RUSSIAN cyber criminals targeted the Royal Family yesterday — days after King Charles’s condemnation of the Ukraine war.
Hacktivist pro-Putin group KillNet said they brought down the royal.uk website for 90 minutes this morning — forcing Palace chiefs to scramble their cyber security experts.
Website royal.uk was targeted by pro-Russian group KillNet today, after royals like Kate have expressed support for Ukraine by carrying flowers in the coloursCredit: GettyKing Charles welcomes President Volodymyr Zelensky at Buckingham Palace in FebruaryCredit: Rex Features
A source said: “This was a denial of service attack which saw the site bombarded with traffic.”
Royal fans trying to log in saw the message “Gateway time-out error code 504”.
Soon after, KillNet bragged on messenger app Telegram that it was responsible.
And KillNet’s leader — KillMilk — boasted of his involvement on his personal blog 20 minutes after the site went down.
Palace chiefs said senior royals’ personal accounts weren’t hacked, nor sensitive information stolen.
But the ease with how the attack was executed will jolt the family.
Royals have been hugely supportive of Ukraine ever since Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded in February last year.
Two weeks ago, King Charles received a standing ovation in Paris when he blasted Russia’s “unprovoked aggression” and said “Ukraine must prevail”.
And in February he hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky at Buckingham Palace for talks.
Prince William travelled to Ukraine’s border with Poland this year to thank troops, while Prince Edward has visited Nato fighters on the border in Estonia.
Kate wore a dress in the blue and yellow of Ukraine’s flag at Eurovision, and also carried flowers in the colours.
Queen Elizabeth chose the same colours for duties before her death.
The family has even housed Ukrainian refugees.
Last year the Five Eyes intelligence alliance of the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia warned about KillNet.
Recently the group set up a private military hacking company called Black Skills.
KillNet is notorious for attacks on the websites of countries that support Ukraine.
A Distributed Denial of Service attack — its weapon of choice — involves sending thousands of connection requests to the target server or website a minute, slowing or stopping vulnerable systems.
Such attacks can lead to outages sometimes lasting days.
A royal source told The Sun: “It was not hacking because hacking is when the website is compromised and they gain access to the system.
“This was a denial of service attack which saw the site bombarded with traffic.”
The royals have bolstered cyber defences in recent years.
In February 2021 ex-MI5 chief Andrew Parker was made head of the Royal Household.
And a month later the Queen appointed Elliot Atkins as her first chief information security officer.
In July 2021 a Palace report warned the Household was at “high risk” from cyber criminals.
VLADIMIR Putin’s closest ally has threatened to unleash World War 3 on the West if UK sends troops on to Ukrainian soil.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that any Brit soldiers training soldiers inside Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Russian forces and “ruthlessly destroyed”.
Dmitry Medvedev warned UK troops would face Russia’s wrathCredit: EPAThe Putin crony also warned he would strike German factories supply Kyiv with Taurus missilesCredit: EPA
The Kremlin mouthpiece’s furious claims were made after British defence secretary Grant Shapps said he was considering deploying UK troops to train soldiers inside Ukraine.
Medvedev is seen as Vlad’s ‘yes man’ and often makes blood curdling threats aimed at Nato states.
Now, the lap dog’s latest chilling warning is that the West’s actions are bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.
He directed his fury at Shapps who told The Sunday Telegraph that he wants to “eventually” deploy military instructors to Ukraine in addition to training Ukrainian troops in Britain.
In a post on Telegram, Medvedev fumed: “The number of leading idiots in Nato countries is growing.
“One newly minted cretin – the British Minister of Defence – decided to transfer English training courses for Ukrainian soldiers to the territory of Ukraine itself.
“These idiots are actively pushing us towards a Third World War.”
He continued: “[This will] turn their instructors into a legal target for our armed forces.”
“Understanding perfectly well that they will be ruthlessly destroyed. And not as mercenaries, but namely as British Nato specialists.”
The presidential spokesperson also warned that German factories producing Taurus missiles would also be a target should they supply Kyiv.
Moscow fears that the German-made missiles could strike within Russian territory and help cut off its supply to its army.
Rishi Sunak later clarified the defence secretary’s comments and shut down speculation that Brit soldiers could enter the war-torn region imminently.
He said today: “What the Defence Secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine.
“That’s something for the long term, not the here and now, there are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict.
More than 20,000 recruits from Ukraine have received training in the UK since the start of 2022.
However, Nato members have avoided training programmes in Ukraine due to the risk of personnel being targeted by Russia.
Shapps said he has spoken with Army chiefs about moving “more training” into Ukraine and called on British defence firms to set up shop in the country.
The defence minister also revealed he had spoken to Ukrainian president Vlodymyr Zelensky about Britain playing a more active role in the Black Sea, where Russia has targeted cargo ships.
“Britain is a naval nation so we can help and we can advise, particularly since the water is international water,” he said.
“It’s important we don’t allow a situation to establish by default that somehow international shipping isn’t allowed in that water.
“There’s a lot of places where Britain can help advise,” he said cryptically.
He said Britain is also looking for ways to help Ukraine get in shape for membership of Nato.
Earlier this month, Medvedev issued a chilling nuclear threat to the United States on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
He wrote on Telegram: “Terrorists will again carry out an attack in the style of September 11, 2001, but with an atomic or biological component.
“Or even worse: one of the leaders of nuclear countries will lose their nerve, and he will make an emotional decision to use weapons of mass destruction.”
He ended his ominous message with: “And then that would be it. The end of the ball game.
“There will be only to collect money for a new monument in the neighbourhood of Ground Zero. At best.”
In July, he threatened that World War 3 was getting closer as Nato leaders signed a new security package for Ukraine.
Pakistani officials were reportedly told that all the pickpockets near the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca are also from their country. (File pic/AFP)
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offloaded 16 beggars at Punjab province’s Multan airport who disguised as Umrah pilgrims on a flight bound for Saudi Arabia, local media reported on Sunday. The group included 11 women, four men, and a child, all traveling on Umrah visas.
During immigration checks this week, FIA officials questioned the passengers, who confessed that they were heading to Saudi Arabia to seek alms. According to Dawn newspaper, they revealed that they would have to surrender half of their earnings from begging to the agents responsible for their travel arrangements.
The FIA Multan circle arrested the passengers for further probe. This arrest came on the heels of disclosure that a significant number of beggars are trafficked abroad through illegal means, according to the Pakistani media.
Earlier this week, a key senate panel was informed that a large number of beggars apprehended in foreign countries hail from Pakistan. An earlier report by CNN News18 revealed that Saudi Arabia cautioned Pakistan about the selection of its Haj quota candidates. Sources indicated that 90 percent of the beggars arrested in this case were from Pakistan and were traveling on Umrah visas.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk slammed the Justin Trudeau government in Canada for “crushing free speech” in the country.
Twitter, now X. Corp, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.(AP)
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk slammed the Justin Trudeau government in Canada for “crushing free speech” in the country.
His remark came in wake of a recent order of the Canada government which makes it compulsory for online streaming services to formally register with the government for ‘regulatory controls’.
Musk was responding to a post by journalist and author Glenn Greenwald who was commenting on the ruling.
“The Canadian government, armed with one of the world’s most repressive online censorship schemes, announces that all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must formally register with the government to permit regulatory controls,” Greenwald posted on X (formerly Twitter)
Responding to this, Elon Musk stated, “Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful”.
Notably, this is not the first time the Trudeau government is being accused of acting against free speech.
In February 2022, Trudeau invoked emergency powers — for the first time in country’s history — to arm his government with more power to respond to the trucker protests, who were opposing the vaccine mandates at that time.
Meanwhile, Canadian PM created an uproar after he alleged India’s role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’.
Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Sukh Dhaliwal did not answer directly the question on allegations of Indian agency’s involvement in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing. (Photo: X @sukhdhaliwal)
Amid allegations that Sukhminder aka Sukh Singh Dhaliwal, Canadian MP from Surrey, is close to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is allegedly involved in pro-Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in Canada, Justin Trudeau’s aide rubbished the claims, and assured the India government of “all help” in the matter.
Dhaliwal told News18 exclusively that “as a Member of Parliament, I would not stay close to any member of foreign agencies. Whoever is giving you this information is totally wrong and irresponsible.”
When asked why Trudeau has raised the matter of Nijjar’s killing after his return to Canada from the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10, Dhaliwal refuted the claim, and said before the Canadian PM’s visit to India, his government had raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After coming to Canada, “the very first day when Parliament opened after the summer break, he (Trudeau) made the statement that a foreign state agent was involved in the killing of Nijjar”.
When confronted that the “foreign agent” could be ISI, Dhaliwal said it is clear that the “Indian agency” was involved in Nijjar’s killing.
The Canadian government has so far not provided any evidence to support its allegations of the Indian government’s involvement in Nijjars’ killing despite latter’s repeated insistence. Even Dhaliwal sounded wavering when slapped with the same question. “There is an evidence that will be shared in court. He (Trudeau) does not want to mess up the justice system. He is a firm believer in justice. The Prime Minister of Canada will not make such a statement. The Five Eyes are standing with us,” Dhaliwal stressed.
Five Eyes is an alliance comprising Australia, Canada, UK, US and New Zealand, which share intelligence information with each other.
The Indian government has time and again raised the issue of notorious Indian criminal gangs operating in Canada with Trudeau’s government, for which, New Delhi has also sent 24 Letter Rogatory to Ottawa. Dhaliwal said Canada has always “cooperated” with India. “Who gave them the fake passports? India. Who is messing up our country, it is India.” He even stressed that he never received any LRs from the National Investigation Agency nor had any discussions with them.
Ethnic Uyghur demonstrators take part in a protest against China, near the Chinese consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. (Image: Reuters File)
Uyghur children in China’s Xinjiang province are being forcibly removed from their parents and sent to re-education camps styled as boarding schools where they are being raised as ‘orphans’, Uyghur activists speaking to CNN-News18 said.
“Their parents are taken away to concentration camps and treated like prisoners. These kids are losing their identity and no one is talking to China except issuing statements,” a Uyghur activist said.
The Uyghur activist also noted that the United Nation expressed concern over the allegations of Xinjiang’s state-run boarding school system where children are taught in Mandarin language and are being forced to adopt Han cultural practices.
“The UN statement is welcome but the UN is not clearly talking about concentration camps.
“We are deeply concerned that boarding schools in Xinjiang are teaching almost exclusively in the official language with little or no use of Uyghur as medium of instruction and that the separation of mainly Uyghur and other minority children from their families could lead to their forced assimilation into the majority Mandarin language and the adoption of Han cultural practices,” the UN experts said this week.
They flagged that forced separations and language policies for Uyghur children carry risk of forced assimilation. They pointed out that the discriminatory nature of the policy and the violation of minorities’ right to education without discrimination, family life and cultural rights will adversely impact the growth of these children.
UN experts found out this week about large-scale removal of children, mainly Uyghur, from their families this week. Among those children, some of them were very young. The parents of these younger children are in exile or “interned”/detained.
These children are placed in full-time boarding schools, pre-schools, or orphanages where the medium of instruction is almost exclusively Mandarin.
“Uyghur and other minority children in highly regulated and controlled boarding institutions may have little interaction with their parents, extended family or communities for much of their youth,” the experts said
Vinhomes Central Park and Landmark 81, Vietnam’s tallest building are seen from the Saigon river in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Yen Duong Acquire Licensing Rights
A Vietnamese court has sentenced an environmental activist to three years in prison on charges of tax fraud, just days after the government discussed protecting human rights with U.S. President Joe Biden during a state visit.
Hoang Thi Minh Hong, director of an environmental advocacy group that she started in 2013 and ran until 2022, was convicted of tax evasion after trial in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday that lasted half a day, according to her lawyer Nguyen Van Tu.
“Hong pleaded guilty, and therefore the trial ended quickly,” Tu told Reuters by telephone.
The U.S. State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the sentencing and reiterated calls on Vietnam to “release all those unjustly detained and to respect the right to freedoms of expression and association.”
The State Department praised the track record of Hong and said leaders like her played “a vital role in tackling global challenges.”
Hong was accused of dodging tax payments worth 6.7 billion dong ($274,488) during the 2012-2022 period, Thanh Nien newspaper cited the indictment as saying.
She was also made to pay a cash fine of 100 million dong, her lawyer said, adding that she has 15 days to decide whether to appeal the verdict.
“This conviction is a total fraud, nobody should be fooled by it,” said Ben Swanton, co-director of The 88 Project charity.
“This is yet another example of the law being weaponised to persecute climate activists who are fighting to save the planet,” he said.
Biden left Vietnam on Sept. 11 after having upgraded diplomatic relations and sealed multiple deals with Hanoi’s leaders, drawing criticism from human rights organisations that accused him of sidelining issues of human rights.
Hong in 1997 became the first Vietnamese to visit Antarctica, was hailed by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2018 for mobilising “a youth-led movement to create a greener world”, and was awarded a grant from the first Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Columbia University that year.
The Thanh Nien report said Hong expressed her remorse and asked for leniency at the trial so that she could “return and continue to contribute to the society and the country.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday called on the Vietnam government to drop all charges against Hong and unconditionally release her.
“The Vietnamese authorities are using the vaguely worded tax code as a weapon to punish environmental leaders whom the ruling Communist Party deems a threat to their power,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW.
As of early this month, Vietnam was holding at least 159 political prisoners and was detaining 22 others pending trial, HRW said.
90% of beggars arrested in foreign countries are Pakistani nationals (Pixabay)
Pakistani beggars make up as much as 90 percent of beggars arrested in foreign countries, further fueling the issue of human trafficking, According to Dawn.
During a discussion in the Senate panel, Overseas Ministry Secretary Zulfikar Haider disclosed that a large number of Pakistani beggars are moving abroad, adding to the problem of skilled and unskilled labor leaving the country. The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was informed of this on Wednesday.
Haider added that a staggering “90 percent of beggars” arrested in foreign countries are of Pakistani origin, Dawn reported. Many beggars exploit pilgrim visas to travel to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. In fact, a number of pickpockets arrested at holy sites are Pakistani nationals.
Haider further said that Japan has now emerged as a new destination for such visitors, Dawn stated.
The Pakistani senator has emphasized the need to export skilled labor in order to increase the country’s foreign remittances.
“Only professionals going abroad would increase the country’s foreign remittances,” the senator said, according to Dawn.
The senator also noted that Saudi Arabia now prefers skilled labor over unskilled workers. He also pointed out that as many as 50,000 engineers in Pakistan are unemployed.
“India has reached the moon, while we stumble every day,” the senator added.
The senator also informed that approximately three million Pakistanis are in Saudi Arabia, 1.5 million are in the UAE, and 0.2 million are in Qatar.
Two students gazing at a giant banner bearing the photos of those who were killed during a 2022 stampede at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, Indonesia. (Photo: CNA/Wisnu Agung Prasetyo)
135 people were killed and at least 500 more were injured in a stampede at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, Indonesia on Oct 1, 2022, which was prompted by the firing of tear gas by security officials
Three police officers and two match officials have been found guilty for their roles in the incident. Each was sentenced to between one to two-and-a-half years in prison
There was a time in a not-so-distant past when for a few hours every weekend, the city of Malang in Indonesia would appear deserted.
Virtually everyone in the hilly city of 800,000 people was either at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in the outskirts of Malang or glued to the television sets at home or at cafes and roadside food stalls, rooting for their once beloved football club, Arema FC.
The mood of the city would change depending on the outcome of each match.
Whenever the club won, supporters in Arema jerseys and other attributes would parade the city in their motorcycles and cars to celebrate their victories. Conversely, the mood of the city would turn gloomy and sombre whenever the club lost.
That all changed on Oct 1, 2022, when 135 people were killed in a stampede at the Kanjuruhan Stadium, making it the second deadliest football tragedy in the world.
“I haven’t watched a single (Arema) match since (the tragedy),” plantation owner Devi Athok Yulfitri told CNA, adding that many of his peers have also stopped seeing matches in person or on the small screen.
“It’s just too painful. Whenever we see Arema play, all we can think about are all the loved ones and friends we lost that night.”
IRONIC TWIST OF FATE
Mr Yulfitri used to be an Aremania, a nickname for die-hard Arema fans. Before the tragedy, he would attend almost every home and away match the club played.
So much was his love for the club, he would occasionally get into brawls with rival supporters, without caring if he ended up getting injured, arrested or killed.
“The only reasons I stopped (participating in brawls) were my two daughters,” the 44-year-old said. “Whenever they saw me trying to get into a fight, they would say ‘Daddy don’t, let’s just go home’.”
Exhausted but smiling, a migrant father with a young child strapped to his back gathers his family for a selfie to celebrate illegally crossing over the border into the US at Eagle Pass, Texas.
Behind him, a mass of hundreds of other asylum seekers who had made it alongside them Tuesday crush behind him, next to the border’s razor-wire fencing.
The southwest border has been besieged, seeing upward of 10,000 people a day handing themselves over to officers for processing.
And there is no end in sight as the hordes keep coming, with Costa Rica declaring a state of emergency this week as thousands of migrants flood over the country’s border heading north to the US.
Here The Post offers a rare firsthand account through the eyes of a witness on the front lines of the border crisis who followed the journey of the selfie-snapping dad as he made the final push to cross the Rio Grande River to reach the US. This is his account:
I joined the mostly Venezuelan group after they had worked their way up near the border by hiding on a freight chartered through northern Mexico.
They had been battered by the wind and elements and, as the train had not stopped in many hours, had little chance to eat or drink.
The Post gives a firsthand account of crossing the border with a migrant caravan. James KeivomMigrants cross the Rio Grande River from Piedras Negras, Mexico. James KeivomNo one crosses certain parts of the border without cartel permission. James Keivom
As the sun set over the Rio Grande, we could see Eagle Pass, Texas, to the north. I was accompanied by a local who knows Piedras Negras, Mexico.
From the train tracks, it’s a hard 15 miles over rough terrain to the US-Mexico border for the migrants, who are all ages from elderly to toddlers. Some barely have shoes left, worn down from the hundreds of miles they have walked.
Once they got to the river, the smugglers were waiting. The migrants knew they would have to pay the cartel in order to be allowed to cross the river, as no one crosses without their permission.
A father hugs his daughter as they make their way along the banks of the RIo Grande. James KeivomCBP patrol boats guide migrants to safer waters. James Keivom
Money changes hands, but the transactions are done discreetly, so it’s hard to say how much. The human traffickers were aware US journalists were documenting the crossing, but didn’t menace anyone and instead simply asked not to be photographed.
The smugglers separated everyone into groups of 50 to 100. They then staggered them, telling them exactly when to cross.
Everyone waited their turn, following the orders of the smugglers, one of whom acts as a guide, getting into the water and testing the route along the riverbed to make sure it’s crossable.
Once the migrants are in the freezing water, they are directed to hold on to a rope to help stabilize them.
Some were caught off guard as they entered the currents of rushing water and took a few uneasy steps, trying to balance.
Most people held on to the rope for dear life where they could, and others held hands — hoping to stabilize themselves better during the crossing.
The Mermaid, a Hungarian boat which sank in the Danube river near Margaret bridge, is moved away during a salvage operation in Budapest, Hungary, June 11, 2019. REUTERS/Tamas Kaszas/File Photo
A Ukrainian captain of a cruise liner was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in Hungary on Tuesday for his role in a 2019 accident in which his boat hit and sank a smaller boat on the River Danube, killing 25 South Korean tourists and two crew.
In the worst disaster on the Danube in more than half a century, the smaller tourist boat called Mermaid, with 35 people on board, sank after being hit by the cruiser under a bridge in Budapest during heavy rain.
Twenty five of those killed were South Koreans. The Mermaid’s captain and its crew member also died and one Korean is still unaccounted for.
“The accused, C. Yuriy is found guilty of….negligence posing a threat in water transport…and the court sentences him to five and a half years in prison,” judge Leona Nemeth said, delivering the judgement which can be appealed.
The Ukrainian man, who has been in custody since 2019, told the court that he was “deeply sorry” about the tragedy.
The blast reportedly struck as people tried to fill up their cars to flee. Thousands of ethnic Armenians are leaving the disputed territory after it was reclaimed in a lightning offensive by the Azerbaijani military last week.
The blast occurred as people were lining up for fuel
At least 68 people have been killed and 105 more are missing after a powerful blast at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Azerbaijani media.
The explosion happened as people fleeing the disputed region to Armenia lined up for fuel, separatist authorities said.
Earlier, 20 people were confirmed to have died. It is not immediately clear what caused the blast.
Hundreds of others were reportedly injured in the explosion which happened near the regional capital of Stepanakert on Monday.
Thousands of ethnic Armenians are leaving the territory, saying they fear ethnic cleansing after the Azerbaijani military reclaimed control of it last week.
Lightning operation
The Azerbaijani military took control of the region in a 24-hour lightning operation last week, ending three decades of separatist rule.
At least 19,000 of the 120,000 resident ethnic Armenians have fled to Armenia so far, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan was quoted by Russia’s TASS news agency as saying. That amounts to roughly 16% of the population.
Armenia claims the mass exodus is due to a fear of reprisals – something strongly denied by Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and to restore supplies after a 10-month blockade.
Those lining up at the fuel facility were reportedly waiting for gas. It has been a scarcity alongside basic food and supplies since the blockade, according to Armenia.
The US has called on Azerbaijan to protect the rights of civilians.
“We are calling on Azerbaijan to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power told reporters in Armenia’s capital Yerevan.
“We have heard very troubling reports of violence against civilians. At the same time given the chaos here and the trauma, the gathering of testimonies… of the people who have come across is something that is just beginning,” Ms Power said.
The Azerbaijani offensive last week forced separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan.
Mr Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years on charges of treason and lying about the war Ukraine
Jailed Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been moved to a maximum-security prison in Siberia, several weeks after he was taken from a Moscow detention centre.
He was placed in an isolation cell at the Omsk penal colony, his lawyer says.
Mr Kara-Murza, who has survived two poisonings since 2015, was jailed for 25 years in April accused of treason and lying about the war Ukraine.
His lawyer said conditions in Omsk threatened his client’s health.
The whereabouts of the 42-year-old had been unknown for several weeks.
The charges against him stemmed from a speech he gave to the Arizona House of Representatives, in which he denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
His sentence is the longest against a Russian opposition figure in recent years.
A general view as people hold flags of the participant nations during the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Sep 23, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Marko Djurica)
Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the COVID-delayed 19th Asian Games in the Eastern city of Hangzhou during a spectacular and at times raucous ceremony on Saturday (Sep 23), which organisers hope will lift the mood in a nation struggling with an economic slump.
Spectators in the city’s 80,000-capacity stadium let out a huge roar as Xi was introduced and walked in to sit with visiting dignitaries including International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
The Games, delayed a year due to China’s measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the country’s biggest sporting event in over a decade in several metrics, with around 12,000 athletes from 45 nations competing in 40 sports.
After the Chinese flag was brought out, the first team out was Afghanistan, whose female athletes, based abroad due to sport for women being banned by the Taliban, walked together with their male counterparts. Their flagbearers carried the tri-colour flag for Afghanistan which is used by international resistance movements and shunned by the Taliban.
Several teams including Chinese Taipei were vocally welcomed by the spectators, but none more than the home team, whose athletes are expected to dominate the medals table once again.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Sep 23, 2023. (Photo: Sport Singapore via Reuters/Weixiang Lim)
They also mark a stark contrast to the cheerless Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics which took place under China’s strict zero COVID conditions which lasted for nearly three years from January 2020 until late 2022.
“I feel excited, particularly as a Hangzhou local,” said a man surnamed Zhao on his way into the stadium. “It’s a great chance to show the world how nice our city is … it was also delayed by a year. But that gave us a chance to prepare even better.”
In an often spell-binding ceremony intended to burnish Hangzhou’s status as one of China’s centres of technology and creativity, dozens of balletic dancers hovered above a digitally projected lake in the wake of a flotilla of sail-boards.
In a modern take on the traditional lighting of the cauldron, a huge, digitally animated torchbearer “ran” the length of the stadium before settling to loom above the actual torch-bearer, China’s Olympic champion swimmer Wang Shun.
In synch, the pair lit a huge, multi-pronged cauldron, prompting another bout of cheering and soon after, a digital firework display.
But many of those not lucky enough to get a ticket grumbled about disruption.
A sizeable “traffic control area” around the city’s Olympic stadium was blocked off, at least one metro station was shut and other Games centres were closed and deliveries were disrupted on Saturday.
A prominent Uyghur academic has been reportedly jailed for life by China for “endangering state security”.
Rahile Dawut’s sentence was confirmed after she appealed against a 2018, according to the US-based Dui Hua Foundation rights group.
The 57-year-old professor lost her appeal this month.
China has been accused of crimes against humanity against the Uyghur population and other mostly-Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
Human rights groups believe China has detained more than one million Uyghurs against their will over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls “re-education camps”.
It has sentenced hundreds of thousands to prison terms.
“The sentencing of Professor Rahile Dawut is a cruel tragedy, a great loss for the Uyghur people, and for all who treasure academic freedom,” said John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation.
He called for her immediate release and safe return to her family.
Her daughter, Akeda Pulati, said that she worried about her mother every day.
“The thought of my innocent mother having to spend her life in prison brings unbearable pain. China, show your mercy and release my innocent mother,” she said in a statement released by Dui Hua.
Ms Dawut’s secret trial in December 2018 in a Xinjiang court followed her arrest the previous year for “splittism”, a crime of endangering state security.
A source in the Chinese government confirmed the sentence of life imprisonment to Dui Hua, the group said.
Ms Dawut is an expert on Uyghur folklore and traditions and had been teaching at Xinjiang University College of Humanities before her arrest.
She founded the Ethnic Minorities Research Centre at the university in 2007 and conducted field work throughout Xinjiang. She had lectured in universities in the US and UK, including Harvard and Cambridge.
Dui Hua said Ms Dawut was among “the long and growing list of Uyghur intellectuals” who have been detained, arrested, and imprisoned since 2016.
The US is among several countries to have accused China of genocide in Xinjiang. The leading human rights groups Amnesty and Human Rights Watch accuse China of crimes against humanity.
An aerial view shows unfinished residential buildings of the Gaotie Wellness City complex in Tongchuan, Shaanxi province, China September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Xiaoyu Yin/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Even China’s population of 1.4 billion would not be enough to fill all the empty apartments littered across the country, a former official said on Saturday, in a rare public critique of the country’s crisis-hit property market.
China’s property sector, once the pillar of the economy, has slumped since 2021 when real estate giant China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) defaulted on its debt obligations following a clampdown on new borrowing.
Big-name developers such as Country Garden Holdings (2007.HK) continue to teeter close to default even to this day, keeping home-buyer sentiment depressed.
As of the end of August, the combined floor area of unsold homes stood at 648 million square metres (7 billion square feet), the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show.
That would be equal to 7.2 million homes, according to Reuters calculations, based on the average home size of 90 square metres.
That does not count the numerous residential projects that have already been sold but not yet completed due to cash-flow problems, or the multiple homes purchased by speculators in the last market upturn in 2016 that remain vacant, which together make up the bulk of unused space, experts estimate.
“How many vacant homes are there now? Each expert gives a very different number, with the most extreme believing the current number of vacant homes are enough for 3 billion people,” said He Keng, 81, a former deputy head of the statistics bureau.
The use of heavy weapons supplied by the West in the fierce battle raging on the outskirts of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia in May, is inflicting a significant toll on enemy lines, Ukrainian commanders have told Reuters.
Buoyed after the capture last week of the key village of Klishchiivka, Ukrainian troops have lauded the 155 millimetre howitzers as key equipment being provided by the United States and its NATO allies.
Unit commander Oleksandr said Ukraine’s armed forces “very much rely” on heavy artillery, including the Polish-made Krab gun and the U.S.-made M109 self-propelled howitzer.
“Even one gun can completely turn the situation around. An attack can be stopped with one such gun,” he said.
“The main thing is to aim where needed. They (the Russians) hate our hardware. That’s what we gather from our intercepts. We hear that we keep giving them hell and they keep wondering how much ammunition we have left.”
A Ukrainian serviceman camouflages a M109 self-propelled howitzer after a fire towards Russian troops, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine September 22, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Oleksandr, 30, described Klishchiivka – a village on the heights south of the devastated town of Bakhmut – as “one of the places they (the Russians) were clinging to.”
“We will see what’s next. We will develop our success,” he said.
Ukrainian commanders have described the capture of Klischiivka and nearby Andriivka as stepping stones to taking back Bakhmut, which fell to the Russians after months of some of the war’s heaviest fighting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been told that he must not insult Poland amid a growing spat between the countries, which one expert told Newsweek is being driven by the upcoming Polish election.
Since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Poland has been one of Kyiv’s biggest backers, pledging around 4.27 billion euros (about $4.54 billion) in military, financial and humanitarian aid.
But relations have soured in recent weeks after Warsaw said it would not suspend an EU ban on Ukrainian agricultural products that Brussels had imposed earlier this year, which aimed to protect European farmers.
Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Poland, as well as Slovakia and Hungary, which also intend to continue with the ban. Then Zelensky told the United Nations’ General Assembly on September 19 how some of their friends in Europe are demonstrating political theatre, which played into Moscow’s hands.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on April 5, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. Morawiecki accused Zelensky on September 22, 2023 of insulting Poles amid a spat between the countries over a grain deal and weapons’ supplies. OMAR MARQUES/GETTY IMAGES
In response, Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on social media that Warsaw would “no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland.” Newsweek has contacted the Polish and Ukrainian foreign ministries by email for comment.
Polish President Andrzej Duda walked back Morawiecki’s comments. He said that they referred to new weapons being purchased for the Polish army and that Warsaw would still transfer its older weapons not required for modernizing Poland’s armed forces.
But Morawiecki took aim at Zelensky again on Friday, telling a rally in the city of Swidnik, Poland, that the Ukrainian leader must “never insult Poles again.”
“The Polish people will never allow this to happen,” Morawiecki said, adding that “defending the good name of Poland” was both “my duty and honor.”
Despite Morawiecki’s declaration, “Warsaw’s militarily support for Ukraine will not substantially change,” said Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
Buras told Newsweek that ties between Kyiv and Warsaw have become “hostage to the Polish electoral campaign.” The ruling national-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) and the far right Konfederacja are vying for the nationalist and anti-Ukrainian vote in Poland.
But Buras did not expect Poland’s growing assertiveness regarding Ukraine to end any time soon. Its parliamentary election on October 15 is likely to be followed by a lengthy period in which the government is formed, and a snap election in spring 2024 “cannot be ruled out.”
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday issued a list of wanted gangsters, who are involved in the terror cases registered by the probe agency.
The list features dreaded gangsters, including those known for supporting the Khalistan propaganda and are based in Canada. It also has names of members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Among the criminals listed by the NIA, gangsters Goldy Brar, Arshdeep Singh Gill and Lakhbir Singh Landa are known for supporting Khalistan terrorists.
Taking to X, the probe agency released the pictures of 43 accused gang leaders and criminals. Those on the NIA list are Lawrence Bishnoi, Jasdeep Singh, Kala Jatheri, alias Sandeep, Virender Pratap, alias Kala Rana, Joginder Singh, Rajesh Kumar, alias Raju Mota, Raj Kumar, alias Raju Basodi, Anil Chippi, Mohammad Shahbaz, Goldy Brar, Ansari, Sachin Thapan Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi, Vikramjit Singh, alias Vikram Brar, Darman Singh, alias Darmanjot Kahlon, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Surender Singh alias Chiku, Dalip Kumar, alias Bhola, Parveen Wadhwa, alias Prince, Yudhveer Singh, Vikas Singh, Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, Gaurav Patyal, alias Saurav Thakur, Sukhpreet Singh, alias Budda, Amit Dagar, Kaushal Choudhary, Asif Khan, Naveen Dabas, alias Naveen Bali, Chhotu Ram, alias Bhat, Jagseer Singh, alias Jagga, Sunil Balvan, alias Tillu Tajpuria, Bhupinder Singh, alias Bhupi Rana, Sandeep alias Bandar, Sukhdool Singh, Gurpinder Singh, Neerai, alias Pandi, Daler Singh, Dinesh Sharma, Manprit Singh Peeta, Hariom, alias Titu, Harpreet, Lakhveer Singh, Irfan alias Chhenu Pehalwan and Sunny Dagar.
Saudi Arabia has pumped money into sport in recent years, and faces accusations of doing so in order to enhance its controversial reputation.
Newcastle United’s Dan Burn in action with West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said he “doesn’t care” if Saudi Arabia is accused of “sportswashing” – as long as it adds to the country’s GDP.
The country has set its Vision 2030 – a project to end its dependency on fossil fuels that has seen billions pumped into golf and football.
Prince Mohammed, also known as MBS, was asked during an interview with Fox News about sportswashing – which relates to enhancing the reputation of a controversial country or an organisation by using sport sponsorship or event hosting.
“If it’s sportswashing and it improves my GDP by 1%, then I will continue doing sportswashing,” he said.
When asked if he was “OK with that term”, MBS replied: “I don’t care – I have 1% GDP growth from sports and I’m aiming for another 1.5%. Call it whatever you want – we’re going to get that other 1.5%.”
Saudi Arabia has pumped money into sport in recent years.
Its LIV Golf series sparked a player revolt before its merger with the PGA, while the domestic Saudi Pro League has spent nearly £1bn over the summer on a string of high-profile football stars.
Premier League players such as ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and Manchester City midfielder Riyad Mahrez, as well as Brazilian star Neymar, have been lured to the peninsula with big-money moves.
Newcastle United was also bought by a consortium dominated by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The oil-rich nation has faced criticism for human rights violations and ongoing concern about the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Today, at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly High-Level Meeting, world leaders have approved a new Political Declaration on “Universal Health Coverage (UHC): expanding our ambition for health and well-being in a post-COVID world”.
The declaration is hailed as a vital catalyst for the international community to take big and bold actions and mobilize the necessary political commitments and financial investments to attain the UHC target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The UHC target measures the ability of countries to ensure that everyone receives the health care they need, when and where they need it, without facing financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of key services from health promotion to prevention, protection, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. Alarmingly, global progress towards UHC has been largely stagnating since 2015, before stalling in 2019.
The urgency of the declaration is evident in the staggering statistics. At least 4.5 billion people—more than half of the world’s population—were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021. Two billion people experienced financial hardship, with over 1.3 billion being pushed or further pushed into poverty just trying to access basic health care – a stark reality of widening health inequities.
“Ultimately, universal health coverage is a choice–a political choice,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The political declaration countries approved today is a strong signal that they are making that choice. But the choice is not just made on paper. It’s made in budget decisions and policy decisions. Most of all, it’s made by investing in primary health care, which is the most inclusive, equitable, and efficient path to universal health coverage.”
Turning point for course-correction
In the Political Declaration, Heads of State and world leaders committed to take key national actions, make essential investments, strengthen international cooperation and global solidarity at the highest political level to accelerate progress towards UHC by 2030, using a primary health care (PHC) approach.
For health care to be truly universal, it requires a shift from health systems designed around diseases to systems designed for people. PHC, an approach to strengthening health systems centred on people’s needs, is one of the most effective areas for investment to accelerate progress towards UHC.
Countries that have taken a PHC approach have better ability to rapidly build stronger, more resilient health systems to reach the most vulnerable and achieve a higher return on health investments. Most importantly, they ensure that more people are covered with essential health services and are empowered to participate in making the decisions that affect their health and well-being.
It is estimated that an additional US$ 200–328 billion investment per year is needed to scale-up a PHC approach in low- and middle-income countries (e.g. up to approximately 3.3% of national gross domestic product). This could help health systems deliver up to 90% of essential health services, save at least 60 million lives and increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.
Top intelligence sources reveal the Indian government had sought extradition of Hardeep Singh Nijjar several times but there was no cooperation from the Canadian authorities. He was even granted the Canadian citizenship after red notice in 2014. (Reuters File Photo)
Amid a raging diplomatic row with India over the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Ottawa is not looking to “provoke or cause problems” with New Delhi and urged it to work together to “uncover the truth.” Trudeau made these remarks on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
When asked about the diplomatic row between India and Canada, he said, “We call upon the government of India to take seriously this matter and to work with us to shed full transparency and ensure accountability and justice in this matter.” “We are a country of the rule of law. We are going to continue to do the work necessary to keep Canadians safe and to uphold our values and the international rules-based order. That’s our focus right now,” Trudeau added.
On measures taken by his government following India’s suspension of visa services for Canadians, Trudeau said that his government was not looking to provoke or cause problems. “There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with, not just in the region but around the world. We’re not looking to provoke or cause problems. But we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.
“That’s why we call upon the government of India, to work with us to establish processes to discover and to uncover the truth of the matter and to allow justice and accountability to be served,” he said.
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Tensions flared between India and Canada early this week following Trudeau’s explosive allegations of “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on his country’s soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case. “I’m saying and repeating what I said on Monday afternoon. Of course, there are credible allegations that we need to take extremely seriously…,” Trudeau asserted when asked if the evidence suggested by him in the matter was extensive.
“There are credible reasons to believe that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil,” he said, repeating his allegation. “We have a rigorous and independent justice system and robust processes that will follow their course. We call upon the government of India to engage with us to move forward on getting to the truth of this matter,” he said.
Responding to another question, Trudeau said he had “a direct and frank conversation” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the New Delhi G20 summit on September 10 in which he shared his “concerns in no uncertain terms.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier this week said that allegations made by the Canadian Prime Minister to Prime Minister Modi were completely rejected.
Responding to another question, Trudeau said it’s extremely important that as a country with a strong and independent justice system, we allow those justice processes to unfold themselves with the utmost integrity. “The decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons Monday morning was not done lightly. It was done with utmost seriousness..,” Trudeau said.
In recent days, China’s Ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, has been under significant diplomatic and media scrutiny because of a series of overly undiplomatic comments on Nepal’s internal issues and its relations with India during a conference in Kathmandu.
India-Nepal-Relation File Image
With Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, or ‘Prachanda,’ scheduled to visit Beijing for a bilateral summit later this month, the timing, tone, and tenor of the ambassador’s rhetoric have received closer inspection.
Why would a Chinese diplomat, even one following the now infamous wolf-warrior ideology, risk undermining the success of a bilateral meeting, the outcomes of which could give massive relief to the people of Nepal?
To even a casual follower, it is clear that China’s relations with Nepal have faced growing strain in recent months due to a combination of factors, including China’s failure to make meaningful progress on BRI projects in Nepal, failed attempts at political interference and an unwillingness in Beijing to accept terms which would be sustainable for Kathmandu.
Is China Bid To Woo Nepali Communists Failing?
The main line of action for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been to promote Communist parties in Nepal. The CCP is clear that a Communist-led government in Nepal would be more likely to ‘fall in line’ like that of Pakistan.
This is evident in reports speculating that China played a role in facilitating the unification of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) to form the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in 2018.
The extensive role played by the former ambassador Hou Yanqi in this regard has been well documented. However, the fall of the Communist government in Kathmandu, followed by Prachanda choosing to visit India before China, was very upsetting for Beijing. Ambassador Hou was promptly replaced by Ambassador Chen in January this year as the CCP sought to reverse the loss of control over Kathmandu.
It is curious, therefore, as to why the new ambassador would choose this time to highlight weaknesses in Nepal’s economy, criticize its economic policies, both national and international, and openly spew hate toward India-Nepal relations.
By using select data, without adequate context, Chen tried to deride Nepal’s electricity exports to India, which have been a source of significant pride to Nepal.
China’s Hydropower Projects In Nepal
According to recent reports in the Nepali media, in the last decade, installed hydropower production in Nepal has increased from 1,050 MW in 2012 to 2,700 MW in 2023, and this is expected to increase to 9,000 MW in the next ten years, as 235 hydropower plants are still under construction.
Accordingly, India has agreed to buy more than 10,000 MW from Nepal over the next decade to ensure the long-term economic sustainability of these projects. In the last fiscal alone, India has procured electricity worth over Rs 1000 crore from Nepal, which is likely to grow steadily shortly.
In contrast, Nepal has unsuccessfully negotiated with China since 2018 to develop a cross-border 400KV transmission line. Moreover, with China planning its mega-hydropower projects in Tibet, China is not likely to import electricity from Nepal and may want to export it.
This may explain the continued delay of the 756-megawatt Tamor Hydropower Project, agreed upon in 2019 as a joint venture between Nepal and China. Maybe the ambassador was making it clear to Kathmandu that Beijing is only interested in projects that serve its purposes.
Nepal’s Suspicions Over China’s BRI
Another significant area where the Nepal-China relationship was expected to thrive was economic progress and infrastructure development, mainly through China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, despite Nepal becoming a signatory to the BRI in 2017, progress on the promised projects has remained stagnant.
This includes crucial infrastructure projects like upgrading and repairing highways and developing economic corridors. Ambassador Song also recently claimed that the inaugurated Pokhara International Airport was built under the BRI framework.
This subsequently caused significant embarrassment to Beijing when the Nepali government pointed out that the airport was not included in the BRI agreement but was from a bilateral arrangement that pre-dated the BRI. It is reported that none of the nine BRI projects in Nepal have seen any headway.
Moreover, Nepal’s PM will likely firmly demand more economically sustainable mechanisms for the planned BRI projects in the upcoming summit. Economic stability is a significant concern when considering future projects in the current global economic slowdown.
Kathmandu Wary Of Beijing’s Debt Trap
Nepal, like most developing economies, is not in a position to undertake massive projects through loans that could potentially undermine its economic stability. The recent examples of Sri Lanka’s debt crisis and Pakistan’s ongoing financial meltdown, which were significantly exacerbated by Chinese loan-related issues, would undoubtedly play a prominent role in dissuading Prachanda from accepting similar terms for financing.
However, Xi Jinping’s BRI is not a grant-based initiative, and Nepal’s or Sri Lanka’s problems are not Beijing’s, as seen in recent times! The outcome of the bilateral Nepal-China summit could, therefore, have profound implications on the overall success of the BRI.
Another aspect that the CCP would need to consider is Nepal’s engagement with the United States through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact in 2022. This move may be seen as diversifying Nepal’s international partnerships, potentially reducing its dependence on China.
Moreover, with the US, India, and other economic partners recently initiating large-scale trans-continental infrastructure and connectivity projects, Nepal may be better served by reconsidering some of the BRI mega-projects altogether.
A highly placed source said that the Canadian Embassy in the national capital was shut post 2 p.m.
Hours after India expelled a Canadian diplomat on Tuesday in a tit for tat move in retaliation to Canada’s action of expelling an Indian diplomat, the Canadian Embassy in the national capital asked its local staffers to leave the premises during the noon, sources said.
A highly placed source said that the Canadian Embassy in the national capital was shut post 2 p.m.
The source said that the locally engaged staff at the Embassy were asked to vacate the premises immediately in view of the current diplomatic tensions.
The source further said that in an email communication all the employees have been asked by the authorities at the Embassy to not speak to any media or post anything on the social media.
However, when contacted, the officials refused to comment at the Canadian Embassy.
Amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between India and Canada, New Delhi on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat based here, who has been asked to leave within the next five days.
The High Commissioner of Canada to India (Cameron Mackay) received summons on Tuesday during which the Government of India conveyed its decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat currently stationed in the country.
The concerned diplomat has been officially instructed to depart from India within the next five days, a statement issued by the external affairs ministry said.
An American caver who had become trapped more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) underground in southern Turkey after falling ill was rescued early on Tuesday, Turkey’s TUMAF caving federation said, after a days-long international rescue operation.
Mark Dickey, 40, was on an international exploration mission in the Morca cave in Mersin province’s Taurus mountains, when he reportedly began suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding at a depth of 1,040 metres.
U.S. caver Mark Dickey, on a stretcher, is carried out of the Morca cave as his rescue operation comes to a successful end near Anamur in Mersin province, southern Turkey September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
“Dickey was removed from the last exit of the cave,” TUMAF wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Thus, the cave rescue part of the operation has ended successfully. We congratulate all those who have contributed!” it added.
Italian rescuers said Dickey was taken to the medical tent at the camp for checks.
More than 150 rescuers from Turkey, Croatia, Italy and other countries worked for nine days to rescue him from the country’s third deepest cave.
