Maryam Khan, a Pakistan-born US lawmaker from the state of Connecticut, was attacked after attending Eid ul Azha prayers with her family in the state’s capital city of Hartford, the American media has reported.
According to The New York Times, police have arrested a man in connection with the attack that took place on Wednesday, during which Khan — the first Muslim elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives and a Democrat — sustained minor injuries.
The suspect was formally charged in state court on Thursday, the report said, quoting police.
“Andrey Desmond, 30, from New Britain, Connecticut, is being held on a $250,000 bond. He was charged with unlawful restraint, assault, breach of peace and interfering with the police,” the report stated.
Police are yet to confirm the motive behind the attack.
The attack
The New York Times report, quoting police, said the attack took place around 11am outside the XL Centre, an arena and conference centre, where congregational prayers were held.
The suspect approached Khan while she was taking pictures with her family outside the centre and made “several suggestive comments”, police said.
He then allegedly tried to prevent her from leaving and assaulted her, a report by NBC News said.
The suspect tried to flee, but another worshipper chased him and held him down, the report quoted the police as saying.
Codemnations
Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter and Majority Leader Jason Rojas, among several others, have condemned the attack.
“It is especially painful that Representative Khan was attacked on a holy day of peace and prayer — on a day she should spend with her friends and family. Rep Khan is an amazing leader and person who is committed to faith, love and service — we are sending our well-wishes and support to Maryam and her family,” they said in a joint statement.
They added that State Capitol Police had assured them that they would work with Hartford Police to conduct a “full and thorough investigation”.
Separately, Ritter told a press conference that he had been in touch with Khan since the attack but “she still needed time to recover both mentally and physically”, The New York Times reported.
“It was a very, very scary incident,” the report quoted him as saying.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont also issued a condemnation, saying: “It’s disturbing to me that this happened on a holy day meant to be marked with peaceful prayer. The details of the assault are still unfolding but I know our law enforcement personnel will conduct a thorough investigation into what happened.”
Meanwhile, head of civil rights and advocacy group Council on American–Islamic Relations’ Connecticut chapter Farhan Memon urged law enforcement departments to “investigate a possible bias motive” behind the attack and “to ensure the safety of the Connecticut Muslim community during the ongoing Eid ul Azha celebrations.”
“All too often we have seen American Muslims, or those perceived to be Muslim, targeted by hate because of their attire, race or ethnicity,” Memon highlighted in a statement.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari departs for Tokyo today (Saturday) for a four-day visit to Japan, following an invitation from the Japanese government.
Ahead of his visit, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that the foreign minister’s visit “signals the revival of leadership level contacts with Japan after a considerable hiatus”.
During the visit, Bilawal is set to hold delegation-level talks with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi. He will also be meeting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Also on the schedule is a meeting with Japanese National Security Adviser Takeo Akiba.
He is also expected to interact with senior officials and executives representing prominent business houses and entities related to the import of Pakistani manpower to Japan, the statement said.
Furthermore, the Foreign Minister will be delivering a talk at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), a think tank of Japan.
“Pakistan and Japan enjoy a long-standing time-tested relationship characterised by warmth, cordiality and commonality of views on issues,” the FO said.
Bilawal’s trip comes four days after Foreign Secretary Dr Asad Majeed Khan held Bilateral Political Consultations with his Japanese counterpart Shigeo Yamada in Tokyo on Tuesday.
A statement issued by the FO after the meeting said all interlocutors of the Japanese foreign secretary had expressed goodwill and warm wishes towards the people and government of Pakistan, underlining that the Japanese side was looking forward to the upcoming visit of the FM Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
Diplomatic ties between Japan and Pakistan were established in April 1952, and in October 2019 when President Arif Alvi attended the enthronement ceremony of Japanese Emperor Naruhito in Tokyo, according to the FO website.
Earlier that year, then-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also visited Japan and both sides had agreed on exploring the possibility of cooperation in human resource development, IT, tourism, and automobile sectors.
In 2011, the then-president and Bilawal’s father, Asif Ali Zardari, had also visited Japan. During the trip, the two countries had signed the Joint Statement on Japan-Pakistan Comprehensive Partnership.
A police station in Quetta came under attack on Saturday, with initial reports suggesting it was a grenade attack, according to police officials.
SSP Operation Quetta Zohaib Mohsin told Dawn.com that unidentified motorcyclists attacked the Civil Lines police station with a hand grenade, which fell near the gate of the station and exploded. As a result, one police personnel was injured.
The policeman was identified as Saboor Achakzai and was taken to Civil Hospital’s Trauma Centre while police and other law enforcement agencies reached the spot, collected evidence and started investigation.
Police in the city have been targets for terrorists of late. In April, separate blasts had left four police personnel martyred and nearly two dozen wounded.
In May, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq narrowly escaped a “suicide attack” which police had said targeted his convoy in Balochistan’s Zhob, leaving six people injured.
That same month, a police officer was martyred during a raid in Balochistan’s Sohbatpur district.
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s political career was in tatters on Friday as Brazil’s federal electoral court (TSE) barred the far-right nationalist from public office until 2030 for his conduct during last year’s fraught election.
Five out of seven justices voted to convict the 68-year-old Bolsonaro for abuse of power and misuse of the media over his actions in July 2022, ahead of the election, when he summoned ambassadors to vent unfounded claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system.
Their decision marks a stunning reversal for Bolsonaro, a fiery populist who narrowly lost the October vote to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Many in Brazil blame Bolsonaro for creating a nationwide movement to overturn the result, which culminated in the January 8 invasion of government buildings in Brasilia by thousands of his supporters.
The impact of the electoral court’s ruling is likely to ripple through Brazilian politics, removing Lula’s main foe from contention in 2026 and opening up space in a competitive field on Brazil’s right.
The majority opinion in the trial was written by Justice Benedito Goncalves, who said Bolsonaro used the meeting with ambassadors to “spread doubts and incite conspiracy theories.” Two conservative-leaning judges dissented.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a longtime Bolsonaro adversary who currently heads the TSE, joined the majority, saying Bolsonaro had spread a “chain of lies and fraudulent news” in his “radical” speech to ambassadors.
Lula’s team celebrated the result.
“Some important messages come from the TSE trial: lying is not a legitimate tool for exercising a public function and politics is not governed by the law of the jungle,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino tweeted. “Democracy has overcome its toughest stress test in decades.”
Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have pledged to make an appeal to the Supreme Court that sources said is unlikely to succeed.
On Friday, Bolsonaro described the decision as a “stab in the back,” and said he would keep working to advance right-wing politics in Brazil. However, the TSE decision is not the end of Bolsonaro’s troubles. He still faces multiple criminal probes that could yet land him behind bars.
Whither Bolsonaro?
While his own hopes of beating Lula in 2026 may be over, Bolsonaro has said he would support his wife, Michelle, as a candidate. She is a political novice, but an avowed evangelical Christian who could win support among a religious right that is wary of Lula.
“‘Our dream is more alive than ever,’” she wrote on Instagram after the ruling. “I am at your command, my CAPTAIN.”
And he could yet make a comeback. Lula was in jail as recently as 2019, when his corruption conviction was overturned. He is now president.
Analysts at Arko Advice said Bolsonaro still enjoys plenty of political cachet.
“There is still no alternative in the right or centre-right with the strength of Jair Bolsonaro,” they wrote in a note to clients.
“As a result, the former president remains President Lula’s main antagonist.”
A longtime fan of former US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro’s time in office was marked by international criticism over his lacklustre stewardship of the Amazon rainforest, his laissez-faire approach to COVID-19 restrictions, and his evidence-free attacks on Brazil’s electoral system.
The TSE trial is part of a broader reckoning in Brazil with the fallout from the country’s most painful election in a generation. While Bolsonaro faced electoral court scrutiny, many of his one-time allies are being questioned by lawmakers in a congressional probe into the January 8 riots.
France deployed 45,000 police officers and some armoured vehicles on the streets on Saturday as riots rocked French cities for a fourth night over a teenager’s fatal shooting by an officer during a traffic stop.
Buildings and vehicles have been torched and stores looted, and the violence has plunged President Emmanuel Macron into the gravest crisis of his leadership since the Yellow Vest protests that started in 2018.
Unrest has flared nationwide, including in cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille as well as Paris where Nahel M., a 17-year-old of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was shot on Tuesday in the Nanterre suburb.
His death, caught on video, has reignited longstanding complaints by poor and racially mixed urban communities of police violence and racism.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said early on Saturday that 270 people had been arrested on Friday night, bringing the total to more than 1,100 since unrest ignited.
Firefighter spray water on a burnt bus as unrest continues following the death of a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, July 1, 2023.—Reuters/Yves Herman
Friday night’s arrests included 80 people in the southern city of Marseille, France’s second-largest and home to many people of North African descent.
Social media images showed an explosion rocking Marseille’s old port area. City authorities said they were investigating the cause but did not believe there were any casualties.
Rioters in central Marseille looted a gun store and stole some hunting rifles but no ammunition, police said. One individual was arrested with a rifle likely from the store, police said. The store was now being guarded by police.
Call for more troops
Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan called on the national government to immediately send additional troops. “The scenes of pillaging and violence are unacceptable,” he said in a tweet late on Friday.
Three police officers were slightly wounded early on Saturday. A police helicopter flew overhead.
In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, the gendarme’s police force deployed armoured personnel carriers and a helicopter to quell the unrest.
Darmanin asked local authorities across France to halt bus and tram traffic from 9pm and said 45,000 officers were being deployed, 5,000 more than on Thursday.
A person walks while firefighters work as unrest continues following the death of a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, July 1, 2023. —Reuters/Yves Herman
“The next hours will be decisive and I know I can count on your flawless efforts,” he wrote to firefighters and police officers.
Asked on TF1’s main evening television news programme whether the government could declare a state of emergency, Darmanin said: “Quite simply, we’re not ruling out any hypothesis and we’ll see after tonight what the President of the Republic chooses.”
In Paris, police cleared protesters from the iconic central Place de la Concorde square on Friday night after an impromptu demonstration.
More than 200 police officers have been injured since the unrest erupted and hundreds of rioters and have been arrested, Darmanin said, adding their average age was 17.
Macron earlier urged parents to keep children off the streets.
Players from the national French soccer team issued a rare statement calling for calm. “Violence must stop to leave way for mourning, dialogue and reconstruction,” they said, in a statement posted on star Kylian Mbappe’s Instagram account.
Looters have ransacked dozens of shops and torched some 2,000 vehicles since the riots started.
Events including two concerts at the Stade de France on the outskirts of the capital were cancelled. Tour de France organisers said they were ready to adapt to any situation when the bicycle race enters the country on Monday after starting in the Spanish city of Bilbao.
Macron has a crisis meeting
Macron left a European Union summit in Brussels early to attend a second cabinet crisis meeting in two days.
He has asked social media to remove “the most sensitive” footage of rioting and to disclose the identities of users fomenting violence.
Darmanin met representatives from Meta, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok. Snapchat said it had zero tolerance for content that promoted violence.
A friend of the victim’s family, Mohamed Jakoubi, who watched Nahel grow up, said the rage was fuelled by a sense of injustice after incidents of police violence against minority ethnic communities, many from former French colonies.
A firefighter steps on a pile of bottles after its container burned as people protest following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer in Nanterre during a traffic stop, and against police violence, in Paris, France, July 1, 2023.—Reuters/Juan Medina
“We are fed up, we are French too. We are against violence, we are not scum,” he said.
Macron denies there is systemic racism inside law enforcement agencies.
Videos on social media showed urban landscapes ablaze. A tram was set alight in the eastern city of Lyon and 12 buses were gutted in a depot in Aubervilliers, northern Paris.
Some tourists were worried, and others were supportive of protesters.
“Racism and problems with the police and minorities is an important topic going on and it’s important to address it,” US tourist Enzo Santo Domingo said in Paris.
Some Western governments warned citizens to be cautious.
In Geneva, the UN rights office emphasised the importance of peaceful assembly and urged French authorities to ensure that the use of force by police was non-discriminatory.
“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.
The policeman whom prosecutors say acknowledged firing a lethal shot at the teenager is in preventive custody under formal investigation for voluntary homicide — equivalent to being charged under Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions.
His lawyer, Laurent-Franck Lienard, said his client had aimed at the driver’s leg but was bumped when the car took off, causing him to shoot towards his chest.
“Obviously (the officer) didn’t want to kill the driver,” Lienard said on BFM TV.
The unrest has revived memories of three weeks of nationwide riots in 2005 that forced then-President Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency following the death of two young men electrocuted in a power substation as they hid from police.
LAKKI MARWAT: Nurar tribesmen in Miryan tehsil of Bannu district on Wednesday held a protest demonstration against excessive electricity loadshedding and low voltage.
The protesters gathered outside the Miryan police station and closed the Bannu-Miryan Road to vehicular traffic.
On the occasion, Miryan tehsil council chairman Pir Kamal Shah, Malik Bashir Khan, Pir Wahid Ali Shah, Pir Ahmad Shah, Malik Matiullah and others said the rural localities were hard hit by excessive power outage.
They said long spells of loadshedding had increased the sufferings of people in sizzling heat.
They accused the Peshawar Electric Supply Company officials of increasing the duration of outages with the increase in temperature.
They asked Pesco to remove illegally installed transformers and power connections to ensure uninterrupted power supply to their areas. They also asked for improving voltage.
Later, the protesters dispersed after a team comprising officials of police and Pesco assured them of ending excessive outages.
EID SECURITY: Around 400 policemen will be deployed in Lakki Marwat district to guard Eid congregations, recreation places, business centres and important installations during Eidul Azha, an official claimed on Wednesday.
He said the sub-divisional police officers and SHOs had been directed to implement the security plan in letter and spirit and ensure protection to people’s lives and properties.
“Under the plan, temporary checking points have been established on important roads and in Lakki city,” he maintained, saying arrangements had been made for smooth flow of traffic on roads and highways.
He said additional policemen would be deployed in Lakki city, Naurang, Tajazai, Darra Pezu, Ghaznikhel and Tajori and on the Indus Highway.
SHOT DEAD: A man was killed over a land dispute in Mamakhel area of Naurang town on Wednesday, the police said.
They said Kalimullah and his brother, Imran were attacked by their rivals when they were on their way to the village after shopping in Naurang Bazaar.
They said Imran received bullet injuries and died on the spot.
Kalimullah, who remained unhurt, told the police that Hafezur Rehman, ordered his son, Fahad to open fire, killing Imran instantly.
The police said they had arrested Fahad during a raid on his house.
