World
Iraq Opens An Investigation Into The Kidnapping Of Elizabeth Tsurkov An Academic
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq has launched an investigation into the disappearance of Elizabeth Tsurkov a dual Israeli-Russian professor who has been missing in Iraq since March, according to a government official on Friday.
The remarks by Bassem al-Awadi were the first official Iraqi statements since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declared on Wednesday that Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive “and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.”
Tsurkov, according to Netanyahu, is being detained by the Shiite militia Kataeb Hezbollah, also known as the Hezbollah Brigades, a formidable Iran-backed group that the US government designated as a terrorist organization in 2009.
Tsurkov, whose work concentrates on the Middle East, particularly war-torn Syria, is a regional affairs specialist who foreign media have regularly quoted. Tsurkov’s most recent tweet was on March 21.
Tsurkov, a doctoral candidate at Princeton, is a fellow at the Washington-based think tank New Lines Institute.
“There is no official statement yet due to the ongoing official investigations into the disappearance of a foreign journalist,” al-Awadi told The Associated Press via text message. “We are unable to provide specific details at this time.”
Iraq has launched an investigation into the disappearance of Elizabeth Tsurkov.
According to Netanyahu, is an academic who traveled to Iraq of her own volition to work on her Ph.D. and academic study at Princeton University.
Tsurkov could not have entered Iraq using her Israeli passport because the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.
A senior Kataeb Hezbollah official declined to comment on the situation.
Later, the group published a statement in which they neither confirmed nor denied their involvement in Tsurkov’s disappearance but instead called for the identification and prosecution of Iraqis involved in assisting the work of Israeli residents in a country that forbids cooperation with Israel.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iran emerged as a significant power broker in the country, supporting Shiite parties and militias that have enjoyed widespread influence in the country ever since.
A local website alleged days after her disappearance that Iraqi officials had apprehended an Iranian citizen implicated in her kidnapping. According to the report, Tsurkov was kidnapped in Baghdad’s central neighborhood of Karradah, and Iran’s embassy in Baghdad was appealing for his release and deportation to Iran.
At the time, several Iraqi activists uploaded a copy of an Iranian man’s passport, saying he was involved in the kidnapping.
Israel regards Iran as its most dangerous adversary, citing its hostile rhetoric, support for militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and a possible nuclear program. Iran disputes Western claims that it is developing a nuclear weapon.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
Joe Burrow Starts For Bengals Vs. Rams After Being Questionable With Calf Injury
CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow started for the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.
The Bengals’ starting quarterback has been coping with a calf injury, but he was a full participant in warmups and played in the first offensive series.
Burrow’s participation was still being determined shortly before the game. The injury occurred early in training camp and was aggravated late in last week’s Bengals loss to Baltimore.
Burrow returned to limited practice on Thursday, and the team listed him as questionable on Saturday.
Irv Smith Jr., Trenton Irwin, Chris Evans, Jay Tufele, Jackson Carman, Trey Hill, and DJ Ivey were inactive for the Bengals.
For the Rams, Zach Evans, Kevin Dotson, Warren McClendon, and Earnest Brown IV were inactive.
The Rams activated running back Royce Freeman and wide receiver Austin Trammell.
In a victory over Tampa Bay, Jalen Hurts threw a touchdown pass, rushed for another, and led an unblemished Philadelphia drive that lasted more than nine minutes.
Hurts has gone 20-1 in his last 21 regular-season contests. He tossed a 34-yard TD pass to Olamide Zaccheaus that helped Philly establish a 13-3 halftime lead, and his 1-yard scoring run gave the Eagles a 17-point advantage early in the second half.
On Monday night, Joe Burrow started for the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Eagles, one of three unbeaten teams in the NFL, led 25-3 when the Bucs scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans. With 9:22 remaining, a 2-point conversion cut Philadelphia’s lead to 14 but Hurts and the Eagles never gave Tampa Bay the ball back.
The Buccaneers (2-1) suffered their first loss with Mayfield at quarterback, and Tampa Bay’s typically dependable defense allowed 201 rushing yards.
D’Andre Swift gained 130 yards on 16 carries for Philadelphia, which is 3-0 for the first time in consecutive seasons since 1992-93. Hurts completed 23 of 37 passes for 277 yards while throwing two interceptions.
Mayfield completed 15 passes out of 25 attempts for 146 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Five receptions by Evans gave him 700 for his career.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
India, At UN, Is Mum About Dispute With Canada Over Sikh Separatist Leader’s Killing
UNITED NATIONS — As he addressed world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, India’s top diplomat avoided addressing his country’s dispute with Canada over the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader. However, he indirectly criticized how other nations respond to “terrorism.”
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar devoted most of his speech to praising India’s rising global stature and aspirations for leadership, highlighting its recent tenure as chair of the Group of 20 industrialized nations and presiding over a substantial summit meeting last month.
However, he also stated that the international community must not “allow political expediency to determine responses to terrorism, extremism, and violence.”
India has frequently attacked Pakistan at the United Nations over what New Delhi perceives as Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism. This time, however, the remark could be interpreted as an attack on Canada, whose representative is scheduled to speak at the United Nations later on Tuesday.
As a result of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement last week that India may have been involved in the June murder of a Canadian citizen in a Vancouver suburb, relations between the two countries have reached their lowest point in years.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was murdered by masked assailants, but Canada has not yet provided any public evidence of Indian involvement in the murder. India had designated him as a terrorist because he led the remnants of a once-powerful movement to establish an independent Sikh homeland, Khalistan.
India’s top diplomat avoided addressing his country’s dispute with Canada over the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the allegation as “absurd” and accused Canada of harboring “terrorists and extremists.” It also asserted that the allegations were politically motivated, indicating that Trudeau sought domestic support from the Sikh diaspora.
“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to divert attention away from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have found refuge in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry said in a statement released last week.
However, they have long accused Canada of allowing Sikh separatists, including Nijjar, unfettered reign.
Even though the active insurgency ended decades ago, the Modi administration has warned that Sikh separatists are attempting a comeback. New Delhi has urged nations such as Canada, where Sikhs account for more than 2% of the population, to do more to prevent a separatist revival.
After the G20 summit, Canada’s allegation obscured India’s diplomatic moment. Jaishankar sought to refocus attention on his country’s ambitions in the international arena, noting that India is the world’s most populous nation and a growing economic superpower.
“When we aspire to be a leading power, it is not for self-promotion, but to assume more responsibility and make more contributions,” he explained. “The goals we have set for ourselves will distinguish us from those who rose before us.”
SOURCE – (AP)
World
Messina Denaro: Notorious Italian Mafia Boss Dies
Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Italy’s most wanted persons until his capture earlier this year, has passed away.
The 61-year-old man was believed to be a leader of the infamous Cosa Nostra Mafia for 30 years before his capture in January.
At his arrest, he was being treated for cancer and transferred from prison to a hospital last month.
Denaro was believed to be guilty of multiple murders.
In 2002, he was tried and sentenced to life in absentia for offenses, including his role in the 1992 murders of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. He once boasted that he could “fill a cemetery” with his victims.
In addition, he supervised racketeering, illegal waste disposal, money laundering, and drug trafficking on behalf of the Cosa Nostra organized crime syndicate.
Even though he had been on the run since 1993, it was believed that Messina Denaro was still issuing orders to his subordinates from various covert locations.
According to local media, he lapsed into an irreversible coma on Friday at a hospital in L’Aquila, central Italy, after requesting no aggressive medical treatment.
Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Italy’s most wanted persons until his capture earlier this year, has passed away.
In recent months, he had undergone surgery for cancer-related concerns but reportedly had not recovered from the most recent operation.
L’Aquila Mayor Pierluigi Biondi confirmed Denaro’s demise by writing on X (previously Twitter) that it was “the epilogue of an existence lived without remorse or regret, a painful chapter of recent history that we cannot erase.”
In addition to his crimes, Denaro was believed to be Cosa Nostra’s final “secret keeper.” Numerous informants and prosecutors believe he possessed all the information and names of those involved in several of the Mafia’s most notorious crimes.
More than one hundred members of the armed forces participated in his January detention, which occurred at a private clinic in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, where he was receiving chemotherapy.
Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Italy’s most wanted persons until his capture earlier this year, has passed away.
He had been a symbol of the state’s impotence to reach the highest levels of organized crime syndicates for many years.
Italian investigators frequently came near to apprehending Denaro by observing his closest associates. This led to the 2013 detention of his sister, Patrizia, and a number of his associates.
Police also seized valuable businesses associated with him, isolating him further.
Police had to rely on digital composites to reconstruct his appearance in the decades following his escape from justice. His voice recording was not published until 2021.
A Formula 1 fan from Liverpool was detained at gunpoint in a restaurant in the Netherlands in September 2021 after being misidentified as Denaro.
SOURCE – (BBC)
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