News in Brief-(2023-09-16)

September 16, 2023 00:00:00

Zambia's president meets China's President Xi in Beijing

BEIJING, Sept 15: Chinese President Xi Jinping met his Zambian counterpart Hakainde Hichilema in Beijing on Friday, state media reported, as the heavily indebted African nation works to shore up ties with its leading creditor. China also holds huge stakes in Zambia's mining sector. Beijing had launched a major infrastructure drive including new airports, roads and energy projects before Hichilema stepped into office in 2021. On Friday, Xi said China and Zambia's friendship had "withstood the test of international storms and changes", according to a readout published by state broadcaster CCTV. — AFP

UK police charge three including

father over girl's murder

LONDON, Sept 15: British police said on Friday they had charged three people with the murder of 10-year-old girl Sara Sharif found dead at her home last month, including her father. Sharif was found with extensive injuries at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, on August 10. Her father Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and her uncle Faisal Malik, 28, had all traveled to Pakistan a day earlier. They returned to Britain on Wednesday when they were arrested at London's Gatwick airport after disembarking from a flight from Dubai. Surrey Police said the trio had now all been charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. — Arab News

Muslim engineer killed by mob

at mosque in India's Maharashtra

NEW DELHI, Sept 15: Ayesha is seven months pregnant and has been inconsolable for four days now. The 29-year-old has been oblivious to her own wellbeing and has stopped eating properly as she grieves the loss of her husband, Nurul Hassan, who was killed after a Hindu mob attacked a mosque in Pusesavali village in Maharashtra's Satara district. "My entire world shattered when I saw my son's lifeless body on the bed. In that moment, I couldn't believe what was unfolding before my eyes," Hassan's father Mohammad Liyaqat told Al Jazeera over the telephone. —Al Jazeera