A US appeals court on Friday rejected the plea deal of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In this deal, Khalid was appealed to be given a life sentence to save him from hanging. The court rejected it in a 2-1 decision. Last year in July 2024, a deal was struck with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his two companions. Under this, they would have confessed their crimes and escaped the death penalty. This could have ended the case, which was going on for many years. But this deal angered the families of the victims of the 9/11 attack. Their demand was that there should be an open trial of the accused. Just two days after the deal was struck, the then US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled it. He said that it is not right to make a deal in such a big case. The families of the victims, American soldiers and the public have the right to see the trial in a military court in this case. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of plotting and directing the 2001 9/11 attacks, in which terrorists hijacked planes. The terrorists crashed the planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, killing about 3,000 people. After this decision of the court, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his associates will be tried in a military court. Also read this news related to international affairs…. America bans visas of Cuban President and senior officials, hotels and government properties banned The US has imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and several senior officials. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made this announcement. Rubio said on the social media platform X that the US has banned the visas of the Cuban President, Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera, Home Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas and their associates. Apart from this, the luxury Torre Hotel and government properties have been banned by the US, so that American money does not help in promoting the policies of the Cuban government. Rubio said, “While the people of Cuba were struggling with lack of food, water, medicine and electricity, the government is spending money on its close ones.” The US has taken this step in response to the violence during the 2021 protests and in support of more than 700 political prisoners. Rubio also mentioned the torture of pro-democracy activist Jose Daniel Ferrer in Cuba, who was detained in April. Rubio also demanded the release of all political prisoners. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described these sanctions as part of America’s economic war policy. He said that the US cannot break the will of the people and leaders of Cuba. Earlier, former US President Joe Biden had removed Cuba from the list of terrorist countries, but President Donald Trump included Cuba in this list after coming to power again. Russian Foreign Minister reached North Korea, met Kim Jong Un, tried to improve military relations Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday. The Russian Foreign Ministry shared a video on Telegram, in which the two leaders were seen shaking hands and hugging. Lavrov will stay in North Korea till Sunday. This visit is part of improving the growing military and political relations between the two countries. North Korea has talked about giving missiles to the Russian army. At the same time, North Korea confirmed in April that it would send thousands of troops to the Russian-occupied Kursk region to support Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea on 19 June 2024. This was his first official visit to North Korea. The two countries also signed a military agreement. Russia fired 597 drones and 26 missiles on Ukraine, two killed, many injured On Saturday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 597 drones and 26 missiles, killing two people and injuring many. This was the fourth major attack this month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that civilian buildings were damaged in Kharkiv, Sumy, Lviv, Lutsk and Chernivtsi in Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian army shot down 25 missiles and 577 drones. Ali Zardari will remain President, PM Shahbaz Sharif said- Field Marshal Asim Munir never demanded the post of President Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has rejected the claims of asking President Asif Ali Zardari to resign and making Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir the President. The Prime Minister termed these claims as mere rumours and said that there is no truth in these reports spread in the media. Talking to ‘The News’ on Friday, Shahbaz Sharif said, “Field Marshal Asim Munir never expressed a desire to become President, nor is there any such plan.” In fact, for the last few days, there were talks in Pakistan about making Asim Munir the President. Talks will start again on India-Nepal border after 6 years; Disputed areas not discussed India and Nepal are going to have a meeting of the Boundary Working Group (BWG) this month after six years. This bilateral group looks after technical works like repair, construction and survey of pillars on the India-Nepal border. However, disputed areas like Susta and Kalapani have been kept out of the talks. The last meeting of the BWG was held in Dehradun in August 2019. It was then decided that all the border-related work would be completed by 2022. But the talks stalled due to the Corona epidemic and the subsequent dispute over the map. Now India has proposed two possible dates for the second and last week of July. The BWG was established in 2014 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal. This group works on technical aspects like repair of border pillars (D2), GPS-based survey (D4), list of land occupations of both the countries (D3) and joint inspection (D1). WHO fires Saima Wajid, daughter of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accused of fraud and corruption The World Health Organization (WHO) has fired Saima Wajid, Southeast Asian director and daughter of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh’s interim government claims that Saima was involved in fraud and corruption during her mother’s reign. Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accused Saima earlier this year of using her mother’s influence to secure the post of WHO regional head. According to ACC Deputy Director Akhtarul Islam, Saima misrepresented her educational qualifications during the nomination process. According to a report by Health Policy Watch, WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus informed employees via email that Saima has been sent on leave from June 11. Saima was working as the Southeast Asian Regional Director for WHO since November 2023. In her place, Dr. Katharina Boehme, WHO Assistant Director-General, will take charge of South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). Trump administration fired more than 1350 employees from US State Department In a major reshuffle in the US State Department, the Trump administration on Friday sacked more than 1,350 employees. These include 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers. The Trump administration is calling this move the beginning of re-directing foreign policy under the America First agenda. Democratic lawmakers and former diplomats have criticized this move. At the State Department office, colleagues clapped out in applause for the employees bidding farewell on Friday. Many people were seen crying emotionally. The sacked employees were given a separation checklist. It was told that after 5 pm on Friday, they would be removed from office and email access. This change is part of the vision of Trump and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, under which the goal is to reduce bureaucracy and remove non-essential programs. Under this, the desk running the Afghan refugee program has also been closed.
