Digest year-ender for international stories for month of September, 2018

Digest year-ender for international stories for month of September, 2018

Press Trust of India

Sept 1: New York: Six Indian nationals are among over 300 people arrested by American authorities for criminal activities and violating the country's immigration laws during a month-long crackdown across six states.

Sept 2: Washington: The US will cancel USD 300 million in military aid to Pakistan over its failure to take "decisive actions" to support President Donald Trump's new South Asia policy and act against terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pentagon has announced, a fresh blow to the deteriorating ties between the two nations.

Sept 3: Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday announced a whopping USD 60 billion in new development financing for the African nations as he sought to refute criticism that the massive funding under Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) drawing the countries into a debt trap.

Sept 4: Islamabad: Dr Arif Alvi, a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of the founding members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was elected as the new President of Pakistan Tuesday, as the cricketer-turned-politician consolidated his grip on power.

Sept 5: Dhaka: Expressing her dissatisfaction, Bangladesh's imprisoned ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia Wednesday asked a court to "punish" her "as much as you want" as authorities turned an infamous Dhaka jail into a courtroom to try the opposition BNP chief in a graft case.

Sept 6: Islamabad: Pakistan will never fight any other country's war in future, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday, asserting that he was against the war from the very beginning and his government's foreign policy will be in the best interest of the nation.

Sept 7: Islamabad: In an unusual move, Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa has batted for democracy and the need for strengthening of institutions in the coup-prone country, as he shared the dias with Prime Minister Imran Khan. Sept 8: Chicago: As many as 15 people, including seven Indians, and five India-based call centres have been indicted in a multimillion-dollar scam which defrauded over 2,000 US citizens, resulting in over USD 5.5 million in losses, the Department of Justice said on Friday.

Sept 9: Moscow: Russia on Sunday accused the United States of carrying out bombing using white phosphorous in eastern Syria against military targets in civilian areas, which is banned under international law.

Sept 10: Beijing: Jack Ma, the pioneer of China's internet industry, announced on his 54th birthday Monday that he would step down as Alibaba's executive chairman in one year to make way for the next generation of leaders at the USD 420 billion e-commerce giant.

Sept 11: London/Islamabad: Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, died Tuesday in London after a protracted battle with throat cancer.

Sept 12: Beijing: China said on Wednesday that it would resolutely oppose any US move to impose sanctions against its officials and companies to punish Beijing for the alleged human rights violations against Uygur Muslims in the volatile Xinjiang province.

Sept 13: Beijing: A driver of a SUV vehicle deliberately crashed into crowds at a busy public square in central China's Hunan province, killing 11 people and injuring 44 others, state-media reported Thursday.

Sept 14: Moscow: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov Friday reviewed the progress made in the bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, science and technology, culture and other issues of mutual interests.

Sept 15: Washington: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday held "broad-based" talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defence Secretary James Mattis and his American counterpart John Bolton during which they discussed the "future direction" of the strategic Indo-US ties.

Sept 16: Islamabad: Pakistan's new President Arif Alvi on Monday raked up the Kashmir issue in his first address to the joint session of Parliament, saying Kashmiris have a right to "self-determination" as he sought the international community's help.

Sept 17: Beijing: Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa has held talks with his Chinese counterpart Gen. Han Weiguo on the security of the multi-billion CPEC, defence cooperation as well as regional and bilateral issues.

Sept 18: Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's toppled leader Najib Razak was arrested Wednesday and will be charged over allegations that USD 628 million linked to state investment fund 1MDB ended up in his personal bank accounts, officials said.

Sept 19: Lahore: Nawaz Sharif, who was released from jail after a court suspended his sentence in a corruption case, will "expose" the Imran Khan government and launch a drive against rigging in the general elections, the ousted Pakistan prime minister's party said on Thursday.

Sept 20: Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Friday expressed disappointment at India calling off a meeting between him and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New York and alleged that "internal pressure" forced New Delhi to make the "unfortunate" move.

Sept 22: Islamabad: The Pakistan Army on Saturday said it is "ready for war" but chooses to walk the path of peace in the interest of its people, comments which came in response to Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's remark that "stern action" is needed to "avenge" the brutal killing of Indian soldiers.

Sept 23: Beirut: More than 3,000 civilians have been killed in US-led coalition air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria since they began four years ago, a monitor said on Sunday.

Sept 24: United Nations: Confronting the dangers of North Korea's nuclear threat, President Donald Trump arrived at the United Nations on Monday striking a far less ominous tone than a year ago, announcing he likely will hold a second summit with Kim Jong Un "quite soon." Sept 25: Norristown: Disgraced television icon Bill Cosby was sentenced to at least three years in prison on Tuesday and branded a "sexually violent predator" for assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago.

Sept 26: United Nations: As the political slugfest in India over the Rafale deal escalated, French President Emmanuel Macron has distanced himself from the controversy, saying he was not in power when the multi-billion dollar agreement for the 36 fighter jets was signed between New Delhi and Paris.

Sept 27: United Nations:Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have been jointly awarded the UN's highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of cooperation on environmental action.

Sept 28: San Francisco: Facebook announced Friday that up to 50 million accounts were breached in a security flaw exploited by hackers.

Sept 29: United Nations: North Korea's foreign minister on Saturday told the United Nations there was "no way" that his country would disarm first as long as the United States continued to push for tough enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang.

Sept 30: United Nations: India is an "important partner" of the United Nations in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said, and there are plans to step up cooperation between the two on strengthening capacity in combating terror financing.

(Source PTI)