17 PAKISTANI CITIZENS ARRESTED OVER BOGUS MARRIAGES IN EUROPE
LONDON: A cross-europe investigation into men entering into bogus marriages for immigration purposes has led to the arrest of 17 Pakistani citizens, officials of European agencies Europol and Eurojust announced on Tuesday. The men belonged to what officials called an ‘organised crime group’ that recruited dozens of European women into sham marriages. The arrests were carried out after a probe by Belgian authorities and the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service. “The criminal group was involved in the facilitation of illegal immigration by organising sham marriages, predominately between Portuguese and Pakistanis”, Europol said.
Trump sends letter to North Korean leader Kim
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has sent a letter to North Koran leader Kim Jong Un, an informed source familiar with the ongoing denuclearisation talks between Washington and Pyongyang told CNN. The letter comes as the two sides negotiate details of a second meeting between the two leaders. It was flown to Pyongyang and delivered by hand, the source said on Monday. According to the source, North Korea’s former intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol could visit Washington to finalise the upcoming summit.
IANS
Seoul drops ‘enemy’ reference to North Korea
SEOUL: Seoul crossed out a reference to North Korea as its enemy in a defence white paper published on Tuesday, amid warming ties despite stalled talks between Pyongyang and Washington. Ties between the two Koreas have warmed in recent months under South’s President Moon Jae In, who has held three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since taking office in 2017. The report said “any external force” that threatened the country’s sovereignty would be considered an enemy.
Landslide engulfs Pak bus carrying workers, killing 8
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police say a landslide triggered by this week’s rains engulfed a bus carrying workers on a dam project in the northwest, killing eight people. Regional police chief Raja Abdul Saboor says the incident took place on a hilly road late on Monday. He said rescuers managed to retrieve all the bodies.
The bus was taking workers to their homes from the site of Dasu Dam being built on the Indus
River in Kohistan district. Police said there are no survivors. AP
Facebook to invest $300 mn to support journalism
WASHINGTON: Facebook announced on Tuesday that it will invest $300 million over three years to support journalism, with an emphasis on promoting hard-hit local news organisations. The move, on the heels of a similar initiative by Google last year, comes with online platforms dominating the internet advertising ecosystem, making it harder for legacy news organizations to make a transition to digital. “People want more local news, and local newsrooms are looking for support,” Campbell Brown, in charge of Facebook’s global news partnerships, said.