Dozens received injuries on Sunday as Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who rallied over the death of a writer in jail.&nbsp;

At a road and a footpath opposite the National Press Club, police dispersed protesters by beating them with batons, television footage live from Channel 24 showed.&nbsp;

Clashes between police and demonstrators from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) began when police responded to stone hurling by "firing rubber bullets and tear gas", Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka police Sazzadur Rahman told news agency AFP.

"They did not take any permission (for the protests)," he said, defending the police's action.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/anger-in-bangladesh-after-writer-detained-over-social-media-posts-dies-in-jail-366525">Anger in Bangladesh after writer detained over social media posts, dies in jail</a>

BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed said nearly 30 student leaders of the party including a senior leader were wounded in the clashes.&nbsp;

Many cops were also injured, and a policeman was also admitted to the hospital.&nbsp;

The spokeman said over 500 protesters were present at the press club to form a human chain denouncing the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed.

The 53-year-old writer was arrested in Dhaka in May last year over comments on social media that slammed the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;

He was denied bail at least six times and lost his life on Thursday.&nbsp;

For the last few days, protesters have marched at the Dhaka University denouncing the treatment of Mushtaq Ahmed and other journalists, activists and writers.&nbsp;

Dozens received injuries on Sunday as Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who rallied over the death of a writer in jail. At a road and a footpath opposite the National Press Club, police dispersed protesters by beating them with batons, television footage live from Channel 24 showed.

Dozens received injuries on Sunday as Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who rallied over the death of a writer in jail. At a road and a footpath opposite the National Press Club, police dispersed protesters by beating them with batons, television footage live from Channel 24 showed. Clashes between police and demonstrators from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) began when police responded to stone hurling by "firing rubber bullets and tear gas", Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka police Sazzadur Rahman told news agency AFP. "They did not take any permission (for the protests)," he said, defending the police's action. Also read | Anger in Bangladesh after writer detained over social media posts, dies in jail BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed said nearly 30 student leaders of the party including a senior leader were wounded in the clashes. Many cops were also injured, and a policeman was also admitted to the hospital. The spokeman said over 500 protesters were present at the press club to form a human chain denouncing the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed. The 53-year-old writer was arrested in Dhaka in May last year over comments on social media that slammed the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. He was denied bail at least six times and lost his life on Thursday. For the last few days, protesters have marched at the Dhaka University denouncing the treatment of Mushtaq Ahmed and other journalists, activists and writers.

Bangladesh: Clashes erupt over writer's death in jail; protesters, police injured

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during a visit to Tehran on Saturday (February 27).

The visit comes two days after the United States carried out air strikes authorized by President Joe Biden against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria , in response to rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq.

Biden said Iran cannot act with impunity and warned Iran to "be careful" when asked what message he was sending the country with the strikes in Syria on Thursday (February 25).

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/iran-cant-act-with-impunity-says-us-president-joe-biden-366556/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

On Saturday, Iran's top security official, Ali Shamkhani, said the strikes "encourage terrorism in the region." Shamkhani made the remarks during his meeting with Hussein.

Hussein, on his second visit to Iran in a month, later met with Zarif.

Hussein is in Iran "to discuss regional developments, including ways to balance relations and avoid tension and escalation" with Iranian officials, according to an Iraqi foreign ministry statement.

An Iraqi militia official close to Iran said the strikes killed one fighter and wounded four. U.S. officials said they were limited in scope to show Biden's administration will act firmly while trying to avoid a big regional escalation.

Shamkhani said "we will confront the U.S. plan to revive terrorism in the region", but did not elaborate.

The air strikes targeted militia sites on the Syrian side of the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, where groups backed by Iran control an important crossing for weapons, personnel and goods.

Western officials and some Iraqi officials accuse Iranian-backed groups of involvement in deadly rocket attacks on U.S. sites and personnel in Iraq over the last month.

Washington and Tehran are seeking maximum leverage in attempts to save Iran's nuclear deal reached with world powers in 2015 but abandoned in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, after which regional tensions soared.

 
&nbsp;

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during a visit to Tehran on Saturday (February 27). The visit comes two days after the United States carried out air strikes authorized by President Joe Biden against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria , in response to rocket attacks against U.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during a visit to Tehran on Saturday (February 27). The visit comes two days after the United States carried out air strikes authorized by President Joe Biden against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria , in response to rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq. Biden said Iran cannot act with impunity and warned Iran to "be careful" when asked what message he was sending the country with the strikes in Syria on Thursday (February 25). Watch | On Saturday, Iran's top security official, Ali Shamkhani, said the strikes "encourage terrorism in the region." Shamkhani made the remarks during his meeting with Hussein. Hussein, on his second visit to Iran in a month, later met with Zarif. Hussein is in Iran "to discuss regional developments, including ways to balance relations and avoid tension and escalation" with Iranian officials, according to an Iraqi foreign ministry statement. An Iraqi militia official close to Iran said the strikes killed one fighter and wounded four. U.S. officials said they were limited in scope to show Biden's administration will act firmly while trying to avoid a big regional escalation. Shamkhani said "we will confront the U.S. plan to revive terrorism in the region", but did not elaborate. The air strikes targeted militia sites on the Syrian side of the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, where groups backed by Iran control an important crossing for weapons, personnel and goods. Western officials and some Iraqi officials accuse Iranian-backed groups of involvement in deadly rocket attacks on U.S. sites and personnel in Iraq over the last month. Washington and Tehran are seeking maximum leverage in attempts to save Iran's nuclear deal reached with world powers in 2015 but abandoned in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, after which regional tensions soared.

Iran, Iraq foreign ministers meet against backdrop of US air strikes in Syria

It wasn’t exactly a sunken treasure.

But that apparently didn’t stop a team of divers in Argentina from going to extraordinary lengths to pilfer 700 liters, or 185 gallons, of artisanal beer that had been left by three local breweries to age, attached to a sunken ship, on the ocean floor.

The owners of the three breweries in Mar del Plata, which had teamed up with a diving school for what they described as a first-of-its-kind monthslong experiment in deep-water beermaking, were left mystified, and heartbroken, upon discovering Tuesday that the barrels were gone.

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/5000-year-old-beer-factory-ancient-mass-production-brewery-uncovered-in-egypt-364039/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

“I started crying,” said Carlos Brelles, who runs the Thalassa Diving School in Mar del Plata, a coastal city 5 miles from the sunken ship. “Three or four people without morals destroyed the work of so many people who put in so much effort.”

Brelles and the brewery owners said they have no clues that could shed light on the disappearance of the barrels, but they haven’t ruled out an act of sabotage. They asked prosecutors to open a criminal investigation.

It was a bitter end to an idea years in the making that was hatched over casual chats at the diving school.

Brelles, 52, having read news reports about beer that had been aged underwater in other countries, pitched the idea back in 2018 to a friend, Eduardo Ricardo, 40, one of the owners of Heller Brewery. And as the notion spread among beer enthusiasts in Mar del Plata, several took to the idea — but had a twist. Previous experiments had involved shallower depths, so they wanted to test beers made under greater pressure. They spent months securing permits to affix the barrels to the Kronomether, an abandoned Soviet-era ship 66 feet underwater that sank in 2014 and had become a favorite spot of recreational divers.

“No one had ever done this before,” said Juan Pablo Vincent, 43, master brewer at Baum brewery, who was involved in the effort.

The brewers settled on a dark, strong ale with an alcohol level of between 11% and 12%.

It took more than a year to obtain the necessary permits, and then coronavirus quarantine measures slowed down the endeavor, so the team was only able to lower the seven barrels of beer into the ocean Nov. 22.

The plan was to blend the content in the barrels with another beer. If all went according to plan, the brewers expected to be left with 1,000 liters, or 264 gallons, of a custom-made brew that would fill some 2,000 bottles and sell under the name Kronomether.

The breweries intended to donate the proceeds to a local natural science museum.

Brelles dove to check on the barrels Jan. 19, and everything looked fine. He returned this Tuesday, a day before the barrels were going to be brought back to land, and couldn’t believe his eyes: All the barrels were gone.

Vincent said the contents of the barrels would be useless in the hands of people who lack sophisticated beer-making skills, since the purpose of the brew was to mix it with another beer.

“If they stole it for their own consumption, they’re going to have to throw it away,” said Vincent. “It was a lukewarm, gasless liquor that would be very difficult to drink.”

Vincent said he suspects vandals broke the barrels loose.

“I think they broke everything so the barrels would drift away,” Brelles said. “It was malice for malice’s sake.”

Despite the disappointment, they are determined to try again.

Brelles agreed. “We can’t let them win,” he said. “We have to do it again.” 
&nbsp;

It wasn’t exactly a sunken treasure. But that apparently didn’t stop a team of divers in Argentina from going to extraordinary lengths to pilfer 700 liters, or 185 gallons, of artisanal beer that had been left by three local breweries to age, attached to a sunken ship, on the ocean floor.

It wasn’t exactly a sunken treasure. But that apparently didn’t stop a team of divers in Argentina from going to extraordinary lengths to pilfer 700 liters, or 185 gallons, of artisanal beer that had been left by three local breweries to age, attached to a sunken ship, on the ocean floor. The owners of the three breweries in Mar del Plata, which had teamed up with a diving school for what they described as a first-of-its-kind monthslong experiment in deep-water beermaking, were left mystified, and heartbroken, upon discovering Tuesday that the barrels were gone. Watch | “I started crying,” said Carlos Brelles, who runs the Thalassa Diving School in Mar del Plata, a coastal city 5 miles from the sunken ship. “Three or four people without morals destroyed the work of so many people who put in so much effort.” Brelles and the brewery owners said they have no clues that could shed light on the disappearance of the barrels, but they haven’t ruled out an act of sabotage. They asked prosecutors to open a criminal investigation. It was a bitter end to an idea years in the making that was hatched over casual chats at the diving school. Brelles, 52, having read news reports about beer that had been aged underwater in other countries, pitched the idea back in 2018 to a friend, Eduardo Ricardo, 40, one of the owners of Heller Brewery. And as the notion spread among beer enthusiasts in Mar del Plata, several took to the idea — but had a twist. Previous experiments had involved shallower depths, so they wanted to test beers made under greater pressure. They spent months securing permits to affix the barrels to the Kronomether, an abandoned Soviet-era ship 66 feet underwater that sank in 2014 and had become a favorite spot of recreational divers. “No one had ever done this before,” said Juan Pablo Vincent, 43, master brewer at Baum brewery, who was involved in the effort. The brewers settled on a dark, strong ale with an alcohol level of between 11% and 12%. It took more than a year to obtain the necessary permits, and then coronavirus quarantine measures slowed down the endeavor, so the team was only able to lower the seven barrels of beer into the ocean Nov. 22. The plan was to blend the content in the barrels with another beer. If all went according to plan, the brewers expected to be left with 1,000 liters, or 264 gallons, of a custom-made brew that would fill some 2,000 bottles and sell under the name Kronomether. The breweries intended to donate the proceeds to a local natural science museum. Brelles dove to check on the barrels Jan. 19, and everything looked fine. He returned this Tuesday, a day before the barrels were going to be brought back to land, and couldn’t believe his eyes: All the barrels were gone. Vincent said the contents of the barrels would be useless in the hands of people who lack sophisticated beer-making skills, since the purpose of the brew was to mix it with another beer. “If they stole it for their own consumption, they’re going to have to throw it away,” said Vincent. “It was a lukewarm, gasless liquor that would be very difficult to drink.” Vincent said he suspects vandals broke the barrels loose. “I think they broke everything so the barrels would drift away,” Brelles said. “It was malice for malice’s sake.” Despite the disappointment, they are determined to try again. Brelles agreed. “We can’t let them win,” he said. “We have to do it again.”

Aging beer in a sunken ship sounded like a good idea. Thieves thought so too.

The Taliban prison is a ruined house, a cave, a filthy basement in an abandoned dwelling, or a village mosque. Beatings or worse are a certainty, and the sentence is indefinite. Food, if there is any, is stale bread and cold beans. A bed is the floor or a dirty carpet. The threat of death — screamed, shouted, sometimes inflicted — is ever-present.

Malik Mohammadi, a calm 60-year-old farmer, watched the Taliban put to death his 32-year-old son Nasrullah, an army officer, in one such prison. Over a period of nine days last year, Nasrullah, an epileptic, was refused medicine by his captors. He was denied food. His father saw blood coming from his mouth, and bruises from beatings. On the 10th day, he died.

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/afghanistan-slain-journalists-family-killed-366738/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

“The Taliban beat him,” Mohammadi said quietly. “I watched the killing of my son.”

Such repression is part of the Taliban’s strategy of control in the territories under their rule. While the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators in Qatar fitfully talk about meeting for talks, even as the idea of real peace recedes, the reality is that the insurgents already hold much of the country. An approaching U.S. withdrawal, coupled with a weak Afghan security force scarcely able to defend itself, means the group is likely to maintain this authority and its brutal ways of invoking submission.

One of the Taliban’s most fearsome tools for doing so is a loose network of prisons, an improvised archipelago of mistreatment and suffering, in which the insurgents inflict harsh summary judgment on their fellow Afghans, arbitrarily stopping them on the highway. Mostly, they are looking for soldiers and government workers. The government too has been accused of mistreatment in its prisons, with the United Nations recently finding that nearly one-third of the Afghan army’s prisoners have been tortured.

In the Taliban’s case, the detained are locked up in hidden makeshift prisons, a universe of incarceration in which the hapless charges are often moved, day after day, from ruined house to isolated mosque, and back again — without any sense of how long their detention will last. The approach is anything but discriminating.

“It keeps coming back to me in my sleep,” said Sayed Hiatullah, a 42-year-old shopkeeper in Faizabad. Last year, Hiatullah was falsely accused at a Taliban checkpoint of working for state security. He was imprisoned for 25 days.

“I wake up and scream,” he said. “It was the darkest, most bitter period in my life. I was in shock for six months,” Hiatullah said.

“I relive my memories 100%, every second, every minute,” said Atiqullah Hassanzada, 31, an ex-soldier captured last year on his way to a military hospital in Kabul, speaking on the floor of his home. “I was beaten on the backs of my thighs and on the shoulder,” he said.

Faizabad, a town in Afghanistan’s far north and the capital of Badakhshan province, is inhabited by numerous ex-prisoners of the Taliban, as the insurgents control many of the roads from here to the capital, Kabul. Making that journey means exposure to Taliban checkpoints, and capture.

In Faizabad, the Taliban’s technique is to incarcerate and punish first and ask questions later. There is no judge and no court. Local villagers are forced to provide food. While thousands of Afghans have been detained in this way, there are no statistics. Afghan special forces said they recently freed more than 40 detainees from a Taliban prison in Baghlan province, a not uncommon incident in local news broadcasts. On Monday, 23 more were freed in Kunduz province, after being “extensively tortured” by the Taliban, said the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

The effect of these arbitrary imprisonments is one of terror. “I begged them, crying, to release me,” said Hiatullah. “They would beat me even more.”

“The Taliban stopped the vehicle and arrested me,” said Naqibullah Momand, traveling to his home in Kunduz province last year. “They put their hand on my heart to check my heartbeat,” said the 26-year-old television presenter.

For the Taliban, a rapid beat would have indicated guilt; Momand forced himself to remain calm, but he still ended up spending 29 days locked in a two-room house with 20 others, sleeping on a dirty carpet on the floor, a single lightbulb illuminated all night, before his captors conceded he wasn’t a member of the Afghan military.

Capture is only the beginning of the torment. Local commanders, often very young, have unrestrained control over their prisoners.

“The low-level Taliban members’ behavior is very bad,” said Fazul-Ahmad Aamaj, an elderly, semiofficial mediator in Faizabad, the best-known of about 15 in Badakhshan. People whose relatives have been captured often turn to Aamaj for help. He has secured the release of dozens of the group’s captives, through negotiations involving family, tribal elders and money.

Rahmatullah Danishjo, a university student captured on the road to Kabul, on his way from Wardak province in September 2019, was trussed up and taken to a village mosque. For him and other prisoners, the holy place hardly proved to be a sanctuary.

For local commanders, the mosque makes an ideal jail. “It’s the one central place in the village; in a lot of the villages, the mosque is synonymous with the Taliban,” said Ashley Jackson, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, who has studied Taliban justice extensively. “It’s the way they enforce behavior.”

The Taliban also operate a parallel network of civil courts in which religious scholars judge land disputes and family quarrels. These courts, with their swift judgments, have gained a reputation of sorts for efficiency and are welcomed by many Afghans, particularly compared to the government’s corrupted justice system. Taliban courts also judge murders and perceived moral and religious infractions. Here the emphasis is on “punishment”; the system “relies on beatings and other forms of torture,” Human Rights Watch said in a report last year.

Crimes perceived as political, like working for the Afghan government, or fighting for it, inhabit a different universe. There are no courts for such crimes. Local Taliban commanders have absolute authority “to arrest anyone they deem suspicious,” Human Rights Watch said.

Mohammed Aman, 31, a government engineer, said he was pulled over on the highway from Ghazni to Kabul one afternoon in November, handcuffed and taken to a mosque. “There were 10 or 11 others, handcuffed to a chain, inside the mosque,” he said. “We were praying, early in the morning. They came, and they beat us,” said Danishjo, who was held in another mosque.

“They beat us with sticks for maybe, five minutes. They hit us in the back,” he said. “They were beating us on the hands.”

“One of the Taliban flogged us in the courtyard of the mosque,” said Abdel Qadir Sharifi, 25, who was captured when his military base was overrun. “I believed they were going to kill me.”

Death is the ever-present threat, sometimes inflicted but more often used as a fearsome bargaining chip to gain what the Taliban want: money, a prisoner exchange, or a painfully extracted pledge to renounce government service. The deliberate, often slow, putting to death of captives also occurs.

Summoned along with village elders to negotiate his son’s release in exchange for Taliban prisoners, Mohammadi was able to see his son three times during Nasrullah’s brief captivity.

“They tried to sit him up. But he kept falling down,” Mohammadi recalled. The Taliban shouted at him: “‘Do you see what is happening to your son?’’’

The next day the Taliban moved Nasrullah to a ruined house. By the ninth day, he had lost consciousness. He was filthy, covered in urine and excrement.

His captors allowed Mohammadi to wash him in cold water. But it was too late. “He was dying,” his father said. “The last time I saw him, it was in the yard of the destroyed house,” he said.

After the death of his son, the Taliban tormented him. “Why don’t you cry?” they asked. “I told them, I don’t want to cry in front of the trees and the stones,” said Mohammadi.

“I cried alone,” he said.

His other son, Rohullah Hamid, 35, a lawyer in Kabul, who took part in the failed effort to get his brother released, said: “Every day, dozens of Afghans die because of the Taliban. The Taliban are the enemy of humanity.” 
&nbsp;

The Taliban prison is a ruined house, a cave, a filthy basement in an abandoned dwelling, or a village mosque. Beatings or worse are a certainty, and the sentence is indefinite.

The Taliban prison is a ruined house, a cave, a filthy basement in an abandoned dwelling, or a village mosque. Beatings or worse are a certainty, and the sentence is indefinite. Food, if there is any, is stale bread and cold beans. A bed is the floor or a dirty carpet. The threat of death — screamed, shouted, sometimes inflicted — is ever-present. Malik Mohammadi, a calm 60-year-old farmer, watched the Taliban put to death his 32-year-old son Nasrullah, an army officer, in one such prison. Over a period of nine days last year, Nasrullah, an epileptic, was refused medicine by his captors. He was denied food. His father saw blood coming from his mouth, and bruises from beatings. On the 10th day, he died. Watch | “The Taliban beat him,” Mohammadi said quietly. “I watched the killing of my son.” Such repression is part of the Taliban’s strategy of control in the territories under their rule. While the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators in Qatar fitfully talk about meeting for talks, even as the idea of real peace recedes, the reality is that the insurgents already hold much of the country. An approaching U.S. withdrawal, coupled with a weak Afghan security force scarcely able to defend itself, means the group is likely to maintain this authority and its brutal ways of invoking submission. One of the Taliban’s most fearsome tools for doing so is a loose network of prisons, an improvised archipelago of mistreatment and suffering, in which the insurgents inflict harsh summary judgment on their fellow Afghans, arbitrarily stopping them on the highway. Mostly, they are looking for soldiers and government workers. The government too has been accused of mistreatment in its prisons, with the United Nations recently finding that nearly one-third of the Afghan army’s prisoners have been tortured. In the Taliban’s case, the detained are locked up in hidden makeshift prisons, a universe of incarceration in which the hapless charges are often moved, day after day, from ruined house to isolated mosque, and back again — without any sense of how long their detention will last. The approach is anything but discriminating. “It keeps coming back to me in my sleep,” said Sayed Hiatullah, a 42-year-old shopkeeper in Faizabad. Last year, Hiatullah was falsely accused at a Taliban checkpoint of working for state security. He was imprisoned for 25 days. “I wake up and scream,” he said. “It was the darkest, most bitter period in my life. I was in shock for six months,” Hiatullah said. “I relive my memories 100%, every second, every minute,” said Atiqullah Hassanzada, 31, an ex-soldier captured last year on his way to a military hospital in Kabul, speaking on the floor of his home. “I was beaten on the backs of my thighs and on the shoulder,” he said. Faizabad, a town in Afghanistan’s far north and the capital of Badakhshan province, is inhabited by numerous ex-prisoners of the Taliban, as the insurgents control many of the roads from here to the capital, Kabul. Making that journey means exposure to Taliban checkpoints, and capture. In Faizabad, the Taliban’s technique is to incarcerate and punish first and ask questions later. There is no judge and no court. Local villagers are forced to provide food. While thousands of Afghans have been detained in this way, there are no statistics. Afghan special forces said they recently freed more than 40 detainees from a Taliban prison in Baghlan province, a not uncommon incident in local news broadcasts. On Monday, 23 more were freed in Kunduz province, after being “extensively tortured” by the Taliban, said the Afghan Ministry of Defense. The effect of these arbitrary imprisonments is one of terror. “I begged them, crying, to release me,” said Hiatullah. “They would beat me even more.” “The Taliban stopped the vehicle and arrested me,” said Naqibullah Momand, traveling to his home in Kunduz province last year. “They put their hand on my heart to check my heartbeat,” said the 26-year-old television presenter. For the Taliban, a rapid beat would have indicated guilt; Momand forced himself to remain calm, but he still ended up spending 29 days locked in a two-room house with 20 others, sleeping on a dirty carpet on the floor, a single lightbulb illuminated all night, before his captors conceded he wasn’t a member of the Afghan military. Capture is only the beginning of the torment. Local commanders, often very young, have unrestrained control over their prisoners. “The low-level Taliban members’ behavior is very bad,” said Fazul-Ahmad Aamaj, an elderly, semiofficial mediator in Faizabad, the best-known of about 15 in Badakhshan. People whose relatives have been captured often turn to Aamaj for help. He has secured the release of dozens of the group’s captives, through negotiations involving family, tribal elders and money. Rahmatullah Danishjo, a university student captured on the road to Kabul, on his way from Wardak province in September 2019, was trussed up and taken to a village mosque. For him and other prisoners, the holy place hardly proved to be a sanctuary. For local commanders, the mosque makes an ideal jail. “It’s the one central place in the village; in a lot of the villages, the mosque is synonymous with the Taliban,” said Ashley Jackson, co-director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, who has studied Taliban justice extensively. “It’s the way they enforce behavior.” The Taliban also operate a parallel network of civil courts in which religious scholars judge land disputes and family quarrels. These courts, with their swift judgments, have gained a reputation of sorts for efficiency and are welcomed by many Afghans, particularly compared to the government’s corrupted justice system. Taliban courts also judge murders and perceived moral and religious infractions. Here the emphasis is on “punishment”; the system “relies on beatings and other forms of torture,” Human Rights Watch said in a report last year. Crimes perceived as political, like working for the Afghan government, or fighting for it, inhabit a different universe. There are no courts for such crimes. Local Taliban commanders have absolute authority “to arrest anyone they deem suspicious,” Human Rights Watch said. Mohammed Aman, 31, a government engineer, said he was pulled over on the highway from Ghazni to Kabul one afternoon in November, handcuffed and taken to a mosque. “There were 10 or 11 others, handcuffed to a chain, inside the mosque,” he said. “We were praying, early in the morning. They came, and they beat us,” said Danishjo, who was held in another mosque. “They beat us with sticks for maybe, five minutes. They hit us in the back,” he said. “They were beating us on the hands.” “One of the Taliban flogged us in the courtyard of the mosque,” said Abdel Qadir Sharifi, 25, who was captured when his military base was overrun. “I believed they were going to kill me.” Death is the ever-present threat, sometimes inflicted but more often used as a fearsome bargaining chip to gain what the Taliban want: money, a prisoner exchange, or a painfully extracted pledge to renounce government service. The deliberate, often slow, putting to death of captives also occurs. Summoned along with village elders to negotiate his son’s release in exchange for Taliban prisoners, Mohammadi was able to see his son three times during Nasrullah’s brief captivity. “They tried to sit him up. But he kept falling down,” Mohammadi recalled. The Taliban shouted at him: “‘Do you see what is happening to your son?’’’ The next day the Taliban moved Nasrullah to a ruined house. By the ninth day, he had lost consciousness. He was filthy, covered in urine and excrement. His captors allowed Mohammadi to wash him in cold water. But it was too late. “He was dying,” his father said. “The last time I saw him, it was in the yard of the destroyed house,” he said. After the death of his son, the Taliban tormented him. “Why don’t you cry?” they asked. “I told them, I don’t want to cry in front of the trees and the stones,” said Mohammadi. “I cried alone,” he said. His other son, Rohullah Hamid, 35, a lawyer in Kabul, who took part in the failed effort to get his brother released, said: “Every day, dozens of Afghans die because of the Taliban. The Taliban are the enemy of humanity.”

'I wake up and scream': Secret Taliban prisons terrorize thousands

Final preparations are ongoing as Iraq is gearing up to welcome Pope Francis for his visit next weekend.&nbsp;

The pontiff will be meeting Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in March in the Najaf, whose streets are being decorated with flags of Vatican and Iraq.&nbsp;

In Mosul, four churches that were desecrated by the so-called Islamic State will also be visited by the 84-year-old pope during his four-day visit.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

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In the "Church Square", where the four churches are located, the pontiff will also hold prayers for the victims of war.&nbsp;

A large number of worshippers can turn up for a mass in Nineveh province and authorities are mulling on a possible open-air venue to accommodate them.&nbsp;

The sites are being cleaned for the arrival of the pope.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iraq-prepares-for-the-popes-visit-amid-scars-of-war-365517">Iraq prepares for the Pope's visit amid scars of war</a>

Francis will also hold an inter-religious prayer service at the ancient site of Ur, a place known as the birthplace of Abraham.&nbsp;

Abraham, who is known as the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, used to live in this city until God called upon him to build a new nation in a land later found was Cannand, according to the biblical book of Genesis.&nbsp;

He will also be visiting the capital Baghdad, Erbil, and Qaraqosh in the plains of Nineveh for the visit from March 5 to March 8.&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Final preparations are ongoing as Iraq is gearing up to welcome Pope Francis for his visit next weekend. The pontiff will be meeting Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in March in the Najaf, whose streets are being decorated with flags of Vatican and Iraq.

Final preparations are ongoing as Iraq is gearing up to welcome Pope Francis for his visit next weekend. The pontiff will be meeting Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in March in the Najaf, whose streets are being decorated with flags of Vatican and Iraq. In Mosul, four churches that were desecrated by the so-called Islamic State will also be visited by the 84-year-old pope during his four-day visit. Watch | In the "Church Square", where the four churches are located, the pontiff will also hold prayers for the victims of war. A large number of worshippers can turn up for a mass in Nineveh province and authorities are mulling on a possible open-air venue to accommodate them. The sites are being cleaned for the arrival of the pope. Also read | Iraq prepares for the Pope's visit amid scars of war Francis will also hold an inter-religious prayer service at the ancient site of Ur, a place known as the birthplace of Abraham. Abraham, who is known as the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, used to live in this city until God called upon him to build a new nation in a land later found was Cannand, according to the biblical book of Genesis. He will also be visiting the capital Baghdad, Erbil, and Qaraqosh in the plains of Nineveh for the visit from March 5 to March 8.

Pope Francis to visit desecrated churches as Iraq gears up to welcome him

A second woman who worked under New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has stepped forward to accuse him of sexually harassing her.&nbsp;

Charlotte Bennett, an executive assistant and health policy of the New York administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo harassed her last spring when the coronavirus pandemic was raging in the state.&nbsp;

She said that the New York governor asked her several inappropriate questions related to her personal life, including age differences in romantic relationships.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

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"I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," Bennett said in the report.&nbsp;

Cuomo agreed for an independent probe, saying it will be headed by a former federal judge.&nbsp;

"I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate," the New York governor said in a statement on Saturday.

The latest allegations come after New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio joined a chorus of political leaders on Thursday demanding an independent investigation into the claims of another Cuomo aide who has also made accusations of sexual harassment.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/former-aide-of-new-york-governor-cuomo-accuses-him-of-sexual-harassment-349811">Former aide of New York Governor Cuomo accuses him of sexual harassment</a>

"We need a full and independent investigation," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is also a Democrat and long-time rival of Cuomo.&nbsp;

Lindsey Boylan, who worked under Cuomo from 2015 to 2018, said the New York governor kissed her on the mouth forcefully and suggested playing strip poker during a flight.

She also said Cuomo went "out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs."

Boylan made these allegations in a blog post published on Wednesday and she first opened up about her harassment in December last year in which she said Cuomo "sexually harassed" her "for years" in a tweet. 
&nbsp;

A second woman who worked under New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has stepped forward to accuse him of sexually harassing her. Charlotte Bennett, an executive assistant and health policy of the New York administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo harassed her last spring when the coronavirus pandemic was raging in the state.

A second woman who worked under New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has stepped forward to accuse him of sexually harassing her. Charlotte Bennett, an executive assistant and health policy of the New York administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo harassed her last spring when the coronavirus pandemic was raging in the state. She said that the New York governor asked her several inappropriate questions related to her personal life, including age differences in romantic relationships. Watch | "I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," Bennett said in the report. Cuomo agreed for an independent probe, saying it will be headed by a former federal judge. "I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate," the New York governor said in a statement on Saturday. The latest allegations come after New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio joined a chorus of political leaders on Thursday demanding an independent investigation into the claims of another Cuomo aide who has also made accusations of sexual harassment. Also read | Former aide of New York Governor Cuomo accuses him of sexual harassment "We need a full and independent investigation," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is also a Democrat and long-time rival of Cuomo. Lindsey Boylan, who worked under Cuomo from 2015 to 2018, said the New York governor kissed her on the mouth forcefully and suggested playing strip poker during a flight. She also said Cuomo went "out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs." Boylan made these allegations in a blog post published on Wednesday and she first opened up about her harassment in December last year in which she said Cuomo "sexually harassed" her "for years" in a tweet.

Another woman who worked under New York Governor Cuomo accuses him of sexual harassment

February 28 in History: From Nylon's invention to Pope's resignation, and more

Indian Prime Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/narendra-modi">Narendra Modi</a>&nbsp;on Friday thanked WHO director-general after the latter praised him for helping more than 60 countries by providing coronavirus vaccines.&nbsp;

Earlier on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked India and Modi for their commitment to Covax and providing coronavirus vaccines to "60+" countries in a tweet.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

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"Thanks Flag of India &amp; Prime Minister @narendramodi for supporting #VaccinEquity. Your commitment to #COVAX and sharing #COVID19 vaccine doses is helping 60+ countries start vaccinating their #healthworkers and other priority groups. I hope other countries will follow your example, Tedros in a tweet wrote.&nbsp;

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Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrTedros</a>. We are all together in the fight against this pandemic. India is committed to sharing resources, experiences, and knowledge for global good. <a href="https://t.co/nVwQKPUl38">https://t.co/nVwQKPUl38</a>
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The Indian prime minister responded on the tweet, saying that they are "together in the fight against the pandemic" and the country is "committed" to sharing its "resources" for "global good".&nbsp;

"We are all together in the fight against this pandemic. India is committed to sharing resources, experiences, and knowledge for global good," Modi tweeted.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/who-chief-ghebreyesus-praises-india-pm-modi-for-covid-vaccine-effort-366417">WHO chief Ghebreyesus praises India, PM Modi for Covid vaccine effort</a>

India is winning global praise for what is being described as "vaccine diplomacy" under which the country has delivered millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses to neighbouring Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, earlier than Chinese supplies of vaccines whose efficacy is also questionable.&nbsp;

Other than neighbours, countries like Canada and Brazil have also praised New Delhi for providing them doses of vaccines produced in India.&nbsp;

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday thanked WHO director-general after the latter praised him for helping more than 60 countries by providing coronavirus vaccines.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday thanked WHO director-general after the latter praised him for helping more than 60 countries by providing coronavirus vaccines. Earlier on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked India and Modi for their commitment to Covax and providing coronavirus vaccines to "60+" countries in a tweet. Watch | "Thanks Flag of India & Prime Minister @narendramodi for supporting #VaccinEquity. Your commitment to #COVAX and sharing #COVID19 vaccine doses is helping 60+ countries start vaccinating their #healthworkers and other priority groups. I hope other countries will follow your example, Tedros in a tweet wrote. Thank you @DrTedros. We are all together in the fight against this pandemic. India is committed to sharing resources, experiences, and knowledge for global good. https://t.co/nVwQKPUl38 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 26, 2021 × The Indian prime minister responded on the tweet, saying that they are "together in the fight against the pandemic" and the country is "committed" to sharing its "resources" for "global good". "We are all together in the fight against this pandemic. India is committed to sharing resources, experiences, and knowledge for global good," Modi tweeted. Also read | WHO chief Ghebreyesus praises India, PM Modi for Covid vaccine effort India is winning global praise for what is being described as "vaccine diplomacy" under which the country has delivered millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses to neighbouring Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, earlier than Chinese supplies of vaccines whose efficacy is also questionable. Other than neighbours, countries like Canada and Brazil have also praised New Delhi for providing them doses of vaccines produced in India.

'We're together in this fight': PM Modi acknowledges after WHO chief applauds India's vaccine efforts

Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations on Friday delivered an emotional speech in which he urged the international community to take the "strongest possible action" to end the military rule in the country.&nbsp;

During the speech, Kyaw Moe Tun's voice trembled as he criticised the military rulers and demanded the restoration of the civilian government in the UN General Assembly.

Watch |&nbsp;

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Rarely envoys in the United Nations speak against the regime they are representing, but Myanmar's ambassador also flashed the three-finger salute that recently has become a symbol of freedom and democracy.&nbsp;

"We need... the strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore the democracy," Kyaw Moe Tun said.&nbsp;

He also urged all UN member nations to issue statements denouncing the coup during the special meeting on Myanmar. &nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-civil-servants-strike-makes-it-difficult-for-military-366373">Myanmar: Civil servants' strike makes it difficult for military</a>

"We will continue to fight for a government, which is, of the people by the people, for the people," the ambassador said.

The envoy also pleaded countries to "take all stronger possible measures" on violent action taken by security personnel against peaceful protesters.&nbsp;

The impassioned plea by the envoy was warmly received by the member countries as there was loud applause in the chamber post the speech.&nbsp;

Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations on Friday delivered an emotional speech in which he urged the international community to take the "strongest possible action" to end the military rule in the country.

Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations on Friday delivered an emotional speech in which he urged the international community to take the "strongest possible action" to end the military rule in the country. During the speech, Kyaw Moe Tun's voice trembled as he criticised the military rulers and demanded the restoration of the civilian government in the UN General Assembly. Watch | Rarely envoys in the United Nations speak against the regime they are representing, but Myanmar's ambassador also flashed the three-finger salute that recently has become a symbol of freedom and democracy. "We need... the strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore the democracy," Kyaw Moe Tun said. He also urged all UN member nations to issue statements denouncing the coup during the special meeting on Myanmar. Also read | Myanmar: Civil servants' strike makes it difficult for military "We will continue to fight for a government, which is, of the people by the people, for the people," the ambassador said. The envoy also pleaded countries to "take all stronger possible measures" on violent action taken by security personnel against peaceful protesters. The impassioned plea by the envoy was warmly received by the member countries as there was loud applause in the chamber post the speech.

'Take strongest action to end coup': Myanmar envoy makes emotional plea in UN

Joe Biden said the US aistrikes in Syria should be seen as a warning to Iran, adding: "You can't act with impunity". Meanwhile, the United States on Friday declassified the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.&nbsp;

Click on headlines to read more

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/be-prepared-biden-to-iran-after-us-airstrike-in-syria-366552">'Be prepared': Biden to Iran after US airstrike in Syria</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/02/27/184588-joe-biden-iran-syria-airstrike.jpg?itok=QCJag8l5" />

After a 'deadly' US airstrike in Syria, Iran has "strongly condemned" the actions, while US President Joe Biden has said that this was a warning for Iran.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-report-says-saudi-prince-approved-murder-of-journalist-khashoggi-366550">US report says Saudi Prince approved murder of journalist Khashoggi</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2019/02/17/84260-untitled-design-6.jpg?itok=huwpITJw" />

The United States on Friday unveiled the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/more-than-400-inmates-flee-haiti-prison-nearly-25-people-dead-366557">More than 400 inmates flee Haiti prison; nearly 25 people dead</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/02/27/184589-haiti-prison-break.jpg?itok=Ew2fo-Jg" />

In one of the most violent prison breakouts in the history of Haiti, more than 400 prisoners have escaped from jail, with nearly 25 people pronounced dead.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-questions-un-high-commissioners-silence-on-terror-red-fort-violence-366553">India questions UN High Commissioner's silence on terror, Red Fort violence</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/07/12/149434-united-nations-afp.jpg?itok=pXVjEEsF" />

Indian govt has questioned the silence of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Red Fort violence &amp; the issue of terrorism even as the latter continues to rake Kashmir irking Delhi.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-puts-chinese-sinopharm-on-hold-to-use-india-manufactured-vaccine-366513">Sri Lanka puts Chinese Sinopharm on hold, to use India-manufactured vaccine</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/02/11/182335-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine.jpg?itok=7vhNR1Pw" />

Sri Lanka has put Chinese Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine on hold and will use India-manufactured Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to inoculate 14 million people, a government spokesperson has said.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/islamic-state-bride-shamima-begum-loses-legal-bid-to-return-to-uk-to-fight-for-citizenship-366421">Islamic State bride Shamima Begum loses legal bid to return to UK to fight for citizenship</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2021/02/26/184510-shamima-begum.JPG?itok=EWP8OBMW" />

A woman who as a teenager ran away to join the Islamic State group has lost her bid to return to the UK to fight for the restoration of her citizenship, which was revoked on national security grounds.&nbsp;

Joe Biden said the US aistrikes in Syria should be seen as a warning to Iran, adding: "You can't act with impunity". Meanwhile, the United States on Friday declassified the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Joe Biden said the US aistrikes in Syria should be seen as a warning to Iran, adding: "You can't act with impunity". Meanwhile, the United States on Friday declassified the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Click on headlines to read more 'Be prepared': Biden to Iran after US airstrike in Syria After a 'deadly' US airstrike in Syria, Iran has "strongly condemned" the actions, while US President Joe Biden has said that this was a warning for Iran. US report says Saudi Prince approved murder of journalist Khashoggi The United States on Friday unveiled the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More than 400 inmates flee Haiti prison; nearly 25 people dead In one of the most violent prison breakouts in the history of Haiti, more than 400 prisoners have escaped from jail, with nearly 25 people pronounced dead. India questions UN High Commissioner's silence on terror, Red Fort violence Indian govt has questioned the silence of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Red Fort violence & the issue of terrorism even as the latter continues to rake Kashmir irking Delhi. Sri Lanka puts Chinese Sinopharm on hold, to use India-manufactured vaccine Sri Lanka has put Chinese Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine on hold and will use India-manufactured Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to inoculate 14 million people, a government spokesperson has said. Islamic State bride Shamima Begum loses legal bid to return to UK to fight for citizenship A woman who as a teenager ran away to join the Islamic State group has lost her bid to return to the UK to fight for the restoration of her citizenship, which was revoked on national security grounds.

Morning news brief: Biden warns Iran, Khashoggi murder report, and more

The United States on Friday unveiled the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.&nbsp;

The Saudi prince "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," the intelligence report said.&nbsp;

The report said it's "highly unlikely" that the murder of the journalist at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul could have taken place without Prince Mohammed's approval.&nbsp;

It also goes on to say that the killing is in line with the pattern of "the crown prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad."

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-to-declassify-report-on-assassination-of-jamal-khashoggi-357888">Biden to declassify report on assassination of Jamal Khashoggi</a>

Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi administration who wrote for The Washington Post, was killed in October 2018 with his body cut into pieces

The Treasury Department said it was freezing assets and criminalizing transactions with a former intelligence official along with that of Rapid Intervention Force.

The report said the Rapid Intervention Force, an elite unit, "exists to defend the crown prince" and "answers only to him."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the "Khashoggi Act" which will bar entry of foreigners in the United States who threaten or harass dissidents or reporters and their families.&nbsp;

As many as 76 Saudi nationals were also blacklisted.&nbsp;

"We have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents and journalists must end. They will not be tolerated by the United States," the secretary of state said in a statement.

<h2>Saudi Arabia rejects findings</h2>

Calling it "negative, false and unacceptable," Saudi Arabia rejected the intelligence report on the crown prince&nbsp;

"The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the .... assessment in the report pertaining to the Kingdom's leadership, and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement as quoted by state news agency SPA.

 
&nbsp;

The United States on Friday unveiled the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The United States on Friday unveiled the intelligence report which blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for approving the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi prince "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," the intelligence report said. The report said it's "highly unlikely" that the murder of the journalist at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul could have taken place without Prince Mohammed's approval. It also goes on to say that the killing is in line with the pattern of "the crown prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad." Also read | Biden to declassify report on assassination of Jamal Khashoggi Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi administration who wrote for The Washington Post, was killed in October 2018 with his body cut into pieces The Treasury Department said it was freezing assets and criminalizing transactions with a former intelligence official along with that of Rapid Intervention Force. The report said the Rapid Intervention Force, an elite unit, "exists to defend the crown prince" and "answers only to him." Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the "Khashoggi Act" which will bar entry of foreigners in the United States who threaten or harass dissidents or reporters and their families. As many as 76 Saudi nationals were also blacklisted. "We have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents and journalists must end. They will not be tolerated by the United States," the secretary of state said in a statement. Saudi Arabia rejects findings Calling it "negative, false and unacceptable," Saudi Arabia rejected the intelligence report on the crown prince "The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the .... assessment in the report pertaining to the Kingdom's leadership, and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement as quoted by state news agency SPA.

US report says Saudi Prince approved murder of journalist Khashoggi

A single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/coronavirus-vaccine">coronavirus vaccine</a>&nbsp;is enough to provide strong protection to those people who have had the deadly virus, two studies from the UK claim.&nbsp;

The studies, published late on Thursday in The Lancet, bring strong evidence to conclude that people who have had coronavirus can get robust protection from Pfizer's vaccine, but only one dose.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/coronavirus-vaccine-real-world-study-confirms-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-94-effective-366229/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"This could potentially accelerate vaccine rollout," suggest one of the study's authors from the University College London and Public Health England, as reported by The New York Times.&nbsp;

They further added that by following this strategy, dangerous mutations of the virus can be negated.&nbsp;

"Wider coverage without compromising vaccine-induced immunity could help reduce variant emergence," the study said.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/a-third-dose-pfizer-to-test-tweaked-vaccine-to-target-s-african-strain-of-coronavirus-366240">A third dose? Pfizer to test tweaked vaccine to target S African strain of coronavirus</a>

The study led by University College London and Public Health England analysed data of 51 healthcare professionals in London.&nbsp;

Amongst these participants, 24 people have previously had Covid-19.&nbsp;

These healthcare workers received a single dose of Pfizer's shot and then were tested for antibodies 19 to 29 days later.

The research noted that those who have previously had coronavirus, vaccination increased their antibody levels more than 140 times. &nbsp;

"This increase appears to be at least one order of magnitude greater than reported after a conventional prime-boost vaccine strategy in previously uninfected individuals," their paper said.&nbsp;

The second paper of researchers from Imperial College London and other UK institutions included data of 72 healthcare workers who were inoculated late in December.&nbsp;

Amongst the participants, 21 have had coronavirus infection in the past.&nbsp;

These participants blood samples were taken after receiving the first dose and then 21-25 days post-inoculation.&nbsp;

The study concluded that people with previous Covid-19 infection appeared to generate better immune responses to one dose of Pfizer's drug as compared to those who had not been infected with the virus ever.

A single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine is enough to provide strong protection to those people who have had the deadly virus, two studies from the UK claim.

A single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine is enough to provide strong protection to those people who have had the deadly virus, two studies from the UK claim. The studies, published late on Thursday in The Lancet, bring strong evidence to conclude that people who have had coronavirus can get robust protection from Pfizer's vaccine, but only one dose. Watch | "This could potentially accelerate vaccine rollout," suggest one of the study's authors from the University College London and Public Health England, as reported by The New York Times. They further added that by following this strategy, dangerous mutations of the virus can be negated. "Wider coverage without compromising vaccine-induced immunity could help reduce variant emergence," the study said. Also read | A third dose? Pfizer to test tweaked vaccine to target S African strain of coronavirus The study led by University College London and Public Health England analysed data of 51 healthcare professionals in London. Amongst these participants, 24 people have previously had Covid-19. These healthcare workers received a single dose of Pfizer's shot and then were tested for antibodies 19 to 29 days later. The research noted that those who have previously had coronavirus, vaccination increased their antibody levels more than 140 times. "This increase appears to be at least one order of magnitude greater than reported after a conventional prime-boost vaccine strategy in previously uninfected individuals," their paper said. The second paper of researchers from Imperial College London and other UK institutions included data of 72 healthcare workers who were inoculated late in December. Amongst the participants, 21 have had coronavirus infection in the past. These participants blood samples were taken after receiving the first dose and then 21-25 days post-inoculation. The study concluded that people with previous Covid-19 infection appeared to generate better immune responses to one dose of Pfizer's drug as compared to those who had not been infected with the virus ever.

Pfizer vaccine's single dose provides strong immunity to those who have had Covid-19: Study

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