
SFJ threatens CM Mann; Khalistani graffiti found on Punjab MLA's house
BATHINDA: Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based Khalistani outfit, has emailed several media persons threatening "political death" for Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann from Aug 31 - the day then Punjab CM Beant Singh was assassinated.
Earlier, Sikhs for Justice chief and designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had openly threatened to kill Mann and the Punjab DGP on Republic Day.
In a related incident, pro-Khalistani graffiti was found painted on Mehal Kalan MLA Kulwant Pandori's house in Pandori village in Barnala Friday morning. The same threatening slogan was also found near the village bus stand. Officials later spray-painted the graffiti black to obscure it.
"CCTV footage shows two men arriving on a motorbike around 3am on Aug 15. They painted the slogans quickly. A police complaint has already been filed," the MLA said. TNN
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The Hindu
23 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Polls in Bolivia open for national elections
Polls opened in Bolivia for presidential and congressional elections that could spell the end of the Andean nation's long-dominant leftist party and see a right-wing government elected for the first time in over two decades. The election on Sunday (August 17, 2025) is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times — and one of the most unpredictable. Even at this late stage, a remarkable 30% or so of voters remain undecided. Polls show the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge Fernando 'Tuto' Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat. Many undecided voters But a right-wing victory isn't assured. Many longtime voters for the governing Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, now shattered by infighting, live in rural areas and tend to be undercounted in polling. With the nation's worst economic crisis in four decades leaving Bolivians waiting for hours in fuel lines, struggling to find subsidised bread and squeezed by double-digit inflation, the opposition candidates are billing the race as a chance to alter the country's destiny. 'I have rarely, if ever, seen a situational tinderbox with as many sparks ready to ignite,' Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, founding partner of Aurora Macro Strategies, a New York-based advisory firm, writes in a memo. Breaking the MAS party's monopoly on political power, he adds, pushes 'the country into uncharted political waters amid rising polarisation, severe economic fragility and a widening rural–urban divide.' Bolivia could follow a rightward trend. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia — a nation of about 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth and crucial deposits of rare earth minerals — follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders like Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. Conservative candidates vow to restore U.S. relations. Mr. Doria Medina and Mr. Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States, ruptured in 2008 when charismatic, long-serving former President Evo Morales expelled the American ambassador. The right-wing front-runners have also expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to invest in the country and develop its rich natural resources. After storming to office in 2006 at the start of the commodities boom, Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, nationalised the nation's oil and gas industry, using the lush profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his ouster, Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. His ally-turned-rival, President Luis Arce, withdrew his candidacy for the MAS on account of his plummeting popularity and nominated his Senior Minister, Eduardo del Castillo. As the party splintered, Andronico Rodriguez, the 36-year-old president of the senate who hails from the same union of coca farmers as Morales, launched his bid. Ex-president Morales urges supporters to deface ballots Rather than back the candidate widely considered his heir, Mr. Morales, holed up in his tropical stronghold and evading an arrest warrant on charges related to his relationship with a 15-year-old girl, has urged his supporters to deface their ballots or leave them blank. Voting is mandatory in Bolivia, where some 7.9 million Bolivians are eligible to vote. Mr. Doria Medina and Mr. Quiroga, familiar faces in Bolivian politics who both served in past neoliberal governments and have run for president three times before, have struggled to stir up interest as voter angst runs high. 'There's enthusiasm for change but no enthusiasm for the candidates,' said Eddy Abasto, 44, a Tupperware vendor in Bolivia's capital of La Paz torn between voting for Doria Medina and Quiroga. 'It's always the same, those in power live happily spending the country's money, and we suffer.' Conservative candidates say austerity is needed. Mr. Doria Medina and Mr. Quiroga have warned of the need for a painful fiscal adjustment, including the elimination of Bolivia's generous food and fuel subsidies, to save the nation from insolvency. Some analysts caution that this risks sparking social unrest. 'A victory for either right-wing candidate could have grave repercussions for Bolivia's Indigenous and impoverished communities,' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. 'Both candidates could bolster security forces and right-wing para-state groups, paving the way for violent crackdowns on protests expected to erupt over the foreign exploitation of lithium and drastic austerity measures.' All 130 seats in Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, are up for grabs, along with 36 in the Senate, the upper house. If, as is widely expected, no one receives more than 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote with a lead of 10% points, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on October 19 for the first time since Bolivia's 1982 return to democracy.


News18
an hour ago
- News18
Trump Teases ‘Big Progress On Russia' But Zelenskyy Sees ‘No Signs Of Trilateral' With Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if Putin rejects the plan for US-Ukraine-Russia trilateral, more sanctions should be imposed on Moscow. News18 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called for 'real negotiations" and said that a trilateral summit between Ukraine, Russia and the US is needed while pointing out that Russia is giving 'no signs" that such a meeting could take place. 'Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now," Zelenskyy said, speaking at a press conference in Brussels, along with Ursula Von Der Leyen, the European Commission President. 'Russia gives no sign a trilateral meeting will happen," the Ukrainian leader was quoted as saying by UK broadcaster Sky News. He wrote: 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED! President DJT." view comments First Published: August 17, 2025, 19:03 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit India on Monday amid India-US tariff tensions
India and China are expected to discuss new confidence-building measures for durable peace and tranquillity along their contested border during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day visit to India beginning Monday. Wang's visit is largely seen as part of ongoing efforts by the two neighbours to rebuild their relationship after it came under severe strain following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020. The trip assumed greater significance in view of increasing tensions in India-US relations following President Donald Trump doubling tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent that included an additional penalty of 25 per cent for purchasing Russian oil. The Chinese foreign minister will be in India primarily to hold a fresh round of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary question with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Wang and Doval are the designated special representatives for the boundary talks. Both sides are expected to deliberate on new confidence-building measures besides reviewing the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), people familiar with the matter said. Though the two sides disengaged troops from the friction points, they are yet to de-escalate the situation by pulling back the frontline forces from the border. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the eastern Ladakh region. The Chinese foreign minister will also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. It is learnt that the two sides will also use the opportunity to lay the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on August 31 and September 1. As per the plan, PM Modi will embark on a visit to Japan around August 29 and after concluding the trip, he will travel to the northern Chinese city of Tianjin for the summit to be held on August 31 and September 1. Modi's visit to China is being planned amid efforts by the two sides to repair their bilateral ties which came under severe strain following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020. NSA Doval travelled to China in December last and held the SR talks with Wang, weeks after Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi decided to revive various dialogue mechanisms between the two sides at a meeting in the Russian city of Kazan. The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and the clashes at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in bilateral ties. The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 last year. The decision to revive various dialogue mechanisms was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi in Kazan on October 23, 2024. The Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok. The two sides also initiated a number of initiatives to rebuild the ties that included resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and New Delhi restarting issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals. Both sides are also discussing modalities to resume direct flight services between the two countries. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar visited China in the last two months to attend SCO meetings. China is the current chair of the SCO.