Australia accuses Iran of directing anti-Semitic attacks, expels envoy
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia will also designate the IRGC as a ‘terrorist entity’. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Iran of directing at least two anti-Jewish attacks in his country and announced plans to expel Iran’s ambassador to Canberra. Speaking to reporters in the Australian capital on Tuesday, Albanese described the attacks as attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in Australia. “It is totally unacceptable, and the Australian government is taking strong and decisive action,” he said. “A short time ago, we informed the Iranian ambassador to Australia that he will be expelled.” The prime minister said Australia has also suspended operations at its embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and moved all of its diplomats to a third country. “I can also announce the government will legislate to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a terrorist organisation,” he added. Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said the Iranian ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, and three of his colleagues have been declared persona non grata and given seven days to leave the country. She said the move marked the first time that Australia has expelled an ambassador since World War II and that the country has also withdrawn its envoy to Tehran. Still, the Albanese government will maintain some diplomatic lines with Iran to advance Canberra’s interests, Wong said, advising Australians in the Middle Eastern country to return home. She also warned Australians considering travelling to Iran to refrain from doing so. More soon. Adblock test (Why?)
Greater Noida Dowry Murder case takes new turn: Vipin Bhati’s cousin claims Nikki Bhati suffered burns from cylinder blast in kitchen
The death case of Nikki Bhati has taken a new turn with Vipin’s cousin claiming that she suffered burns from a cylinder blast, conflicting with her sister Kanchan’s allegations that Vipin and his family set her on fire. Here are the latest update on the case.
Trump to South Korea’s Lee: ‘Look forward’ to meeting N Korea’s Kim Jong Un
In White House meeting with Lee, Trump also says US should have ownership of land housing US military base in South Korea. United States President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung have expressed their willingness to engage with North Korea’s hereditary leader, Kim Jong Un, during a meeting at the White House. Lee, who has promised to “heal the wounds of division and war” as South Korea’s new president, told the US leader on Monday that his North Korean counterpart “will be waiting” to meet him. “I hope you can bring peace to the Korean Peninsula, the only divided nation in the world, so that you can meet with Kim Jong Un”, and “build a Trump Tower in North Korea so that I can play golf there”, Lee said, speaking in Korean. Trump, who has met with Kim on three past occasions, told reporters in the Oval Office that he hopes to meet the North Korean leader again this year. “Someday, I’ll see him. I look forward to seeing him. He was very good with me,” Trump said, adding that he knew Kim “better than anybody, almost, other than his sister”. During his meeting with the South Korean president, Trump also said the US should have ownership of South Korean land where some 28,500 American troops are stationed in US military bases. “We spent a lot of money building a fort, and there was a contribution made by South Korea, but I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base,” Trump said. This was Lee’s first visit to the White House after he was elected in June following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who briefly imposed martial law late last year in a move swiftly overturned by lawmakers and which has led to his arrest on alleged insurrection charges. Advertisement Since taking office, Lee has publicly made efforts to improve South Korea’s relationship with its northern neighbour. But Pyongyang has so far rebuffed the diplomatic overtures. Last week, Lee said he would seek to restore the so-called September 19 Military Agreement, signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018, suspending military activity along South Korea’s border with North Korea as part of an effort to rebuild trust. Lee’s announcement was met with criticism from North Korea, which noted that it came as South Korea embarked on joint military drills with the United States. North Korean state media said that the drills proved Washington’s intention to “occupy” the entire Korean Peninsula . “If they continuously persist in the military rehearsal, they will certainly face up the unpleasant situation and pay a dear price,” Kim Yong Bok, first vice-chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, was cited by North Korean state media KCNA as saying. ‘A raid on churches’ Hours before Lee arrived at the White House, Trump took to social media to denounce what he described as “a Purge or Revolution” in South Korea. “WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Asked about his post during his meeting with Lee, Trump said, “I am sure it’s a misunderstanding, but there’s a rumour going around about raiding churches … I did hear that from intel.” Last month, South Korean Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki’s team raided Unification Church facilities and officials linked with the religious sect, while “investigating various allegations involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee”, South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency said. Seoul police also raided Sarang Jeil Church, headed by evangelical preacher Jun Kwang-hoon, who led protests in support of the removed President Yoon. The police have also investigated pro-Yoon activists who stormed a court in late January after it extended Yoon’s detention, and in July, special prosecutors investigating the declaration of martial law served a search warrant on the Korean part of a military base jointly operated with the US. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump bans burning of US flag in defiance of constitutional protections
The US Supreme Court ruling says flag burning is an expression protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution. United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order punishing those who burn the country’s flag with one year in jail, despite a longstanding court ruling that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The order, signed on Monday, acknowledges the 1989 Supreme Court decision, which found that flag burning is protected as free speech, but argued that it is “likely to incite imminent lawless action”. “If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail; no early exits, no nothing,” Trump said as he signed the order. “You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately,” he added. The move has been condemned by free speech groups who say that the order violates key civil liberties, as Trump pursues a vision of executive power with few constraints. “President Trump may believe he has the power to revise the First Amendment with the stroke of a pen, but he doesn’t,” the free speech advocacy group FIRE said in a statement. “The government can’t prosecute protected expressive activity — even if many Americans, including the president, find it ‘uniquely offensive and provocative’,” it added. Monday’s executive order calls on Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute those involved in flag burning to the “fullest extent possible”. The order claims without evidence that flag burning is being used by foreign nationals to intimidate and threaten Americans. The order also threatens visa revocation, deportation and more for foreign nationals who do so. Advertisement The order says that flag burning is tantamount to “incitement” or “fighting words”, with Trump saying that flag burning “incites riots at levels we’ve never seen before”. There is no evidence for this claim, which has been dismissed by legal experts. “I don’t think this is something that has been a big problem,” GS Hans, a law professor at Cornell University who focuses on the First Amendment, told the Associated Press news agency. “It’s a solution in search of a problem.” Adblock test (Why?)
Trump orders removal of Fed governor Cook over mortgage fraud claims
United President Donald Trump has ordered the removal of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook amid unproven claims of mortgage fraud, an unprecedented move that immediately raised fears for the central bank’s independence. In a letter posted on social media on Monday night, Trump said Cook, one of the seven members of the Fed’s Board of Governors, was being sacked “effective immediately” in accordance with his powers under the US Constitution and the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. Citing claims aired last week by US federal mortgage regulator, Trump said there was “sufficient reason to believe you may have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements”. “The Federal Reserve has tremendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve and members banks,” Trump said in the letter, which was shared on his platform Truth Social. “The American people must be able to have full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve. In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.” “At a minimum, the conduct that issue exhibits the sort of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator,” Trump added. Trump had on Friday threatened to fire Cook, a former Michigan State University professor who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, if she did not resign. Advertisement In response to inquiries by Al Jazeera, a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve said the bank had no comment at the moment but would “keep you posted”. Trump’s extraordinary move is set to raise further questions about the independence of the US central bank, which has been under intense pressure from the president to lower interest rates. The ability of the Fed to set interest rates, which affects the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses, without being subject to political interference is widely considered a key plank of confidence in the US economy. The removal of Cook could also set off a series of protracted legal challenges. “In all likelihood – because of the stakes involved and the absence of relevant case law in this area – it will be challenged in court,” David Wilcox, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who served on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board, told Al Jazeera. “Unfortunately, that process will probably be lengthy – perhaps running for many months.” “In the meantime, investors are immediately facing the reality that the latitude of the Fed to conduct monetary policy in relentless pursuit of price stability and maximum employment may not be as great as they thought yesterday,” Wilcox added. “The damage done to confidence in the US system will not be easily or quickly repaired.” Under the Federal Reserve Act and US Supreme Court precedent, the president must demonstrate “cause”, widely interpreted to mean malfeasance, to fire any of the central bank’s seven governors. In a letter addressed to US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Justice official Ed Martin earlier this month, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, a staunch Trump ally, alleged that Cook had listed two properties as her primary home addresses. In the letter, shared on social media, Pulte said that Cook appeared to have “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favourable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statute”. Mortgage loans for primary residences typically have lower interest rates as they are considered lower risk than those for investment properties. In response to Pulte’s letter, Cook said last week that she would gather information about her financial history “to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts”, but added that she had “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet”. Adblock test (Why?)
After Greater Noida dowry horror, Jodhpur woman sets herself and daughter on fire, suicide note says…
The incident comes hot on the heels of a gruesome murder in Greater Noida where a woman was burnt alive by her husband and mother-in-law after years of dowry harassment. Both of them along with other members of the family have since been arrested. Read on to know more.
This Indian state bans sale of non-veg, eggs for two days due to…; not UP, Bihar, Maharashtra
The move has sparked discussion since eggs are often considered separate from meat in dietary practices.
Violent protest erupts in Bihar’s Patna over death of two children, vehicles torched, several police officers injured in clash, Watch
Massive and violent protests broke out in Bihar’s capital Patna on Monday evening after two minor children were found dead inside a parked car in the city’s Indrapuri area on August 15. Their bodies were recovered from the car.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath announces scholarship in Shubhanshu Shukla’s name for…, ‘His experiences will help…’
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a scholarship in Shubhanshu Shukla’s name for students pursuing careers in space technology and directed the State’s Science and Technology Department to benefit from his expertise.
PM Modi makes BIG statement as Trump’s 50% tariff deadline looms: ‘No matter how much pressure comes…’
At the beginning of this month, US President Donald Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on India, which was soon raised to 50 percent over New Delhi’s purchase of oil from Russia amid its war with Ukraine. Read on to know more on this.