Jaishankar unveils Gandhi’s bust in Tokyo
Tokyo, July 27: Global icon Mahatma Gandhi’s timeless message of peace and non-violence is even more relevant today when the world is witnessing conflicts, polarisation and bloodshed, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday. Jaishankar’s remarks came as he unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Freedom Plaza in Edogawa, Tokyo. Jaishankar arrived in Japan on Sunday from Laos for a two-day visit for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting. He was received by India’s Ambassador to Japan, Sibi George. (PTI)
Ukraine hit oil depot in Russia
Kyiv, July 28: Ukraine on Sunday said it struck an oil depot in southern Russia that supplies the Kremlin’s troops as Russian strikes in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where Moscow claimed further gains, left five civilians dead and 15 others wounded. Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Kyiv’s security services were responsible for a drone strike in Russia’s southern Kursk region that morning on an oil depot used to meet the needs of the Russian military, and contains 11 tanks with a total volume of 7,000 cubic metres (about 247,202 cubic feet), adding the attack prompted “powerful explosions and a fire…probably involving containers with oil products”. “The defence forces continue to take all measures to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian occupiers and force the Russian Federation to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine,” the statement said. (AP)
Doctor shot dead in Pak
Lahore, July 28: A doctor belonging to the minority Ahmadi community was shot dead at his clinic by unidentified gunmen allegedly for his faith in Pakistan’s Punjab province, police said on Sunday. Dr Zakaur Rehman, who was in his 50s, was present at his dental clinic located in Lala Musa, Gujrat, some 200 kms from Lahore, when two unknown motorcyclists arrived there and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot and fled, police said. The family of the victim said he had no enmity with anyone and the killing appears to be faith-driven. (PTI)
S Korea, US urge Pyongyang to cease balloon campaign
Seoul, July 28: The defence chiefs of South Korea and the United States on Sunday strongly urged Pyongyang to immediately cease its repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons into the South, Seoul’s defence ministry said. Defence Minister Shin Won-sik and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, made the call as they met in Tokyo for bilateral talks, where they also discussed ways to strengthen their deterrence capabilities against North Korean threats, reports Yonhap news agency. Shin stressed that the North’s continued balloon campaign is a threat to South Korea’s sovereignty that breaches the Armistice Agreement, it added. Since late May, North Korea has launched thousands of trash-carrying balloons in a tit-for-tat response against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by defector groups and activists in the South. South Korea has also resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts near the border. (IANS)