Kyiv says Ukrainian reporter Victoria Roshchyna died in Russian detention
The award-winning freelance journalist was known for her reporting on life in Russian-occupied Ukraine. An award-winning Ukrainian journalist who wrote firsthand accounts of life in Russian-occupied Ukraine has died in detention in Russia. Victoria Roshchyna, who was 27, worked freelance for Ukrainian media outlets Ukrainska Pravda and Hromadske Radio, as well as for US-funded Radio Liberty. She went missing in August last year after she travelled to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine on a reporting trip. Russia’s Ministry of Defence acknowledged in a letter to her father in May that she was in Russian custody. “Unfortunately, information about Victoria’s death has been confirmed,” Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s prisoners of war coordination headquarters, told Ukrainian television. He said investigations were continuing into how she died. Media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement that Russia informed Roshchyna’s family on Thursday that she had died on September 19. “The Russian authorities have never provided any information about her detention, despite repeated requests from her family, the Ukrainian authorities, and RSF,” Jeanne Cavalier, head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a statement. “They must shed light on all the circumstances surrounding her detention and death.” A terrible tragic news: Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who was kidnapped in the occupied territories of Ukraine, has died in a Russian prison. It has happened on September 19th, but her father received the news only today. She was on hunger strike for many days, many… pic.twitter.com/FHXc5rii2m — Anastasia Magazova 🌻 (@a_magazova) October 10, 2024 Roshchyna wrote vivid accounts of life in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as well as in areas of eastern Ukraine seized by Russian-funded separatists. She also documented the nearly three-month defence of the port of Mariupol after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. She was initially detained by the Russians for 10 days, shortly after the country embarked on its war. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s HUR Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Yusov, told public broadcaster Suspilne that Roshchyna had been on a proposed prisoner exchange and was due to be transferred to Moscow from detention in Taganrog near the Ukrainian border. Ukraine said in May more than two dozen Ukrainian media workers were being held in Russian captivity and that negotiations for their return were under way. RSF said Roshchyna was the 13th journalist to die as a result of their work since the Russian invasion. Adblock test (Why?)
Armed attackers kill 20 coal miners in southwest Pakistan
The attack is the latest in Balochistan province and security concerns are growing in advance of a key international summit in Islamabad. Armed assailants have killed 20 miners and injured another seven at a small private coal mine in southwest Pakistan, police said, raising security concerns just days before a major international summit is set to be held in the country. The attackers broke into the miners’ quarters in Dukki district in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Thursday night, gathered the workers together and opened fire, local police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said on Friday. “A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the [Dukki] area in the [early] hours using heavy weapons,” he said, adding the attackers fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well. Most of the victims were from Pashtun-speaking regions within Balochistan, according to Nasir. Three of the deceased and four of the injured were Afghan nationals. No group has immediately taken responsibility for the assault. Balochistan is a hotbed of armed movements, with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) most prominent among them. They accuse the central government in Islamabad of exploiting the province’s rich oil and mineral resources to the detriment of the local population in the country’s largest and least-populated province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. On Monday, the BLA – designated a terrorist group by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States – claimed responsibility for an attack targeting Chinese nationals near Pakistan’s largest airport. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said at least two of its citizens were killed and a third injured after their convoy was targeted with an improvised explosive device believed to have been detonated by a suicide bomber. Local media reports suggest at least 10 people were injured in total, with four cars destroyed in the explosion and 10 more vehicles damaged in the resulting fire. Thousands of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan, many of them involved in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative. Despite China’s repeated requests for Pakistan to bolster security, there has been a surge in attacks and unrest surrounding key Belt and Road infrastructure projects in the country. The attack has raised concern about the ability of Pakistani security forces to safeguard high-profile events and foreign nationals in advance of next week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of Government summit, which is set to meet in Islamabad on October 15 and 16. Adblock test (Why?)
Taiwan says four employees of Apple supplier Foxconn arrested in China
Workers reportedly arrested in Zhengzhou for equivalent of breach of trust. Taipei, Taiwan – Four Taiwanese employees of Apple supplier Foxconn have been detained in China since January, Taiwan’s national news agency has reported. The workers were detained in Zhengzhou, the home of Foxconn’s largest iPhone factory, by the local public security bureau for the equivalent of “breach of trust”, Central News Agency (CNA) reported Thursday, citing the Taiwanese government. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) cited Foxconn as stating that its employees had done nothing to harm the company’s interests and that it could not rule out corruption and abuse of power by a small number of police officers, CNA said. The MAC told the Reuters and AFP news agencies that the case was “quite strange” and had “severely damaged business confidence”. Foxconn and the MAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case is the latest incident to draw attention to the risks facing Taiwanese living and working in China. Last month, a court in Wenzhou sentenced Taiwanese independence activist Yang Chih-yuan to nine years in prison for secession in the first such prosecution of its kind. Also last month, an executive of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics was detained as he tried to leave China, CNA reported. In June, the MAC raised the travel alert for China, Hong Kong, and Macau from “yellow” to “orange” and advised citizens against “unnecessary travel”, citing China’s strict national security and anti-espionage laws. Taiwan’s National Security Bureau in July told the island’s legislature that, during the previous 12 months, 15 citizens had been detained or put on trial on Chinese soil, while 51 had been interrogated at the border. Beijing’s Communist Party claims self-ruled Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China, as one of its provinces, while Taipei insists it is a sovereign democracy. Beijing also does not recognise dual citizenship and considers Taiwanese to be Chinese citizens. Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese lived and worked in China during the 1990s and 2000s, but their numbers have fallen sharply since the Beijing-sceptical Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2016, marking a deterioration in Chinese-Taiwanese relations. Adblock test (Why?)
Another hit-and-run in Pune: Food delivery man killed after Audi rams his bike, senior executive of private firm held
Ayush Tayal (34), who was driving the car, fled from the spot after the accident near Tadigutta in the city’s Mundhwa area. Later, he was detained after police tracked him down with the help of CCTV footage, he said.
‘Congress could have…’: Here’s what ‘angry’ Rahul Gandhi told party workers at review meet after Haryana poll debacle
After the Haryana poll debacle, Congress MP and LoP Rahul Gandhi attended the review meeting called by party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Delhi.
Harris calls Trump debate decision a ‘pretty weak move,’ praises Native community at Arizona rally
Vice President Kamala Harris criticized former President Trump’s announcement he would not accept any further presidential debate offers, and praised local Native American communities during a campaign rally in Chandler, Ariz. Harris returned to the Grand Canyon State on Thursday, about two months after she and running mate Minnesota Gov. Timothy Walz held their first joint rally on the other side of the Phoenix metro area in Glendale. Harris told the raucous crowd that Trump had announced on Wednesday he would not debate her again, after their first meeting in front of ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis in September. “Now, I think it’s a disservice to the voters. I also think it’s a pretty weak move,” Harris said. OBAMA CALLS OUT ‘BROTHERS’ APPREHENSIVE TO VOTE FOR HARRIS “But even if he will not debate, the contrast in this election is already clear. This election is about two very different visions, two very different visions for our nation. One is focused on the past, the other hours focused on the future, including being focused on the issues that matter most to working families across America, like bringing down the cost of living and investing in small businesses and entrepreneurs.” In an all-caps message on Truth Social, Trump said he won the prior two debates – versus Harris and Biden – and added he accepted a Fox News Channel offer to debate Harris in September, but it was the vice president that time who declined to appear. “JD Vance easily won his debate with Tampon Tim Walz, who called himself a knucklehead [in the debate]. I am also leading in the polls…” “There will be no rematch,” Trump went on. “Besides, Kamala stated clearly [Tuesday] that she would not do anything different than Joe Biden, so there is nothing to debate.” Harris also offered a public response to the wrath of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on the gulf side near Tampa Bay and wreaked havoc across the state to the Atlantic Coast, where several fatalities were reported near Port St. Lucie. “I know as you do that our heart goes out to everyone who has been impacted by these storms. Our administration has mobilized thousands of federal personnel across the region to work hand in hand with local and state officials to give folks the help they need,” she said. “I have spoken with state local officials, both Republican and Democrat, to let them know we will be with you every step of the way as you recover and rebuild.” PROJECT 2025 REMAINS NONPARTISAN, TRUE TO 1980S GOOD GOVT INCEPTION DESPITE WIDE OUTCRY, KEY FIGURES SAY Harris was, however, rebuffed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who reportedly declined to take her phone calls amid the crisis. DeSantis told CNBC he and President Biden had been in regular contact but that the vice president has “no role” in disaster recovery, and that up until this particular cyclone she had not reached out. “She’s trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign,” DeSantis said. At the rally, Harris also said she was the first vice president to visit the nearby Gila River Indian Community and offered her support for former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in his congressional contest against incumbent Republican Rep. Elijah Crane. “I strongly believe that the relationship between tribal nations and the United States is sacred. And, that we must and that we must honor tribal sovereignty, embrace our trust and treaty obligations and ensure tribal self-determination. And it is my promise as president of the United States – I will defend those principles always.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Harris also co-identified Trump’s campaign plan with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a connection the former president has long disputed. “I continue to say I can’t believe they put that in writing. You know, they published it, they found it, and they handed it out. They’re out of their mind. And it is a detailed, dangerous blueprint for what he will do if he is elected president again,” Harris claimed. Responding earlier this year to Harris’ claims about Project 2025, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said the characterizations were “fact-checked” by third-parties, including some “so blatant that even corporate media outlets like CNN are calling out her lies.” “She has no policy record to run on, except her shambolic tenure as border czar,” Roberts told Fox News Digital at the time. In Arizona, Harris continued her focus on Trump, calling him an “unserious man” and saying his return to the White House would result in “brutally serious” consequences.
Centre declares Hizb-Ut-Tahrir as terrorist organisation for involvement in…
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also took to ‘X’ to mention that the action against the HuT is part of Modi government’s policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism
Ken Paxton’s voter registration suit against Travis County returned to state court
A federal court’s decision is the latest development in a bitter pre-election brawl between Republican state officials and Democratic county leaders.
Obama, stumping for Harris in key battleground, charges Trump ‘will makes problems worse’
PITTSBURGH, PA – On the campaign trail for the first time for Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama repeatedly took aim at former President Trump on Thursday at a large rally in arguably the most important battleground state in the 2024 election. Pointing to the margin-of-error race between Harris and Trump with less than four weeks to go until Election Day and early voting already underway across much of the country, Obama acknowledged that “this election’s going to be tight, because there are a lot of Americans who are still struggling out there.” “What I cannot understand is how anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that’s good for you Pennsylvania,” the former president emphasized, to cheers from the crowd. Obama, referring to polls that indicate many Americans think the economy was better during Trump’s four years in the White House than under the current administration, claimed that “the reason some people think” times were better was “because it was my economy. We had 75 straight months of job growth that I handed over to him. It wasn’t something that he did.” TRUMP AND BIDEN TRADE FIRE AS POLITICAL STORM OVER HURRICANE RAGES “Just in case everybody has a hazy memory… he didn’t do nothing except those big tax cuts,” which Obama argued only benefited wealthy Americans and big businesses. Obama, who remains extremely popular with Democrats eight years after leaving the White House, argued that “there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself.” And he reiterated that “Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION Obama jabbed at Trump for his constant attempts to “sell you stuff. Who does that? Selling you gold sneakers and a $100,000 watch and most recently a Trump bible…. you could not make this stuff up. If you saw it on Saturday Night Live, you’d say ‘well that’s going too far.’ Well, he’s doing that. It’s crazy.” And Obama stressed that “we don’t need a president who will make problems worse to just to make his own political circumstances better. We need a president who actually cares about solving problems and making your life better and that’s what Kamala Harris will do.” During the rally, Obama also discussed manhood and had a message for male voters who may be attracted to Trump’s perceived strength. “Real strength is about helping people who need it, and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and sons.” And he emphasized that “is what I want to see in a President of the United States of America.” Asked for a response, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News “If anyone cared about what Obama says, Hillary Clinton would’ve been president.” CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS The choice of Pittsburgh as Obama’s first stop was no surprise. It’s the largest city and Democratic stronghold in Pennsylvania, which is the biggest prize of the seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 White House victory over Trump and will likely determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 election. Obama isn’t the only former Democratic president to hit the campaign trail on behalf of the vice president. The Harris campaign announced that former President Bill Clinton, a longtime Arkansas governor who later won election and re-election to the White House, will stop Sunday and Monday in parts of Georgia before heading on to North Carolina later in the week for a bus tour. It’s part of Clinton’s efforts to court rural voters in the two crucial southeastern battleground states. Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, officially endorsed Harris for president in July, five days after President Biden ended his 2024 re-election in a blockbuster announcement. The former president made the case for Harris during a headlining address at the Democratic National Convention in August in his hometown of Chicago, saying she “is ready for the job.” Harris and Obama’s friendship goes back 20 years to when they met on the campaign trail while he was running for Senate in Illinois. And Harris was an early supporter of his 2008 presidential campaign and even knocked doors for him in Iowa ahead of the caucus, the Harris campaign noted. While Thursday’s rally was Obama’s first appearance on behalf on the presidential campaign trail, he’s helped raise $80 million for the Democratic nominee, including headlining a top-dollar fundraising last month in Los Angeles, according to Harris aides. Obama aides and the Harris campaign say the Pittsburg rally is the first of numerous coordinated “get out the vote” stops by the former president across the country in the closing stretch of the 2024 White House campaign. They add that Obama will also sign additional fundraising emails, record candidate-specific ads and robocalls for down-ballot races. Hours before Obama arrived in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey became the latest Democrat in a key Senate race that could determine whether the party holds on to its razor-thin majority in the chamber to release a new ad featuring the former president. Casey introduced the former president at the rally, and the former president repeatedly praised the senator. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Obama calls out ‘brothers’ apprehensive to vote for Harris: ‘You’re thinking of sitting out?’
During a pre-campaign-rally stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday, former President Barack Obama appeared to admonish Black Americans who have not been as fervent in their support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid as they were for his in 2008 and 2012. Obama stopped at a campaign office in the Steel City before taking the stage with Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., later in the afternoon. The prominent Democrat said he has noticed a difference in the excitement surrounding the current Democratic nominee, particularly among African-Americans. “We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama began. “Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers. So if you don’t mind — just for a second, I’ve got to speak to y’all and say that when you have a choice that is this clean: When on the one hand, you have somebody who grew up like you, went to college with you understands the struggles [and the] pain and joy that comes from those experiences…” PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO DEM GAINS According to several reports, Obama then went on to contrast that vision – presumably of Harris – to that of former President Trump. Appearing to continue to address Black Americans, Obama said the real estate mogul-turned-politician is someone who “has consistently shown disregard, not just for the communities, but for you as a person – And you are thinking about sitting out?” The 44th president went on to say many people apprehensive of Harris are coming up with “all kinds of reasons and excuses” to either sit home or support another candidate. “[P]art of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly… that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.” Reacting to the comments on Fox News Channel, “Jesse Watters Primetime” host Jesse Watters said Obama’s remarks are evidence Obama believes Harris “has officially plateaued” in popularity. “He was just caught saying this moments ago in Pittsburgh,” Watters said, before playing a clip of Obama. GOP GAINS VOTER ADVANTAGE IN KEY COUNTY NEAR BIDEN BIRTHPLACE In addition, former DeKalb County, Georgia Executive Vernon Jones – a longtime Democrat who joined the GOP in 2021 – reacted on X by saying Obama was being dispatched by “White liberals” to “Blackman-splain” why fellow African-Americans should vote for Harris. “No thanks, BO – Blacks had enough of you and Kamala Harris,” Jones said in part. Conservative commentator Benny Arthur Johnson called the comments “sickening.” “Obama descend[ed] into end-stage race hatred politics,” he said. For his part, President Biden also made waves when he similarly admonished Black Americans who were waffling ahead of the 2020 election. During a May 2020 interview from his Greenville, Del. home studio with the New York City radio program “The Breakfast Club,” Biden remarked that his wife Jill soon needed to use the same studio. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “You’ve got more questions?” he responded to host Charlamagne Tha God on the matter. “Well I tell you what – If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.” After the exchange went viral, Biden said he “shouldn’t have been such a wise guy” at the time. In response to Obama’s Pittsburgh visit writ large, Pennsylvania Team Trump spokesman Kush Desai said things can’t be going well for Democrats if they have to “fly in Barack Obama from his $12 million Martha’s Vineyard estate…” “While it’ll probably be a slightly less unhinged affair than what other Kamala surrogates are doing to move the needle, an Obama visit isn’t going to convince Pennsylvanians to vote for another four years of open borders, rising prices, and disaster at home and abroad.” In a statement following publication of Obama’s remarks, Desai said Obama should “stick with proselytizing America through his … Netflix grift instead of condescending Pennsylvanians to their faces.”