Author: ITas

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — The role of Azerbaijan as a growing exporter of fossil fuels has forced a debate at this month’s climate conference in Baku over which countries are most responsible for worsening climate change — the producers or the countries that buy and burn those fuels. 

Climate activists have cited a slew of new contracts signed by Azerbaijan’s state oil company in the past year, a development that President Ilham Aliyev has defended as a “gift from God” and a realistic response to market demand. 

Oil and gas account for more than 90% of the southern Caucasus country’s exports, boosted by the discovery of the Shah Deniz gas field in the early 2000s, according to the International Energy Agency. The main buyers of its petroleum are Croatia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine, among others.  

After imposing sanctions on Russian gas in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union turned to other sources, including Azerbaijan. This prompted Baku to begin planning a major expansion of its oil and gas production, according to Ufuk Alparslan, regional lead for Turkey and the surrounding regions at energy research group Ember.  

“Azerbaijan’s expectations are that the EU will have higher fossil fuel demand,” Alparslan told VOA. “Their target market will always be the EU, especially after the Ukraine war.” 

Asked whether the buyer or the seller of fossil fuel should take the blame, Alparslan said both share the same responsibility.  

“It’s not fair to blame the producers. There’s demand for it [fossil fuels]. … I think they should share the blame together,” he said.  

Myrto Tilianaki, senior advocate of environment and human rights at Human Rights Watch, said all countries should double down on their transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. Tilianaki said Azerbaijan has not set a good example as the host of this year’s U.N. climate change conference, COP29. 

“As a COP president, you are meant to be galvanizing and gathering countries around higher [climate] ambitions for this COP,” Tilianaki told VOA. She said Baku’s stark support for fossil fuel expansion while calling for more ambitious climate goals is “contradictory.” 

But Fadhel Kaboub, senior adviser with Kenya-based research group Power Shift Africa, told VOA it is “hypocritical” to place the blame for rising carbon emissions on producers like Azerbaijan. 

“The problem is the countries of Global North that caused climate change and exceeded their carbon budget by far. And they are in a situation where they owe climate debt they need to pay to the Global South,” he said. 

Azerbaijan has set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels in the next 25 years, provided it receives international support. 

The country has several planned solar and wind projects that would generate 2 gigawatts of renewable energy. It is said to own “considerable” potential to develop renewable energy from solar, wind, hydropower, biomass and geothermal resources.  

As the EU seeks to reduce its own demand for fossil fuels, Alparslan said Baku’s current strategy to boost oil and gas production might not be ideal. He said discussions on how to diversify its energy sources will be inevitable.  

“The EU won’t be a good market in the future, and demand reduction will affect it. They are already at maximum capacity, and if they need to produce more, they have to develop more gas fields, which need financing,” he said. 

Other developing nations in the fossil fuel-rich region will also need to develop alternatives both for domestic use and export, Alparslan added.  

He cited the case of Uzbekistan, which exported more than $2 billion worth of gas in 2019 but has seen its production dry up and now is a net gas importer, according to local media reports. 

While it relies on gas from Russia and other countries for now, Uzbekistan has shifted its energy investment into developing renewable sources with an eye to future exports. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the COP29 talks this month that he expects to sign a multilateral deal to that effect with the EU “in the coming days.” 

Kaboub said developing nations with huge renewable potential like those in Africa have been denied manufacturing technology from the Global North due to perceived “geopolitical risk.” 

”It’s a question of power. The Global North is not interested in disrupting the colonial geopolitical hierarchy,” he argued.  

Climate finance to Africa reached $44 billion in 2021-2022, but more than one-third of that was in the form of loans to already debt-ridden nations, according to a report from the Climate Policy Initiative. 

Alparslan suggested that developing countries that are highly reliant on generating and exporting fossil fuels should begin their transition by seeking to boost regional cooperation and share renewable energy through improved grid connectivity.  

“These projects can attract international and external funding,” he said. “Green energy projects are more appealing than fossil fuel.” 
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ISLAMABAD — Authorities in Pakistan reported Thursday that “terrorists” sprayed multiple passenger vehicles with bullets in a turbulent northwestern district, killing at least 45 people and injuring 20 others.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed to reporters the casualties from the attack in Kurram, which borders Afghanistan.

District police and hospital officials reported that among the dead were security personnel, women and children, and that they expect the death toll to rise. They also stated that the police had launched an operation in the area to track down the assailants.

No group immediately took responsibility for the massacre in a Pakistani district known for sectarian violence between heavily armed Shiite and Sunni Muslim tribes.

Officials in Kurram blame a land dispute for the latest round of sectarian tensions, which led to weeks of armed clashes and killed more than 100 people between August and October.

The fighting compelled authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Kurram is situated, to halt all traffic to and from the district until earlier this month, when tribal leaders brokered a temporary cease-fire between the opposing factions.

Thursday’s violence occurred amid a series of militant attacks in several border districts of the province over the past week, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 Pakistani soldiers.

More than 60 Pakistani security personnel have been killed by militant attacks nationwide this month alone, according to official data.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, commonly called TTP, has been blamed or claimed responsibility for much of the violence in recent years.

The militant outfit is listed as a global terrorist organization by the United Nations, and Islamabad says TTP is orchestrating terrorism against the country from Afghan “sanctuaries.”

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch reiterated Thursday her government’s long-running complaints, again emphasizing the urgency for Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to act against “terror groups” operating on their territory.

“We have, on several occasions, shared concrete evidence with the Afghan authorities with regards to these terror groups and their operations in Afghanistan, and their continued threat to the security of Pakistan,” Baloch said at her weekly news conference in Islamabad.

“We hope that the Afghan authorities will consider terrorism to be a serious threat, not just to the region, but also to their own security, and fulfill their obligations under various international agreements,” she said.

Taliban leaders deny they harbor terrorist groups, including TTP, or allow anyone to threaten neighboring countries from Afghan soil.
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new york — An Indian businessman who is one of the world’s richest people has been indicted in the United States on charges he duped investors by concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.

Gautam Adani, 62, was charged in an indictment unsealed Wednesday with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The case involves a lucrative arrangement for Adani Green Energy Ltd. and another firm to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government — enough to light millions of homes and businesses.

The indictment portrays Adani and his co-defendants as playing two sides of the deal.

It accuses them of portraying the plan as rosy and aboveboard to Wall Street investors who poured several billion dollars into the project while, back in India, they were paying or planning to pay about $265 million in bribes to government officials in exchange for billions of dollars’ worth of contracts and financing.

Adani and his co-defendants allegedly sought to “obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller said.

In a parallel civil action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani and two co-defendants of violating anti-fraud provisions of U.S. securities laws. The regulator is seeking monetary penalties and other sanctions.

Both cases were filed in federal court in Brooklyn. Adani’s co-defendants include his nephew, Sagar Adani, the executive director of Adani Green Energy’s board, and Vneet Jaain, who was the company’s chief executive from 2020 to 2023 and remains managing director of its board.

Online court records did not list lawyers who could speak on the defendants’ behalf. An email message seeking comment was left with an arm of Adani’s company, the Adani Group.

Sanjay Wadhwa, acting director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said Gautam and Sagar Adani are accused of persuading investors to buy their company’s bonds by misrepresenting “not only that Adani Green had a robust anti-bribery compliance program but also that the company’s senior management had not and would not pay or promise to pay bribes.”

Adani is a power player in the world’s most populous nation. He built his fortune in the coal business in the 1990s. The Adani Group grew to involve many aspects of Indian life, from making defense equipment to building roads to selling cooking oil.

In recent years, Adani has made big moves into renewable energy, embracing a philosophy of sustainable growth reflected in its slogan: “Growth with Goodness.”

Last year, a U.S.-based financial research firm accused Adani and his company of “brazen stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud.” The Adani Group called the claims “a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations.”

The firm in question is known as a short-seller, a Wall Street term for traders that essentially bet on the prices of certain stocks to fall, and it had made such investments in relation to the Adani Group.
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ISLAMABAD — Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said Wednesday that militants overnight launched a gun and suicide bomb attack against a military outpost, killing at least 12 troops and injuring several others.

The deadly assault took place in the militancy-hit Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

The statement reported that Pakistani security forces in the ensuing gunfight killed six assailants and “effectively” blocked their attempt to enter the post, prompting a suicide bomber to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into the facility.

The explosion caused the collapse of a portion of “the perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure,” resulting in fatalities, the military said.

“Sanitization operation is being conducted in the area, and the perpetrators of this heinous act will be brought to justice,” the statement added. It did not share further details.

Local security sources have confirmed that at least six troops also sustained injuries, with two of them in “critical” condition.

The military statement attributed the attack to “Khwarij,” a term the government uses for militants linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The outlawed group frequently targets army and police forces in the province’s districts near or on the Afghan border.

Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant organization affiliated with the TTP, claimed responsibility for the Tuesday night raid in Bannu.

Pakistan says that TTP, which the United Nations lists as a global terrorist organization, is orchestrating the deadly violence from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Islamabad has persistently urged the Islamist Taliban government in Kabul, which is not recognized by any country, to prevent TTP and other anti-Pakistan groups from using Afghan soil for cross-border terrorism.

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan deny the allegations, saying no foreign militant groups are present in the country.

 

Pakistani security forces are also battling ethnic separatists in the country’s largest but sparsely populated province, Balochistan in the southwest.

Resurgent militant violence, mainly affecting the two provinces, has claimed the lives of more than 1,100 Pakistanis, many of them security forces, so far this year, according to the Islamabad-based independent Center for Research and Security Studies.

The surge in attacks in natural resources-rich Balochistan prompted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday to approve a new military offensive against separatists in the province, which borders Afghanistan and is home to China-funded major infrastructure development projects.

The official announcement did not say when the military offensive would be launched, nor did it share other details.    

 
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WASHINGTON — Pakistan’s top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful, igniting a debate on privacy rights and access to information amid a government crackdown on the internet.

Allama Raghib Naeemi, head of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), issued a decree saying it makes no difference whether a VPN is registered or unregistered.

“If attempts are made to access indecent or immoral sites, character assassination is done, statements are being made against national security, or if various incidents of religious blasphemy are being spread through it, then [using] it would completely be un-Islamic,” he said.

A VPN protects online privacy by creating a secure connection and is used to access blocked content, protect data from hackers and support remote work or secure transactions.

Several internet service providers in Pakistan expressed concerns Tuesday over the possible imposition of blanket restrictions on VPNs, warning that the move would anger users and impact online businesses.

Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement, “It is essential to recognize that blanket restrictions or sweeping narratives around tools like VPNs risk alienating segments of society, particularly those who rely on these tools for entirely legitimate purposes, such as IT exports, financial transactions, and academic research.”

Arshad, in reference to CII’s declaration, said technology is neutral and that how it is used determines whether it is aligned with ethics.

Amnesty Tech, part of Amnesty International, said last week on X that imposing restrictions on VPNs would amount to “violating the right to privacy under international law, restricting people’s access to information, and suppressing free expression.”

Qibla Ayaz, former chairman of CII, told VOA Deewa it seems as if a government agency has reached out to the religious body seeking its stance on the VPN issue.

“Similar requests were sent by the government in 2023,” he said. 

The CII is a constitutional body in Pakistan that advises the legislature on whether a certain law is repugnant to Islam, namely to the Quran and Sunna.

According to activists and experts, CII’s declarations on technology use are unwarranted and will only strengthen the government’s digital suppression of social media users.

Haroon Baloch, a Pakistani digital rights activist, believes the proposed restrictions on VPNs are aimed at suppressing political dissent.

“First, the government had compliance challenges with X. And when the platform did not agree with the government’s requests, then it banned X. And when X was available with the help of VPN, the government is planning to ban the VPN now,” Haroon told VOA.

Pakistan banned X in February and installed firewalls to restrict access to certain online content. But consumers are using VPNs to access restricted networks and content and to hide their identities and locations. 

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir told a gathering at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute on November 16 that technology has played a pivotal role in the dissemination of information, but “the spread of misleading and incorrect information has become a significant challenge.”

In a speech to religious leaders in Islamabad earlier in August, Munir said, “Anarchy is spread through social media.”

A directive in October from the Interior Ministry asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block “illegal” VPNs that had not registered by the end of November.

The Interior Ministry charged in a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, which oversees the internet and mobile industry and has broad powers over online content and the licensing of service providers, that terrorists are increasingly using VPNs to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan.

“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” the letter said, adding that pornography sites are frequently accessed using VPNs.

“These trends … warrant the prohibition of unauthorized virtual private networks in order to address critical threats,” the letter said.

The 2024 “Freedom on the Net” report published by Freedom House says the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has historically implemented policies that undermine internet freedom, removed content without a transparent process and instituted wholesale bans on platforms.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa Service.
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WASHINGTON — The last time Javeria Siddique spoke with her husband, the renowned Pakistani news anchor Arshad Sharif, he was “happy and excited,” she said.

Sharif was in Kenya after leaving his home country because of threats and legal issues. On that video call on October 21, 2022, he talked to all the family members, Siddique said, even the pets.

“His dogs were so excited to see him on video call as they thought he had returned home,” Siddique told VOA.

But the journalist never returned home. Two days after that call, Sharif was shot dead at a roadblock in Kenya.

His death shocked Pakistan and led to competing theories about what happened. Was it, as Kenyan authorities claim, a case of mistaken identity, or had powerful interests that Sharif took on in his journalism found a way to silence him?

For Siddique, she is balancing grief over her husband of 12 years with fighting for answers about what led to his death, and who may be responsible.

But it is a lonely fight.

“It is so quiet in my house right now that you can hear the ticking of the wall clock. It seems like everything is getting out of hand,” Siddique told VOA during a video call.

Siddique, one of Sharif’s two widows, wants the government to re-open the case into her husband’s killing. “A special judicial commission should be formed,” she said, “so that an investigation can be conducted into the murder of Arshad Sharif and other journalists who have been killed in Pakistan this year.”

Siddique’s push for justice is a challenge shared by other families of journalists killed in apparent retaliation for their work.

Pakistan has legislation to ensure journalist safety at provincial and federal levels, said Iqbal Khattak, Pakistan representative for Reporters Without Borders, known as RSF.

But, “both the laws appear to be failing in protecting journalists and combating impunity, leaving journalists vulnerable, without any use of the legal framework protections,” said Khattak.

Part of the reason, he added, is because the safety commissions and systems required have not been fully established.

“Without robust and functioning safety mechanisms, these laws will remain ineffective, and the lives of media professionals will continue to be at greater risks.”

Pakistan has proved to be one of the deadliest countries for journalists this year, with at least six killings, according to media watchdogs.

But the Pakistani media watchdog Freedom Network, of which Khattak is executive director, has documented attempted killings this year as well.

In the group’s first report focused on journalist safety, it documented at least 57 violations, including threats, assaults, and legal harassment between November 2023 and August 2024.

Sharif had experienced threats and legal harassment before he finally left Pakistan in August 2022.

The one-time anchor of Pakistan’s ARY News channel had become a vocal critic of Pakistan’s powerful military establishment after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office in April 2022.

“Arshad acted on his own will,” said Siddique. “And when you do that, the system starts to feel threatened by such people.”

Siddique said that suspicious people would stand outside their home, and on one occasion someone tried to enter their property. The journalist also received anonymous threatening calls.

But, she said, Sharif refused to back down. “I saw him becoming even more fearless. I saw him crossing the so-called ‘red lines.’ He started questioning various things that we normally cannot question in Pakistan.”

Sharif also came under legal threats, with sedition charges leveled against him when he finally left, traveling first to Dubai and then to Kenya.

Two months later, he was killed. Two years later, Sharif’s case remains unresolved.

Cross-border probe

The government of Pakistan sent an investigation team to Kenya and requested collaboration with Kenyan authorities, saying “an assassination cannot be ruled out.”

In December 2022, the chief justice of Pakistan’s supreme court ordered a five-member bench to look into Arshad’s death. The following year, that chief justice retired; since his departure, there has been no movement in the case.

Siddique says the Pakistan court proceedings have been marred with delays and hurdles.

There have been delays in Kenya, too. After a court there ruled that the journalist’s death was unlawful and arbitrary, law enforcement was ordered to pay compensation. But an appeal led to a stay on the case until January, one of the Kenyan lawyers who represents Siddique told VOA.

RSF’s Iqbal Khattak believes Pakistan should be taking the lead.

“Sharif’s murder story begins from Pakistan,” Khattak said. “If we do not find who killed him and why was he killed, then the conspiracy theories surrounding his death will stay the course and people will believe them.”

For Siddique, the two years since her husband’s death have been hard. She faced threats and harassment that she believes are intended to deter her from demanding a transparent investigation.

“In last two years, I had to relocate twice,” she said. “I have seen my ID card, home address, all plastered on the internet.”

She is also trying to keep the legal cases moving forward.

Siddique has demanded that the Pakistani state form a special judicial commission to investigate her husband’s death as well as the killings of other journalists in Pakistan this year.

“Now, I speak up for everyone. Because they all have the option to be reunited with their loved ones. I don’t have that option,” said Siddique.
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WASHINGTON — Pakistan’s top cleric has declared that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are unlawful, igniting a debate on privacy rights and access to information amid a government crackdown on the internet.

Allama Raghib Naeemi, head of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), issued a decree saying it makes no difference whether a VPN is registered or unregistered.

“If attempts are made to access indecent or immoral sites, character assassination is done, statements are being made against national security, or if various incidents of religious blasphemy are being spread through it, then [using] it would completely be un-Islamic,” he said.

A VPN protects online privacy by creating a secure connection and is used to access blocked content, protect data from hackers and support remote work or secure transactions.

Several internet service providers in Pakistan expressed concerns Tuesday over the possible imposition of blanket restrictions on VPNs, warning that the move would anger users and impact online businesses.

Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement, “It is essential to recognize that blanket restrictions or sweeping narratives around tools like VPNs risk alienating segments of society, particularly those who rely on these tools for entirely legitimate purposes, such as IT exports, financial transactions, and academic research.”

Arshad, in reference to CII’s declaration, said technology is neutral and that how it is used determines whether it is aligned with ethics.

Amnesty Tech, part of Amnesty International, said last week on X that imposing restrictions on VPNs would amount to “violating the right to privacy under international law, restricting people’s access to information, and suppressing free expression.”

Qibla Ayaz, former chairman of CII, told VOA Deewa it seems as if a government agency has reached out to the religious body seeking its stance on the VPN issue.

“Similar requests were sent by the government in 2023,” he said. 

The CII is a constitutional body in Pakistan that advises the legislature on whether a certain law is repugnant to Islam, namely to the Quran and Sunna.

According to activists and experts, CII’s declarations on technology use are unwarranted and will only strengthen the government’s digital suppression of social media users.

Haroon Baloch, a Pakistani digital rights activist, believes the proposed restrictions on VPNs are aimed at suppressing political dissent.

“First, the government had compliance challenges with X. And when the platform did not agree with the government’s requests, then it banned X. And when X was available with the help of VPN, the government is planning to ban the VPN now,” Haroon told VOA.

Pakistan banned X in February and installed firewalls to restrict access to certain online content. But consumers are using VPNs to access restricted networks and content and to hide their identities and locations. 

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir told a gathering at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute on November 16 that technology has played a pivotal role in the dissemination of information, but “the spread of misleading and incorrect information has become a significant challenge.”

In a speech to religious leaders in Islamabad earlier in August, Munir said, “Anarchy is spread through social media.”

A directive in October from the Interior Ministry asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block “illegal” VPNs that had not registered by the end of November.

The Interior Ministry charged in a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, which oversees the internet and mobile industry and has broad powers over online content and the licensing of service providers, that terrorists are increasingly using VPNs to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan.

“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” the letter said, adding that pornography sites are frequently accessed using VPNs.

“These trends … warrant the prohibition of unauthorized virtual private networks in order to address critical threats,” the letter said.

The 2024 “Freedom on the Net” report published by Freedom House says the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has historically implemented policies that undermine internet freedom, removed content without a transparent process and instituted wholesale bans on platforms.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa Service.
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Islamabad — China said Tuesday it will send troops to Pakistan later this month for the countries first joint counterterrorism military exercise in five years to enhance security cooperation with its South Asian neighbor and close ally.

The announcement follows reports that Beijing is pushing Islamabad to permit its security personnel to safeguard thousands of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan from deadly terrorist attacks. It also comes amid a spike in terrorist attacks against Pakistani security forces attributed to or claimed by the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, commonly known as TTP. 

On Tuesday, China’s Defense Ministry said that the Pakistan-hosted “Warrior-VIII exercise is set to begin in late November and will run until mid-December “with the aim … to enhance the capability for conducting joint counterterrorism operations,” according to Chinese state media. 

The ministry said the exercise will involve troops from the Western Theater Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

“The two sides will engage in multi-level and mixed training across various specialties and organize live troop drills in accordance with the actual combat process,” according to the state media report. 

China and Pakistan last conducted joint counterterrorism military drills in 2019. 

String of attacks 

 

Last month, a suicide car bombing just outside the airport in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi killed two Chinese engineers. The victims were returning to work after a holiday in Thailand on a project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a multibillion-dollar extension of President Xi Jinping’s global Belt and Road Initiative. 

In March, a suicide car bomb attack in northern Pakistan killed five Chinese workers and their local driver. 

The repeated targeting of its nationals reportedly angered China, prompting it to urge Pakistan to negotiate a joint security management system to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in the country.

The Pakistani government has dismissed the alleged Chinese diplomatic pressure, however, as “media speculation” and an attempt “to create confusion” regarding Islamabad’s relationship with Beijing. 

“Pakistan and China have a robust dialogue and cooperation on a range of issues, including counterterrorism and security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch told reporters last Thursday at her weekly news conference. 

“We will continue to work with our Chinese brothers for the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects, and institutions in Pakistan,” she stated.

Shaking ties 

Baloch added that attempts to undermine the mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries will not succeed, nor will the two countries “allow any efforts or stories to derail the Pakistan-China strategic partnership.” 

Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad just days after the Karachi car bomb attack, Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong publicly questioned the host government’s safety measures to deter threats to Chinese nationals. 

“It is unacceptable for us to be attacked twice in only six months,” Jiang stated. He urged Islamabad to take “effective remedial measures to prevent the recurrence of such terror acts and ensure that perpetrators are identified, caught, and punished.”

Pakistan dismissed the Chinese envoy’s remarks as “perplexing” and contrary to established diplomatic traditions between the neighbors.

The Pakistani response was unprecedented, and Jiang’s public admonishment of Islamabad highlighted the strains arising from attacks on Chinese nationals that have resulted in the loss of at least 21 lives over the past five years. 

‘Afghan terror sanctuaries’ 

The joint drills between Pakistani and Chinese troops come amid a dramatic surge in deadly militant attacks on security forces and civilians in Pakistan, which authorities say are being orchestrated from “TTP sanctuaries” in neighboring Afghanistan. The country’s Islamist Taliban leaders reject the allegations.

Yue Xiaoyong, China’s special envoy for Afghan affairs, visited Islamabad this week, where Pakistani officials reportedly shared with him evidence regarding TTP’s presence in Afghanistan and the threat it poses to regional stability.

Neither Islamabad nor Beijing has commented on the media reports. A brief post-meeting Pakistani statement said the discussion centered on the Afghan situation, with both sides reaffirming “the vital role of neighboring countries for a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.” 
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Islamabad — Authorities in northwestern Pakistan reported Monday that militants ambushed a military convoy near the border with Afghanistan and killed at least eight soldiers.

The attack occurred in Khyber, a volatile border district in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, targeting soldiers returning to their base after a counterinsurgency operation.

The ambush left at least three soldiers injured, one of whom is in “serious” condition, multiple security officials said. They spoke anonymously to VOA because they were not authorized to discuss the details with the media. The ensuing clashes reportedly also left several assailants dead.

The Pakistan military’s media wing did not immediately comment on the deadly attack or the reported casualties that followed.

Separately, dozens of heavily armed men stormed a security outpost in the province’s militancy-hit Bannu district Monday evening, taking seven armed police officers hostage. Police officials in the area reported that an operation to track down the assailants and rescue the abducted personnel was under way.

Several districts in the Pakistani border province, including Khyber and Bannu, routinely experience attacks on security forces, which are mostly attributed to or claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an outlawed militant group.

TTP-led militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ethnic Baloch separatists in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, have lately intensified their attacks.

The militant violence has killed more than 1,100 Pakistani security forces and civilians nationwide so far this year, according to data reported by the Islamabad-based, independent Center for Research and Security Studies.

TTP is declared a terrorist group by the United Nations, while the Baloch Liberation Army, which is believed to be the largest insurgent group in Balochistan, is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

BLA claimed responsibility for two attacks last week, including a railway station suicide bombing, that collectively killed at least 34 soldiers.

Pakistani leaders have persistently complained that TTP and Baloch insurgents orchestrate cross-border terrorism from Afghan bases, charges the neighboring country’s de facto Taliban authorities deny.

A U.S. government watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, reported this month that “it remains unclear whether the Taliban have the will and capability to fully eliminate terrorist safe havens or control the flow of foreign terrorist fighters in and through Afghanistan.”

SIGAR referenced U.N. findings in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress on November 7, stating that al-Qaida operates eight training camps in Afghanistan, supplying the TTP with Afghan fighters and offering training facilities.

This prompted the U.N. sanctions monitoring team to warn that “greater collaboration among al-Qaida affiliates and TTP could transform the latter into an “extra-regional threat,” the report stated. 
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Washington — Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a range of measures to boost global development in his remarks Monday at G20 Summit meetings in Rio de Janeiro — highlighting Beijing’s support for its global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road, and a joint technology initiative to support so-called “Global South” nations. 

Xi said the “Open Science International Cooperation Initiative” would be spearheaded by China, Brazil, South Africa and the African Union to ensure that technological advances benefit less developed, underdeveloped and developing nations.   

“China supports the G20 in carrying out practical cooperation for the benefit of the Global South,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua. He also said China expects imports from developing countries to top $8 trillion between now and 2030. 

The Global South generally refers to countries listed as “developing” by the United Nations but also includes China and several wealthy Gulf states. In recent years, China and Russia have stepped up their use of the grouping to highlight efforts to support the developing world and grow the political, military and economic influence.  

Beyond advocating for the Global South, China is also using the G20 summit to bolster its bilateral ties, meeting with the leaders from Britain and Australia on Monday, as well as host Brazil.  

Xi’s meeting on Monday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was a first for the two countries since 2018. Both sides were enthusiastic about building positive relations, despite a growing range of differences from security to human rights concerns. 

During his meeting with Xi, Starmer said he wants relations between the two countries to be “consistent, durable and respectful.” He also stressed that Britain is “committed to the rule of law.”  

Ties between Britain and China have been strained in recent years over a range of issues, including the case of Hong Kong media tycoon and British national Jimmy Lai, who is currently on trial in the port city, a former British colony.  

Starmer raised Lai’s case directly during his meeting with Xi on Monday. 

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Xi told Starmer that the two countries have the potential for more cooperation and “should open up new prospects for China-U.K. ties.” 

During his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Xi lauded what he called the “positive progress” in ties, according to Chinese state media. Much like Beijing’s relations with Britain, ties between Australia and China have been strained in recent years. 

After the G20 summit, Xi will pay a state visit to Brazil in honor of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. 
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ISANTI, Minn. — The young Buddhist lama sat on a throne near an altar decorated with flowers, fruits and golden statues of the Buddha, watching the celebrations of his 18th birthday in silence, with a faint smile. 

Jalue Dorje knew it would be the last big party before he joins a monastery in the Himalayan foothills — thousands of kilometers from his home in a Minneapolis suburb, where he grew up like a typical American teen playing football and listening to rap music. 

But this was not an ordinary coming-of-age celebration. It was an enthronement ceremony for an aspiring spiritual leader who from an early age was recognized by the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders as a reincarnated lama. 

From the stage, he saw it all: The young women in white long bearded masks who danced, jumping acrobatically and twirling colorful sticks to wish him luck in a tradition reserved for dignitaries. The banging of drums. The procession of hundreds – from children to elderly — who lined up to bow to him and present him with a “khata” — the white Tibetan ceremonial scarves that symbolize auspiciousness. 

From a throne reserved for lamas, he smelled the aroma of Tibetan dishes prepared by his mother over sleepless nights. He heard the monks with shaved heads, in maroon and gold robes like his own, chant sacred mantras. Behind them, his shaggy-haired high school football teammates sang “Happy Birthday” before he cut the first slice of cake. 

One of his buddies gave him shaker bottles for hydrating during training at the gym; another, a gift card to eat at Chipotle Mexican Grill. 

“I was in awe!” Dorje recalled later. “Usually, I’d be at the monk section looking up to whomever was celebrating. But that night it was for me.” 

Watching Monday Night Football and memorizing ancient Buddhist prayers 

Since the Dalai Lama’s recognition, Dorje has spent much of his life training to become a monk, memorizing sacred scriptures, practicing calligraphy and learning the teachings of Buddha. 

After graduation in 2025, he’ll head to northern India to join the Mindrolling Monastery, more than 11,500 kilometers from his home in Columbia Heights. 

Following several years of contemplation and ascetism, he hopes to return to America to teach in the Minnesota Buddhist community. His goal is “to become a leader of peace,” following the example of the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. 

“There’s going to be a lot of sacrifice involved,” Dorje said. But he’s not new to sacrifices. 

He remembered all the early mornings reciting ancient prayers and memorizing Buddhist scriptures, often rewarded by his dad with Pokémon cards. 

“As a child, even on the weekend, you’re like: ‘Why don’t I get to sleep more? Why can’t I get up and watch cartoons like other kids.’ But my dad always told me that it’s like planting a seed,” he said, “and one day it’s going to sprout.” 

It all began with the process of identifying a lama, which is based on spiritual signs and visions. Dorje was about four months old when he was identified by Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, a venerated master of Tibetan Buddhism and leader of the Nyingma lineage. He was later confirmed by several lamas as the eighth Terchen Taksham Rinpoche — the first one was born in 1655. 

After the Dalai Lama recognized him at age 2, Dorje’s parents took him to meet the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism when he visited Wisconsin in 2010. 

The Dalai Lama cut a lock of Dorje’s hair in a ceremony and advised his parents to let their son stay in the U.S. to perfect his English before sending him to a monastery. 

Dorje is fluent in English and Tibetan. He grew up reading the manga graphic novel series “Buddha,” and is an avid sports fan. He roots for the Timberwolves in basketball, Real Madrid in soccer, and the Atlanta Falcons in football. He even keeps a rookie card of wide receiver Drake London pasted to the back of his phone, which he carried wrapped in his robes during his party. 

On the football field, playing as a left guard, his teammates praised his positivity, often reminding them to have fun and keep losses in perspective. 

“It’s someone to look up to,” said Griffin Hogg, 20, a former player who took Dorje under his wing. He said they learned from each other and credits Dorje with helping him find his spirituality. “I’m more of a relaxed person after getting to know him and understanding his own journey.” 

While Dorje tries to never miss Monday Night Football, he’s always there to help with any event hosted by the local Tibetan community, one of the largest in the United States. 

“He has one foot in the normal high school life. And he has one foot in this amazing Tibetan culture that we have in the state of Minnesota,” said Kate Thomas, one of his tutors and the teachings coordinator at Minneapolis’ Bodhicitta Sangha Heart of Enlightenment Institute. 

“You can see that he’s comfortable playing a role of sitting on a throne, of participating and being honored as a respected person in his community, as a religious figure. And yet, as soon as he has the opportunity, he wants to go and hang out with his high school buddies,” she said. “That’s testimony to his flexibility, his openness of mind.” 

Listening to rap and making Tibetans proud 

For years, he has followed the same routine. He wakes up to recite sacred texts and then attends school, followed by football practice. He returns home for tutoring about Tibetan history and Buddhism. Then he might practice calligraphy or run on a treadmill while listening to BossMan Dlow, Rod Wave and other rappers. 

Although he was officially enthroned in 2019 in India, an estimated 1,000 people gathered at the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota for his recent ceremony. 

“He unites us – Jalue is always here for us,” said Zenden Ugen, 21, a family friend and neighbor who performed Tibetan dances at the event. 

“I wish him the best in life because being born and not being able to choose your life must be very hard,” Ugen said. “But he has a responsibility and him being able to take on that responsibility, I’m very inspired by him. I just hope he keeps being who he is.” 

Dorje’s proud uncle, Tashi Lama, saw him grow up and become a Buddhist master. 

“He’s somebody who’s going to be a leader, who’s going to teach compassion and peace and love and harmony among living beings,” he said about his nephew, often referred to as “Rinpoche” — a Tibetan word that means “precious one.” 
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NEW DELHI — Authorities in India’s capital shut schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city on Monday after air pollution shot up to its worst level this season.

Residents of New Delhi woke up to thick, toxic smog enveloping the city of some 33 million as the air quality became increasingly hazardous. It rose further into the severe category, according to SAFAR, the country’s main environmental agency, which measures tiny particulate matter in the air that can enter deep into the lungs.

The deadly haze covered monuments and high-rise buildings in the capital, with visibility so low that airlines warned of delays.

In several areas of the city, pollution levels were more than 50 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit. Forecasts say the poor air quality will continue into the week.

Air pollution in northern India rises every year, particularly in winter, as farmers burn crop residue in agricultural areas. The burning coincides with colder temperatures, which trap the smoke in the air. The smoke is then blown into cities, where auto emissions add to the pollution.

Emissions from industries and the burning of coal to produce electricity are also linked to the pollution, which has been steadily ticking up in recent weeks.

Starting Monday, authorities began enforcing stage 4 of a graded response action plan, or GRAP 4, based on the severity of the air pollution. Earlier stages of the plan were already in place, and stage 4 includes stricter curbs.

Classes for all grades except 10 and 12 will be held online and no trucks will be allowed to enter the city except for those carrying essential items. Some older, diesel guzzling vehicles have been banned inside the city, and all construction activities have been halted. Authorities also urged children, the elderly and others with chronic diseases or respiratory issues to avoid going outside as much as possible.

Over the weekend, farmers in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state burned their fields, releasing plumes of gray smoke that winds likely carried into New Delhi and other nearby areas. Despite the poisonous air, many in the capital continued their usual routines, including morning walks in the city’s beloved Lodhi Garden.

“Everyone has a sore throat,” said Sanjay Goel, a 51-year-old shopkeeper in New Delhi. “They should ban crop residue burning … it’s just smoke everywhere.”

The worsening air quality in the capital also sparked outrage from residents on social media. Many complained of headaches and hacking coughs, describing the city as “apocalyptic” and a “gas chamber.” Others urged officials to solve the public health crisis once and for all. Several studies have estimated more than a million Indians die each year from pollution-related diseases.

Authorities have invoked similar measures in the past and have at times deployed water sprinklers and anti-smog guns in an attempt to control the haze. But critics say there needs to be a long-term solution that drastically reduces pollution itself, instead of actions that aim to mitigate the effects after it has already plagued the region.
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ABUJA, Nigeria — The leaders of Nigeria and India pledged stronger ties in maritime security and counterterrorism during a meeting on Sunday where they also agreed on more support for Global South nations.

In his first visit to Nigeria, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosted by President Bola Tinubu in capital Abuja, where both spoke of a new chapter in their strategic partnerships in the areas of defense, energy, technology, trade and development.

Modi has often touted India as the voice of the Global South, the group of countries primarily considered developing nations, including Nigeria, but which also includes China and several wealthy Persian Gulf states.

“Together we will also continue to highlight at the global level the priorities of the Global South and thanks to our joint efforts, we will achieve success as well in this,” said Modi.

A joint statement said both leaders pledged greater collaboration in counterterrorism, maritime security and intelligence sharing to cope with growing threats in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea, the area off the coast of West Africa that is one of the world’s most dangerous for piracy.

Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner in Africa with total bilateral trade between estimated at $14.9 billion in 2022. There are also at least 60,000 Indian nationals and 200 Indian companies in Nigeria, authorities say.

The Nigerian leader conferred on Modi the title of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, Nigeria’s second-highest national honor, describing Modi as a representation of a “very strong commitment to democratic values and norms.”

“Nigeria values its excellent relationship with India and will work to broaden the same for the mutual benefits of our two friendly countries,” Tinubu said.
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DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said Sunday that his administration will seek the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, where has been in exile since fleeing a mass uprising in August.

In a televised address to the nation on his first 100 days in office, Yunus said that the interim government will try those responsible including Hasina for hundreds of deaths during the student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule. Yunus took the helm on Aug. 8, three days after Hasina fled the country.

He said that not only the deaths in the uprising but all other violations of human rights, including alleged enforced disappearances while Hasina was in power, would be investigated. Bangladesh has sought help from the global police organization Interpol in issuing a red notice for the arrest of Hasina and her associates.

“We will seek the return of the fallen autocrat Sheikh Hasina from India,” Yunus said. “I have already discussed the issue with chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan.”

While Hasina and her close associates are facing numerous criminal charges at home, the Yunus-led government is also pushing for the ICC to take up the case.

Yunus said his government’s most important task was to hold a new election to hand over power to an elected government, but he did not spell out any timeframe. He said his administration would first bring about reforms in various sectors including in the electoral system.

He promised that once the electoral reforms are completed, a roadmap for the new election would be unveiled.

Yunus downplayed as “exaggerated” reports of attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, many of whom complained that hard-line Islamists are becoming increasingly influential since Hasina’s ouster.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities reported Saturday that seven soldiers and six insurgents were killed in fierce clashes in the troubled southwestern Balochistan. 

  

The predawn violence erupted when the insurgents assaulted a security post in Kalat, a mountainous district in the sparsely populated province, according to a late-night Pakistan military statement.  

  

It stated that the clashes also injured four assailants but shared no further details.  

  

Multiple area security officials reported that at least 18 soldiers were also injured and admitted to hospitals, where some were said to be in critical condition. 

  

An outlawed militant group known as the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. 

  

In a statement, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “terrorist” attack and “honored the martyred soldiers,” his office said in Islamabad. 

  

Balochistan, the largest Pakistani province renowned for its abundant natural resources, has lately experienced a spike in deadly insurgent attacks. 

  

The BLA took credit for a suicide bombing last week that targeted a unit of Pakistani troops at the railway station in Quetta, the provincial capital.  

  

The powerful blast resulted in the deaths of 27 soldiers and injured many others as they were preparing to depart for a northwestern destination after completing a training session. 

  

BLA, listed as a global terrorist organization by the United States, also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed two Chinese engineers in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi last month.

  

The insurgent group, along with several allies, has been waging deadly attacks on Pakistani security forces for years, saying they are fighting for the independence of the province, which shares the country’s border with Afghanistan and Iran.  

  

Balochistan is home to the China-built and operated strategic Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea, which is at the heart of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.  

  

Both countries hail CPEC as a pivotal component of Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative. The bilateral project has brought more than $25 billion in Chinese investments over the past decade, building Pakistani roads, power plants, and trade routes to enable China’s access to international markets for its landlocked western regions through the Gwadar port.  

  

Islamabad and Beijing condemn Baloch insurgents, saying their violent campaign is aimed at disrupting development in impoverished Balochistan and Pakistan at large.  
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — On the last night of their lives, Jagdish Patel, his wife and their two young children tried to slip into the U.S. across a near-empty stretch of the Canadian border. 

Wind chills reached minus 36 Fahrenheit (minus 38 Celsius) that night in January 2022 as the family from India set out on foot to meet a waiting van. They walked amid vast farm fields and bulky snowdrifts, navigating in the black of an almost-moonless night. 

The driver, waiting in northern Minnesota, messaged his boss: “Make sure everyone is dressed for the blizzard conditions, please.” 

Coordinating things in Canada, federal prosecutors say, was Harshkumar Patel, an experienced smuggler nicknamed “Dirty Harry.” On the U.S. side was Steve Shand, the driver recently recruited by Patel at a casino near their Florida homes, prosecutors say. 

The two men, whose trial is scheduled to start Monday, are accused of being part of a sophisticated human smuggling operation feeding a fast-growing population of Indians living illegally in the U.S. Both have pleaded not guilty. 

Over the five weeks the two worked together, documents filed by prosecutors allege they spoke often about the bitter cold as they smuggled five groups of Indians over that quiet stretch of border. 

“16 degrees cold as hell,” Shand messaged during an earlier trip. “They going to be alive when they get here?” 

On the last trip, on Jan. 19, 2022, Shand was to pick up 11 more Indian migrants, including the Patels. Only seven survived. 

Canadian authorities found the Patels later that morning, dead from the cold. 

In Jagdish Patel’s frozen arms was the body of his 3-year-old son, Dharmik, wrapped in a blanket. 

Dreams of leaving India 

The narrow streets of Dingucha, a quiet village in the western Indian state of Gujarat, are spattered with ads to move overseas. 

“Make your dream of going abroad come true,” one poster says, listing three tantalizing destinations: “Canada. Australia. USA.” 

This is where the family’s deadly journey began.

Jagdish Patel, 39, grew up in Dingucha. He and his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s, lived with his parents, raising their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and Dharmik. (Patel is a common Indian surname and they are unrelated to Harshkumar Patel.) The couple were schoolteachers, local news reports say. 

The family was fairly well off by local standards, living in a well-kept, two-story house with a front patio and a wide veranda. 

“It wasn’t a lavish life,” said Vaibhav Jha, a local reporter who spent days in the village. “But there was no urgent need, no desperation.” 

Experts say illegal immigration from India is driven by everything from political repression to a dysfunctional American immigration system that can take years, if not decades, to navigate legally. 

But much is rooted in economics, and how even low-wage jobs in the West can ignite hopes for a better life. 

Those hopes have changed Dingucha. 

Today, so many villagers have gone overseas — legally and otherwise — that blocks of homes stand vacant and the social media feeds of those who remain are filled with old neighbors showing off houses and cars. 

That drives even more people to leave. 

“There was so much pressure in the village, where people grew up aspiring to the good life,” Jha said. 

Smuggling networks were glad to help, charging fees that could reach $90,000 per person. In Dingucha, Jha said, many families afforded that by selling farmland. 

Satveer Chaudhary is a Minneapolis-based immigration attorney who has helped migrants exploited by motel owners, many of them Gujaratis. 

Smugglers with ties to the Gujarati business community have built an underground network, he said, bringing in workers willing to do low- or even no-wage jobs. 

“Their own community has taken advantage of them,” Chaudhary said. 

Illegal immigration from India increases

The pipeline of illegal immigration from India has long existed but has increased sharply along the U.S.-Canada border. The U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians on the Canadian border in the year ending September 30, which amounted to 60% of all arrests along that border and more than 10 times the number two years ago. 

By 2022, the Pew Research Center estimates there were more than 725,000 Indians living illegally in the U.S., behind only Mexicans and El Salvadorans. 

In India, investigating officer Dilip Thakor said media attention had led to the arrest of three men in the Patel case, but hundreds of such cases don’t even reach the courts. 

With so many Indians trying to get to the U.S., the smuggling networks see no need to warn off customers. 

They “tell people that it’s very easy to cross into the U.S. They never tell them of the dangers involved,” Thakor said. 

U.S. prosecutors allege Patel and Shand were part of a sprawling operation, with people to scout for business in India, acquire Canadian student visas, arrange transportation and smuggle migrants into the U.S., mostly via the states of Washington or Minnesota. 

On Monday, at the federal courthouse in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Patel, 29, and Shand, 50, will each face four counts related to human smuggling. 

Patel’s attorney, Thomas Leinenweber, told The Associated Press his client came to America to escape poverty and build a better life and “now stands unjustly accused of participating in this horrible crime.” 

Shand’s attorney did not return calls seeking comment. Prosecutors say Shand told investigators that Patel paid him about $25,000 for the five trips. 

His final passengers, though, never made it. 
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