India and Pakistan spar at UN after Shehbaz Sharif likens people of Kashmir to Palestinians

India and Pakistan sparred over Kashmir at the UN General Assembly after Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif drew parallels between the people of the Himalayan territory and Palestinians.

Kashmir is at the heart of a decades-old dispute between India and Pakistan, where both countries claim the region as theirs, but control only parts of it.

“Similarly, like the people of Palestine, the people of Jammu and Kashmir too, have struggled for a century for their freedom and right to self-determination,” Mr Sharif claimed in his speech on Friday.

“Instead of moving towards peace, India has resiled from its commitments to implement the Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution adopted in 1948 called upon the governments of the new dominions of India and Pakistan to refrain in any way from aggravating the situation in Kashmir.

He claimed that to “secure durable peace” India must “reverse the unilateral and illegal measures it has taken” five years back. New Delhi must “enter into a dialogue for a peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security [Council] resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people,” Mr Sharif added.

The Indian government led by prime minister Narendra Modi scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s semi-autonomous status and downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory. It was also divided into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run the territories.

Mr Sharif also accused India of extra-judicial killings, prolonged curfews, and other “draconian measures” in the region.

India used its right to reply at the General Assembly to hit back at Pakistan, calling Mr Sharif’s speech a “travesty”.

“A country, run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics trade and transnational crime has had the audacity to attack the world’s largest democracy,” said the first secretary in India’s permanent mission to the UN, Bhavika Mangalanandan.

She accused Pakistan of having long “employed cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbours”.

“For such a country to speak about violence anywhere is hypocrisy at its worst.”

Pakistan has routinely raised the Kashmir row at the UN, which always draws a response from India.

For the first time in five years since the abrogation of the special status, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan refrained from mentioning Kashmir in his speech at the UN.

“We maintain our will to develop our relations with BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa], which brings together emerging economies,” he said.

At least 41,586 Palestinians have been killed and 96,210 others injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza in nearly a year, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The war began in retaliation against Hamas’s 7 October attack on southern Israel, where nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and another 250 abducted.

At least 12 dead at illegal gold mine in Indonesia after landslide

Mud, rugged terrain and lack of telecommunications hampered rescue efforts Saturday after a landslide set off by torrential rains smashed down into an unauthorized gold mining operation on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, killing at least 12 people.

Villagers had been digging for grains of gold in the remote village in the Solok district of West Sumatra province when mud plunged down the surrounding hills and buried them on Thursday.

Several people managed to escape and some were pulled out by rescuers, said local search and rescue agency chief Abdul Malik. Eleven people were injured.

Malik said rescuers recovered 12 bodies, revising an earlier death toll of 15 after officials discovered that lack of communications and the remoteness of the village had affected the counting of the victims. Two other people are believed still missing under tons of mud, he said.

Rescuers earlier said the devastated area could only be reached by walking for four hours from the nearest settlement.

“Relief efforts for the dead and missing were hampered by rugged terrain and blocked roads covered by thick mud and debris,” Malik said, adding that many residents also did not want outsiders, including search and rescue officers, to enter their traditional mining areas.

Informal mining operations are common in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to thousands who labor in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death.

Landslides, flooding and collapses of tunnels are just some of the hazards facing miners. Much of gold ore processing involves highly toxic mercury and cyanide and workers frequently use little or no protection.

The country’s last major mining-related accident occurred in July when a landslide crashed onto an illegal traditional gold mine in Gorontalo province on Sulawesi island, killing at least 23 people.

In April 2022 a landslide hit another gold mine in North Sumatra’s Mandailing Natal district, killing 12 women.

In February 2019, a makeshift wooden structure in an illegal gold mine in North Sulawesi province collapsed partly due to shifting soil. More than 40 people were buried.

Chinese military announces drills, patrols in disputed South China Sea

China said its air and naval forces will take part in drills in the disputed area of the South China Sea hours after the country’s top diplomat discussed ways of reducing regional tension with his US counterpart.

Chinese forces will take part in the drills on Saturday, including “routine” early warning and reconnaissance exercises as well as patrols around Scarborough Shoal, China’s People’s Liberation Army said in a statement on social media.

“The theatre troops maintain a high degree of vigilance, resolutely defending national sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests, (and) are firm in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea,” it said.

The announcement comes after Australia and the Phillippines said their militaries would hold planned maritime drills with allies Japan, US and New Zealand in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

The Scarborough Shoal is located 200km off the Philippines, within its exclusive economic zone, but China claims it to be part of its Zhongsha Islands.

The Scarborough Shoal, among other islands in the region, has been one of the most contested regions between Manila and Beijing. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2016 ruled in favour of the Phillippines, rejecting China’s claims to a large swath of the regional waters. The ruling was ignored by China.

The tribunal did not determine sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, which it said was a traditional fishing ground for several countries.

The announcement of the Chinese naval manoeuvres comes after foreign minister Wang Yi met US secretary of state Antony Blinken in New York for talks that covered ways to avoid conflict in the South China Sea.

Mr Blinken in March had assured the Philippines its defence partnership with the US was “ironclad” after Manila accused Beijing of aggressive deployments in the South China Sea of its coast guard and fishing vessels suspected of being a maritime militia.

Manila this month called twenty of its allies to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session amid fears that one “wrong move” could escalate tensions in the contested waters.

The Philippines and China have exchanged accusations of intentionally ramming coast guard vessels in the disputed waters in recent months, including a violent clash in June in which a Filipino sailor lost a finger.

Mr Wang on Friday “emphasised that China insists on resolving differences with countries directly concerned through dialogue and consultation”, during the meeting, his ministry said in a statement.

Mr Blinken said he raised China’s “dangerous and destabilising actions” in the waters and discussed improving communication between the two nations’ militaries.

Mr Wang told Mr Blinken “the US should not always stir up trouble in the South China Sea and should not undermine the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability”, the Chinese foreign ministry added.

A Beijing-based thinktank estimated that warships of various nations spent more than 20,000 days annually in the South China Sea, while more than 30,000 military aircraft traverse it.

The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative said US Navy ships spent about 1,600 days at sea in the region.

Additional reporting by agencies

Australia museum can bar men from ‘Ladies Lounge’ exhibition

A museum in Australia was within its rights to bar men from a controversial art exhibit for women meant to underscore their exclusion from segments of the male-dominated society, a top regional court said on Friday.

The development is the latest in the long-running saga of the “Ladies Lounge” exhibition that has provoked an uproar in the art world. Its curator, Kirsha Kaechele, admitted in June she had created all the art, including the paintings she had billed for years as works by Spanish master Pablo Picasso without anyone noticing they were fake.

On Friday, Tasmania’s Supreme Court threw out on appeal an order for Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art, where the exhibit opened in 2020, to stop refusing male patrons entry to the show. It said the lower tribunal should have found that the “Ladies Lounge” was exempt from Australia’s gender discrimination law.

The appeals court asked Tasmania’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal to reconsider its ruling from April in the case brought by a disgruntled male visitor. It wasn’t immediately clear when the case would be revisited.

Associate Justice Shane Marshall wrote in his ruling Friday that the lower body was wrong when it decided the exhibition did not qualify for an exemption to gender discrimination laws. The exhibition was intended to promote equal opportunity for women – who suffer ongoing gender disadvantage – by excluding men, he said.

When the museum first lost the suit, Kaechele relocated the paintings to a women’s restroom at the gallery – rather than allow male visitors to see the art.

The fracas, however, continued, with the Guardian newspaper eventually questioning the authenticity of the art work after the museum published a picture of a supposed Picasso hanging above a toilet.

Friday’s ruling was a victory for Kaechele, who said in July that the purpose of the “Ladies Lounge” – open to all who identified as women – was to make men “feel as excluded as possible.”

Catherine Scott, a lawyer representing the museum, said the ruling Friday recognized that the “Ladies Lounge” challenged inequality by “providing a flipped universe where women experience advantage.”

During the hearings, Scott had presented a 2024 report card by the Australian government on gender equality, which shows that women working full-time earn 12% less than men.

Kaechele claimed the court’s decision reflected what she holds as “a simple truth: women are better than men.”

Jason Lau, the New South Wales resident who brought the case against the museum, did not appear in court — neither during the initial lawsuit nor during the appeal — and has never spoken publicly about it.

Lau’s lawyer, Greg Barns, said he was unable to comment on the case and did not respond to a request to speak to his client.

When the appeal hearing opened last week, Kaechele repeated her performance from earlier, showing up at the Supreme Court in Tasmania‘s city of Hobart surrounded by dozens of women supporters in navy-colored suits and wearing bright red lipstick. The women danced out of the court in single file, some holding placards denouncing men.

“Yes, the men, understandably, are a little grumpy about this,” Kaechele wrote on Instagram after Friday’s ruling. “They may even appeal. (They do not appeal to me.)”

When Kaechele announced in July that she had created the artwork at the exhibit, including the supposed Picasso paintings, she provoked a debate among art critics.

Detractors said that to knowingly display forgeries undermined a gallery’s credibility and that Kaechele was making a joke at her women patrons’ expense by passing off worthless trinkets as art.

But many gallery visitors appeared to be in on the act.

In March, a panelist on the Australian current events show “The Project” on Network 10 described being forced to wait outside while his female companions visited the exhibition.

“I begged to find out what happened, but no one said anything,” Sam Taunton told the program. “My girlfriend said it was the greatest experience of her life.”

Fans bid farewell to beloved panda pair before their return to China

Thousands of Japanese fans bid tearful farewell to their beloved panda couple that made their final public appearance at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo on Saturday before returning to China for medical treatment.

The pair, Ri Ri and Shan Shan, are the parents of Xiang Xiang, the park-born idol that had returned home last year.

More than 2,000 visitors, many wearing T-shirts and carrying items decorated by panda motifs, queued outside the zoo hours before the opening. Some said they camped out overnight to secure their chance.

The pandas, both 19 years old, arrived at the Ueno Zoo in 2011. Although their lease is good through 2026, Japan and China agreed to their return home as the aging couple need treatment for high blood pressure, according to the zoo.

Hirono Sasaki, who waited to enter the zoo since 5 a.m., was crying. “They were always my source of comfort, so I’m feel extremely sad,” she said. “I loved seeing Ri Ri climbing trees in her old enclosure. I hope she can climb trees again when she is back in China.”

After their hours long wait, visitors were given only a few minutes inside their hut to view the black-and-white animals. Lucky ones could get a glimpse of them nibbling on bamboo branches, but others could only catch them during their naps.

China sends pandas abroad as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over the animals and any cubs they produce. The animals are native to southwestern China and are an unofficial national mascot.

Pandas, which reproduce rarely in the wild and rely on a diet of bamboo, remain among the world’s most threatened species. An estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild, while another 500 are in zoos or reserves, mostly in Sichuan.

At least 46 drown in India as major festival goes ahead amid flooding

At least 46 people, most of them children, have drowned in swollen rivers and ponds in northern India during a Hindu festival amid heavy monsoon rains.

The festival of Jivitputrika Vrat, marked by women fasting and offering prayers for the health and prosperity of their children, sees millions of people visit rivers, ponds and streams for ritual bathing in the northern state of Bihar.

The water bodies have been swollen by heavy monsoon rains this time, leading to scattered incidents of drowning in 15 districts of the state.

The victims include 37 children and seven women. The state has announced ₹400,000 (£3,940) as compensation for the families of each of the victims.

Fatalities during crowded festivities are not uncommon in India. Last year, 22 people drowned during the same festival in Bihar. In July this year, at least 116 people were crushed to death at an overcrowded Hindu religious gathering in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, the worst such tragedy in more than a decade.

The latest deaths occurred amid heavy rainfall and flooding across India as the monsoon rains continue for longer this year. India usually experiences the monsoon between mid-June to mid-September. This year, though, heavy rains have continued till the end of September, leaving several rivers across the country swollen for longer than usual.

Separate rain-related incidents in Bihar have killed at least 10 people this monsoon season.

In the southern state of Kerala, torrential rains caused a series of landslides that killed at least 200 people and flattened entire villages earlier in the summer.

The monsoon rains also brought the financial capital Mumbai in western India to a standstill this week, killing four people, flooding roads, and leading to cancellation of flights and trains.

This week’s heavy rainfall in the country was caused by excess moisture over the Bay of Bengal in the east and the Arabian Sea in the west, combined with a low-pressure system across the region. More heavy rainfall is forecast in the coming days.

Former defence minister chosen to be Japan’s next prime minister

Japan’s former defence minister, Shigeru Ishiba, has won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) presidential election at his fifth and final attempt, defeating economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff vote.

He is set to become the country’s next prime minister, with Fumio Kishida handing over the reins after almost exactly three years in power.

“We must believe in the people, speak the truth with courage and sincerity, and work together to make Japan a safe and secure country where everyone can live with a smile once again,” Mr Ishiba told lawmakers after the result on Friday.

The rush to find a successor for Mr Kishida began in August when he declared his intention to resign amid a series of scandals that drove the LDP’s ratings to historic lows.

Mr Ishiba secured 215 votes – 189 from LDP lawmakers and 26 from local chapters – compared to 194 votes for Ms Takaichi, who would have become the first female prime minister in Japanese history if she had won.

Mr Ishiba, 67, has also previously served as the party’s secretary-general. He will be formally confirmed as prime minister next week following a parliamentary vote.

“We must believe in the people and speak the truth with courage and sincerity,” Mr Ishiba said.

The 67-year-old, unaffiliated with any party faction, previously ran for LDP president four times without success – in 2008, 2012, 2018, and 2020.

The Asahi Shimbun noted that Mr Ishiba faces the urgent task of revitalising the LDP’s image, which has suffered due to a political funding scandal linked to party factions. The country is due to go to the polls by the end of October 2025, although there has been speculation that a new LDP leader could call a snap election sooner.

In his victory speech, Mr Ishiba commended Mr Kishida for making “a decision to regain the trust of the people so that the LDP can be reborn”.

“We must respond to his decision as one,” he said.

During his campaign, Mr Ishiba proposed forming an “Asian Nato”, a controversial idea that could provoke Beijing and was described as premature by a senior US official.

Mr Kishida and his cabinet ministers will resign on Tuesday to make way for Mr Ishiba.

The US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, congratulated Mr Ishiba in a post on X and said he looked forward to working with him to strengthen the US-Japan alliance.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian expressed hope that Japan would adopt an “objective and correct” understanding of its neighbour under the LDP’s new leadership. Relations between Japan and China under Mr Kishida have worsened as his government has taken a much stronger pro–US stance.

South Korea’s foreign ministry also said it was looking forward to working with Mr Ishiba and his cabinet ministers. “South Korea and Japan are the closest neighbours and partners that share the values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law and pursue common interests in security, economy and global agenda,” the ministry said.

“This government looks forward to our two countries working together proactively for improving future oriented ties.”

Additional reporting by agencies

China ‘covers up’ major blunder involving most advanced nuclear sub

China’s most advanced nuclear submarine sank in port while undergoing final sea tests earlier this year, American officials have claimed, in a blunder Beijing rushed to cover up.

The Zhou class vessel sank in May or June at the Wuchang shipyard near Wuhan, an anonymous Pentagon official told Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the boat was likely carrying nuclear fuel when it went down.

The sinking, if confirmed, would mark a blow to the plans of the Chinese navy, already the largest in the world with over 370 ships.

China is vying to overtake the US as the dominant maritime power in the world and the production of a new generation of nuclear submarines is crucial to its strategy.

The US has designated China as its long-term “pacing challenge”.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington said they had no information to provide. “We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and currently have no information to provide,” they said.

The unnamed American official told Reuters that it was not clear what caused the boat to sink, or whether it carried nuclear fuel.

“In addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal accountability and oversight of China‘s defence industry, which has long been plagued by corruption,” the official said, using an acronym for the People’s Liberation Army, adding that it was “not surprising that the PLA navy would try to conceal” the sinking.

Analysts noted changes in satellite imagery of the dock at the Shuangliu shipyard on the Yangtze River where the nuclear submarine was undergoing final checks.

Images from 10 March show the boat docked at the port and being prepared for its first sea trial, but images from 15 June do not show the submarine. Naval experts said they only see floating cranes in the later images, a possible indication that attempts were being made to salvage the vessel.

An image from 15 June showed the submarine either fully or partially submerged just under the river’s surface, surrounded by rescue equipment. Containment booms can be seen around the area, likely used to prevent any oil or other substances leaking from the vessel.

A subsequent satellite image on 25 August showed a submarine back at the same dock. It is not clear if this is the same vessel.

It is not known if the reported sinking caused any casualties.

The incident is likely to add to growing pressure on China’s military as the government presses ahead with a crackdown on corruption.

President Xi Jinping recently removed the top leadership of the Rocket Force, the military branch responsible for managing both conventional and nuclear missile operations.

The Chinese Communist Party has framed the crackdown on the Rocket Force as part of an anti-corruption drive, particularly targeting officials involved in military procurement.

The state-of-the-art Zhou class nuclear attack submarines have a distinctive X-shaped tail that aids manoeuvrability as well as advanced stealth technology to reduce noise and evade detection by enemy forces.

In recent years, Beijing has made the modernisation of its naval fleet a top priority. The PLA navy operates six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines, according to a 2023 China military power report.

In comparison, the US navy has 53 fast attack submarines, 14 ballistic-missile submarines and four guided-missile submarines. This force is expected to grow to 65 by 2025 and 80 by 2035, the US Defense Department has said.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the PLA navy operates 234 warships compared to the US navy’s 219.