been killed by security forces in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber district, Inter-Services Public Relations said on Thursday. The operation was conducted by the security forces on April 24-25 on the reported presence of terrorists in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s tribal district, the military’s media wing said.  Security forces eliminated three terrorists after intense exchange of fire, as well as busted their hideout during the operation, it added. The ISPR further said that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area. “Locals of the area appreciated the operation. A sanitisation operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area as security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” it concluded. Military pays tribute to martyred Customs officials Separately, the senior army commanders visited the families of eight martyred Customs’ officials who laid their lives in the line of duty in Dera Ismail Khan in two separate incidents that took place earlier this month, the ISPR said on Thursday. In due recognition of this selfless sacrifice in fight against illegal spectrum and as an expression of solidarity, the commanders met the families of the martyred officials at their homes to express condolences, pay tribute and pledge unfliching support on behalf of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir. The familes expressed their gratitude to the Pakistan Army for the support and respect. The military’s media wing said: “Shuhadas and Ghazis are our pride and their respect and honour is binding on each Pakistani. We must never forget that the peace and freedom we enjoy today is due to the ultimate sacrifices rendered by these brave sons of soil.” “We as nation salute Shuhada families for sacrificing their loved ones for Pakistan,” it concluded. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1182198-security-forces-eliminate-3-terrorists-including-ringleaders-in-khyber-ibo

Taiwan has been rattled by a cluster of dozens of earthquakes that caused buildings to sway and that the government said were aftershocks from the huge quake that hit the island more than two weeks ago. The strongest of the latest tremors, which the United States Geological Survey measured at a magnitude of 6.1, hit at about 2.30am (18:30 GMT) followed minutes later by a 6.0 tremor. Taipei’s Central Weather Administration put them at 6.0 and 6.3, respectively. The seismic activity, which was centred around Hualien on the east coast, caused buildings across large parts of northern, eastern and western Taiwan to shake throughout the night. There were no reports of casualties. Office worker Kevin Lin, who lives in the capital Taipei, told the AFP news agency that the quake woke him. “I was too scared to move and stayed in bed,” the 53-year-old said. At about 8am (00:00 GMT), a 5.8-magnitude tremor shook the capital as commuters made their way to work. The mountainous county of Hualien, about 150km (93 miles) from Taipei, was the epicentre of a magnitude-7.2 quake that struck the island on April 3, severely damaging buildings in Hualien City and triggering landslides in the surrounding countryside. At least 14 people were killed, and there have been more than 1,100 aftershocks. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the latest cluster of earthquakes were also aftershocks. Seismological Centre Director Wu Chien-fu told reporters that the quakes were a “concentrated release of energy” and that more could be expected, although perhaps not as strong. In Hualien, the government announced that schools and offices would remain closed on Tuesday due to the continuous aftershocks. Buildings that partially collapsed in the April 3 quake, including the Full Hotel and the nearby Tong Shuai Building, were further damaged. Both were empty and have already been marked for demolition. The April 3 quake was the most serious in Taiwan in 25 years, but the toll was relatively contained thanks to widespread public awareness campaigns and stricter building standards. The island of 23 million people lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is no stranger to powerful earthquakes. Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/23/sleepless-night-in-taiwan-as-island-rattled-by-cluster-of-aftershocks