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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv

Kyiv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conveyed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an “active role” to restore peace in the region.

In his talks with Zelenskyy in Kyiv that came a day ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day, the prime minister said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Modi’s nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister since its independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that triggered anguish in some Western countries.

The prime minister reiterated the need for “sincere and practical” engagement between all stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that will have “broad acceptability” and contribute towards early restoration of peace in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

“I have come with a message of peace..I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed to respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” Modi told Zelenskyy at the talks.

The prime minister also asserted India’s strong commitment towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

“I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” he said.

Modi arrived in Kyiv following a nearly 10-hour train journey from Poland in the second leg of his two-nation trip.

Modi’s wide-ranging talks with Zelenskyy primarily focused on ways to end the war and boost bilateral cooperation in areas of trade, defence, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and education.

“We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We have come from the land of Buddha where there is no place for war; we have come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi who had given a message of peace to the entire world,” Modi said.

The prime minister also apprised Zelenskyy of his message to Putin in Samarkand in September 2022 as well as in Moscow last month.

“Some time back, when I met President Putin in Samarkand, I had told him that this was not the era of war. Last month when I went to Russia, I said in clear words that the solution to any problem is never found on the battlefield,” Modi said.

“The solution comes through talks, dialogue and diplomacy and we should move ahead in that direction without wasting time.

Both sides should sit together and find ways to come out of this crisis,” Modi said.

Following the talks, Zelenskyy said India supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and it is “critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN Charter.”

“Following the visit, we also agreed on a joint statement focusing on the development of a strategic partnership, bilateral trade, and continued military-technical cooperation,” he said.

Zelenskyy said “history was made” today as the Indian prime minister made the first visit to Ukraine since “our independence, on the eve of our Independence Day.”

In a post on ‘X’, Modi described his talks with Zelenskyy as “productive” and said India “firmly” believes that peace must always prevail.

At a media briefing, Jaishankar said Modi conveyed to Zelenskyy India’s willingness to contribute in “all possible ways” to facilitate an early return of peace to Ukraine, he said.

“We are very, very keen that this conflict should come to an end,” the external affairs minister said.

It was a “very detailed, open and in many ways constructive discussion”, he said.

The talks revolved around to some extent on the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on “conceivable pathways to peace”, Jaishankar said.

“It is India’s view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution,” he said, adding the talks revolved around the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on “conceivable pathways to peace”.

The external affairs minister also defended India’s procurement of crude oil from Russia.

“India is a big oil consumer, it is a big oil importer..It is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil, there is an oil strategy to buy oil, there is a market strategy to buy oil,” Jaishankar said.

A joint statement released after the talks said Modi and Zelenskyy reiterated their readiness for further cooperation in upholding principles of international law, including the UN Charter, such as respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

It said the Indian side reiterated its principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy, as a part of which, India has attended the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Switzerland in June.

The Ukrainian side welcomed such participation by India and highlighted the importance of high-level Indian participation in the next peace summit, it said.

In the talks the Ukrainian side conveyed that the joint communique on a peace framework, adopted at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, could serve as a basis for further efforts to promote just peace based on dialogue, diplomacy, and international law, the statement said.

The two leaders appreciated various efforts to ensure global food security, including the Ukrainian humanitarian grain initiative.

The importance of an uninterrupted and unhindered supply of agricultural products to global markets, especially in Asia and Africa, was emphasised in the talks.

In his remarks at the meeting, the prime minister conveyed to Zelenskyy that he has come to Kyiv also with a message of peace from the Global South. The Ukrainian side wanted continued involvement of India with the Global Peace summit, he said.

“It is India’s view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution,” he said.

The external affairs minister said the two leaders reiterated their readiness to continue cooperation to uphold principles of international law such as respect for territorial integrity and protect the sovereignty of states.

Jaishankar said the prime minister sought the president’s assessment of both the ground situation as well as the diplomatic scenario and Zelenskyy spoke on both issues.

The external affairs minister described Modi’s visit to Kyiv as a “landmark”

Jaishankar said a significant part of discussions between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy was devoted to the bilateral relations.

There were discussions on trade, economic issues, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, he said.

Modi and Zelenskyy also tasked the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission to specifically focus on rebuilding trade and economic relations.

Taipei: Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided at sea, damaging at least two boats, in an encounter early Monday near a new flashpoint in their increasingly alarming confrontations in the disputed South China Sea.

Both blamed the other for the collision near Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll in the Spratly Islands, where overlapping claims are also made by Vietnam and Taiwan. There were no reports of injuries.

China’s coast guard accused the Philippines of deliberately crashing one of its ships into a Chinese vessel. Two Philippine coast guard ships entered waters near the shoal, ignored the Chinese coast guard’s warning and intentionally collided with one of China’s boats at 3:24 am, a spokesperson said in a statement on the Chinese coast guard’s website.

“The Philippine side is entirely responsible for the collision,” spokesman Gan Yu said. “We warn the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement and provocation, otherwise it will bear all the consequences arising from that.”

The Philippines’ National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said two of the coast guard’s ships, BRP Bagacay and BRP Cape Engano, “encountered unlawful and aggressive maneuvers” from Chinese coast guard vessels while en route to Patag and Lawak islands in the area.

“These dangerous maneuvers resulted in collisions, causing structural damage to both Philippine Coast Guard vessels,” the statement read.

The task force said the collision between BRP Cape Engano and one of the Chinese ships created a hole on the deck of the Philippine ship with a diameter of about 5 inches (12.7 centimetres).

About 16 minutes later, the other Philippine ship, BRP Bagacay, was rammed twice on its port and starboard sides by a different Chinese vessel, leading to minor structural damage, according to the task force.

“The (Philippine Coast Guard) stands firm in its responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our maritime domain while addressing any threats to our national interests,” it said.

Gan added China claimed “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, known in Chinese as Nansha Islands, including Sabina Shoal and its adjacent waters. The Chinese name for Sabina Shoal is Xianbin Reef.

In a separate statement, he said the Philippine ship that was turned away from Sabina Shoal entered waters near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, ignoring the Chinese coast guard’s warnings. “The Chinese coast guard took control measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with law and regulation,” he added.

Sabina Shoal, which lies about 140 kilometres west of the Philippines’ western island province of Palawan, has become a new flashpoint in the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines.

The Philippine coast guard deployed one of its key patrol ships, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, to Sabina in April after Filipino scientists discovered submerged piles of crushed corals in its shallows that sparked suspicions that China may be bracing to build a structure in the atoll. The Chinese coast guard later deployed a ship to Sabina.

Sabina lies near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly alarming confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships and accompanying vessels since last year.

China and the Philippines reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontations when the Philippines transports new batches of sentry forces, along with food and other supplies, to Manila’s territorial outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been closely guarded by Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships.

The Philippine navy transported food and personnel to the Second Thomas Shoal a week after the deal was reached and no incident was reported, sparking hope that tensions in the shoal would eventually ease.

China has been at odds with many other countries in the Asia-Pacific for years over its sweeping maritime claims, including almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic and resource-rich waterway around which Beijing has drawn a 10-dash line on official maps to delineate what it says is its territory.

Beijing is in the midst of a massive military expansion and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its claims, giving rise to more frequent direct confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though it is also involved in longtime territorial disputes with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

A 2016 arbitration ruling by a United Nations tribunal invalidated Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, but China did not participate in the proceedings and rejected the ruling.