POPE DECRIES LOW BIRTH RATES IN EUROPE
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) decried low birth rates in Europe and urged more help for young people preparing their future path in society. “A Europe that rediscovers itself as a community will surely be a source of development for herself and for the whole world,” the pope told (Re)Thinking Europe - a project sponsored by the European bishops’ conference (COMECE). Europe is suffering, the pontiff said, from “a period of dramatic sterility. Not only because Europe has fewer children, and all too many were denied the right to be born, but also because there has been a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future.” The Argentinian pontiff described the European Union as a tired “grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant,” in a 2014 address to the European Parliament. On Saturday, he said he found Europe to be “increasingly distinguished by a plurality of cultures and religions” but warned of the dangers of erecting “walls of indifference and fear” when it came to assimilating migrants who “are more a resource than a burden.”
BANGLADESH ARRESTS THREE ISLAMIST MILITANTS
DHAKA: Bangladesh police Sunday arrested three suspected Islamist extremists and seized weapons and explosives in a raid targeting a homegrown group accused of orchestrating a string of deadly attacks. The trio were detained in a pre- dawn raid at a mango plantation in the northwestern district of Chapai Nawabganj. Commander Abdullah al Murad, from the Rapid Action Battalion, said the men were from the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, a group blamed for a cafe siege in Dhaka last year that left 22 people dead, including 17 foreigners. “We had information that around 14 to 15 JMB men were having a secret meeting deep inside the plantation. We conducted a raid early in the morning and managed to round up three of them,” he told AFP, adding the men would be charged with terrorism offenses.
SONIC ATTACK ALLEGATIONS ‘ POLITICAL MANIPULATION’ – CUBA
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Cuba has hit out at allegations that mysterious sonic attacks made American diplomats ill in the country, dismissing them as “political manipulation” aimed at undermining relations. At least 24 diplomats in Cuba suffered health problems from November 2016 to August 2017, in what US officials say may have been a result of attacks carried out with some kind of covert acoustic device. Washington has not formally blamed Havana, but in midOctober Trump said that he holds Cuba responsible -- and the White House has said it believes the country could bring the attacks to a halt. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said early Saturday it was “unacceptable and immoral” that any political differences between the two countries would translate into measures affecting their nationals.
MYANMAR POLICE CHARGE FOREIGN REPORTERS OVER DRONE USE
Myanmar police have charged two foreign journalists working for Turkish state media -- along with two Burmese locals -- for allegedly breaching import laws after they flew a drone over the country’s parliament. The men will be held in custody until their first court hearing on charges that carry up to three years in jail or a fine for the import and export of “restricted or banned goods” without obtaining a license. “We have opened a case against all four -- two foreigners and two Burmese. They will be held on remand until November 10,” deputy police colonel Kyaw Moe told AFP. The foreigners, Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, were arrested on Friday in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw while they were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT.
ISRAEL TO POSTPONE CONTROVERSIAL ‘ANNEXATION’ BILL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to postpone a vote on a controversial bill that critics say would amount to the de facto annexation of Israeli settlements surrounding Jerusalem, an official said Saturday. The bill had been expected to be voted on by a ministerial committee on Sunday, in a move that would fast-track its progress through parliament. But the Israeli official said on condition of anonymity that the bill needs “diplomatic preparation,” declining to elaborate further. It was a signal that Netanyahu wants to first discuss the bill with the US White House, which has been seeking to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. “The law also needs diplomatic preparation and thus will be postponed for the moment,” the official said. The bill would absorb major Israeli settlements currently in the occupied West Bank into Jerusalem by enlarging the city limits.
AT LEAST 14 DEAD IN MOGADISHU ATTACK
MOGADISHU: At least 14 people were killed in coordinated car bombings followed by an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, claimed by Shabaab Islamists. Following the blasts, witnesses reported hearing gunfire at the Nasa Hablod Hotel 2 which was sealed off by security forces with gunmen believed to be inside. “About 14 people, most of them civilians, were confirmed dead so far and the security forces are still working to ensure the area is clear,” said security official Mohamed Moalim Adan. He said “sporadic gunfire” was continuing with at least two gunmen from the Shabaab Islamist group believed to be inside the hotel. One senior police official and a former MP were among the dead. The attack came two weeks after a massive truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the troubled country’s history. The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab claimed Saturday’s bombing and hotel assault in a statement on its Andalus radio station.