DHAKA: Two militants linked to the extremist group behind July’s Dhaka cafe siege that left 22 people dead were killed Saturday after Bangladesh police raided a hideout in the capital, officials said.
Security forces, acting on a tip, besieged a flat in Dhaka’s Dakshinkhan neighborhood for more than 12 hours, with the operation coming to an end after officers exchanged gun-fire with the militants, police said.
A child was also injured when one of the militants, a woman who was holding the child, exploded a vest she was wearing.
“Two extremists were killed including a woman who detonated a suicide vest,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Masudur Rahman told AFP.
He said the two were members of a faction of the JMB (Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh), the banned extremist outfit blamed for a wave of attacks including the July 1 massacre at a Dhaka restaurant in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.
Dhaka police chief Asaduzzaman Mia said the female militant exploded the vest in an attempt to target the security forces.
“The woman came forward and tried to come near police... she conducted suicide blast,” Mia told reporters after the raid.
Bangladesh has been reeling from a wave of attacks on foreigners, rights activists and members of religious minorities.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government blames local militant groups like JMB for the carnage, rejecting claims by the Daesh group and Al Qaeda.
Since the July massacre, security forces have shot dead nearly 50 militants including a Canadian of Bangladeshi origin who was accused of masterminding the restaurant attack.
Reporter arrested over labor unrest
A local television journalist in Bangladesh has been arrested for inciting unrest in one of the country’s biggest garment manufacturing zones, police said Saturday.
Nazmul Huda has been accused of “inaccurate reporting” on almost daily protests in Ashulia — home to Bangladesh’s biggest garment plants that make clothing for top Western brands like GAP, Zara and H&M — according to a senior officer.
“He is accused of inciting illegal protests, holding secret meetings with seven labor leaders whom we’ve arrested, and trying to destabilize the government,” head of Dhaka district police S. M. Shafiur Rahman told AFP.
He added that police have charged Huda under controversial information and technology laws, which have been widely used in Bangladesh to crack down on dissent.
Huda’s arrest comes after mass protests by thousands of workers prompted the closure of 55 garment factories in Ashulia, on the outskirts of capital Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s $30 billion garment industry has a woeful history of poor conditions for its four million workers, who are also among the lowest paid in the world’s textile sector.
Those in Ashulia launched a strike two weeks ago to protest the firing of 121 colleagues, and subsequently demanded their salaries be tripled from 5,300 taka ($67) — the current monthly minimum wage — to 16,000 taka.
Several hundred policemen have been deployed in the industrial zone since the strike began and at least seven people who were leading the strike have been arrested.
2 militants linked to Bangladesh cafe siege killed
2 militants linked to Bangladesh cafe siege killed
Vietnam jails six over deadly karaoke bar blaze
- The blaze in a province close to business hub Ho Chi Minh City shocked Vietnam and led to the closure of thousands of karaoke bars nationwide for failing to meet fire regulations
HANOI: A court in Vietnam on Wednesday jailed six people including four police officers over a fire that ripped through a karaoke bar two years ago, killing 32 people.
The blaze in a province close to business hub Ho Chi Minh City shocked Vietnam and led to the closure of thousands of karaoke bars nationwide for failing to meet fire regulations.
The court in southern Binh Duong province convicted the bar owner, a contractor involved in its construction and four police officers on charges of breaching fire regulations and negligence.
Bar owner Le Anh Xuan was given eight years in jail, while the bar’s fire prevention system contractor was sentenced to five years.
Four police officers were jailed for between four and seven and half years.
In his final words before court last week, bar owner Le Anh Xuan apologized to victims and their families, saying “my mistakes had caused huge losses.”
Flames engulfed the second floor of the 30-room An Phu karaoke building in Binh Duong in September 2022, trapping customers and staff as dense smoke filled the staircase and blocked the emergency exit.
Many crowded onto a balcony to escape the flames, which spread quickly through the wooden interior, while others were forced to jump from the building.
A total of 32 people died in the inferno, 17 men and 15 women.
The police officers were charged for their involvement in designing and approving the fire prevention system at the bar.
Vietnam regularly experiences deadly fires — 56 people were killed in a Hanoi apartment disaster last year — and the Binh Duong blaze prompted a nationwide crackdown on karaoke bars that failed to comply with fire regulations.
More than two-thirds of the country’s approximately 15,000 karaoke bars were forced to close, according to state media, citing police sources.
UN envoy warns Myanmar is in crisis, with conflict escalating and criminal networks ‘out of control’
UN envoy warns Myanmar is in crisis, with conflict escalating and criminal networks ‘out of control’
- UN special envoy for Myanmar Julie Bishop: ‘Myanmar actors must move beyond the current zero-sum mentality’
- Three powerful ethnic armed militias have gained territory, keeping the government’s ruling military increasingly on the back foot
UNITED NATIONS: The UN special envoy for Myanmar warned that the Southeast Asian nation is in crisis, with conflict escalating, criminal networks “out of control” and human suffering at unprecedented levels.
Julie Bishop told the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee on Tuesday in her first report since being appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last April that “Myanmar actors must move beyond the current zero-sum mentality.”
The army in Myanmar ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule, leading to increasing violence and a humanitarian crisis.
In the past year, three powerful ethnic armed militias have gained territory, keeping the government’s ruling military increasingly on the back foot in fighting that has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes. According to the UN, 3 million people are displaced across Myanmar and some 18.6 million need humanitarian assistance.
Bishop called for an end to the violence, stressing that “There can be little progress on addressing the needs of the people while armed conflict continues across the country.”
The former Australian foreign minister said she has engaged with the government, including Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, as well as opposition representatives, ethnic armed organizations, women’s groups, human rights defenders and numerous countries. She gave no details about the meetings.
She said she has engaged with the current, previous and incoming ASEAN chairs in Vientiane, Laos; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The UN envoy said she has also visited Myanmar’s neighbors China and Thailand and will soon visit India and Bangladesh, “continuing to urge neighboring countries to leverage their influence.” She said she will also return to Naypyidaw but gave no time frame. She gave no details about any of the meetings.
At the recent summit between the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, Bishop said Secretary-General Guterres backed strengthened cooperation between the UN envoy and the ASEAN chair “on innovative ways to promote a Myanmar-led process.”
This includes “effective implementation” of a five-point ASEAN plan Myanmar’s rulers agreed to in April 2021 but have done little to fulfill. It calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties mediated by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid and a visit to Myanmar by the association’s special envoy to meet all concerned parties.
“Any pathway to reconciliation requires an end to violence, accountability and unfettered access for the UN and its partners to address vulnerabilities among the marginalized, including Rohingya, ethnic communities and particularly women and youth,” Bishop said.
But instead she pointed to rising civilian casualties and the rule of law “so severely undermined that transnational crime emanating from Myanmar is proliferating.”
“The sheer scale of arms productions and trade, human trafficking, drug manufacture and trafficking, and scam centers means Myanmar now ranks highest among all member states for organized crime,” she said. “The criminal networks are out of control.”
Bishop backed Guterres who stressed the urgency of forging a path toward a democratic transition and return to civilian rule.
“I share his concern regarding the military’s stated intention to hold elections amid intensifying conflict and human rights violations,” she said.
Bishop warned that “the Myanmar conflict risks becoming a forgotten crisis.”
“The regional implications of this crisis are evident, but the global impact can no longer be ignored,” she said.
Police say there is no nuclear risk after a fire at Britain’s nuclear submarine shipyard
- The force said two people were taken to hospitals with suspected smoke inhalation and there were no other casualties
LONDON: Two people have been hospitalized after a fire broke out at the shipyard that builds Britain’s nuclear-powered submarines, but there is “no nuclear risk,” police said Wednesday.
Cumbria Constabulary said a “significant” fire broke out soon after midnight at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, northwest England.
The force said two people were taken to hospitals with suspected smoke inhalation and there were no other casualties. It advised people living nearby to stay indoors and keep doors and windows closed.
The 150-year-old shipyard, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) northwest of London, is currently building several nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Navy. It is also where the handful of subs that carry the UK’s nuclear missiles were constructed.
North Korea may launch ICBM in November, launcher ready, South Korea says
- South Korean MP Lee Seong-kweun said a mobile launcher has been deployed at a location for a possible test of the ICBM
- Lee was briefed reporters after a closed-door parliamentary hearing with Defense Intelligence Agency officials
SEOUL: North Korea has moved a launcher in place after completing preparations to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile and may go ahead with the launch in November, South Korean members of parliament said on Wednesday citing the country’s military intelligence.
South Korean MP Lee Seong-kweun said a mobile launcher has been deployed at a location for a possible test of the ICBM and its atmospheric re-entry of a missile warhead, potentially around the time of the US presidential election Nov. 5.
Lee was briefing reporters after a closed-door parliamentary hearing with Defense Intelligence Agency officials.
Another MP Park Sun-won said the DIA did not believe a missile was yet loaded on the launcher.
South Korean officials have said the North may attempt to launch a long-range missile or conduct its seventh nuclear test around the November US election to highlight its strategic weapons development.
Indonesia arrests former trade minister in sugar import graft case
- Thomas Trikasih Lembong was named a suspect and arrested late on Tuesday by prosecutors from the attorney general’s office
- He is accused of giving the permit to a private company at a time when Indonesia had a surplus of sugar
JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities investigating graft have arrested a former trade minister turned government critic on suspicion of improperly granting a sugar import permit in 2015 that led to losses of $25 million.
Thomas Trikasih Lembong was named a suspect and arrested late on Tuesday by prosecutors from the attorney general’s office, accused of giving the permit to a private company at a time when Indonesia had a surplus of sugar, the office said.
“At that time, Indonesia did not need to import sugar but (Lembong) granted a permit to import 105,000 metric tonnes of raw crystal sugar,” prosecutor Abdul Qohar told a press conference.
There was no consultation with other state bodies or a recommendation from the industry ministry, he said, adding that the decision had led to losses of 400 billion rupiah ($25.42 million).
Qohar did not say what Lembong is accused of having received in return for the permit to the company, which authorities identified only by its initials, PT AP.
The attorney general’s office denied that its investigation had a political motive.
“I surrender everything to God Almighty,” media reported Lembong, handcuffed and wearing a pink detainee vest, as saying after the press conference.
Reuters could not reach Lembong or his lawyer to seek comment.
A former investment banker, Lembong was Indonesia’s trade minister between 2015 and 2016 and a close aide of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, for whom he often wrote international speeches.
But after leaving office in 2019, he became one of the staunchest critics of Jokowi’s government.
Lembong was a campaign manager in February’s presidential election for Anies Baswedan, who ran against the winner, defense minister Prabowo Subianto, widely seen as Jokowi’s preferred successor, who took office on Oct. 20
Indonesia’s sugar output in 2015 was 2.49 million metric tonnes, while consumption was 2.12 million.
