FRENCH PREMIER JOINS NATIONWIDE TRIBUTES TO BEHEADED TEACHER

France's prime minister joined demonstrators on Sunday who rallied together

across the country in tribute to a history teacher who was beheaded near

Paris after discussing caricatures of the Prophet with his class.

The demonstrations came hours after US President Donald Trump sent France a

message of solidarity in the wake of the attack.

Samuel Paty was beheaded on Friday in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine by an

18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee who was shot dead by police.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex stood with citizens, associations and

unions demonstrating Sunday on the Place de la Republique in Paris in

support of freedom of speech and in memory of the 47-year-old slain teacher.

Some held placards reading "I am Samuel" that echoed the "I am Charlie"

rallying cry after the 2015 attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo,

which published caricatures of the Prophet.

A moment's silence was observed across the square, broken by applause and a

rousing rendition of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

Demonstrators also gathered in major cities including Lyon, Toulouse,

Strasbourg, Nantes, Marseille, Lille and Bordeaux.

French authorities, meanwhile, say they have detained an 11th person

following the killing.

LIVID IMRAN KHAN VOWS TO JAIL NAWAZ SHARIF AS OPPN HOLD 2nd RALLY

Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday while strongly reacting to the offensive

language used by Nawaz Sharif against the military leadership, said he would

ensure that Nawaz was brought back from his London hideout and placed with

common prisoners, and not the VVIP jail, he was in.

"Now I will do my best to bring you back and put you in common prison, not a

VVIP one. Those who loot few hundreds of thousand rupees stay in common

prison but those who laundered billions and their children live in

apartments, worth billions, stay in a VVIP jail. Come back and see where I

will put you," the prime minister said in his address to the Tiger Force

Convention here.

Nawaz Sharif who was convicted by an accountability court in Dec 2018 and

sentenced seven year jail-term in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption

reference and also fined Rs1.5 billion and US $25 million. A

disqualification of 10 years from holding any public office was part of the

sentences. However he was provided a fully furnished room with a television,

air conditioner and attached bathroom.

Describing Friday's public gathering of 11-member opposition coalition -

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Gujranwala a "circus" the prime

minister also requested the courts and National Accountability Bureau to

conclude corruption cases against Sharif Family and Asif Zardari without any

delay as the people were yearning to get back their looted money.

He assured both the institutions of fullest logistics support to dispose of

the said cases and also announced that he would be activating all the

institutions under him to arrest the looters.

He said Nawaz Sharif's verbal attack against Chief of the Army Staff General

Qamar Javed Bajwa and Director General Inter Services Intelligence Lt

General Faiz Hameed were in fact an attempt to get cheap popularity in the

Indian and Israeli lobbies.

"I understand whose game he is playing. I have full intelligence (reports).

For me it makes no difference who is the army chief now just because I have

not laundered money . He is trying to create rift between government and the

army," the prime minister said in an aggressive tone.

IRAN HAILS LIFTING OF UN ARMS EMBARGO

Iran said a longstanding UN embargo on arms sales to and from the Islamic

republic expired on Sunday in line with a 2015 landmark nuclear deal with

world powers from which Washington has withdrawn.

Tehran, which could now purchase weapons from Russia, China and elsewhere,

has hailed the development as a diplomatic victory over the U.S., which had

tried to maintain an indefinite freeze on arms sales.

"As of today, all restrictions on the transfer of arms, related activities

and financial services to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran... are all

automatically terminated," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The embargo on the sale of conventional arms to Iran was due to start

expiring progressively from Sunday, October 18, under the terms of the UN

resolution.

"As of today, the Islamic Republic may procure any necessary arms and

equipment from any source without any legal restrictions, and solely based

on its defensive needs," the Ministry added in the statement.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday marked the "normalisation

of Iran's defense cooperation with the world".

ISRAEL AND BAHRAIN TO FORMALISE DIPLOMATIC TIES

Israel and Bahrain will officially establish diplomatic relations on Sunday

at a ceremony in Manama as the wealthy Gulf region continues to open up to

the Jewish state.

An Israeli delegation, led by National Security Council chief Meir Ben

Shabbat, arrived from Tel Aviv for a one-day trip that will see Israel and

Bahrain formalise a US-brokered agreement they signed at the White House on

September 15.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became only the third and fourth Arab

states to agree to normalise ties with Israel, following Israel's 1979 peace

deal with Egypt and a 1994 pact with Jordan.

A flurry of diplomacy between some of Washington's key regional allies has

handed U.S. President Donald Trump a key foreign policy win as he campaigns

for re-election ahead of polls in November.

"Bahrain and Israel will sign a joint communique on the establishment of

diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations, as well as a number of

memorandums of understanding in areas of mutual benefit," according to a

joint statement.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Mr. Trump's special assistant for

international negotiations, Avi Berkowitz, joined the Israeli delegation's

flight to Manama.

CHINESE FORCES PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE MILITARY INVASION OF TAIWAN

The presence of the People's Liberation Army is increasing in China's

southeast coast as it prepares for a possible military invasion of Taiwan,

according to the defense observers cited by the South China Morning Post.

According to the sources, Beijing is replacing its old DF-11s and DF-15s and

deploying its most advanced hypersonic missile DF-17 in the region.

"The DF-17 hypersonic missile will gradually replace the old DF-11s and

DF-15s that were deployed in the southeast region for decades," the source

was quoted by SCMP.

"The new missile has a longer range and is able to hit targets more

accurately."

Even though Taiwan has never been controlled by China's ruling party,

Chinese authorities insist that the self-governing island is an integral

part of their territory, with president Xi Jinping refusing to rule out a

military force to capture it if necessary.

According to the Canada-based Kanwa Defence Review, satellite images show

that both the Marine Corps and Rocket Force bases in Fujian and Guangdong

have expanded.

"Every rocket force brigade in Fujian and Guangdong is now fully equipped,"

the report said.

CHINA BEEFS UP LAWS TO HANDLE EPIDEMICS, PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWERS

China has passed a new law to improve its handling of disease outbreaks -

including protecting whistleblowers - following a cascade of criticism over

its coronavirus response and accusations of an early cover-up.

The new biosecurity law, approved by lawmakers on Saturday, flags the right

to report "acts that endanger biosecurity" and calls for risk prevention

systems, ranging from active monitoring to emergency plans.

It takes effect from April 15 next year.

"Any work unit or individual has the right to report acts that endanger

biosecurity," the regulation said.

"When a report is required according to the law, no work unit or individual

shall conceal (it)... or hinder others from making a report," it added on

infectious diseases and epidemics.

China's approval of the law comes in the face of Western criticism on the

coronavirus, over accusations that it covered up the initial outbreak and

silenced early whistleblowers.