Month: October 2022

MOSCOW: Russia has suspended participation in a UN-brokered deal to export agricultural produce from Ukrainian ports after attacks on ships in Crimea, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday, dealing a blow to a three-month agreement aimed at easing a global squeeze on grain supplies.

Russia said that Ukrainian forces, with the help of drones, attacked ships from the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea, in the early hours of Saturday.

“Taking into account… the terrorist act by the Kyiv regime with the participation of British experts against the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels involved in ensuring the security of the ‘grain corridor’, the Russian side suspends participation in the implementation of agreements on the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said earlier that the drone attacks on Saturday were largely repelled, with minor damage to a Russian minesweeper.

The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of “blackmail” and “invented terror attacks” on its own territory on Saturday, following explosions in the Crimea peninsula on Saturday.

UN urges deal extension

On Friday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on “all parties” to “make every effort” to extend the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, including facilitating shipments of Russian grain, his spokesman said. The deal, signed in July by the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkiye, allowed over nine million tonnes of Ukrainian grain to be exported.

Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev on Saturday said Russia was ready to supply up to 500,000 tonnes of grain to poor countries in the next four months for free, with assistance from Turkiye, and supplant supplies of Ukrainian grains. “Taking into account this year’s harvest, the Russian Federation is fully prepared to replace Ukrainian grain and deliver supplies at affordable prices to all interested countries,” he added.

‘UK navy’ behind pipelines damage

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said the British navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, a claim that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.

The Russian ministry said “British specialists” from the same unit directed Ukrainian drone attacks on ships of Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea though they were largely repelled, with minor damage to a Russian minesweeper.

“According to available information, representatives of this unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year – blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines,” the ministry said.

Nuclear threshold

Also, Russia claimed that the accelerated deployment of modernised US B61 tactical nuclear weapons at Nato bases in Europe would lower the “nuclear threshold” and that Russia would take the move into account in its military planning.

SEOUL: South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a period of national mourning on Sunday after a Halloween crush killed some 151 people in a packed nightlife area in Seoul.

Yoon expressed condolences to the victims, mostly teenagers and people in their 20s, and his wishes for a speedy recovery to the many injured.

“This is truly tragic,” he said in a statement. “A tragedy and disaster that should not have happened took place in the heart of Seoul last night.”

A huge crowd celebrating in the popular Itaewon district surged into an alley on Saturday night, emergency officials said, adding the death toll could rise.

Choi Sung-beom, head of the Yongsan Fire Station, said 151 deaths had been confirmed, including 19 foreigners. He told a briefing at the scene 82 people were injured, 19 of them seriously.

It was the first Halloween event in Seoul in three years after the country lifted COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing. Many of the partygoers were wearing masks and Halloween costumes.

Early on Sunday costumes and personal belongings mingled with blood spots in the narrow street. Survivors huddled under emergency blankets amid throngs of emergency workers, police, and media.

Many of those killed were near a nightclub, Choi said. Many of the victims were women in their 20s, while the foreigners killed included people from China, Iran, Uzbekistan and Norway, he said.

Witnesses described the crowd becoming increasingly unruly and agitated as the evening deepened. Chaos erupted just before the 10:20 pm (1320 GMT) stampede, with police on hand for the event at times struggling to control the crowds, witnesses said.

Moon Ju-young, 21, said there were clear signs of trouble in the alley before the incident. He told Reuters it was more than 10 times as crowded as usual.

Social media footage showed hundreds of people packed in the narrow, sloped alley crushed and immobile as emergency officials and police tried to pull them free.

Packed alley on slope

Choi, the Yongsan district fire chief, said all the deaths were likely from the crush in the alley.

Fire officials and witnesses said people continued to pour into the alley after it was already packed wall-to-wall, when those at the top of the slope fell, sending people below them toppling over others.

One woman said her daughter, pulled from the crush of people, survived after being trapped for more than an hour.

A makeshift morgue was set up in a building next to the scene. About four dozen bodies were wheeled out on wheeled stretchers and moved to a government facility to identify the victims, according to a Reuters witness.

The Itaewon district is popular with young South Koreans and expatriates alike, its dozens of bars and restaurants packed on Saturday for Halloween after businesses had suffered a sharp decline over three years of the pandemic.

“You would see big crowds at Christmas and fireworks … but this was several ten-folds bigger than any of that,” Park Jung-hoon, 21, told Reuters from the scene.

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden sent their condolences, writing: “We grieve with the people of the Republic of Korea and send our best wishes for a quick recovery to all those who were injured.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “All our thoughts are with those currently responding and all South Koreans at this very distressing time.”

With the easing of the COVID pandemic, curfews on bars and restaurants and a limit of 10 people for private gatherings were lifted in April. An outdoor mask mandate was dropped in May.

President Yoon held an emergency meeting with senior aides and ordered a task force be set up to secure resources to treat the injured and launch a thorough investigation into the cause of the disaster.

The disaster is among the country’s deadliest since a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mainly high school students.

The sinking of the Sewol, and criticism of the official response, sent shockwaves across South Korea, prompting widespread soul-searching over safety measures in the country that are likely to be renewed in the wake of Saturday’s crush.

While criticising the last Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government for not availing an opportunity given by the Saudi government for launch of several projects in the country through grant, soft loans and investment, the pri­me minister said the projects offered by Saudi Arabia had been ignored and put in the doldrums by the last government, but he revived them within 48 hours.

“Saudi Crown Prime Mohammad bin Salman will come to Pakistan soon for $9 to $10 billion investment in oil refinery,” Prime Minister Sharif said while addressing the passing-out parade of the Specialised Training Programme (STP) batch of the National Police Academy (NPA).

He said the crown price expressed willingness to support development projects in Pakistan. “He (crown prince) was ready to do anything for [the betterment of] people of Pakistan,” he added.

Slams PTI govt for ignoring projects; says efforts being made to mend ties with US

The premier’s remarks came days after he concluded a two-day trip to the kingdom during which the two leaders resolved to upgrade bilateral ties and fraternal bonds.

“Earlier this year, a team from the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) visited Pakistan. During a meeting with me, they complained about delays in projects in Pakistan caused by the previous government,” he said.

He said one of the projects was about the establishment of a hospital through Saudi grant, but even that was not availed by the PTI government due to the fear of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“The hospital was to be completed within six months and some more such projects were to be executed on soft loans but they were kept in cupboards,” he said, adding that he requested the SDF team to stay for another two days in Pakistan and he got sanctioned the stalled projects in 48 hours.

“Trust me, it was very embarrassing. But I asked for some time and got approvals for all the delayed projects within 48 hours,” the PM said.

Mr Sharif said that during his meeting with Prince Salman, he apologised for the delay in execution of the projects. Prince Salman said the people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had close ties, he quoted him as saying. “We are like one family and I am ready to do everything, […] these were his words. The Saudi prince also told us to work on projects and to facilitate them without any worries,” PM Sharif said, elaborating that the projects included an oil refinery worth $10bn.

The prime minister said in the last few years, Pakistan’s relations with frie­ndly countries had suffered and promised that he was making all-out efforts to mend ties. When Prince Salman visits Pakistan, he said, “I want all of you to welcome him warmly because he comes from a brotherly country”.

He added that he was visiting China soon. “China has been an all-weather friend to us and always stood by Pakistan.”

PM Shehbaz also briefly said there was no reason to “ruin ties with the US”, promising that the government was trying to mend that relationship as well.

At the outset of his address, the prime minister appreciated the sacrifices rendered by the police in protecting the country from terrorism and crime and urged the police force to make the counter-terrorism department of Islamabad an example for other provinces.

About flood survivors, PM Sharif said he was actively working on providing them with relief, and hundreds of billions of rupees were being arranged to fund rehabilitation through international avenues.

Later, Prime Minister Sharif appointed Tariq Mahmood Pasha as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, with the status of a minister of state, while PM’s focal person Ahmed Jawad quit and left politics.

With the latest addition, the number of federal cabinet members has increased to 75, with 30 SAPMs.

The charges cover rape, murder and torture and include the case of a six-month-old baby girl whose death became a symbol of police brutality during the bloody election aftermath.

“This is the first case of crimes against humanity charged under Kenyan domestic law using the International Crimes Act and also the first criminal prosecution of electoral-related sexual violence,” the director of public prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said.

An official at the prosecutor’s office said 12 senior police officers were facing charges.

The police crackdown following the disputed presidential election in Aug 2017 saw around 100 people killed over a four-month period.

“The attacks were planned, coordinated and not random,” the DPP statement said, saying various offences such as torture, rape and sexual violence “were committed by or under the authority of senior national police officers”.

The baby, Samantha Pendo, died after being beaten by police during a raid on her house as protests flared in the western city of Kisumu.

Officers fired tear gas into their house and battered down the door before raining blows on the couple with batons while the mother held Samantha in her arms.

Extra-judicial killings are rife in Kenya, and justice is rare with few examples of police being held to account.

Enlightened leadership

Amnesty International’s secretary general on Friday called for new “enlightened” political leadership in Africa, lamenting shrinking civil liberties in Mali, Senegal and elsewhere on the continent.

Speaking to reporters in the Senegalese capital Dakar after visiting both countries, Agnes Callamard spoke of worrying reports of abuses in Mali and urged more transparency in probes into protester deaths in Senegal.

She said West African nations were experiencing a reduction in the scope of individual freedoms, with activists being prosecuted, security forces using excessive force against protesters, and journalists under pressure throughout the region.

“In this context, in which human values are being flouted, we need real leaders, we need authentic leadership, we need people who stand out from this,” Callamard said.

“I would hope that perhaps these leaders could emerge or be found in Africa,” she said, adding former South African president and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was such an example.

“The world needs enlightened leadership from African leaders. We find it at the level of civil society, now we should also find it at the level of political leadership”, she said.

In Mali, she denounced ill will on the part of the ruling junta.

“Amnesty International and others have noted an increase in violence against civilians since the beginning of the year, an increase that is not at all recognised by the authorities,” she added.

Yet “that denial cannot help”, she said.

She cited “extremely worrying” reports of enforced disappearances and urged investigations into crimes allegedly committed by armed forces against civilians.

But, she said, there had been “progress” on the legal and administrative framework towards fighting impunity.

In Senegal, she called for greater transparency in investigating the violent protests of March last year and June this year, in which civilians were killed.

In March last year, she said 14 people died in protests following the arrest of the opposition politician Ousmane Sonko on rape charges.

In June, protests in the run-up to parliamentary elections again turned violent. Authorities “claim a willingness to apologise… but for Amnesty the truth about the wrongs (committed) and justice for the families of the victims cannot be compromised,” Callamard said.

“Impunity for the excessive use of force by the security forces must end.”

The clerical state has been gripped by six weeks of protests that erupted when Amini, 22, died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress rules for women.

Security forces have struggled to contain the women-led protests, that have evolved into a broader campaign to end the Islamic republic founded in 1979.

Videos widely shared online showed people rallying Friday across Iran, including in Mahabad, the flashpoint western city where a rights group said security forces had killed at least four people in the past two days.

The demonstrations came despite a crackdown that the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group said Friday had killed at least 160 protesters, an increase of 19 since its last toll on Tuesday, and including more than two dozen children.

The IHR called for “diplomatic pressure” on Iran to be stepped up, with its head Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam warning of a “serious risk of mass killings of protesters which the UN is obligated to prevent”.

Another 93 people were killed during separate protests that erupted on September 30 in the southeastern city of Zahedan over the reported rape of a teenage girl by a police commander, IHR says.

Automatic gunfire

Violence erupted in Zahedan again on Friday “when unknown people opened fire” killing one person and wounding 14 others, including security forces, the official IRNA news agency reported.

IHR said security forces opened fire at protesters in the southeastern city, with deaths reported “including a 12-year-old boy”.

The Norway-based Hengaw organisation added that two more people were killed Thursday in Baneh, another city near Iran’s western border with Iraq.

The bloodshed in Mahabad came as mourners paying tribute to Ismail Mauludi, a 35-year-old protester killed on Wednesday night, made their way from his funeral towards the governor’s office, Hengaw said.

“Death to the dictator,” protesters yelled, using a slogan aimed at Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the governor’s office burned, in an online video.

Other verified footage showed clashes outside the western city of Khorramabad near the grave of Nika Shahkarami, a 16-year-old killed by security forces, where dozens of people were marking the end of the traditional 40-day mourning period.

“I’ll kill, I’ll kill, whoever killed my sister,” they were heard chanting, in a video posted online by the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA).

Dozens of men were seen hurling projectiles under fire as they drove back security forces.

At least 20 security personnel have been killed in the Amini protests, rights groups say, and at least another eight in Zahedan.

Local media meanwhile quoted a joint statement from Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Revolutionary Guards accusing the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency of plotting against the Islamic republic.

The CIA was conspiring with spy agencies in Israel, Britain and Saudi Arabia, “to spark riots” in Iran, the statement said.

‘More killings’

The latest Amini protests were held in defiance of warnings from Khamenei and ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi, who appeared to try to link protests to a mass shooting Wednesday at a key Shiite Muslim shrine in the southern city of Shiraz after prayers, that state media said killed at least 15 worshippers.

But the protests triggered by Amini’s death on September 16 show no signs of dwindling, inflamed by public outrage over the crackdown that has cost the lives of many other young women and girls.

The Iranian authorities have had to quell the protests through various tactics, possibly in a bid to avoid fuelling yet more anger among the public.

They staged rallies on Friday in Tehran and other cities to denounce the Shiraz attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

“I doubt that the security forces have ruled out conducting a larger-scale violent crackdown,” said Henry Rome, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute.

For now, hey “appear to be trying other techniques” including “arrests and intimidation, calibrated internet shutdowns, killing some protesters, and fuelling uncertainty”, Rome said.

“They may be making the calculation that more killing would encourage, rather than deter, protesters — if that judgement shifts, then the situation would likely become even more violent,” he added.

An official Iranian medical report concluded Amini’s death was caused by illness, due o “surgery for a brain tumour at the age of eight”, and not police brutality.

Lawyers acting for her family have rejected the findings and called for a re-examination of her death.