The man accused of carrying out the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-zealand-shooters-back-gun-control-after-christchurch-massacre-207107">Christchurch mosque attacks</a> last month will face 50 murder charges when he appears in court this week, New Zealand police said Thursday.

"The man arrested in relation to the Christchurch terror attacks will face 50 murder and 39 attempted murder charges when he appears in the High Court in Christchurch on Friday," police said in a statement.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/thousands-gather-in-christchurch-for-remembrance-service-after-mass-shooting-206390">Australian Brenton Tarrant</a> was previously charged with one murder as a holding measure, but police said all the deaths and injuries in the March 15 attacks would be reflected in upgraded charges during his next appearance on Friday.

"The man arrested in relation to the Christchurch terror attacks will face 50 murder and 39 attempted murder charges when he appears in the High Court in Christchurch on Friday," they said in a statement.

Police said further charges were being considered against Tarrant -- a self-avowed white supremacist -- but did not specify what they were.

They could relate to whether the court deems attack a terrorist act.

The 28-year-old will appear via video link in the Christchurch court from a maximum-security prison in Auckland.&nbsp;

A note from the court this week said the appearance was likely to be brief and would "ascertain the defendant's position regarding legal representation" and other procedural matters.&nbsp;

Tarrant sacked a court-appointed lawyer after his first court appearance on March 16, raising fears he wanted to represent himself and attempt to use any trial as a propaganda platform.

The court said Tarrant would not be required to enter a plea during Friday's hearing.&nbsp;

The court has now barred media from filming or photographing the accused.

&nbsp;

The man accused of carrying out the Christchurch mosque attacks last month will face 50 murder charges when he appears in court this week, New Zealand police said Thursday.

The man accused of carrying out the Christchurch mosque attacks last month will face 50 murder charges when he appears in court this week, New Zealand police said Thursday. "The man arrested in relation to the Christchurch terror attacks will face 50 murder and 39 attempted murder charges when he appears in the High Court in Christchurch on Friday," police said in a statement. Australian Brenton Tarrant was previously charged with one murder as a holding measure, but police said all the deaths and injuries in the March 15 attacks would be reflected in upgraded charges during his next appearance on Friday. "The man arrested in relation to the Christchurch terror attacks will face 50 murder and 39 attempted murder charges when he appears in the High Court in Christchurch on Friday," they said in a statement. Police said further charges were being considered against Tarrant -- a self-avowed white supremacist -- but did not specify what they were. They could relate to whether the court deems attack a terrorist act. The 28-year-old will appear via video link in the Christchurch court from a maximum-security prison in Auckland. A note from the court this week said the appearance was likely to be brief and would "ascertain the defendant's position regarding legal representation" and other procedural matters. Tarrant sacked a court-appointed lawyer after his first court appearance on March 16, raising fears he wanted to represent himself and attempt to use any trial as a propaganda platform. The court said Tarrant would not be required to enter a plea during Friday's hearing. The court has now barred media from filming or photographing the accused.

Accused Christchurch mosque attacker face 50 murder charges: New Zealand police

The Pulwama terror attack has shown that it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly, said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday.

&nbsp;"This is not just a terrorist attack but an incursion of our intelligence agencies. If India had no prior information about such a major attack, then the question arises. What is the role of the intelligence agencies? If an intelligence failure led to the terrorist attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy then those who were in charge should be removed," Uddhav Thackeray said while speaking to media persons on the ghastly terror attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir."

"After surgical strikes of 2016, it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly," he added.&nbsp;

Appealing the whole nation to stand together against Pakistan, Thackrey said, "In the whole country, people should come together to tell Pakistan that our country will not bend and we will teach them a lesson. Those who are in powers, if they do not understand what they are doing then they should be removed from their positions. We had made surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but now have to penetrate into Pakistan directly."

"Elections and every other thing is secondary but it is most important to give a tit-for-tat response to Pakistan," he added.&nbsp;

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives.

The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.&nbsp;

The slain CRPF personnel were travelling in a bus which came under the terror attack.JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, has claimed the responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged.&nbsp;

The Pulwama terror attack has shown that it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly, said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday. "This is not just a terrorist attack but an incursion of our intelligence agencies.

The Pulwama terror attack has shown that it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly, said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday. "This is not just a terrorist attack but an incursion of our intelligence agencies. If India had no prior information about such a major attack, then the question arises. What is the role of the intelligence agencies? If an intelligence failure led to the terrorist attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy then those who were in charge should be removed," Uddhav Thackeray said while speaking to media persons on the ghastly terror attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir." "After surgical strikes of 2016, it is now time to penetrate into Pakistan directly," he added. Appealing the whole nation to stand together against Pakistan, Thackrey said, "In the whole country, people should come together to tell Pakistan that our country will not bend and we will teach them a lesson. Those who are in powers, if they do not understand what they are doing then they should be removed from their positions. We had made surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but now have to penetrate into Pakistan directly." "Elections and every other thing is secondary but it is most important to give a tit-for-tat response to Pakistan," he added. As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama district with a vehicle laden with explosives. The convoy comprised 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar. The slain CRPF personnel were travelling in a bus which came under the terror attack.JeM, a Pakistan-based terrorist group, has claimed the responsibility for the attack which left the bus extensively damaged.

It's time to penetrate into Pakistan directly: Uddhav Thackeray on Pulwama terror attack

An artwork by the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/banksys-girl-with-balloon-sells-for-ps1-mn-then-he-shreds-it-169915">British artist Banksy</a> has been stolen from the Bataclan music hall in Paris.&nbsp;

The mural — which depicted a young girl with a mournful expression — had been painted onto one of the Bataclan's emergency doors.&nbsp;It was cut out.&nbsp;

The news agency AFP reported a source close to the investigation as telling LCI television that "a group of hooded individuals armed with angle grinders cut the painting and took it away in a truck" on the night of Friday to Saturday.

The artwork had been a tribute to the 90 victims of the November 2015 terror attack on the Bataclan.

"Banksy's work, a symbol of recollection and belonging to all: locals, Parisians, citizens of the world has been taken from us," the Bataclan said.&nbsp;

"We are today filled with a deep sense of indignation," it added.&nbsp;

The November 2015 Paris attacks were a series of coordinated strikes on the city. Three heavily-armed militants had stormed the Bataclan. &nbsp;

A total of 137 people (130 victims, seven perpetrators) had died in the attacks.&nbsp;

Banksy and his iconic street paintings which pop up overnight are by now known the world over. His identity&nbsp;however is secret, known only to a handful of close friends.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

An artwork by the British artist Banksy has been stolen from the Bataclan music hall in Paris. The mural — which depicted a young girl with a mournful expression — had been painted onto one of the Bataclan's emergency doors.

An artwork by the British artist Banksy has been stolen from the Bataclan music hall in Paris. The mural — which depicted a young girl with a mournful expression — had been painted onto one of the Bataclan's emergency doors. It was cut out. The news agency AFP reported a source close to the investigation as telling LCI television that "a group of hooded individuals armed with angle grinders cut the painting and took it away in a truck" on the night of Friday to Saturday. The artwork had been a tribute to the 90 victims of the November 2015 terror attack on the Bataclan. "Banksy's work, a symbol of recollection and belonging to all: locals, Parisians, citizens of the world has been taken from us," the Bataclan said. "We are today filled with a deep sense of indignation," it added. The November 2015 Paris attacks were a series of coordinated strikes on the city. Three heavily-armed militants had stormed the Bataclan. A total of 137 people (130 victims, seven perpetrators) had died in the attacks. Banksy and his iconic street paintings which pop up overnight are by now known the world over. His identity however is secret, known only to a handful of close friends.

Banksy artwork stolen from Bataclan music hall in Paris

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has said the state is just like any other, and that there is "no massacre going on at this time".&nbsp;

He added that "the number of murders witnessed in Patna in a single day is equal to deaths in Kashmir in a week".&nbsp;

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J &amp; K Governor. Satya Pal Malik: Jammu &amp; Kashmir is just like others, there’s no massacre going on at this time. The number of murders witnessed in Patna in a single day is equal to deaths in Kashmir in a week. Stone pelting and recruitment to terrorist groups has stopped. <a href="https://t.co/UszzYv5Cqy">pic.twitter.com/UszzYv5Cqy</a>
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2018 was one of the bloodiest years in Kashmir in recent times, with terrorist, civilian, and security force casualties all going up. That was a result of the security forces'&nbsp;iron hand approach to militant attacks.&nbsp;

Malik also added that "stone pelting and recruitment to terrorist groups has stopped".&nbsp;

It should however be remembered that both stone pelting and terror attacks always drop sharply in the winters because of the plummeting temperatures in Jammu and Kashmir.&nbsp;

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has said the state is just like any other, and that there is "no massacre going on at this time". He added that "the number of murders witnessed in Patna in a single day is equal to deaths in Kashmir in a week".

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has said the state is just like any other, and that there is "no massacre going on at this time". He added that "the number of murders witnessed in Patna in a single day is equal to deaths in Kashmir in a week". J & K Governor. Satya Pal Malik: Jammu & Kashmir is just like others, there’s no massacre going on at this time. The number of murders witnessed in Patna in a single day is equal to deaths in Kashmir in a week. Stone pelting and recruitment to terrorist groups has stopped. pic.twitter.com/UszzYv5Cqy — ANI (@ANI) January 7, 2019 × 2018 was one of the bloodiest years in Kashmir in recent times, with terrorist, civilian, and security force casualties all going up. That was a result of the security forces' iron hand approach to militant attacks. Malik also added that "stone pelting and recruitment to terrorist groups has stopped". It should however be remembered that both stone pelting and terror attacks always drop sharply in the winters because of the plummeting temperatures in Jammu and Kashmir.

Murders in Patna in 1 day equal to deaths in Kashmir in one week: J&K governor

India has been the target of terrorist groups for decades. The issue of Maoist and North East extremist groups are local. But bigger threats have emanated from Pakistan-sponsored attacks. And our neighbouring country remains the biggest source of trouble.

Pakistan had fought four wars against India, without winning a single one. &nbsp;After former military dictator General Zia ul Haq came to power, the policy was changed and Pakistan’s army and ISI resorted to proxy war to “bleed India by a thousand cuts”. A low-cost but potentially expensive war to inflict on an enemy, without openly challenging him in a battle field because Pakistan has seen many failures there. &nbsp; &nbsp;

The first major terrorist attack was in 1993, commonly known as the Mumbai blasts in which ISI used the smugglers’ network and Dawood Ibrahim’s gang to deadly effect. &nbsp;

In subsequent years, various terrorist attacks were organised on Indian soil and no major city in the hinterland was left untouched. Investigating agencies found out that the ISI used Indian youth and motivated workers of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to execute these attacks. The young men, who went for Haj were scouted; vulnerable youth were targeted and lured, were taken to Pakistan and radicalised. They became easy meat for Pakistani handlers.&nbsp;

From time to time, their handlers from Pakistan provided them with explosives, improved explosive devices (IED) and other logistic support to carry out bomb blasts in Mumbai, Delhi Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Benares, Bangalore, Surat, and Pune. They were trained extensively in the use of fire arms.&nbsp;

The biggest advantage in these attacks was that the perpetrator could place the bomb at identified places and escape. He could continue to live his normal lifestyle without arousing the suspicion of his neighbours and sometimes even family members.&nbsp;

But the disadvantage was that it left a long trail of evidence and with the arrest of one culprit, the whole chain of events could be unearthed.&nbsp;

The 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were of a different magnitude and it was like a full-fledged foreign attack on Indian soil as the perpetrators came heavily armed from Pakistan.

Post 26/11, a new threat is looming large: ISIS and Syria. From India, several youths (according to some estimates, about 100) had left the country and joined the ISIS. Such has been the impact of ISIS that it was able to penetrate the radicalised minds through the Internet. Without any physical contact, there was enough vile propaganda on the net to impress gullible minds. Sitting thousands of miles away, ISIS theorists could cause a big impression on young men, sitting in several Indian cities, completely unaware of the place where their propagandists were operating in.&nbsp;

In such a situation, proxies are not too difficult to find. Many cases came to light where ISIS had recruiters sitting in Jaipur, Bangalore, and Hyderabad and many other Indian cities and everything, from recruiting to indoctrination, was happening online. &nbsp;

Though about a hundred eventually left the country to fight the war, we have no way of knowing how many got radicalised and are planning to go to Syria and other terror-hit areas of the world, presumably to meet their handlers.&nbsp;

Now that the ISIS is losing ground, can we believe that these radicalised minds will now return to a normal life? It is difficult to say and it calls for deep scrutiny and a close watch on such elements.&nbsp;

ISIS has discovered the cheapest way of carrying out terrorist attacks, which do not require big money or sophisticated weapons or explosives.&nbsp;

The terror attacks at Nice in France and other European cities are prime examples. The modus operandi is very simple. The perpetrator knows he is likely to lose his life during the attack. This is a very big deviation from earlier attacks in which the attackers would conduct recce of any targeted place and plan an escape. The new generation of terrorists are willing to take extreme risks and make the attacks look simple - and deadly.&nbsp;

When it comes to a lone wolf attacker, not much information is available. Israel has conducted some studies and some traits have been identified: such people are loners, feel victimised, frustrated, disillusioned and imbued with radical ideology, coupled with perceived injustice towards people of certain communities.&nbsp;

India is the third most terrorism-hit country in the world. But we lack any counter-terrorism policy. And it’s totally left to intelligence and security forces to deal with such threats. It is not a very sound policy.

Terrorism is also fast evolving and new and sophisticated attacks, as well as old tried and tested methods, are being adopted. Security forces prepare a response based on past attacks, but terrorists adopt and discover newer methods of carrying out destruction.&nbsp;

Therefore, there is a need to “think out of the box”. For this, we need to have a policy to fight radicalisation and terrorism. Fighting terrorism cannot be left to security forces alone; not, at least in our country. We must involve various sections of society. We also need to assign active roles to some ministries like social welfare and minority affairs to make all-out efforts to address the issue of perceived religious persecution. For potential recruiters, grouse, real or imagined, is the perfect mindset to tap young recruits. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

To counter the false propaganda of terrorist groups, the involvement of religious leaders can be very effective.&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-preventing-new-terrorists-2699952">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

India has been the target of terrorist groups for decades. The issue of Maoist and North East extremist groups are local. But bigger threats have emanated from Pakistan-sponsored attacks.

India has been the target of terrorist groups for decades. The issue of Maoist and North East extremist groups are local. But bigger threats have emanated from Pakistan-sponsored attacks. And our neighbouring country remains the biggest source of trouble. Pakistan had fought four wars against India, without winning a single one. After former military dictator General Zia ul Haq came to power, the policy was changed and Pakistan’s army and ISI resorted to proxy war to “bleed India by a thousand cuts”. A low-cost but potentially expensive war to inflict on an enemy, without openly challenging him in a battle field because Pakistan has seen many failures there. The first major terrorist attack was in 1993, commonly known as the Mumbai blasts in which ISI used the smugglers’ network and Dawood Ibrahim’s gang to deadly effect. In subsequent years, various terrorist attacks were organised on Indian soil and no major city in the hinterland was left untouched. Investigating agencies found out that the ISI used Indian youth and motivated workers of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to execute these attacks. The young men, who went for Haj were scouted; vulnerable youth were targeted and lured, were taken to Pakistan and radicalised. They became easy meat for Pakistani handlers. From time to time, their handlers from Pakistan provided them with explosives, improved explosive devices (IED) and other logistic support to carry out bomb blasts in Mumbai, Delhi Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Benares, Bangalore, Surat, and Pune. They were trained extensively in the use of fire arms. The biggest advantage in these attacks was that the perpetrator could place the bomb at identified places and escape. He could continue to live his normal lifestyle without arousing the suspicion of his neighbours and sometimes even family members. But the disadvantage was that it left a long trail of evidence and with the arrest of one culprit, the whole chain of events could be unearthed. The 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were of a different magnitude and it was like a full-fledged foreign attack on Indian soil as the perpetrators came heavily armed from Pakistan. Post 26/11, a new threat is looming large: ISIS and Syria. From India, several youths (according to some estimates, about 100) had left the country and joined the ISIS. Such has been the impact of ISIS that it was able to penetrate the radicalised minds through the Internet. Without any physical contact, there was enough vile propaganda on the net to impress gullible minds. Sitting thousands of miles away, ISIS theorists could cause a big impression on young men, sitting in several Indian cities, completely unaware of the place where their propagandists were operating in. In such a situation, proxies are not too difficult to find. Many cases came to light where ISIS had recruiters sitting in Jaipur, Bangalore, and Hyderabad and many other Indian cities and everything, from recruiting to indoctrination, was happening online. Though about a hundred eventually left the country to fight the war, we have no way of knowing how many got radicalised and are planning to go to Syria and other terror-hit areas of the world, presumably to meet their handlers. Now that the ISIS is losing ground, can we believe that these radicalised minds will now return to a normal life? It is difficult to say and it calls for deep scrutiny and a close watch on such elements. ISIS has discovered the cheapest way of carrying out terrorist attacks, which do not require big money or sophisticated weapons or explosives. The terror attacks at Nice in France and other European cities are prime examples. The modus operandi is very simple. The perpetrator knows he is likely to lose his life during the attack. This is a very big deviation from earlier attacks in which the attackers would conduct recce of any targeted place and plan an escape. The new generation of terrorists are willing to take extreme risks and make the attacks look simple - and deadly. When it comes to a lone wolf attacker, not much information is available. Israel has conducted some studies and some traits have been identified: such people are loners, feel victimised, frustrated, disillusioned and imbued with radical ideology, coupled with perceived injustice towards people of certain communities. India is the third most terrorism-hit country in the world. But we lack any counter-terrorism policy. And it’s totally left to intelligence and security forces to deal with such threats. It is not a very sound policy. Terrorism is also fast evolving and new and sophisticated attacks, as well as old tried and tested methods, are being adopted. Security forces prepare a response based on past attacks, but terrorists adopt and discover newer methods of carrying out destruction. Therefore, there is a need to “think out of the box”. For this, we need to have a policy to fight radicalisation and terrorism. Fighting terrorism cannot be left to security forces alone; not, at least in our country. We must involve various sections of society. We also need to assign active roles to some ministries like social welfare and minority affairs to make all-out efforts to address the issue of perceived religious persecution. For potential recruiters, grouse, real or imagined, is the perfect mindset to tap young recruits. To counter the false propaganda of terrorist groups, the involvement of religious leaders can be very effective. (This article was originally published on DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

With ISIS threat looming large, we need a policy to fight radicalisation

The Pakistan Army is said to be 'extremely upset' with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's alleged admission that Pakistan had a significant role to play in the terrorist attacks that took place across Mumbai between November 26 and 29, 2008, which claimed the lives of 166 persons and injured more than 300.

It may be recalled that on Saturday evening, in an interview given to the Dawn newspaper, Sharif suggested terrorists from Pakistan had "crossed the border" to attack Mumbai and added that such terror strikes could have been prevented.

In the interview, Sharif said, "Militant organisations (in Pakistan) are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can't we complete the trial?"

Sharif, however, did not name Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed or known terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Jaish-e-Mohammad that the international community clearly acknowledges as operating from Pakistan soil with impunity in the interview.

Sharif also lamented that Pakistan had isolated itself. He seemed to suggest that Islamabad should look into why its narrative that "it had been fighting terrorism had not been accepted by the international community despite sacrifices".

Sharif's statement has, according to sources, left the Pakistan Army extremely worried that "this will give more weight to India's narrative that Pakistan is not doing enough" to rein in terrorist modules operating from its soil, and particularly from areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

According to sources, the top brass of the army is particularly concerned about "Sharif's statement tilting the balance sufficiently enough to put Pakistan in the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based inter-governmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the Group of Seven (G-7) nations to develop policies to combat money laundering. Pakistan is already on the grey list for the last three months.

According to sources, Sharif is reportedly under pressure from his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and the army to retract his statement immediately or issue a clarification. However, there is no indication by the latter that he will do so.

Various media reports are saying that the Pakistan Army is expected to hold a high-level meeting on Monday to discuss what it described as a "recent misleading media statement" about the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

The spokesman of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet on Sunday that the National Security Committee (NSC), consisting of Pakistan's top civil and military leadership, will meet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today to discuss key national issues.

"The NSC meeting suggested to Prime Minister to discuss recent misleading media statement regarding Bombay incident. Being held tomorrow morning," said Major General Ghafoor in his tweet on Sunday.

New Delhi has long held and accused the Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 with the help of ten well-armed terrorists. These attackers arrived on boat from Karachi and according to the Indian government, carried out the violent strikes across Mumbai in coordination with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

The 26/11 case is being tried in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan since 2009, but has hardly made any progress.

India maintains that Pakistan has not kept its end of the bargain and sent the case to court without really investigating the conspiracy that led to the attacks.

Islamabad, however, squarely blames New Delhi for not providing it with "solid evidence" against prime accused Hafiz Saeed and others.

"Sharif's apparently conciliatory remark on the state's role in terrorism may not result in a concrete shift in Pakistan's position.&nbsp;

Sharif had suggested, in an interview given to Dawn newspaper, that terrorists from Pakistan had 'crossed the border' to attack Mumbai. He added that such terror strikes could have been prevented.

The Pakistan Army is said to be 'extremely upset' with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's alleged admission that Pakistan had a significant role to play in the terrorist attacks that took place across Mumbai between November 26 and 29, 2008, which claimed the lives of 166 persons and injured more than 300. It may be recalled that on Saturday evening, in an interview given to the Dawn newspaper, Sharif suggested terrorists from Pakistan had "crossed the border" to attack Mumbai and added that such terror strikes could have been prevented. In the interview, Sharif said, "Militant organisations (in Pakistan) are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can't we complete the trial?" Sharif, however, did not name Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed or known terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Jaish-e-Mohammad that the international community clearly acknowledges as operating from Pakistan soil with impunity in the interview. Sharif also lamented that Pakistan had isolated itself. He seemed to suggest that Islamabad should look into why its narrative that "it had been fighting terrorism had not been accepted by the international community despite sacrifices". Sharif's statement has, according to sources, left the Pakistan Army extremely worried that "this will give more weight to India's narrative that Pakistan is not doing enough" to rein in terrorist modules operating from its soil, and particularly from areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). According to sources, the top brass of the army is particularly concerned about "Sharif's statement tilting the balance sufficiently enough to put Pakistan in the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based inter-governmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the Group of Seven (G-7) nations to develop policies to combat money laundering. Pakistan is already on the grey list for the last three months. According to sources, Sharif is reportedly under pressure from his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and the army to retract his statement immediately or issue a clarification. However, there is no indication by the latter that he will do so. Various media reports are saying that the Pakistan Army is expected to hold a high-level meeting on Monday to discuss what it described as a "recent misleading media statement" about the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The spokesman of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet on Sunday that the National Security Committee (NSC), consisting of Pakistan's top civil and military leadership, will meet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today to discuss key national issues. "The NSC meeting suggested to Prime Minister to discuss recent misleading media statement regarding Bombay incident. Being held tomorrow morning," said Major General Ghafoor in his tweet on Sunday. New Delhi has long held and accused the Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 with the help of ten well-armed terrorists. These attackers arrived on boat from Karachi and according to the Indian government, carried out the violent strikes across Mumbai in coordination with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. The 26/11 case is being tried in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan since 2009, but has hardly made any progress. India maintains that Pakistan has not kept its end of the bargain and sent the case to court without really investigating the conspiracy that led to the attacks. Islamabad, however, squarely blames New Delhi for not providing it with "solid evidence" against prime accused Hafiz Saeed and others. "Sharif's apparently conciliatory remark on the state's role in terrorism may not result in a concrete shift in Pakistan's position.

Pak Army 'extremely upset' with Sharif's admission country played role in 26/11

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack near a training facility of Afghanistan&rsquo;s main intelligence agency in the capital, Kabul, on Monday as gunmen exchanged fire with security forces.

Details of the attack remained unclear after a group of armed men seized a building under construction in a heavily populated area of the city.

&ldquo;The number of attackers, possible casualties and their target is not yet clear,&rdquo; said Najib Danish, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

The Afshar area of Kabul where the attack was underway is close to a training facility of the National Directorate of Security, the main Afghan intelligence agency, as well as a private university.

Another government official said the attack was near the intelligence agency training centre.

Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement on its Amaq news agency, in which it said two of its fighters had attacked an intelligence agency centre in Kabul.

The group, which first appeared in Afghanistan in 2015, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in Kabul over the past several months.

But much remains unknown about how it operates and many observers are sceptical about its ability to mount complex attacks on its own.

&quot;Around 10:10 am, a group of armed attackers entered an under-construction building in (the) NDS training centre in (the) Afshar area of Kabul,&quot; interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP, referring to the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan&#39;s spy agency.

&quot;The fighting is ongoing and we have also launched our operation.&quot;

Nasrat Rahim, a deputy interior ministry spokesman, said the sound of large and small arms fire could be heard from the fighting.&nbsp;

&quot;There are three attackers involved... the clearance operation is ongoing,&quot; said the spokesman, adding there were no immediate reports of any casualties.

Roads to the area were closed and dozens of police and intelligence officers were blocking access to the public. AFP reporters, who were held more than a kilometre away from the scene, saw ambulances and reinforcements headed towards the site.

&quot;I was going toward my school. It (the attack) happened suddenly... the police arrived in the area fast and blocked the roads, not allowing anyone to get to their homes,&quot; Naweed, a student, told AFP.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda arm.

&quot;Two IS attackers raid the Afghan intelligence centre in Kabul,&quot; the jihadists&#39; Amaq outlet reported.

The Afghan capital has become one of the deadliest places in the war-torn country for civilians in recent months, as the resurgent Taliban and increasingly IS both step up their attacks, targeting security installations and mosques.

Security in Kabul has been ramped up since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the city&#39;s diplomatic quarter, killing about 150 and wounding around 400 people, mostly civilians.

No group has officially claimed responsibility for that attack, which the government has blamed on the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network.

Monday&#39;s attack represents another blow to beleaguered Afghan forces.&nbsp;

The Taliban have targeted military installations in recent months, including a spate of attacks in October that killed around 150 people.

Afghan forces, already beset by desertions and corruption, have seen casualties soar to what a US watchdog has described as &quot;shockingly high&quot; levels since NATO forces officially ended their combat mission in 2014.

Morale has been further eroded by long-running fears that the militants have insider help -- everything from infiltrators in the ranks to corrupt Afghan forces selling equipment to the Taliban.

But IS, which has expanded its presence in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015, has also dramatically scaled up its attacks in Kabul, including on the country&#39;s Shiite minority.

In November, a suicide attacker blew himself up outside a political gathering in Kabul, killing at least 14 people in an attack claimed by IS.

The number of attackers, possible casualties and their target is not yet clear

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack near a training facility of Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency in the capital, Kabul, on Monday as gunmen exchanged fire with security forces. Details of the attack remained unclear after a group of armed men seized a building under construction in a heavily populated area of the city. “The number of attackers, possible casualties and their target is not yet clear,” said Najib Danish, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. The Afshar area of Kabul where the attack was underway is close to a training facility of the National Directorate of Security, the main Afghan intelligence agency, as well as a private university. Another government official said the attack was near the intelligence agency training centre. Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement on its Amaq news agency, in which it said two of its fighters had attacked an intelligence agency centre in Kabul. The group, which first appeared in Afghanistan in 2015, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in Kabul over the past several months. But much remains unknown about how it operates and many observers are sceptical about its ability to mount complex attacks on its own. "Around 10:10 am, a group of armed attackers entered an under-construction building in (the) NDS training centre in (the) Afshar area of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP, referring to the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's spy agency. "The fighting is ongoing and we have also launched our operation." Nasrat Rahim, a deputy interior ministry spokesman, said the sound of large and small arms fire could be heard from the fighting. "There are three attackers involved... the clearance operation is ongoing," said the spokesman, adding there were no immediate reports of any casualties. Roads to the area were closed and dozens of police and intelligence officers were blocking access to the public. AFP reporters, who were held more than a kilometre away from the scene, saw ambulances and reinforcements headed towards the site. "I was going toward my school. It (the attack) happened suddenly... the police arrived in the area fast and blocked the roads, not allowing anyone to get to their homes," Naweed, a student, told AFP. IS claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda arm. "Two IS attackers raid the Afghan intelligence centre in Kabul," the jihadists' Amaq outlet reported. The Afghan capital has become one of the deadliest places in the war-torn country for civilians in recent months, as the resurgent Taliban and increasingly IS both step up their attacks, targeting security installations and mosques. Security in Kabul has been ramped up since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the city's diplomatic quarter, killing about 150 and wounding around 400 people, mostly civilians. No group has officially claimed responsibility for that attack, which the government has blamed on the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network. Monday's attack represents another blow to beleaguered Afghan forces. The Taliban have targeted military installations in recent months, including a spate of attacks in October that killed around 150 people. Afghan forces, already beset by desertions and corruption, have seen casualties soar to what a US watchdog has described as "shockingly high" levels since NATO forces officially ended their combat mission in 2014. Morale has been further eroded by long-running fears that the militants have insider help -- everything from infiltrators in the ranks to corrupt Afghan forces selling equipment to the Taliban. But IS, which has expanded its presence in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015, has also dramatically scaled up its attacks in Kabul, including on the country's Shiite minority. In November, a suicide attacker blew himself up outside a political gathering in Kabul, killing at least 14 people in an attack claimed by IS.

Islamic State claims attack on Kabul spy centre

A Bangladeshi man set off a homemade bomb strapped to his body at a New York commuter hub at rush hour on Monday, wounding himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack.&nbsp;Mass transit systems have come under attack around the world. Here are several notable incidents:

Sept. 15, 2017 - London: A homemade bomb on a packed rush-hour commuter train in London engulfed a carriage in flames and injured 30 people, but apparently failed to fully explode. Some people suffered burns and others were injured in a stampede to escape the station. A teenager who moved to Britain after his parents were killed in Iraq is scheduled to go on trial in March.

June 20, 2017 - Brussels: A Moroccan national tried to detonate a suitcase bomb packed with nails and gas bottles at the Central train station. A soldier fatally shot the man, who prosecutors said was suspected of supporting the radical group Islamic State. The bomb, which partly detonated, did not hurt anyone.&nbsp;

April 3, 2017 - St. Petersburg: A suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded more than 40 on a metro train. The suspect, a native of the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, had rented an apartment in the city a month before the attack. A little-known group called the Imam Shamil Battalion claimed responsibility and said the bomber was acting on orders from al Qaeda.

March 22, 2016 - Brussels: A suicide bomber detonated a bomb on a train in the city&#39;s downtown Maelbeek subway station, about an hour after bomb attacks on the main airport. At least 30 people died in the attacks.

March 29, 2010 - Moscow: Suicide bomb attacks on packed trains in two central subway stations killed at least 39 people and injured&nbsp;more. A Russian Islamist insurgent group claimed responsibility for the bombings.&nbsp;

July 7, 2005 - London: Four British Islamists carried out suicide bomb attacks on three London subway trains and a bus, killing 52 people.

March 11, 2004 - Madrid: Ten bombs packed into sports bags and detonated by cellphones tore through four commuter trains, killing more than 190 people and injuring more than 1,800. Three weeks later, seven men blew themselves up in a suburban apartment after police closed in on them.&nbsp;

Dec. 3, 1996 - Paris: A bomb exploded in the Port Royal station, killing four people and injuring 90.&nbsp;

Oct. 17, 1995 - Paris: A bomb exploded in the carriage of an express train in Paris, injuring 28 people.

July 25, 1995: - Paris: A gas canister with black powder, nails,&nbsp;and bolts exploded on a rush-hour suburban commuter train at a station in the heart of the city&#39;s famed Latin Quarter. At least seven people died and 86 others were wounded in the blast, blamed on Algerian Islamist militants.

March 20, 1995 - Tokyo: Members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult released sarin nerve gas in coordinated attacks on the subway system during the morning rush hour, killing 13 people and sickening thousands of others.

December 1994 - New York: A firebomb exploded on a crowded subway train in lower Manhattan, injuring 48 people, including the bomber, Edward Leary, aged 50. Six days earlier, a firebomb planted by Leary went off on a subway in Manhattan&#39;s Harlem section, injuring two teenagers. Leary drew a 94-year prison sentence for the two bombings.

Many transit systems have recently come under attacks around the world. Most recent on the list is an 'attempted' terrorist attack in New York

A Bangladeshi man set off a homemade bomb strapped to his body at a New York commuter hub at rush hour on Monday, wounding himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack. Mass transit systems have come under attack around the world. Here are several notable incidents: Sept. 15, 2017 - London: A homemade bomb on a packed rush-hour commuter train in London engulfed a carriage in flames and injured 30 people, but apparently failed to fully explode. Some people suffered burns and others were injured in a stampede to escape the station. A teenager who moved to Britain after his parents were killed in Iraq is scheduled to go on trial in March. June 20, 2017 - Brussels: A Moroccan national tried to detonate a suitcase bomb packed with nails and gas bottles at the Central train station. A soldier fatally shot the man, who prosecutors said was suspected of supporting the radical group Islamic State. The bomb, which partly detonated, did not hurt anyone. April 3, 2017 - St. Petersburg: A suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded more than 40 on a metro train. The suspect, a native of the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, had rented an apartment in the city a month before the attack. A little-known group called the Imam Shamil Battalion claimed responsibility and said the bomber was acting on orders from al Qaeda. March 22, 2016 - Brussels: A suicide bomber detonated a bomb on a train in the city's downtown Maelbeek subway station, about an hour after bomb attacks on the main airport. At least 30 people died in the attacks. March 29, 2010 - Moscow: Suicide bomb attacks on packed trains in two central subway stations killed at least 39 people and injured more. A Russian Islamist insurgent group claimed responsibility for the bombings. July 7, 2005 - London: Four British Islamists carried out suicide bomb attacks on three London subway trains and a bus, killing 52 people. March 11, 2004 - Madrid: Ten bombs packed into sports bags and detonated by cellphones tore through four commuter trains, killing more than 190 people and injuring more than 1,800. Three weeks later, seven men blew themselves up in a suburban apartment after police closed in on them. Dec. 3, 1996 - Paris: A bomb exploded in the Port Royal station, killing four people and injuring 90. Oct. 17, 1995 - Paris: A bomb exploded in the carriage of an express train in Paris, injuring 28 people. July 25, 1995: - Paris: A gas canister with black powder, nails, and bolts exploded on a rush-hour suburban commuter train at a station in the heart of the city's famed Latin Quarter. At least seven people died and 86 others were wounded in the blast, blamed on Algerian Islamist militants. March 20, 1995 - Tokyo: Members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult released sarin nerve gas in coordinated attacks on the subway system during the morning rush hour, killing 13 people and sickening thousands of others. December 1994 - New York: A firebomb exploded on a crowded subway train in lower Manhattan, injuring 48 people, including the bomber, Edward Leary, aged 50. Six days earlier, a firebomb planted by Leary went off on a subway in Manhattan's Harlem section, injuring two teenagers. Leary drew a 94-year prison sentence for the two bombings.

Factbox: Attacks on mass transit system around the world

In addition to English and Bengali, my three-and-a-half-year-old son is learning Arabic in school. Even he has Islam as a&nbsp;subject&nbsp;in his playgroup class.&nbsp;

Once, I happened to be in the school&#39;s sports room where children play with toys and listen to rhymes.&nbsp;The first rhyme they listened to was &ldquo;Bismillah Bismillah in the name of Allah&rdquo;. 
&nbsp; 
Some days later, one evening, I found my son flipping through his school book and reading to himself some Arabic alphabets. My wife was impressed. Who wouldn&rsquo;t be? In a country like Bangladesh, Arabic is not just a mere language but a symbol of Islam. &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
I remember my school days when third grade onwards, we had mandatory religious studies. Muslim students would have to follow a curriculum in consonance with their religion while Hindus did likewise. The textbooks were akin to those studied in moral science lessons. The world is more advanced now. Probably, that is why children are being taught about religion at an earlier stage. 
&nbsp; 
It&rsquo;s not the same everywhere. Public schools follow a combined curriculum set by the government where religion is a compulsory subject from the third grade. But private schools, especially pre-schools, are at liberty to introduce it at earlier levels. Education, like many other things, has become a mushrooming business in Bangladesh. Inclusion of religion in the curriculum, no matter how young the children are, can make all the difference. This is done mainly to attract students, to persuade parents to send their wards to such schools. Ensuring proper education takes a backseat. &nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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<h5>Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, &lsquo;&lsquo;First, know your own mother tongue, then English.&rsquo;&rsquo; He had travelled extensively and had observed&nbsp;that no country could prosper sans its mother language</h5>
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&nbsp;

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, &lsquo;&lsquo;First, know your own mother tongue, then English.&rsquo;&rsquo; He had travelled extensively and had observed&nbsp;that no country could prosper sans its mother language. Since the creation of Bangladesh, the quality of education has been on a downward spiral. Constant leaks of examination question papers are a big problem. As pass&nbsp;rates of students have been going&nbsp;up, the standard of education has been going&nbsp;down. 
&nbsp; 
The other day, a cousin of mine requested me to fill her bank account opening form which was in English. My cousin, who has a BA degree, cannot read the language. This brings us to an important question.&nbsp;What type&nbsp;of graduates is Bangladesh producing?&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
As a result of the disastrous Bengali medium education system, a number of parents are sending their kids to English medium schools while the poor children have the madrasa education system only. The situation has come to such a head that Dhaka has given the Dawra&nbsp;degree of Qawami madrasa the same recognition that is accorded to a university master&#39;s degree. Bangladesh is one country, there is one language but&nbsp;there are four types of education systems. &nbsp;

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<h5>Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark&nbsp;moments</h5>
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&nbsp;

Few weeks ago, the ruling Awami League Party allegedly approved a project to build mosques and Islamic cultural centres in every district and sub-district across the country, with over $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has subsequently denied any such funding but it is known that the&nbsp;Kingdom, for long, has been known to fan Sunni extremism through these kind of donations around the globe. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Also, earlier this year, school textbooks in Bangladesh were changed to appease the Islamist groups, particularly Hefazat-e-Islam. This is an excerpt published in New York Times on February 3, 2017 on the matter:&nbsp;&lsquo;&lsquo;The Bengali letter &ldquo;o&rdquo;?used to stand for &ldquo;ol,&rdquo; a yam; now it stands for &ldquo;orna,&rdquo; a scarf worn by women for modesty. Texts by non-Muslim writers&mdash;including some revered as part of Bengali heritage, like the classical poet Gyandas or the contemporary novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay&mdash;have been removed. Also gone are a small excerpt from the Ramayana, a Hindu classic that Islamists reject as foreign to the Muslim canon, and songs of the Sufi icon Lalon Shah, whose syncretic faith is anathema to Muslim conservatives.&rsquo;&rsquo; &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
This is not all. Removal of the statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court building also sent shockwaves through the secular sections of Bangladesh&#39;s people. Taking cue from this, now the Islamist groups want all statues in the country destroyed.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark&nbsp;moments. The celebration of the Bengali New Year did not go smoothly this year. Some fundamentalist groups protested against the celebrations, terming the festivities un-Islamic and a rub-off of Hindu culture. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The consequences of this rampant Arabisation are everywhere &mdash; in thinking, and even in clothing. Over the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of women wearing hijab and burqa. On Dhaka&rsquo;s streets, it is quite normal to spot a five or a six-year-old girl, walking on the streets, covered head to toe. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

School textbooks in Bangladesh were changed to appease Islamist groups

In addition to English and Bengali, my three-and-a-half-year-old son is learning Arabic in school. Even he has Islam as a subject in his playgroup class. Once, I happened to be in the school's sports room where children play with toys and listen to rhymes. The first rhyme they listened to was “Bismillah Bismillah in the name of Allah”. Some days later, one evening, I found my son flipping through his school book and reading to himself some Arabic alphabets. My wife was impressed. Who wouldn’t be? In a country like Bangladesh, Arabic is not just a mere language but a symbol of Islam. I remember my school days when third grade onwards, we had mandatory religious studies. Muslim students would have to follow a curriculum in consonance with their religion while Hindus did likewise. The textbooks were akin to those studied in moral science lessons. The world is more advanced now. Probably, that is why children are being taught about religion at an earlier stage. It’s not the same everywhere. Public schools follow a combined curriculum set by the government where religion is a compulsory subject from the third grade. But private schools, especially pre-schools, are at liberty to introduce it at earlier levels. Education, like many other things, has become a mushrooming business in Bangladesh. Inclusion of religion in the curriculum, no matter how young the children are, can make all the difference. This is done mainly to attract students, to persuade parents to send their wards to such schools. Ensuring proper education takes a backseat. Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, ‘‘First, know your own mother tongue, then English.’’ He had travelled extensively and had observed that no country could prosper sans its mother language × Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore famously said, ‘‘First, know your own mother tongue, then English.’’ He had travelled extensively and had observed that no country could prosper sans its mother language. Since the creation of Bangladesh, the quality of education has been on a downward spiral. Constant leaks of examination question papers are a big problem. As pass rates of students have been going up, the standard of education has been going down. The other day, a cousin of mine requested me to fill her bank account opening form which was in English. My cousin, who has a BA degree, cannot read the language. This brings us to an important question. What type of graduates is Bangladesh producing? As a result of the disastrous Bengali medium education system, a number of parents are sending their kids to English medium schools while the poor children have the madrasa education system only. The situation has come to such a head that Dhaka has given the Dawra degree of Qawami madrasa the same recognition that is accorded to a university master's degree. Bangladesh is one country, there is one language but there are four types of education systems. Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark moments × Few weeks ago, the ruling Awami League Party allegedly approved a project to build mosques and Islamic cultural centres in every district and sub-district across the country, with over $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has subsequently denied any such funding but it is known that the Kingdom, for long, has been known to fan Sunni extremism through these kind of donations around the globe. Also, earlier this year, school textbooks in Bangladesh were changed to appease the Islamist groups, particularly Hefazat-e-Islam. This is an excerpt published in New York Times on February 3, 2017 on the matter: ‘‘The Bengali letter “o”?used to stand for “ol,” a yam; now it stands for “orna,” a scarf worn by women for modesty. Texts by non-Muslim writers—including some revered as part of Bengali heritage, like the classical poet Gyandas or the contemporary novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay—have been removed. Also gone are a small excerpt from the Ramayana, a Hindu classic that Islamists reject as foreign to the Muslim canon, and songs of the Sufi icon Lalon Shah, whose syncretic faith is anathema to Muslim conservatives.’’ This is not all. Removal of the statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court building also sent shockwaves through the secular sections of Bangladesh's people. Taking cue from this, now the Islamist groups want all statues in the country destroyed. Our language and culture are in grave danger in these dark moments. The celebration of the Bengali New Year did not go smoothly this year. Some fundamentalist groups protested against the celebrations, terming the festivities un-Islamic and a rub-off of Hindu culture. The consequences of this rampant Arabisation are everywhere — in thinking, and even in clothing. Over the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of women wearing hijab and burqa. On Dhaka’s streets, it is quite normal to spot a five or a six-year-old girl, walking on the streets, covered head to toe.

The rise of Islamism in Bangladesh threatens to destroy the country's Bengali way of life

(This interview is a joint work of Sahil Maniktala and Ankit Tuteja.)

Terrorism is a menace that needs to be rooted out and in today&rsquo;s world, data analytics might be the first line of defence in the fight against terrorism. WION speaks to Hexagon Geospatial President Mladen Stojic at the recently-concluded Geospatial World Forum 2017, to get insights into how geospatial technology and big data are used to combat terrorism.

WION: Any terror attack has a planned cycle. It has certain trends, it has certain patterns. So our question to you is what is the role of GIS, and what is the role of geospatial technologies when it comes to identifying these trends. And once these trends are identified, can it actually predict terror?

Mladen Stojic: Absolutely. So, GIS and geospatial technologies are really at the core of understanding activities as they occur in real time. Everything has a location. So, when it comes to fighting crime and providing security solutions, it&rsquo;s imperative that crime analysts and intelligence agencies have an ability to understand, and look back at trends to understand what was or what occurred to model what is happening by getting real time data - whether it be through social media, whether it be through phone calls, whether it be through other inputs - and lastly, to model what should be or what can be. So that&rsquo;s when we start getting into analysis, particularly spatial analysis. So, we start looking at spatial trends, crime trends incidents as they come in, let&rsquo;s say, from computer-aided dispatch system and/or from police systems. All of these come together and location is core because everything that comes in has a location. And by understanding the location of activities, you can then start making smart decisions.

WION: Can you give us some examples of when geospatial technologies have actually helped in predicting terror?

Stojic: I can&rsquo;t mention specific examples because some of our customers are classifieds. They have our software solutions, but I can say this public information we have. Global organisations, police departments use our technologies ranging from let&rsquo;s say, computer-aided dispatch systems where call centres that receive incoming calls regarding an event or an incident occurring. They log those calls, they record an incident. Those incidents then get fed into, let&rsquo;s say dispatched to police officers in the field. And then that police officer goes to respond to an event occurring. That&rsquo;s very common. And once again, location is at the core and and at the centre of making all that possible because you have to know where you are in order to determine where to go and what needs to happen from there.

WION: So what are the areas of GIS applications in counterterrorism? Can you walk us through that?

Stojic: Some of the common applications involve let&rsquo;s say, crime and analysis. So we have many agencies that look at historical trends. They look at let&rsquo;s say, on a given 7-day week, when do crimes occur. Typically, they occur late in the evenings. Okay. Where do they occur. Is there some frequency in which they occur? What types of crime occur? All of these inputs basically are used as a foundation to better determine where to place police officers so that you can actually prevent crimes from happening. So that is where we start getting into predictive analytics where we get business intelligence from historical data so we c

an actually shape smart change and actually influence a positive outcome looking forward.

WION: India has seen its fair share of terror acts, fair share of terrorism and the Indian government has always maintained that Pakistan harbours terrorism, they are exporting terrorism. Have you worked with any Indian authority in dealing with the fight against terrorism?

Stojic: So most recently, Hexagon has been working on two Dial 100 projects in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. These are two very recent activities that Hexagon has been involved with - particularly around these dial centres. So when calls come in they can be logged, they can be organised and ultimately dispatched, meaning officers can be dispatched in the field.

We also work heavily in supporting the general mapping. So, a lot of our software applications are used to produce mapping data - data that can ultimately be used to help fight terrorism. And that is largely used by defence and intelligence agencies.

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<h5>India is on that cusp right now in its history of making decisions regarding data availability and data privacy,</h5>
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WION: You spoke about geospatial technology and crime analysis, tell us about some of the products that Hexagon is working on when it comes to identifying crimes, when it comes to analysing crimes. Tell us a little bit about that.

Stojic: One product that we just recently introduced is called Incident Analyser. It is an application that allows you to do two things. You can look at just data coming in from multiple sources, you can look at that data in relation to where those policers officers are, and you can start breaking down incidents in terms of trends. You can look at heat maps, you can look at different visuals, representations of crime data, of incident data, thereby allowing you to make more intelligent decisions on where to let&rsquo;s say, place police officers or security officials. Because if you know what happened and if you know what was, then you understand what is and what can be and what should be.

So, we are really focused, particularly with this new product Incident Analyser, in giving the crime analysts tools to not only understand what occurred, but ultimately influence what can be. So, that involves analysis, visualising the data in different ways, looking at even things like the response time - how long did it take from a phone call being made to a police office actually being deployed in field - in order to respond to a crime. And every police department&rsquo;s effort is to reduce that average response time so that officers can, in fact, be deployed much sooner and ultimately save lives and protect lives.

WION: Also, we believe Hexagon is focusing on smart city projects in India. What more can you tell us on that front?

Stojic: There is a lot of activity with regards to smart cities. Smart cities is a very broad topic. If you look at smart cities, you can focus on several things, at least things worth focused on - safe city. So that is what we look at - public safety and security. You could look at smart transportation. How to manage traffic. And that is where you start getting a sense of fusion with video surveillance, with traffic lights, road network management, infrastructure management, asset management, bridges, roads, pipes, utilities. Then you start looking at smart metre, utility networks, how is power used.

So, smart city is a very broad topic. We are involved in every aspect of that topic because we believe that the software is needed to map a city in three dimensions and then analyse pretty solutions to leverage that 3D data in order to build smart applications. &nbsp;

And we recently launched a new platform called smart map which is M.App. It delivers apps for smart cities so that citizens with e-governance and software can be engaged in a smart city because that is effectively the goal of a smart city - to support citizen engagement to improve the lives of citizens within that city.

WION: India is a very dynamic country, infrastructure is always being changed. There are new roads, new highways being constructed. From a data perspective, do you think that is a challenge or an opportunity?

Stojic: I think it is an opportunity. With a lot of change, you require a lot of data. With a lot of data, you then have the big data problem. You have so much data. How do you know what data to use for what particular application or use case. We see that as an opportunity because you know to use that data, that data has got to be managed. Hence, the cloud, where we have the ability to manage a lot of data and ultimately the ability to serve that data or at least, deliver that data through analytics to different users who have different needs with that data. We definitely see that as an opportunity, and a country like India is experiencing so much positive change, new data is always being collected. From the space, from the air, from the ground. All that data needs to come together. And we see that as an opportunity - not only the collective data, but to alsodeliver applications and solutions that use that data to support different solutions. 
&nbsp; 
WION: Big data is a catch-all term. From the perspective of its partnership with GIS, what can you tell us on that? Is that a bright future we are looking at? Do they both complement each other?

Stojic: Absolutely, I think big data is much bigger than GIS. When we talk about big data, it is let&rsquo;s say, satellites continuously flying over India and collecting new data. These data are huge. We are talking about petabytes, terabytes of content being collected. And on top of that, all the social media data, utility data - when you put it all together, that&rsquo;s really big data and analytics is really critical because with analytics, you have the ability to pull the necessary data needed in order to run processing capabilities and downstream information services. Big data, for us, is more than just GIS or geospatial. Anything that has to do with location, we see that as an opportunity.

WION: India has released the first draft of the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016. How do you think - if it gets passed - will impact India&rsquo;s national security? Should we be concerned?

Stojic: India is on that cusp right now in its history of making decisions regarding data availability, data privacy, how is data used. We look at data as an opportunity. And when you make decisions regarding the usage of data, particularly with privacy associated with it, you can err on the side of caution and have fear to direct decisions, or you look at opportunities. I am more of an optimist, I look at opportunities.

If we look at other countries around the world, open data standards have been deployed. Certainly, not all data is open. There certainly has to be some level of scrutiny and caution, but I think, moving towards society where data can be made available to the public to support citizen engagement will open up many more opportunities to bolster an economy, to have new companies, and to bolster a society where citizens become engaged in the use of that data, and experience and participate not only in the city, but also in growing that nation. And I think open data and using data is a very critical step towards that path.

(WION)

In this interview with WION, Hexagon Geospatial President Mladen Stojic gives insights into how technology is used to combat terrorism

(This interview is a joint work of Sahil Maniktala and Ankit Tuteja.) Terrorism is a menace that needs to be rooted out and in today’s world, data analytics might be the first line of defence in the fight against terrorism. WION speaks to Hexagon Geospatial President Mladen Stojic at the recently-concluded Geospatial World Forum 2017, to get insights into how geospatial technology and big data are used to combat terrorism. WION: Any terror attack has a planned cycle. It has certain trends, it has certain patterns. So our question to you is what is the role of GIS, and what is the role of geospatial technologies when it comes to identifying these trends. And once these trends are identified, can it actually predict terror? Mladen Stojic: Absolutely. So, GIS and geospatial technologies are really at the core of understanding activities as they occur in real time. Everything has a location. So, when it comes to fighting crime and providing security solutions, it’s imperative that crime analysts and intelligence agencies have an ability to understand, and look back at trends to understand what was or what occurred to model what is happening by getting real time data - whether it be through social media, whether it be through phone calls, whether it be through other inputs - and lastly, to model what should be or what can be. So that’s when we start getting into analysis, particularly spatial analysis. So, we start looking at spatial trends, crime trends incidents as they come in, let’s say, from computer-aided dispatch system and/or from police systems. All of these come together and location is core because everything that comes in has a location. And by understanding the location of activities, you can then start making smart decisions. WION: Can you give us some examples of when geospatial technologies have actually helped in predicting terror? Stojic: I can’t mention specific examples because some of our customers are classifieds. They have our software solutions, but I can say this public information we have. Global organisations, police departments use our technologies ranging from let’s say, computer-aided dispatch systems where call centres that receive incoming calls regarding an event or an incident occurring. They log those calls, they record an incident. Those incidents then get fed into, let’s say dispatched to police officers in the field. And then that police officer goes to respond to an event occurring. That’s very common. And once again, location is at the core and and at the centre of making all that possible because you have to know where you are in order to determine where to go and what needs to happen from there. WION: So what are the areas of GIS applications in counterterrorism? Can you walk us through that? Stojic: Some of the common applications involve let’s say, crime and analysis. So we have many agencies that look at historical trends. They look at let’s say, on a given 7-day week, when do crimes occur. Typically, they occur late in the evenings. Okay. Where do they occur. Is there some frequency in which they occur? What types of crime occur? All of these inputs basically are used as a foundation to better determine where to place police officers so that you can actually prevent crimes from happening. So that is where we start getting into predictive analytics where we get business intelligence from historical data so we c an actually shape smart change and actually influence a positive outcome looking forward. WION: India has seen its fair share of terror acts, fair share of terrorism and the Indian government has always maintained that Pakistan harbours terrorism, they are exporting terrorism. Have you worked with any Indian authority in dealing with the fight against terrorism? Stojic: So most recently, Hexagon has been working on two Dial 100 projects in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. These are two very recent activities that Hexagon has been involved with - particularly around these dial centres. So when calls come in they can be logged, they can be organised and ultimately dispatched, meaning officers can be dispatched in the field. We also work heavily in supporting the general mapping. So, a lot of our software applications are used to produce mapping data - data that can ultimately be used to help fight terrorism. And that is largely used by defence and intelligence agencies. India is on that cusp right now in its history of making decisions regarding data availability and data privacy, × WION: You spoke about geospatial technology and crime analysis, tell us about some of the products that Hexagon is working on when it comes to identifying crimes, when it comes to analysing crimes. Tell us a little bit about that. Stojic: One product that we just recently introduced is called Incident Analyser. It is an application that allows you to do two things. You can look at just data coming in from multiple sources, you can look at that data in relation to where those policers officers are, and you can start breaking down incidents in terms of trends. You can look at heat maps, you can look at different visuals, representations of crime data, of incident data, thereby allowing you to make more intelligent decisions on where to let’s say, place police officers or security officials. Because if you know what happened and if you know what was, then you understand what is and what can be and what should be. So, we are really focused, particularly with this new product Incident Analyser, in giving the crime analysts tools to not only understand what occurred, but ultimately influence what can be. So, that involves analysis, visualising the data in different ways, looking at even things like the response time - how long did it take from a phone call being made to a police office actually being deployed in field - in order to respond to a crime. And every police department’s effort is to reduce that average response time so that officers can, in fact, be deployed much sooner and ultimately save lives and protect lives. WION: Also, we believe Hexagon is focusing on smart city projects in India. What more can you tell us on that front? Stojic: There is a lot of activity with regards to smart cities. Smart cities is a very broad topic. If you look at smart cities, you can focus on several things, at least things worth focused on - safe city. So that is what we look at - public safety and security. You could look at smart transportation. How to manage traffic. And that is where you start getting a sense of fusion with video surveillance, with traffic lights, road network management, infrastructure management, asset management, bridges, roads, pipes, utilities. Then you start looking at smart metre, utility networks, how is power used. So, smart city is a very broad topic. We are involved in every aspect of that topic because we believe that the software is needed to map a city in three dimensions and then analyse pretty solutions to leverage that 3D data in order to build smart applications. And we recently launched a new platform called smart map which is M.App. It delivers apps for smart cities so that citizens with e-governance and software can be engaged in a smart city because that is effectively the goal of a smart city - to support citizen engagement to improve the lives of citizens within that city. WION: India is a very dynamic country, infrastructure is always being changed. There are new roads, new highways being constructed. From a data perspective, do you think that is a challenge or an opportunity? Stojic: I think it is an opportunity. With a lot of change, you require a lot of data. With a lot of data, you then have the big data problem. You have so much data. How do you know what data to use for what particular application or use case. We see that as an opportunity because you know to use that data, that data has got to be managed. Hence, the cloud, where we have the ability to manage a lot of data and ultimately the ability to serve that data or at least, deliver that data through analytics to different users who have different needs with that data. We definitely see that as an opportunity, and a country like India is experiencing so much positive change, new data is always being collected. From the space, from the air, from the ground. All that data needs to come together. And we see that as an opportunity - not only the collective data, but to alsodeliver applications and solutions that use that data to support different solutions. WION: Big data is a catch-all term. From the perspective of its partnership with GIS, what can you tell us on that? Is that a bright future we are looking at? Do they both complement each other? Stojic: Absolutely, I think big data is much bigger than GIS. When we talk about big data, it is let’s say, satellites continuously flying over India and collecting new data. These data are huge. We are talking about petabytes, terabytes of content being collected. And on top of that, all the social media data, utility data - when you put it all together, that’s really big data and analytics is really critical because with analytics, you have the ability to pull the necessary data needed in order to run processing capabilities and downstream information services. Big data, for us, is more than just GIS or geospatial. Anything that has to do with location, we see that as an opportunity. WION: India has released the first draft of the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016. How do you think - if it gets passed - will impact India’s national security? Should we be concerned? Stojic: India is on that cusp right now in its history of making decisions regarding data availability, data privacy, how is data used. We look at data as an opportunity. And when you make decisions regarding the usage of data, particularly with privacy associated with it, you can err on the side of caution and have fear to direct decisions, or you look at opportunities. I am more of an optimist, I look at opportunities. If we look at other countries around the world, open data standards have been deployed. Certainly, not all data is open. There certainly has to be some level of scrutiny and caution, but I think, moving towards society where data can be made available to the public to support citizen engagement will open up many more opportunities to bolster an economy, to have new companies, and to bolster a society where citizens become engaged in the use of that data, and experience and participate not only in the city, but also in growing that nation. And I think open data and using data is a very critical step towards that path. (WION)

Exclusive: How technology is used to predict and prevent terror attacks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group was the &quot;likely perpetrator&quot; of a bomb attack on a wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep that left at least 30 dead. 
 
Erdogan said in a written statement that there was &quot;no difference&quot; between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who he blames for a failed July 15 coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) &quot;and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep&quot;. 
 
&quot;Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us...you will not succeed!&quot; he said. 
 
Erdogan added that PKK attacks on security forces had claimed 70 lives in the last month alone. 
 
Erdogan said that the aim of attacks like Gaziantep was to sow division between different groups in Turkey such as Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and &quot;spread incitement along ethnic and religious lines.&quot; 
 
Turkey would not give in to the &quot;provocation&quot; of the Gaziantep attack and would instead show &quot;unity, togetherness and brotherhood&quot;, he said. 
 
Ankara has long insisted there is no difference between the various &quot;outlawed&quot; terror groups it is fighting and has urged the West to take a tougher stance against the PKK.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The aim of attacks like Gaziantep was to sow division between different groups in Turkey such as Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, he insisted

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group was the "likely perpetrator" of a bomb attack on a wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep that left at least 30 dead. Erdogan said in a written statement that there was "no difference" between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who he blames for a failed July 15 coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) "and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep". "Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us...you will not succeed!" he said. Erdogan added that PKK attacks on security forces had claimed 70 lives in the last month alone. Erdogan said that the aim of attacks like Gaziantep was to sow division between different groups in Turkey such as Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and "spread incitement along ethnic and religious lines." Turkey would not give in to the "provocation" of the Gaziantep attack and would instead show "unity, togetherness and brotherhood", he said. Ankara has long insisted there is no difference between the various "outlawed" terror groups it is fighting and has urged the West to take a tougher stance against the PKK. (AFP)

Islamic State likely perpetrator of Gaziantep attack, Turkey's Erdogan says

The head of the European Commission yesterday pledged &quot;Europe&#39;s solidarity and cooperation in the fight against barbarity&quot;, in a letter to French President Francois Hollande after a church attack claimed by the Islamic State group. 
 
&quot;More than ever, all over Europe, solidarity and cooperation will be essential in the fight against barbarity and to ensure that our shared values prevail,&quot; Jean-Claude Juncker wrote. 
 
&quot;The European Commission is fully mobilised, along with other European institutions, to provide all the support it can to France in these painful moments,&quot; he added. 
 
In a statement, the EU&#39;s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also expressed solidarity and offered her &quot;condolences to the families of the victims, to France and the Catholic Church.&quot; 
 
&quot;Targeting a man of faith, of any faith, is always a crime against our common humanity because it means targeting the deeper essence of our lives, believers and non-believers alike,&quot; she said. 
 
&quot;The right answer is to keep living together, to stop the hatred,&quot; Mogherini said. 
 
&quot;The terrible, daily news of attacks reinforce our common work against terrorism, within and beyond our borders,&quot; she said. &quot;It&#39;s unity that will make us prevail.&quot; 
 
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, wrote on Twitter: &quot;We stand side by side with the French in the face of this incomprehensible savagery.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

EU members pledged their solidarity and cooperation to France. EU's foreign policy chief stressed on unity in fight against terrorism

The head of the European Commission yesterday pledged "Europe's solidarity and cooperation in the fight against barbarity", in a letter to French President Francois Hollande after a church attack claimed by the Islamic State group. "More than ever, all over Europe, solidarity and cooperation will be essential in the fight against barbarity and to ensure that our shared values prevail," Jean-Claude Juncker wrote. "The European Commission is fully mobilised, along with other European institutions, to provide all the support it can to France in these painful moments," he added. In a statement, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also expressed solidarity and offered her "condolences to the families of the victims, to France and the Catholic Church." "Targeting a man of faith, of any faith, is always a crime against our common humanity because it means targeting the deeper essence of our lives, believers and non-believers alike," she said. "The right answer is to keep living together, to stop the hatred," Mogherini said. "The terrible, daily news of attacks reinforce our common work against terrorism, within and beyond our borders," she said. "It's unity that will make us prevail." The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, wrote on Twitter: "We stand side by side with the French in the face of this incomprehensible savagery." (AFP)

EU vows to help France fight Islamic State 'barbarity'

French President Francois Hollande yesterday rejected opposition calls to further harden anti-terrorism legislation after the country&#39;s second jihadist attack in two weeks. 
 
&quot;Restricting our freedoms will not make the fight against terrorism more effective,&quot; he said, adding that changes made to legislation already gave authorities sufficient &quot;capacity to act&quot;. 
 
He was speaking after two jihadists attacked a church in a Normandy town, killing an elderly Catholic priest by slitting his throat, and severely injuring another person. 
 
Hollande&#39;s predecessor and opposition chief Nicolas Sarkozy earlier called for the government to &quot;thoroughly change the strategy of our counterattack.&quot; 
 
&quot;Our enemy has no taboos, no limits, no morals, no borders,&quot; he said, asking the government to adopt proposals made by his right-wing Republicans party. 
 
The opposition wants anyone suspect of being radicalised to be placed in detention and to prevent convicted terrorists from being released from prison after having served time, if they are still considered dangerous. 
 
The Republicans also wants to make it a criminal offence to have spent time in the &quot;field of terrorist operations&quot;, namely Syria and Iraq. 
 
However those returning from jihad are already charges with criminal conspiracy with a terrorist enterprise. 
 
&quot;The government is using all human and material means to fight this threat, with a mobilisation of police, gendarmes and soldiers never before seen in the Fifth Republic,&quot; said Hollande. 
 
The president has urged unity in a country poisoned by bitter political blame-trading over security failings after a Tunisian national mowed down a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on July 14, killing 84. 
 
&quot;What the terrorists want is to divide us, separate us, to tear us apart. We must avoid one-upmanship, arguments, conflation, suspicions,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;This war will be long. Our democracy is the target, and it will be our shield. Let us stand together. We will win this war.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The opposition wants anyone suspect of being radicalised to be placed in detention and to prevent convicted terrorists from being released

French President Francois Hollande yesterday rejected opposition calls to further harden anti-terrorism legislation after the country's second jihadist attack in two weeks. "Restricting our freedoms will not make the fight against terrorism more effective," he said, adding that changes made to legislation already gave authorities sufficient "capacity to act". He was speaking after two jihadists attacked a church in a Normandy town, killing an elderly Catholic priest by slitting his throat, and severely injuring another person. Hollande's predecessor and opposition chief Nicolas Sarkozy earlier called for the government to "thoroughly change the strategy of our counterattack." "Our enemy has no taboos, no limits, no morals, no borders," he said, asking the government to adopt proposals made by his right-wing Republicans party. The opposition wants anyone suspect of being radicalised to be placed in detention and to prevent convicted terrorists from being released from prison after having served time, if they are still considered dangerous. The Republicans also wants to make it a criminal offence to have spent time in the "field of terrorist operations", namely Syria and Iraq. However those returning from jihad are already charges with criminal conspiracy with a terrorist enterprise. "The government is using all human and material means to fight this threat, with a mobilisation of police, gendarmes and soldiers never before seen in the Fifth Republic," said Hollande. The president has urged unity in a country poisoned by bitter political blame-trading over security failings after a Tunisian national mowed down a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on July 14, killing 84. "What the terrorists want is to divide us, separate us, to tear us apart. We must avoid one-upmanship, arguments, conflation, suspicions," he said. "This war will be long. Our democracy is the target, and it will be our shield. Let us stand together. We will win this war." (AFP)

Hollande rejects opposition calls to harden terror laws

Increasingly frequent terrorist attacks are becoming a growing threat to the global economy, finance chiefs from the world&#39;s leading economies said today. 
 
Earlier this month, 84 people were killed in Nice when a Tunisian truck driver - suspected to be inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group - ploughed a 19-tonne vehicle through a holiday crowd. That followed Paris attacks last year which left 130 dead. 
 
Kabul mourned today after its deadliest attack for 15 years killed 80 people and left hundreds maimed the previous day, reigniting concern that Islamic State was seeking to expand its foothold in Afghanistan. 
 
Last week a German-Iranian gunman - believed not to be connected to the Islamic State group but&nbsp;&quot;obsessed&quot; with mass killers - shot dead nine people in the German city of Munich before killing himself. 
 
&quot;We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the recent terrorist attacks,&quot; G20 finance chiefs said in a communique after meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, adding that terrorism was one of the issues that &quot;complicate&quot; the economic environment. 
 
France&#39;s finance minister Michel Sapin said the concept of terrorism as an economic risk itself was new, but its inclusion in economic analyses was now &quot;normal&quot;. 
 
&quot;The world has already experienced terrorist attacks, the world experiences regional destabilisations,&quot; he told AFP. 
 
&quot;But today the frequency of attacks creates a new situation of uncertainty, which is at least as damaging as regional destabilisations or a regional conflict.&nbsp;That can have economic consequences that are just as important,&quot; he said. 
 
The G20 has long promoted efforts to combat financing of terrorist activities, particularly the work of the Financial Action Task Force. US treasury secretary Jacob Lew told reporters the meeting &quot;reaffirmed our solidarity and resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms and wherever it occurs, and strengthening our efforts to prevent financing of terrorism&quot;. 
 
Sapin pointed out that funding for what he called &quot;low-cost terrorism&quot;, carried out domestically using methods that cost attackers relatively little, must also be addressed. 
 
In a report ahead of the G20 meeting, IMF staff cited terrorism as an &quot;ongoing concern&quot;, among others including geopolitical tensions, climate-related factors and diseases. 
 
(AFP)

The frequency of attacks has created a situation of uncertainty which is as damaging as regional conflicts, France's finance minister said

Increasingly frequent terrorist attacks are becoming a growing threat to the global economy, finance chiefs from the world's leading economies said today. Earlier this month, 84 people were killed in Nice when a Tunisian truck driver - suspected to be inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group - ploughed a 19-tonne vehicle through a holiday crowd. That followed Paris attacks last year which left 130 dead. Kabul mourned today after its deadliest attack for 15 years killed 80 people and left hundreds maimed the previous day, reigniting concern that Islamic State was seeking to expand its foothold in Afghanistan. Last week a German-Iranian gunman - believed not to be connected to the Islamic State group but "obsessed" with mass killers - shot dead nine people in the German city of Munich before killing himself. "We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the recent terrorist attacks," G20 finance chiefs said in a communique after meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, adding that terrorism was one of the issues that "complicate" the economic environment. France's finance minister Michel Sapin said the concept of terrorism as an economic risk itself was new, but its inclusion in economic analyses was now "normal". "The world has already experienced terrorist attacks, the world experiences regional destabilisations," he told AFP. "But today the frequency of attacks creates a new situation of uncertainty, which is at least as damaging as regional destabilisations or a regional conflict. That can have economic consequences that are just as important," he said. The G20 has long promoted efforts to combat financing of terrorist activities, particularly the work of the Financial Action Task Force. US treasury secretary Jacob Lew told reporters the meeting "reaffirmed our solidarity and resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms and wherever it occurs, and strengthening our efforts to prevent financing of terrorism". Sapin pointed out that funding for what he called "low-cost terrorism", carried out domestically using methods that cost attackers relatively little, must also be addressed. In a report ahead of the G20 meeting, IMF staff cited terrorism as an "ongoing concern", among others including geopolitical tensions, climate-related factors and diseases. (AFP)

Frequent terror attacks growing threat to global economy, say G20 ministers

Donald Trump has praised late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for killing off &quot;terrorists&quot;, reprising previous comments in support of dictators in the Middle East and earning a swift rebuke from White House rival Hillary Clinton. 
 
The United States &quot;shouldn&#39;t have destabilised&quot; Iraq, now a hotbed for the Islamic State (IS) group 13 years after the US-led invasion, said Trump, who showed lukewarm support for the war before it took place and later opposed it. 
 
&quot;He was a bad guy -- really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good,&quot; Trump told supporters. 
 
&quot;They didn&#39;t read them the rights. They didn&#39;t talk. They were terrorists. It was over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism,&quot; the Republican firebrand added, referring to the prestigious US university. 
 
Rival Clinton&#39;s campaign pounces after remark&nbsp; 
 
Shortly after the remarks, Clinton&#39;s campaign pounced on Trump&#39;s apparent support of a strongman, who was hanged in Iraq in 2006 for ordering the sectarian killings of nearly 150 Shiites two decades earlier. 
 
&quot;Tonight, Trump yet again lauded Saddam Hussein as a great killer of terrorists, noting with approval that he never bothered to read anyone their rights. In reality, Hussein&#39;s regime was a sponsor of terrorism,&quot; Clinton&#39;s senior policy advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement. 
 
&quot;Trump&#39;s cavalier compliments for brutal dictators, and the twisted lessons he seems to have learned from their history, again demonstrate how dangerous he would be as Commander-in-Chief and how unworthy he is of the office he seeks,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
Republican speaker calls Saddam &#39;one of 20th century&#39;s most evil people&#39; 
 
Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, did not back Trump when asked about the comments.&nbsp;Saddam &quot;was one of the 20th century`s most evil people. He was up there, and he committed mass genocide against his own people using chemical weapons. Saddam Hussein was a bad guy,&quot; Ryan said on Fox News. 
 
Last year, Trump said the world would be &quot;100 per cent&quot; better off if Saddam and slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were still in power, adding that human rights abuses are &quot;worse than they ever were&quot; in Iraq and Libya. 
 
&quot;I mean, look at Libya. Look at Iraq. Iraq used to be no terrorists. He (Saddam) would kill the terrorists immediately, which is like now it`s the Harvard of terrorism,&quot; Trump said at the time.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

Last year, Trump said the world would be '100%' better off if Saddam and slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were still in power

Donald Trump has praised late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for killing off "terrorists", reprising previous comments in support of dictators in the Middle East and earning a swift rebuke from White House rival Hillary Clinton. The United States "shouldn't have destabilised" Iraq, now a hotbed for the Islamic State (IS) group 13 years after the US-led invasion, said Trump, who showed lukewarm support for the war before it took place and later opposed it. "He was a bad guy -- really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good," Trump told supporters. "They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were terrorists. It was over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism," the Republican firebrand added, referring to the prestigious US university. Rival Clinton's campaign pounces after remark Shortly after the remarks, Clinton's campaign pounced on Trump's apparent support of a strongman, who was hanged in Iraq in 2006 for ordering the sectarian killings of nearly 150 Shiites two decades earlier. "Tonight, Trump yet again lauded Saddam Hussein as a great killer of terrorists, noting with approval that he never bothered to read anyone their rights. In reality, Hussein's regime was a sponsor of terrorism," Clinton's senior policy advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement. "Trump's cavalier compliments for brutal dictators, and the twisted lessons he seems to have learned from their history, again demonstrate how dangerous he would be as Commander-in-Chief and how unworthy he is of the office he seeks," he added. Republican speaker calls Saddam 'one of 20th century's most evil people' Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, did not back Trump when asked about the comments. Saddam "was one of the 20th century`s most evil people. He was up there, and he committed mass genocide against his own people using chemical weapons. Saddam Hussein was a bad guy," Ryan said on Fox News. Last year, Trump said the world would be "100 per cent" better off if Saddam and slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were still in power, adding that human rights abuses are "worse than they ever were" in Iraq and Libya. "I mean, look at Libya. Look at Iraq. Iraq used to be no terrorists. He (Saddam) would kill the terrorists immediately, which is like now it`s the Harvard of terrorism," Trump said at the time. (AFP)

Trump hails Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for 'killing terrorists'

The United States celebrates Fourth of July on Monday with parades, hotdog eating contests and fireworks shows amid heightened security because of concerns about terrorism in New York and timeworn holiday gun violence in Chicago. 
 
Millions of Americans will mark independence from Britain with celebrations as boisterous as a music-packed party by country music legend Willie Nelson for 10,000 people at a race track in Austin, Texas and as staid as colonial-era costumed actors reading the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives in Washington.&nbsp; 
 
NYPD&#39;s human presence to be increased by 2,000 officers 
 
History may be in the making in the traditional hotdog-eating contest at New York&#39;s Coney Island. Joey &quot;Jaws&quot; Chestnut - a world record holder who ate 69 hotdogs in 10 minutes - attempts to regain his Mustard Yellow International Belt from Matt Stonie, who last year ended Chestnut`s run of eight straight victories. 
 
With the holiday taking place days after the attack at Istanbul&#39;s international airport, the New York Police Department (NYPD) will deploy eight new canines known as vapor wake dogs, trained to sniff out body-worn explosives, Commissioner Bill Bratton said on Friday. 
 
The department`s human presence this holiday will be increased by nearly 2,000 new officers who graduated Friday from the New York City Police Academy.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;As we always have the capacity in New York to put out a lot of resources, that`s the name of the game, in dealing with terrorist threats,&quot; Bratton said.&nbsp; 
 
Police in Chicago, which has seen a spike in gun murders this year, announced a stepped up presence with more than 5,000 officers on patrol over the long weekend, traditionally one of the year`s most violent, said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Local media reported on Friday that 24 people had been shot over the past 24 hours, three fatally. 
 
Pyrotechnic shows cancelled to prevent fires&nbsp; 
 
Dry weather forecasts across the country thrilled fireworks lovers, although some spots in Michigan have been so rain-starved that pyrotechnic shows were canceled in a handful of communities near Detroit to prevent fires.&nbsp; 
 
NFL star Jason Pierre-Paul, who lost fingers as one of the 12,000 people injured and 11 killed in fireworks accidents last year, appeared in a public service announcement ahead of the 2016 holiday to urge greater caution. 
 
&quot;I lit up a firework, thought I could throw it away real quick and in a split second it blew off my whole hand,&quot; the New York Giants defensive end said in the spot produced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp;

Millions of Americans mark independence from Britain with myriad contests and boisterous celebrations

The United States celebrates Fourth of July on Monday with parades, hotdog eating contests and fireworks shows amid heightened security because of concerns about terrorism in New York and timeworn holiday gun violence in Chicago. Millions of Americans will mark independence from Britain with celebrations as boisterous as a music-packed party by country music legend Willie Nelson for 10,000 people at a race track in Austin, Texas and as staid as colonial-era costumed actors reading the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives in Washington. NYPD's human presence to be increased by 2,000 officers History may be in the making in the traditional hotdog-eating contest at New York's Coney Island. Joey "Jaws" Chestnut - a world record holder who ate 69 hotdogs in 10 minutes - attempts to regain his Mustard Yellow International Belt from Matt Stonie, who last year ended Chestnut`s run of eight straight victories. With the holiday taking place days after the attack at Istanbul's international airport, the New York Police Department (NYPD) will deploy eight new canines known as vapor wake dogs, trained to sniff out body-worn explosives, Commissioner Bill Bratton said on Friday. The department`s human presence this holiday will be increased by nearly 2,000 new officers who graduated Friday from the New York City Police Academy. "As we always have the capacity in New York to put out a lot of resources, that`s the name of the game, in dealing with terrorist threats," Bratton said. Police in Chicago, which has seen a spike in gun murders this year, announced a stepped up presence with more than 5,000 officers on patrol over the long weekend, traditionally one of the year`s most violent, said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Local media reported on Friday that 24 people had been shot over the past 24 hours, three fatally. Pyrotechnic shows cancelled to prevent fires Dry weather forecasts across the country thrilled fireworks lovers, although some spots in Michigan have been so rain-starved that pyrotechnic shows were canceled in a handful of communities near Detroit to prevent fires. NFL star Jason Pierre-Paul, who lost fingers as one of the 12,000 people injured and 11 killed in fireworks accidents last year, appeared in a public service announcement ahead of the 2016 holiday to urge greater caution. "I lit up a firework, thought I could throw it away real quick and in a split second it blew off my whole hand," the New York Giants defensive end said in the spot produced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. (Reuters)

Amid heightened security over terrorism concerns, US celebrates Fourth of July

US senator John McCain has expressed support for Pakistan&#39;s efforts in the fight against the Taliban after visiting a key tribal district recently retaken by the military, the Pakistani foreign ministry said Sunday.&nbsp; 
 
A four-member, bipartisan US Senate delegation led by the former presidential candidate went to North Waziristan, where in 2014, under US pressure, the army launched an operation to wipe out militant bases and end the near decade-long Islamist insurgency. 
 
Pertinently, in May, the army announced it had successfully cleared the area of militants.&nbsp; 
 
The foreign ministry statement said that the US delegation had met with Pakistani Foreign Affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz and held talks on Pakistan-US ties as well as the situation in Afghanistan. 
 
Aziz &quot;appreciated Senator McCain for his positive comments regarding the importance of Pakistan-US relations at a time when the region was facing complex challenges,&quot; the statement said. 
 
&quot;Good delegation mtg w/ Chief of Army Staff of #Pakistan Gen Raheel Sharif &amp; discussing regional security challenges,&quot; McCain said on his verified Twitter account, also posting photos of the delegation`s visit to Waziristan. 
 
Strained Pakistan-US ties&nbsp; 
 
The relationship between the two nations has been strained at times with some in Washington believing Pakistan has not done enough to bring its influence to bear and to persuade the Taliban to renounce violence.&nbsp; 
 
Meanwhile, Pakistan was also angered over a recent US drone strike which killed the Taliban&#39;s leader Mullah Akthar Mansour in May in southwestern Balochistan province. 
 
The US Congress also blocked the subsidised sale of eight F-16 jet fighters to Pakistan in May accusing of it of being lax in the fight against militants. 
 
The US has carried out hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, mainly in the border tribal regions with Afghanistan, and leaked documents show Islamabad had quietly consented despite publicly protesting. 
 
Drone attacks have proven extremely controversial with the Pakistani public and rights groups.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Drone attacks carried out by US in border tribal regions with Afghanistan have proven extremely controversial

US senator John McCain has expressed support for Pakistan's efforts in the fight against the Taliban after visiting a key tribal district recently retaken by the military, the Pakistani foreign ministry said Sunday. A four-member, bipartisan US Senate delegation led by the former presidential candidate went to North Waziristan, where in 2014, under US pressure, the army launched an operation to wipe out militant bases and end the near decade-long Islamist insurgency. Pertinently, in May, the army announced it had successfully cleared the area of militants. The foreign ministry statement said that the US delegation had met with Pakistani Foreign Affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz and held talks on Pakistan-US ties as well as the situation in Afghanistan. Aziz "appreciated Senator McCain for his positive comments regarding the importance of Pakistan-US relations at a time when the region was facing complex challenges," the statement said. "Good delegation mtg w/ Chief of Army Staff of #Pakistan Gen Raheel Sharif & discussing regional security challenges," McCain said on his verified Twitter account, also posting photos of the delegation`s visit to Waziristan. Strained Pakistan-US ties The relationship between the two nations has been strained at times with some in Washington believing Pakistan has not done enough to bring its influence to bear and to persuade the Taliban to renounce violence. Meanwhile, Pakistan was also angered over a recent US drone strike which killed the Taliban's leader Mullah Akthar Mansour in May in southwestern Balochistan province. The US Congress also blocked the subsidised sale of eight F-16 jet fighters to Pakistan in May accusing of it of being lax in the fight against militants. The US has carried out hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, mainly in the border tribal regions with Afghanistan, and leaked documents show Islamabad had quietly consented despite publicly protesting. Drone attacks have proven extremely controversial with the Pakistani public and rights groups. (AFP)

In bid to improve relations, US senator reassures Pakistan of support in terror fight

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