A 34-year-old man armed with a knife was shot dead by police in Middleton Grange, a southwestern suburb of Sydney, in Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW).

The NSW Police Force said in a statement on Sunday that emergency services were called to the scene at about 11 p.m. local time following reports that a man was allegedly armed with a knife, Xinhua news agency reported.

Police officers were allegedly confronted and threatened by the man with a knife on arrival, and initial information indicated that a 33-year-old male officer was struck with the knife and was protected by his operational vest. The police officer was not physically injured, according to the statement.

The police said a taser was used and proved ineffective, and the man was shot by police.

The officers conducted CPR until the arrival of NSW Ambulance paramedics, who worked on the man.

However, he could not be revived. AGENCIES

 A Russian Su-34 fighter jet crashed in the Volgograd region in southern Russia during a scheduled training flight, said the Russian Ministry of Defence.

The incident occurred during a routine exercise when the aircraft went down in a deserted area, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the crew ejected themselves and survived.

The crash caused no damage on the ground as the flight was conducted without ammunition.

Preliminary findings suggested that a technical malfunction caused the crash. AGENCIES

 The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Sunday reported that a second oil tanker had sunk off Bataan province, west of Manila.

PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said the oil tanker MTKR Jason Bradley sank off Mariveles town around 5 p.m. local time on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said three coast guard vessels went to the accident site and confirmed the sunken vessel’s presence. The team confirmed the presence of an oil slick and oil sheen in the area. “They deployed an oil boom at the site to ensure that the oil sheen would not spread,” he added.

PCG Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina, the acting PCG station commander in Bataan province, said the MTKR Jason Bradley was not carrying cargo and just carry working fuel instead.

Encina added that salvage operations will begin soon and are expected to last one or two weeks.

Meanwhile, Balilo said that the siphoning of the industrial fuel oil from the Philippine tanker that sank Thursday off Limay town in Bataan province will be delayed as divers seal the leaking valves of nine tanks aboard the tanker. He said the divers are expected to finish sealing the nine leaking valves on Monday so that the siphoning can proceed on Tuesday.

Balilo said a minimal amount of oil sheen from the first sunken tanker had reached the waters off Hagonoy town in Bulacan province. However, he reiterated that the amount of oil spills remains manageable. AGENCIES

The deployment of US nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia would heighten regional security risks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, following his visit to Malaysia.

According to Russian media reports, Lavrov stated the United States has long been sharing nuclear weapons with its NATO partners in what it calls “joint nuclear missions,” in which non-nuclear states can train their soldiers to use nuclear weapons. That practice is now shifting to Asia, Xinhua news agency reported.

“If this sad and rather risky experience (the deployment of US nuclear weapons in other countries) is brought to Southeast Asia, I think no one will benefit from it; the risks will increase,” he said.

The United States is “impudently” pushing its military infrastructure, including strategic weapons, into the region, militarising Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, Lavrov said.

He mentioned AUKUS, a project to build nuclear-powered submarines involving the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

AUKUS aims to instill “tolerance in the Asian region concerning the deployment of nuclear weapons components,” Lavrov said. It “must be put under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency” for “full transparency.”

Lavrov also said the recent agreement between the United States and South Korea on joint nuclear planning is yet another extension of US strategic influence in the region. AGENCIES

Iranian Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock have exchanged views on Germany’s closure of Islamic centres in the European country in a phone call.

Bagheri Kani on Saturday expressed dissatisfaction with the German government’s decision, condemning it as a “completely political” move, including the shutdown of the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH), Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

He described the action as part of a strategy to “spread Islamophobia and safeguard Israel’s interests”, and warned that Germany should accept the consequences of its actions.

Baerbock responded by stating that under German law, the Islamic centres could pursue their rights through legal mechanisms. She highlighted the necessity of efforts in resolving the differences that had arisen, expressing hope that the obstacles to bilateral relations would be removed through dialogue and diplomatic channels.

The two ministers also discussed the latest developments in West Asia, the talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, the removal of sanctions, and bilateral consular issues, according to the statement.

On Wednesday, the German Interior Ministry said in a statement that it had banned the Hamburg-based IZH and its affiliated organisations throughout Germany, claiming the centre was “an Islamist extremist organisation pursuing anti-constitutional objectives”.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned German Ambassador to Tehran Hans-udo Muzel and protested the country’s move, which it described as a “hostile action contrary to the fundamental principles of human rights.” AGENCOES

Donald Trump, the former US President and Republican nominee for the White House, has pledged to turn the US into the “crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world” if elected and unveiled a plan to unlock the potential of the fledgling industry.

The former President on Saturday also promised to appoint an advisory council to frame his administration’s cryptocurrency policy, fire Gary Gensler, the current head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees the industry; and free a jailed American who ran the Silk Route market, a dark-net platform, by commuting his life-term sentence to time served in jail.

A one-time sceptic who called cryptocurrency — digital money that is not backed by any central bank — a “sham”, Trump has embraced it in recent months and said in a speech to an annual conference of the industry in Nashville, Tennessee, that Bitcoin — a type of cryptocurrency — “stands for freedom, sovereignty and independence from government coercion”.

“This afternoon, I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world,” he said.

“We’ll get it done. If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined and made in the USA. It’s not going to be made anywhere else. I want America to be the nation that leads the way. And that’s what’s going to happen, though, you’re going to be very happy with me,” the former President added.

Trump’s journey from aversion to cryptocurrency to conversion was marked by intense industry outreach to him and to his campaign and donations.

The first real sign of the shift in his thinking came in the Republican party’s platform release ahead of the convention in Milwaukee. “Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency,” said the platform. “We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody their digital assets and transact free from government surveillance and control.”

The SEC has filed more than 80 cases against cryptocurrency industry figures under the Joe Biden administration. The charges range from defrauding customers, misrepresenting assets to making unregistered offerings of cryptocurrency.

“If you are considering a digital asset-related investment, take the time to understand how the investment works and to evaluate its risks,” the agency has warned in an investor alert.

An estimated 50 million Americans have invested in cryptocurrency, according to The Digital Chamber, an advocacy group for the industry. Black and Latino communities account for higher rates, the chamber wrote in a recent letter to Vice-President Kamala Harris urging her to include “pro-digital asset” language in her party platform.

Trump has beaten Harris to it and reinforced it with a policy plan received with loud cheering and applause from the attendees.

Trump promised the attendees that not only would his administration frame laws to encourage the cryptocurrency industry but also remove obstacles impeding the generation of electricity which is needed to power it.

“You need tremendous amounts of electricity. You need double the electricity of the entire electricity that we have right now in the United States to dominate. And we’ll get that done,” he said, adding, “We’ll be having power plants built at the sites. We’ll be releasing people from certain ridiculous requirements, and we’ll be using fossil fuel to make electricity because we’re going to have to. We’ll be using nuclear power.”

The former President left the attendees with a rousing promise, “My job will be to set you free and to let you do what Americans do best, and what you’re going to do better than anybody: Win, win, win. You’re going to win, win, win, with energy, passion and brilliance, like we have rarely seen before. Our country cannot fail. We’re in a failing nation right now, but we’re not going to be alone. Our country cannot fail. With your help, we will save our nation. We will restore our Republic. We will make America and Bitcoin, bigger, better, stronger, richer, freer and greater than ever before.” AGENCIES

The Turkish parliament has passed a motion for the deployment of Turkish Armed Forces elements to Somalia, including the maritime jurisdiction areas of the country.

Elements of the Turkish Armed Forces will be deployed in Somalia for two years to support Somalia’s security activities against terrorism and other threats, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the motion passed on Saturday.

The move came after a defence and economic cooperation deal between Turkey and Somalia signed in February, aiming at bolstering Somalia’s maritime defence capabilities, said the motion.

“Our friendship with Somalia will be strengthened, as well as our country’s support to the efforts against terrorism, maritime banditry, and armed robbery in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and adjacent regions, which endanger international peace and stability and negatively affect our national interests,” it added.

In mid-July, the Turkish Energy Ministry announced that Turkey would send an oil and gas exploration vessel off the coast of Somalia later this year as part of a hydrocarbon cooperation deal between the two countries. AGENCIES

IEP Chandigarh

A 73-year-old man with an enlarged prostate (BPH), which had damaged his kidney and for which a urinary catheter was inserted, got a new lease of life through a Water Vapor Therapy (Rezūm) – the latest form of minimal invasive surgical treatment for Prostate – available at Fortis Hospital Mohali. Water vapor therapy (Rezūm) is a painless day-care procedure that is offered to patients who are at high risk or are young and to want to preserve their fertility. The long-term effects are the same as those of a traditional procedure. The Patient had also suffered a stroke and was a known case of heart disease for which cardiac stenting had been conducted and he was being administered blood-thinning medication. This case of BPH required surgery but since he was a high-risk case, conducting a surgery could be life-threatening for him. The Patient visited several hospitals but finally approached Dr Rohit Dadhwal, Consultant, Department of Urology, Andrology and Robotic Surgery, Fortis Hospital Mohali, in May this year.

Following thorough investigation, the patient was electively planned for water vapor therapy (Rezūm). The procedure involves injecting water vapors inside the prostatic parenchyma through a specialized hand-held radiofrequency device, which in time leads to progressive shrinkage of the prostate and improvement of symptoms. The entire procedure takes about five minutes and the patient is discharged on a catheter, which is removed after a week.

The procedure itself doesn’t require any cutting of the Prostate tissue, hence there is no bleeding, and there is no pain. The procedure is conducted under local anesthesia and the patient is kept under observation for one hour.

Discussing the case, Dr Dadhwal, said, “The Patient underwent Water vapor therapy on 23rd May and was discharged after an hour of the procedure. Since his kidneys were affected by the disease, the catheter was kept for two weeks until the kidney recovered from damage. Post two months, the patient is completely fine and is leading a normal life.”

Dr Dadhwal further, added, “Since BPH occurs in old age, most of the patients have cardiac and other comorbidities. In such cases like these, patients are on blood-thinning medications, which may lead to high chances of bleeding during the procedure, also multiple diseases and old age increases the peri and post-operative risk. For such patients, this procedure is a blessing.”

“Also, traditional prostate surgeries like TURP or Holep lead to sexual problems like ejaculatory and erectile dysfunction. For young symptomatic patients of BPH, who want to preserve their fertility, this is one of the few treatment options which offers such relief.  Long-term data which is available now suggest that the effect of this therapy is the same as that of TURP, but it negates the need of anaesthesia and admission,” he further added.

 A member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party was killed and three others wounded in an Israeli air strike on the municipality of Chihine in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources reported.

The military sources, who spoke anonymously, said on Monday that an Israeli warplane fired two air-to-surface missiles at a house in Chihine, southwest of Lebanon, causing casualties and destroying the house.

The sources added that Israeli warplanes carried out four air strikes on three towns and villages in the western and eastern sectors, causing material damage, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a barrage of 40 artillery shells hit 12 towns and villages in the eastern and central sectors, igniting massive fires in lush forests. Civil defence rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire.

On Monday, Hezbollah announced an attack on the Al-Malikiyah Israeli site, which led to fires. It also attacked the radar site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

AGENCIES