North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un recently made a rare weeklong visit to Russia and had a meeting with the president of the former Soviet Union nation Vladimir Putin.
EAM Jaishankar with representatives of the Quad countries, namely Yoko Kamikawa, Penny Wong and Antony Blinken. Credit: X/ @DrSJaishankar
After persuading the West to accept the G20 Delhi Declaration without a word of condemnation for Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine, India has joined the United States, Japan and Australia to tacitly ask Russia to refrain from clinching any arms transfer deal with North Korea.
The foreign ministers of Quad – a four-nation coalition comprising India, Japan, Australia and the United States – sent out a message to Russia, urging all member states of the United States to abide by the Security Council resolutions prohibiting “the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel”.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar joined his Japanese, Australian and American counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa, Penny Wong and Antony Blinken, for a meeting of the Quad on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Health workers collect clinical samples and investigate the home of a Nipah virus victim. (Image: PTI)
Another person on Friday tested positive for the Nipah Virus in Kerala’s Kozhikode. This took the number of infected persons in the state to six, of which four are active cases and the rest two had passed away earlier.
The virus gripped the coastal state of Kerala for the fourth time and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed that it has sought 20 more doses of the antibody vaccine from Australia. It has also said that the mortality among the infected is very high in the virus (between 40 and 70 per cent) compared to the mortality in Covid, which was 2-3 per cent.
The state government has announced that all the educational institutes in Kerala’s Kozhikode will remain closed till September 24. The closure — ordered in view of the Nipah outbreak — is applicable to schools, professional colleges, tuition centres and other educational institutions in the district.
This comes after the confirmation of the six infection of the Nipah virus.
India to Acquire 20 More Doses of Antibody Vaccine from Australia; Nipah Mortality Rate Very High
India has reached out to Australia for procuring 20 more doses of monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Nipah virus infection, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICRM) DG Rajeev Bahl said.
With repeated instances of Nipah outbreaks being reported and the mortality rate being very high compared to Covid, Bahl said that ICMR is also planning to start work on developing a vaccine against the viral disease.
“We got some doses of monoclonal antibody from Australia in 2018. Currently the doses are available for only 10 patients,” Bahl said, adding globally monoclonal antibody has been given to 14 patients infected with Nipah virus outside India and all of them have survived.
Tennis – Davis Cup – Finals – Australia v Britain – AO Arena, Manchester, Britain – September 13, 2023 Britain’s Jack Draper celebrates winning his match against Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Britain battled to victory over last year’s Davis Cup runners-up Australia in their Finals group stage opener on Wednesday, while Spain and Italy both suffered chastening defeats at home in the premier men’s team competition.
Debutant Jack Draper repaid Britain skipper Leon Smith’s faith in him by giving the hosts a superb start, as he came from behind to seal a 6-7(6) 6-3 7-6(4) win over Thanasi Kokkinakis in front of the partisan home crowd at the Manchester Arena.
“There’s nothing better, a real battle and a massive crowd here,” Draper said. “It’s amazing to play my first Davis Cup tie in the UK in this sort of arena. I’m so grateful to be here and I’m happy Leon trusted me and put me out here today.
“I’m playing for my country so I had to put everything on the line… the team’s dialled in this year, we want to get to the Finals after a tough run last year.”
Britain, bidding to reach the quarter-finals from Group B after missing out for the first time since 2018 last year, then completed the victory when an inspired Dan Evans beat world number 12 Alex de Minaur 6-1 2-6 6-4.
In Valencia, the Czech Republic took an unassailable 2-0 lead over hosts Spain, who were missing Carlos Alcaraz after the world number two decided to pull out of the squad to recover following his U.S. Open semi-final defeat.
80 per cent of NRIs based in Australia and Singapore, 70 per cent from the UK and 75 per cent from the USA consider a return to India as part of their retirement plans
The financial benefits India provides to its NRIs are quite significant as it allows them to earn in foreign currencies and convert their income to invest and save in India.
The Indian economy demonstrates great resilience across sectors, especially after the pandemic. The country continues to make itself financially stable for its citizens and non-residents. Against this backdrop, the majority of people who packed their bags to move abroad to accomplish their dreams are considering settling down in India after retirement.
The financial benefits India provides to its NRIs are quite significant as it allows them to earn in foreign currencies and convert their income to invest and save in India. In a recent survey, SBNRI—an NRI-focused fintech platform unveiled—at least 60 per cent of NRIs from Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK, and Singapore are considering returning to India as part of their retirement plans. The SBNRI platform surveyed 100 NRIs.
Though retirement planning is off the radar for many people in their 30s and 40s, NRIs have set a robust financial plan well in advance. The SBNRI survey reveals that 80 per cent of NRIs based in Australia and Singapore, 70 per cent from the UK and 75 per cent from the USA consider returning to India as part of their retirement plans, followed by 63 per cent of Canadian NRIs.
India is an emerging global start-up hub with momentous manufacturing capabilities, financial services and technology advancements. It is formulating a strong strategy to stabilise its economy. This has made a whopping 72 per cent of NRIs believe that India has a stable investment avenue for its inhabitants as well as non-residents. This gives an ample opportunity to NRIs to diversify their investments, ultimately affecting their decision to return to their native land post-retirement.
Mudit Vijayvergiya of SBNRI said, “India is making a strong rebound with digitised and stable economic activities emerging in the market. This makes India hold a promising future for investors. The country is also making it easy for NRIs to understand complex taxation systems and certain norms that make India a high return market for NRI investors to utilize as their retirement plans.”
The RSV Nuyina set off from Hobart in Tasmania last week
Australia has launched an urgent operation to rescue a researcher with a “developing medical condition” from the remote Casey outpost in Antarctica.
The icebreaker RSV Nuyina left from Tasmania last week, the Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) said.
It is travelling thousands of miles to reach the station after an air rescue was ruled out due to harsh conditions.
The AAP said the researcher, an Australian, needs specialist treatment but did not name the condition.
The programme added that it had taken weeks to prepare the Nuyina for the mission, including equipping it with helicopters.
Casey research station is a journey of 2,139 miles (3,443km) from Hobart in Tasmania and one of three permanent Antarctic stations run by the AAP.
The Nuyina, which cost A$528m ($342m; £271m) to build, has a top speed of 16 knots, or around 18 miles an hour, meaning a journey of several days.
It is understood that an evacuation by air was not possible – the nearby Wilkins aerodrome near Casey has an ice runway and is often unusable during the harsh winter.
According to reports the runway would need weeks of preparation to use, and therefore it is far quicker to send the icebreaker.
Medical facilities are limited on the research station, and only about 20 people live there during winter when conditions are at their worst.
A spokesman for the AAP told the BBC that the “wellbeing of our people is our highest priority”.
“The expeditioner’s family is being kept fully informed of the situation,” it added. “All other personnel on stations are accounted for and safe.”
The email was sent to Sandeep Kumar in May 2021 after he disputed a cleaning bill deduction from his security deposit, news.com.au, an Australian website, reported.
In the mail, she hoped Indian migrants would not turn Australia into “the filth that is India”.
A real estate agent in Australia has been suspended for sending a former Indian tenant a racist email in which she criticised the cleanliness habits of Indians and hoped that their influx would not turn the country into “the filth that is India”, according to a media report.
The email was sent to Sandeep Kumar in May 2021 after he disputed a cleaning bill deduction from his security deposit, news.com.au, an Australian website, reported.
In the email, Mavin Real Estate director Bronwyn Pollitt compared Australian living standards and quality of life to what she described as the “overcrowded, overpopulated, dirty squaller” of many countries, including India.
In the mail, she hoped Indian migrants would not turn Australia into “the filth that is India”.
The email was submitted to the State Administrative Tribunal in Western Australia which deemed Pollitt unfit to hold a real estate and business agents licence for eight months from September 1.
In the email, Pollitt said: “I as a white Australian believe you and the others come to Australia as you want to enjoy the lovely way of life we enjoy. Clean, fresh air, jobs or if you cannot get a job social support, medical help and no overpopulation.
Australia hammer South Africa in the first T20I at Durban (Photo Source: Twitter)
The first T20I encounter between South Africa and Australia, part of the Australia tour of South Africa 2023, took place at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday. After winning the toss, South Africa chose to bowl first, setting the stage for a competitive battle.
Australia Innings:
Australia posted a formidable total of 226-6 in their allotted 20 overs. The batting highlights included a powerful knock from newly-appointed captain Mitchell Marsh, who scored a remarkable 92 not out off 49 deliveries. Tim David also played a pivotal role with a quickfire 64 runs off 28 balls. Their efforts contributed significantly to Australia’s commanding total.
Bowling figures for South Africa:
Lizaad Williams emerged as the standout bowler for South Africa, securing three crucial wickets while conceding 44 runs. Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi each claimed a wicket, albeit conceding runs in the process.
South Africa Innings:
In pursuit of Australia’s formidable target, South Africa struggled and managed to score 115/10 in 15.3 overs. Reeza Hendricks showcased an impressive performance with the bat, amassing 56 runs off 43 balls. However, remaining South Africa line-up struggled against the Australian bowlers.
Bowling figures for Australia:
Tanveer Sangha shone with the white leather on his T20I debut, capturing four wickets while conceding 31 runs. Marcus Stoinis and Spencer Johnson also contributed significantly with three and two wickets, respectively.
A United States Marine Corps aircraft with 23 Marines aboard crashed on a north Australian island Sunday, killing at least three and critically injuring at least five during a multinational training exercise, officials said.
Three had been confirmed dead on Melville Island and five were flown in serious condition 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the mainland city of Darwin for hospital treatment after the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey aircraft crashed around 9:30 a.m., a statement from the Marines said.
“Recovery efforts are ongoing,” the statement said, adding the cause of the crash was under investigation.
Aircraft had been sent from Darwin to retrieve more survivors from the remote location but no further details on the fate of the other 15 Marines on board had been released hours later.
A U.S. military official reported to Australian air traffic controllers a “significant fire in the vicinity of the crash site,” according to an audio recording of the conversation broadcast by Nine News television.
Melville resident Shane Murphy was fishing from a beach when the Osprey crashed and told Australian Broadcasting Corp. he saw a “big mushroom of black smoke” rise from the wreckage.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said no one on board had escaped injury.
One of the injured was undergoing surgery at the Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said around six hours after the crash.
“We acknowledge that this is a terrible incident,” Fyles said. “The Northern Territory government stands by to offer whatever assistance is required.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said only Americans were injured in the crash during Exercise Predators Run, which involves the militaries of the United States, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the three U.S. service personnel who lost their lives, those who have been injured, the rest of the crew and indeed the entire United States armed forces,” Albanese said in a statement.
“Australia will continue to provide assistance to our friends for as long as is required,” he added.
Around 150 U.S. Marines are currently based in Darwin and up to 2,500 rotate through the city every year. They’re part of a realignment of forces in the Asia-Pacific that’s broadly meant to face an increasingly assertive China.
The 12-day exercise is scheduled to end Sept. 7. It involves troops on land, in the sea and in the air. The exercise has been paused since the crash.
The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but during flight can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster like an airplane. Versions of the aircraft are flown by the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.
Before Sunday, there had been five fatal crashes of Marine Ospreys since 2012, causing a total of 16 deaths.
The latest was in June 2022, when five Marines died in a fiery crash in a remote part of California east of San Diego. A crash investigation report last month found that the tragedy was caused by a mechanical failure related to a clutch.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers poses for a photograph as he arrives to attend a G20 finance ministers’ and Central Bank governors’ meeting at Gandhinagar, India, July 18, 2023. REUTERS/Amit Dave Acquire Licensing Rights
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday the government was closely watching China amid “concerning” signs of economic weakness that could weigh on Australia’s economy.
“I share the pretty substantial concerns that people have voiced about the Chinese economy,” Chalmers told Sky News television.
“It is concerning to see the weakness, the softness, in the recent weeks and months in the Chinese economy because it has obvious implications for us here in Australia.”
Recovery in China, the world’s second-largest economy, has sputtered due to a worsening property slump, weak consumer spending and tumbling credit growth, prompting the authorities to slash interest and promise further support while analysts downgrade growth forecasts.
China is the top trading partner for raw-materials exporter Australia, with annual trade of A$285 billion, although Canberra has urged exporters to become less reliant on China amid diplomatic tensions.
“In China they’re dealing with slower growth, they’ve got deflation, there are concerns in their property sector and to some extent in their banking sector, their exports have slowed as well, Chalmers said. “Our concerns for China in particular is something that we’re monitoring very closely.”
There will be a first-time winner of the Women’s World Cup this year, and maybe, just maybe, it will be host country Australia.
The Matildas, serving as co-hosts of the tournament with New Zealand, became the first home team since the United States in 1999 to win a quarterfina l in nine Women’s World Cups. Australia has reached its first semifinal in team history and faces England on Wednesday for a chance to play for the title.
“I genuinely really believe that this team can do great history in so many ways,” Australia coach Tony Gustavsson said, “not just winning football games, but the way that they can inspire the next generation, how they can unite the nation, how they can leave a legacy that is much bigger that football.”
England, the European champion, advanced with a 2-1 victory over upstart Colombia. England also reached the semifinals in 2015 and 2019, only to finish third and fourth and never reach the Women’s World Cup final.
But before the Australia and England showdown, first-time semifinalist Spain takes on powerhouse Sweden on Tuesday in Auckland.
Aside from a 4-0 loss to Japan in group play, Spain has been a force throughout the tournament. It even tuned out an earthquake roughly an hour before its quarterfinal win over 2019 runner-up Netherlands.
The earthquake Friday in New Zealand’s capital of Wellington measured 5.6 on the Richter scale and created minor shaking in and around the stadium.
“We were so concentrated on the game that we didn’t feel it, although we felt some shakes at the hotel the day before,” Spain coach Jorge Vilda said. “The victory of Spain was the earthquake.”
Sweden, meanwhile, is the highest ranked team still in the tournament at second in the world, according to FIFA. The Swedes got into the semifinals by knocking off previously undefeated Japan, the 2011 winners and last remaining champions in the tournament after so many early eliminations of the best teams in women’s soccer.
“I think we have the team to go all the way,” left back Jonna Andersson said, “and now we are one step closer.”
AUSTRALIA
The Matildas advanced after a tense — and electric — penalty shootout 7-6 over France in front of a sold-out crowd in Brisbane, Australia.
It took 20 penalties to decide the winner in the longest shootout in the history of the tournament. It was the game of a lifetime for goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, who stepped up to take a penalty with the score at 3-3 but hit the post.
Arnold then managed to twice save shots from French midfielder Kenza Dali, the first being waved off after Arnold was ruled to have come off her line for the first save. Arnold said she was “incredibly disappointed” to have missed her shot on goal and thanked her teammates for keeping the Matildas in the game.
Australia, at 12th in the world, is the lowest-ranked team remaining in the tournament.
Sam Kerr, the injured superstar who missed all of group play, came off the bench against France but ended up playing nearly a full game when the match went to extra time. Kerr converted her penalty kick. And the Australians have also been boosted by the play of 20-year-old Mary Fowler, who has stepped in to fill Kerr’s void in this tournament.
Arnold said the Matildas need a day to regroup before focusing on England.
“I don’t want to ever get ahead of myself, and we’re all the same in that aspect,” she said. “We just take one game at a time, one half at a time, whatever that is, and we just keep getting to the next step every time. So now that we’ve made the semifinal for the first time, we’ll take a moment to process what we’ve actually done.”
Malabar began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. It has increased in scope and complexity over the years.
Indian navy warship INS Sahyadri, an indigenously designed and built guided missile stealth frigate (File photo/Indian Navy)
Two Indian warships, the indigenously built INS Sahyadri and INS Kolkata, will participate in the 10-day Malabar exercise which will involve the navies of the US, Japan and Australia and begin off the Sydney coast on Friday, the Indian Navy said in a statement on the eve of the multi-nation drills.
The exercise is being hosted by the Royal Australian Navy for the first time.
Malabar began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. It has increased in scope and complexity over the years.
The exercise involving the Quad navies will be conducted in two phases — the harbour and the sea phase. “The harbour phase involves wide-ranging activities such as cross-deck visits, professional exchanges, sports fixtures and several interactions for planning and conducting the sea phase,” the statement said.
“The sea phase will include various complex and high intensity exercises in all three domains of warfare, encompassing anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine exercises including live weapon firing drills. The exercise provides an opportunity to the Indian Navy to enhance and demonstrate interoperability and gain from the best practices in maritime security operations from its partner nations.”
An Indian Navy P-8I submarine hunter plane will also take part in the exercise, officials aware of the matter said.
Two Saturdays ago, five people sat down for a family meal in a tiny Australian town.
Within a week, three would be dead, a fourth fighting for life, and the fifth under investigation for potentially poisoning her guests with wild mushrooms.
But the 48-year-old woman who cooked the lunch says she has no idea what happened, and that she loved her family and wouldn’t hurt them.
The peculiar case has captured national attention, puzzled police, and left a tight-knit community reeling.
‘Nefarious’ or ‘accidental’?
The unusual tale began when Gail and Don Patterson stopped for lunch at their daughter-in-law Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha – a two-hour drive south-east of Melbourne.
With them were the Wilkinsons – Heather, Gail’s sister, and her husband Ian.
All four were much-loved members of the nearby town of Korumburra, where Ian was the local Baptist church pastor.
But it was no ordinary lunch. Hours after the meal, all four guests took themselves to the local hospital with what they first believed was severe gastro.
It quickly became clear it was something far worse, and they were transferred to a hospital in Melbourne to receive the best medical care the state had to offer.
Despite that, Heather, 66, and Gail, 70, died on Friday, and Don, 70, on Saturday. Ian, 68, remains in a critical condition in hospital, awaiting a liver transplant.
Ian and Heather Wilkinson are among those who became sick
Police say they believe the four ate death cap mushrooms – which are highly lethal if ingested. Oddly, Erin is fine.
But beyond that, little is clear.
Investigators say they are unsure if Erin ate the same food as her guests, or even if the mushrooms were in the dish that she served.
They also pointed out that she was separated from her husband – who is the Pattersons’ son – but described it as an “amicable” split.
“Nefarious activity” has not yet been ruled out though.
“At this point in time, the deaths are unexplained,” the homicide squad’s Dean Thomas told reporters on Monday.
“It could be very innocent, but we just don’t know.”
Ms Patterson says she “can’t fathom what has happened”.
Crying as she spoke to reporters outside of her home, she declined to answer questions about what meals were served to which guests or where the mushrooms had come from.
But she did profess her innocence.
“I didn’t do anything; I loved them.”
Community shaken
As news of the incident spread through the local area, so did horror.
“No-one would ever expect that to happen here,” the regional mayor Nathan Hersey told the BBC.
“Who in their right mind would expect that they would lose… people who contribute and give so much… in such a way?
“People are grieving and extremely sad.”
In a statement, the victims’ families paid tribute to them as “pillars of faith” within the community.
“Their love, steadfast faith, and selfless service have left an indelible mark on our families, the Korumburra Baptist Church, the local community, and indeed, people around the globe,” the statement published in the South Gippsland Sentinel Times said.
In front of a febrile crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Raso struck in the ninth minute with a low, right-boot and doubled down in the 39th from a goalmouth scramble as unused captain Sam Kerr cheered by the touchline.
Australia’s Sam Kerr, Emily Van Egmond and Caitlin Foord, from left, react at the end of the Women’s World Cup Group B soccer match between Australia and Canada in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, July 31, 2023. Australia won 4-0. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)
Hayley Raso scored a first half brace and Mary Fowler struck after the break as Australia crushed Canada 4-0 on Monday to storm into the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup and send the Olympic champions spinning out of the tournament.
In front of a febrile crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Raso struck in the ninth minute with a low, right-boot and doubled down in the 39th from a goalmouth scramble as unused captain Sam Kerr cheered by the touchline.
Fowler made sure of the win with a deft touch in the 58th minute that pinged in off the right post, before Steph Catley slotted a penalty in stoppage time as a relieved nation celebrated the co-hosts’ advance.
Canada bowed out at the group stage for the first time since 2011 and with some regret after having needed only a draw to advance.
There was no need for Kerr to be Australia’s saviour and the striker can rest her injured calf for a week before the co-hosts’ next clash in the last 16, most likely against Denmark.
Australia topped Group B on six points, one ahead of Nigeria, who also advanced after a 0-0 draw against Ireland.
Canada’s talismanic captain Christine Sinclair started on the pitch but bowed out of her sixth and final World Cup in disappointment at halftime when coach Bev Priestman triggered a raft of substitutes.
With their tournament on a knife-edge after the 3-2 shock by Nigeria, Australia played with courage and were quickly rewarded when a Steph Catley cross found Raso in the box.
She drilled a low shot inside the far post to put Australia in front. Although an offside flag went up, the goal was confirmed by VAR, sending the crowd into raptures.
They almost made it 2-0 minutes later, but Raso’s shot was well saved by goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
ENG vs AUS, 3rd Ashes Test, Day 2 Highlights: Australia were four down at Stumps on Friday with a lead of 142 runs. The side’s score read 116 for 4 when the play on Day 2 was called off.
3rd Ashes Test, Day 2 Highlights: Australia extended their lead over England.
Australia were four down at Stumps on Friday with a lead of 142 runs. The side’s score read 116 for 4 when the play on Day 2 was called off. The guests took a first-innings lead of 26 runs after bowling out England for 237 on Friday. Ben Stokes scored 80 runs, fighting a lone battle for the Three Lions. Pat Cummins registered a six-wicket haul. On Day 1, Mitchell Marsh’s run-a-ball 118 was the cornerstone of Australia’s 263 all out. England fast bowler Mark Wood took 5 for 34 after Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl.
Australia and New Zealand host the ninth edition of Women’s World Cup football from July 20 to August 20.
A woman poses for a picture during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Trophy tour in Cali, Colombia [File: Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP]The much anticipated ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup is almost upon us.
The tournament, which kicks off on July 20, will debut an expanded 32-team format – resulting in a full month of top-flight international football.
Who are the hosts?
The Women’s World Cup will take place in two countries: Australia and New Zealand.
Matches will be held at 10 stadiums in nine cities across these two nations.
Only Sydney will offer two venues, the Sydney Football Stadium and Stadium Australia (which will also host the final).
Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth will host the remaining fixtures in Australia. In New Zealand, matches will be played in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, and Hamilton.
Which teams have qualified?
Australia, China, Japan, Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam qualified from the AFC (Asia).
Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia qualified from CAF (Africa).
Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama and the USA qualified from CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean).
Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia qualified from CONMEBOL (South America).
New Zealand qualified from the OFC (Oceania).
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland qualified from UEFA (Europe).
What are the groups?
There are a number of exciting pair-ups in the group. In a repeat of the 2019 final, four-time winners USA take on the Netherlands, who are currently ranked ninth in the world.
France vs Brazil is also a highly anticipated match, with the former ranked fifth in the world and the latter reigning South American champions.
Balesh Dhankhar, a data expert had faced trial over 39 charges including 13 counts of rape committed between January and October 2018.
Balesh Dhankhar(Facebook)
A district court jury in Sydney, Australia on Monday found Indian-origin Balesh Dhankhar guilty of drugging and raping five Korean women after luring them to his apartment using fake job ads.
He has been described as “one of the worst rapists” in the city’s recent history.
Dhankhar, a data expert had faced trial over 39 charges including 13 counts of rape committed between January and October 2018.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported that police found dozens of videos of him sexually assaulting the women when they raided his apartment in Sydney in October 2018. “The videos were sorted into folders, each labelled with a Korean woman’s name. Then detectives found a series of bookmarks in Dhankhar’s browser,” SMH said.
The SMH reported that it all began with a fake job ad for Korean translators posted in 2017. Dhankhar interviewed the victims at the Hilton hotel cafe before pressuring them into dinner, soju and wine.
Then, Dhankhar would make an excuse to go up to his apartment in World Square Tower. “He sometimes promised them a view of the Opera House, or claimed he needed his car keys.”
Dhankhar gave the women wine or ice-cream laced with sedatives; traces were found in the blood and hair of two victims. “His wife and family did not live in Australia at the time,” SMH reported.
He was arrested on October 21, 2018, after his fifth victim woke up while he was raping her, and sent messages to a friend while hiding in the bathroom, the Daily Mail reported.
The accused struggled to explain a call list of the people who responded to his online ad. “The spreadsheet includes his victims, whether he thought they were attractive, whether they had sex and how they reacted to being drugged and abused,” the SMH reported.
It is the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement agreed to by India with any country, Albanese said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday announced that his country and the Indian government have finalized the `Australia-India Education Qualification Recognition Mechanism.’ Albanese, on a visit to India, was speaking at a programme here to officially announce that Australia’s Deakin University would be setting up an international branch campus at GIFT City in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.
Ahmedabad: Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese addresses the Australia-India education relationship programme, in Ahmedabad.(PTI)
“There is a significant development in our bilateral education relations. I am pleased to tell you that we have finalised Australia-India Education Qualification Recognition Mechanism,” he said.
“This new mechanism means that if you are an Indian student who is studying or have studied in Australia, your hard-earned degree will be recognised when you return home. Or if you are a member of Australia’s very large Indian diaspora — 500,000 and growing — you will feel more confident that your Indian qualification will be recognised in Australia,” he said.
It is the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement agreed to by India with any country, Albanese said. “It paved the way for commercial opportunities for Australian education providers to offer innovative and more accessible education to Indian students. And it provides a solid basis for education institutions to consider new ways to partner with each other,” he said.
When the top diplomats of four major Asia-Pacific nations met here in the Indian capital on Friday to discuss issues in the region, one had a direct message for the behemoth whose shadow loomed over the talk.
China must “act under the international institutions, standards and laws” to avoid conflict, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the foreign minister of Japan, said on a public panel that included his counterparts from the United States, India and Australia.
That request is one that every official on that stage has made on many occasions. Although Russia’s war in Ukraine has dominated diplomatic dialogue around the globe this past year, the dilemma of dealing with an increasingly assertive China is ever-present — and for many nations, a thornier problem than relations with Moscow. They subscribe to the framing that President Biden and his aides have presented: China is the greatest long-term challenge, and the one nation with the power and resources to reshape the American-led order to its advantage.
At the heart of this predicament is the fact that the United States and its allies maintain deep trade ties with China even as their security concerns and ideological friction with the nation’s leader, Xi Jinping, and the Chinese Communist Party escalate.
For President Biden and his aides, that tension came into sharp focus in recent weeks after a Chinese spy balloon began drifting over the continental United States, and when, in their telling, they came across intelligence that China is considering sending weapons to Russia for its war. That prospect has prompted American diplomats and those from allies and partners to deliver warnings to Chinese counterparts, including here in New Delhi.
The anxieties over both China’s and Russia’s increasingly discordant roles on the world stage were perhaps wrapped into a lament on Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India that “multilateralism is in crisis today.”
“Global governance has failed in both its mandates” of preventing wars and fostering international cooperation, he said in a video address to a conference of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations, made up of the world’s major economies, including China and Russia.
The four Asia-Pacific countries represented on the panel one day later at the Raisina Dialogue form the Quad partnership, which was revived in 2017 after many years of dormancy and has gained momentum since, mainly because of shared strategic concerns over China. But in a sign of the delicate balance they are trying to strike in relations with Beijing, the diplomats took pains to stress in their public comments that the Quad is not a security or military organization. Mr. Hayashi was the sole panelist to mention China, and only after being prompted by the panel’s moderator.
Their joint statement, released after private meetings, did not mention China, although many points in it, including the issue of “peace and security in the maritime domain,” are obviously aimed at Chinese policies.
At the earlier Group of 20 conference, the foreign minister of China, Qin Gang, joined the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey V. Lavrov, in playing the role of spoiler.
Together, they opposed two paragraphs in a proposed consensus communiqué, the first of which directly criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine. Even though the leaders of the Group of 20 had approved the same two paragraphs in a consensus document at a meeting last year in Bali, Indonesia, China has dug in with Russia to sabotage both this week’s communiqué and a similar one proposed at a G20 finance ministers’ conference in late February in Bengaluru, India.
The second paragraph in the communiqué that they objected to did not mention Russia or Ukraine. It simply said that all the nations agreed to uphold United Nations principles on international humanitarian law, “including the protection of civilians and infrastructure in armed conflicts” and forbidding “the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.”
Some diplomats privately expressed surprise that China opposed a reiteration of such basic principles, a move that forced the conference to issue a lower-level chair’s statement. Mr. Qin’s stance seemed to validate concerns that his government was willing to side with Russia in a growing number of diplomatic venues — including at the United Nations Security Council — to undermine policies or actions that the vast majority of nations endorse.
“Russia and China were the only two countries that made clear that they would not sign on to that text,” Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said pointedly at a news conference on Thursday night. He added that he agreed with Mr. Modi “that there are real challenges to the multilateral system.”
He noted, too, that at the U.N. Security Council, “we have two countries in particular that tend to block the attempted actions of the council to address some of the most urgent global concerns.”
Mr. Blinken has also expressed skepticism over a push by Beijing for peace negotiations in the war in Ukraine, saying Chinese officials are merely creating a smoke screen to buy Russia more time to press its assault.
Australia will spend about A$38 billion ($28 billion) out to 2040 to expand its active defence personnel by a third to keep the country safe “in an increasingly uncertain global environment”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Australia has been boosting its defence spending over the past few years as China looks to step up its presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Last year, Australia entered into a deal to buy nuclear submarines from the United States and Britain.
“This is a significant investment in our future force,” Morrison said during a media briefing on Thursday. The planned expansion would see the number of defence personnel rise to 80,000, a level not seen since the Vietnam War.
Morrison, behind in opinion polls in an election year, has made national security a core issue and has attacked the opposition Labor party as being “soft” on China, viewed by two-thirds of Australians as more of a security threat than an economic partner.
