Terrorism Watch

  According to the police and eyewitnesses, a verbal altercation over a minor issue broke out on Saturday between 28-year-old Masum Mia, who entered the sweetshopat 11 am, and a 17-year-old employee of the shop called Ananta Das. The argument soon escalated into a physical fight. A Hindu man was beaten to death in the Gazipur district of Bangladesh while trying to protect his shop employee from an assault, police said on Saturday. 55-year-old Liton Chandra Ghosh, alias Kali, was the owner of a sweetshop called Baishakhi Sweetmeat and Hotel in Baranagar Road, where the altercation happened. According to the police and eyewitnesses, a verbal altercation over a minor issue broke out on Saturday between 28-year-old Masum Mia, who entered the sweetshop at 11 am, and a 17-year-old employee of the shop called Ananta Das. The argument soon escalated into a physical fight. Soon after, Masum's parents, Mohammad Swapan Mia, 55, and Majeda Khatun, 45, arrived at the scene and jo...

  The warnings come as Trump has suggested possible military strikes against drug cartel targets in Mexico. However, Mexican authorities said the US advisory has no operational implications for Mexico The  US  Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a series of flight advisories on Friday, warning airlines to exercise caution in the airspace over  Mexico, Central America and parts of South America  due to potential "military activities." "The FAA issued flight advisory notices to Airmen for specified areas of Mexico, Central America, Panama, Bogota, Guayaquil and Mazatlan Oceanic Flight Regions, and in airspace within the eastern Pacific Ocean," an FAA spokesperson said, adding that the advisory is effective for 60 days beginning on Friday. The warnings cite possible interference with global navigation satellite systems that could cause a "potentially hazardous situation." Trump suggests possible military strikes in Mexico The development comes amid h...

Kurdish-led SDF accuses Syrian forces of violating withdrawal deal as they take key towns and oilfields. The United States has urged Syrian troops to halt their advance through Kurdish-held territory in Syria’s north, amid clashes with Kurdish-led forces over strategic posts and oilfields along the Euphrates River. The rapid advance of Syrian troops on Saturday came after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to retreat east of the river, following recent fighting in Aleppo and areas east of the city over  stalled plans  to merge the SDF into the Syrian state. Brad Cooper, who heads the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), wrote on X that Syrian troops should “cease any offensive actions in areas” between the city of Aleppo and the town of Tabqa, approximately 160km (100 miles) further east in the Raqqa governorate. On Saturday, the Syrian Army Operations Command told Al Jazeera Arabic that the military had entered Tabqa, a strategic town near a dam and a m...

  An emotional audio clip has gone viral on social media, purportedly featuring Sarabjeet Kaur, an Indian woman who travelled to Pakistan for a Sikh pilgrimage in November last year and later converted to Islam and married a Pakistani man, bringing renewed attention to her case. In an unauthenticated audio clip, Kaur is believed to be speaking to her former husband in India, asking her to bring her back home, claiming that she was being harassed in Pakistan. The 48-year-old Sikh woman, a resident of Amanipur village in the Kapurthala district of Punjab, was among 2,000 Sikh pilgrims who had entered Pakistan via the Wagah border from India in November last year to attend the festivities related to the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The pilgrims returned home after a few days, but Kaur went missing. A senior police officer in Lahore later said that Kaur contracted marriage with Nasir Hussain of Sheikhupura district, some 50 kilometres from Lahore, a day after she arrived in Pakista...

United States President Donald Trump on Friday appointed the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair to the newly created Gaza ‘board of peace’ United States President  Donald Trump  on Friday appointed the US Secretary of State  Marco Rubio  and former Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair  to the newly created Gaza “board of peace”. In his latest announcement, Trump made it clear that the body will be responsible for steering the next phase of reconstruction and governance in the war-ravaged coastal enclave. Meanwhile, the  White House  noted that the seven-strong “founding executive board” will also include Trump’s special envoy, the property developer  Steve Witkoff ; the World Bank president,  Ajay Banga ; and the president’s son-in-law and long-time adviser  Jared Kushner . Trump himself will serve as the chair of the board, and further appointments are expected to be made in the coming weeks....

After the car appeared to leave before paying, 30-year-old Ripon Saha stood in front of the car to stop him. However, the driver ran over him and fled, killing Saha on the spot.   A Hindu man was crushed to death by an SUV in Bangladesh belonging to a former Bangladesh Nationalist Party worker. 30-year-old Ripon Saha, a fuel station worker, tried to stop the vehicle from leaving the petrol pump without paying for the fuel, but the car allegedly ran over him before fleeing.  According to The Daily Star, the victim was working at Karim Filling Station in Goalanda Mor at the time of the incident.  "We will file a murder case. The worker stood in front of the car after they refused to pay for fuel, and they ran him over before fleeing," Rajbari Sadar Police chief Khondakar Ziaur Rahman told news portal bdnews24.com. Police and eyewitnesses said that a black SUV took fuel worth Rs 3,710 from the filling station at around 4:30 am on Friday. After the car appeared to leave befor...

  The European Union has warned that BiH must urgently eliminate serious shortcomings in the system for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, because otherwise it faces being placed on the FATF “grey list” after the expiry of a one-year observation period. The EU emphasizes that the urgent adoption of key laws and the establishment of a register of beneficial owners are necessary in order to avoid serious economic and financial consequences for BiH. Sarajevo, (Fena) – The European Union has presented its position on the need for urgent action to eliminate deficiencies in the system in BiH for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, and announced that in February 2025 BiH entered a one-year observation period by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The EU Delegation in BiH states that this occurred due to a series of deficiencies in the system for preventing money laundering and combating terrorist financing in BiH, which were identified by the Council...

Since the outbreak of war in Sudan, the “humanitarian ceasefire” has become a recurring political refrain, usually invoked whenever the humanitarian catastrophe reaches a breaking point. However, the ceasefire proposed today comes at a far more dangerous time. It follows the systematic commission of ethnic cleansing by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, one of the most horrific crimes in Sudan’s modern history. El Fasher, once a symbol of diversity and coexistence, has been devastated and emptied of its population. In the wake of this atrocity, the international community has returned to the proposal of a humanitarian truce. This shift requires a careful political reading that looks beyond moral slogans to unpack the underlying motives and potential consequences for Sudan’s geographic and social unity. A path to peace or a gateway to disintegration? There is a popular proverb that says, “If you see a poor man eating chicken, then either the poor man is sick or the chicken is ...

Addressing judges in The Hague, Ko Ko Hlaing, speaking as Myanmar’s agent, said his country fully recognizes the importance of the 1948   Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide   but firmly denies breaching its obligations under international law. “A finding of genocide would place an indelible stain on my country and its people,” he said, describing the proceedings as “of fundamental importance for my country’s reputation and future.” Mr. Hlaing accused the applicant of relying on what he called rudimentary and partisan, including reports by a fact-finding mission, “which are neither reliable nor objective, and were a condemnation without trial of Myanmar.” UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/ Frank van Beek Ko Ko Hlaing, Agent of Myanmar, addresses judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Myanmar acted against terrorists Myanmar also rejected claims that its military’s so-called “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine state in 2016 and 2...

As relations between India and Afghanistan continue to be defined economically, it is Pakistan that will be the loser, perhaps an unintended consequence of its own inability to be a good neighbour.   So finally, a Taliban diplomat is officially in charge in Delhi. The Taliban's newly appointed ambassador to India, Noor Ahmad Noor, took charge of the Afghan Embassy in Delhi last week. A statement issued by the Taliban's embassy in India on Monday said he met Anand Prakash, Joint Secretary of the Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran Division at the Ministry of External Affairs, with discussions focusing on strengthening political and trade ties, including easing visa procedures. Interestingly, just about a year ago, on January 8, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had met Muttaqi, the Taliban foreign minister, in Dubai for "detailed discussions" on bilateral relations. This was the first high-level meeting between the two sides following the Taliban's sweep to power ...

The country aims to close remaining gaps in its financial crime framework before its next evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force. South Africa has proposed revisions to its financial crime legislation to tackle remaining gaps in its framework. The national treasury has floated amendments to four pieces of legislation, along with proposals to equip the South African Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) with more power. The bill was released by the Treasury for public comment on Wednesday (14 January). The Draft General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill 2025 provides an updated legal framework to the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill 2024. The items of legislation that fall under the proposed amendments are the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001, the Companies Act 2008, the Financial Sector Regulation Act 2017 and the Nonprofit Organisations Act 1997. Among the revisions, the new bil...

Turkey is in advanced talks to join a defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that treats an attack on one member as an attack on all, a provision similar to Nato’s Article 5, Bloomberg reported. The proposed move signals a major shift in regional security alignments across the Middle East, South Asia and parts of Africa. What's Islamic Nato defence pact? A defence arrangement was signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in September. According to Bloomberg, the pact states that “any aggression” against one member would be treated as an attack on all. Turkey, a Nato member with the second-largest military in the alliance after the US, is now seeking to formally join the grouping. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, on condition of anonymity, that talks on Turkey’s entry are at an advanced stage and a deal appears likely. Why Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are coming together Bloomberg reported that the proposed expansion reflects a growing overlap in the strategi...

The Middle East region is undergoing a significant transformation. The region is on the brink of another major divide. On the one hand, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and India have formed a coalition that supports further fragmentation of the region and has caused numerous regional crises. On the other hand, Türkiye, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have come together to prevent further escalation of regional instability. While the first coalition has been largely exploiting the minorities living in the region and instrumentalizing them against their respective governments, the second coalition has been trying to accommodate all regional peoples and minorities, including the Kurdish people, for the benefit and stabilization of the region. The Kurds are among the most sensitive actors living in areas of potential political instability. Today, there is a favorable political atmosphere in the region where Kurds can easily reach agreements with central governments, namely Türkiye, Iraq ...