Indian Sikhs given visas for festival in Pakistan/node/2621060/world
Indian Sikhs given visas for festival in Pakistan
Sikh pilgrims gesture as they queue up to board a bus leaving for Pakistan during the ‘Baisakhi’ spring harvest festival in Amritsar on April 10, 2025. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 10 sec ago
AFP
Indian Sikhs given visas for festival in Pakistan
The government would allow ‘selected’ groups to travel for a 10-day festival to celebrate the founder of the Sikh faith
Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad, after deadly clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals in May
Updated 10 sec ago
AFP
NEW DELHI: Indian Sikh pilgrims have been issued visas for neighboring Pakistan, the first major allowance after travel between the arch-rival nations was frozen during conflict in May.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi, but Indian newspapers reported on Saturday that the government would allow “selected” groups to travel for a 10-day festival to celebrate the founder of the Sikh faith.
Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad, after deadly clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals in May – the worst fighting since 1999.
More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery exchanges – and the land crossing was shut to general traffic.
The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said it had issued “over 2,100 visas to Sikh pilgrims from India.”
Tens of thousands of Sikh pilgrims are expected to flock to Pakistan’s city of Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak.
Nankana Sahib lies 85 kilometers (52 miles) west of the border with India. Celebrations are expected to begin on Tuesday.
The frontier was a colonial creation at the violent end of British rule in 1947 which sliced the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
The Attari-Wagah land border between the countries – straddling the state of Punjab on either side – was shuttered to general traffic in May.
The border is the site of a daily flag ceremony, where visitors come to watch a sunset parade of strutting soldiers on each side.
Conflict broke out in May after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing an attack targeting tourists on April 22 in Indian-administered Kashmir, claims Islamabad rejected.
Taiwan’s new opposition leader takes over, warning against risk of China war
Opposition leader takes over amid rising tension with China
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims
Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s new opposition leader took office on Saturday, warning of the risk of war with China and pledging to open a new era of peace with Beijing. Former lawmaker Cheng Li-wun takes the reins of the largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), at a time of rising military and political tension with Beijing, which views the democratically-governed island as its own territory. “This is the worst of times. The Taiwan Strait faces grave military danger and the world is watching closely,” she told party members in a speech at an indoor high school stadium in Taipei. “Taiwan’s security faces the constant threat of war.” While the KMT traditionally espouses close relations with Beijing, Taiwan’s government, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims. Cheng, 55, has already signalled a swing toward even closer ties with Beijing than her urbane, internationalist-minded predecessor Eric Chu, who did not visit China during his term as chairman that began in 2021. Chinese President Xi Jinping swiftly sent congratulations after her election last month, calling for efforts to advance “reunification” in a message to her. Some Chinese Internet users refer to Cheng as the “reunification goddess,” though she said this week she had been given many monikers online, adding, “If they are wrong or untrue, just laugh it off.” The KMT’s new Deputy Chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen visited China this week and met Song Tao, head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. Cheng did not give any details of her policy toward China in her maiden speech as party leader, nor say whether she would visit, instead saying she would work for peace. “The KMT will definitely be the party that opens a new era of cross-Strait peace and leads Taiwan forward,” she said. Cheng also opposes higher defense spending, a key policy of President Lai Ching-te’s administration. The spending has strong US backing. While the KMT lost the presidential election last year, the party and its ally the small Taiwan People’s Party together hold the most seats in parliament, creating a headache for the ruling DPP in trying to pass the budget and other legislation. One of Cheng’s first tasks will be preparing for mayoral and local elections late next year. While mostly focusing on domestic issues, these will provide an important gauge of support ahead of the 2028 presidential vote.
US senators want answers on ‘anti-drug’ strategy as Venezuela tensions rise/node/2621049/world
US senators want answers on ‘anti-drug’ strategy as Venezuela tensions rise
Updated 01 November 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: Republican and Democratic leaders of the US Senate Armed Services Committee said on Friday the Trump administration had yet to provide details of its operations against drug cartels and their legal basis they had sought.
US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed dozens of people since early September, raising tension between Washington and Caracas.
In a rare bipartisan action on the strikes, Republican Senator Roger Wicker and Democrat Jack Reed said in a statement hey had not received information sought from the administration about its strategy to fight drug cartels.
Wicker, of Mississippi, is the chairman and Reed, of Rhode Island, is the top Democrat on the committee, which oversees the US military.
The Trump administration insists those targeted were transporting drugs, without providing evidence or publicly explaining the legal justification for the decision to attack the boats rather than stop them and arrest those on board.
President Donald Trump has also ordered a major military buildup in the Caribbean.
Wicker and Reed said they requested “Execute Orders” related to the anti-drug trafficking operations in a September 23 letter. In another letter on October 6, they asked for any written opinion regarding the legal basis for the operations.
The lawmakers said they had not received the requested information by Friday.
Asked for comment, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said in an email, “Several of the requested documents were made available to the chairman, ranking member, and their staffs to review yesterday. Additionally, the Department provided its fourth bipartisan briefing on these operations to Senate staff yesterday.”
Trump denied on Friday that he was considering strikes inside Venezuela, appearing to contradict his own comments last week amid growing expectations that Washington may soon expand its operations related to drug-trafficking.
‘Where would America be without us?’ A community of refugees is stunned by White House limits/node/2621046/world
‘Where would America be without us?’ A community of refugees is stunned by White House limits
Trumps order caps annual refugee admissions at 7,500, a decrease of more than 90 percent from last year’s ceiling of 125,000
Coalition says the directive “shut the door on our proud, centuries-long tradition of welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution”
Updated 01 November 2025
AP
MINNEAPOLIS: The woman remembers when she first moved to the neighborhood more than 20 years ago, and the streets were full of empty storefronts and seemingly relentless poverty.
Today, Minneapolis’ Lake Street corridor is jammed with businesses, many owned by Somali refugees.
“Look at what we did around here,” said Nasra Hassan, a community health worker whose family came to Minneapolis fleeing Somalia’s civil war, speaking one day after the Trump administration slashed the number of refugees allowed into the United States. “Because of us this place is thriving.”
Minnesota’s large Somali community was among the immigrant groups that helped revitalize the Lake Street corridor, which has long called out to newcomers to America. But scattered across the city are other communities and many other businesses built by refugees. They came to escape violence in Mexico, and war in Myanmar. Recent years have seen them arrive from the Congo and Ukraine.
“Where would America be without us?” Hassan asked.
The presidential order caps annual refugee admissions at 7,500, a decrease of more than 90 percent from last year’s ceiling of 125,000 and the lowest number since the program began in 1980.
Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement program — which historically had widespread bipartisan support — on his first day in office in 2025, part of his administration’s crackdown on immigration.
But the Thursday order marks a major break for a nation that has long seen itself as a refuge for people in need.
migrant is detained by federal immigration officers at US immigration court in Manhattan, in New York City, on August 5, 2025.( REUTERS/File Photo)
The directive “shut the door on our proud, centuries-long tradition of welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution, leaving thousands in limbo and many more in peril,” Murad Awawdeh, head of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement. He called for “prioritizing those most at-risk, including Afghans, Sudanese, Congolese, Somalis, religious minorities,” and others.
Traditionally, refugee applicants must show a well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.
But the Thursday announcement made specific mention of just one group: white South Africans.
Those admitted, it said, “shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa,” the descendants of Dutch and French colonial settlers, and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands.”
Trump insists Afrikaners are victims of racial persecution, including violence, a claim that has little apparent basis in fact and is strongly denied by the South African government.
Afrikaners are a small minority in South Africa but are tightly woven into the country’s life, whether as farmers, wealthy business leaders or government officials. Minnesota’s Somali community
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in the United States, roughly 87,000 people according to the latest census figures, most of whom live in the Minneapolis area. They have been coming to Minnesota, often as refugees, since the 1990s, drawn by generous social services and an ever-growing diaspora community.
They have become increasingly prominent in the state. Somali-Americans have served on the Minneapolis and St. Paul city councils. They are in the state legislature. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar represents part of the state in the US House.
Women walk down a street in the predominantly Somali neighborhood of Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis on May 12, 2022. (AP Photo/File)
oday, the Somali community is concentrated in a handful of Minneapolis neighborhoods, including in the Lake Street corridor around the Karmel Mall and its dozens of Somali businesses.
The mall has clothing stores, travel and money transfer agencies, bakeries and a seemingly endless number of coffee shops: Faida Kafe, Sharif’s Coffee, Lativa Cafeteria, Happy Café, and more.
Across the street is a grocery store advertising goat and camel meat. Nearby are Somali-owned auto body shops, more clothing stories and still more coffee shops.
Fartun Weli, a prominent Somali activist, said refugees – from Somalia, Latin America and elsewhere — have seeped deeply into Minnesota life, whether as health care aides or helping stabilize the workforce of shrinking small towns. She wonders what will happen if they can no longer find a haven in the US
“Who is going to take care of our elders, or work in our factories?” she asked.
Republican leaders reject Trump’s demands to scrap the Senate filibuster to end the shutdown
Senate Majority Leader John Thune argued that the filibuster is vital to the Senate and has allowed them to halt Democratic policies when they are in the minority
House Speaker Mike Johnson also defended the filibuster Friday, while conceding “it’s not my call,” from his chamber across the Capitol
Updated 01 November 2025
AP
WASHINGTON: Republican leaders in the US Senate on Friday swiftly rejected President Donald Trump's call to scrap the filibuster rule and reopen the government.
Back from a week abroad, Trump threw himself into the shutdown debate, pushing his Republican Party to get rid of the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to overcome objections and gives the minority Democrats a check on GOP power.
In the chamber that’s currently split, 53-47, Democrats have had enough votes to keep the government closed while they demand an extension of health care subsidies. Neither party has seriously wanted to nuke the rule.
“THE CHOICE IS CLEAR — INITIATE THE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION,’ GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER,” Trump said in a late night social media post Thursday.
Trump’s sudden decision to assert himself into the shutdown now in its 31st day — with his highly charged demand to end the filibuster — is certain to set the Senate on edge. It could spur senators toward their own compromise or send the chamber spiraling toward a new sense of crisis. Or, it might be ignored.
Republican leaders responded quickly, and unequivocally, setting themselves at odds with Trump, a president few have dared to publicly counter.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said he is not considering changing the rules to end the shutdown, arguing that it is vital to the institution of the Senate and has allowed them to halt Democratic policies when they are in the minority.
The leader’s “position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged,” Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse said Friday.
A spokeswoman for Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican, said his position opposing a filibuster change also remains unchanged. And former GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who firmly opposed Trump’s filibuster pleas in his first term, remains in the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also defended the filibuster Friday, while conceding “it’s not my call,” from his chamber across the Capitol.
“The safeguard in the Senate has always been the filibuster,” Johnson said, adding that Trump’s comments are “the president’s anger at the situation.”
Broad GOP support for filibuster
Even if Thune wanted to change the filibuster, he would not currently have the votes to do so in the divided Senate.
“The filibuster forces us to find common ground in the Senate,” Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah posted on X Friday morning, responding to Trump’s comments and echoing the sentiments of many of his Senate Republican colleagues. “Power changes hands, but principles shouldn’t. I’m a firm no on eliminating it.”
Debate has swirled around the legislative filibuster for years. Many Democrats pushed to eliminate it when they had full power in Washington, as the Republicans do now, four years ago. But ultimately, enough Democratic senators opposed the move, predicting such an action would come back to haunt them. Little progress on shutdown
Trump’s demand comes as he has declined to engage with Democratic leaders on ways to end the shutdown, on track to become the longest in history.
He said in his post that he gave a “great deal” of thought to his choice on his flight home from Asia and that one question that kept coming up during his trip was why “powerful Republicans allow” the Democrats to shut down parts of the government.
But later Friday, he did not mention the filibuster again as he spoke to reporters departing Washington and arriving in Florida for a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home.
While quiet talks are underway, particularly among bipartisan senators, Trump has not been seriously involved. Democrats refuse to vote to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate an extension to the health care subsidies. The Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CNN that Trump needs to start negotiating with Democrats, arguing the president has spent more time with global leaders than dealing with the shutdown back home.
From coast to coast, fallout from the dysfunction of the shuttered federal government is hitting home. SNAP food aid is scheduled to shut off. Flights are being delayed. Workers are going without paychecks.
And Americans are getting a first glimpse of the skyrocketing health care insurance costs that are at the center of the stalemate.
“People are stressing,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as food options in her state grow scarce.
“We are well past time to have this behind us.” Money for military, but not food aid
The White House has moved money around to ensure the military is paid, but refuses to tap funds for food aid. In fact, Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” signed into law this summer, delivered the most substantial cut ever to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, projected to result in some 2.4 million people off the program.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday the agency cannot release contingency funds to keep SNAP running, but two judges ruled nearly simultaneously Friday that the administration must continue to fund the food aid program. How quickly that might happen remains to be seen, as further consultation with the courts is expected on Monday.
Trump, in a social media post, said administration lawyers will be asking the courts “to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding,” Trump said.
“We are holding food over the heads of poor people so that we can take away their health care,” said Rev. Ryan Stoess during a prayer with religious leaders earlier this week at the US Capitol.
“God help us,” he said, “when the cruelty is the point.” Deadlines shift to next week
The House remains closed under Johnson with no plans to resume the session, and senators left for the weekend and are due back Monday.
The next inflection point comes after Tuesday’s off-year elections — the New York City mayor’s race, as well as elections in Virginia and New Jersey that will determine those states’ governors. Many expect that once those winners and losers are declared, and the Democrats and Republicans assess their political standing with the voters, they might be ready to hunker down for a deal.
If the shutdown continues into next week, it could surpass the 35-day lapse that ended in 2019, during Trump’s first term, over his demands to build the US-Mexico border wall.
Ukraine lands special forces in embattled Pokrovsk city after Russian troops breached its perimeter
At least 200 Russian troops have penetrated the city’s defenses and made it inside, the Ukrainian military has said
Russia’s capture of Pokrovsk, an important road and rail hub, could enable further advances into the eastern Donetsk region
Updated 01 November 2025
Reuters
KYIV: Ukraine landed special forces to fight in embattled parts of the eastern city of Pokrovsk earlier this week, just as Russia said it had surrounded Kyiv’s forces in the area, two Ukrainian military sources said on Friday.
The operation shows how Ukraine is battling to stabilize the situation in the strategically important city after scores of Russian troops breached its perimeter this month.
Russia’s capture of Pokrovsk, an important road and rail hub, could enable further advances into the eastern Donetsk region, which Russia aims to fully occupy. Moscow’s military has been inching forward toward Pokrovsk for over a year.
The Ukrainian special forces landed in a Black Hawk helicopter a few days ago in the operation, which was complicated by Russian drone activity, a source in the 7th Rapid Response Corps said.
Spy chief oversees operation
The operation was overseen by military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov, and the troops headed to areas of the city claimed by Russia and seen by Moscow as vital for Ukrainian supply lines, the other source said.
At least 10 servicemen could be seen dismounting from a helicopter in a field in a video seen by Reuters. The news agency could not independently confirm the location or date when the video was filmed.
Russia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Ukrainian operation.
At least 200 Russian troops have penetrated the city’s defenses and made it inside, the Ukrainian military has said.
Kyiv’s army chief acknowledged on Thursday that the situation was “difficult,” saying supply lines and defenses in the area needed to be bolstered.
DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source mapping project, estimates that at least half of the city lies in a contested area fully controlled by neither side.
President Volodymyr Zelensky referred directly to the battle of Pokrovsk in his evening address to Ukrainians.
“We continue to destroy the occupier. The most important thing is to stop Russian attacks wherever possible.”
