Yameen challenges poll defeat:
In this photograph taken on Aug 12, 2018, Saleema Khanam (left), 8, studies inside a makeshift madrassa (Islamic seminary) with other boys in Kutupalong camp, in Ukhia near Cox’s Bazar.
Islamic seminaries or madrassas, catering to Rohingya children driven from Buddhist-majority Myanmar by a wave of genocidal violence, are springing up in the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh since a massive influx of Rohingya Muslims last year. Formal schooling, which suggests a permanent presence, is not allowed in the camps. For many children, the madrassas are the only places to learn. (AFP)
to crack down on such militants. Pakistan says it has used its contacts to assist in peace efforts and that it has limited influence over the Afghan Taleban. (AP) belief between Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan that the other country does not adequately prevent cross-border militant attacks.
Shah Mohammad and Nazirullah were arrested in 2016 after travelling to Pakistan to hand over information to Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency. They pleaded not guilty but eventually “confessed to their crime” before the military court in the eastern city of Jalalabad, officials said. “Each of them has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the primary court,” said Najiburrahman Nadim, a military prosecutor. (RTRS)
Maldives strongman President Abdulla Yameen filed a legal petition Wednesday challenging his landslide election defeat last month despite major international pressure for him to step down.
Lawyers for Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) told reporters that they are alleging that the Sept 23 vote was rigged by the independent election commission.
“We reviewed the numerous complaints filed by President Yameen’s supporters before deciding to file this challenge,” Yameen’s lead lawyer Mohamed Saleem told reporters.
“So in light of that, President Yameen decided that the challenge must be filed for the rights of his supporters,” he added.
It was however unclear whether the Supreme Court would agree to consider the challenge.
The election in the Indian Ocean archipelago, which has seen a tussle for influence between India and China, was won by Ibrahim Mohamed Solih with 58.4 percent of the vote. (AFP)