# 276 Indians stuck in a French airport for days for a human trafficking probe arrive in India
By **ANGELA CHARLTON** and **RAFIQ MAQBOOL**
December 26, 2023. 7:50 AM EST

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**MUMBAI, India (AP)** - A charter plane that was grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation arrived in India with 276 Indians aboard Tuesday, authorities said. The passengers had been heading to Nicaragua but were instead blocked inside a rural French airport for four days in an exceptional holiday ordeal.

Upon arrival in Mumbai, the passengers filed out of the airport without speaking publicly about what they'd been through or where they would go next. Carrying backpacks or small suitcases, some wore hoods or masks to conceal their identities.

A total of 303 passengers had originally boarded the Legend Airlines A340 plane last week in Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates for a flight to Managua, Nicaragua. When the plane stopped in France's Vatry Airport in Champagne country for refueling Thursday, it was grounded by police based on an anonymous tip that it could be carrying human trafficking victims.

The Vatry airport was requisitioned by police for days. Local officials, medics and volunteers installed cots and ensured regular meals and showers for those held inside. Then it turned into a makeshift courtroom Sunday as judges, lawyers and interpreters filled the terminal to carry out emergency hearings to determine the next steps.

The plane was authorized to leave Monday and took off for Mumbai. Local French authorities said that 276 of the original 303 passengers boarded the flight to India, and 25 others requested asylum in France.

The asylum-seekers, who include five children, were transferred to a special zone in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for processing, it said.

The passengers grounded in France had included a 21-month-old child and several unaccompanied minors.

The remaining two passengers were initially detained as part of a human trafficking investigation but were released Monday after appearing before a judge, the Paris prosecutor's office said. The judge named them as "assisted witnesses" to the case, a special status under French law that allows time for further investigation and could lead to eventual charges or to the case being dropped.

Prosecutors wouldn't comment on whether the passengers' ultimate destination could have been the U.S., which has seen a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border this year.

French authorities are working to determine the aim of the original flight, and opened a judicial inquiry into activities by an organized criminal group helping foreigners enter or stay in a country illegally, the prosecutor's office said.

It did not specify whether human trafficking - which the U.N. defines as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit" - is still suspected.

Some lawyers at Sunday's hearings protested authorities' handling of the situation and the passengers' rights, suggesting that police and prosecutors overreacted to the anonymous tip.

The Indian Embassy tweeted its thanks to French officials for ensuring that the Indians could go home.

Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said some passengers didn't want to go to India because they had paid for a tourism trip to Nicaragua. The airline has denied any role in possible human trafficking.

The U.S. government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed as failing to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. Nicaragua has also been used as a migratory springboard for people fleeing poverty or conflict because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. Sometimes charter flights are used for the journey.


# Pakistani police free 290 Baloch activists arrested while protesting extrajudicial killings
By **MUNIR AHMED**
December 25, 2023. 2:41 AM EST

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**ISLAMABAD (AP)** - Pakistani police Monday freed 290 Baloch activists who were arrested when they attempted to hold a protest last week in the capital, Islamabad.

Their release came days after protest organizers gave authorities a deadline to release all those detained.

The activists had traveled 1,600 kilometers (about 1,000 miles) on Thursday from Turbat, a town in Baluchistan province, to protest forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the militancy-ravaged southwest.

The protesters were mostly women and some had brought along their children, aged 7-12, when security forces used batons and water canons to disperse and arrest them.

They wanted to draw attention to the case of 24-year-old Balaach Mola Bakhsh, who died in November while in police custody in Baluchistan. Authorities said he was killed after militants ambushed the police vehicle transporting him.

Police said Bakhsh was carrying explosives when he was arrested. His family insists he is innocent, demanding justice for him. They also said he had been detained since October. Police said they arrested him in November.

The police use of force against the protesters sparked anger among Baluchistan residents and drew nationwide condemnation from top human rights activists.

Protest organizers said that as the dozens of vehicles carrying the activists reached the outskirts of Islamabad before dawn Thursday, police used water canons against them and started beating them up to prevent them from reaching the heart of the capital.

At the weekend, organizers and protesters held a sit-in outside the Islamabad Press Club to denounce the violence. "Four female police officers with batons hit me," Mahrang Baloch, one of the organizers, told reporters as she and dozens of others held portraits of those detained by the police, demanding their release.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed and top human rights activist Farhat Ullah Baba attended the sit-in and condemned the use of force by authorities.

"These peaceful demonstrators are victims of state terrorism," Ahmed said, adding that every citizen had the right to peacefully protest in Pakistan.

Baluchistan province - which borders Afghanistan and Iran and is rich in oil, gas and minerals - has been the scene of low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades. Baluch nationalists initially wanted a share of provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence.

According to human rights activists, those who demand a greater share of the province's natural resources often go missing after being detained by security forces.


# Tokyo court only holds utility responsible to compensate Fukushima evacuees and reduces damages
By **MARI YAMAGUCHI**
December 26, 2023. 7:15 AM EST

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**TOKYO (AP)** - A Tokyo court on Tuesday held only the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant responsible for paying damages to dozens of evacuees.

The Tokyo High Court also slashed the amount to half of what the lower court had ordered and relieved the government of responsibility - a decision that plaintiffs and their lawyers criticized as belittling their suffering and the severity of the disaster.

The court ordered only the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, known as TEPCO, to pay a total of 23.5 million yen ($165,000) to 44 of the 47 plaintiffs, while not holding the government accountable.

Tuesday's ruling apparently backpedaled from an earlier decision in March 2018, when the Tokyo District Court held both the government and TEPCO accountable for the disaster, which the ruling said could have been prevented if they both took better precautionary measures, ordering both to pay 59 million yen ($414,400) in damages.

The decision comes at a time when Japan's government tries to accelerate reactor restarts to maximize nuclear energy to meet decarbonization targets, while seeking to tone down the impact of the nuclear disaster 13 years ago, and its memory gradually fades.

Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant melted after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, 2011, releasing massive amounts of radiation in the area and displacing more than 160,000 people at one point. About 27,000 of them are still unable to return home.

The government has pushed for the decontamination of affected areas and the reopening of no-go zones, and has urged evacuees to return to their homes while cutting back support for them. The government-set compensation program, which is mostly based on distance from the plant and radiation levels, has triggered divisions and discrimination among communities.

The dispute centers on whether the government could have foreseen the risk of a massive tsunami, and whether the disaster could have been averted if the government had ordered the utility to take precautions.

In the ruling, judge Hiro Misumi said the flooding of the plant because of the tsunami wasn't preventable even if the industry ministry used its authority and ordered the utility to enhance a seawall based on a tsunami estimate at that time.

The decision is among the four rulings that apparently came in line with the June 2022 Supreme Court decision that said the government wasn't liable for the disaster and that the disaster from a tsunami that high wasn't foreseeable or preventable.

Motomitsu Nakagawa, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said that Tuesday's high court ruling was "almost a mere copy and paste" of the top court decision and that it "makes me infuriated."

Nakagawa said the ruling takes the disaster-hit residents' suffering lightly, and the reduction of the amount of compensation is also tantamount to saying that the operator can get away with paying only that much damage in a disaster.

He said that he planned to discuss a possible appeal to the Supreme Court after consulting with his clients.

Yuya Kamoshita, who has evacuated to Tokyo from Iwaki, south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant with his family, said the ruling was unacceptable because it trivialized the evacuees' sufferings, and failed to hold the government accountable even though the nuclear power plant was operated as part of the national energy policy.


# Beijing sees most hours of sub-freezing temperatures in December since 1951
December 25, 2023. 2:51 AM EST

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**BEIJING (AP)** - Beijing recorded the most hours of sub-freezing temperatures in December in more than seven decades as a cold wave has enveloped northern and central swathes of China, bringing snowstorms and record-breaking temperatures.

A weather observatory in the Chinese capital as of Sunday had recorded more than 300 hours of sub-freezing temperatures since Dec. 11 - the most since records began, in 1951, according to the official newspaper Beijing Daily.

The city saw nine consecutive days with temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), the paper added.

Parts of northern and central China have shivered under frigid cold snaps this month, with authorities closing schools and highways several times due to snowstorms.

Temperatures at 78 weather stations across the country hit record lows for the month of December, while average temperatures this month in northern and some central parts of China hit record lows set in 1961, according to the National Meteorological Centre.


# Grounded charter jet freed to leave France. Lawyer says most passengers expected to return to India
By **ANGELA CHARLTON** and **ELISE MORTON**
December 24, 2023. 6:47 PM EST

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**PARIS (AP)** - A charter plane sequestered while carrying 303 Indians to Nicaragua was authorized Sunday to leave the French airport where it has been grounded for four days for a human trafficking investigation. A lawyer for the airline said the plane would take many of the stranded passengers back to India on Monday.

Local authorities were working through Christmas Eve on formalities to allow some passengers to leave the small Vatry Airport in Champagne country, regional prosecutor Annick Browne told The Associated Press. All of the passengers, including a 21-month-old child, had been stuck in the airport terminal since Thursday.

Two passengers were detained as part of a special French investigation into suspected human trafficking by an organized criminal group. Several others requested asylum in France, according to the local administration. Prosecutors said 11 passengers were unaccompanied minors who were put under special administrative care.

The Legend Airlines A340 plane stopped Thursday for refueling in Vatry en route from Fujairah airport in United Arab Emirates for Managua, Nicaragua, and was grounded by police based on an anonymous tip that it could be carrying trafficking victims.

The airport was requisitioned by police for days, and then turned into a makeshift courtroom Sunday as judges, lawyers and translators filled the terminal to carry out emergency hearings to determine whether to keep the Indians sequestered any longer.

The hearings were halted midway because of a dispute over the procedure used to block the Indians in the airport, and a decision on next steps was expected overnight, the prosecutor said Sunday.

The seizure order for the airliner was lifted Sunday morning, a decision that "makes it possible to contemplate the passengers in the waiting area being rerouted," according to a statement from the Marne administration.

The French Civil Aviation Authority then set about trying to get the necessary permissions for the plane to take off once again, which should be in place "no later than Monday morning," according to the prefecture.

Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko told AP that the company hoped the plane could head to Mumbai, India, on Monday "with as many passengers as possible."

She estimated around 280 passengers should be able to leave. The prosecutor and regional administration could not confirm an exact figure.

Local officials, medics and volunteers installed cots and ensured regular meals and showers for those held in the airport. But lawyers at Sunday's hearings protested authorities' overall handling of the strange situation.

"I'm surprised at how things unfolded in the waiting area. People should have been informed of their rights, and clearly that was not the case," Francois Procureur, the head of the Châlons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told BFM television. He called the mass, hasty airport hearings "unprecedented."

Foreigners can be held up to four days in a transit zone for police investigations in France, after which a special judge must rule on whether to extend that for eight days.

Prosecutors wouldn't comment on what kind of trafficking was alleged, or whether the passengers' ultimate destination was the U.S., which has seen a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border this year.

The 15 crew members were questioned and released Saturday, Bakayoko said. She said the airline denied any role in possible human trafficking. A "partner" company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying identification documents of each passenger and communicated their passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, Bakayoko said.

The U.S. government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed as failing to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. Nicaragua has also been used as a migratory springboard for people fleeing poverty or conflict because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. Sometimes charter flights are used for the journey.

Indian citizens were arrested 41,770 times entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico in the U.S. government's budget year that ended Sept. 30, more than double from 18,308 the previous year.


# A merchant vessel linked to Israel has been damaged in a drone attack off India's west coast
December 23, 2023. 10:56 AM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - A drone hit an Israeli-affiliated merchant vessel off the coast of India in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, a British maritime security firm said, damaging the vessel but causing no casualties.

The incident on the Liberian-flagged chemical product tanker occurred 120 miles (200-kilometers) southwest of the Indian port of Veraval, said Ambrey. It gave no further details about the vessel's Israeli links.

Ambrey said the drone attack struck the stern and caused a fire onboard that was later extinguished without any casualties among the crew. The firm said the vessel suffered some structural damage and some water was taken onboard.

"The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called in Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time," Ambrey said.

The Indian Navy responded after the shipping company requested assistance, a naval official said.

"Indian Navy had dispatched an aircraft, which arrived overhead the MV (merchant vessel)," a statement said. "Safety of the crew and ship was ascertained. A warship has also been dispatched to provide any assistance as required."

Major global shipping firms have rerouted their vessels after attacks in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Many vessels take a longer and costlier route around the southern tip of Africa.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.


# 'Pray for us': Eyewitnesses reveal first clues about a missing boat with up to 200 Rohingya refugees
By **KRISTEN GELINEAU**, **EDNA TARIGAN**, and **REZA SAIFULLAH**
December 22, 2023. 11:12 PM EST

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**PIDIE, Indonesia (AP)** - Their screams and sobs could be heard from the ailing boat soon after it emerged into view amid the vastness of the Andaman Sea. Crowded on board were tiny babies and children, alongside mothers and fathers begging to be saved.

The passengers were ethnic Rohingya Muslims who had fled surging gang violence and rampant hunger in the squalid refugee camps of Bangladesh, only to find themselves adrift with a broken engine. For a moment, it appeared their salvation had arrived in the form of another boat carrying Rohingya refugees that had pulled up alongside them.

But those on board the other boat - itself overloaded and beginning to leak - knew if they allowed the distressed passengers onto their vessel, it would sink. And all would die.

They wanted to help, but they also wanted to live.

Since November, more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees fleeing Bangladesh in rickety boats have landed in Indonesia's northern province of Aceh - three-quarters of them women and children. On Thursday, Indonesian authorities spotted another five boats approaching Aceh's coast.

With so many Rohingya attempting the dangerous crossing in recent weeks, nobody knows how many boats did not make it, and how many people died.

This account of two boats in distress at sea - one was saved, the other vanished - was told to The Associated Press by five survivors from the vessel that made it to shore.

It provides the first clues into the fate of the boat carrying up to 200 Rohingya refugees that has been missing for weeks. On Dec. 2, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, put out an urgent message about the two boats in distress and urged countries to look for them.

But in the case of the boat that remains missing, it appears no one searched.

From a grey, trash-strewn beach near where they staggered ashore on Dec. 10, the survivors told the AP of their harrowing journey and the agonizing decisions made along the way.

"I remember feeling that together, we would be finished. Together, we would sink. Together, we would drown," says 31-year-old Muhammed Jubair, who was among the 180 people on his boat to be rescued, along with his three children, wife and brother-in-law.

## TEARFUL GOODBYES
The story of the missing boat and its passengers begins the way most Rohingya boat journeys do - with tearful goodbyes in sweltering shelters in the camps of Bangladesh, where more than 750,000 Rohingya fled in 2017 following sweeping attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar.

In one of those shelters, Noor Fatima clutched her 14-year-old brother, Muhammed Ansar, forcing herself to hold back tears as the boy began to cry along with the rest of their family. She knew she had to stay strong so he wouldn't fear the journey ahead.

Ansar was the family's only son - the only one with a shot at an education and a job in Indonesia. They hoped he would someday make enough money to support them in the camps. There were few alternatives: Bangladesh bans camp residents from working, so their survival is entirely dependent on food rations, which were slashed this year.

Worsening hunger caused by the ration cuts and a spike in gang violence sparked the latest exodus by sea from the camps.

It was Nov. 20, and Ansar would be making the trip with several relatives, including his 20-year-old cousin, Samira Khatun, and her 3-year-old son. As her brother left, Fatima told herself many other boats had made it safely to Indonesia. Surely his would, too.

The next day, Samira called Fatima's family and her father, telling them they were aboard the boat. "We are on our way," she said. "Pray for us."

Abdu Shukkur didn't know his bright and bubbly 12-year-old daughter, Kajoli, was planning to flee the camps until a trafficker called him and said he was taking her by boat to Indonesia.

Shukkur begged the trafficker to leave Kajoli behind, but her friends were going on the boat, and she wanted to go with them. He later received a phone call from Kajoli herself, when she was already on board.

All he could do was pray.

## THE BOATS COME TOGETHER
The boat Jubair and his family were on was chugging across the sea, carrying 180 Rohingya bound for Indonesia. It was overloaded, but the engine was still working.

Days into its 1,800-kilometer (1,100-mile) journey, the passengers on Jubair's boat spotted another vessel bobbing in the waves. It was Kajoli, Ansar and Samira's boat - their engine was broken, water was seeping in and the passengers were panicking.

Those on Jubair's boat worried if they got too close, the people on the distressed vessel would jump onto their boat, sinking them all, says one of Jubair's fellow passengers, Rujinah, who goes by one name and who was on board with five of her children.

Their fears were not unfounded. As Jubair's boat drew nearer, between 20 and 30 people began preparing to make the jump, says Zakir Hussain, another passenger.

The captain of Jubair's boat shouted at those on the distressed vessel to stay put. Then he asked for a rope so he could tie the two boats together. The captain told the other boat's passengers he would tow their vessel behind his, and they would search for land together.

According to Hussain, their captain also issued a warning: "If you try to jump into our boat, we won't help you."

What happened next is disputed.

Around the same time, Shukkur, the father of Kajoli, says his nephew made a call to the captain of Kajoli's boat and was told by the captain that he and his family had left the distressed vessel and were on the boat that came to their rescue.

However, the survivors interviewed by the AP in Aceh either denied that happened or said they didn't see it.

Tethered together, the two boats began moving through the water. And then, two or three nights later, a vicious storm crashed down on them. Pounding waves throttled the boats, destroying the engine on Jubair's vessel.

Now, in the dark, they were both helplessly adrift.

## TRAGEDY STRIKES
It was then, the passengers on Jubair's boat say, that the ropes between the two vessels were severed. No one says they saw how it happened - but what they did see was the other boat drifting off to their right.

Over the howling wind and churning surf, Jubair could hear the passengers on the other boat pleading for their lives.

"They were crying and shouting loudly, 'Our ropes are broken! Our ropes are broken! Please help us!' But how could we help?" Jubair says. "We would die with them."

The other boat drifted farther away, the passengers say, until it vanished from view.

On Jubair's boat, people began to wail.

"They are also Muslim. They are also part of our community," says Rujinah. "That's why our people were also crying for them."

## THE RESCUE
For days, Jubair and his fellow passengers languished at sea, their food and water gone. Eventually, a plane spotted them, and a Navy ship arrived, delivering food, water and medicine. The passengers say they don't know which country sent the rescue vessel that towed them into Indonesian waters and then left when their boat was close to land.

That's when their captain and another crew member fled the vessel on a small fishing boat, Jubair says. Abandoned, the exhausted passengers worked together to guide the battered boat onto the beach, where they have spent their nights sleeping under tarps. They wash and drink from a nearby stream.

Facing an increasingly hostile reception from locals, they have no idea what their future holds in Indonesia. But at least, they say, they are alive. They hope the passengers on the other boat are, too.

"I feel very sad for them because we were in the same situation, and now we are safe," says Hussain. "We are just praying for that boat to find land and for the passengers to stay alive."

## THE AGONY OF THE UNKNOWN
Weeks have passed, and the families of those on board the lost boat have heard nothing. Ann Maymann, the UNHCR's representative in Indonesia, urged regional governments to launch a search.

"Here you have hundreds of people that are obviously distressed at the best and, at the worst, they are not even distressed any longer," Maymann told the AP. "Those nations in this region have fully capable and resourced search and rescue capacities."

The governments of regional countries that the AP reached out to either did not respond to requests for comment or said they were unaware of the boat.

Meanwhile, a familiar feeling of dread has crept into Bangladesh's camps, which mourned the loss in 2022 of another boat carrying 180 people that an AP investigation concluded had sunk.

Fatima struggles to sleep as she waits for news of Ansar, her little brother. One way or another, she says, they just want answers.

One night, Fatima says, Ansar came to their mother in a dream and told her he was on an island. The family believes he is alive, somewhere.

Shukkur also had a dream about his daughter, Kajoli, but in it, her boat sank. He believes his little girl and all her fellow passengers are dead.

His agony echoes throughout the camp's crowded warren of shelters.

"Many parents," he says, "are screaming for their children."


# Death toll from China earthquake rises to 149, with 2 still missing
December 24, 2023. 10:25 PM EST

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**BEIJING (AP)** - The death toll from China's most powerful earthquake in years has risen to 149, with two people still missing after the tremor hit northwestern parts of the country last week.

The 6.2-magnitude quake struck a remote mountainous area between Gansu and Qinghai provinces on Dec. 18, reducing homes to rubble and triggering heavy mudslides that inundated two villages in Qinghai province.

State broadcaster CCTV said Monday the death toll in Donghai city in Qinghai has risen by one, to 32, and rescuers were still searching for two missing people. In neighboring Gansu, authorities had reported 117 dead.

Nearly 1,000 were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed in China's deadliest earthquake in nine years.

Primary schools in Jishishan county in Gansu resumed classes in tents on Monday, state media reported. Local authorities said they would use the upcoming winter break to repair damaged schools and erect temporary structures so that classes could resume as normal in the spring semester.

Authorities also rushed to erect temporary housing units for survivors facing temperatures well below freezing. CGTN, the state broadcaster's international arm, said the first batch of 500 temporary housing units had been built for residents in Meipo, a village in Gansu, on Friday night.

More than 87,000 people have been resettled after the quake.

The tremor caused economic losses estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars in the agricultural and fisheries industries, according to state media.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday visited several villages in Gansu and a county in Qinghai and urged authorities to improve living conditions for the survivors, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Li said the top priority of relief efforts was to make sure people stay warm and safe in winter.

Funerals were held throughout the week, some following the Muslim traditions of much of the population in the affected area.

Most of China's earthquakes strike in the western part of the country, including Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as the Xinjiang region and Tibet.

The country's deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9-magnitude tremor in 2008 that left nearly 90,000 dead or presumed dead and devastated towns and schools in Sichuan province, leading to a yearslong effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.


# Furnace explosion at Chinese-owned nickel plant in Indonesia kills at least 13 and injures 46 others
By **MOHAMMAD TAUFAN**
December 24, 2023. 10:58 PM EST

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**PALU, Indonesia (AP)** - A smelting furnace exploded Sunday at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 workers and injuring dozens of others, police and a company official said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly incidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of China's ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative.

Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles.

At least four Chinese and nine Indonesian workers died when the furnace exploded while they were repairing it, said Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho.

The blast was so powerful it demolished the furnace and damaged parts of the side walls of the building, said Nugroho, adding that about 46 workers were injured, including 14 Chinese nationals, some in critical condition.

Authorities are working to determine whether negligence by the company led to the deaths, Nugroho said.

The accident occurred at PT Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel, a subsidiary of PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, known as PT IMIP, in the Bahodopi neighborhood of Morowali regency.

"We sincerely apologize for this incident and we are working closely with authorities to investigate what caused the accident," said company spokesperson Deddy Kurniawan.

Rescuers extinguished the fire and evacuated workers after a nearly four-hour operation, he added.

In a statement released Sunday afternoon by the company, Kurniawan said the furnace was under maintenance and not operating at the time. However, "residual slag in the furnace" came in contact "with flammable items" driving the furnace walls to collapse and the remaining steel slag to flow out.

Previously, the company said explosive liquids at the bottom of the furnace triggered a fire and a subsequent explosion in nearby oxygen cylinders.

It was the third deadly incident this year at Chinese-owned nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province, which has the largest nickel reserves in Indonesia.

Two dump truck operators were killed when they were engulfed by a wall of black sludge-like material following the collapse of a nickel waste disposal site in April.

In January, two workers, including a Chinese national, were killed in riots that involved workers and security guards at an Indonesia-China joint venture in North Morowali regency.

Last year, a loader truck ran over and killed a Chinese worker while he was repairing a road in PT IMIP's mining area, and an Indonesian man burned to death when a furnace in the company's factory exploded.

Nearly 50% of PT IMIP's shares are owned by a Chinese holding company, and the rest are owned by two Indonesian companies. It began smelter operations in 2013 and is now the largest nickel-based industrial area in Indonesia.

Three Chinese workers in March filed a complaint to Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights, alleging that their health is deteriorating due to dust and smoke exposure while working seven-day weeks without a break at PT IMIP. They added that workers there don't have adequate safety equipment.

Data collected by the Mining Advocacy Network, an Indonesian watchdog, showed that at least 22 workers from China and Indonesia have died in nickel smelting plants in Central Sulawesi province since 2019, including two Chinese nationals who committed suicide.


# Strong earthquake in northwest China that killed at least 148 causes economic losses worth millions
December 23, 2023. 9:53 PM EST

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**BEIJING (AP)** - The strong earthquake that hit northwest China this week, killing at least 148 people, caused economic losses estimated to be worth tens of millions in the agricultural and fisheries industries, state media said Saturday.

Officials in Gansu conducted preliminary assessments that showed the province's agricultural and fisheries industries have lost 532 million yuan (about $74.6 million), state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Authorities were considering the best use of the relief fund, set up days before, for the agricultural sector to resume production as soon as possible, the report said.

The magnitude 6.2 quake struck in a mountainous region Monday night between Gansu and Qinghai provinces and about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Beijing, the Chinese capital. CCTV said 117 people were killed in Gansu and 31 others died in neighboring Qinghai, while three people remained missing. Nearly 1,000 were injured and more than 14,000 homes were destroyed.

During a visit Saturday to several villages in Gansu and a county in Qinghai, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged authorities to improve living conditions for the survivors of the quake by every available method, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Li said the top priority of relief efforts was to make sure people stay warm and safe in winter, the report added.

CGTN, the Chinese state broadcaster's international arm, said the first batch of 500 temporary housing units had been built for residents in Meipo, a village in Gansu, on Friday night.

Many had spent the night in shelters set up in the area as temperatures plunged well below freezing. Funerals were held, some following the Muslim traditions of much of the population in the affected area.

Most of China's earthquakes strike in the western part of the country, including Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, as well as the Xinjiang region and Tibet. The latest quake was the deadliest one in the country in nine years.


# Anger in remote parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir after 3 are killed while in army custody
By **AIJAZ HUSSAIN**
December 23, 2023. 9:08 AM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - Anger has spread in some remote parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir after three civilians were killed while in army custody, officials and residents said Saturday.

Locals said the Indian army detained at least eight civilians on Friday for questioning, the day after rebels fighting against Indian rule ambushed two army vehicles in the southern Poonch district, killing four soldiers and wounding three others. Poonch is close to the highly militarized line of control that divides the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.

Locals accused army personnel of torturing the three of those detained to death in a nearby military camp. The bodies were later handed to the local police who in turn contacted the families. Residents said the bodies bore marks of severe torture.

The five other detainees were taken to an army hospital after they were severely tortured, their families said.

Mohammed Younis, a resident, said soldiers came to his Topa Peer village in Poonch district Friday morning and detained nine villagers, including his two brothers and a cousin. An elderly man was let go, he said, but the others were ruthlessly beaten and electrocuted.

"My two brothers and a cousin are badly hurt due to torture. They are being treated in an army hospital," Younis said after seeing one of his brothers.

Videos reportedly showing the torture of detained civilians spread online hours after their incarceration, triggering widespread anger.

Authorities cut off internet services on smart devices in Poonch and nearby Rajouri on Saturday morning, a common tactic to dispel possible protests and discourage dissemination of the videos.

Lt. Col. Suneel Bartwal, an Indian army spokesman, said a search operation for the militants responsible for the ambush has been ongoing since Thursday evening, adding he had no "input" about the circumstances surrounding the death of the three civilians.

Late Saturday, the Indian military said in a statement that "reports have been received regarding three civilian deaths" in Poonch.

"The matter is under investigation. Indian army stands committed to extending full support and cooperation in the conduct of investigations," it said.

The government's information department wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that after medical formalities, a legal action "has been initiated by the appropriate authority" into the killings, without further explanation. It said authorities also announced financial assistance to the victims' families.

Senior police and civil officials visited the village and supervised the burials. Local officials said police would investigate the incident, in an attempt to pacify the villagers.

Protests erupted in Srinagar, the region's main city, with at least three pro-India Kashmiri political parties staging demonstrations against the killings.

Mehbooba Mufti, the region's former top elected official who was once an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, said the recent acquittal of an army officer in the killing of three civilians in a staged gunbattle three years ago had "emboldened" the army, "creating a false precedent among the forces that they can operate without restraint."

In 2020, the Indian army killed three young men from Rajouri in a fake gunfight and portrayed them as Pakistani terrorists. But after an outcry and a police investigation, the Indian military in a rare admission acknowledged wrongdoing and that its soldiers exceeded their legal powers granted to them under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

The Indian army's internal court had sentenced an officer to life imprisonment for the killings. However, a military tribunal in November this year suspended his sentence.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act gives the Indian military in Kashmir sweeping powers to search, seize and even shoot suspects on sight without fear of prosecution. Under the act, local authorities need federal approval to prosecute erring army or paramilitary soldiers in civilian courts.

India has long relied on military force to retain control over the portion of Kashmir it administers and has fought two wars over the territory with Pakistan, which also claims the mountain region as its own.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

But the territory has simmered in anger since 2019, when New Delhi ended the region's semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.

While Kashmir Valley, the heart of anti-India rebellion, has witnessed many militants killed in counter-rebel operations, remote Rajouri and Poonch have seen deadly attacks against Indian troops in the past two years. At least three dozen soldiers have been killed in such attacks.


# A South Korean religious sect leader has been sentenced to 23 years in prison over sex crimes
By **JIWON SONG**
December 22, 2023. 8:39 AM EST

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**SEOUL, South Korea (AP)** - A South Korean religious sect leader whose sex crimes were featured in the popular Netflix series "In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal" earlier this year was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Friday, court officials said.

The Daejeon District Court in central South Korea said that it handed the prison term to Jeong Myeong-seok after convicting him of sexual violence against three of his female followers from 2018-2021.

Jeong, 78, is leader of the Christian Gospel Mission in South Korea, which is also known as Jesus Morning Star, or JMS.

A court statement said that Jeong's convicted crimes include "quasi-rape" and "quasi-imitative rape," which court officials said meant illicit sexual intercourse with a person who was unconscious or unable to resist.

The court refused to provide details of Jeong's convicted sexual crimes.

Dozens of Jeong's supporters gathered near the court, shouted slogans and raised placards that say Jeong isn't guilty.

News reports said that Jeong called himself a reincarnated Jesus Christ, or Messiah. But Jeong and his defense lawyer denied that, according to the court statement.

Jeong committed the crimes after he was released earlier in 2018 after spending 10 years in prison over sexual violence against other female followers.


# North Korea appears to be looking to make more bomb fuels at its main nuclear facility, experts say
By **HYUNG-JIN KIM**
December 22, 2023. 11:12 AM EST

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**SEOUL, South Korea (AP)** - North Korea appears to have started operating a light-water reactor at its main nuclear complex in a possible attempt to establish a new facility to produce bomb fuels, the U.N. atomic agency and outside experts said.

If correct, the assessment would show that North Korea has taken a step to implement leader Kim Jong Un's repeated vows to build more nuclear weapons in response to what he described as intensifying U.S.-led military threats.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has observed increased levels of activity at and near the light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex and since mid-October, a strong water outflow from its cooling system, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Thursday.

The observations were consistent with the commissioning of the light-water reactor, or LWR, Grossi said.

"The LWR, like any nuclear reactor, can produce plutonium in its irradiated fuel, which can be separated during reprocessing, so this is a cause for concern," he said. "I repeat that the further development of (North Korea's) nuclear program, including the construction and operation of the LWR, is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable."

The IAEA has not had access to Yongbyon or other locations in North Korea since the country kicked out the agency's inspectors in 2009. The IAEA has said it uses satellite imagery and open source information to monitor developments in North Korea's nuclear program.

Observers say light-water reactors are best-suited for electricity generation, but North Korea could adapt one at Yongbyon to produce plutonium for weapons. Shin Jongwoo, a military expert at the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the Yongbyon complex isn't used for producing civilian energy so outsiders suspect the reported light-water reactor operation is related to the North's nuclear weapons program.

"North Korea has talked about bolstering its nuclear strength and building more tactical nuclear weapons to be mounted on ballistic missiles. So (the light-water reactor operation) is suspected to be activities" to extract plutonium, Shin said.

Plutonium is one of the two key ingredients used to manufacture nuclear weapons, along with highly enriched uranium. Yongbyon has long produced plutonium from its widely known 5-megawatt reactor, and the light-water reactor would be an additional plutonium-producing source. Yongbyon has an uranium-enrichment facility as well.

Construction of the light-water reactor began more than a decade ago. It is known to have a bigger capacity than the 5-megawatt reactor, meaning it could produce more bomb fuel, according to Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute.

Lee said plutonium is better suited for miniaturized nuclear warheads. Some experts say North Korea has been working to build warheads small enough to be placed on short-range missiles targeting South Korea.

Grossi said recent observations indicate that the water discharge seen in October is warm, an indication the reactor has reached criticality. But without access to the facility, the IAEA cannot confirm its operational status.

In 2019, during a summit with then-President Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un offered to dismantle the Yongbyon complex if he won extensive sanctions relief. But the Americans rejected Kim's offer because it would be a limited denuclearization step that would leave North Korea's already-built nuclear weapons and covert nuclear facilities intact.

After his diplomacy with Trump fell apart, Kim has focused on enlarging his nuclear arsenal and building more high-tech weapons in what experts believe is a bid to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the U.S. In a key political meeting in December 2022, Kim ordered the "exponential" expansion of the North's nuclear arsenal.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula deepened earlier this week, after North Korea test-launched the solid-fueled Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile - its most advanced weapon designed to strike the mainland U.S. - in its third test this year.

The Yongbyon complex, which North Korea calls "the heart" of its nuclear program and research, has been at the center of international concerns for decades. It's not clear exactly how much weapons-grade plutonium or highly enriched uranium has been produced at Yongbyon and where North Korea stores it.

According to a South Korean estimate in 2018, North Korea had manufactured 20-60 nuclear weapons. But some experts say the North likely has more than 100 nuclear weapons.


# Khan ordered released on bail in official secrets case in Pakistan. But he won't be freed right away
By **MUNIR AHMED**
December 22, 2023. 7:35 AM EST

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**ISLAMABAD (AP)** - In a surprise ruling, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies on bail in a case involving the revelation of official secrets after his ouster last year.

But Khan - currently serving a three-year sentence in jail in a graft case - won't be freed right away because he still faces two other corruption cases.

Khan faces possible death if he is found guilty of revealing official secrets. Khan is accused of revealing a classified cable that was sent to Islamabad by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington when the former premier was in power. Khan says he didn't disclose the exact content of the cable.

Khan and Qureshi have been asked to submit surety bonds of 1 million rupees (about $3,600) to secure bail.

Friday's ruling, which Khan's defense team viewed as a legal victory and a political boost, was issued over charges of the former premier revealing state secrets when he waved an allegedly confidential document, dubbed Cipher, last year at a rally following his ouster from power. The document hasn't been made public.

"The court's order is proof enough that the charges against Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were fabricated," Khan lawyer Salman Safdar said. Qureshi is a senior vice president at Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Pakistan's government said the Cipher document was diplomatic correspondence between the Pakistani ambassador to Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. Khan confirmed the correspondence and insisted his ouster was a conspiracy by the United States, his successor Shehbaz Sharif, and the Pakistani military - accusations that they have all denied.

The judges of the Supreme Court concluded in their ruling that there wasn't enough evidence that Khan revealed official secrets while waiving the document.

This came two days after his party announced that Khan would run in Pakistan's upcoming parliamentary election from prison. According to Pakistani election laws, Khan can submit his nomination papers as his appeal against his conviction in the graft case is yet to be decided on.

Analysts said the surprise development could help his party to win the election, which will be held on Feb. 8.

Khan has had almost no contact with the outside world since he was imprisoned in August. Over the weekend, Khan for the first time used artificial intelligence to deliver a speech to his supporters.

The Cipher case trial is being held in Adiyala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi where Khan is jailed. Only his legal team is allowed to attend court hearings, as authorities say the case is too sensitive.

Khan pleaded not guilty when he was indicted last week.

The court is expected to conclude the hearing and announce the verdict early next year.

Khan's main political rival is Nawaz Sharif, a three-time former prime minister, who self-exiled and recently returned to Pakistan after having corruption charges overturned. Nawaz plans to run for a seat in the parliament in an effort aimed at becoming a prime minister for the fourth time.


# Japan Cabinet OKs record military budget to speed up strike capability, eases lethal arms export ban
By **MARI YAMAGUCHI**
December 22, 2023. 11:05 PM EST

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**TOKYO (AP)** - Japan's Cabinet on Friday approved a hefty 16% increase in military spending next year and eased its postwar ban on lethal weapons exports, underscoring a shift away from the country's self-defense-only principle.

The moves came as Japan accelerates the deployment of long-range cruise missiles that can hit targets in China or North Korea while Japanese troops increasingly work with allies and take on more offensive roles.

In a latest step under a new security strategy that Japan adopted a year ago, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government also allowed the export of weapons and components made in Japan under foreign licenses to the licensing nations. The controversial move is the first major revision of Japan's arms export ban since an earlier easing in 2014.

"In taking the action, we hope to contribute to defend a free and open international order based on the rule of law and to achieve the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," Kishida told reporters. "There is no change to our principle as a pacifist nation."

The government quickly approved the first export shipment under the change, agreeing to send to the United States surface-to-air Patriot guided missiles produced in Japan under an American license. Officials said it would complement U.S. stock, raising speculation that Japanese-produced Patriots may be sent to Ukraine.

The easing also paves the way for future possible exports to the U.S., Britain and six European licensing nations involving dozens of lethal weapons and components, including F-15s and fighter jet engines.

"The scope, scale, and speed of Japan's security reforms have been unprecedented," U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said in a statement on X. He praised the easing of the defense equipment and transfer policy as historic and "a significant example of Japan's shared commitment to deterrence."

The ban on the export of lethal weapons has limited the scope of Japan's efforts to develop arms technology and equipment. The easing would help strengthen Japan's feeble defense industry and broaden the country's new official military aid designed for like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region in countering Chinese assertiveness, experts say.

Japan is spending more than 70 billion yen ($490 million) in 2024 for the development of a next-generation fighter jet with Britain and Italy, and the project hinges on a futher easing of restrictions to allow the export of jointly developed lethal weapons to third countries - a change Kishida wants by the end of February.

The 7.95 trillion-yen ($56 billion) defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year that begins in March marks the second year of the five-year military buildup program. The spending plan is part of a 112.7 trillion-yen ($794 billion) national budget and still needs the approval by the parliament.

The reinforcement of strike capability envisioned under the strategy is a major break from Japan's postwar principle of limiting its use of force to self-defense.

The budget adopted by the Cabinet also will further fortify the military with F-35 stealth combat jets and other American weapons.

Japan plans to spend 43 trillion yen ($300 billion) through 2027 to bolster its military power and to nearly double its annual spending to around 10 trillion yen ($68 billion), which would make Japan the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

The budget would boost Japan's arms spending for a 12th year. Last year, the government budgeted 6.8 trillion yen (about $48 billion).

The centerpiece of Japan's 2024 military budget is an early deployment of "standoff" missiles that officials say are needed to reinforce air defenses, especially to protect Japan's southwestern islands in case a conflict erupts between China and Taiwan.

Some 734 billion yen ($5.15 billion) is earmarked for Type-12 cruise missiles and U.S.-made Tomahawks as well as development of next generation long-range missiles. Japan will also spend more than 80 billion yen ($562 million) for the development of hypersonic guided missiles with a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles).

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara announced earlier this month a decision to bring forward deployment of some Tomahawks and Type-12s by the end of March 2026, a year before the original target. Officials said the step is a result of Japan facing its "severest" security environment in the postwar era that has also led it to increase joint operations with the U.S., Australia, Britain and other friendly nations.

Funding the surge in military spending as well as securing necessary personnel is not easy for Japan, a country with a rapidly aging and shrinking population.

Defense Ministry officials said the budget addresses the cost impacts of a weaker yen and price increases through measures such as bulk purchases and long-term contracts.

It calls for spending 90 billion yen ($632 million) on subsidies to strengthen Japan's feeble defense industry and allow more foreign arms sales.

The budget also includes 1.25 trillion yen ($8.78 billion) to bolster Japan's missile defense systems, including construction of two Aegis-equipped warships for deployment in 2027-2028 at a cost of 373 billion yen ($2.62 billion).

The warships are to have Lockheed Martin SPY-7 radar that officials say could locate harder-to-detect missile launches, including those on a high-arch trajectory that North Korea has often used to test-fire missiles, including an inter-continental ballistic missile launched this week.

Japan plans to spend 75.5 billion yen ($530 million) to develop glide-phase interceptors with the United States that are expected to be deployed around 2030 and designed to counter hypersonic missiles being developed by China, North Korea and Russia.


# Hong Kong court rejects activist publisher Jimmy Lai's bid to throw out sedition charge
By **KANIS LEUNG**
December 21, 2023. 11:05 PM EST

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**HONG KONG (AP)** - A Hong Kong court on Friday rejected a bid by prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai to throw out a sedition charge against him, delivering the ruling on the third day of his landmark national security trial.

Lai, 76, was arrested during the city's crackdown on dissidents following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019.

He faces possible life imprisonment if convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious publications.

Foreign governments, business professionals and legal scholars are closely watching the case, which is tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded. Many view it as a trial of the city's freedoms and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.

Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to China's rule in 1997 under a promise the city retain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years. That promise has become increasingly threadbare since the introduction of the security law, which has led to the arrests and silencing of many leading pro-democracy activists.

Earlier this week, judges Esther Toh, Susana D'Almada Remedios and Alex Lee heard arguments from both sides about whether the prosecution had missed the time limit for charging Lai with sedition. The law requires the prosecution of sedition charges to begin within six months after an alleged offense is committed.

On Friday, the judges, who were approved by the government to oversee the proceedings, ruled the prosecution filed the charge in time. "The application of the defence must fail," they wrote in their judgment.

They said the limitation on time started to run on June 24, 2021, the last date of the alleged conspiracy, which the prosecution earlier said involved at least 160 articles.

The trial is expected to last about 80 days without a jury.

Wearing a navy blazer, Lai smiled at his family members after he entered the courtroom and appeared calm.

His prosecution has drawn criticism from the United States and the United Kingdom. Beijing has called their comments irresponsible, saying they went against international law and the basic norms of international relations.

Hong Kong, once seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders' latest World Press Freedom Index. The group said the city had seen an "unprecedented setback" since 2020, when the security law was imposed.

The governments of both Hong Kong and China have hailed the law for bringing back stability to the city.


# From fugitive to shackled prisoner, 'Fat Leonard' lands back in US court and could face more charges
By **JOSHUA GOODMAN** and **ERIC TUCKER**
December 21, 2023. 6:35 PM EST

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**MIAMI (AP)** - A defense contractor at the center of one of the biggest bribery scandals in U.S. military history is expected to face additional charges following his return to the United States from Venezuela as part of a broader prisoner swap between the two countries, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Leonard Glenn Francis, who is nicknamed "Fat Leonard," faced a federal judge for the first time since snipping off his ankle monitor last year and disappearing weeks before a sentencing hearing on charges that he offered more than $500,000 in cash bribes to Navy officials, defense contractors and others.

He was later arrested in Venezuela and had been in custody there since, but was returned to the U.S. in a large swap Wednesday that also saw the release of 10 American detainees by Venezuela in exchange for the Biden administration freeing Alex Saab, a Colombian-born businessman and close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who'd been charged in the U.S. in a money laundering case.

Francis, shackled and in a beige jumpsuit, stood by quietly as a federal magistrate judge in Miami ordered him to be transferred to the Southern District of California, the region where his case was initially filed.

Prosecutors said additional charges would be presented against Francis for failing to appear at a hearing in his ongoing bribery case in San Diego.

"Not right now," an otherwise expressionless but soft-spoken Francis said in response to Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra's question about whether he could afford an attorney.

Francis was arrested in a San Diego hotel nearly a decade ago as part of a federal sting operation. Investigators say he bilked the U.S. military out of more than $35 million by buying off dozens of top-ranking Navy officers with booze, sex, lavish parties and other gifts.

The scandal led to the conviction and sentencing of nearly two dozen Navy officials, defense contractors and others on various fraud and corruption charges. Investigators say Francis, who owned and operated his family's ship-servicing business, abused his position as a key contact for U.S. Navy shops at ports across Asia, wooing naval officers with Kobe beef, expensive cigars, concert tickets and wild sex parties at luxury hotels from Thailand to the Philippines.

He pleaded guilty in 2015 and was allowed to stay out of jail at a rental home, on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor and security guards.

But weeks before he faced sentencing in September 2022, Francis made a daring escape as he cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared. Officials said he fled to Mexico, made his way to Cuba and eventually got to Venezuela.

He was arrested a couple weeks later before boarding a flight at the Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas. Venezuelan officials said he intended to reach Russia.

He had been in custody in Venezuela ever since, and officials said he sought asylum there.

Newly unsealed court documents show federal prosecutors making preparations last week for Saab's release from U.S. custody, telling a judge that they anticipated that President Joe Biden would grant clemency for Saab and requesting an order for the U.S. Marshals Service to take Saab out of federal prison "based on significant foreign policy interests of the United States."


# 4 Indian soldiers killed and 3 wounded in an ambush by rebels in disputed Kashmir
December 21, 2023. 1:35 PM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - Four Indian soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in an ambush by militants fighting against New Delhi's rule in disputed Kashmir, officials said on Thursday.

The Indian military said militants fired at two army vehicles in southern Poonch district late afternoon on Thursday. The area is close to the highly militarized line of control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Lt. Col. Suneel Bartwal, an Indian army spokesman, said soldiers retaliated to the fire and in the ensuing fight, four soldiers were killed and three others were injured. He said a search operation continued in the area.

No other details were available and there was no independent confirmation of the ambush.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

But since 2019, the territory has simmered in anger when New Delhi ended the region's semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.

Last month, government forces killed seven militants in two separate counterinsurgency operations while rebels killed four Indian soldiers, including two army officers, in the region.


# Taliban official says Afghan girls of all ages permitted to study in religious schools
December 21, 2023. 11:57 AM EST

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**KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)** - Afghan girls of all ages are permitted to study in religious schools, which are traditionally boys-only, a Taliban official said Thursday.

A day earlier, U.N. special envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the Security Council and reporters that the United Nations was receiving "more and more anecdotal evidence" that girls could study at the Islamic schools known as madrassas.

But Otunbayeva said it wasn't clear what constituted a madrassa, if there was a standardized curriculum that allowed modern education subjects, and how many girls were able to study in the schools.

The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from education beyond sixth grade, including university. Madrassas are one of the few options for girls after sixth grade to receive any kind of education.

Mansor Ahmad, a spokesman at the Education Ministry in the Afghan capital Kabul, said in messages to The Associated Press that there are no age restrictions for girls at government-controlled madrassas. The only requirement is that girls must be in a madrassa class appropriate to their age.

"If her age is not in line with the class and (the age) is too high, then she is not allowed," said Ahmad. "Madrassas have the same principles as schools and older women are not allowed in junior classes." Privately run madrassas have no age restrictions and females of all ages, including adult women, can study in these schools, according to Ahmad.

There are around 20,000 madrassas in Afghanistan, of which 13,500 are government-controlled. Private madrassas operate out of mosques or homes, said Ahmad. He did not give details on how many girls are studying in the country's madrassas or if this number increased after the bans.

Otunbayeva addressed the Security Council on the one-year anniversary of the Taliban banning women from universities. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education.

Higher education officials in Kabul were unavailable for comment Thursday on when or if the restrictions would be lifted, or what steps the Taliban are taking to make campuses and classrooms comply with their interpretation of Islamic law.

Afghanistan's higher education minister, Nida Mohammed Nadim, said last December that the university ban was necessary to prevent the mixing of genders and because he believed some subjects being taught violated the principles of Islam.


# Myanmar's military should be investigated for war crimes, Amnesty International says
By **Associated Press**
December 21, 2023. 10:00 AM EST

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BANGKOK (AP) - The human rights group Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Myanmar military of indiscriminate killings, detaining civilians, and using air-dropped cluster munitions in response to an insurgency in the northeast and west, and demanded an investigation into war crimes.

Fighting has been raging in the northern part of Shan state since the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, calling themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, launched a coordinated offensive on Oct. 27. A little more than two weeks later, the Arakan Army also attacked outposts in its home state of Rakhine in the west.

The offensive of the well-trained and well-armed ethnic militias has been seen as a significant challenge for the army, which has struggled to contain a nationwide uprising by members of the People's Defense Forces, a pro-democracy armed group established after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

The alliance has claimed widespread victories including the capture of four border crossings in the northern part of Shan state. Soon after the fighting began, the military government acknowledged that it had lost three towns and vowed counterattacks on the alliance.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said in its report on Dec.15 that 378 civilians have reportedly died and 505 others have been injured while more than 660,000 people have been displaced by the fighting that began in late October. According to OCHA's estimates, more than 2.6 million people have been displaced nationwide since the army takeover nearly three years ago.

In its report, Amnesty International said it had documented a nighttime airstrike by the military on Namhkam township in Shan in early December, most likely using cluster munitions that are internationally banned. Cluster munitions open in the air, releasing smaller "bomblets" across a wide area.

One of the groups in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army also said in a statement on Dec. 2 that the military's jet fighters dropped cluster munitions twice at night on Namhkam township, killing one local resident, injuring five others and damaging more than 12 houses.

Amnesty International said civilians and civilian sites were indiscriminately attacked by the military in Rakhine's Pauktaw township. The report said the army's attacks on civilians and the use of banned cluster munitions "should be investigated as war crimes."

"The Myanmar military has a blood-stained résumé of indiscriminate attacks with devastating consequences for civilians, and its brutal response to a major offensive by armed groups fits a longstanding pattern," said Matt Wells, Director of Amnesty International's Crisis Response Program. "Nearly three years after the coup, the suffering of civilians across Myanmar shows no signs of easing, even as the issue has largely fallen off the international agenda."

Amnesty said it based its findings on interviews with 10 people from Pauktaw and analyses of photographs, video material and satellite imagery.

In a separate report released on Thursday, another monitoring group, Human Rights Watch, charged that another faction in the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, had abducted and forcibly recruited civilians fleeing fighting in Shan.

The MNDAA, which is an armed grouping of the Kokang minority, is seeking to oust a rival faction from power by seizing the town of Laukkaing, which is the capital of what is officially called the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, in the northeast, near the border with China.

Two residents of Laukkaing told the AP on Thursday that their colleagues were forcibly taken by the MNDAA for recruitment while fleeing the fighting.

The Associated Press reached out to MNDAA representatives seeking comment but received no response.


# Pakistan arrests activists to stop them from protesting in Islamabad against extrajudicial killings
By **MUNIR AHMED**
December 21, 2023. 9:25 AM EST

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**ISLAMABAD (AP)** - Pakistan's police used water cannons, swung batons, and arrested dozens of activists in an overnight crackdown to stop protesters from entering the capital to denounce the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the militancy-ravaged southwest, the organizers said Thursday.

About 200 protesters, some of them families with children, began their nearly 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) convoy around Nov. 28, heading toward Islamabad from the town of Turbat. They planned to rally in the capital to draw attention to the death of Balaach Mola Bakhsh. The 24-year-old died in November while in police custody in Baluchistan province.

Police say Bakhsh was carrying explosives when he was arrested in November, and two days later he died when militants ambushed a police van that was transporting him. Activists say police were holding him since they arrested him in October, and suspect he was killed intentionally in a staged counterterrorism operation. Such arrests by security forces are common in Baluchistan and elsewhere, and people who are missing are often found to have been in the custody of authorities, sometimes for years.

Since then, human rights activists and Bakhsh's family have been demanding justice for him. They also want the counterterrorism officials who they claim killed the man arrested.

The gas-rich southwestern Baluchistan province at the border of Afghanistan and Iran has been a scene of low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for more than two decades. Baloch nationalists initially wanted a share from the provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence. They also say security forces have been holding hundreds of their supporters for the past several years.

As the group of vehicles carrying the demonstrators reached the outskirts of Islamabad before dawn Thursday, police asked them to stop and turn around. When the demonstrators refused, officers started beating dozens of activists with batons.

Police in Islamabad insisted they avoided the use of force against the rallygoers, but videos shared by the rallygoers on social media showed police dragging women, swinging batons and using water cannons in freezing temperatures to disperse the protesters. Police were also seen throwing demonstrators into police trucks.

It drew condemnation from human rights organizations nationwide.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar, who is from Baluchistan, sent his Cabinet members to hold talks with the families of missing Boluch people.

After these talks, Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said at a news conference in Islamabad that the government has started releasing most of the rallygoers, including women and children, and remaining people will also be freed after investigations. Authorities say the government will consider the demands of the demonstrators.

Baloch activist Farida Baluch tweeted that her "elderly mother and niece, symbols of resilience, faced arrest and brutality in Islamabad." She asked the international community to take "notice of the plight of Baloch activists and missing persons' families."

In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan strongly condemned "the violent police crackdown on Baloch protestors in Islamabad" where it said women, children and older people subjected to unwarranted force in the form of water cannons and batons.

"Numerous women protestors have reportedly been arrested and separated from their male relatives and allies," the statement said. It said the rallygoers were denied their constitutional right to peacefully protest. The commission demanded an immediate release of the detainees and sought an apology from the government.


# India's opposition lawmakers protest their suspension from Parliament by the government
By **ASHOK SHARMA**
December 21, 2023. 2:42 AM EST

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**NEW DELHI (AP)** - Dozens of opposition lawmakers suspended from Parliament by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for obstructing proceedings held a street protest on Thursday accusing the government of throttling democracy in the country.

They briefly marched outside the Parliament building in New Delhi behind a huge "Save Democracy" banner and carried placards reading "Democracy is in danger." The suspensions came as legislators were due to debate a contentious criminal reform bill.

More than 140 opposition lawmakers were suspended from the two houses of Parliament over the past week for demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah about a Dec. 13 security breach when two intruders stormed the chamber by jumping from the visitors' gallery and releasing yellow smoke canisters. They created panic among lawmakers and disrupted parliamentary proceedings.

One of the intruders jumped from seat to seat before he was overpowered by some lawmakers and security staff and was later arrested. The police have also arrested several of their accomplices outside Parliament. The intruders claimed that they wanted to highlight the government's attention to rising unemployment in the country.

The opposition lawmakers demanded a discussion in Parliament about the breach of security, but were accused of creating disorder.

Sharad Pawar, a top opposition leader, said the government's action marked the highest-ever suspensions of lawmakers in a session of Parliament.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress party president, said "If the prime minister and the home minister won't speak in the parliament, then where will they speak?"

Government leaders asked the opposition members to wait for the findings of an inquiry set up to investigate the security breach. The opposition blocked the proceedings of Parliament for several days by raising anti-government slogans and carrying placards into the chamber.

The suspended members are now barred from entering Parliament's chamber. The suspension will last until Friday when the current winter session of parliament ends.

The governing Hindu nationalist party government pushed on with legislative business despite the lawmakers' suspensions, including passing three bills seeking to overhaul criminal laws.


# Coal mine cart runs off the tracks in northeastern China, killing 12 workers
December 21, 2023. 2:14 AM EST

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**BEIJING (AP)** - An accident in a coal mine in China's northeastern Heilongjiang province left 12 people dead and 13 injured, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday.

The coal workers were in a mining cart underground that ran off the tracks, according to state media reports.

The accident occurred Wednesday afternoon in Jixi city in Heilongjiang province at the Kunyuan mine and was reported by Chinese media on Thursday.

China has been working to improve mine safety to combat accidents, which happen with some frequency. Last Thursday, three people died in an accident in China's coal-producing province Shanxi. A coal mine explosion killed 11 people in Shanxi in August, and a coal mine fire in southern China's Guizhou province killed 16 people in September.

Last month, a major fire at a coal mining company building in Shanxi killed 26 people and injured dozens of others, but the blaze was not in the mine itself.


# South Korean court orders Japanese firms to compensate more wartime Korean workers for forced labor
By **HYUNG-JIN KIM**
December 21, 2023. 7:08 AM EST

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**SEOUL, South Korea (AP)** - South Korea's top court ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate more of their wartime Korean workers for forced labor, as it sided Thursday with its contentious 2018 verdicts on the firms that caused a huge setback in relations between the Asian neighbors.

But observers said that Thursday's ruling won't likely hurt bilateral ties much since Seoul and Tokyo, now governed by different leaders, are pushing hard to bolster their partnerships in the face of shared challenges like North Korea's evolving nuclear threats and China's increasing assertiveness.

The Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must provide between 100 million and 150 million won ($76,700 and $115,000) in compensation to each of four plaintiffs - all bereaved families of its former employees who were forced to work for the company during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The court also said Nippon Steel Corp. must give 100 million won (about $76,700) to each of seven Korean plaintiffs, also all bereaved relatives, for similar colonial-era forced labor.

"I felt so sad when I heard the name of (my father) being stated as the deceased at today's trial, but I was still really glad that we won - though it's a bit late," said Joo Soon-ja, daughter of the late Joo Seok-bong, a forced laborer, as she held her father's large framed photo.

In two separate verdicts in 2018, the top South Korean court ordered Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel to compensate a total of 15 other Korean employees for forced labor. That irked Japan, which has insisted all compensation issues were already settled by a 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized their diplomatic relations. But the 2018 South Korean court rulings said that the treaty can't prevent individuals from seeking compensation for forced labor, because Japanese companies' use of such laborers were "acts of illegality against humanity" that were linked to Tokyo's illegal colonial occupation and its war of aggression.

In Thursday's ruling, the South Korean Supreme Court cited that argument in one of the 2018 verdicts, saying it paved the way for "a judicial remedy for forced labor victims within Republic of Korea." Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, called the ruling "absolutely unacceptable," saying it clearly violated the 1965 treaty.

The wrangling touched off by the 2018 rulings led to the two countries downgrading each other's trade status, and Seoul's previous liberal government threatening to spike a military intelligence-sharing pact. Their strained ties complicated efforts by the United States to build a stronger trilateral Washington-Seoul-Tokyo cooperation to counter challenges posed by North Korea and China.

The Seoul-Tokyo relations, however, began thawing after South Korea's current conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, announced in March that his country would use a local corporate fund to compensate forced labor victims without demanding Japanese contributions. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during a Seoul visit. The two countries revived high-level talks and withdrew economic retaliatory steps against each other.

On Thursday, the two countries held their first high-level economic talks in Seoul in about eight years and agreed to work together to realize substantial cooperation on economic sectors based on improving ties, according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

Eleven of the 15 former forced laborers or their families involved in the 2018 rulings had accepted compensation under Seoul's third-party reimbursement plan, but the remaining four still refuse to accept it, according to Lee Kook Un, a leader of their support group. He said that about 70 other suits seeking damages from more than 10 Japanese companies are still pending in South Korean courts.

Lim Soosuk, spokesperson of South Korea's Foreign Ministry, told reporters Thursday that the government would try to provide compensation to the Korean plaintiffs related to Thursday's ruling through the third-party reimbursement system as well. He said that the South Korean government would also continue necessary communication with Japan.

Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that Thursday's ruling "won't likely cause big troubles in Korea-Japan relationships," because South Korea has already determined how to handle such verdicts with the establishment of the domestic compensation fund.

Choi said that because some forced labor victims refuse to accept compensation under the third-party reimbursement system, the South Korean fund hasn't completely resolved the issue. But she said an attempt by a future South Korean government to spike the system would undermine South Korea's credibility in Japan and deteriorate bilateral ties severely.

Yoon's push to improve ties with Japan drew strong backlash from some of the forced labor victims and liberal opposition politicians, who have demanded direct compensation from the Japanese companies. But Yoon defended his move, saying it's essential to boosting ties with Japan to jointly cope with North Korea's advancing nuclear arsenal, the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and global supply chain challenges.


# 5 more boats packed with refugees approach Indonesia's shores, air force says
By **YAYAN ZAMZAMI** and **NINIEK KARMINI**
December 21, 2023. 4:25 AM EST

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**BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP)** - Indonesian authorities detected at least five boats packed tight with refugees approaching shores of Aceh province, officials said Thursday.

The boats are the latest in a surge of vessels that have arrived in Aceh, most carrying Rohingya refugees from southern Bangladesh, where the persecuted Muslim minority fled in 2017 following attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar.

Indonesia intensified patrols of its waters after a sharp rise in Rohingya refugees arriving since November, said Aceh's Air Force Base Commander Col. Yoyon Kuscahyono. He said air patrols detected at least five boats Wednesday entering Indonesian waters, likely carrying Rohingya refugees. They were spotted entering the regencies of Lhokseumawe, East Aceh, Pidie, Aceh Besar and Sabang in north Aceh province.

Indonesia appealed to the international community for help on Dec. 12, after more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees arrived on its shores since November.

Muslims comprise nearly 90% of Indonesia's 277 million people, and Indonesia once tolerated such landings while Thailand and Malaysia pushed them away. But there has been a surge of anti-Rohingya sentiment in 2023, especially in Aceh, on the northern part of the island of Sumatra, where most end up landing. Residents accuse the Rohingya of poor behavior and creating a burden, and in some cases have pushed their boats away.

With pressure growing on President Joko Widodo's government to take action, he said Indonesia will still help the refugees temporarily on a humanitarian basis.

Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations' 1951 Refugee Convention outlining their legal protections, so is not obligated to accept them. However, they have so far all provided at least temporary shelter to refugees in distress.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lalu Muhamad Iqbal told reporters Wednesday that the government is willing to provide temporary shelters for Rohingya refugees "to give time for international organizations that have a mandate to handle this matter, especially UNHCR, to able to carry out their obligations."

About 740,000 Rohingya were resettled in Bangladesh after fleeing their homes in neighboring Myanmar to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign carried out in 2017 by security forces. Accusations of mass rape, murder and the burning of entire villages are well documented, and international courts are considering whether Myanmar authorities committed genocide and other grave human rights abuses.

The Muslim Rohingya are largely denied citizenship rights in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and face widespread social discrimination. Efforts to repatriate them have failed because of doubts their safety can be assured.

Most of the refugees leaving by sea attempt to reach Muslim-majority Malaysia, east of Aceh across the Malacca Strait, in search of work.


# Australia to send military personnel to help protect Red Sea shipping but no warship
By **ROD McGUIRK**
December 21, 2023. 5:10 AM EST

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**CANBERRA, Australia (AP)** - Australia will send 11 military personnel to support a U.S.-led mission to protect cargo shipping in the Red Sea, but it won't send a warship or plane, the defense minister said Thursday.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said that Australia's military needs to keep focused on the Pacific region.

The United States announced this week that several nations are creating a force to protect commercial shipping from attacks by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

Marles said that 11 military personnel would be sent in January to Operation Prosperity Guardian's headquarters in Bahrain, where five Australians are already posted.

"We won't be sending a ship or a plane," he told Sky News television. "That said, we will be almost tripling our contribution to the combined maritime force."

"We need to be really clear around our strategic focus, and our strategic focus is our region: the northeast Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Pacific," Marles added.

The U.S. and its allies are concerned by China's growing assertiveness in the region.

Australia is one of the United States' closest military allies. Last week, the U.S. Congress passed legislation allowing the sale of Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under a security pact that includes Britain.

Marles rejected opposition lawmakers' criticism that a failure to send a warship as the United States had requested made Australia a less reliable partner and ally.

"That's patently ridiculous," Marles said.

The U.S. is aware of the scale of the Australian defense force and the need to maintain its focus on the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

"It is to state the obvious that to take a major asset and put it in the Middle East is to take a major asset away from what we're doing in the immediate region," Marles said.

Opposition defense spokesman Andrew Hastie called on Australia to send a warship.

"It's in our national interest to contribute. If we want others to help us in a time of need, we need to step up and reciprocate now," Hastie said.

Several cargo ships in the Red Sea have been damaged by the attacks. Multiple shipping companies have ordered their ships not to enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until security is improved.


# Thailand sends 3 orangutans rescued from illicit wildlife trade back to Indonesia
By **JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI**
December 20, 2023. 11:32 PM EST

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**BANGKOK (AP)** - Three trafficked Sumatran orangutans were sent back from Thailand to Indonesia on Thursday as part of a joint effort between the countries to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

Nobita and Shizuka, both 7 years old, and Brian, 5 years old, had been living at a wildlife sanctuary in the western Thai province of Ratchaburi. After the repatriation, there are no more trafficked orangutans currently under the care of Thai authorities, officials said.

Rachmat Budiman, Indonesia's Ambassador to Thailand, thanked the authorities in both countries for the repatriation and said he has "mixed feelings" about it: happy the orangutans will be back in their natural habitat but sad for the Thai caretakers who had bonded with the animals over several years.

The orangutans were transported from the sanctuary to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport before being put on a plane to Jakarta. Thai officials said Indonesia covers the cost for transportation and the animals' health examinations.

They will be sent to a rehabilitation center in Sumatra before being released into their natural habitat, Rachtmat said.

The repatriation is "important" because it shows the two countries' commitment to collaborate in the fight against the illicit wildlife trade, said Athapol Charoenchansa, Thailand's director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. He said he hoped it would raise awareness about wildlife conservation in the region.

Thai and Indonesian officials fed the animals bananas and dragon fruit while they were being displayed inside their crates at the Bangkok airport before they were taken onto the plane.

In 2016, Nobita and Shizuka were just months old when they were found during a sting operation in Bangkok by wildlife officials, who had agreed to buy the pair online for $20,000. The then-baby orangutans, named after characters from the popular Japanese cartoon Doraemon, were put into a basket in the back of a taxi, and photos of them hugging each other tightly in the basket went viral at the time.

Brian, another male orangutan, was rescued from traffickers and sent to Thai wildlife officials in 2019.

Thailand has sent 74 orangutans back to Indonesia since 2006 in six batches, including the three on Thursday. In 2020, two orangutans named Ung-Ing and Natalie were repatriated.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - CITES - prohibits international trade in orangutans. They are found only in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo but their habitat is shrinking due to the growth of agricultural land use, making them more vulnerable to poaching. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global authority on the status of the natural world, lists orangutans as critically endangered.

Orangutans are often sold into the pet trade and for display in zoos and other attractions.


# UN is seeking to verify that Afghanistan's Taliban are letting girls study at religious schools
By **EDITH M. LEDERER**
December 20, 2023. 8:05 PM EST

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**UNITED NATIONS (AP)** - The United Nations is seeking to verify reports that Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are allowing girls of all ages to study at Islamic religious schools that are traditionally boys-only, the U.N.'s top official in the country said Wednesday.

U.N. special envoy Roza Otunbayeva told the U.N. Security Council and elaborated to reporters afterward that the United Nations is receiving "more and more anecdotal evidence" that girls can study at the schools, known as madrassas.

"It is not entirely clear, however, what constitutes a madrassa, if there is a standardized curriculum that allows modern education subjects, and how many girls are able to study in madrassas," she said.

The Taliban have been globally condemned for banning girls and women from secondary school and university, and allowing girls to study only through the sixth grade.

Taliban education authorities "continue to tell us that they are working on creating conditions to allow girls to return to school. But time is passing while a generation of girls is falling behind," Otunbayeva said.

She said that the Taliban Ministry of Education is reportedly undertaking an assessment of madrassas as well as a review of public school curriculum and warned that the quality of education in Afghanistan "is a growing concern."

"The international community has rightly focused on the need to reverse the ban on girls' education," Otunbayeva said, "but the deteriorating quality of education and access to it is affecting boys as well."

"A failure to provide a sufficiently modern curriculum with equality of access for both girls and boys will make it impossible to implement the de facto authorities' own agenda of economic self-sufficiency," she added.

A Human Rights Watch report earlier this month said the Taliban's "abusive" educational policies are harming boys as well as girls.

The departure of qualified teachers, including women, regressive curriculum changes and an increase in corporal punishment have led to greater fear of going to school and falling attendance, the report said. Because the Taliban have dismissed all female teachers from boys' schools, many boys are taught by unqualified people or sit in classrooms with no teachers at all, it said.

Turning to human rights, Otunbayeva said that the key features in Afghanistan "are a record of systemic discrimination against women and girls, repression of political dissent and free speech, a lack of meaningful representation of minorities, and ongoing instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment."

The lack of progress in resolving human rights issues is a key factor behind the current impasse between the Taliban and the international community, she said.

Otunbayeva said Afghanistan also faces a growing humanitarian crisis. With Afghans confronting winter weather, more people will depend on humanitarian aid, but with a drop in funding many of the needy will be more vulnerable than they were a year ago, she said.

U.N. humanitarian coordinator Ramesh Rajasingham said that "humanitarian needs continue to push record levels, with more than 29 million people requiring humanitarian assistance - one million more than in January, and a 340% increase in the last five years."

Between January and October, he said, the U.N. and its partners provided assistance to 26.5 million people, including 14.2 million women and girls. But as the year ends, the U.N. appeal is still seeking to close a $1.8 billion funding gap.

Rajasingham said the humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by three earthquakes in eight days in October in the western province of Herat that affected 275,000 people and damaged 40,000 homes.

A further problem is the return of more than 450,000 Afghans after Pakistan on Nov. 1 ordered "illegal foreigners" without documentation to leave, he said. More than 85% of the returnees are women and children, he said, and many have been stripped of their belongings, arrive in poor medical condition and require immediate assistance at the border as well and longer-term support.


# Separatist leader in Pakistan appears before cameras and says he has surrendered with 70 followers
By **ABDUL SATTAR**
December 20, 2023. 12:50 PM EST

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**QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)** - The leader of the main insurgent group in southwestern Pakistan appeared before cameras on Wednesday to say he has surrendered to authorities with some 70 of his followers and is giving up his yearslong fight for independence.

Sarfraz Bungulzai, who was previously known by his nom de guerre as Mureed Baluch, told reporters in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, that he feels remorse for the deadly attacks he and his Baluch National Army carried out against Pakistani security forces.

The group, also known by its acronym as BNA, has been banned by the government in Islamabad.

The development is a significant boost for Pakistan's government, which has battled militants and insurgents of various groups across the country. Earlier this year, Pakistan top intelligence agency arrested another prominent BNA member - Gulzar Imam, also known by the name Shambay, the group's founder.

Speaking at a government-organized news conference, Bungulzai declared that he deeply regrets his role in abducting civilians for ransom and the killings of unarmed people. It was not clear if he spoke under duress, if he had been taken into custody or if he would face any charges.

The insurgent leader also said he decided to lay down his arms after talks with authorities - but he stopped short of saying whether he and those who surrendered with him had been promised amnesty.

Bungulzai further said he became motivated to give up the fight after learning that his group, the Baluch National Army, was foreign funded and had the backing of neighboring India. He did not offer any evidence to his claims or provide details.

There was no immediate comment from New Delhi.

Pakistan often blames India for fomenting dissent within Pakistan, including the rebellion in Baluchistan, where small separatist groups have for years waged a low-scale insurgency against the state, demanding a greater share of resources or full independence from Islamabad.

Baluch separatist groups have also targeted gas pipelines across the province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan and is rich in oil and gas. Bungalzai's BNA has been behind the killing of hundreds of people there and has claimed responsibility for bombings and attacks in other parts of Pakistan as well.

During the televised news conference, Bungulzai also urged other separatists to lay down their arms and fight peacefully, through mainstream politics, for their rights. "The state is not our enemy, and we were misguided by foreign intelligence," he said.

There was no immediate response from the BNA to the reported surrender of its leader and scores of its members.

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar welcomed Bungulzai's surrender in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Baluchistan has been the scene of an insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades.