Ukraine urges response to alleged killings of POWs
Kyiv, Oct 13: Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman urged international organisations Sunday to respond to a claim that several Ukrainian prisoners of war were executed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv had launched an incursion in August. DeepState, a Ukrainian battlefield analysis site close to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, said Russian troops shot and killed nine Ukrainian “drone operators and contractors” on Oct 10 after they had surrendered. Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram that he sent letters to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross regarding the claim, calling it “another crime committed by the Russians”. Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine said Russian troops had killed 16 captured Ukrainian soldiers in the partially occupied Donetsk region. There was no immediate response from Russian officials. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said Sunday that its air defences had shot down 31 of 68 drones launched at Ukraine by Russia. (AP)
Canadian MP voices concern over attacks on journalists
Ottawa, Oct 13: A prominent Canadian MP of Indian origin has voiced concern over attacks on journalists who report on Khalistani extremism in Canada and asked the authorities to deal with the situation with an iron hand “before it is too late”. “I am very concerned by attacks on journalists who report on Khalistani extremism in Canada,” Chandra Arya, a Member of Parliament from Nepean in the House of Commons, said while addressing the parliament on Friday. Citing attacks on Rishi Nagar of Red FM Calgary a few days, he said that there are many more attacks in Greater Toronto Area and across Canada by Khalistani extremists. “I call on law enforcement agencies to take notice of Khalistani extremism with all seriousness it deserves. It has to be dealt with an iron hand before it is too late,” he said. He recalled that in March 2023, Sameer Kaushal of Radio AM600 was assaulted for covering a Khalistan protest. In February 2022, Brampton radio host Deepak Punj was attacked in his studio for criticising Khalistan-related violence, he added. (AP)
Pak secures
USD 10mn for climate solutions
Islamabad, Oct 13: Pakistan has secured USD 10 million in climate finance funding to enhance integrated and adaptive water resource management in the Indus River, with a particular focus on nature-based solutions, to benefit the local communities. The funding was approved on Friday by the Adaptation Fund Board for the project called Sustainable Actions for Ecosystems Restoration in Pakistan, according to a statement by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. The Adaptation Fund was established in 2001 to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries which are Parties of the Kyoto Protocol that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. (PTI)