Canadian MP Chandra Arya

Ottawa: A prominent Canadian MP of Indian origin has criticised a petition seeking a fresh inquiry into the bombing of Air India Flight 182 of 1985 to determine the involvement of any “foreign intelligence”, alleging that it promotes “conspiracy theories” of Khalistani extremists.

The Montreal-New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was to have landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent.

The bombing was blamed on Sikh extremist militants in retaliation to ‘Operation Bluestar’ to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984.

Addressing the Parliament on Thursday, Chandra Arya, a Member of Parliament from Nepean in the House of Commons, noted that two Canadian public inquiries found Khalistan extremists responsible for the bombing of Air India flight.

Calling the bombing the “largest mass killing” in Canadian history, Arya said, “Even today, the ideology responsible for this terrorist attack is still alive among (a) few people in Canada.”

“Two Canadian public inquiries found Khalistan extremists responsible for the bombing of the Air India flight. Now there is a petition on (the) parliament portal asking for a new enquiry promoting conspiracy theories promoted by Khalistan extremists,” he said.

Quoting Bal Gupta, whose wife was killed in this attack, Arya said,” It’s deeply frustrating. It opens up old wounds all over again. It’s all garbage. It’s an attempt to gain publicity and support for terrorist activities.”

The petition calls for the Canadian government to order a fresh inquiry into the Kanishka bombing to determine whether any “foreign intelligence was involved” in it.

Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing.

New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”.

India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in British Columbia on June 18 last year. The murder is being probed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Tokyo (AP): Japan’s meteorological agency on Tuesday issued a tsunami advisory to a group of remote islands south of Tokyo after a strong earthquake.

The remote offshore quake was not felt and so far no damage or injuries were reported.

Japan Meteorological Agency said a magnitude 5.9 quake hit coastal residents of Izu Islands on Tuesday morning, and issued a tsunami advisory of up to 1 metre of waves in the area within minutes.

The JMA said a tsunami of about 50 centimetres was detected in the Yaene district on the Hachijo island.

The offshore quake occurred about 180 kilometres south of Hachijo island, which is about 300 kilometres south of Tokyo, the agency said.

The JMA said there was no Japanese earthquake intensity data from the remote offshore quake. Residents on Hachijo island said they did not feel the quake and only heard the tsunami advisory, Japan’s NHK public television said.

Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean, and is one of the world’s most earthquake and tsunami-prone countries.

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires

Marjayoun (Lebanon): Israeli strikes on Lebanon Monday killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children, Lebanese authorities said, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. The Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of its widening air campaign against Hezbollah.

Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006.

Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 people — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.

The death toll far surpassed that of Beirut’s devastating port explosion in 2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse detonated, killing at least 218 people and wounding more than 6,000.

In a recorded message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Lebanese civilians to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying “take this warning seriously.”

“Please get out of harm’s way now,” Netanyahu said. “Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”

Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Hagari claimed Monday’s widespread airstrikes had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah. But he would not give a timeline for the ongoing operation and said Israel was prepared to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon if needed.

“We are not looking for wars. We are looking to take down the threats,” he said. “We will do whatever is necessary to do to achieve this mission. We hope to do it as shortly as we can.”

Hagari said Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone.

The military spokesman said Israeli warplanes struck 1,300 Hezbollah targets Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones. He said many were hidden in residential areas, showing photos of what he said were weapons hidden in private homes.

“Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone,” he told a news conference.

Israel estimates Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (X)

New Delhi : India on Monday strongly deplored comments made by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the condition of minorities in India, calling the remarks “misinformed and unacceptable”.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said countries commenting on minorities in India should look at their “own record” before making any observations about others.

“We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable,” he said.

“Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” Jaiswal said.

The Iranian leader, addressing a gathering of clerics in Tehran on Monday, talked about what he described as “suffering” of Muslims in Gaza, Myanmar and India.

“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in #Myanmar, #Gaza, #India, or any other place,” he posted on ‘X’ as part of series of posts on the event.

Syrians inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Masyaf in Syria’s central Hama province

Masyaf (Syria): The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 18 with dozens more wounded, Syria’s health minister said on Monday — the largest death toll in such an attack since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

One of the sites targeted was a research centre used in the development of weapons, a war monitor said. Syrian officials said civilian sites were targeted.

Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.

However, the intensity and death toll of Sunday night’s strikes were unusual.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.

Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said.

Speaking to reporters, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash described the strikes as a “brutal and barbaric aggression”. He said the death toll had risen to 18 with nearly 40 wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said 25 were killed, including at least five civilians, while the others included Syrian army soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-linked armed groups.

One strike targeted a scientific research centre in Masyaf, and others struck sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria”, the observatory said. It said the research centre was reportedly used for developing weapons, including short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.

Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel said the strikes had caused “truly significant” damage to water and electricity infrastructure.

“This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded,” he said.

Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous, which the observatory said were the result of air defense missiles falling.

On Monday afternoon, a charred car remained at the scene of one strike and smoke was still rising from some spots where fires had been put out.

Hvaldimir, the alleged Russian spy whale spotted in Norway

Copenhagen (Denmark): There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said on Monday.

The tame beluga, which was first spotted in 2019 not far from Russian waters with a harness reading “Equipment St. Petersburg”, was found floating at the Risavika Bay in southern Norway on August 31.

Experts examined the carcass at a nearby harbour, after lifting it with a crane.

Animal advocate groups OneWhale and NOAH last week filed a police report saying that the animal’s wounds suggested it was intentionally killed. OneWhale founder Regina Haug said when she saw the carcass, she “immediately knew he had been killed by gunshots”.

That’s not the conclusion so far from veterinarians.

Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as “Hvaldimir”, combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,” police said in a statement.

Most of the animal’s visible wounds were “completely superficial” with one of them “somewhat deeper” but not fatal or affecting vital organs, police said. An x-ray found no projectiles and no indication that the wounds could have been caused by gunshots, the statement said.

However, a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide was found wedged in the animal’s mouth, and its stomach was empty and its organs had broken down, police said. No further details were given.

“There is nothing in the investigations that have been carried out to establish that it is human activity that has directly led to Hvaldimir’s death,” said Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and environment section of the police in South Western Norway.

Revheim said that police will not be actively investigating the case and that the final autopsy report will released later this month.

The two animal rights groups said on Monday they’re not satisfied with the preliminary results and want the police investigation to continue, offering 50,000 kroner (USD 4,661) for any tips that could reopen the case.

The 4.2-metre (14-foot) long and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale was first spotted by fishermen near the northern island of Ingoeya, not far from the Arctic town of Hammerfest.

Its harness, along with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, led to media speculation that it was a “spy whale”. Over the years since 2019, it was seen in several Norwegian coastal towns and it became clear it was very tame and enjoyed interacting with people.

Experts say the Russian navy is known to have trained whales for military purposes. Media reports also have speculated that the whale might have been trained as a therapy animal.

Washington: Love, respect and humility are missing in Indian politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the Indian American community in Texas, where he also accused the RSS and the BJP of believing that women should stay at home.

Gandhi was addressing the Indian American community in Texas on Sunday in Dallas during his first interaction with the Indian diaspora after becoming Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha this summer.

During an interaction at another event, Gandhi said that the attitude of Indian men towards women needs to change. The 54-year-old said he is a supporter of women’s participation in politics starting with the women’s reservation bill. Gandhi said women should be supported financially if they want to start a business and they should be treated equally to men.

“The BJP and the RSS believe that women should be restricted to a particular role. They should stay at home, they should cook the food, they should not talk too much and we believe that women should aspire to whatever they want to do,” the Congress leader said.

“The RSS believes that India is one idea. We believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas,” he said during his address to the Indian American community.

“Very much like the United States, we believe everybody should be allowed to participate. We believe that everybody should be allowed to dream, (and) everybody should be given space, regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, history,” he said.

“This is the fight. The fight crystallised in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India. Because what I am saying to you is the union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste. This is all in the Constitution,” Gandhi added.

Gandhi said his role was to inject values of love, respect and humility into Indian politics.

“I think what is missing in our political systems and across parties is love, respect and humility. Love to all human beings, not necessarily only people of one religion, one community, one caste, one State, or to those who speak one language,” he said.

“Respect to everybody who is trying to build an India, not just the most powerful, but the weakest and humility, not in others, but in oneself. I think that is how I see my own,” he added.

Making an indirect reference to the Lok Sabha results in which the BJP failed to get a majority on its own, Gandhi said, “The people were saying the BJP is attacking our tradition, attacking our language, etc. What they understood was that anybody who is attacking the Constitution of India is also attacking our religious tradition.”

“We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP, of the Prime Minister. These are huge achievements. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realised democracy, of the people of India who realised that we are not going to accept an attack on our Constitution. We’re not going to accept an attack on our religion. We’re not going to accept an attack on our States,” he said.

Asserting that the US needs India and vice versa, Gandhi said the Indian diaspora is a “bridge” between the two nations.

“In my view, you should travel freely between these two homes. You should bring the idea of India to the United States and the ideas of the United States to India,” Gandhi said in his remarks.

Kyiv: Two Russian ballistic missiles struck an educational facility and nearby hospital in a central-eastern region of Ukraine, killing at least 41 people and wounding 180 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.

The strike occurred in the city of Poltava, the capital of the region of the same name, officials said. Poltava is located about 110 kilometres (70 miles) from the border with Russia and about 350 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Kyiv.

The strike appeared to be one of the deadliest carried out by Russian forces since the war began more than 900 days ago on February 24, 2022.

“One of the buildings of the Institute of Communications was partially destroyed. People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.

“All necessary services are involved in the rescue operation,” he added. He said he had ordered “a full and prompt investigation” into what happened. Zelenskyy didn’t provide any further details.

The missiles hit shortly after the air raid alert sounded, when many people were on their way to a bomb shelter, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said, describing the strike as “barbaric.”

Rescue crews and medics saved 25 people, 11 of them dug out from the rubble, a Defence Ministry statement said.

Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna

Shillong, Aug 29: The Meghalaya Police recovered the decomposed body of Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna from a betelnut plantation in Jaintia Hills district bordering Bangladesh, officials said.

The body was discovered on August 26 evening, around 1.5 km from the IndiA-Bangladesh border, they said.

SP Giri Prasad said Panna was identified through his passport.a

Panna, a former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League and a prominent member of the Awami League from Pirojpur district in the neighbouring country, had been on the run following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, sources said.

The body has been sent to Khliehriat Civil Hospital for further identification, the SP said on Wednesday.

Initial reports suggested that Panna might have suffered a cardiac arrest while trying to cross the border.

However, there are conflicting accounts that say he might have been involved in a shooting incident with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police said.

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government Wednesday revoked a ban on the rightwing Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, less than a month after it was outlawed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

“It (lifting the ban) will come under effect immediately,” the Home Ministry said in a gazette notification, noting that there was no particular evidence against the organisation.

The erstwhile Awami League government led by Hasina had imposed a ban on Jamaat on August 1, 2024, accusing the Islamist party as a “militant and terrorist” organisation. The government blamed Jamaat’s student wing for inciting chaos over a quota system for government jobs.

Welcoming the interim government’s decision, Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Shafiqur Rahman, called for an end to the politics of hatred and division in Bangladesh.

“We want the politics of hatred to be buried… it shouldn’t rise again. We want the politics of division to be buried,” he told journalists.

Rahman said that Jamaat-e-Islami does not support the division of the nation over any issue, saying, “In all cases, we want the nation to be united.”

The ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the anti-government movement, he said.

The government notification said the ban under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 has been lifted as there was no particular evidence against the organisation. The government believed that Jamaat and its associate bodies, including its student front Chhatra Shibir, were not involved in terrorist activities and violence.

The decision, formally published in a gazette notification on Wednesday, represents a significant change from the decision taken by the erstwhile Awami League government earlier this month, just days before its ouster.

The development came a day after Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman urged the High Court to summarily reject a writ petition seeking an order on the government to ban Hasina’s Awami League as a political party and scrap its registration.

“The current (interim) government has no intention to ban any political organisation,” the government’s top law officer told a two-judge High Court bench, which set August 29 for its decision on the writ filed by one Sarda Society as a public interest litigation.

The interim government’s law adviser, equivalent to a minister, Asif Nazrul on Wednesday told reporters he was opposed to the call for a ban on Awami League or any other political parties unless there was any strong evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities.

“Awami League is the party which led Bangladesh’s independence movement and contributed to different democratic movements. (But) what they did in the past 15 years does not go with their heritage, the spirit of the Liberation War,” Nazrul said.

He said the party had established the “most barbaric fascism” in Bangladesh’s history for which someone might have individual or its leaders might have collective responsibility “but I don’t think it will be a wise decision to ban it as a political party”.

Secretary General of ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that anyone should be able to form an independent political party, that is the main goal of democracy.

“We are not in favour of banning any political party; any party and any individual has the right to form an independent party. But they must be on the side of freedom and sovereignty. Those who do not believe in freedom cannot be supported,” he said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

No senior leader of the Awami League, which ran the country for the past 15 years, is seen in the public domain while several ministers of Hasina’s cabinet were arrested, on the run or believed to have fled the country since the ouster of the regime.

The Jamaat opposed Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan and sided with the Pakistani troops during the Liberation War.

The Jamaat, founded in 1941 in undivided India, was first banned in 1972, the year Bangladesh framed its Constitution, which disbanded the functioning of any association, union or political party based on religion.

But the subsequent military government led by General Ziaur Rahman revoked the ban by issuing a martial law proclamation, which allowed Jamaat to refloat and years later became a crucial partner of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia’s 2001-2006 four-party alliance government. Two senior Jamaat leaders were inducted into her cabinet.

The Jamaat remained active despite losing its registration and being barred from elections due to court rulings.