El Salvador's Congress has allowed President Nayib Bukele to take a leave of absence in order to launch a reelection campaign. El Salvador's Congress late on Thursday granted President Nayib Bukele permission to leave his post for six months to launch a campaign for the upcoming general elections in 2024. "The President of the Republic, Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, is granted a license for a period of 6 months, from December 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, which shall be exercised without salary and with all the prerogatives that the position holds", said the decree, which was approved by 67 of the 84 deputies.  What does this mean? The document said the leave of absence does not "rupture of the link" between the Bukele and the presidency, but rather suspends "the exercise of the competencies or the public function" required by the post.  Claudia Rodriguez, the current head of the National Directorate of Municipal Works will replace Bukele in his duties. The decree further granted leave to Vice President Félix Ulloa, who will seek reelection together with Bukele for the ruling party Nuevas Ideas (NI). Legislators also voted for Bukele to maintain his immunity so that he could not be criminally prosecuted without it passing through Congress. Is Bukele's re-election bid unconstitutional? A controversial ruling in 2021 by El Salvador's Supreme Court established a new procedure that allowed Bukele to run in the February 2024 elections.  Before this ruling, a president had to wait 10 years after the end of his term to run again for the presidency.  Thursday's move by Congress was the last step required for Bukele to launch a campaign. Several constitutional lawyers have questioned the 2021 ruling, saying it is not a legal mandate because the election of the magistrates did not take place according to the legal process. Despite this, earlier this month, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal ruled that Bukele's candidacy met the legal requirements. The last time an El Salvador president seeked immediate reelection was under the dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez in 1935. Congressman Johnny Wright, of the opposition party Nuestro Tiempo (NT), said that the situation is a "real tragedy for our country, for the region and for the world". Bukele, who was formerly a mayor of San Salvador, is known globally for his sweeping crackdown on El Salvadoran gangs, which has drawn allegations of human rights violations.

For the first time since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, a group of people with foreign passports were able to leave Gaza and enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday. By early evening on Wednesday, over 300 foreign nationals and people with dual citizenship crossed into Egypt, the AFP and Reuters news agencies reported, citing Egyptian officials. They are the first group to leave Gaza under a deal between Egypt, Israel and Hamas that was mediated by Qatar in coordination with the United States, Reuters reported citing Egyptian security sources and a Palestinian official.  US President Joe Biden said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that US citizens would be among those leaving Gaza on Wednesday, adding "we expect to see more depart over the coming days." Among the group were also four Italian nationals, five French nationals, and several German nationals, officials from the three countries said on X. At least 500 foreign passport holders are expected to cross into Egypt on Wednesday, Egyptian authorities said. Earlier in the day, a first group of injured Palestinians were also transported into Egypt and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. It was unclear exactly how many injured Palestinians were transported out of Gaza, with Egypt's Health Ministry putting the number at 16, while other Egyptian officials told AFP that 76 injured people had left Gaza through the border crossing.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that the almost 2 million Afghans living in the country illegally must leave by the end of the month or face deportation. The Pakistani government recently said that Afghan nationals had been responsible for the majority of suicide bombings in the country this year — 14 out of 24. "We have given them a November 1 deadline," Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said. Bugti, who is serving in a caretaker capacity, said that some 1.73 million Afghan nationals living in Pakistan had no legal documentation. Why is Pakistan kicking out Afghan nationals? The Pakistani government added that those who did not leave voluntarily would be deported, although it was not clear how they could keep track of who leaves or how they would be able to find those who do not. "If they do not go... then all the law enforcement agencies in the provinces or federal government will be utilized to deport them," Bugti told reporters in Islamabad. State-run news agency APP also cited an unknown government source going even further and saying, "in the first phase, illegal residents, in the second phase, those with Afghan citizenship, and in the third phase those with proof of residence cards will be expelled." The increasingly harsh rhetoric against Afghan refugees comes after an uptick in violence by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — a group with links to the hardline Taliban Sunni militants who retook power in Afghanistan two years ago. The TTP has said it wants to overthrow Pakistan's government and rule with its strict interpretation of Islamic law. Pakistan blames Afghans for spate of violence Much of the Afghan-Pakistan border runs through rugged mountain terrain that is difficult to fully control. Pakistani forces have already carried out numerous operations against Islamist militants in the border regions, including groups that are part of so-called "Islamic State" group. Millions of Afghans have entered Pakistan over the years, following successive wars and authoritarian regimes. Some 600,000 arrived since August 2021. The Afghan embassy said on social media that 1,000 Afghans had been detained in the past two weeks, adding that, "despite the repeated promises of the Pakistan authorities, the arrest and harassment of Afghan refugees by the police in Pakistan continues." Many Afghans are on waiting lists to get Pakistani visas, but the process can take months. Bugti also announced that from November 1, Afghans would only be able to enter the country with valid passports and visas. Until now a national identity card has sufficed.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Johannesburg for home today after attending the 15th BRICS Summit held on August 22-24.   She attended the summit at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. A regular flight of the Emirates Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members will depart from the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa around 1:40pm (local time) today. Reports BSS The flight is scheduled to land at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka at 8:40 am (BD time) on August 27 after one hour stopover at the Dubai International Airport in UAE. The prime minister arrived in Johannesburg on August 22 night to attend the 15th BRICS Summit. South Africa hosted the historic 15th Summit of BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions. President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit. On August 23, the prime minister delivered a speech as the chief guest at the "Bangladesh Trade and Business Summit", organized by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).  Later, she attended the "Bangladesh Envoys Conference" organized by Bangladesh ambassadors stationed in African countries.  In the afternoon, she held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President XI Jinping at the Hotel Hilton Sandton. In the evening, the prime minister joined a cultural programme and "State Banquet" hosted by the current chair of BRICS and the South African president. On August 24, she addressed on behalf of Bangladesh as a member of the "New Development Bank of BRICS"  at Friends of BRICS Leaders Dialogue (BRICS-Africa Outreach and the BRICS Plus Dialogues) comprising representatives from 70 countries. On the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, bilateral meetings between Sheikh Hasina and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of Tanzania Dr Saima Sulluhu and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi were held at Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday.   A meeting was also held between Bangladesh premier and President of the New Development Bank Dilma Vana Rousseff at the same venue.   During the meetings, the dignitaries highly praised Bangladesh's remarkable development under Sheikh Hasina's prudent leadership,Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen said in a media briefing. In the evening, she met the Bangladeshi expatriates living in South Africa.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Johannesburg for home today after attending the 15th BRICS Summit held on August 22-24.   She attended the summit at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. A regular flight of the Emirates Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage members will depart from the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa around 1:40pm (local time) today. Reports BSS The flight is scheduled to land at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka at 8:40 am (BD time) on August 27 after one hour stopover at the Dubai International Airport in UAE. The prime minister arrived in Johannesburg on August 22 night to attend the 15th BRICS Summit. South Africa hosted the historic 15th Summit of BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions. President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit. On August 23, the prime minister delivered a speech as the chief guest at the "Bangladesh Trade and Business Summit", organized by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).  Later, she attended the "Bangladesh Envoys Conference" organized by Bangladesh ambassadors stationed in African countries.  In the afternoon, she held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President XI Jinping at the Hotel Hilton Sandton. In the evening, the prime minister joined a cultural programme and "State Banquet" hosted by the current chair of BRICS and the South African president. On August 24, she addressed on behalf of Bangladesh as a member of the "New Development Bank of BRICS"  at Friends of BRICS Leaders Dialogue (BRICS-Africa Outreach and the BRICS Plus Dialogues) comprising representatives from 70 countries. On the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, bilateral meetings between Sheikh Hasina and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of Tanzania Dr Saima Sulluhu and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi were held at Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday.   A meeting was also held between Bangladesh premier and President of the New Development Bank Dilma Vana Rousseff at the same venue.   During the meetings, the dignitaries highly praised Bangladesh's remarkable development under Sheikh Hasina's prudent leadership,Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen said in a media briefing. In the evening, she met the Bangladeshi expatriates living in South Africa.

Deadly police action across Brazil in the past few days has reignited the debate over security forces' use of lethal force. In the latest incident, police killed at least nine people in Rio de Janeiro. A wave of police operations across Brazil has culminated in the deaths of at least 44 people, including nine in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. State Police said they returned fire in a shoot-out in the  Penha slums complex area, resulting in multiple casualties. "Eleven suspects were wounded" and taken to the hospital, it said. "Nine of them died of their injuries," they said. They added the Rio operation was a response to intelligence on a high-level meeting by gang leaders. Two alleged drug gang leaders known as "Fiel" and "Du Leme" were among those who lost their lives during the Rio operation. Seven rifles, ammunition, and grenades have been seized from the suspects, police said. Two police officers were also wounded and were in stable condition. Deadly raids across Brazil In Sao Paulo state, authorities said Wednesday that 16 alleged criminals have been killed since police launched a massive anti-gang operation on Friday. The operation came after 30-year-old special forces officer Patrick Bastos Reis was shot dead while on patrol in the port city of Guaruja on Thursday. In the northeastern state of Bahia, officials reported the deaths of 19 suspects in three separate cities due to clashes with police since Friday. Use of lethal force questioned In all the cases, authorities said police had returned fire after coming under attack. The operations have sparked a debate about the security forces' reliance on lethal force, particularly in a country where the police killed 6,429 people in 2022 alone. Rio state legislator Dani Monteiro mentioned Wednesday's police operation came just over a year after a raid in the same favela complex left 25 dead. She criticized Rio state Governor Claudio Castro, a security hardliner and ally of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, demanding a halt to his security policies. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Justice Minister, Flavio Dino, joined the criticism, arguing that the police response "doesn't seem proportional to the crime committed." Lula da Silva, who beat Bolsonaro in last year's vote, has long criticized his predecessor's support of police who kill.

Flash flooding in central Afghanistan has left more than 30 people dead while dozens more are missing, according to local officials. The country's disaster management authority told Germany's DPA news agency that at least 31 people had died over the past 72 hours. What we know A large number of deaths occurred in the central province of Maidan Wardak, where floodwaters rose while many people were asleep. Ministry of Disaster Management spokesman Mohammad Shafi Rahimi said 26 of the deaths took place in Jalrez district, situated 46 kilometers (29 miles) east of Kabul. Heavy rain triggered flooding which washed away or damaged hundreds of houses, most of them built of earth. At least four more died in Kabul itself. In a statement, the Taliban government called on aid agencies to help with emergency assistance, while offering condolences to bereaved families. Last year, an exceptionally strong monsoon season sparked various flash flooding events in eastern and Afghanistan, which caused the deaths of hundreds of people. The UN says that Afghanistan is highly prone to natural disasters, with the frequency and intensity being amplified by climate change.

Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for killing an army officer in an area close to the Afghan border. Four soldiers were killed in northwestern Pakistan, the military said on Thursday. The incident comes amid a surge in terrorist attacks in the country. What happened in the attacks on Pakistani soldiers? Three soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing in North Waziristan, a region that long served as a base for Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida. "The suicide bomber intended to target the security forces' post. However, timely interception of the suicide bomber on suspicion by on-duty soldiers prevented a major catastrophe," the military's media wing ISPR said. In a separate incident, militants killed a Pakistani army officer on Thursday in the course of a gun battle in a tribal district close to the Afghan border, the army said.  The 33-year old army officer was leading an operation in the Khyber region where he was shot dead in an exchange of fire.  Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a local militant umbrella organisation of Sunni Islamists and sectarian groups, claimed responsibility for killing Shah. No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing yet. Increase in terror attacks in Pakistan The killings happened amid an alarming and steady surge in terror attacks in the country.  According to a statistical report released by the independent think tank in Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, there has been a 79% increase in militant attacks during the first six months of 2023.  The report noted a total of 271 militant attacks during this period, killing 389 people.  For the same six-month period in 2022, the country witnessed 151 attacks that left 293 dead, according to the report. It is said that around 80,000 Pakistanis have been killed in years of violence by the Taliban. 

Taking a sharp dig at Pakistan over its illegal occupation of Kashmir, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that if a vulnerability like it is left open in a competing world, there are chances of it being exploited by others. Jaishankar said that the contiguity that developed the two nations (India and Pakistan) who oppose each other is today costing India well. “The first thing to appreciate and to consistently get into the minds of the entire nation is the fact that we have actually rectified a fundamental mistake which was made in 1947 and a mistake for which Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee fought so hard in his own lifetime to rectify,” Jaishankar said. Notably, Syama Prasad Mukherjee was an Indian politician who served as India’s first Minister for Industry and Supply in Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet. Meanwhile speaking further during the event in Kolkata, Jaishankar added, “The point I was making is if you leave open such a vulnerability in a competing world, others are going to exploit it. By leaving there a Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, we allowed a contiguity to develop between really two adversarial nations and that is today costing us as well.” In a veiled attack on Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that India cannot have SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) meeting until one member continues to engage in acts of terrorism, adding that India will not tolerate a situation where “terrorism happens by night and trade happens by day.” Earlier also Jaishankar has taken a sharp dig at Pakistan several times describing it as the epicentre of terrorism. India, meanwhile, had maintained that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. India’s consistent position is that the differences between the two countries should be resolved bilaterally and peacefully, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence. The onus is on Pakistan to create such a conducive environment. Pakistan continues to sponsor cross-border terrorism against India; restrict normal trade, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges; and engage in hostile and fabricated propaganda to vilify India. “India, as a result of proactive outreach with the international community, successfully thwarted Pakistan’s misleading attempts to present an alarmist picture of the situation of the region and interfere in the internal affairs of India,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in its annual report. 

At the end of this season, Jordi Alba likely to leave Barcelona. This will end Alba's 11-year journey with Barcelona. Sources from FC Barcelona confirmed this matter. In a statement, FC Barcelona said, "Barcelona and Jordi Alba have end up at an agreement after 2023-24 season. FC Barcelona are publicly grateful to Jordi Alba for his professionalism, commitment and dedication to the club.  So far he has always shown a positive intent and warm attitude towards everything related to the  Blaugrana family. Jordi Alba joined FC Barcelona from Valencia CF in 2012.  He has achieved 19 trophies for this club, including 6 La Liga titles and 1 Champions League title. The 34-year-old veteran Spanish left-back has lost his position to teenager Alejandro Balde this season. Contract between Jordi Alba and FC Barcelona had one more year left. Spanish media reported that Alba helped the club with a large amount of money during the financial difficulty of the Corona period. Following the footsteps of captain Sergio Busquets, the Spaniard decided to leave Barcelona. Jordi Alba has played more than 450 matches for FC Barcelona. From the left-back position, he made 91 assists along with 27 goals.