JAMPUR: Mohammad Ramzan can neither hear nor speak, and he has a childlike mind. But he knew his wife, Saima, was too young when she was given to him as a bride.
The 36-year-old Ramzan smiles, eager to please, as he uses his fingers to count out her age when they married. One, two, three . . . until 13, and then he stops and looks at her, points and nods several times.
The girl’s father, Wazir Ahmed, says she was 14, not 13, but her age was beside the point. It mattered only that she had reached puberty when he arranged her marriage as an exchange: His daughter for Ramzan’s sister, whom he wanted to take as a second wife.
His first wife, Saima’s mother, had given him only daughters, and he hoped his second wife would give him a son. But Sabeel wouldn’t marry him until her brother had a wife to care for him.
She would be a bride in exchange for a bride.
“We gave a girl in this family for a girl in their family,” Ahmed says. “That is our right.”
In deeply conservative regions such as this one in the south of Punjab province, the tribal practice of exchanging girls between families is so entrenched, it even has its own name in Urdu: Watta Satta, which means give and take.
A girl may be given away to pay a debt or settle a dispute between feuding families. She might be married to a cousin to keep her dowry in the family or, as in this case, married for the prospect of a male heir.
“If it is not done, our society thinks parents have not fulfilled their religious obligation,” says Faisal Tangwani, regional coordinator for the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in nearby Multan.
Ahmed sits inside the mud-walled compound where he lives now with his two wives. Outside, stray dogs roam in packs of three and four.
He says that the fact that Ramzan is nearly three times his daughter’s age is irrelevant. But the legal marrying age here is 16, and in a rare move, police did investigate Saima’s marriage after they received a complaint, possibly from a relative involved in a dispute with her father.
Ramzan and Ahmed were jailed for a few days, but Saima testified in court that she was 16 and they were released. She says she told the authorities she was 16 to protect her father and husband.
In Saima’s world of crushing poverty, where centuries-old tribal traditions mix with religious beliefs, a crippling cycle traps even the perpetrators with a life’s burden: A father who longs for a son to help support his family; a wife who must provide that son; a daughter who must become a mother even when she is still a child.
Saima’s mother, Janaat, agrees with marrying off her daughters early. She says girls are a headache after they reach puberty. They can’t be left at home alone for fear of unwanted sexual activity — or worse, the daughter leaves home with a boy of her choice.
“That would be a shame for us. We would have no honor. No. When they reach puberty quickly, we have to marry them,” she says. “Daughters are a burden, but the sons, they are the owners of the house.”
She says she accepted her husband’s marriage to another woman; after all, it’s her fault he only has daughters.
“I feel shame that I don’t have a son. I myself allowed my husband to get a second wife,” she says.
Her husband’s new wife, Sabeel, says she agreed to marry Ahmed because of her brother. She wanted him to have a wife.
“No one had been willing to give their daughters to my brother,” she says.
Underage girls trapped in Pakistan bride exchanges
Underage girls trapped in Pakistan bride exchanges
Strong earthquake strikes in China’s Tibet region near border with Nepal
- The CCTV online report said there were a handful of communities within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the epicenter, which was 380 kilometers (240 miles) from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet
- A 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures in Nepal in 2015
BEIJING: A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday morning, the China Earthquake Networks Center said, damaging buildings around Shigatse and sending people running to the streets in neighboring Nepal and India.
The trembler at 9:05 a.m. (0105 GMT) had an epicenter depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the report added, revising the magnitude from an earlier 6.9.
Crumbled shop fronts could be seen in a video showing the aftermath from the nearby town of Lhatse, with debris spilling out onto the road.
Reuters was able to confirm the location from nearby buildings, windows, road layout, and signage that match satellite and street view imagery. The date could not be verified independently.
Tremors were felt in Nepal’s capital Katmandu some 400 km (250 miles) away, where residents ran from their houses.
Tremors were felt in the northern Indian state of Bihar which borders Nepal. As walls shook, people rushed out of their homes and apartments to open areas.
So far, no reports of any damage or loss to property have been received, officials in India said.
A magnitude 6.8 quake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage.
Southwestern parts of China are frequently hit by earthquakes. A huge quake in Sichuan province in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people.
According to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, there have been 29 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3 or higher within 200 km of the Shigatse quake in the past five years, all of which were smaller than the one that struck on Tuesday morning.
In 2015, a magnitude 7.8 tremor struck near Katmandu in neighboring Nepal, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands in that country’s worst earthquake.
US records first human bird flu death: health authorities
- The patient, aged over 65, had been hospitalized for a respiratory ailment, and was the first serious case of human infection of the H5N1 virus to be detected in the United States
WASHINGTON: The first human death linked to bird flu has been reported in the United States, health authorities in the state of Louisiana said Monday, adding that the patient was elderly and suffered from other pathologies.
The patient, aged over 65, had been hospitalized for a respiratory ailment, and was the first serious case of human infection of the H5N1 virus to be detected in the United States. Despite this death, the public health risk posed by bird flu remains “low,” the statement said.
Biden visits makeshift memorial in New Orleans where attack began that killed 14 and injured 30
NEW ORLEANS: President Joe Biden on Monday visited a makeshift memorial at the site of the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans, holding a moment of silence before meeting with grieving families and attending a prayer service.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden made their first stop in the city Monday evening at a memorial that sprung up on city’s famous Bourbon Street, where the attack began last week when an Army veteran drove a truck into revelers, killing 14 and injuring 30 more.
Flowers and messages had been left at the base of more than 14 crosses erected on the sidewalk in the French Quarter. After Jill Biden placed white flowers at the memorial, she and the president stood in silence and bowed their heads.
Joe Biden crossed himself, and the the couple headed to the historic St. Louis Cathedral nearby, where the president and first lady met privately with the families of those killed, survivors and local law enforcement. Afterward, they were expected to attend an interfaith prayer service.
The visit is likely to be the last time Biden travels to the scene of a horrific crime as president to console families of victims. He has less than two weeks left in office.
“I think what you’re going to see this president do today is show up for the community, be there for the community in the hardest time,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Louisiana.
She went on, speaking about Biden’s own understanding of loss, and said, “He believes this is also an important part of the job that he believes he needs to do as president.”
It’s a grim task that presidents perform, though not every leader has embraced the role with such intimacy as the 82-year-old Biden, who has experienced a lot of personal tragedy in his own life. His first wife and baby daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his eldest son, Beau, died of cancer in 2015.
“I’ve been there. There’s nothing you can really say to somebody that’s just had such a tragic loss,” Biden told reporters Sunday in a preview of his visit. “My message is going to be personal if I get to get them alone.”
Biden often takes the opportunity at such bleak occasions to speak behind closed doors with the families, offer up his personal phone number in case people want to talk later on and talk about grief in stark, personal terms.
In addition to the meeting with families, Biden hoped to visit with first responders in New Orleans, according to Jean-Pierre.
The Democratic president will continue on to California following his stop in New Orleans. With a snowstorm hitting the Washington region on Monday, Biden’s trip began with Air Force One starting its takeoff from inside a large hangar instead of on the tarmac as thick snow covered the ground at Joint Base Andrews and snowplows worked to clear the runway.
In New Orleans on Jan. 1, the driver plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street. Fourteen revelers were killed along with the driver. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who steered his speeding truck around a barricade and plowed into the crowd, later was fatally shot in a firefight with police.
Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, had posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group and previewed the violence that he would soon unleash in the French Quarter.
Biden on Sunday pushed back against conspiracy theories surrounding the attack, and he urged New Orleans residents to ignore them.
“I spent literally 17, 18 hours with the intelligence community from the time this happened to establish exactly what happened, to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that New Orleans was the act of a single man who acted alone,” he said. “All this talk about conspiracies with other people, there’s not evidence of that — zero.”
The youngest victim was 18 years old, and the oldest was 63. Most victims were in their 20s. They came from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and Great Britain.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, was asked on “Fox News Sunday” what the city was hoping for from Biden’s visit.
“How can we not feel for both the families of those who die but also those who’ve been injured in their families?” he asked.
“The best thing that the city, the state, and the federal government can do is do their best to make sure that this does not happen again. And what we can do as a people is to make sure that we don’t live our lives in fear or in terror — but live our lives bravely and with liberty, and then support those families however they need support.”
Jean-Pierre said Monday that Biden was directing additional resources to help New Orleans with major upcoming events, including Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl, with both events being assigned the highest level of federal support for security measures.
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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein in Washington and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
UK leader Starmer slams ‘lies and misinformation’ after attacks from Elon Musk
- Tesla CEO has taken an intense and erratic interest in British politics since the center-left Labour Party was elected in July
- Musk has accused Starmer of failing to bring perpetrators to justice when he was England’s director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned “lies and misinformation” that he said are undermining UK democracy, in response to a barrage of attacks on his government from Elon Musk.
The billionaire Tesla CEO has taken an intense and erratic interest in British politics since the center-left Labour Party was elected in July. Musk has used his social network, X, to call for a new election and demand Starmer be imprisoned. On Monday he posted an online poll for his 210 million followers on the proposition: “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.”
Asked about Musk’s comments during a question session at a hospital near London, Starmer criticized “those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible,” particularly opposition Conservative politicians in Britain who have echoed some of Musk’s claims.
Musk often posts on X about the UK, retweeting criticism of Starmer and the hashtag TwoTierKeir -– shorthand for an unsubstantiated claim that Britain has “two-tier policing” with far-right protesters treated more harshly than pro-Palestinian or Black Lives Matter demonstrators. During summer anti-immigrant violence across the UK he tweeted that “civil war is inevitable.”
Recently Musk has focused on child sexual abuse, particularly a series of cases that rocked northern England towns in which groups of men, largely from Pakistani backgrounds, were tried for grooming and abusing dozens of girls. The cases have been used by far-right activists to link child abuse to immigration, and to accuse politicians of covering up the “grooming gangs” out of a fear of appearing racist.
Musk has posted a demand for a new public inquiry into the cases. A huge, seven-year inquiry was held under the previous Conservative government, though many of the 20 recommendations it made in 2022 — including compensation for abuse victims — have yet to be implemented. Starmer’s government said it would act on them as quickly as possible.
Musk also has accused Starmer of failing to bring perpetrators to justice when he was England’s director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.
Starmer defended his record as chief prosecutor, saying he had reopened closed cases and “changed the whole prosecution approach” to child sexual exploitation.
He also condemned language used by Musk about Jess Phillips, a government minister responsible for combating violence against women and girls. Musk called Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and said she deserved to be in prison.
“When the poison of the far-right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book, a line has been crossed,” Starmer said. “I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies.”
Musk has also called for the release of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a far-right activist who goes by the name Tommy Robinson and is serving a prison sentence for contempt of court.
Starmer said people “cheerleading Tommy Robinson … are trying to get some vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote.”
Starmer largely avoided mentioning Musk by name in his responses, likely wary of giving him more of a spotlight — or of angering Musk ally Donald Trump, who is due to be inaugurated as US president on Jan. 20.
Musk’s incendiary interventions are a growing worry for governments elsewhere in Europe, too. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, another target of the X owner’s ire, said he is staying “cool” over critical personal comments made by Musk, but finds it worrying that the US billionaire makes the effort to get involved in Germany’s election by endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Starmer said the main issue was not Musk’s posts on X, but “what are politicians here doing to stand up for our democracy?”
He said he was concerned about Conservative politicians in Britain “so desperate for attention they are amplifying what the far right are saying.”
“Once we lose the anchor that truth matters … then we are on a very slippery slope,” he said.
While some Conservatives, including party leader Kemi Badenoch, have echoed Musk’s points, the main UK beneficiary of his interest has been Reform UK, the hard-right party led by Nigel Farage that has just five seats in the 650-seat House of Commons but big expansion plans. Farage said last month that Musk was considering making a multimillion-dollar donation to the party.
But Farage is critical of Tommy Robinson, refusing to let him join Reform, and on Sunday Musk posted: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
Farage tweeted in response: “Well, this is a surprise! Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree.”
Emergency demonstration outside UK Parliament calls for action to protect Palestinian health workers
Emergency demonstration outside UK Parliament calls for action to protect Palestinian health workers
- Event in wake of reports of intensified assaults on Gaza’s healthcare system
LONDON: An emergency demonstration organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and its partners took place opposite the UK Parliament buildings in London on Monday.
Thousands attended the rally, demanding immediate action from MPs to safeguard Gaza’s health workers and medical infrastructure amid escalating attacks by Israel, according to organizers.
Prominent speakers expected at the rally included MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, alongside healthcare professionals and civil society representatives.
The demonstration followed recent reports of intensified assaults on Gaza’s healthcare system.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, including its neonatal unit, was recently destroyed in northern Gaza, and the Indonesian Hospital is under siege amid a forced evacuation.
Palestinian healthcare workers have been allegedly targeted, with scores killed and hundreds detained — including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan — amid accusations of inhumane treatment and the torture of detainees.
The International Court of Justice has identified Israel’s actions as a plausible case of genocide.
Under international humanitarian law, hospitals are especially protected, and attacks on healthcare facilities may constitute war crimes, with activists critical of the UK government for continuing to supply arms and extend political, diplomatic, and economic support to Israel.
Ben Jamal, director of the PSC, has condemned the British government’s stance.
He said: “Israel has been given impunity by the UK government to commit war crime after war crime over the last 15 months. We hoped this barbarity and the government’s support for it had a limit, a red line which could not be crossed, but we have not seen it yet.
“To attack and destroy hospitals, to target and kill medical staff and patients within them, has no possible justification and is completely unacceptable.
“These are crimes for which Israel will have to answer in world courts, but the UK government must also face its own reckoning for shamefully aiding and abetting Israel’s carnage.”
