Category انگلثں نیوز

GENEVA: Five UN rights experts urgently appealed Monday to Saudi Arabia to “immediately” halt plans to execute six people sentenced to death for alleged crimes committed when they were minors.

The independent experts warned that Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon, Abdullah al-Zaher, Mujtaba al-Sweikat, Salman Qureish, and Abdulkarim al-Hawaj “face imminent execution”.

The men had been arrested and sentenced to death for charges linked to the “exercise of their fundamental rights, including freedom of assembly and expression, when they were aged less than 18 years old,” the experts said in a statement.

The men had all initially been detained “in connection with their participation in the Arab Spring” uprisings, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office told AFP.

They were all tried in a new specialised court that “exclusively handles terrorism-related charges”, the spokesperson said.

During the Arab Spring uprisings in the region, protestors briefly took to the streets in eastern Saudi Arabia in 2011 demanding an end to alleged discrimination by the government.

The UN experts, including on extrajudicial executions and on torture, as well as the head of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, said the men were allegedly tortured and forced to confess and had been denied adequate legal assistance during their trials.

“Death penalty sentences and executions for crimes committed by persons below the age of 18 at the time of the offence run contrary to international law and standards,” the experts said.

“As a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Saudi Arabia is under an obligation to treat everyone under the age of 18 as a child,” they stressed.

“Children should never be subject to the death penalty, this practice violates an existing norm of customary international law and renders the punishment tantamount to torture,” they added.

“In these circumstances, the execution of these six individuals would constitute arbitrary executions.”

The ultra-conservative kingdom has one of the world’s highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery, and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.

Human rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom, an absolute monarchy governed under a strict form of Islamic law. The government says the death penalty is an effective deterrent against serious crime.

“Saudi Arabia should promptly amend its legislation with a view to unambiguously prohibiting the imposition of the death sentence on children,” the UN experts said.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan told the United Nations on Monday that the ongoing violations of human rights in Indian Occupied Kashmir are a blot on the conscience of humanity, and demand immediate corrective action from the international community.

Speaking in the Third Committee of the General Assembly on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Dr Maleeha Lodhi said that India’s consistent denial of the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination was “a telling example” of Indian impunity.

Ambassador Lodhi said that the latest report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had “lifted the veil from decades of obfuscation by India of massive human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir”.

She said that when the Kashmiri people demand the right of self-determination promised to them by several Security Council resolutions, they are met with oppression and ruthless human rights abuses at the hands of Indian occupying forces.

The envoy reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong support for the OIC resolution on combating intolerance and negative stereotyping in the context of interfaith harmony. Pakistan will continue to support an equitable, just and fair order, both at home and globally, she noted.

Lodhi added that Pakistan will continue its efforts to choose dialogue over division, harmony over intolerance and right over might.

She further called for strengthening safeguards against new and contemporary manifestations of discrimination, xenophobia and Islamophobia.

BEIJING: The Chinese foreign ministry on Monday said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to Beijing presents important opportunities for leaders of the two sides to “chart the course for the future development of bilateral relations under new circumstances”.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay an official visit to China from November 2 on the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping.

Addressing his regular press briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said, “During his visit, President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and other Chinese leaders will meet and hold talks with him.”

“The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest,” he added.

The spokesperson further said that PM Imran will also attend the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Lu Kang expressed confidence that bilateral relations between China and Pakistan would not be affected by changes in the international and domestic situations. “I would like to stress again that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners for cooperation. Our friendship goes back so long and our political mutual trust enjoys such a solid foundation that China-Pakistan relations are immune to the changing international and domestic landscapes,” he said.

“Recent years have seen frequent high-level exchanges, rapid growth of practical cooperation in various fields, especially the building of the CPEC which has yielded fruitful outcomes, and the ever-strengthening of bilateral friendly ties,” he added.

Speaking about the new government, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, “The new Pakistani government has reiterated many times that it is committed to developing its friendship with China and looks forward to deepening bilateral cooperation.”

“China hopes that through Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit, the two sides could comprehensively align development strategies, continuously deepen all-around cooperation, and elevate bilateral relations to a new height,” he added.

Apple is investigating a factory in southwest China after a labour rights group said the tech giant´s supplier forced student workers to work “like robots” to assemble its popular Apple Watch.

Many were compelled to work in order to get their vocational degrees and had to do night shifts, according to an investigation by Hong Kong-based NGO Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM).

SACOM interviewed 28 students at the plant in Chongqing municipality over the summer, and all of them said they had not voluntarily applied to work there, according to the report published last week.

They worked under the guise of “internships”, SACOM said, a practice rights groups say is widespread in China as manufacturers pair up with vocational schools to supply workers and fill labour shortages when they ramp up production for new models or the Christmas rush.

“Our graduation certificate will be withheld by the school if we refuse to come,” said one student majoring in e-commerce, according to SACOM.

The US titan has sold tens of millions of Apple Watches — which can cost up to $1,499 — since it was launched three years ago and chief executive Tim Cook said it was the most popular watch in the world.

Manufacturing internships are permitted under Chinese labour law in some cases, but SACOM found the work has “literally nothing to do with learning” and violated some of the country´s labour law provisions permitting intern work in factories.

“We are like robots on the production lines,” one 18-year-old student told SACOM. “We repeat the same procedure for hundreds and thousands of times every day, like a robot.”

Others said they were put on the night shift working from 8 pm to 8 am with minimal breaks, according to SACOM.

The Chongqing factory is operated by Quanta Computer, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, and also produces for other brands. Quanta did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

But Apple spokeswoman Wei Gu said: “We are urgently investigating the report that student interns added in September are working overtime and night shifts.”

Wei noted Quanta Chongqing was a new Apple supplier and had been audited three times between March and June without finding student interns.

Student workers told SACOM student labour was widespread at the factory.

Assembly lines that repieced together Apple Watches that had failed a quality check were almost entirely made up of student workers, one intern told SACOM.

“The factory would not be able to operate without student workers,” a student told SACOM.

The NGO demanded Apple investigate and bring the labour practices in line with the firm´s own policies and those of the local and central Chinese government.

GAZA CITY: In some ways, these protests were more dangerous than when we’ve had an Israeli attack or incursion. Protesters began going to the fence between Israel and Gaza as part of the “Great March of Return” demonstrations. The protests peaked the day the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, and have continued since.

As more and more people went to the protests, the number of injuries increased — more than 5,000 wounded by gunfire since March.
A Palestinian man uses a slingshot to throw a stone towards Israeli forces as smoke billows from burning tyres during a demonstration along the border with the Gaza Strip, east of Gaza City, June 1, 2018. AFP/Mahmud Hams/Files

The man in the wheelchair is a known activist and protester and came to the fence every week. His name is Saber Al-Ashqar and, believe it or not, he is only 29. He looks a lot older. He comes on a bus and his friends help him get down and accompany him to the protest site.

There were two other handicapped men who were also regular demonstrators, but they have since been killed. Two journalists were killed in the protests as well, despite wearing clear markings.
Protests along the Gaza-Israel border, May 4, 2018. AFP/Mahmud Hams/Files

This is the first time that I can remember that such huge protests have taken place in an open area so near the border. People used to be afraid to approach the fence as it’s very exposed and there are Israeli snipers on the lookout.

Being injured is scary enough, but being injured in Gaza is especially so, since medicine is in short supply. So, of course, I was scared when covering this story. But it’s my job.

Pakistani singer and activist Fakhr-e-Alam, who was detained at Russian airport Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk a day earlier, has been granted a new visa enabling him to continue his “Mission Parwaz”.

Alam took to Twitter and said, “I have just received a new visa. I am now preparing the airplane and ready to go to Petropavovask airport. Thank you to all of my friends, well wishers the Pakistan government and the Russian authorities. The flag continues its journey.”

He also thanked the people of Pakistan and the Pakistani media. “I continue to fly my flag to complete the first ever Pakistani circumnavigation #MissionParwaaz,” he added.

A day earlier, actor Faysal Qureshi took to Facebook to post a message on behalf of Alam. “Message from Fakhr-e-Alam. Bro, please tweet on my behalf. I am being detained at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport because my visa expired two hours and date changed,” the post read.

“They are forcing me to turn back to Japan. I cannot go to Japan because I had a single entry visa. I appeal to the Pakistan government to request Russian government to allow me to continue my journey to Alaska,” Qureshi further wrote.

The post continued, “I don’t want to give up Mission Parwaaz. I need Pakistan’s support to carry on our flag to finish this. I have been in a room without food or water. No Wi-Fi. They didn’t give me my phone for six hours. I NEED HELP.”

A Foreign Office spokesman had said they were looking into the matter and had “directed the Pakistani embassy in Russia to help Fakhar-e-Alam”.
Pakistani singer Fakhr-e-Alam detained at Russian airport

Alam is currently is attempting to circumnavigate the globe as part of his “Mission Parwaaz”.

The 28-day tour which kicked off in Clearwater, Florida on October 10 will take Alam to 32 countries.

From Florida, the 42-year-old had flown to Boston and then to the Canadian Airbase in Goose bay Canada and then to Greenland.

From Greenland, Alam flew to Iceland, United Kingdom, Egypt and then to Bahrain and then Dubai.

From Dubai, the singer flew to Karachi and then Islamabad and Lahore. From Lahore, he flew to Dhaka, Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta and then Darwin in Australia.

Other countries where he will be making a pit stop included Philippines, Taiwan, South Japan, North Japan, the Pacific Bay, Russia and Alaska and then back to the US.

NEW PLYMOUTH: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake rattled parts of central New Zealand Tuesday, where British royals Meghan and Harry are on tour, but officials said it caused no major damage.

The quake was felt in Wellington during a session of parliament, prompting lawmakers to stop deliberations and seek refuge as a precaution.

There was no tsunami threat and the quake was not strongly felt in Auckland, where the touring royals continued with a public walkabout on the city´s waterfront.

Reporters travelling with the couple said they did not feel any tremors during the quake, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) gave a magnitude of 6.1.

New Zealand´s official GeoNet seismic monitoring service said a 6.2 quake struck at a depth of 207 kilometres (128 miles) in the central North Island about 340 kilometres northeast of Wellington.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was widely felt across the centre of the country, despite the depth of the epicentre, and urged Kiwis to “check on those around you”.

Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi said there had been no reports of damage or injuries.
Britain´s Prince Harry (2nd L) and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, take part in a public walkabout at the Vivaduct Harbour in Auckland on October 30, 2018. Photo: AFP

“I think some people might be a little nervy and that´s understandable but it´s just a case of following those safety messages and being prepared,” he told reporters.

“I think if there was anything major we´d know by now.”

Faafoi said proceedings in parliament house were temporarily suspended because of heavy shaking in the building.

“We all felt it in the house, I was in there at the time… and just for the immediate safety of those in the house (the speaker) saw fit to suspend proceedings,” he said.

“I think that was the wise thing to do as we felt it quite heavily.”

New Zealand lies on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which form part of the so-called “Ring of Fire”, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.

A shallow 6.3 quake in the South Island city of Christchurch killed 185 people in 2011, while a 7.8 shake slightly further north in 2016 was the second strongest ever recorded in the country.

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will meet Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif at his chambers in Parliament House on Tuesday.

Nawaz is expected to consult the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president over attending the All Parties Conference (APC) scheduled for tomorrow as well as a one-on-meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Zardari.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz will apprise Nawaz regarding his informal meeting with the PPP leader a day earlier, sources said.

The leader of the opposition in NA and PPP co-chairperson entered the National Assembly together after the session resumed on Monday and held a brief talk.
Zardari, Shehbaz agree upon cooperation on national issues

Shehbaz and Zardari have agreed to cooperate on national issues, sources said regarding their meeting. The two agreed upon a working relationship and also decided on a joint strategy to deal with problems the country is currently facing, sources added.

Sources further said that the two have agreed to back each other in the parliament as well.

However, sources said, there was no discussion related to Nawaz ‘s meeting with Zardari.

On Sunday, sources had said that Nawaz will not attend the APC hosted by Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia chairman David Peever faced growing calls to quit Tuesday after a damning review slammed the body´s conduct leading up to a major ball-tampering scandal.

The independent review released Monday found that an “arrogant” and “controlling” culture within Cricket Australia contributed to players cheating in the pursuit of victory.

Peever has so far avoided an exodus of senior figures after the scandal, when players were caught using sandpaper to alter the ball in a Test match against South Africa in March.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, coach Darren Lehmann and team performance boss Pat Howard all resigned. Then-captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were banned for 12 months, and batsman Cameron Bancroft for nine months.

Peever, a former Rio Tinto mining executive who was reappointed for a second term as chairman only last week, said on Monday that he wouldn´t step aside.

“The work was never about wanting to dwell on negatives,” Peever told national broadcaster ABC Monday night when asked why he and the CA board should not resign.

“This is a very important day for cricket and we are moving forward from here,” he added.

But former Australian bowler Geoff Lawson said the chairman should be replaced by someone who played at the elite level.

“We need a serious cricketing figurehead, not a corporate cricket figurehead,” he told Fox News.

“The business of cricket has overwhelmed the playing of cricket.”
´Let these contrite men play´

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd also entered the debate, tweeting #PeeverShouldResign.

“So let´s get this straight. #CricketAustralia, under David Peever, has overseen the destruction of the intn´l image of our national game. But Peever gets re-appointed as Chair last wk, 3 days before release of damning Longstaff Report?”

The Australian Cricketers´ Association (ACA) said in light of the scathing assessment, CA must share responsibility for the scandal, calling the bans on Smith, Warner and Bancroft to be lifted.

“With this new information, common sense, common decency, basic fairness, proportionality and natural justice demand that the punishment is reduced,” ACA President Greg Dyer told reporters in Melbourne.

“The players have already lost time in the game, chances to play for Australia, endured public humiliation and faced massive financial penalties.”

The CA review by the Sydney-based Ethics Centre accused Cricket Australia of ignoring the spirit of the game, leaving players without moral guidance.

“My message to Cricket Australia is a simple one: These contrite men have been punished enough. Let these contrite men play,” Dyer said.

ACA also called for the “urgent” implementation of all 42 recommendations in the 145-page report, which also included complaints from those involved in the sport of a bullying culture in elite men´s cricket.

Among the recommendations was an anti-harassment code to stop sledging, and training to improve team leaders´ “moral courage”.

The team, who have struggled for form in the absence of batting stars Smith and Warner, also released a “players pact” promising to respect the traditions of the game.

Similar initiatives in the past, such as the “Spirit of Cricket” charter in 2003, had little impact.

PITTSBURGH:(Net News/ Media 92 News) A 97-year-old woman, two brothers and a couple in their 80s were among the 11 worshippers murdered at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest attack ever on the Jewish community in the United States, officials said on Sunday.

The suspected gunman, 46-year-old Robert Bowers of Pittsburgh, stormed the building during a Saturday morning service. He also wounded six others including four police officers before being arrested.

Bowers, who had made anti-Semitic posts online and shouted about killing Jewish people during the attack, has been charged with federal hate crimes and could face the death penalty. He will appear before a judge on Monday afternoon, US Attorney Scott Brady said at a news conference.

“The fact that this attack took place during a worship service makes it even more heinous,” Brady said.

The Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighbourhood, a heavily Jewish area, was holding a Shabbat religious service when the gunman burst in.

Five of the victims lived in Squirrel Hill and the rest were from other Pittsburgh neighbourhoods and communities surrounding the city.

The mass shooting prompted security alerts at houses of worship around the country and condemnation from politicians and religious leaders.

It followed a spate of pipe bombs found mailed in recent days to prominent political figures, mostly Democrats including former US President Barack Obama, ahead of November 6 congressional elections.

“We’ll get through this darkest day of Pittsburgh history by working together,” the city’s mayor, Bill Peduto, told reporters.

David and Cecil Rosenthal, 54- and 59-year-old brothers; Sylvan Simon, 86, and his wife Bernice Simon, 84; Joyce Fienberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, Daniel Stein, 71, Melvin Wax, 88 and Irving Younger, 69, were killed, according to officials.

The oldest victim was Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill.

‘Irrational beahaviour’
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump told reporters the killings might have been prevented if there had been an armed guard. Synagogue officials said police would only normally have been present for security on high holidays.

Peduto on Sunday said that keeping guns out of the hands of irrational people was a better way to prevent violence.

“We shouldn’t be trying to find ways to minimize the dangers that occur from irrational behaviour. We should be working to eliminate irrational behaviour and the empowerment of people who would seek to cause this type of carnage from continuing,” he said at the news conference.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Fox News Sunday that DHS officials visited the Pittsburgh synagogue in March to provide training on active shooter responses.

FBI Special Agent Robert Jones said Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. Jones added that he did not know why Bowers picked the particular synagogue for his attack.

Authorities believed the suspect entered the synagogue, murdered the worshippers and was leaving when he encountered a uniformed police officer, Jones said. The pair exchanged gunfire, Jones said, and Bowers reentered the building before a SWAT team arrived.

Bowers surrendered and was taken to a hospital where he was listed in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds.

Federal prosecutors charged Bowers late on Saturday with 29 criminal counts including violating US civil rights laws.

Several of the charges could carry the death penalty.

‘I’m going in’
Bowers had made many anti-Semitic posts online, including one early on Saturday. In another, he slammed Trump for doing nothing to stop an “infestation” of the US by Jews.

A social media post by Bowers on Saturday morning said a Jewish refugee organization, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, “likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in”.

US Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat who is Jewish, said Sunday the country needs to combat a climate of hatred and division that he said Trump helped foster.

“Honestly I think this president’s whole modus operandi is to divide us. He gets up in the morning with new and inventive ways to divide us,” Schiff said on CNN’s State of the Union.

On Saturday, Trump called the shooting an act of pure evil and called on Americans to rise above hatred.

KDKA television in Pittsburgh cited police sources as saying Bowers walked into the building and yelled: “All Jews must die”.

The Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Council for Public Affairs described it as the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the US.

In Israel, cabinet ministers stood for a moment of silence on Sunday to honour the victims of the shooting.