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AIADMK releases first list of 16 candidates for Lok Sabha polls
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 20 (ANI): AIADMK on Wednesday released its first list of 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The list was released by the party general secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami. While releasing the list, he said that five constituencies have been allocated to the DMDK; and one each to Puthiya Tamilagam and SDPI. "In the AIADMK alliance, DMDMK is to contest in 5 seats, SDPI.....»»
US State Secretary Blinken begins Middle East tour, marks his first stop in Saudi Arabia
Jeddah [Saudi Arabia], March 21 (ANI): US State Secretary Antony Blinken who began his Middle East tour arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, marking his first stop on this trip to discuss efforts to reach an "immediate ceasefire agreement" between Israel and Hamas, The New York Times reported. Blinken's visit to Jeddah came as US President Joe Biden's administration was hoping it could convince Saudi Arabia to establish.....»»
Suspect in Saudi OFW’s murder arrested
The suspect in the killing of overseas Filipino worker Marjorette Garcia in Saudi Arabia has been arrested, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs......»»
Iran court orders U.S. to pay 1980 coup victims $330M
A court in Tehran has ordered the United States government to pay $330 million in damages to families of several people killed in a 1980 failed coup d’etat allegedly planned and executed by Washington. Relatives of those killed in the coup filed last year a legal petition with Iran’s International Court demanding damages, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. The petitioners claimed that a year after the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah, a group of mostly army officers tried to overthrow the new government. State news agency IRNA said the “insurgents” were led by Saeed Mahdiyoun, a former Iranian air force commander, and had their headquarters in Nojeh, an air base in the western Hamedan province. “Their objective was to seize control of military bases across the country and target strategic centres and residences of the revolution's leaders. However, their efforts were thwarted,” IRNA said. Several people were killed in clashes between the coup plotters and government forces, and scores of others were arrested. Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. In 2016, the US Supreme Court ordered that Iranian assets frozen in the country should be paid to victims of attacks Washington has blamed on Tehran, including the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon and a 1996 blast in Saudi Arabia. Tehran, which denies all responsibility for the attacks blamed on it by the United States, says that a series of US court judgments have awarded victims a total of $56 billion in damages. WITH AFP The post Iran court orders U.S. to pay 1980 coup victims $330M appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pakistani, Indian lovers defy all to be together
Sachin Meena, 22, an unmarried Indian shopkeeping assistant and a Hindu, connected with 27-year-old Seema Haider, a married Pakistani mother of four and a Muslim, playing the online shooting game PUBG during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. "We became friends and our friendship turned to love and our chats became longer -- every morning and night -- before we finally decided to meet," said Seema, speaking to AFP from the cramped courtyard of Sachin's two-room family home, where she now lives. Seema, who left Pakistan and her husband with her four children by smuggling herself into India via Nepal in May -- for which the couple were arrested then bailed out last week -- said she has since married Sachin and taken his name. "I converted to Hinduism," she said, sitting next to Sachin in the village of Rabupura, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) from New Delhi. "I'd rather die than return or leave Sachin". While the lovers have found each other, the history of their respective nations is bitter. India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent in 1947. Each expelled the other's high commissioner in 2019, and bilateral diplomatic, cultural, business and sporting links are very limited. Indian police insist that Seema's long-term stay will be impossible. "I request the Indian government to grant me citizenship", Seema pleaded, a red headscarf covering her hair and her four young children playing nearby. - 'Destined' - Apostasy is considered punishable by death in some interpretations of Islam. Seema said she had already received online threats and insisted the couple would "live and die together". Seema's proclamation of "undying love" for Sachin and a promise to only return to Pakistan "as a dead woman" when they featured on a raucous Indian TV debate this week drew cheers from the crowds sitting around them. Seema said she had been first attracted by Sachin's gaming skills. Three years later, the couple met in person in March in Nepal. She became sure about leaving her "abusive" Pakistani husband -- charges he denies -- after the first meeting. The couple said it took months of meticulous planning with help from YouTube videos on how to enter India via Nepal. In May, she succeeded. "It was very difficult to travel from Pakistan to India," she said. "I believe that with God's love, we were destined to meet". Sachin's family only learned of her existence when he rented a nearby apartment with her. "There was some resistance, but my father and everyone accepted us. They are happy for us," said Sachin. "I will do everything for them." Indian police found out after they tried to get married at a local court. - 'Still my family' - Seema's estranged husband, Ghulam Haider, left his job as a labourer and rickshaw driver to earn more money for his family in Saudi Arabia. Haider, who said he had not heard of PUBG, wants his family back. "I earnestly appeal to Indian and Pakistani authorities to bring my wife and children back to me," Ghulam Haider told AFP by phone from Saudi Arabia. Haider said the couple, from different Baloch tribes, have a defiant love story of their own. Forbidden by their families from marrying, they ran away to get hitched -- a taboo in Pakistan that can sometimes lead to so-called honor killings. "Later, a jirga (council of elders) was summoned to settle the matter and a fine of one million rupees (around $3,640) was slapped on me," he said. "I am far from my home, from my family, and it is very agonizing for me because we married out of love." 'She is an adult' In India, the couple have received a popular welcome. Crowds from nearby villages have been visiting them since their arrest grabbed national headlines. "We took selfies," said Rakesh Chand, 37, who drove over an hour to offer his congratulations, one of the dozens lining up to greet them. "Sachin is very happy, even his family has accepted them, so the government must ensure that she isn't forced to leave." But on the streets near her old home in Pakistan, Dhani Bakhsh village in eastern Karachi, the news has not been welcomed. While people know about Seema's story, few are willing to talk about the incident openly -- though they gossip in small groups on street corners. "Let's forget about her, as she has gone and she is an adult," said Haider's cousin Zafarullah Bugti, blaming PUBG for turning Seema into "a psycho". Seema herself is unrepentant, calling Sachin the "love of her life" and insisting she will dedicate herself to her family. "My children will get all the love, care and attention here," she said. ak-bb-pjm/qan/cwl © Agence France-Presse The post Pakistani, Indian lovers defy all to be together appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Saudi women jailed for Twitter use should be freed
Two Saudi women sentenced to decades in prison over social media use have been held arbitrarily and should be released, according to UN expert findings seen Saturday by AFP. The lengthy jail terms handed down last year to Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani, primarily over Twitter posts criticizing the government, have heightened global scrutiny of repression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is trying to rebrand the Gulf kingdom as open for business and tourism. In a report dated 19 June and shared with AFP, the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an independent expert panel, determined the women had been held arbitrarily and that "the appropriate remedy would be to release" them. They should be given "an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law", it said. The UN experts also said there was credible evidence Shehab had faced "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" while in custody. The alleged abuses against her include "threats, insults, harassment and improper methods used during her interrogation", such as taking "advantage of (Shehab's) depression by interrogating her in the middle of the night, shortly after she had taken her antidepressant and sleeping pills". Sources for the report included five groups representing the two women, among them the rights organization ALQST, Democracy for the Arab World Now, and MENA Rights Group. In its response to the expert panel, Saudi Arabia rejected the findings as "unfounded" and said they lacked "supporting evidence". The kingdom said the judicial process had been fair and denied Shehab had been mistreated. Saudi officials did not respond to a request for comment from AFP on Saturday. Shehab, a member of the Shiite minority in the majority Sunni kingdom, had been studying for a doctorate in Britain when she was arrested in January 2021 while on holiday. She has said she was held for 285 days in solitary confinement before being convicted in March 2022 by a court that tries terrorism cases. The evidence against her included posts championing women's rights and retweets of a prominent Saudi women's rights activist. In August, she was sentenced to 34 years in prison and banned from traveling abroad for a further 34 years. Qahtani received a 45-year sentence last year for using Twitter to "challenge" Prince Mohammed and his father King Salman. A court document seen last year by AFP described an anonymous account in which Qahtani criticized the government and retweeted posts warning of attempts to arrest those behind public protests, which are not tolerated in Saudi Arabia. The post Saudi women jailed for Twitter use should be freed appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Saudi charges women’s activist with spreading ‘propaganda’
Saudi Arabia has charged a women's rights activist detained since November over her social media posts with launching a "propaganda campaign", according to court documents seen by AFP on Wednesday. Manahel al-Otaibi was arrested for social media posts challenging the country's male guardianship laws and requirements for women to wear the customary body-shrouding abaya. Public prosecutors accused her of leading a "campaign to incite Saudi girls to denounce religious principles and rebel against the customs and traditions of Saudi society," according to the documents. She appeared in front of judges in January and was then referred to the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) which was established in 2008 to handle terrorism-related cases but has been widely used to try political dissidents and human rights activists. Otaibi has not yet been convicted or sentenced and no date has been announced for her hearing which could result in a lengthy prison sentence. Otaibi's sister -- Fouz -- who has left Saudi Arabia, was hit with similar charges and risks imprisonment if she returns to the kingdom. Speaking to AFP, Fouz criticized authorities for "targeting influential women demanding women's rights in Saudi Arabia." "There is a contradiction... as if there are two states," she told AFP. "A state with Vision 2030, and a state that still applies the old strict rules." Vision 2030 is the kingdom's economic and social reform agenda which has, in the last seven years, led to dramatic changes in the deeply conservative kingdom, including women's right to drive and the promotion of sports for women. Still, Saudi Arabia is often criticized for not tolerating dissent and has been in the spotlight in recent months for decades-long prison sentences handed down to two women who tweeted and retweeted posts critical of the government. London-based rights group ALQST denounced the charges against the al-Otaibi sisters as "yet another example of Saudi Arabia's empty promises when it comes to reforms". "Saudi women still get imprisoned and face sham trials for demanding their rights," said Lina al-Hathloul, ALQST's head of monitoring and communications. The post Saudi charges women’s activist with spreading ‘propaganda’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Chinese Diplomat Liu Jianchao Meets With Singapore s Leaders
singapore - Liu Jianchao, the senior diplomat widely expected to become China's next foreign minister, said "the world needs connectivity, not decoupling," during a four-day visit to Singapore.Liu, who heads the international department of the Communist Party, was in the city-state to meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the country's incoming leader, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.During a s.....»»
Akbayan to Sara: You don’t have to be president to speak vs China
MANILA, Philippines — Party-list group Akbayan said on Thursday that Vice President Sara Duterte does not have to be a president of the country for her to call out China’s intrusive actions over the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Empathy and a moral backbone is just what it takes to stand up with fisherfolk and frontline.....»»
DMW sets April 15 deadline for kin of deceased Saudi OFW wage claimants
DMW sets April 15 deadline for kin of deceased Saudi OFW wage claimants.....»»
2 arrested; guns, explosive, drugs seized
2 arrested; guns, explosive, drugs seized.....»»
Iloilo City fish vendor arrested; P4 Million shabu seized
Iloilo City fish vendor arrested; P4 Million shabu seized.....»»
2 nabbed for possession of shabu, explosives, guns in Zamboanga City
The police arrested two men after authorities discovered explosives, firearms and shabu from their hideout in Barangay Quiniput, Zamboanga City on Wednesday afternoon......»»
Survey shows Cha-cha still unpopular with Filipinos — Senate leaders
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the findings of the survey by private pollster Pulse Asia, which was released on Wednesday, show that Charter change is an "unpopular move.".....»»
PRO-Davao no idea of Quiboloy’s whereabouts
THE Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao) has responded to the accusations of Makabayan ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro that they are “clueless about the whereabouts of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy”......»»
LIST: Dragonpay’s payment channels schedule for Holy Week
Some payment channels will have shortened hours of operation while others will be temporarily deactivated from March 27 (Holy Wednesday) to March 30 (Black Saturday)......»»
Danao City ‘gun maker’ nabbed in raid
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 39-year-old man, who was accused of the illegal manufacture of guns, was arrested in a raid in his residence in Sitio Sapangdako, Barangay Matija, Danao City in northern Cebu, Tuesday dawn, March 26. In a report, the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) said that the raid was based on a.....»»
Miss Universe Philippines releases statement condemning cyberbullying of delegates
The Miss Universe Philippines organization released a statement condemning the act of cyberbullying in all its forms......»»
Alden Richards, Jericho Rosales, Dominic Roque among stars at Kathryn Bernardo s yacht party
Kapamilya star Kathryn Bernardo celebrated her 28th birthday with close friends on a yacht......»»
P1.1 billion released to restore heritage school buildings
The Department of Budget and Management has released P1.1 billion to conserve and restore heritage school buildings in the country......»»