Travis Kelce put the ball in Taylor Swift's court, and she wound up bringing it to Arrowhead Stadium after all. The 12-time Grammy Award winner took advantage of an invitation from the All-Pro tight end to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. Swift was decked out in red and white while watching alongside Kelce's mother, Donna, from one of the glass-enclosed suites on a sun-splashed afternoon in Kansas City. She got quite a show, too. Kelce grabbed a 3-yard TD pass in the third quarter, and the reigning Super Bowl champions went on to a 41-10 win. Kelce did not speak to reporters afterward, but he was spotted leaving Arrowhead with Swift by his side. “He told me at the last minute” that Swift was coming to the game, said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 272 yards and three scores. “Some things with Trav, he says it and you don't know if it's true or not, he says it so calmly.” Swift is on a break from her Eras Tour, which resumes Nov. 9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Swift has always been reluctant to discuss her personal life in public, but rumors have been flying about the pop superstar and the football player. They began when Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast that he was disappointed that he didn't have the chance to meet Swift and gift her a friendship bracelet during her stop in Kansas City on her Eras Tour. Then, during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Kelce said: “I threw the ball in her court and told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead. You might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead and see which one’s a little more lit.'" Just about everyone has been trying to get the dirt on Swift and Kelce, even pestering his brother and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce for details. He was asked about the potential relationship on 94.1 WIP in Philadelphia. “I don’t really know what’s happening in Travis’ love life. I try to keep his business kind of his business and stay out of that world,” Jason Kelce said. “But having said that, I think he’s doing great and I think that it’s all 100% true.” Just about in the Kansas City locker room was left joking about their tight end and their newest famous fan Sunday, including coach Andy Reid, who joked that “I set them up.” “I'm not a big Swifty,” Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith said. “But maybe she's a good luck charm. Why not?”

The Biden administration is poised to admit Israel this week into an exclusive club that will allow its citizens to travel to the United States without a U.S. visa despite Washington's ongoing concerns about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinian Americans. U.S. officials say an announcement of Israel’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program is planned for late in the week, just before the end of the federal budget year on Saturday, which is the deadline for Israel’s admission without having to requalify for eligibility next year. The Department of Homeland Security administers the program, which currently allows citizens of 40 mostly European and Asian countries to travel to the U.S. for three months without visas. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is set to make the announcement Thursday, shortly after receiving a recommendation from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel be admitted, according to five officials familiar with the matter who spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been publicly announced. Read: With no end in sight for Ukraine war, Biden at UN says world must remain united against Russian aggression Blinken’s recommendation is expected to be delivered no later than Tuesday, the officials said, and the final announcement will come just eight days after President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The leaders did not raise the issue in their brief remarks to reporters at that meeting but it has been a subject of intense negotiation and debate for months as has been the Biden administration's effort to secure a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Both State and the Homeland Security departments said they had “nothing to announce publicly at this time,” adding that the two agencies will make a “final determination in the coming days.” The U.S. is working with Israel toward “fulfilling the full range of law enforcement, national security, and immigration related requirements” of the program, according to the State Department. Israel’s admission has been a priority for successive Israeli leaders and will be a major accomplishment for Netanyahu, who has sparred frequently with the Biden administration over Iran, the Palestinian conflict and most recently a proposed remake of Israel’s judicial system that critics say will make the country less democratic. Netanyahu’s far-right government has drawn repeated U.S. criticism over its treatment of Palestinians, including its aggressive construction of West Bank settlements, its opposition to Palestinian statehood and incendiary anti-Palestinian comments by senior Cabinet ministers. The U.S. move will give a welcome boost at home to Netanyahu. He has faced months of mass protests against his judicial plan and is likely to come under criticism from the Palestinians, who say the U.S. should not be rewarding the Israeli government at a time when peace efforts are at a standstill. Read: US House of Representatives to open Biden impeachment inquiry Israel met two of the three most critical criteria over the past two years — a low percentage of visa application rejections and a low visa overstay rate — to join the U.S. program. It had struggled to meet the third, which is a requirement for reciprocity that means all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans, must be treated equally when traveling to or through Israel. Claiming national security reasons, Israel has long had separate entry requirements and screening processes for Palestinian Americans. Many complained that the procedures were onerous and discriminatory. Americans with Palestinian residency documents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were largely barred from using Israel’s international airport. Instead, like other Palestinians, they were forced to travel through either Jordan or Egypt to reach their destinations. In recent months, Israel has moved to adjust its entry requirements for Palestinian Americans, including allowing them to fly in and out of Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv and going directly to the West Bank and Israel proper, according to the officials. Israel also has pledged to ease movement for Palestinian Americans traveling in and out of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. New regulations took effect earlier this month to codify the changes, although concerns remain and the Homeland Security Department intends to stress in its announcement that it will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that Israel complies, according to the officials. Failure to comply could result in Israel’s suspension from the program, the officials said. Palestinian American activists have been critical of the impending decision, which has been expected for some time due to the priority placed on it by both the Israeli and U.S. governments. “There are so many problems with this decision," said Yousef Munayyer, the head of the Palestine-Israel Program and senior fellow at Arab Center Washington. “The reciprocity requirement is clearly still not being met since Israeli policy continues to treat some Americans, specifically Palestinian Americans, differently. The administration however seems committed at the highest levels to overlooking this continued discrimination against American citizens to rush Israel into the program before the deadline.” Read: Biden, Modi and G20 allies unveil rail and shipping project linking India to Middle East and Europe Munayyer said it was “unclear why the Biden administration seems dead set on offering political victories for Benjamin Netanyahu at a time when his far-right government is outraging Palestinians and many Israelis with their extremist agenda.” Under the waiver program, Israelis will be able to travel to the U.S. for business or leisure purposes for up to 90 days without a visa simply by registering with the Electronic System for Travel Authorization.  

As the UN member nations approved a political declaration to end tuberculosis (TB) around the world by 2030, world leaders and experts have laid emphasis on finding out a new and effective vaccine against the world’s oldest and deadliest infectious diseases. The UN member states formally adopted the declaration of the High-Level Meeting (HLM) on the Fight Against Tuberculosis at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday. The declaration lays out ambitious new targets for the next five years that include reaching 90 per cent of people with TB prevention and care services, providing social benefit packages to those who have the disease, and licensing at least one new vaccine. WHO: Tuberculosis cases rise for the first time in years According to the World Health Organization (WHO) TB is the second leading infectious killer worldwide after COVID-19 as it claimed the lives of 1.6 million people alone in 2021 although it is a preventable and curable disease. The only available vaccine against TB is more than a century old. Addressing the meeting, Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, asked:  “Why, after all the progress we have made — from sending a man to the moon to bringing the world to our fingertips — have we been unable to defeat a preventable but curable disease that kills over 4,400 people a day?”  He called on stakeholders to use all tools at their disposal to advance science and innovation until a vaccine is found.  Reporting on tuberculosis: icddr,b-led USAID ACTB announces media fellowship for journalists UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed called for action to tackle the main drivers of TB - poverty, undernutrition, lack of access to healthcare, the prevalence of HIV infections, diabetes, mental health, and smoking. She pointed out that armed conflict, economic upheavals and climate disasters create a breeding ground for the spread of infectious diseases in a vicious cycle that perpetuates inequality, and urged States to prioritize tuberculosis in their national agenda.  Sharing her personal heart-breaking story of losing her 50-year-old father to tuberculosis 37 years ago this week, Amina stressed:  “What we need is a vaccine.  Let’s end tuberculosis now.  It’s possible.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, also emphasized the need for a new vaccine, noting that the only licensed vaccine was developed more than a century ago.  He said the WHO established a TB Vaccine Acceleration Council to facilitate the development, licensing and equitable use of new vaccines.  Tuberculosis remains a major public health threat: icddr,b The WHO DG said many of the targets established at the first high-level tuberculosis meeting in 2018 were not met, mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said the goal of treating 44 million people with TB fell short by about 10 million people, and the goal of reaching 30 million people with preventive treatment fell short by about half. Besides, Tedros said there are also about 500,000 drug-resistant TB cases each year. Bertrand Pfouminzhouer Kampoer, Executive Director of For Impacts in Social Health and Civil Society Taskforce, gave an overview of the Francophone Africa Regional Adaptation of Map TB Assessment. In the ensuing discussion, speakers underscored the importance of implementing an inclusive and multisectoral approach to fighting TB, including drawing lessons from the COVID‑19 pandemic, with some sharing progress to that end, while others spotlighted challenges and identified key areas for action. Many delegations spotlighted their successes in fighting TB, including Saudi Arabia’s representative who reported that, working with public and private partners and communicating the importance of early detection, his country was able to reduce TB incidents by 21 per cent and death rates by 12.3 per cent compared to 2018, putting it on track to achieve its goals in line with the global strategy. Pointing out that “TB is a social disease”, the representative of the International Federations of Medical Students underlined that addressing the social, economic and environmental determinants of TB must be done with the meaningful engagement of all sectors.    

Before he hit America, Rupert Murdoch ripped through Britain’s media like a tornado. His newspapers changed the political and cultural weather and swung elections. His satellite television channels upended the staid broadcasting scene. Journalists and politicians in the U.K. both hailed and reviled the 92-year-old mogul after he announced Thursday that he was stepping down as leader of his companies Fox and News Corp., handing control to his son Lachlan. For The Times of London, which he owns, Murdoch was “a trailblazer who changed the media.” Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the tycoon “did more than any press baron in the last 100 years to promote the cause of the global free media that is indispensable for democracy and progress.” Family suing Google after man drove off collapsed bridge while following map directions But to his critics, Murdoch was an unaccountable, malevolent presence in British life. Nathan Sparkes of Hacked Off, a press reform group that aims to curb tabloid wrongdoing, said Murdoch “presided over a company where widespread illegality occurred and was subsequently covered up.” Ex-Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn argued that Murdoch’s outlets had “poisoned global democracy and spread disinformation on a mass scale.”  U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt told LBC radio: “He is someone who, love him or loathe him, had a defining influence on all of our lives over the last half-century.” The Australian upstart was all but unknown in Britain when he bought flagging Sunday newspaper the News of the World in 1969, acquiring daily paper The Sun soon after. A hands-on owner, he reinvigorated Britain’s stodgy, class-ridden newspaper scene with papers that embraced sports, celebrity, prize giveaways and sex — most infamously with The Sun’s topless “Page 3 girls.” In a 1989 BBC interview, Murdoch put his success down to his antipodean roots, saying Australians came to the U.K. with “greater determination and greater energy,” unfettered by respect for “the rules of the ‘old world.’” Britain, France and Germany say they will keep their nuclear and missiles sanctions on Iran “We did things that people said couldn’t be done,” he said. Populist, pomposity-puncturing and patriotic, Murdoch’s tabloids undeniably had flair. Critics deplored headlines like “Up yours, Delors,” directed at then-European Commission President Jacques Delors, and “Gotcha!” — the Sun’s reaction when a British submarine sank the Argentine cruiser Belgrano, killing more than 300 sailors, during the 1982 Falklands War. The Sun’s coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, in which 96 Liverpool soccer fans were killed, sparked outrage by making false allegations against the victims. More than three decades later, many Liverpudlians still refuse to read The Sun. But politicians from both right and left courted and feared Murdoch, who added The Times and Sunday Times to his stable in 1981. An arch-conservative who also hates the establishment, he was an enthusiastic supporter through the 1980s of Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, who shared Murdoch’s enmity toward powerful trade unions. After Thatcher’s Conservative successor John Major unexpectedly triumphed in the 1992 election, the tabloid boasted: “It’s the Sun wot won it.” Tony Blair’s success in securing Murdoch’s backing helped Blair’s Labour Party win a landslide victory in 1997. Like other politicians, Blair denied giving Murdoch anything in return for his support — though plenty of skeptics doubted that. “There was no deal on issues to do with the media with Rupert Murdoch, or indeed with anybody else, either express or implied,” Blair told a 2012 inquiry into media ethics, sparked by revelations that rocked Murdoch’s U.K. empire. In 2011 it emerged that employees of the News of the World had eavesdropped on the phones of celebrities, politicians, royals and even a teenage murder victim. Murdoch was forced to shut the newspaper, several executives were put on trial and former editor Andy Coulson went to prison. Since then, Murdoch’s News Corp. has paid tens of millions in compensation to alleged victims, including many who say they were targeted by The Sun. Prince Harry is among celebrities currently suing The Sun over alleged hacking, which the paper has never admitted. Comedian Russell Brand denies allegations of sexual assault published by three UK news organizations Murdoch has condemned the phone hacking and other media misdeeds but claims he was unaware of its scope and blamed a small number of rogue staff. A newspaperman at heart, Murdoch sensed by the 1980s that the media was changing and that pay television would be a central plank of the future. He launched satellite broadcaster Sky Television from a London industrial estate in 1989 on what he admitted was a “wing and a prayer.” Sky nearly collapsed early on but was salvaged when Murdoch secured the rights to show live Premier League soccer matches in 1992. Sports helped the company, later known as BSkyB, become a British broadcasting behemoth. But the phone-hacking scandal forced Murdoch to drop a bid to take full control of Sky, in which he held a roughly 40% share. He sold his stake in the broadcaster to Comcast in 2018. Murdoch still owns the Times, Sunday Times and Sun newspapers and struggling news channel Talk TV, but many industry-watchers suspect Lachlan Murdoch, who has much less interest in newspapers than his father, will eventually jettison the British papers. For now, Rupert Murdoch remains a magnet for the powerful, and those who seek power, in Britain. The guest list for his summer party in June included Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, many members of his Cabinet and opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.

UN peacekeeping operations are confronted with a multitude of challenges, with the most significant being the division among member states, the UN peacekeeping chief said on Friday. "Peacekeeping operations are facing a number of challenges. The biggest challenges of all is the division across our member states," Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN undersecretary-general for peace operations, told reporters during a press briefing announcing that Ghana will host the 2023 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial in Accra on Dec. 5-6. 10 Most Earthquake-prone Countries around the World The presence of this division creates a distinct political landscape, one in which peacekeeping operations receive diminished political backing. More critically, it also results in reduced support for the political processes associated with each of these missions, and certainly, a lack of unanimous support, added Lacroix. The UN peacekeeping chief stressed that "we also face other challenges resulting from the evolution of conflict, new kind of threats, the use of misinformation, disinformation, the use or the impact of the negative use of digital technology, new form of attacks against our peacekeepers, and so on and so forth." Build resilience against adverse impact of climate change: World leaders tell UN meet In response to a question regarding how the division affects peacekeeping, Lacroix said it is having "a significant impact." Considering the situation, he emphasized the necessity to enhance partnerships. Speaking of the upcoming meeting in Accra, Lacroix said the meeting "will be mostly about not only continuing but reinforcing the very good partnership that we've had so far with our member states." Lacroix said this is the first time that the peacekeeping ministerial level meeting will be held in Africa. "And we believe that it is an important signal due to the presence of many peacekeeping operations in the continent of Africa, but also in terms of the important contribution that many African countries" including Ghana, are bringing to peacekeeping. According to the UN peacekeeping chief, the meeting will have two objectives -- to discuss the key challenges that are being faced by peacekeeping operations, to look at the efforts that are being made to overcome these challenges, and to adapt peacekeeping to the new environment, new political environment and security environment in which it operates. "And the second objective, which is related to the first one, is to register pledge announcement by troop and police contributing countries, by participants, so that ... our members can continue performing their duties," he said. Youth participant from Save the Children in Bangladesh joins UN General Assembly-2023 in New York On the rationale behind selecting Ghana as the meeting's host, Lacroix said it's evident that Ghana stands out as one of the largest and most steadfast proponents of peacekeeping, boasting a formidable track record as one of the leading troop-contributing nations to peacekeeping efforts.

The U.S. Treasury Department and China’s Ministry of Finance launched a pair of economic working groups on Friday in an effort to ease tensions and deepen ties between the nations. Led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice Premier He Lifeng, the working groups will be divided into economic and financial segments. Bashar Assad arrives in China on first visit since the beginning of Syrian war The working groups will “establish a durable channel of communication between the world’s two largest economies,” Yellen said in a series of tweets detailing the announcement. She said the groups will “serve as important forums to communicate America’s interests and concerns, promote a healthy economic competition between our two countries with a level playing field for American workers and businesses.” The announcement follows a string of high-ranking administration officials’ visits to China this year, which sets the stage for a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in November at an Asia-Pacific economic conference in San Francisco. UK leader Sunak chides China after a report that a UK Parliament staffer is a suspected Beijing spy China is one of the United States’ biggest trading partners, and economic competition between the two nations has increased in recent years. The two finance ministers have agreed to meet at a “regular cadence,” the Treasury Department said in a news release. Yellen, along with other Biden administration officials, traveled to China this year after the Democratic president directed key senior officials to “maintain communication and deepen constructive efforts after he met with Xi in Bali last year. The groups’ launch also comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s vice president on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Working groups between the U.S. and China are not a new creation. Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., and Darin LaHood, R-Ill., set up a working group in 2005 between lawmakers in the two nations. And as recently as August, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao promised to set up a working group of officials and private sector representatives to “seek solutions on trade and investment issues.” Areas of disagreement between the nations have included tariffs, technology and China’s claims to self-governing Taiwan and large parts of the South and East China Seas. Tensions between the countries reached a fever pitch earlier this year when a Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted traveling over sensitive U.S. airspace. The U.S. military shot the balloon down off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions. China to support Bangladesh in joining BRICS: XI tells Hasina during talks In April, Yellen called out China’s business and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet while striking a conciliatory tone about how there is “a future in which both countries share in and drive global economic progress.” Relations between the two countries have become further strained as the Communist nation has grown its ties with Russia despite its continued invasion into Ukraine. The U.S. last year moved to block exports of advanced computer chips to China, an action meant to quell China’s ability to create advanced military systems including weapons of mass destruction, Commerce Department officials said last October.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered unspecified steps to further develop relations with Russia after his recent visit to the country as his foreign rivals warn that any cooperation on military weapons would be dangerous and bring consequences. Experts speculated North Korea and Russia likely discussed banned arms transfer deals and other cooperation measures during Kim's six-day trip last week. They say the two countries are serious about sharply boosting their ties while they are engaged in separate confrontations with the West. During a Politburo meeting on Wednesday, Kim arranged for work to be done on further developing bilateral ties at "a new high level at the practical stage” to consolidate “the success” of his Russia trip, the official Korean Central News Agency said Friday. North Korea's Kim Jong Un heads home after Russian journey that raised concern about weapons deals Kim underscored the need to expand bilateral cooperation in every field, making a substantial contribution to the promotion of the well-being of the people of the two countries, KCNA said. While traveling in Russia’s Far East, Kim met with President Vladimir Putin and visited key Russian military and technology sites. The two suggested they would cooperate on defense issues but gave no specifics, which left South Korea and its allies — including the United States — uneasy. Observers say Kim could ship ammunitions to refill Putin’s exhausted arms stores to back his war efforts in Ukraine in return for receiving sophisticated weapons technologies and economic aid. North Korean state media says Kim Jong Un discussed arms cooperation with Russian defense minister The U.S., South Korea and their partners have warned that Russia and North Korea would pay a price if they proceed with such deals in breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any weapons trade with North Korea. Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, voted for those U.N. resolutions. Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said any action by a permanent U.N. Security Council member to circumvent international norms would be dangerous and “paradoxical.” Yoon said that South Korea, together with its allies, “will not sit idly by" over a possible Pyongyang-Moscow weapons deal that he said would pose a threat to not only Ukraine but also South Korea. North Korea's Kim vows full support for Moscow at a summit with Putin in Russia Many experts say North Korea would seek Russian help to complete the development of high-tech weapons systems such as spy satellites, nuclear-powered submarines and powerful long-range missiles. They say Kim wants to modernize his weapons arsenals to wrest greater concessions from the U.S. and South Korea.  

The family of a North Carolina man who died after driving his car off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions is suing the technology giant for negligence, claiming it had been informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system. Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned Sept. 30, 2022, after his Jeep Gladiator plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court. Paxson was driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar neighborhood when Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross a bridge that had collapsed nine years prior and was never repaired. Google brings its AI chatbot Bard into its inner circle, opening door to Gmail, Maps, YouTube “Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life,” his wife, Alicia Paxson, said. State troopers who found Paxton’s body in his overturned and partially submerged truck had said there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway. He had driven off an unguarded edge and crashed about 20 feet below, according to the lawsuit. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards set by the White House The North Carolina State Patrol had said the bridge was not maintained by local or state officials, and the original developer’s company had dissolved. The lawsuit names several private property management companies that it claims are responsible for the bridge and the adjoining land. Multiple people had notified Google Maps about the collapse in the years leading up to Paxson’s death and had urged the company to update its route information, according to the lawsuit. The Tuesday court filing includes email records from another Hickory resident who had used the map’s “suggest an edit” feature in September 2020 to alert the company that it was directing drivers over the collapsed bridge. A November 2020 email confirmation from Google confirms the company received her report and was reviewing the suggested change, but the lawsuit claims Google took no further actions. Google's AI Chatbot Bard: All You Need to Know “We have the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda told The Associated Press. “Our goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps and we are reviewing this lawsuit.”

India on Wednesday advised its citizens to be careful when traveling to Canada as a rift between the two nations widens further in the wake of Ottawa’s allegations that India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver. The foreign ministry in New Delhi issued an updated travel advisory, urging its nationals and especially those studying in the North American country to be cautious because of “growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate-crimes.” Indians should also avoid going to venues in Canada where “threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose anti-India agenda,” the ministry said. Ottawa and New Delhi, two key strategic partners on security and trade, are locked in a diplomatic tussle after Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, alleged that India was connected to the assassination of Sikh independence advocate on its soil in June. Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India? Canada has yet to provide any evidence of Indian involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader killed by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver. For years, India has said Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, has links to terrorism, an allegation he denied. Nijjar was working to organize an unofficial Sikh diaspora referendum on independence from India at the time of his killing. Trudeau’s announcement was followed by Canada expelling an Indian diplomat in Ottawa. New Delhi responded by rejecting Trudeau’s accusation as “absurd and motivated” and later expelling a Canadian diplomat. India expels Canadian diplomat, escalating tensions after Trudeau accuses India in Sikh's killing Indian authorities designated Nijjar a terrorist in 2020 and accused him of supporting demands for an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, that started as an insurgency in India’s Punjab state in 1970s and 1980s and was crushed in an Indian government crackdown. The movement has since lost much of its political power but still has supporters in Punjab, where Sikhs are in a majority, as well as among the sizable overseas Sikh diaspora. India’s foreign ministry also said Trudeau’s allegations “seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The ministry regularly issues travel advisories. In September last year, it asked Indian citizens to remain cautious while traveling in Canada because of “sharp increase in incidents of hate crimes, sectarian violence and anti-India activities” there. What to know about the Sikh movement at the center of the tensions between India and Canada The modern Sikh independence movement reaches back to the 1940s but eventually morphed into the 1970s and 1980s insurgency. In 1984, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a raid to capture armed separatists taking refuge in Sikhism’s holiest shrine. The raid killed hundreds of people, and two of Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards assassinated her shortly after. In response, anti-Sikh riots took place across India in which members of the minority were dragged out of their homes and killed. And though the insurgency was suppressed long ago, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned repeatedly that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback. Modi’s government has been asking several countries — including Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom — to take legal action against Sikh separatists. Canada expels Indian diplomat as it investigates Sikh activist's killing India has also for years accused Canada of giving free rein to Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. The dueling expulsions of diplomats have escalated tensions — Trudeau had frosty encounters with Modi during this month’s Group of 20 meeting in New Delhi, and a few days later Canada canceled a trade mission to India planned for the fall. Canada remains a top study destination for Indian students. In 2022, the country had nearly 300,000 Indians students pursuing higher education there.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh independence advocate whose killing two months ago is at the center of a widening breach between India and Canada, was called a human rights activist by Sikh organizations and a criminal by India’s government. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that his government was investigating “credible allegations” that Indian government agents were linked to the June 18 slaying, when Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia. India has denied any role in the killing, calling the allegations absurd. India expels Canadian diplomat, escalating tensions after Trudeau accuses India in Sikh's killing A SEPARATIST AND A PLUMBER IN CANADA Nijjar, 45 when he died, was a prominent member of a movement to create an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, and was organizing an unofficial referendum among the Sikh diaspora with the organization Sikhs For Justice. He also owned a plumbing business and served as president of a Sikh temple or gurdwara in suburban Vancouver, where banners hung with his face promoting the referendum on Tuesday. In a 2016 interview with the Vancouver Sun he responded dismissively to reports in Indian media that he was suspected of leading a terrorist cell. “This is garbage — all the allegations. I am living here 20 years, right? Look at my record. There is nothing. I am a hard worker. I own my own business in the plumbing,” Nijjar told the newspaper. At the time, he said he was too busy to take part in diaspora politics. Following his death, the World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who “often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.” What to know about the Sikh movement at the center of the tensions between India and Canada INDIA CALLED HIM A MILITANT; HE DENIED IT Nijjar was a wanted man in India, which has for years seen Sikh separatists abroad as a security threat. In 2016, Indian media reported that Nijjar was suspected of masterminding a bombing in the Sikh-majority state of Punjab and training terrorists in a small city southeast of Vancouver. He denied the allegations. In 2020, Indian authorities claimed Nijjar was a member of a banned militant group and designated him a terrorist. That year, they also filed a criminal case against him as farmers, many from Punjab, camped out on the edges of New Delhi to protest controversial agriculture laws. The Indian government initially tried to discredit the protests by associating them with Sikh separatists, filing a number of such cases against Sikh activists in India and abroad. Last year, Indian authorities accused Nijjar of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India and announced a reward of about $16,000 for information leading to his arrest. Canada expels Indian diplomat as it investigates Sikh activist's killing INDIA’S WAR AGAINST SEPARATISM The modern Sikh independence movement reaches back to the 1940s but eventually became an armed insurgency that shook the country in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a raid to capture armed separatists taking refuge in Sikhism’s holiest shrine. The raid killed hundreds of people, and two of Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards assassinated her shortly after. In response, anti-Sikh riots took place across India in which members of the minority were dragged out of their homes and killed. The insurgency was eventually suppressed in a crackdown during which thousands of people were killed, but the goal of Sikh independence still has support among some in northern India and in the Sikh diaspora. India dismisses allegations of killing Sikh activist in Canada as 'absurd', expels senior Canadian diplomat More recently, the Hindu nationalist-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cracked down on both non-Hindu rights movements and dissidents. Sikh diaspora activism has been a source of tension between India and Canada for years. Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside India, and India has repeatedly accused it of tolerating “terrorists and extremists.” NIJJAR WAS SHOT AT A TEMPLE Canadian police said Nijjar was shot as he was leaving the parking lot of the Sikh temple where he served as president in British Columbia. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. After the killing, a lawyer and spokesperson for Sikhs For Justice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, said Nijjar had been a target of threats because of his activism. His killing was the second in two years of a prominent member of the Sikh community in Canada. Pannun said he had spoken to Nijjar by phone the day before he was killed and that Nijjar had told him that Canadian intelligence had warned him that his life was at risk. CANADA’S SIKH COMMUNITY RALLIES BEHIND HIM Nearly a week after Nijjar’s slaying, about 200 protesters from Canada’s Sikh community gathered in front of the Indian Consulate in Vancouver to demonstrate. Many of the protesters were convinced that Nijjar’s killing was linked to his calls for an independent Sikh state. “He was a loving man, a hard-working man, a family man,” said Gurkeerat Singh, one of the protesters. On Monday, Moninder Singh, a spokesperson for the British Columbia Sikh Gurdwara Council, told Canada’s CTV that the wave of support for Nijjar seen after his death was an indication of how he was seen in the community. “It shook the community across the entire world, including in Punjab,” Singh said. “The community is shattered. There are very, very high emotions,” Sukh Dhaliwal, a member of Parliament who represents Surrey, said days after the killing.