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FBI offers USD 10,000 for information about Indian female student missing from New Jersey since 2019

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NEW YORK: The FBI is offering a reward of up to USD 10,000 for information about a 29-year-old female student from India who went missing from New Jersey over four years ago.

Mayushi Bhagat was last seen leaving her apartment in Jersey City on the evening of April 29, 2019, wearing ‘colourful pyjama pants and a black T-shirt.’

Her family reported her missing to police on May 1, 2019.

The FBI Newark Field Office and the Jersey City Police Department are seeking the public’s help in solving Bhagat’s disappearance.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to USD 10,000 for information leading to her location or recovery.

In July last year, the FBI added Bhagat to its list of “Missing Persons” and sought assistance from the public to help with information about her.

Born in India in July 1994, Bhagat was in the US on a student visa and was studying at the New York Institute of Technology.

Zelensky says no one knows when war in Ukraine will end

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KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that there was no end in sight to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as fatigue builds among Kyiv’s allies nearly  and the Kremlin voices growing confidence of victory elensky said he hadfrom the to mobilise as many as 500,000 Ukrainians for the army, an unpopular proposal that could hit his worsening poll ratings among Ukrainians.

His meeting with local and foreign journalists wraps a difficult year in Ukraine, with Kyiv’s forces under pressure on the front and allies wavering on military and financial backing.

“No one knows the answer,” Zelensky told reporters in response to a question of whether the war with Russia could end next year.

“Even respected people, our commanders and our Western partners, who say that this is a war for many years, they do not know,” he said.

The question of how long Western countries will provide essential support for Kyiv has grown increasingly urgent.

Zelensky last week embarked on a tour of Western countries to make the case for more military and political support as Russia’s invasion grinds closer to its two-year-anniversary in February.

But he failed to convince the US Congress to immediately approve $60 billion in support, while in Brussels, Hungarian leader Viktor Orban blocked an aid package of around 50 billion euros ($55 billion).

Zelensky said Tuesday that he wanted to organise talks with Orban to “find solutions” to their differences, and voiced confidence that Washington would follow through on aid.

“I am confident that the United States will not betray us,” he said.

But hours later, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the US Senate, said that Washington would not be able to approve new aid for Ukraine before year’s end as the two sides continued to seek a compromise.

With elections looming in the United States next year, Zelensky acknowledged that the result of the November poll could have a “very strong impact” on the course of the war, saying Republican favourite Donald Trump would “surely have a different policy” from Joe Biden.

Those setbacks on the diplomatic front come in the wake of a disappointing counteroffensive that Kyiv launched in June using Western-supplied tanks and weapons stockpiled over months.

Responding to growing weariness over the war, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday that the world had become “jaded” by the Ukraine conflict, where war crimes continue to be committed “primarily by the forces of the Russian Federation”.

In contrast, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed victory and said during a Tuesday meeting with defence officials that society had rallied behind the war effort.

Putin, who has announced he will run for re-election in March, lashed out at the West and claimed it was seeking Moscow’s destruction.

“Well, we are not going to give up the goals of the special military operation, either,” he said, using the Kremlin’s term for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky was facing growing discontent at home before becoming the global face of Ukrainian resistance after Russia’s invasion, but he is once again feeling political pressure.

Recent polling shows that the number of Ukrainians who trust Zelensky has dropped to 62 percent compared to 84 percent one year ago, when Kyiv’s forces were celebrating gains in the east and south.

The advances from this year’s counteroffensive were much more modest, with just a few villages in the south and east recaptured after months of fighting against entrenched Russian forces.

Zelensky said he had received a request from the army to mobilise hundreds of thousands of people to replenish Kyiv’s forces, but that he had told the military it “needed more arguments to support this idea”.

Hours before Zelensky was due to speak, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had foiled a drone attack on a facility in Moscow.

But a senior Ukrainian military official at the same time conceded that fighting with Russian forces in the eastern Kharkiv region was “complicated”, with Ukrainian forces outgunned and outnumbered.

In an overnight attack, meanwhile, Ukraine reported that nine people were wounded by Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson, as drones also targeted the capital Kyiv and second-largest city Kharkiv.

Despite recent setbacks, Ukrainians still overwhelmingly back both the armed forces and its commander, Valery Zaluzhny.

In a move that illustrates growing political divides, Kyiv residents have been gathering in the city centre to demand more funds to help the military reclaim territory.

Zelensky has highlighted the Black Sea as a recent success story.

Ukrainian drones have forced some Russian warships to redeploy following several successful attacks.

Ukraine also re-opened a maritime corridor for commercial cargo ships using its Black Sea ports, despite threats from Moscow that vessels using the hubs could be treated as military targets.

Australia crushes Pakistan by 360 runs in 1st test inside 4 days, Lyon achieves 500-wicket landmark

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Perth: Australia skittled Pakistan on a treacherous Perth pitch to record a thumping 360-run victory in the first test inside four days with Nathan Lyon achieving the elusive landmark of 500 test wickets on Sunday.

Pakistan was blown away for 89 all out in 30.2 overs in the final session on Day 4 for its 15th consecutive test defeat in Australia after the home team set up a daunting 450-run target when it declared its second innings at 233-5 around half an hour after lunch.

“Great start to the summer, everything fell into place,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said at the presentation ceremony. “We’ve played a lot of cricket, so the build-up was very chilled and relaxed. No hiccups this week, it’s all gone to the plan.”

Pakistan’s top-order batters crumbled against the relentless pace of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins on a wicket that had variable bounce with plenty of batters taking body blows.

Hazlewood and Starc snared six wickets between them, while Cummins nicely setup former Pakistan captain Babar Azam (14) before finding the outside edge of his bat as the visitors had no answer to Australia’s nippy fast bowling.

Lyon reached the 500-wicket landmark when he successfully went for a leg before wicket referral against Faheem Ashraf and was embraced by his teammates. The off-spinner raised the ball to the applause of the Perth crowd as he became the third Australian bowler after the late Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to join the exclusive club of eight players.

“I was pretty confident about it,” Lyon said of the referral. “Everyone said the height was ok, it was just whether it was sliding down leg. Thankfully it was three reds.”

Lyon said the match victory doubled his delight at reaching the landmark.

“It’s something I’m pretty proud of,” he said. “As a young kid growing up in country New South Wales, 500 wickets is a long way away. A lot of hard work but something I’m very proud about. 500 wickets is pretty amazing but to do it here and contribute to an impressive team win makes it better.”

Lyon then clean bowled Aamer Jamal in the same over off a delivery that bounced no higher than ankle height to finish with 2-18 in his memorable test match.

“(To get) 500 test wickets, over a decade, in all conditions, he just finds a way,” said Cummins in praise of Lyon, who was making a comeback after his calf injury during the Ashes series. “He’s been stewing on it for six months with his injury.”

Pakistan slumped to 17-3 inside the first seven overs of its daunting run-chase. Opener Abdullah Shafique fell caught behind to a brilliant Starc delivery in the first over as the leftarm fast bowler got his 200th test wicket at home.

Captain Shan Masood could make only 2 before he played a loose drive off Hazlewood and Imam-ul-Haq was pinned leg before wicket by Starc with another gem of a delivery that came sharply into the left-hander.

Hazlewood quickly folded Pakistan’s fragile batting by having top-scorer Saud Shakeel (24) leg before wicket and dismissing No. 11 batter Khurram Shahzad off successive deliveries.

Earlier, Usman Khawaja fell short of his century before he holed out for 90 against out of sorts Shaheen Shah Afridi as Australia looked for quick runs after lunch. Afridi had a disappointing start to the series as Pakistan’s premier fast bowler returned with match figures of 2-176 off his 45.2 overs.

Left-handed Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh, who remained unbeaten on 63, shared a run-a-ball 126 with Marsh scoring his second successive half century at his home ground.

Resuming Sunday at 84-2, Australia lost Steven Smith and Travis Head in the first hour of the day as Pakistan’s bowlers took advantage of the tricky wicket and movement offered by the deterioriating Perth pitch to frequently trouble Australia’s batters.

After Smith and Marnus Labuschagne took painful blows on Day 3, Khawaja and Marsh also received nasty hits as the Aussies did their best to keep their wickets, and bodies, intact in a spicy morning session.

Khawaja reached his half century off 151 balls and Marsh lifted the hosts’ scoring rate with some exquisite drives on both sides of the wicket as Pakistan was sloppy in the field with captain Shan Masood dropping a regulation catch of Marsh at mid-off when the batter was on 23.

Debutant fast bowler Khurram Shahzad, who took both the Australian wickets to fall on Saturday, continued his fine start to test cricket by getting Smith (45) leg before wicket to reduce Australia to 87-3. It was the second time in the match Shahzad had captured Australia’s premier batter.

Fellow debutant Aamer Jamal, who took 6-111 in Australia’s first innings of 487, got Head for the second time as Australia’s one-day international World Cup star holed out to Imam-ul-Haq at mid-off for 14.

“We could have batted a bit quicker (in the first innings), missed on 60-70 runs,” said Masood in reference to Pakistan’s first innings effort of 271 in 101.5 overs. “A lot of positive things to take forward. It’s never easy when you play two debutants but thought they were very mature. They bowled really well, on another day could have got more wickets.”

The two debutant fast bowlers — Jamal and Shahzad claimed 12 of the 15 wickets in the game dominated by some aggressive Australian batting in both innings.

The second test of the three-match series starts on Boxing Day at Melbourne, with Sydney hosting the third test from Jan. 3 to 7.

Israel forges ahead with its offensive in Gaza despite US criticism

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Deir Al-Balah: Israel forged ahead with its air and ground offensive on Wednesday in Gaza, drawing international outrage and rare criticism from the United States over the killing of thousands of civilians.

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand a humanitarian cease-fire, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but the assembly’s message in favour of ending the Israel-Hamas war serves as an important barometer of world opinion.

Just hours before the vote, US President Joe Biden warned that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war has resulted in the deaths of over 18,400 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 113 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.

Israel’s Netanyahu calls on Hamas militants to ‘surrender now’

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JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for hamas militants to lay down their arms, saying the Palestinian Islamist group’s end was near, as the war in the Gaza Strip raged more than two months after it began.

“The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for (Yahya) Sinwar. Surrender now,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces,” Netanyahu said.

The military has, however, not released proof of militants surrendering, and Hamas has rejected such claims.

Almost one month ago, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had “lost control” of Gaza.

The militants late on Sunday boasted of success in their fight with Israeli forces in Gaza.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, said history would “remember Gaza as the clearest of victories” for the Palestinian militants.

“The end of the occupation has begun in Gaza,” Rishq said.

Hamas triggered the conflict with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7 in which it killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, and dragged around 240 hostages back to Gaza.

Israel has responded with a relentless military offensive that has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed at least 17,997 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

England seal series 2-0 after India suffer stunning batting collapse in 2nd women’s T20I

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England seal series 2-0 after India suffer stunning batting collapse in 2nd women's T20I

Mumbai: Indian batting looked clueless and out of depth to be dismissed for their third lowest total as England notched up a four-wicket win in the second women’s T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here on Saturday.

On a day uncapped Indian cricketers won fat pay-cheques in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, Shafali Verma (0), Smriti Mandhana (10), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (9), Deepti Sharma (0) cut a sorry figure as India were shot out for 80 in 16.2 overs.

In reply, England cantered home in 11.2 overs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

The final T20I is slated on Sunday.

In defence of their paltry 80, India had a horror start with a wayward Renuka Singh leaking eight runs in four wide deliveries.

Sophia Dunkley then took the attack on inexperienced Bengal seamer Titas Sidhu with two boundaries as England raced to 17 runs in first two overs.

Renuka returned to take two wickets — Sophia (9) and Danni Wyatt (0) — but with no scoreboard pressure Alice Capsey (25; 21b) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (16; 13b) seized the momentum with their counter-attacking display to take them past 50-run mark inside seven overs.

But the duo failed to take the team home as India managed to take two wickets with seven runs needed.

Deepti sharma took two in as many deliveries — Amy Jones and Freya Kemp — but it didn’t matter as Sophie Ecclestone (9) clinched the series with a four.

Their match aggregate of 162 runs was also the lowest involving the two teams.

For India, Jemimah Rodrigues was the lone bright spot with a 33-ball 30, and one of the two batters to get into double digit scores, in a bizarre display by the Indian batters.

That all their top-four batters got out LBW showed their lack of application on a batting-friendly wicket at the Wankhede stadium.

This was India’s third lowest total in women’s T20I behind 62 (vs Australia, 2011) and 70 (vs South Africa, 2019).

Batting at No 3, Jemimah saw wickets falling around her as she had no option but to accelerate.

She looked in fine touch, hitting back-to-back boundaries with some crisp sweep shots but only to be dismissed in the same over with Sarah Glenn trapping her LBW.

It was a clinical display by England as all their six bowlers returned with at least one wicket.

Charlie Dean (4-0-16-2), Lauren Bell (3-0-18-2), Sophie Ecclestone (3.2-0-13-2) and Sarah Glenn (3-1-13-2) bagged two wickets each.

Ecclestone, who took a stunning left-handed return catch to dismiss Richa Ghosh (4), gave the final blow when she pushed one through Saika Ishaque’s defence to bring curtains on Indian innings.

This was the third lowest target set by India against England.

Opting to bowl, Heather Knight straightway started off with spin as Charlotte Dean inflicted a double blow in successive overs (2-0-4-2) to give England a perfect start.

The off-spinner fired a straighter one in and Shafali looked to work it towards leg but completely missed and was trapped in front to be dismissed for a two-ball duck.

Going with a change of ends, Dean this time dismissed Smriti Mandhana (10) LBW after being hit on her back pad.

Harmanpreet looked to attack and paddled away Sciver-Brunt for successive fours but the England seamer had the last laugh and had the Indian skipper plumb with a delivery that jagged back in.

Sophie then pulled off an absolute blinder of a return catch to dismiss Richa Ghosh for four as India found themselves in deep trouble with half of their side back in pavillion for 37.

One-up in the three-match series, England need a win to seal the series.

India lost by 38 runs in the first T20I.

Pakistan cricket team in Australia without a doctor

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Karachi: Visa and passport issues have left the national senior cricket team in Australia without a doctor and the under-19 side in the UAE without a team manager.

Sohail Saleem, who was named as the official team doctor for the series in Australia and New Zealand, is yet to join the team.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board is still trying to get a visa for Dr Saleem and as soon as it comes he will join the side in Australia in time for the first Test in Perth,” a reliable source in the PCB said.

He said similarly former Test batsman, Shoaib Muhammad, who was named manager of the Pakistan junior side taking part in the Asia Cup in UAE, has also been unable to leave with the squad.

“Shoaib had some expired passport issues which the board is sorting out and hopefully he will also soon reach UAE to take charge,” the source said.

Ironically even the off-spinner, Sajid Khan, who is set to replace Abrar Ahmed in the Pakistan squad in Australia has also had his departure delayed due to visa issues.

The source admitted before naming the officials in any touring squad, the board should make it certain they will leave with their teams on schedule.

The North Korean leader calls for women to have more children to halt a fall in the birthrate

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The North Korean leader calls for women to have more children to halt a fall in the birthrate
North Korean leader Kim Jong

Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said it is a duty of women to halt a fall in the country’s births in order to strengthen national power, state media said Monday, as his government steps up the call for the people to have more children.

While getting a detailed read on North Korea’s population trends is extremely difficult because of the limited statistics it discloses, South Korea’s government assesses that the North’s fertility rate has declined steadily for the past 10 years. That is a concerning development for a country that depends on mobilized labor to help keep its broken, heavily sanctioned economy afloat. Kim’s latest appeal for women to have more children was made Sunday during the country’s National Mothers Meeting, the first of its kind in 11 years.

“Stopping the decline in birthrates and providing good child care and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers,” Kim said in his opening speech.

According to South Korea’s government statistics agency, North Korea’s total fertility rate, or the average number of babies expected to be born to a woman over her lifetime, was at 1.79 in 2022, down from 1.88 in 2014. The decline is still slower than its wealthier rival South Korea, whose fertility rate last year was 0.78, down from 1.20 in 2014. South Korea’s fertility rate, the lowest in the developed world, is believed to be due to a potent cocktail of reasons discouraging people from having babies, including a decaying job market, a brutally competitive school environment for children, traditionally weak child care assistance and a male-centered corporate culture where many women find it impossible to combine careers and family.

While North Korea is one of the poorest nations in the world, the change in its demographic structure is similar to that of rich countries, some observers say. “Many families in North Korea also don’t intend to have more than one child these days as they know they need lots of money to raise their kids, send them to school and help them get jobs,” said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH.ORG, a website focusing on health issues in North Korea. Ahn, who has interviewed many North Korean defectors, said the smuggling of a vast amount of South Korean TV dramas and movies in the past 20 years that showed an elevated social status for women has also likely influenced women in North Korea not to have many children.

North Korea implemented birth control programs in the 1970-80s to slow a postwar population growth. The country’s fertility rate recorded a major decline following a famine in the mid-1990s that was estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people, the Seoul-based Hyundai Research Institute said in a report in August. “Given North Korea lacks resources and technological advancements, it could face difficulties to revive and develop its manufacturing industry if sufficient labor forces are not provided,” the institute report said. According to North Korean state media reports this year, the country has introduced a set of benefits for families with three or more children, including preferential free housing arrangements, state subsidies, free food, medicine and household goods and educational perks for children.

South Korea’s statistics agency estimates the North’s population at 25.7 million. The Hyundai institute report said that North Korea was expected to experience a population shrink from 2034 and forecast its population would decrease to 23.7 million by 2070.

Ahn, the website head, said that Kim Jong Un’s repeated public appearances with his young daughter, Ju Ae, are also likely be efforts to encourage families. Other experts said the daughter’s appearances were more likely an attempt to show she’s her father’s heir.

11 bodies recovered after volcanic eruption in Indonesia, and 22 climbers are still missing

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Padang : The bodies of 11 climbers were recovered Monday after a furious eruption of the Mount Marapi volcano as Indonesian rescuers searched for at least 22 others reportedly missing.

Mount Marapi in Agam district in West Sumatra province spewed thick columns of ash as high as 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) into the sky in a sudden eruption Sunday and hot ash clouds spread several miles (kilometers). Villages and nearby towns were blanketed by tons of volcanic debris.

About 75 climbers started their way up the nearly 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) mountain on Saturday and became stranded.

Eight of those rescued Sunday were rushed to hospitals with burn wounds and one also had a broken limb, said Hari Agustian, an official at the local Search and Rescue Agency in Padang, the provincial capital.

West Sumatra’s Search and Rescue Agency head Abdul Malik said rescuers on Monday morning found 11 bodies of climbers as they searched for those who still missing and rescued three others.

“The evacuation process of the bodies and survivors are still ongoing,” he said, adding that rescuers are still searching for 22 climbers reportedly still missing.

One in 12 hospitals globally face climate risks India tops

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DUBAI: On the eve of COP28 Health Day, a new study on Saturday from London said one in 12 hospitals worldwide will be at high risk of total or partial shutdown from extreme weather events by the end of the century, which is a total of 16,245 hospitals. Among all the countries, India tops with over 5,000 hospitals at risk.

Ironically, as this paper reported earlier, India is not engaging in health talks at COP28 and didn’t sign the Declaration on Climate and Health released on Saturday. A total of 124 countries signed the declaration, according to an official document.

“Also, encourage global finance providers, including development banks, to strengthen the synergies between their climate and health portfolios, and enhance their support for country-led projects and programs in the health-climate nexus. Not participating in these engagements, India is telling the world that the health of its citizens is not a priority,” a COP28 observer told this paper.

In the press conference on Saturday, COP28 Director-General Majid Al Suwaidi said for the first time a health day was being observed at the UNFCCC climate summit and “we will see new announcements on health climate finance programmes from countries. United action to scale and get ahead of disasters will be the focus.” Unfortunately, India will not be part of this engagement.

Meanwhile, the hospital study was done by a climate risk analysis organisation XDI that evaluated how continued emissions would affect flooding, sea-level rise, fire risk and storms at the locations of 200,000 hospitals.

In India, the proportion of hospitals at high risk of being shut down by extreme weather events would be 5.7% by 2050 and would affect almost 1 in 10 (9.6%) hospitals by the end of the century if emissions are high. India would be the country with, by far, the most hospitals at risk of damage from extreme weather events by 2100, with 5,120 hospitals at high risk. The number of hospitals analysed in India was 53,473, the highest among the 50 countries included in the study. Russia, with 13,596 hospitals, was the second, according to the report.

“Our analysis shows that without a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, the risks to global health will be exacerbated further, as thousands of hospitals become unable to deliver services during crises,” said Dr Karl Mallon, Director of Science and Technology, XDI (Cross Dependency Initiative).

Of the 16,245 hospitals identified as high-risk, 71% (11,512) of them are in low and middle-income countries. Limiting global warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius with a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels would halve the damage risk to hospital infrastructure compared to a high emissions scenario. If emissions are high, the risk of damage to hospitals around the world from extreme weather will increase more than four-fold (311%) by the end of the century. In a low emissions scenario, this increase in risk is reduced to just 106%, the report said.

South East Asia has the highest percentage of hospitals at high risk of damage from extreme weather events in the world. With high emissions, almost 1 in 5 hospitals (18.4%) in South East Asia will be at high risk of total or partial shutdown by end of the century. Hospitals located on coastlines and near rivers are most at risk. Today, riverine and surface water flooding dominates the risk of damage to hospitals.

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