Mass exodus of Afghans as deadline to leave Pakistan arrives - CNA

PESHAWAR: Hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan faced detention and deportation on Wednesday (Nov 1), as a government deadline for them to leave sparked a mass exodus.

The government has given 1.7 million Afghans it says are living illegally in the country until Nov 1 to leave voluntarily or be forcibly removed.

Thousands joined a snaking queue that stretched 7km at the busiest border point on Wednesday, with border officials reporting at least 29,000 people crossed into Afghanistan the day before.

"Since Nov 1, the process of arrest and subsequent deportation of illegal foreigners has begun. However, the voluntary return of illegal foreigners will also continue and be encouraged," the interior ministry said in a statement.

It said more than 140,000 people have left Pakistan since the start of October when the order was issued by an unelected caretaker government ahead of elections due in January.

Forty-nine holding centres, some capable of holding several thousand people, opened across the country on Wednesday to process and deport Afghans, state media said.

"My heart doesn't really want to return to Afghanistan but I have no other choice," said 32-year-old Irfanullah, as he waited to be deported.

"The police were harassing me ... they used to disrespect all the men and women by entering our houses, that's why we are returning, to avoid further humiliation."

Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan in recent decades, fleeing a series of violent conflicts, including an estimated 600,000 since the Taliban government seized power in August 2021 and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

Human Rights Watch has said Afghans awaiting resettlement to the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada after fleeing the Taliban government are at risk of deportation after their Pakistan visas expired.

Pakistan has said the deportations are to protect its "welfare and security" after a sharp rise in attacks, which the government blames on militants operating from Afghanistan.

"EMERGENCY SITUATION"

Authorities on the Afghan side of the border have been overwhelmed by the scale of the exodus as they attempt to process those returning - some of whom are setting foot in Afghanistan for the first time in their lives.

Samiullah Samoon, who leads immigration registration at Torkham, said the crossing is facing "an emergency situation".

After fleeing to Afghanistan, 35-year-old Benafsha, four months pregnant with her seventh child, was waiting to be processed before moving on to her province of origin, Kunduz, with her family.

"In Kunduz, we don't have land, or a home, or work," said the woman, who was never documented in Pakistan despite living there almost all her life.

"We don't have anything there."

The Taliban government has urged Pakistan to give undocumented Afghans in the country more time to leave as pressure mounts at border posts.

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2023-11-01 12:07:57Z
CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9tYXNzLWV4b2R1cy0xNy1taWxsaW9uLWFmZ2hhbnMtZGVhZGxpbmUtbGVhdmUtcGFraXN0YW4tMzg4Nzc1NtIBAA

World would like to see continuity in management of China-US relationship: Ng Eng Hen - CNA

BOTH SIDES UNDERSTAND WHAT'S AT STAKE

The last time the Chinese and American presidents met in person was on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali last year. 

“Follow up and continuity is key. You can have meetings, but if there are no effective outcomes, then it actually discourages you,” said Dr Ng.  

“So, I'm optimistic this time there will be such an outcome because coming out of (the meeting in Bali), I think both sides have an understanding of what's more at stake.” 

During his trip, Dr Ng spoke at and attended the Xiangshan Forum, branded as Beijing’s answer to the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore. 

However, the annual defence gathering’s lack of high-level representation from the West has drawn attention.  

Over 90 nations and international organisations attended this year’s event, many from developing countries and the global south, seen as friends and partners of China.  

The US also sent a delegation to the event, but not at the defence minister level. 

Dr Ng said this can change if the US or western Europe were to recognise the importance of the platform.  

But on a larger scale, he pointed out that it reflected challenges the world faces, with a line being drawn between the developed world and the global south. 

“That itself is a friction point, a tectonic plate. If you don't pay attention to it, you will lose the global south, if you've not already lost it,” said Dr Ng.  

“The developed countries, you will lose the emerging economies, and without their buy-in, without their cooperation, you won't be able to address global challenges, not least like climate change.” 

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2023-11-01 07:00:00Z
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CNA Correspondent Podcast: Why are some of China's senior politicians disappearing? - CNA

First, they disappeared from public life, then from China's Cabinet lineup. Qin Gang was dropped as the country’s top diplomat and shortly after, Li Shangfu removed as defence minister. Theories abound as to why they fell out of favour.

Beijing correspondent Olivia Siong sits down with Teresa Tang in this episode.

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2023-10-31 23:40:00Z
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Commentary: What I learnt from taking the Chinese O-Level exam at age 30 - CNA

ACCEPTING FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY

The most immediate discomfort to re-learning my mother tongue came from the absurdly high frequency of basic mistakes I made.

It felt as though as I lost the ability to communicate. My thoughts were sluggish and my speech slurred. Reactions to my poor choice of words or sentence construction were tempting invitations to switch back to my dominant language, English.

Feelings of inadequacy like these would paralyse even the most motivated learners. We can try to quell it by force, to study relentlessly to the point where we feel capable. But with languages being so rich and complex, it is humility rather than prowess that would sustain our learning journey.

Such wisdom was bestowed to me by one of my many mentors, who include family, friends and strangers I met online. While coming from all walks of life, a common trait among these “teachers” was their patience in allowing me to make mistakes as I tried my best to communicate with them in Mandarin.

Whenever I practised Mandarin with them, they waited for me to stutter through my attempts, correcting me only when I finished speaking. I felt like my efforts were acknowledged, which encouraged me to keep engaging in the language despite the steep learning curve.

There is sound reasoning behind this. In his commentary, Daniel Chan, Assistant Dean of NUS Centre for Language Studies, explained that the theory of aggregate marginal gains, in which making a 1 per cent daily improvement would mathematically lead to a 38-fold improvement after a year, can be applied to learning languages.

I can attest this theory holds true. Through consistent self-study, I went from not knowing the Chinese character for “chicken” to writing a 900-word composition for my O-Level exam.

My former CLB teacher, Mr Wen, said it best: “The key to sustaining your learning is that you are neither afraid of mistakes nor in a rush to see results.”

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2023-10-31 22:03:30Z
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Israel attacks Hamas militants inside Gaza's tunnels - The Straits Times

GAZA/JERUSALEM - Israel said its forces fought Hamas gunmen inside the militants’ vast tunnel network beneath Gaza as a hospital director said more than 50 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in the besieged enclave.

The director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital told Al Jazeera that more than 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded in Israeli air strikes on a densely populated area of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The tunnels under the cramped enclave are a prime objective for Israel as it expands a four-day-old ground offensive after three weeks of aerial bombardment into Gaza.

Israel is aiming to dismantle Hamas, following the militant group’s attack on the south of the country on Oct 7.

Israeli officials say about 1,400 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.

Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip in retaliation and has killed more than 8,500 people there, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

United Nations officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday dismissed calls for a halt to fighting to ease the Palestinian enclave’s humanitarian crisis.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement: “Over the last day, combined IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation.”

The militants responded with anti-tank missiles and machine-gun fire, it added.

“The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” the IDF said. Israeli armed forces also bombed Gaza overnight in air, sea and ground attacks.

They targeted north-western areas of the Palestinian enclave where Israeli troops were operating on the ground, witnesses said on Tuesday.

The United States and Arab countries have urged Israel to delay any ground operation that would multiply the number of civilian casualties and might ignite a wider conflict.

Witnesses said Israeli forces targeted Gaza’s main north-south road on Monday and attacked Gaza City from two directions. Israel said its troops freed a soldier from Hamas captivity.

Hamas, an armed group that governs Gaza, has so far released four civilians from the 239 hostages that Israel says were captured on Oct 7. Many of the hostages are believed to be held in the tunnels.

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2023-10-31 15:31:57Z
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Israel says it attacked Hamas gunmen inside Gaza tunnels - CNA

The militant group has so far released four civilians from the 240 hostages Israel says were captured in the Oct 7 attacks in which about 1,400 people were killed. Many of the hostages are believed to be held in the tunnels.

Gaza health authorities say that 8,306 people, including 3,457 minors, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct 7. UN officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza's civilian population of about 2.3 million have been made homeless.

Reuters has been unable to independently verify casualty counts.

The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said militants clashed early on Tuesday with Israeli forces invading southern Gaza. Four vehicles were targeted with al-Yassin 105 missiles, it said, referring to locally produced anti-tank missiles.

The militants also fired at two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in northwest Gaza, al-Qassam said. In Beit Hanoun, in the northeast, they "liquidated" an Israeli unit which was ambushed as it entered a building.

Reuters was unable to confirm the reports of fighting. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the Hamas accounts.

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2023-10-31 12:54:29Z
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Police open fire at Paris train station on woman making 'threats' - CNA

PARIS: French police on Tuesday (Oct 31) shot and seriously wounded an unarmed woman who was making threats at a train station in Paris during morning rush hour, police and prosecutors told AFP.

According to witnesses, the woman, who was completely veiled, shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) and "made threats", a police source said, adding that "police fired because they feared for their safety".

After passengers on a suburban train alerted police, agents managed to "isolate" the woman at the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterrand station on the capital's south bank which was evacuated, the source said.

She "refused to follow police orders" and threatened "to blow herself up", the Paris prosecutor's office said.

A police officer then fired a single shot, inflicting a life-threatening injury to her abdomen, it said.

No explosives or other arms were found on the woman, the police source said.

Police have launched two investigations, prosecutors said. One will probe the woman's actions, while another will elucidate whether the police's use of a firearm was justified.

France has been under "attack alert" since Oct 13, when a teacher in the northern city of Arras was stabbed to death by a former pupil. The killer later claimed the attack for the Islamic State extremist group.

Many in France, which has large Muslim and Jewish populations, also fear repercussions from the Oct 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the Israeli retaliation in Gaza.

Bomb alerts have led to the evacuation of dozens of airports, train stations and tourist sites in recent weeks.

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2023-10-31 12:18:39Z
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