Italy welcomes upcoming Brussels conference on Syria
Brussels: Italy views the conference on Syria taking place in Brussels on April 24-25 as a chance to highlight "the terrible humanitarian and security situation" in the war-wracked country, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said on Monday.
"Italy welcomes the forthcoming conference on Syria as an opportunity to attract attention to the terrible humanitarian and security situation," Alfano told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of European foreign ministers in Brussels.
European Union nations must neither rebuild nor stabilise areas of Syria under government control until the country's political transition was "well underway", he said.
Alfano said Italy "shared all the same feelings of frustration over the brutal assault on Syria's Eastern Ghouta area".
The agricultural area outside Damascus has been under bombardment by the Syrian government and its allies since February 18 despite a unanimous United Nations Security Council resolution adopted ten days later that urged a 30-day cease-fire in Syria and the immediate lifting of the siege that began in eastern Ghouta in April 2013.
"We must not stop pushing for the implementation of the ceasefire and for humanitarian access... we need to keep backing all initiatives to ensure those responsible for crimes committed in eastern Ghouta and elsewhere are brought to justice.
"We are also concerned about the increased violence in other areas of Syria," Alfano said.
Over 1,250 people have been killed in the bombardment of eastern Ghouta in the past two months and tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting, according to the UN.
Government forces have retaken about 80 percent of the Damascus suburb, the last major rebel enclave near the capital, where around 340,000 remaining residents are suffering from acute food shortages and a lack of medical supplies.
The UN office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Thursday conditions for those remaining in eastern Ghouta were "dire".
In Syria's northwest Idlib province, thousands are facing constant airstrikes, chronic shortages of food and medicine, and widespread unemployment, according to international humanitarian organisations.
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10 held for sale of prohibited narcotic substances in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): In a major crackdown, the Bengaluru police on Thursday announced the arrest of 10 people allegedly involved in the sale of prohibited narcotic substances in parts of the city.
Among them are three foreign nationals, including two women, they said.
With their arrests, police claimed to have seized 5 kg of MDMA (crystal), 1 kg of cocaine, 21 kg ganja, and 19 gms ecstasy pills and a two-wheeler used in the commission of crime.
The seized drugs are worth Rs 11.81 crore, with an estimated market value of Rs 23.63 crore, they added.
According to police, based on credible information received on various dates, officers and staff came to know that prohibited narcotic substances such as MDMA (crystal), cocaine, ganja, and ecstasy pills were being sold within the limits of Yelahanka New Town, D J Halli, Koramangala, Bommanahalli, and Pulakeshinagar Police Stations.
Acting on this information, cases were registered under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act at the respective police stations, and raids were conducted at the identified locations, a senior police officer said.
During these operations, a total of 10 accused persons were apprehended on different dates, he said.
During interrogation, the accused confessed that, with the intention of making quick money, they were procuring narcotic substances such as MDMA (crystal), cocaine, ganja, and ecstasy pills from foreign, interstate, and local unidentified suppliers at lower prices, and selling them to the public, including college students, the officer said.
Efforts are on to trace the foreign and interstate suppliers involved in supplying these narcotic substances. Investigation in the cases is in progress, police said.
All 10 accused were produced before the Court on different dates and have been remanded to judicial custody, they added.
