Category: World

Resolve Kashmir issue in line with U.N. Resolutions: Erdogan to U.N.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is vying for the leadership of Islamic nations, brought up the Kashmir yet again at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

During his address, he said, “the Kashmir conflict which is also key to the stability and peace of South Asia is still a burning issue.”

“We are in favour of solving this issue through dialogue within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, especially in line with the expectations of the people of Kashmir,” he added.

The prime Security Council directive on Kashmir, Resolution 47, called for Pakistan to remove its troops and personnel from the region as the first step and a pre-condition for a referendum.

Islamabad has rejected it and continued its occupation allowing for India to settle the matter through elections in Kashmir.

Erdogan avoided naming India directly, while he had named countries in many of the conflicts from Azerbaijan to Armenia that he spoke about.

At last year’s high-level meeting of the General Assembly, only Erdogan and Mahatir Mohammed, the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, joined Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to talk about Kashmir.

While he condemned terrorism in other parts of the world, Erdogan was silent on the terrorism directed against India.

In his attempt to challenge the Saudi leadership of the Islamic nations, he criticised attempts to bring about reconciliation with Israel, but did not directly mention the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which recently set up diplomatic resolution with Israel, with the apparent approval of Riyadh.

“Participation of some countries of the region in this game does not mean anything beyond serving Israel`s efforts to erode basic international parameters,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan also called for “sincere” dialogue to settle the growing row with Greece over Ankara’s energy search in the eastern Mediterranean, rejecting “harassment”.

NATO members Turkey and Greece have been at odds over rights to potential hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean and the extent of their continental shelves.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kicked off the six-day General Debate.

Despite this year’s United Nations General Assembly General Debate being a mostly virtual event, there was a heavy presence of New York City Police officers in front of the UN building.

The annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, started on Tuesday with no presidents or prime ministers physically present in New York, because of the world-wide coronavirus pandemic. All statements have been pre-recorded and will be broadcast in the General Assembly hall.

The United Nations was created when countries came together after World War II to prevent conflict.

– Agencies

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Infectious Disease Expert Warns

• Shanghai specialist points to situation in Europe, saying vaccine will be the only way to contain the pandemic – but that could be at least a year away
• His remarks come as southwestern Yunnan province goes into ‘wartime mode’ to tackle an outbreak of cases

Alice Yan

A second wave of Covid-19 infections in China over winter is “inevitable” and until a vaccine is available there could be further outbreaks in the country, according to an infectious disease expert.

But Zhang Wenhong, director of the infectious disease department at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, said even if a safe and effective vaccine was developed, it could be at least a year before it is widely available, according to news website The Paper.

He said a vaccine was the only way to contain the pandemic.

“But it’s hardly likely that drug makers will be able to produce vaccines and supply them to the market within a year,” he said.

In the meantime, officials were carrying out checks in every province and municipality in the country to make sure measures were being followed to avoid any large-scale outbreaks, according to Zhang.

He also noted that it could be difficult to identify infections because although the coronavirus was highly contagious, many people had mild cases with no symptoms.

“The biggest problem is that it’s not very lethal, with 80 per cent of people who contract the virus not showing symptoms. It’s so horrible,” Zhang said, adding that the elderly were most vulnerable to the disease and more younger people tended to get infected once health care systems were overwhelmed.

The comments followed similar remarks made by top respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan, who said last week that the virus would “continue to exist” in China over winter and in spring.

“A vaccine is the fundamental solution for the pandemic … it needs countries to collaborate, and it will take one to two years for widespread inoculation,” Zhong told a forum on Friday, according to official newspaper Science and Technology Daily.

But according to Wu Guizhen, chief biosafety expert at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, there could be a vaccine available for Chinese as early as November or December given that phase 3 trials of one candidate developed in China were going well.

Wu told state broadcaster CCTV last Monday that she had been given the experimental vaccine herself as a volunteer in the trial in April, and that she felt fine and had not had any adverse effects.

While the pandemic appears to be under control in most of China, the southwestern province of Yunnan has gone into “wartime mode” to prevent the spread of the virus from neighbouring Myanmar, which has seen a rise in cases.

It comes after officials locked down the border city of Ruili last week after two Myanmese tested positive for the virus.

Another eight cases have since been reported in the province, all of whom were people arriving from elsewhere. Nine asymptomatic cases have also been recorded in Yunnan.

The provincial authorities are now scrambling to tighten border control to help contain the pandemic, according to a statement from a government meeting on the situation on Saturday.

More than 287,000 people in Ruili have been tested for the virus since Tuesday, with all returning negative results so far.

About Author:

Alice Yan

Alice Yan is a Shanghai-based social and medical news reporter. She started her journalism career in 2003 and has degrees in economics and public administration.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a press release)

The end of the Saudi era

By: Marwan Bishara

As we approach the second anniversary of the state-sponsored assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia continues its retreat, losing direction and influence in the Gulf and Middle East regions.

More than 50 years after the Saudi kingdom began its rise to regional and international prominence as the leading member of OPEC and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), it now finds itself on a path of steady decline.

Home to Islam’s holiest sites and to the world’s second-largest oil reserves, Saudi Arabia’s misguided policies are wasting the religious and financial clout it has accumulated over the years.

The past five years have been especially painful and destructive. What began as a promising and ambitious drive by the rather Machiavellian Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), soon turned into a reckless venture.

Guided primarily by his mentor, the other Machiavellian prince, Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), MBS is running the kingdom to the ground.

Paradoxically, nothing testifies to the decline of Saudi Arabia more than the abrupt rise of its junior partner as a bellicose regional power, interfering in Libya and Tunisia and supporting dictators and war criminals, like Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

With Riyadh paralysed by mostly self-inflicted blows, Abu Dhabi is recklessly dashing forward and dragging Saudi Arabia with it.

This is also evident in MBS’s support for MBZ’s gambit to link Gulf security to Israel’s as a way to safeguard their rule and regional influence.

It is an astounding reversal of roles, considering Saudi Arabia began its rise to regional and global prominence in the late 1960s, before the UAE had even come into existence.

Coincidental power

The early rise of Saudi Arabia can be traced to the fall of Egypt’s pan-Arab project after the disastrous 1967 war, and the subsequent death of its leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970.

Already a leading member of OPEC, Saudi Arabia organised the first meeting of the OIC in 1970 to magnify its influence beyond the Arab League, which was dominated at the time by the secular, Soviet-friendly regimes – especially Egypt, Iraq and Syria.

The windfall from the oil boom after the OPEC boycott following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war further enriched Saudi Arabia and financed its petrodollar diplomacy and influence the secular, Soviet-friendly regimes – especially Egypt, Iraq and Syria.

The windfall from the oil boom after the OPEC boycott following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war further enriched Saudi Arabia and financed its petrodollar diplomacy and influence.

Egypt’s decision to sign a peace treaty with Israel at the end of the decade all but assured the kingdom’s regional rise.

The 1978 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran elevated Riyadh into an indispensable strategic ally for the United States in the Muslim world.

Saudi regional standing was strengthened further in the 1980s with Iraq and Iran drained by a destructive eight-year war, and Syria and Israel sucked into the Lebanese quagmire following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

The Saudi-US alliance reached a new height during the 1980s, as Riyadh supported the US against the Soviet Union and its clients, notably through their successful covert assistance for the Afghan Mujahideen which ended in Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan by 1989, but also paved the way for the 9/11 attacks more than a decade later.

All attempts by the likes of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein to regain the regional initiative ended in disaster. America’s decisive victory in the Cold War after the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc and the Gulf War, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and its pursuit of a double containment policy towards both Iran and Iraq, further improved Riyadh’s regional and international positions.

In 1991, a triumphant America convened the first international Arab-Israeli “peace conference” in Madrid. Saudi Arabia was invited, while the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formally excluded.

In short, Arab failure has somehow led to Saudi success, whether by default or by design.

The Saudi-American honeymoon came to an abrupt end in 2001 with al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington. Riyadh may have expelled Osama bin Laden, the Saudi leader of al-Qaeda, a decade earlier, but 15 of the 19 hijackers were nonetheless Saudi nationals.

Then, once again, Riyadh was saved by circumstance, or by another American folly. The Bush administration’s decision to extend the so-called “war on terror” beyond Afghanistan made Saudi an indispensable ally yet again.

In April 2002, President George W Bush received the de facto Saudi leader, Crown Prince Abdullah, at his own private Texas ranch, considered a privilege to any foreign leader. A month earlier, Abdullah was instrumental in getting the Arab League to adopt his concocted “peace initiative” that basically committed it to the land for peace formula in negotiations with Israel.

A year later, the complicit Saudi regime looked on as the US invaded Iraq under false pretences, leaving the country destroyed and the US treasury exhausted by years of war and occupation.

From then on, Saudi Arabia’s luck began to run out.

The decline

Saudi Arabia became increasingly vulnerable as its exhausted patron, the US, began to turn its back on the region in the 2010s under the Obama administration.

The US became the world’s leading oil producer thanks to the shale revolution, and hence less interested in Saudi or Gulf security.

It also became less inclined to intervene militarily on behalf of its rich clients, just when Iran’s influence began to grow at the expense of Iraq.

And if that was not enough, the US and Iran signed an international nuclear deal in 2015, paving the way for lifting the international sanctions, emboldening the Islamic Republic and enhancing its standing, to the chagrin of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the outbreak of the Arab uprisings across the region starting in 2011 put the Saudi kingdom and its satellite authoritarian states on alert. 

The Obama administration’s initial support for democratic reform and regime change further complicated matters for the Saudis.

Utterly frantic and exposed, the Saudi monarchy went on the offensive after the death of King Abdullah, under the new leadership of King Salman and his ambitious son, Mohammed, who was appointed the new defence minister.

Making Saudi Arabia great again

Guided by his Emirati mentor Bin Zayed, MBS wasted no time to start a war in Yemen on the pretext of taking on the rebellious Houthis, considered allies of Tehran.

He promised victory in weeks, but the war has dragged on for years, with no end in sight.

In June 2017, MBS and MBZ manufactured a crisis with neighbouring Qatar on the fake pretences of countering “terrorism” and foreign interference in order to impose a new pliant regime that would abide by their dictates.

However, the Trump administration reversed its initial support for the planned coup and what was meant to be a quick win has caused a major fracture in Gulf unity which will not be easy to mend.

In November 2017, MBS lured the prime minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri – a dual Lebanese-Saudi national – to Riyadh, forcing him to condemn his coalition partner, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, and submit his resignation on live Saudi television.

This move also backfired causing international outrage and making the Saudi regime look even more foolish. 

Despite the scandalous blunders, MBS rose through the ranks with every failure, becoming crown prince in 2017. Soon after, he took over all the pillars of power and business in the kingdom, purging princes and government officials through abrupt incarceration, humiliation and even torture.

From then on, the repression continued unabated against all opposition figures, including former officials, religious figures, academics, journalists and human rights activists, reaching a new climax with the horrific assassination and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

Thus, just a few years after King Salman took power and set his young son on the path to the throne, Saudi Arabia has come to be known for brutal violence and recklessness rather than its generous charity and pragmatic diplomacy. In the public eye, the country has come to be represented not by the symbol of the Red Crescent, but the image of a bloody bone saw.

Mega failure

MBS’s brash adventures may have strengthened his grip on power, but they have terribly weakened the kingdom.

Despite hundreds of billions of Saudi arms purchases, the five-year war on Yemen – the worst humanitarian disaster in recent years – continues unabated.

Worse still, the blowback from the war is now felt in Saudi Arabia proper as the Yemeni Houthis have escalated their missile attacks on the kingdom.

Once a major Saudi achievement, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is now utterly paralysed because of MBS’s shortsighted policies.

The kingdom that once prided itself on being a pillar of regional pragmatism and stability has become a belligerent and destabilising force.

Ditto domestically.

Instead of embarking on major political reforms to pave the way for economic transformation, the young inexperienced MBS followed in the footsteps of the UAE, but without its tactfulness, turning the country into a repressive police state with the trappings of social liberalisation.

But as the consumer drive wore off and the entertainment circus of professional wrestling and pop concerts faded away, the kingdom was left with budget deficits and domestic discontent.

The initial optimism and excitement about greater social mobility and empowerment of women soon gave way to pessimism and despair, as Saudi economic reform and multibillion-dollar megaprojects stalled, while youth unemployment remains at a high 29 percent.

The Saudi kingdom is in disarray, its regime utterly disoriented and disrespected throughout the region and beyond.

Unable to deal with the failures or to meet the challenges ahead amid rising tensions with Iran and Turkey, MBS is desperate. He may try for a comeback during the upcoming G20 summit hosted by Riyadh, but that will prove too little too late.

The growing likelihood of his American patron, Donald Trump, losing the US elections in November, has left him high and dry. 

Israel as a last refuge

Instead of reversing his destructive policies, ending the war in Yemen, reconciling with Qatar and strengthening Gulf and Arab unity to neutralise Iran, the Saudi crown prince has been cementing the covert alliance with Israel to pave the way towards full normalisation with the occupier of Arab lands.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, MBS has encouraged the UAE and Bahrain to normalise ties with Israel as a prelude to imminent Saudi normalisation, but without the consent of his father. King Salman is reportedly adamant that Saudi Arabia normalises relations with Israel only after the emergence of a Palestinian state.

Regardless of whether this is true, or merely father and son playing “good cop, bad cop” with the Palestinian cause, a diplomatic and strategic rapprochement with Israel may prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Not only is it far-fetched for Israel to get involved in Gulf regional security, which is already saturated with American, French, and other world powers’ involvement, but it is also unlikely, not to say unthinkable, for the “Jewish State” to sacrifice its soldiers in defence of Gulf monarchies.

And whatever Israel could offer in terms of know-how, technology, and arms, is already on offer at a discounted rate by world powers.

Yes, Israel may be trigger happy and eager to join the Saudi-Emirati “anti-democratic league”, but this will prove counterproductive, considering the degree of Arab revulsion it may provoke.

After a decades-long occupation and oppression of the Palestinians, Israel remains the enemy for most people in the region, with an absolute majority of Arabs seeing it as a threat to regional security and stability.

But MBS, like MBZ, is mostly hedging his bets in anticipation of a likely Trump defeat that is certain to leave him isolated or even shunned by a Joe Biden administration.

And yes, Israel may be able to help the discredited Saudi regime in Washington, and more specifically in the US Congress, but that will come at a high price, including Saudi total acquiescence to both American and Israeli hegemony.

In other words, MBS’s gamble on Israel may prove as foolish as his other gambles because it will prove more of a burden than an asset to the kingdom.

If the US and Trump himself could not save MBS’s Saudi Arabia from imminent decline, you can be sure Israel will not be able to, either.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marwan Bishara

Marwan Bishara is the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera. @MarwanBishara

With inputs from Al Jazeera

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a press release)

A dog tested positive for coronavirus in Jordan for the first time in the country, the official Jordan News Agency confirmed on Friday.

The owner – a foreign investor residing in the al-Ramtha area to the north of the capital Amman – had attempted to ship the dog by plane to his wife but the dog was found to be infected with the virus.

Dogs and other animals that may test positive for COVID-19 are not a major source of transmission to humans, the National Committee for Epidemics spokesman, Dr. Nazir Obeidat said, according to the new agency.

Authorities have, however, isolated the owner’s home as a precautionary measure amid the outbreak. The owner and his neighbor are both in quarantine until their COVID-19 tests are processed.

Jordan has been battling spike in the number of positive cases throughout the country and reported 279 new cases on Thursday, its highest daily increase since the virus was first detected in March. A total of 4,131 cases and 26 deaths have been confirmed as of September 17.

Authorities have implemented several measures in an effort to curb the outbreak, including a quarantine requirement for international travelers arriving in the Jordan as well as the suspension of schools for two weeks. Restaurants, mosques and churches have also been shut down for a two-week period which started on September 17.

– Agencies

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Reuters

Moscow: Russia has approved R-Pharm’s Coronavir treatment for outpatients with mild to moderate Covid-19 infections and the antiviral drug could be rolled out to pharmacies in the country as soon as next week, the company said on Friday.

Coronavir’s approval as a prescription drug follows the green light for another Russian Covid-19 drug, Avifavir, in May. Both are based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used there as the basis for viral treatments.

R-Pharm’s announcement is another sign Russia is pushing hard to take a global lead in the race against the virus. It is already exporting its Covid-19 tests and has clinched several international deals for supplies of its Sputnik-V vaccine.

R-Pharm said it received approval for Coronavir after Phase III clinical trials involving 168 patients with Covid-19.

The drug was first approved for in-hospital use to treat Covid-19 in July, a government register showed.

Coronavir’s trial was comparatively small. The European health regulator on Friday endorsed the use of the steroid dexamethasone in the treatment of Covid-19 patients after a study by UK researchers on several thousand patients.

R-Pharm has started talks with pharmacies about orders, the company’s spokeswoman said, with Coronavir supplies expected to be rolled out in the near future, possibly as soon as next week.

Coronavir is made at R-Pharm’s facility in Yaroslavl, about 300 km (186 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Avifavir has been available in hospitals since June but has yet to be supplied to pharmacies.
Both are based on the active ingredient favipiravir, which is also the key component in Fujifilm Holdings Corp’s antiviral drug Avigan, approved in Japan as an emergency influenza treatment in 2014.

Trials to test it against Covid-19 are ongoing around the world. Results of a Japanese study in July were inconclusive.

It is produced by various Indian generic drugmakers including Lupin, Cipla and Dr Reddy’s for use against Covid-19 in India.

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A more intensive probe could be ordered later against identified Turkish groups that are believed to have crossed the red lines, he said

Indian intelligence agencies have started running security checks on Turkey-linked charities that have suddenly become active in Jammu and Kashmir over the last year after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a strident speech at the United Nations General Assembly last year that mirrored Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s pitch on Kashmir, people familiar with the matter said.

A national security planner said the intelligence probe also covers the role of individuals connected to the nonprofits with close links with Turkey and prepare a comprehensive report on their activities, overt and otherwise.

A more intensive probe could be ordered later against identified groups and individuals that are believed to have crossed the red lines, he said. The second-level probe could include a hard look at the foreign funds received and its use.

The move follows multiple reports from India’s intelligence community over the last few months that red flagged efforts to radicalise Indian Muslims in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country. Analysts had then pointed that Ankara’s attempt to expand its influence against the backdrop of President Erdogan’s pitch to challenge Saudi Arabia’s dominance in the Islamic world at a global level and offering a reshaped, conservative Turkey with Ottoman traditions as a model for Islamic nations to follow.

The intel reports had also spotted a spike in the activities of Turkey-linked NGOs in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country, some of them linked to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The growth of their activities coincided with a change in the tenor and extent of reportage and analytical pieces on Kashmir in the Turkish media that reflect Pakistan’s viewpoint. Also, people having deep links with Kashmiri separatists are being used by Turkish national media to target India.

An intelligence report recently submitted to the government has noted efforts by Turkey-linked NGOs to reach out to Kashmiris with assistance during Ramzan. Some others have been organising webinars and other events where topics such as the amended citizenship law, riots and hate crimes are discussed. An official said the narratives projected at these online interactions and on social media are provocative.

“These are not discussions where different viewpoints are presented but are meant to reinforce fears around Islamophobia in India,” the official said.

Islamophobia has been a recurring theme in Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offensive against the Indian government for about a year and had tried to weave a narrative around it in Gulf countries and other Islamic-majority countries.

Erdogan was seen to be working on this narrative earlier this year when he lashed out at India for the Delhi riots. “India right now has become a country where massacres are widespread. What massacres? Massacres of Muslims. By who? Hindus,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara in February.

India had then denounced his “irresponsible” statement that the external affairs ministry said was driven by his “political agenda”.

“The comments are factually inaccurate and are driven by his political agenda. We do not expect such irresponsible statements from a Head of State,” the ministry had said.

With inputs from Hindustan Times

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A World Health Organization (WHO) official warned that the spread of the novel coronavirus in Europe now is worse than it was in March, near the start of the pandemic.

Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said the spread of the virus should “serve as a wake-up call.”

“In the spring and early summer we were able to see the impact of strict lockdown measures. Our efforts, our sacrifices, paid off. In June cases hit an all-time low,” Kluge said at an online press conference Thursday. “The September case numbers, however, should serve as a wake-up call for all of us.”

Europe has reported 300,000 cases in one week, the highest 7-day total since the start of the pandemic. In total, Europe has reported about 4.9 million coronavirus cases and 226,524 deaths.

“We have a very serious situation unfolding before us,” Kluge said. “Weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March.”

Kluge emphasized that though the rising numbers partially reflect more testing, governments should not reduce their quarantine periods for people who have come into contact with infected individuals.

“Although these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, they also show alarming rates of transmission across the region,” Kluge said. “The 14-day quarantine period is a conservative estimate of the infectious period.”

With inputs from The Hill

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Responsibility for the current situation does not lie with China, says China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

China on Wednesday blamed India for “violating” border agreements and said India bore responsibility for the recent tensions, a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that China had, by amassing troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) this summer, violated the 1993 and 1996 boundary agreements that have helped keep the peace along the border for years.

“The responsibility for the current situation does not lie with China,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing, in response to a question on Mr. Singh’s statement.

Asked why China had not yet disengaged and withdrawn its troops to the status quo as of April, prior to its transgressions, Mr. Wang said: “The most urgent and important task is for the Indian side to immediately correct its wrong course of action, disengage on the ground as soon as possible, and take concrete actions to promote easing of the situation.”

“It is the Indian side that has violated the agreements, first trespassed, and first fired shots to threaten the safety of the Chinese border troops,” he said.

On the “five point consensus” reached on September 10 by the two Foreign Ministers in Moscow, he said China “hopes India will work with China to follow through on the agreement and other previously reached agreements, and put the border issue in an appropriate position in the bigger picture of China-India relations”.

On Wednesday, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Chinese troops had last week “raised their combat readiness to the second-highest possible” level after the firing of warning shots on September 7 near the south bank of Pangong Lake.

The newspaper said “the alert was lowered after a meeting of the nations’ foreign ministers” in Moscow three days later.

The second-highest of four levels of readiness prompts for increased deployments of troops to forward areas and stepping up of training exercises. The highest threat level is only for armed conflict. The newspaper said this was the first time the threat level had been raised to two along the border since 1987, during a stand-off in Sumdorong Chu.

“Since the combat readiness level was raised, commanders, officers and soldiers have been working around the clock, carrying out extra training and drills,” a military source told the newspaper. “The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) mobilised more troops and weapons systems to the Line of Actual Control in preparation for the worst.”

While the alert level had now been lowered, the source told the paper “it could be reinstated if circumstances changed”. “The level can be decided by troops on the border, as happened before the 1987 skirmish, when it was adjusted several times,” the newspaper reported.

With inputs from The Hindu

Twitter has suspended the account of a Chinese virologist who has claimed that COVID-19 was manufactured in a laboratory.

Dr. Li-Meng Yan, a former researcher at the Hong Kong School of Public Health, went dark on the platform after she accused China of covering up evidence that the deadly virus came from a lab in Wuhan.

“They don’t want the people to know this truth. Also, that’s why I got suspended, I got suppression [and] I am the target that China Communist Part wants to [sic] disappear,” she told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday.

Carlson responded, “I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt so I’m going to assume you’re not an anti-Chinese racist so it’s not clear why Twitter would shut you down or why you’re being ignored by the rest of the US media.”

Twitter declined to comment to The Post on Wednesday.

The whistleblower released a paper Monday on the open-access repository website Zenote that she says backs up her claims and shows how the virus could be “conveniently created” in a lab setting in six months.

The paper, which was co-authored with two others, claims to note how “SARS-CoV-2 shows biological characteristics that are inconsistent with a naturally occurring, zoonotic virus.”

Reuters

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday he would like convicted rapists to be publicly executed or chemically castrated, reacting to a question on the rape of a woman on a highway last week that has caused uproar in the South Asian nation.

Last week, a mother of two driving along a major highway near Lahore was dragged out of her car and raped by two men at gunpoint – one of whom was arrested by police on Monday.

Khan said he believed the culprits should be hanged publicly, but added that officials had informed him that such an act could endanger a preferential trade status given to Pakistan by the European Union (EU).

The EU’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP-plus) status, granted to Pakistan in 2014, is contingent upon observation of international conventions, such as human rights.

However, Khan said he was also looking into the option of chemical castration instead.

“The way there is first degree, second degree, third degree murder, this [rape] should be graded in the same way, and when there is first degree [rape], castrate them. Operate on them and make them unable to do this,” Khan said in an interview on a Pakistan news channel.

Khan’s remarks came as Pakistani officials announced that one of the two main suspects in the motorway rape case had been arrested and had admitted to the crime. Officials said they also had a positive DNA match. The search for the second suspect is still ongoing.

Police retrieved DNA samples from the site, and used GPS data from cellular phone networks to identify individuals who were at the site when the attack occurred.

The shocking assault sparked nationwide protests and calls for the resignation of officials as well as the public hanging of rapists in Pakistan.

This February, lawmakers introduced legislation for the public hanging of those convicted of sexual abuse and the murder of children, but the law was not passed.