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"Reject Terrorism In All Forms": US On Suicide Blast Near Turkey Parliament

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'Reject Terrorism In All Forms': US On Suicide Blast Near Turkey Parliament

Antony Blinken said US stands firmly by their NATO Ally Turkey and the Turkish people (File)

Washington:

The United States condemned the suicide blast near the Turkish Interior Ministry and expressed solidarity with their NATO ally and the Turkish people.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington “rejects terrorism in all its forms”.

“The United States condemns today’s attack at the Turkish Interior Ministry in Ankara. We wish those injured a speedy recovery. We reject terrorism in all its forms and stand firmly by our NATO Ally Turkey and the Turkish people,” Blinken stated on X (formerly Twitter).

This comes after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in front of the Interior Ministry building in Ankara, leaving two police officers injured and sending a wave of fear among the people.

Earlier, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) chief Jens Stoltenberg also expressed solidarity with the country in the wake of the incident and denounced the attack.

“I strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack on the Ministry of Interior in Ankara, and wish a fast and full recovery for the police officers injured in the line of duty,” Stoltenberg posted on X, wishing the injured police officers a “quick and complete” recovery.

“NATO stands in solidarity with Turkey in the fight against terrorism,” he added.

The US Embassy in Turkey also condemned the deadly blast and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attack this morning against Turkey, our NATO Ally. We offer our condolences to those injured and wish them a speedy recovery. We stand in solidarity with Turkey against terrorism,” the US Embassy said in a post on X.

The responsibility of the bombing was claimed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned by Turkey and its Western allies.

Later in the day, the Turkish Parliament reconvened for a new term hours after the suicide blast after a nearly three-month term break.

Meanwhile, security has been increased around key government buildings, including the parliament and the Interior Ministry, following the attack, as parliamentarians were returning after a summer break.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered an opening speech at the parliament hours after the blast and said that the “terrorists” will never achieve their aims in Turkey in his address at the Turkish parliament.

“Today’s terrorist act in Ankara, in which two criminals were neutralised thanks to timely intervention of police, is last flutters of terrorism,” Erdogan said, adding, “Terrorists trying to destroy peace and citizens’ security will never succeed,” Al Jazeera quoted him as saying.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Digital Passports: These Countries Are Early Movers

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Digital Passports Emerge As New Tourist Favourite. These Countries Are Early Movers

Finland is part of a larger EU pilot project to test digital passports to improve travel technology.

Finland became the first country to launch digital passports, aiming to streamline and enhance international travel.Finnish travellers departing from Helsinki to the UK now have the option to present a digital ID on their mobile device instead of their physical passport, according to Euronews. The Finnish Border Control has noted that this marks the first instance worldwide where a digital passport is accepted in a genuine border control setting, promising a more efficient and seamless travel experience.

The initiative was launched on August 28 in collaboration with Finnair, the Finnish police, and airport operator Finavia. The Finnish Border Guard is overseeing the trial, which will continue until February 2024 at Helsinki Airport’s border control.

How do these digital passports function?

Interested travelers must initially download the FIN DTC Pilot digital travel document app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. To use the app, a phone screen locking method such as a PIN number, fingerprint, or face ID must be activated before installation.

Subsequently, travellers must register with the police at Vantaa Main Police Station’s license services. This registration entails booking an appointment and presenting a valid physical passport to create its digital counterpart. During the registration process, individuals will provide consent and have a facial photo taken for facial recognition purposes.

Once registered, travelers can use DTC at Helsinki Airport when flying directly to the United Kingdom and returning to Helsinki Airport on Finnair flights until the trial concludes in February 2024. Before each trip, travelers must transmit their data via the app to the Finnish Border Guard 36 to 4 hours prior to departure.

Digital passports worldwide

Several countries have launched or are planning similar initiatives. In alignment with Finland, Poland, South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom are also developing digital passport projects. Notably, in 2021, Ukraine granted digital passports the same legal status as physical ones.

Singapore introduced HealthCerts in February 2021, a digital health passport that securely stores and presents Covid-19 test results and vaccination records for travelers. Additionally, countries such as China, Estonia, and Israel have introduced digital vaccine passports.

Where India stands

On the occasion of Passport Seva Divas on June 24, 2023, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the commencement of the second phase of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP-Version 2.0), which will include new and enhanced e-passports. Jaishankar emphasized the commitment to providing passports and related services in a timely, reliable, accessible, transparent, and efficient manner.

India

Himachal govt to set up commando force: CM Sukhu

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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Sunday that his government will soon set up a commando force in the state.

Updated On – 10:03 PM, Sun – 1 October 23


Himachal govt to set up commando force: CM Sukhu

File Photo

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Sunday that his government will soon set up a commando force in the state. CM Sukhu said this while presiding over the passing-out parade function at Police Training College Daroh.

The CM said that 1,226 constable posts in the state police force have been sanctioned.

He said that his government is committed to modernizing the police department adding that new technological initiatives will also be added.

Providing sufficient residential accommodation to the police force is another priority of the Government and required budgetary provision would be made for this, he said.

CM Sukhu said that the modernization of the Police is on priority and the Government is also committed to strengthening the infrastructure and providing more resources.

The Chief Minister said that the government is also planning to set up a Police Academy in Kangra district so that more aspects could be added to professionalism in the States police.

He exhorted the passed-out trainees to uphold their professionalism and commitment to discharging their duties. He also said that keeping in view the prevailing scenario, the police have more challenges to face.

The Chief Minister congratulated all the trainees and hoped that they would serve with utmost discipline.

The Chief Minister said that the Himachal Police has played a commendable role during the recent monsoon disaster in the state.

He said that the police extended its best efforts in rescue and relief operations across the state along with NDRF and SDRF.

Earlier the Chief Minister inspected the parade of 1,093 trainee police constables including 271 women trainees and also took a salute of the march past.

Trainees presented weapon striping and assembling, unarmed combat, commando combat, weapon PT, and mass PT.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated 12 type-III residences, barracks for 320 trainees, and a Flood and Drowning Centre at Daroh constructed at a cost of Rupees 21 crore.
The Chief Minister also gave away prizes to meritorious trainees in various fields and trainers.

He also released the 33rd edition of the monthly magazine of the PTC Daroh.

While delivering a welcome address DGP Sanjay Kundu thanked the Chief Minister for sanctioning the various posts in Police and said that this will help in filling up vacancies.

He said that during the training of this batch, high standards were adopted. He said that PTC Daroh has ranked best in training at the national and north zone levels and now the efforts are in progress so that this college could attain the best ranking in Deputy Superintendent of Police and Sub Inspector training.

Middle East

Israel forces Palestinian family to tear down their houses in al-Quds

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Israeli authorities have displaced a Palestinian family after forcing it to demolish their homes in the occupied al-Quds under the pretext of lacking a construction permit, amid ongoing land grab policies by the Tel Aviv regime.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, reported that Israeli troops raided the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, north of occupied al-Quds, surrounding two residential apartments owned by Fayza al-Ebeidi, a Palestinian woman, on Sunday.

The sources said that Israeli forces stormed the area where the houses were located and gave the family a few minutes to evacuate and start demolishing it.

Al-Ebeidi family had no choice but to do so in order to avoid paying exorbitant fees to the municipality in the event that its crews carried out the demolition on their own.

Had al-Ebeidi family not demolished the house himself, the sources said, the Israeli municipality would have charged her and family members to have the building pulled down.

Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition.

Some 181 Palestinian structures in occupied al-Quds were demolished in the first half of this year, 40 of which were demolished by their owners following orders from the Tel Aviv regime’s authorities.

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.

The Tel Aviv regime also plans to force out Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah and some other neighborhoods in an attempt to replace them with settlers. That plan sparked days of fighting between Gaza-based Hamas and the Israeli regime in May 2021.

Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups have warned Israeli regime against forced eviction of Palestinians.  

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

The international community views the Israeli settlements – hundreds of which have been built across the West Bank since Tel Aviv’s occupation of the territory in 1967 – as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories.

Over the past months, Israel has also ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

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Asian Games 2023 October 2 Schedule: Indians In Action, Events And Timing

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India had a brilliant day at Asian Games 2023 on Sunday with nine medals in athletics and a historic silver medal in men’s badminton team event. The athletes will be looking to continue the momentum when they take part across disciplines on Monday (October 2). Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee will take part in the women’s doubles table tennis semi-final and a win will mean they will have a chance to win a historic gold medal. The journey in the badminton and squash individual disciplines will also continue with massive names like Joshna Chinappa and PV Sindhu in action.

Asian Games Medals Tally | Asian Games Full Schedule

Asian Games 2023 October 2 (Monday) Full Schedule:

Aquatics – Diving
London Singh – M 1m Springboard – Final – 16:30 IST

Archery
Jyoti Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand Swamy, Parneet Kaur – Compound Women 1/8 Elimination – 07:30 IST
Atanu Das, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tushar Prabhakar Shelke – Recurve Men Team1/8 Elimination – 08:40 IST
Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Simranjeet Kaur – Recurve Women Team 1/8 Elimination – 08:40 IST
Abhishek Verma, Prathmesh Samadhan Jawkar, Ojar Pravin Deotale – Compound Men Team 1/8 Elimination – 07:30 IST
Atanu Das, Ankita Bhakat – Recurve Mixed Team 1/8 Elimination – 06:30 IST
Jyoti Surekha , Aditi Gopichand Swami – Compound Women’s Individual 1/16 Elimination – 11:05 IST
Abhishek Verma, Ojas Pravin Deotale Compound Men’s Individual – 1/16 Elimination – 11:05 IST
Abhishek Verma, Ojas Pravin Deotale Compound Men’s Individual – 1/8 Elimination (If qualified)– 11:35 IST
Ojas Pravin Deotale, Jyothi Surekha – Compound mixed team 1/8 Elimination – 06:30 IST
Atanu Das, Bommadevara Dhiraj – Recurve Men’s Individual 1/16 Elimination – 14:15 IST
Bhajan Kaur – Recurve Women’s Individual 1/32 Elimination – 13:45 IST
Ankita Bhakat – Recurve Women’s Individual 1/16 Elimination – 14:15 IST
Bhajan, Ankita (If Quailified) – Recurve Women’s Individual 1/8 Elimination – 14:45 IST

Athletics
Tejaswin Shanker – M Decathlon 100m – 06:30 IST
Sarvesh Anil Kushare, Jesse Sandesh – M High Jump Qualifying A & B- 06:40 IST
Tejaswin Shanker – M Decathlon Long Jump – 07:00 IST
Krishan Kumar, Muhammed Afsal – M 800m Round 1 – 07:17 IST
Santhosh Kumar, Yashas Palaksha – M 400m Hurdles Round 1 – 07:45 IST
Tejaswin Shanker – M Decathlon Shot Put – 08:05 IST
Vithya Ramaraj , Sinchal Kaveramma – W 400m Hurdles Round 1 – 8:10 IST
Pavithra Vengatesh – W Pole Vault Final – 16:30 IST
Tejaswin Shanker – M Decathlon High Jump – 16:35 IST
Shaili Singh , Ancy Sojan – W Long Jump Final – 16:40 IST
Parul Chaudhary , Priti Lamba – W 3000m Steeplechase – 16:50 IST
Amlan Borgohain – M 200m Final – 17:25 IST
Muhammed Anas, Jisna Mathew, Aishwarya Mishra, Soniya Baishya, Muhammed Ajmal – 4X400 Mixed Relay Finals – 18:10 IST
Tejaswin Shanker – M Decathlon 400 m – 18:40 IST

Badminton
HS Prannoy , Kidambi Srikanth – Men’ Singles Round of 64 – 07:30 IST
PV Sindhu, Ashmita Chaliha – Women’s Singles Round of 64 – 07:30 IST
Satwik/Chirag , Dhruv/Arjun – Men’s Doubles Round of 32 – 07:30 IST
Rohan/Sikki, Sai Pratheek/Tanisha – Mixed Doubles Round of 32 – 07:30 IST

Bridge
Jaggy Shivdasani, Sandeep Thakral, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Sumit Mukherjee, Raju Tolani, Ajay Khare- Men Team Round Robin 2-9 – 06:30 IST
Jaggy Shivdasani, Sandeep Thakral, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Sumit Mukherjee, Raju Tolani, Ajay Khare- Men Team Round Robin 2-10 – 11:00 IST
Jaggy Shivdasani, Sandeep Thakral, Rajeshwar Tiwari, Sumit Mukherjee, Raju Tolani, Ajay Khare- Men Team Round Robin 2-11 – 13:30 IST
Kiran Nadar, B Satyanarayana, Himani Khandelwal, Rajeev Khandelwal, Marianne Karmarkar, Sandeep Karmarkar – Mixed Team Round Robin 2-9– 06:30 IST
Kiran Nadar, B Satyanarayana, Himani Khandelwal, Rajeev Khandelwal, Marianne Karmarkar, Sandeep Karmarkar – Mixed Team Round Robin 2-10– 11:00 IST
Kiran Nadar, B Satyanarayana, Himani Khandelwal, Rajeev Khandelwal, Marianne Karmarkar, Sandeep Karmarkar – Mixed Team Round Robin 2-11– 13:30 IST
Asha Sharma, Puja Batra, Bharti Dey, Alka Kshirsagar, Kalpana Gurjar, Vidya Patel – Women Team – Women Team Round Robin 2-6 -11:00 IST
Asha Sharma, Puja Batra, Bharti Dey, Alka Kshirsagar, Kalpana Gurjar, Vidya Patel – Women Team – Women Team Round Robin 2-7 -13:30 IST

Chess
Vidit Gujarathi, Gukesh D., Arjun Erigais, R. Praggnanandhaa– Men’s Team Round 4 – 12:30 IST
Koneru Humpy, Vantika Agrawal, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Savitha Sri Baskar – Women’s Team Round 4 – 12:30 IST

Kabaddi
Women Team Vs Chinese Taipei – Preliminary Round – 13:30 IST

Kayaking & Canoeing
Niraj Verma – M – C1 1000m Final – 07:40 IST
Shivani Verma, Megha Pradeep – W – C2 500m Final – 08:20 IST
Ribason Singh Ningthoujam, Gyanmeshwor Singh Philem – M-C2 500m Finals – 09:15 IST

Equestrian
Major Apurva Dabhade, Vikas Kumar – Eventing Jumping (Individual Final) – 07:00 IST

Hockey
Men’s team Vs Bangladesh – Preliminary Men’s Pool A – 13:15 IST

Kurash
Jyoti Tokas Vs Iran – W – 87 kg – Quarter Final – 07:00 IST
Yash Kumar Chauhan Vs Iran – M 90 Kg – Quarter Final – 07:05 IST

Roller Skating
Aryan Pal, Anand Kumar, Siddhant, Vikram – M Speed Skating 3000m relay race – Preliminary – 06:45 IST
Sanjana, Karthika, Heeral, Aarathi – W Speed Skating 3000m relay race – Final – 07:00 IST
Aryan Pal, Anand Kumar, Siddhant, Vikram – M Speed Skating 3000m relay race – Final (If Qualified) – 07:25 IST

Sepaktakraw
Team India Vs Singapore – Men’s Quadrant Group Stage – 07:30 IST
Team India Vs Philippines – Men’s Quadrant Group Stage – 12:30 IST
Team India Vs Philippines – Women’s Quadrant Group Stage – 12:30 IST

Squash
Abhay Singh & Anahat Singh Vs Thailand – Mixed Doubled 1st Round, Team Pool Match – 10:00 IST
Tanvi Khanna vs C.Arichaya (THA) – Women’s Singles Round of 16 – 12:30 IST
Joshana Chinappa vs M. Heo (KOR) – Women’s Singles Round of 16 – 13:30 IST
Mahesh M vs R. Tsukue (JPN) – Men’s Singles Round of 16 – 15:30 IST
Saurav Ghosal vs A. Altamimi (KUW) – Men’s Singles Round of 16 – 15:30 IST

Table Tennis
Ayhika M & Sutirtha M Vs PR Korea – Women’s Doubles Semi Finals – 10:15 IST
Ayhika M & Sutirtha M – Women’s Doubles Finals (If Qualified) – 16:00 IST

Basketball
Women’s Team vs DPR Korea – Quarterfinal – 13:30 IST

Topics mentioned in this article

World

Polish opposition holds massive rally prior to tight election

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Opinion polls suggest the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government could win the vote but may struggle to form a majority amid discontent among some over rising living costs and concern over an erosion of democratic checks and balances, Reuters reported.

Warsaw city authorities said about a million people attended in the capital’s biggest rally on record. Public broadcaster TVP, which independent media observers say has become a government mouthpiece under PiS rule, quoted police saying about 100,000 people had joined.

Online news channel onet.pl said that according to its calculations some 600,000-800,000 people attended the rally.

TM/PR

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US House Speaker's Future Remains In Jeopardy Following Shutdown Deal

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US House Speaker's Future Remains In Jeopardy Following Shutdown Deal

Kevin McCarthy brokered last-gasp deal to keep the government funded for another 45 days (File)

Washington:

The future of Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy looked in serious jeopardy Sunday, with hardliners in his own party moving to oust him and Democrats blaming him for bringing the government close to a total shutdown.

McCarthy brokered a last-gasp deal late Saturday to keep the government funded for another 45 days, but right-wing Republicans were furious that it didn’t include the deep spending cuts they demanded, while Democrats said the speaker had reneged on promises aimed at avoiding a budget crisis in the first place.

A leading hardline Republican said Sunday he would move to oust McCarthy as House speaker for striking the deal with Democrats.

“I do intend to file a motion to vacate Speaker McCarthy this week,” Congressman Matt Gaetz told CNN. “I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid.”

Gaetz is a leading figure within a small group of far-right Republican legislators who brought the government to the brink of shutdown with their refusal to adopt fresh federal funding without deep spending cuts.

US President Joe Biden lambasted both McCarthy and the hardliners Sunday for failing to live up to an agreement forged around a debt crisis months ago that was meant to avoid a damaging shutdown fight — and for stripping out support for Ukraine.

“Stop playing games, get this done,” Biden said during a press conference, adding that he was “sick and tired of the brinksmanship, and so are the American people.”

“It’s time to end governing by crisis and keep your word when you give it,” he said.

Speaking to CNN, Gaetz acknowledged that, despite vocal anger on the left, Democrats could nonetheless back McCarthy as speaker, particularly after he brokered the bipartisan shutdown compromise.

“The only way Kevin McCarthy is speaker of the House at the end of this coming week is if Democrats bail him out,” Gaetz said. “Now, they probably will.”

‘I will survive’ 

McCarthy had only barely survived a bruising battle in January involving a record 15 rounds of voting to become the 55th speaker of the House of Representatives.

In order to gain the gavel, he was forced to make concessions to his party’s far-right bloc, including the rule change — which Gaetz is now promising to use — that makes it possible for a single member to call a vote for a new speaker of the House.

McCarthy was left extremely vulnerable to factions in his own party when Republicans won only a razor-thin majority in the House in last November’s midterm elections.

But he remained confident Sunday he would not succumb to a motion to remove him, telling “Face the Nation” on CBS: “I will survive.”

If Gaetz is “upset because he tried to push us in a shutdown and I made sure government didn’t shut down, then let’s have that fight,” McCarthy said.

Pro-McCarthy Republicans are already vowing support for their leader.

Republican Mike Lawler said the disruption from a removal vote would only impede the work that Congress must now accomplish by mid-November if it hopes to make the next deadline.

Defending the shutdown deal, he told ABC’s “This Week” that “the only responsible thing to do was to keep the government open and funded while we complete our work.”

But in a sneak preview of likely pushback from elements on the left, progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN she would “absolutely” vote to oust McCarthy, adding that it was “not up to Democrats to save Republicans from themselves.”

If Congress had failed to keep the government open, the closures would have begun just after midnight (0400 GMT Sunday) and would have delayed salaries for millions of federal employees and military personnel.

The stopgap measure buys legislators time to negotiate full-year spending bills for the rest of fiscal 2024.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)