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Two foreign tourists and their Ugandan guide have been killed in an attack by suspected Islamist rebels, police have said.
The attack happened in the Queen Elizabeth National Park - one of Uganda's most popular conservation areas - according to police.
"We have registered a cowardly terrorist attack on two foreign tourists and a Ugandan in Queen Elizabeth National Park," police spokesperson Fred Enanga wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"The three were killed, and their safari vehicle burnt," he added.
Mr Enanga said police were pursuing suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) - an armed group aligned with Islamic State (IS).
A spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Bashir Hangi, said the attack took place on the outskirts of the park on Tuesday evening.
Mr Hangi said the authority was working with security agencies "to establish who could have carried out this heinous act".
He did not give details on the tourists' nationalities.
The park is located in a remote area of Uganda, on the eastern bank of Lake Edward and near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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The ADF - a group considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government - was originally formed out of western Uganda, but later expanded into the neighbouring DRC.
From its formation in 1996 until 2019, it was one united group. However, it fragmented following the arrest of its long-term leader, Jamil Mukulu.
Under its new leadership, the group pledged affiliation to the Islamist terror group IS in 2019, and joined its central African division.
Ugandan troops are currently working alongside regional forces in the DRC to hunt down ADF rebels.
In June, the group was accused of massacring at least 41 people, most of them students, in a raid on a remote Ugandan community near the border. | Africa politics |
Labour is preparing to omit plans for large-scale reform of social care from its next election manifesto, scale back its plans for House of Lords reform during a first term in office, and recalibrate the way it presents its £28bn-a-year green prosperity plan as it prepares to put a “bombproof” offer to voters before polling day.
After a successful conference in Liverpool last week, which resulted in the party extending its poll lead over the Tories, shadow cabinet ministers are now turning their minds to the precise shape of a manifesto for an election next May or October. Senior figures said the focus would be on producing an offering that was “affordable” in a difficult financial climate, as well as being “credible” and “deliverable”.
The Observer understands that Starmer’s party will avoid laying out a detailed plan for reform of social care, and the politically nightmarish issue of how to fund it, because it fears any proposals would be torpedoed by the Tories in the heat of a campaign.
According to senior party figures, Keir Starmer’s team – while committed to social care reform – do not want to offer the Tories a target that would invite them to attack the plans and make claims about the tax implications. Instead, there would be a general commitment to make changes when in office.
In 2010, Labour’s plans for funding social care were branded a “death tax” by the Tories, and hit the party’s vote badly, while in 2017 Theresa May’s Conservative campaign suffered irreparable damage amid accusations she was planning a “dementia tax”.
“We need to give ourselves cover to do reform in the manifesto, without giving the Tories a target to attack us. We can’t allow the issue to dominate a campaign again,” said a party source.
In his speech to the Labour conference, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said there was “no solution to the crisis in the NHS that doesn’t include a plan for social care”, but merely repeated promises to create a National Care Service that would guarantee better pay and conditions for carers, and aim to address recruitment and retention problems.
Inevitably, experts and organisations that have been pushing for social care reform for decades – and which have been dismayed by endless delays by successive governments – are disappointed that Labour is not coming forward with more detailed ideas.
Sally Warren, director of policy at the King’s Fund health policy thinktank, said: “We need to see much more detail about what both parties will do to ensure the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on social care get the care and support they need.
“The Conservatives had previously committed to introducing a new cap on care costs and making the means tests more generous, but having already delayed implementation once until after the election, they need to confirm that they intend to see their policy fully funded and delivered and won’t continue to kick the can down the road.
“Labour have so far focused their social-care policy thinking on growing and supporting the workforce – a vital area that does need attention. However, they can’t continue to remain silent on the vexed question of how to pay for the social care we need in society – how to improve the quality and availability of social care, and, crucially, how to share the costs of social care between the family and the state.”
Several Labour sources have also made clear that previous pledges by Starmer and his team to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a fully elected second chamber would no longer be a first-term commitment. Instead, in its first years in power, the party would focus on other legislative priorities such as its “new deal” for working people that would ban zero-hours contracts and end qualifying periods for basic rights such as sick pay and parental leave.
Less than a year ago, Starmer and his team appeared committed to moving towards a fully elected second chamber in a first term. Now several shadow cabinet sources said there was a recognition this would cause huge constitutional upheaval and take up too much parliamentary time.
Instead, senior figures say Labour would look at a more limited set of changes, such as capping the number of peers, increasing the powers of the body that oversees appointments to prevent inappropriate people being given peerages, and possibly getting rid of the 90 or so remaining hereditary peers, in a first term. A fully elected second chamber would remain as a longer-term objective.
In a series of recent speeches, the speaker of the House of Lords, former Labour MP John McFall, has cautioned against moving too far too fast, and spoken in favour of more “incremental” change. These warnings are understood have been taken on board.
With the Tories in ever deeper disarray, and the economic outlook gloomy, Starmer and his team seem increasingly determined to rein back on big-ticket policy ideas, particularly when they would come with a hefty price tag – even if this leaves them open to charges that they lack vision and reforming zeal. Shadow ministers say they have been asked to submit ideas for the next manifesto to a new “star chamber”, chaired by shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth, to check they that are “credible, affordable, and bombproof”.
Party officials in Liverpool were determined to avoid talk of “radicalism” and “boldness” for fear that it would be interpreted as a sign of financial ill-discipline.
While there were some eyecatching policies announced – including a pledge to build 1.5m homes, and two new new towns, as well as the creation of a Covid corruption commissioner – the aim was more to promote a sense of responsibility than excitement. “It is all about being seen as the grown-ups,” said a shadow minister. “After Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, that is what the public wants. After them, the mood is so cynical that even if we went big with promises, people would not believe us.”
There is also intense debate in the party about how to present its key policy pledge to drive economic revival, deliver lower energy bills and meet green targets through a £28bn-a-year “green prosperity plan”. This has already been trimmed back earlier this year, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves saying a Labour government would not be able to spend £28bn a year immediately but would “ramp up” towards the figure.
In Liverpool sources also defended themselves against Tory attacks that the plan would mean excessive borrowing by pointing out that £10bn a year of the £28bn was already being spent by the government – meaning only £18bn would have to be found.
Some senior shadow ministers also want the word “green” dropped from the plan, and to label it instead as “Labour’s prosperity plan to boost investment and jobs”, because party polling about its “green” messaging has not been positive.
Some Labour MPs and frontbenchers fear the lack of radicalism and the tendency towards caution could backfire. One frontbencher said: “I see what they are trying to do. But there is a danger there: that the electorate don’t give us any credit for being so cautious, and simply think we have nothing at all to say.” | United Kingdom Politics |
Maduro orders the 'immediate' exploitation of oil, gas and mines in Guyana's Essequibo
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is ordering the country’s state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana’s Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Vene...
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday ordered the country's state-owned companies to “immediately” begin to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Guyana's Essequibo region, a territory larger than Greece and rich in oil and minerals that Venezuela claims as its own.
The announcement came a day a day after Maduro got the victory he sought in a weekend referendum on whether to claim sovereignty over the region.
Maduro said he would “immediately” proceed “to grant operating licenses for the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mines in the entire area of our Essequibo.” He also ordered the creation of local subsidiaries of Venezuelan public companies, including oil giant PDVSA and mining conglomerate Corporación Venezolana de Guayana.
Maduro’s announcement comes a day after Venezuela's electoral authorities announced that the five questions with which the government wanted to claim sovereignty over Essequibo were approved in Sunday’s referendum.
Venezuela has long argued that the oil and mineral-rich territory was stolen from them when the border with present-day Guyana was drawn more than a century ago.
Guyana has denounced the referendum as pretext to annex the land. It had appealed to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top court, which on Friday ordered Venezuela not to take any action to change the status quo until the panel can rule on the two countries’ competing claims, which could take years.
____ Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america | Latin America Politics |
Following the Kremlin's refusal to renew the deal which allowed ships to transport grain across the Black Sea, Russia has started targeting Ukraine's key alternative export routes along the Danube River.
We've looked at what grain infrastructure has been targeted and what this latest escalation means for global trade.
What has been hit?
Since it started in August 2022, almost 33 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been exported via the Black Sea grain deal.
But with Ukraine's Black Sea ports now effectively blockaded by Russia, experts say it will have to rely heavily on its ports along the Danube river to export grain into neighbouring Romania.
From there it can be transported further afield as Romania's ports remain open.
After repeatedly targeting export hubs on the Black Sea, Russia has now turned its missiles and drones on ports on the Danube.
One of Russia's recent attacks hit the port of Reni, with missiles falling about 200m from the border with Nato-member Romania across the Danube.
In the Black Sea, the most extensive damage to port infrastructure was seen in Chornomorsk, where at least two storage tanks appear to have been hit on the night of 19 July.
Ukrainian authorities say that 60,000 tons of agricultural products were destroyed at the site.
The main grain terminal at Odesa port appears to have remained unscathed on satellite images we've analysed.
There have been several recent attacks on the city of Odesa, but these other strikes don't seem to have disrupted grain trade.
Further south, in areas where Ukraine uses other export routes that bypass the Black Sea, the damage has been more extensive.
A total of 19 drone attacks on Danube ports were recorded on the night of 24 July, hitting Ukraine's main alternative export routes, according to Lloyd's List - a company that tracks global shipping markets.
Russia's attack on Reni caused extensive damage.
From satellite imagery we can see the strikes have hit several silos, hangars and other buildings at the port.
The Zatoka bridge - a key link which allows grain trucks into the port of Izmail on the Danube - has also reportedly been hit.
How has this impacted exports?
"With the grain deal being over, the export of Ukrainian grain will stumble at maximum export capacity by river, trucks and rail to about 2.5 million tonnes per month," says Mariia Bogonos, an agriculture policy expert at the Kyiv School of Economics.
The majority of this would travel via the Danube river.
"Prior to the war Odesa was the biggest grain exporter, but in recent months because of slow operations in Odesa, the Danube has become the main route," says Andrey Sizov, an expert on the Black Sea agricultural markets.
Although the recent attacks temporarily closed the port of Reni, all the Danube ports appear to have swiftly returned to normal operations.
The strikes have failed to significantly affect trade along the river route, according to Lloyds List.
Any further disruption has an impact on the rest of Europe and the world - as global wheat prices will increase if there's a hold up in trade.
Prices of wheat are up more than 10% since the deal enabling grain shipments to safely leave Black Sea ports collapsed.
Dozens of commercial ships are currently sailing in the Danube and waiting by the river's mouth, according to vessel tracking data from Lloyd's List.
There's been speculation that this week's strikes have caused a backlog, but Richard Meade, Editor-in-Chief of Lloyd's List, says they've just exacerbated the congestion that's been there since the start of the war.
"Without the [Black Sea grain deal], exports are heading to the south but there is a physical limitation on how many ships you can get through a narrow river corridor," says Mr Meade.
Moscow and Kyiv have both threatened to treat some commercial vessels as military targets, which has added to tensions in the shipping industry.
Mr Meade believes it's unlikely that either side will attack commercial ships, but even the threat of this will stop many boats from returning to the region - and those that do come back will face higher insurance premiums.
Lloyd's List say the increased risk at Danube ports has left traders assessing the viability of remaining Ukraine grain export routes.
There are land routes where grain could be taken by truck or rail, but agriculture experts say this wouldn't be quick or cheap to facilitate.
"The reason it's taken in large quantities by boat is that its the lowest cost of transporting it, so all the other routes will add costs to the grain and the price will increase," says Mike Lee, an agriculture expert who focuses on eastern Europe.
Mr Lee also says Russia could target those overland routes next.
"If they are hell-bent on stopping grain exports out of Ukraine then will they start to attack the rail infrastructure, they haven't yet but the logical next step is the railways," he says.
Additional reporting by Paul Brown, Joshua Cheetham, Filipa Silverio, Benedict Garman and Alex Murray. | Europe Politics |
Lok Sabha Passes IIM Bill That Entrusts Management Accountability With President
Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which entrusts the management accountability of the institutes with the President of India.
Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which entrusts the management accountability of the institutes with the President of India.
The bill, which was introduced on July 28, was passed by the lower House amid disruptions by opposition members over the violence in Manipur.
Replying to a debate of the Bill, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government has no intention to interfere with the autonomy of the IIMs.
The management accountability of the institutes has been entrusted with the President and the academic accountability will remain with the IIMs, Pradhan said.
According to the bill, which seeks to amend the IIM Act of 2017, the President will be Visitor to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) with powers to audit their functioning, order probes and appoint as well as remove directors.
"The Visitor may appoint one or more persons to review the work and progress of any institute, to hold enquiries into affairs thereof and to report in such manner as the Visitor may direct. The board may also recommend to the Visitor an enquiry as deemed proper against the institute which has not been functioning in accordance with provisions and objectives of the Act," the bill stated.
Under the IIM Act, which came into force in January 2018 and granted the premier B-schools greater autonomy, the board of governors of each institute has 19 members which includes just one representative each from the central and state governments.
The board nominates its remaining 17 members from among eminent personalities, faculty and alumni. The board also appoints the search panels for the appointment of new directors and chairpersons, and later makes the appointments if it agrees with the search panels' recommendations.
However, according to the amendment bill, the search-cum-selection panel for the Director's appointment will have a Visitor's nominee. | India Politics |
Netherlands migration: Dutch coalition government collapses - reports
The Dutch government has collapsed because of differences between coalition parties over asylum policies, according to media reports.
The four parties were unable to find agreement in crisis talks chaired by Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The government was set up a year-and-a-half ago, but the parties have been diametrically opposed on migration policy for some time.
New elections will now be held, probably in the autumn.
Mr Rutte's office has not yet confirmed the collapse, but said he would speak to journalists after holding an emergency cabinet meeting at around 21:30 local time (20:30 BST).
His conservative VVD party had been trying to limit the flow of asylum seekers, but junior partners D66 and the Christian Union refused to support the proposals, media say.
A proposal to restrict entry to family members of refugees already in the Netherlands caused particular tension.
Mr Rutte, 56, is the country's longest serving prime minister and has been in office since 2010. The current government - which took office in January 2022 - is his fourth coalition.
He has been under pressure on migration because of the rise of far-right parties such as Geert Wilders' PVV.
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Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party in France, formerly known as the Front National, told French radio station RTL on Wednesday morning that she would "of course" participate in Sunday's demonstration against antisemitism in Paris. On X, formerly Twitter, she wrote: "Our compatriots of the Jewish faith have long been confronted with an ideology that I have always fought: Islamist ideology." She said that she would be there, alongside RN party president Jordan Bardella and other elected officials of the party.
However, President of the French National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, who along with the president of the French Senate called for the march — and whose Jewish grandparents settled in France after fleeing Germany and Poland — said Wednesday on France's TF1 television that no political parties had been invited to participate and that she would not march "next to" Le Pen.
France's RN and its history of antisemitism
Those opposed to marching alongside the RN at a demonstration against antisemitism have reminded those who might have forgotten about how the party was founded. In 1973, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine's father, who fought in the Algerian War, founded the party with former paratroopers, supporters of the Vichy regime, antisemites and also members of the violent far-right student organization Groupe Union Defense (GUD).
On several occasions, Jean-Marie Le Pen was fined after referring to the Holocaust and the German gas chambers as a "detail" of history. Government spokesman Olivier Veran told French radio station Europe1 that the "French justice system" had "convicted Jean-Marie Le Pen for antisemitism" and for this reason, the RN did not have "a place" at the demonstration.
RN has a clear pro-Israel stance
In recent weeks, Marine Le Pen has left the public in no doubt as to whose side she is on in the current conflict in the Middle East. She has described Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 as a "pogrom" and has backed the Israeli government's goal of destroying Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by numerous countries.
The party's pro-Israel stance is not new. After Marine Le Pen replaced her father as the leader of the Front National in 2011, she expelled known antisemites from the party, and even Jean-Marie himself eventually. Her strategy of "de-demonization" was intended to make the party, which she renamed in 2018, more palatable to broad sections of the electorate and the strategy has apparently worked, since Le Pen has been able to increase her share of the vote in presidential elections. According to the latest polls, she would win the first round of the presidential elections by over 30% if they were to be held today.
Not everybody buys into the party's change of image. "For me, Le Pen's participation in this demonstration is strategically motivated," said Valerie Dubslaff from the University of Rennes. "I don't believe that the party has fundamentally changed. The proximity to Israel and the fight of antisemitism are serving to show a clear message: 'Our main enemy remains Islam.'"
Indeed, there have been conflicting statements made by RN representatives. Bardella recently refused to describe Jean-Marie Le Pen as an antisemite but was then apparently forced to correct himself after pressure from Marine Le Pen herself.
Support from Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld
Le Pen's change of course is also having an impact on France's Jewish citizenry. Now, after decades of hostility between the Jewish community and the far right, there has been a shift. Last year, Louis Aliot, the RN mayor of Perpignan, was the first far-right politician to appear on Radio J, a Jewish community radio station in Paris. A few days earlier, he had presented the 88-year-old Jewish activist and Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld with a medal from the city.
Many failed to understand at the time why Klarsfeld accepted the medal.
The founder and president of the Sons and Daughters of the Jewish Deportees of France has said that he supports Le Pen's participation in the upcoming demonstration against antisemitism. "For me, the DNA of the extreme right, is antisemitism," he told the French daily newspaper Liberation. "So, when I see a big party that emerged from the extreme right is abandoning antisemitism, negationism, and marching towards republican values, I rejoice."
Is Le Pen instrumentalizing the march?
The Council of French Jewish Institutions (Crif) has also adjusted its stance. When Marine Le Pen appeared at a march to commemorate the antisemitic murder of Mireille Knoll in 2018, she was booed. There was no such outrage when RN politicians appeared at a recent Crif-organized demonstration in support of Israel.
However, the Crif has said the RN will not be welcome at Sunday's march. Its president, Yonathan Arfi, has accused the far-right party of attempting "to instrumentalize the march in an indecent way" and said that the Crif objected to marching alongside "people who are heirs to a party founded by former collaborators."
France's Socialist, Communist and Green parties have said that they want to establish a republican "cordon sanitaire" at the demonstration and not allow the RN to pass it. Meanwhile, the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) is refusing to take part in the demonstration altogether. "The friends of the unconditional support for the massacre have their rendezvous," wrote LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon on X, referring to Israel's war against Hamas. He has yet to clearly condemn Hamas' attack on October 7.
Limits of 'firewall' against far fight
For Jacob Ross, a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations who is focused on Franco-German ties, the current debate shows the limits of the so-called "firewall" against the far right in France. He said the number of RN mayors in France indicates that the idea has already been shelved at the municipal level and that it could soon be scrapped at the national level, too.
Ross said recent studies show that voters were getting tired of the "republican bloc," as the alliance of parties against the RN is known. Moreover, he said the RN was garnering more support from the conservative LR party at the parliamentary level. And lastly, he said, French voters simply don't want to be told who they can or cannot vote for anymore.
This article was originally published in German. | Europe Politics |
Anyone wearing or selling an LGBTQ-themed Swatch watch in Malaysia faces up to three years in prison, officials in the Muslim-majority nation said Thursday.
The ban, issued by the country’s ministry of home affairs, or KDN, seeks to prevent “the spread of elements that are harmful or may harm morality” in Malaysia.
Officials say rainbow-colored wristwatches made by the popular Swiss watchmaker — as well as any accessories, boxes, wraps or related items — promote, support and normalize the LGBTQ+ movement, which “is not accepted by the general public in Malaysia.”
Consensual same-sex relations are outlawed in the country. Perpetrators face up to 20 years of imprisonment, corporal punishment, and hefty fines.
Wearing such a watch “may harm the morality, the public interest, and the interests of the nation,” the KDN said in a news release.
Any individuals who own or distribute the watches could also be fined up to 20,000 Malaysian ringgit ($4,375), officials said.
Breaking News
The ban comes just days before an election analysts say will serve as an early referendum for the leadership of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was sworn in late last year.
Critics have accused him of being too tolerant of LGBTQ people and not doing enough to protect the nation’s Islamic values.
In an interview with Radio Television Malaysia earlier this year, however, Anwar said his government would not recognize the rights of the LGBTQ community.
“This is a delusion,” he said. “Of course, it will not happen and God willing under my administration this is not going to happen.”
Earlier this year, more than 150 rainbow-colored Swatch watches were seized by the Malaysian government.
The watchmaker sued the government saying the watches “did not promote any sexual activity but [were] merely a fun and joyous expression of peace and love,” according to the Agence France-Presse.
With News Wire Services | Human Rights |
The coup attempt in Niger is not yet "final," France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Friday.
Both France and detained Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum had previously stressed that not all soldiers had participated in or supported what Bazoum called a "coup bid."
"If you hear me talking about an attempted coup, it's because we don't consider things final, there is still a way out if those responsible listen to the international community," Colonna said while on a diplomatic visit to Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.
DW West Africa correspondent Olisa Chukwumah said it remains unclear who has control in Niger.
"If you look at a situation right now, almost 48 hours since Wednesday's coup was started by the Presidential Guard, it does seem that the coup is not complete," Chukwumah said
"If Bazoum is no longer in charge and the military says the regime that they know is no longer, who is in charge?" he added. "That is the big question many are asking right now in Niger."
France sees Bazoum as a key ally in the Sahel region, and it has stationed 1,500 troops in the country to combat Islamist insurgents.
Niger gained independence from France in 1960. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and has long been a key source of uranium for its former colonizer.
Niger army chief backs coup
On Thursday, the head of Niger's armed forces, Abdou Sidikou Issa, threw his support behind the mutinous soldiers.
"The military command... has decided to subscribe to the declaration made by the defense and security forces... in order to avoid a deadly confrontation," he said in a statement.
The army also warned the international community against intervening.
"All foreign military intervention of whatever kind poses the risk of disastrous and uncontrollable consequences for our population and the chaos of our country," it said in a statement.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which Niger is a member, on Wednesday sent a representative to assess the situation and aid with mediation.
The bloc will likely meet on Sunday to discuss potential sanctions, Colonna said.
What's the situation on the ground in Niger?
News of the coup attempt sparked multiple demonstrations in the capital, Niamey, on Wednesday and Thursday.
The headquarters of Bazoum's party was torched, and other protesters demonstrated outside the National Assembly.
Some protesters held signs condemning the ouster of Niger's democratically-elected president, while other protesters, who waved Russian flags and shouted anti-French slogans, told reporters that they support the attempted military coup.
Christoph Schmid, a member of the German parliament who reports on the EU Military Partnership Mission in Niger, said he is skeptical of the motives of some protesters.
"Demonstrators can be bought," he told DW's Sarah Kelly on Friday.
"We saw this in the region. We saw this in Mali, we saw this now in Niger."
"I'm not too sure about what we really see with demonstrators burning French flags. Are they really aware of the European footprint with development? Are they really aware of what they get from Russia? Because they do not get partnership from Russia."
Later on Thursday, Niger's Interior Ministry issued a directive on state TV banning public demonstrations. It also condemned the vandalism.
"Public demonstrations, for whatever reason, are and will remain banned until further notice," the ministry said.
Bazoum 'in good health'
Meanwhile, Bazoum remains in detention but is reportedly in good health, according to the French foreign minister.
She added that he had again spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
"He is reachable, he also said that he is in good health," Colonna said.
It is not immediately clear who would take power if the coup succeeds.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that General Omar Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard that initially detained Bazoum, could take over the leadership of a military council.
zc/fb (AFP, Reuters, dpa) | Africa politics |
North Korea warned Friday of an unprecedented response if the United States and South Korea go ahead with planned joint military exercises, which have recently ramped up in response to North Korean weapons tests.
In comments published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s foreign ministry predicted the Korean Peninsula “will again be plunged into the grave vortex of escalating tension” if the U.S.-South Korea drills go ahead.
“In case the U.S. and south Korea carry into practice their already-announced plan for military drills … they will face unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions,” the statement said.
Earlier Friday, South Korea’s military announced it will hold a “tabletop” exercise at the Pentagon on Wednesday that will simulate a North Korean nuclear attack.
The discussion-based drill will be followed by a visit to a U.S. Navy base in the southeastern U.S. state of Georgia that hosts key U.S. nuclear submarines, added Seoul’s defense ministry.
The drill is meant to give South Korean officials a better understanding of how their U.S. ally would respond to hypothetical North Korean nuclear attacks.
South Korean officials, including President Yoon Suk Yeol, have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the U.S. defense commitment to South Korea.
In an effort to assure South Korea, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month vowed increased displays of military strength – including the deployment of U.S. “strategic assets,” which include long-range bombers, nuclear-capable airplanes, and aircraft carrier strike groups.
Later this year, South Korea and the United States are considering holding their first large-scale, live fire exercise in about six years, South Korean defense officials have said.
Such drills were paused starting in 2018 when the United States and South Korea pursued negotiations with Pyongyang. North Korea, which was unhappy with U.S. demands, walked away from the talks in 2019 and a short time later resumed major weapons tests.
Last year, North Korea launched at least 95 missiles, by far a record high. Some of the missiles prompted air raid alerts and shelter warnings in South Korea and Japan.
The North is also believed to be preparing more major provocations, including another nuclear test and the launch of a military satellite.
At a military parade last week, North Korea displayed more intercontinental ballistic missiles than ever before. The parade also provided more signs Pyongyang is working on a solid-fuel ICBM, which can be launched much more quickly than the country’s current liquid-fueled versions.
North Korea is prohibited from any ballistic missile activity under a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The United States has tried to get the Security Council to pass additional measures following the North’s recent tests. However, China and Russia – North Korea’s biggest international backers, who both wield vetoes at the U.N. body – have prevented such efforts.
In its statement Friday, North Korea’s foreign ministry accused Washington of trying to use the Security Council as a “tool for the U.S. unilateral pressure” against North Korea, which is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or the DPRK.
The statement claimed the DPRK has recently refrained from “any special military action,” except those regularly scheduled activities meant to bolster its national defense.
But if the U.N. Security Council “continues to be inveigled by the U.S. as the latter wishes, the DPRK will be compelled to reconsider measures for additional actions, to say nothing of the category of normal military activities,” it warned. | Asia Politics |
Rishi Sunak did not clear Home Secretary Suella Braverman's article attacking the Metropolitan Police for its handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
The PM's spokesperson said Downing Street is "looking into what happened" with the article.
But they added Mr Sunak had full confidence in the home secretary.
Writing in The Times, Ms Braverman accused the force of applying a "double standard" to its policing of protests.
She claimed aggressive right-wing protesters were "rightly met with a stern response", while "pro-Palestinian mobs" were "largely ignored".
Ms Braverman's comments have been condemned by former police officers and MPs.
"It was not agreed by Number 10," Mr Sunak's spokesperson said, when asked if the article was signed off by his top team.
The BBC has been told Downing Street suggested amendments to the home secretary's draft, but not all of them were applied to the eventual article published last night.
The ministerial code says all major interviews and media appearances, both print and broadcast, should "be agreed with the No 10 Press Office".
The prime minister can punish a minister who is deemed to have breached the code. Options can range from demanding a public apology to sacking them.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has joined calls for Mr Sunak to sack Ms Braverman over the article.
Sir Keir accused the home secretary of undermining the police and said Mr Sunak was "too weak to do anything about it".
Ms Braverman wrote the article after Mr Sunak held a meeting with Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to discuss security ahead of a pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day on Saturday.
London's police force has faced increasing pressure to prevent Saturday's pro-Palestinian march from going ahead.
But Sir Mark has said it may only be stopped if there is a threat of serious disorder, and that the "very high threshold" has not been reached.
In an article for The Times, the home secretary claimed that there was "a perception that senior officers play favourites when it comes to protesters".
"Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law," she wrote. | United Kingdom Politics |
On the last day in office of the outgoing Law and Justice (PiS) government, changes have been made to the statutes of public media outlets TVP, Polskie Radio and the Polish Press Agency (PAP) at the request of culture minister Piotr Gliński.
Opposition figures and commentators have widely interpreted the move as an attempt to make it more difficult for the next administration to reform public media, which PiS has turned into a party mouthpiece. But Gliński insists that his actions are legal and justified to protect “pluralism”.
Minister kultury i dziedzictwa narodowego @PiotrGlinski zawnioskował o dokonanie zmian w statutach TVP, Polskiego Radia i Polskiej Agencji Prasowej – wynika z pisma, do którego dotarła @wirtualnapolska. To metoda na zablokowanie zmian w mediach… pic.twitter.com/j5njOX3CPn
— Wirtualna Polska (@wirtualnapolska) November 27, 2023
His plans were outlined in a letter – a copy of which has been obtained and published by news websites Wirtualna Polska and Onet – sent from Gliński to the National Media Council (RMN), a body that oversees public media, on Thursday last week.
He asks the council to approve changes whereby, if TVP, Polskie Radio or PAP are put into liquidation, the liquidators appointed to oversee the process must be members of the firm’s management board as well as the head of the company’s legal department.
The RMN was itself created by the PiS government in 2016 and three of its five members are PiS politicians. Wirtualna Polska reports that this morning the council approved Gliński’s request by a majority vote of three to two. The RMN later confirmed to PAP that it had approved the changes.
That approval came ahead of this evening’s swearing-in of a new provisional government led by the current PiS prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki. However, because PiS does not have a parliamentary majority, that government is almost certain to lose a vote of confidence in parliament.
Three opposition groups have rejected invitations from the PM for talks on forming a new government with the ruling PiS party.
The development increases the likelihood that the PM's efforts will fail and an opposition coalition will instead take power https://t.co/2oNsBEYdxY
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 22, 2023
It will then mostly likely be replaced by mid-December by a coalition of three opposition groups, Civic Coalition (KO), Third Way (Trzecia Droga) and The Left (Lewica), with Donald Tusk as prime minister.
That trio have pledged that one of their first tasks will be to “depoliticise public media”. Some reports have suggested they plan to do this by putting those media into liquidation and then reforming them. Gliński’s plan appears designed to hinder this.
One of the opposition members of the RMN, Robert Kwiatkowski, told Wirtualna Polska that “this is an attempt to circumvent the law and an attempt to deprive the future owner of its rights”.
The opposition groups likely to form the next government have signed a coalition agreement
They pledged to:
– restore rule of law
– annul the near-total abortion ban
– depoliticise public media
– prosecute anti-LGBT hate speech
– separate church and state https://t.co/lwQvGGok8s
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 10, 2023
Gliński, however, responded by tweeting that such claims are only being spread by “Tusk’s media system”. He insisted that “all activities related to public media are legal” and “pluralism is better for Poland and democracy than monopoly”.
PiS has argued that, because most major media outlets are supportive of the opposition, the influence it has exerted over public media during its eight years in power has been part of a necessary rebalancing of the media landscape.
But a variety of domestic and international expert bodies regard it instead as part of an effort to clamp down on media freedom. During PiS’s time in power, Poland has fallen from its highest ever position in the World Press Freedom Index to its lowest.
A prominent figure from state TV admits they produced "worse propaganda" than under communism to support the ruling party's election campaign.
But he thinks this "Stalinist logic" backfired and contributed to the negative outcome of the election for PiS https://t.co/8CsLIeVgNz
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 18, 2023
In their preliminary report on last month’s parliamentary elections, international observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) noted that during the campaign TVP “deliberately distort[ed] events through the promotion of the ruling party…while heavily attacking its main political rival”.
The OSCE found that 80% of TVP’s coverage of the main opposition group was negative in tone while coverage of PiS and the government “was almost entirely positive and often framed to amplify the party’s campaign messages”.
Long-running polling by state research agency CBOS shows that, under PiS, negative views of TVP among the public have reached their highest ever level. An annual study by researchers at the University of Oxford shows that the station is now the least trusted source of news among Poland’s main media outlets.
State broadcaster TVP remains Poland's least trusted major news source, finds an annual study by @risj_oxford, which notes that the station provides "skewed, pro-government coverage".
The most trusted outlets are RMF FM, Polsat, Radio Zet and TVN https://t.co/nhxEaj9lS0
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 15, 2023
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. | Europe Politics |
The US has accused China of orchestrating a “concerted” campaign of dangerous and provocative air force manoeuvres against US military planes in international airspace, warning it could spark an inadvertent conflict between them.
The Pentagon said aggressive tactics by Chinese aircraft had threatened US planes flying over the East and South China Sea regions, tallying more than 180 such incidents since autumn 2021.
“That’s nearly 200 cases where (Chinese) operators have … discharged chaff or shot off flares or approached too rapidly or close to US aircraft,” said Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
“More in the past two years than in the decade before that,” he added.
US-China relations are at their lowest point in years, with tension over a range of issues including trade, human rights, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
“This type of operational behaviour can cause accidents, and dangerous accidents can lead to inadvertent conflict,” Ratner said, adding that the incident count, tallied since the autumn of 2021, increases to nearly 300 when US allies are included.
Ratner alleged there was an intentional campaign by Beijing “to perform these risky behaviours in order to coerce a change in lawful US operational activity”.
In one instance, Ratner said, a Chinese fighter plane “approached our asset at a speed of hundreds of miles per hour, clearly armed and closing to just 30 feet away”, and stayed there for more than 15 minutes.
Tuesday’s news conference came after previous warnings from the White House over the summer that Chinese military aggressiveness at sea and in the air was leading to near collisions, and could soon lead to casualties.
“It won’t be long before somebody gets hurt,” national security council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in June.
The US warning on Tuesday came as Canada separately accused Beijing’s fighter jets of a “reckless” intercept of a Canadian maritime patrol aircraft. Chinese planes shadowed the Aurora aircraft – on a mission to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea – over several hours according to a Canadian television crew on the flight.
One came within five metres of the Canadian plane, in a move Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair called “unprofessional”.
On Tuesday Beijing hit back, accusing the plane of having “illegally intruded into the airspace” of Chiwei island, which lies in the Japan-administered Senkakus claimed by China.
“The Canadian military aircraft travelled thousands of miles to make trouble and provocation at China’s doorstep,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. “The Chinese side dealt with it according to law and regulations.”
Relations between Canada and China hit new lows this year following accusations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections and the attempted intimidation of MPs, leading to the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat in May. | Asia Politics |
The US government currently believes that Israel “is not responsible” for the blast at a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, according to the National Security Council, following President Joe Biden’s comments that a Palestinian militant group was behind the strike.
A spokesperson for the NSC, Adrienne Watson, said the assessment is based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information.
“While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday,” Watson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Officials told CNN separately that the initial evidence gathered by the US intelligence community suggests that the hospital strike came from a rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
Among the evidence that’s been gathered is a blast analysis that suggests it was a ground explosion rather than an airstrike that hit the hospital, one of the sources said. There was no singular crater suggesting there was a bomb, but there was extensive fire damage and scattered debris that is consistent with an explosion starting from the ground level, according to the source.
That analysis is one datapoint that’s led intelligence officials to lean toward assessing that the attack on the hospital was a rocket launch gone wrong.
Still, the blast analysis is just one of the things being examined by the intelligence community, which has surged intelligence collection assets to the region. US intelligence officials have not made a final assessment and are still gathering evidence, the officials said.
Not long after landing in Israel on Wednesday, Biden weighed in on who was behind the strike on the hospital. “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his arrival in Israel on Wednesday.
Biden was later asked what made him confident the Israelis weren’t behind the hospital strike.
“The data I was shown by my Defense Department,” he said.
In his remarks later on Wednesday, Biden reiterated that based on the information the US has seen, the blast appears to have been “the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza.”
“The Palestinian people are suffering greatly as well – we mourn the loss of innocent Palestinian lives,” he said. “Like the entire world, I was outraged and saddened by the enormous loss of life yesterday in the hospital in Gaza. Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appears the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza. The United States unequivocally stands for the protection of civilian life during conflict, and I grieve, I truly grieve for the families were killed or wounded by this tragedy.”
Authorities in Gaza have said Israel was behind the deadly blast at the hospital, while the Israel Defense Forces said its intelligence showed a “failed rocket launch” by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible for the explosion.
An IDF spokesman said Wednesday that imagery following the blast showed “no cratering and no structural damage to nearby buildings.”
“There are no craters here. The walls stay intact. This shows is it not an aerial munition that hit the parking lot” of the hospital, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a news conference Wednesday. “Analysis of our aerial footage confirms that there was no direct hit of the hospital itself. The only location damaged is outside the hospital in the parking lot where we can see signs of burning.”
The US intelligence community has been reviewing different kinds of intelligence to try to reach an assessment, including overhead imagery as well as the blast analysis, the officials said.
“I believe the US intelligence community likely has enough imagery, communications intercepts, and other data to determine where the projectile originated that stuck in the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital and what the original statements of people on the ground were as to what they believed happened,” said Mick Mulroy, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer.
“In addition, from the video released publicly, the explosion is consistent with a rocket that still had a lot of rocket fuel at the time of impact,” Mulroy added.
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a CNN national security and military analyst, said the US military has overhead platforms from satellites that see “a missile burn when it takes off or when something explodes and comes out of the sky.”
The imagery released by the Israeli military of the explosion site was also “compelling,” Hertling said.
“It is very compelling, but when you also look at that aftermath, where’s the crater? When you’re talking about a crater from an Israeli bomb, there’s going to be a hole there,” he said. | Middle East Politics |
For more than a year, Mariam*, an Afghan psychologist, has been trying to trace Farzana* and 14 other female survivors of domestic violence, whom she was counselling before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
After the takeover in August 2021, the organisation Mariam worked for was forced to close its offices, and many of her colleagues fled the country. But Mariam, who went into hiding and is now living in exile, continued to run a small operation discreetly, providing psychological support to vulnerable women, young people and mental health patients. “But there are 15 women who are untraceable. I have no idea where they are,” she says.
One of them is the 28-year-old Farzana, a survivor of domestic violence and a recovering addict, who was forced into drug dependency by her abusive husband of 12 years.
When Mariam first met Farzana in early 2019, she was in the process of securing a divorce, an arduous process during which she was abused, blackmailed, humiliated and lost custody of her three children. “I feel guilty about leaving the children with him but it was the only way I could escape his abuse,” Farzana told the Guardian in an interview in 2019.
“He is a horrible man. He would rape me, and if I tried to resist he beat me up. Then he started to drug me so I couldn’t fight back,” said Farzana, her hands trembling from the symptoms of withdrawal she was experiencing.
Even after the divorce, her husband broke into her house, raped her and beat her unconscious, she said.
Mariam says: “The violence only stopped after he was arrested and convicted in a murder case. She was finally able to be free of him, get her kids back and rebuild her life. She made a living teaching the Qur’an to neighbourhood kids, and during our last session she told me that she no longer needed my support.”
But a few weeks after their last session, in July 2021, Herat province fell to the Taliban, who released all prisoners from Afghan jails. “She called to tell me her husband was threatening her. He told her he had joined the Taliban and would find and punish her. She was terrified, and was in hiding with her children,” says Mariam.
In the weeks after the collapse of the Afghan government, Mariam, too, was forced to switch off her phone due to the threats from criminals who had been set free, many associated with the Taliban. They blamed her for protecting and supporting victims of their violence, leading to their incarceration. “[When I turned my phone on again and tried to contact] patients who called me in that period seeking help, I couldn’t reach them because their phones had been disconnected,” she adds.
Today, Mariam has no idea where Farzana and the 14 other women are.
She and her colleagues are not alone. According to a report by Amnesty International, several organisations providing psychosocial support and shelters to Afghan female survivors of gender-based violence were forced to shut down by the Taliban.
“There were massive social and cultural misgivings about efforts such as these, of course, since most of these projects were donor-driven, and there was little effort to get the buy-in of the Afghan society-at-large,” explains Kevin Schumacher, the deputy executive director at Women For Afghan Women (WAW), an American non-profit that provided family counselling as well as shelter support to women escaping gender-based violence.
“Once the international community left most of the work that was being done collapsed and what remained, such as ours, was shut down by the Taliban, who did not understand the dynamics of gender-based violence (GBV) in Afghanistan and the significance of these efforts to combat GBV,” he adds.
Since their takeover, the Taliban has forced WAW to close 16 shelters and 12 family-guidance centres, seizing their properties, and forcing nearly 1,000 women to return to their families or abusive partners.
WAW has tried to negotiate with the Taliban repeatedly. “We have met some of their leaders and explained to them the significance of these efforts, and that they are not western but practised by many Islamic countries around the world. However, so far, the Taliban administration – namely the ministry of vice and virtue which replaced the ministry for women’s affairs – has ignored our pleas,” he said, referring to the Taliban ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice that propagates extremist interpretations of Islam.
Opposing women’s rights has nothing to do with religious conservatism, Schumacher says. “Islam, in fact, confers and secures many basic rights for women, which are not that different from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But the ones who do not see women as complete human beings are not happy to see women have any rights, even religious rights,” he adds.
Mariam attests to the worsening situation, adding that Afghans, particularly women, are facing a huge mental health crisis. “Women are banned from education, work, going to parks or restaurants or even doing exercise. They are being forced into early marriages, even in educated and progressive families. They have no access to legal protection or support, even as the situation around the country deteriorates,” she explains
Although currently in exile, Mariam has made an attempt to expand her discreet, voluntary operations, recruiting colleagues and even university students to help provide mental health support to Afghans, mainly women, through online calls. “We provide crisis intervention counselling, especially to women who are increasingly suffering from suicidal thoughts.
“There are many challenges due to limited power and internet connectivity in the country but we are trying our best to help as many as we can, including our previous clients,” she says.
Mariam has also tried very hard to locate the women she was helping, including Farzana. “I can’t reach her or her family. I heard from common acquaintances that she may have escaped the country with her kids, but I have no way of knowing her fate,” she says.
* Names have been changed to protect identities | Middle East Politics |
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Swaths of southern Turkey and northern Syria are in ruins after a powerful earthquake ripped through the region. At least 3,400 are dead, more than 13,000 more injured and tens of thousands are homeless. The pre-dawn quake hit with a 7.8 magnitude and shook buildings as far away as Israel. Kieren Barnes of Mercy Corps joined Geoff Bennett to discuss the disaster.
Geoff Bennett:
Good evening.
Stretches of Southern Turkey and Northern Syria are in ruins tonight after a powerful earthquake ripped through the region. The numbers are staggering, more than 3,700 dead, some 13,000 injured and tens of thousands of homeless. The predawn quake hit in Southern Turkey with a 7.8 magnitude and shook buildings as far away as Israel. A second quake followed with hundreds of aftershocks.
A moment of pure terror, people fleeing for their lives in Malatya, Turkey, whole buildings reduced to dust as the powerful earthquake ravaged Turkey and Syria. Rescuers now battling freezing temperatures as they sift through debris, searching for survivors and pulling out the dead. Many left waiting in shock for news of family and friends.
Bircan Rizvan, Turkey Resident (through translator):
There are people still trapped under rubble. I have a friend living in this apartment. His children were rescued from the top floor, but his daughter broke an arm. We will see what happened to those living on the ground floors.
Turkey's President Erdogan called it the worst disaster since the 1930s.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish President (through translator):
We do not know how far the number of dead and injured will rise, as debris removal works continue in many buildings in the quake zone. Our hope is that we will recover from this disaster with the least loss of life.
One woman trapped in her destroyed apartment building rescued by crane. Cheaply and improperly built apartments have been a problem across the country, many of them now teetering on the edge of collapse.
Across the border in Syria, workers scramble to pull victims out from under destroyed buildings, a harrowing scene of a baby born in the rubble who was rushed to safety. The mother did not survive. Elsewhere, a rescuer frantically carried a little girl away from ruins.
One survivor of the quakes described his family's escaped from an almost certain death.
Osama Abdel Hamid, Earthquake Survivor (through translator):
I have four children and my wife. We were at home sleeping peacefully. We felt the quake. It was very strong, so I pulled out with my wife and kids and ran directly towards the entrance of the house.
As we reached the entrance of the building, it collapsed totally on us. A wooden door fell on us, which saved us. The building consists of four stories. None of the people in the other three stories have survived.
At this hospital in Afrin, more evidence of the enormity of the loss. Bodies wrapped in blankets filled the floor.
The hardest-hit regions in Syria are home to millions of displaced refugees from the country's civil war, living in poverty with little access to health care and few resources.
The United Nations secretary-general tonight calling for support for both countries.
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General:
Let's work together in solidarity to assist all those hit by this disaster, many of whom were already in dire needs of humanitarian aid.
The U.S. says it's working with Turkish authorities to provide assistance and rescue crews. More offers of aid have been pouring in as the world watches the death toll climb.
We're joined now from Istanbul by Kieren Barnes, the Syria country director for the humanitarian group Mercy Corps.
Thanks for being with us.
And this is a very complex search-and-rescue operation. It's been hampered by severe cold and snow. There are also powerful aftershocks. What's the situation the ground right now?
Kieren Barnes, Syria Country Director, Mercy Corps:
Well, thanks, Geoff.
Our team is actually based in Northwest Syria. And it's probably one of the most vulnerable parts of this region. So there's very limited infrastructure in that part of Syria. So one of the biggest challenges today has simply been the electricity functioning, communication working, so that we can actually contact our teams that are on the ground and actually assessing what those needs are and how people have been impacted.
We're primarily looking at shelter as the immediate need, because, within Northwest Syria, a lot of the infrastructure is damaged, houses have collapsed, apartment blocks have collapsed. So people are without homes at the moment. So, shelter is the most immediate one. We are in probably the worst part of winter. The next few days are going to be extremely cold.
So we have that additional pressure on top. So, having a safe place to sleep, mattresses to sleep on, blankets, these kind of very basic, but immediate needs are for the next few days. I think, following that, there's going to be some other critical areas that we do need to look at.
And that will include things like the access to water. People who have been moving throughout the last 12 years of this conflict living in temporary shelters such as tents, they need water on a regular basis simply to survive.
Those water sources, we know, have been damaged through this earthquake. So, we need to find ways to find that water to bring it to those people, to maintain what is actually our regular work in Syria. So, I think those are going to be some key challenges and what we're going to be working on over the next few days and throughout the weeks ahead.
For Syrians who have endured a brutal civil war, this sense of suffering is really all too familiar.
According to the International Rescue Committee, many Syrians have been displaced as many as 20 times. How is that exacerbated by the effects of this earthquake?
Kieren Barnes:
Yes, and this — to be honest, it includes some of our staff as well who work with us. They are also displaced families who throughout this conflict have been affected and have had to move multiple times.
The Syrian population is extremely resilient. And the fact that they have continued to survive throughout the last 12 years of this conflict does speak a lot about those communities. However, here we are again with another crisis. The last 12 months have been tough. We have had the Ukraine conflict, which has also impacted on the availability of food.
We have had cholera just before the winter, which again has had — has been devastating for communities. And now we have what's happened today, which is really devastating and concerning about what happens next. We do know the Syrian people will keep moving forward. That is for sure. But they are going to need a significant amount of support.
And that's also the concern that we have is, Syria has been dropping off the kind of priority list for the past few years because of other situations around the world. But, with what's happened today, it's something that cannot be forgotten. And we need to step up. We need the international community to support the people of Syria tonight and tomorrow night and then through the rest of the weeks and months ahead.
And Turkey, as you know, is facing a collapsing currency, runaway inflation.
How is that economic hardship affecting the rescue effort? And how will it affect the recovery effort long term?
Yes, the economic collapse, to be honest, in the whole region has been extremely difficult for people, even just finding jobs to continue their daily lives, prior to this current crisis.
We have seen the Syrian pound also have huge issues around inflation. Things are devaluing all the time. It makes it very difficult for people to have businesses, to find jobs, and to support themselves. The global economy is impacting on this in a very significant way.
So, what happens around the world have impacts on those people inside Syria additionally. And this will make it hard. One of the probably bigger concerns in the immediate future will be the access to goods. We have, as Mercy Corps, preposition stocks, such as mattresses, blankets, jerricans, these kinds of things that we can distribute immediately.
But those resources will run out, and we will need suppliers, we will need contractors to have those stocks. And I think it's being able to access that, again, will be — will — there will be pressure on that over the coming weeks, because everybody will be looking for those items, and we will all be trying to source it.
Kieren Barnes with the humanitarian group Mercy Corps speaking with us from Istanbul tonight.
Kieren, thank you.
Thanks.
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Geoff Bennett serves as co-anchor of PBS NewsHour. He also serves as an NBC News and MSNBC political contributor.
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Liberians are set to go to the polls for a run-off presidential election after the two leading candidates were separated by just over 7,000 votes in the first round a month ago.
They are choosing between incumbent and one-time football star George Weah and former Vice-President Joseph Boakai.
The president narrowly won the first round but failed to get more than 50% of the vote, triggering the run-off.
Voting in October was fraught with allegations of fraud and violence.
The election commission said that nine of its temporary staff had been arrested over alleged ballot-tampering.
The UN reported clashes between supporters of rival opposition parties.
This is the fourth presidential election since the end more than 20 years ago of Liberia's civil wars in which 250,000 people died.
The BBC's Moses Garzeawu in the capital, Monrovia, says the turnout for the run-off election is expected be high as Liberians are "hungry to vote".
Mr Weah, 57, who got 43.8% of the vote in the first round, and Mr Boakai, 78, who got 43.4%, have both been trying to build political alliances with the 18 other candidates who ran in the first round.
None of them received more than 3% of the vote.
Mr Boakai, who served as the vice-president to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state, has secured the endorsement of three of the four best performing candidates, according to the Reuters news agency.
In his campaigning, he has focused on investing in agriculture and infrastructure. Mr Weah has been talking about improving education and dealing with unemployment.
This is the second time the two men have faced each other in a presidential election run-off vote.
In 2017, Mr Weah triumphed over Mr Boakai, gaining 61% of the vote in the second round.
That time, his international stardom helped his popularity among the youth and voters were also attracted by his promises to clamp down on corruption, analysts say.
Polls are due to open at 08:00 local time (08:00 GMT) and will close at 18:00 local time (18:00 GMT), when vote counting will get under way.
The victor will be sworn into office in January next year. | Africa politics |
'Not concerned about attendees': Perrottet reacts to questions about Dutton's absence from NSW Liberal campaign launch
Dominic Perrottet has sought to explain why Peter Dutton was absent from the Liberals NSW election campaign launch, along with the party's former state premiers.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet his defended the absence of key Liberal Party figures from its state election campaign launch.
Mr Perrottet appeared before the party faithful in Sydney's south-west on Sunday to spruik the Coalition's policies as it seeks to win a fourth consecutive election.
Former prime minister John Howard was in attendance to offer his support but Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was not among the parochial crowd.
Mr Dutton, however, is expected to launch Treasurer Matt Kean's campaign for his seat of Hornsby on Monday night.
There was also no sign of former premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Mike Baird at Sunday's launch, while Barry O'Farrell is overseas as Australia's High Commissioner to India.
Federal Liberal party leaders are normally a key feature of the campaign launch.
In 2019, Scott Morrison appeared at Ms Berejiklian's launch, while Tony Abbott was present at Mr Baird's in 2015 and Mr O'Farrell's in 2011.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was front and centre at NSW Labor leader Chris Minns' campaign launch last week.
Mr Perrottet was quizzed on ABC News Breakfast on Monday why Mr Dutton was not part of his launch, with NSW the last remaining Coalition government on the mainland.
"The only leader we had there was John Howard, who's obviously a great in the Liberal Party," the Premier said.
"This is a NSW election, on NSW issues, and I'm the Premier. We did haven't any former Liberal premiers and we didn't have any former prime ministers outside of John Howard."
Mr Dutton represents the seat of Dickson in Queensland. He was also absent from the Liberals campaign launch in Victoria for the November state election.
Mr Perrottet said it was important for him to have Mr Howard, who is from Sydney, at the launch but added he was focused on the future and not personalities.
"I wanted John Howard there, and I'm focused on the future. So, that's the reason we made that decision," he said.
"Ultimately it's about our policies for the great people of NSW and to take our state forward. I'm not really concerned about attendees, I'm concerned about our policies, that's my focus, not personalities."
NSW voters head to the polls on March 25 to decide whether to extend the Coalition's term in power to a record 16 years, or hand the keys to Macquarie Street back to Labor.
The Liberal Party has had a different leader at every election since 2011, with Mr O'Farrell, Mr Baird and Ms Berejiklian all resigning between election cycles. | Australia Politics |
The bodies of at least 87 people allegedly killed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have been found in a mass grave, according to the UN.
The organisation said Masalit people were among those buried in a shallow grave just outside El-Geneina.
Fierce fighting between the RSF and Sudan's armed forces has been continuing since April.
But the RSF and their allied militias have denied any involvement in the recent fighting in West Darfur.
Thousands have died and millions have been forced from their homes as a result of fighting between Sudan's regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by al-Burhan's former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The UN said at least 37 bodies were buried in the West Darfur region on 20 June, and another 50 at the same site the next day. Among those buried were women and children.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was "appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated".
He called for an investigation into their deaths and said the RSF was obliged to treat the dead "with dignity".
Earlier this week, the RSF rejected allegations from Human Rights Watch that they had killed 28 members of the Masalit community and injured dozens of civilians before destroying the town of Misterei in May.
An adviser to the RSF leadership, Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim, told the BBC the clashes there were part of an ongoing civil war between Arab groups and the Masalit "which is old and renewed".
The Masalit people once lived under a sultanate in West Darfur, most of which was incorporated into Sudan more than 100 years ago.
They are predominately Muslims and have accused successive Sudanese governments of promoting "Arabism" - overlooking them for basic services such as education and health.
There are concerns that attacks by the RSF and Arab militias against the Masalit community could result in a repeat of the 2003 Darfur killings, when 300,000 people were killed by the Janjaweed militias, who later grew into the RSF.
The UN has already received reports of Arab militia targeting Masalit men and said the conflict has taken on an "ethnic dimension". | Africa politics |
Election Body Asks Centre Not To Appoint 'District Rath Prabharis' In Poll-Going States
Election Commission asked the government not to appoint 'district rath prabharis' in the poll-bound states.
The Election Commission on Thursday asked the government not to carry out the proposed Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, its mega outreach programme on schemes and initiatives, in the five election-bound states till Dec. 5.
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, the Election Commission also asked the government not to appoint 'district rath prabharis' in the poll-bound states and the Tapi constituency of Nagaland where by-election is scheduled to be held.
"It has been brought to the notice of the Commission that a letter has been circulated to the ministries for nomination of senior officers as 'District Rath Praharis' as special officers for the proposed 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' starting from 20th November, 2023," the Commission said.
It pointed out that elections have been announced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.
"...Commission has directed that the aforesaid activities should not be taken in the constituencies where Model Code of Conduct is in force up till 5th December, 2023," it said.
The government on Thursday made it clear that the yatra will skip the poll-bound states.
In an informal interaction with reporters, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said a decision has been taken to drop the word 'rath' to refer to the vehicles publicising government schemes across 2.55 lakh gram panchayats and nearly 18,000 locations in urban areas.
"There is no plan to start the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' in election-bound states where the model code of conduct is in place. In poll-bound states the yatra will start when the model code of conduct is lifted," Chandra said. | India Politics |
Blinken Announces Third Visit To Israel Since Hamas War Began
Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank, and also go to Dubai for the COP28 summit, the State Department said.
(Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel for the third time since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, as the US looks to secure the release of more hostages seized during the militant group’s raid and tamp down the threat of a wider regional war.
Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank, and also go to Dubai for the COP28 summit, the State Department said. The top US diplomat will also discuss the future of the Gaza Strip as Israel presses ahead with its ground and air assault, including the need for an independent Palestinian state.
He will “stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, and improve protections for civilians in Gaza,” the department said. The announcement was made soon after Blinken landed in Brussels for a NATO meeting. He’s also set to visit Skopje, North Macedonia for a gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Blinken visited Israel days after Hamas militants crossed into Israel in an attack that killed more than 1,200 people and saw some 240 taken hostages. He went to the region again after Israel launched an air and ground campaign that has resulted in the deaths of more than 14,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Hamas is labeled a terrorist group by the US and the European Union.
Read more: Israel, Hamas Extend Gaza Truce as 11 More Hostages Are Freed
The Biden administration is now focused on securing the release of more hostages in the days since Hamas and Israel announced a four-day cease-fire and began releasing captives in a series of exchanges. On Monday, the two sides agreed to extend the pause in fighting by two days.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Middle East Politics |
With the 2022 Nobel prizes due to be announced, Physics World editors look at the physicists who’ve won prizes in fields other than their own. Michael Banks examines how Joseph Rotblat bagged the Nobel Peace Prize Nuclear fallout: physicist Joseph Rotblat campaigned for most of his life against the use of nuclear weapons. (Courtesy: Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives) Physics has an uneasy relationship with nuclear weapons. During the Second World War many physicists worked on the Manhattan Project that had the aim to create the first atomic bomb. The plan was to develop the bomb before Hitler and the Nazis did, but many physicists wrestled with their conscience in doing so, knowing they were developing a weapon that had devastating consequences.
One of those who grew sceptical of such efforts was the Polish–British nuclear physicist Joseph Rotblat. Rotblat was born on 4 November 1908 to a Jewish family in Poland and would later become assistant director of the Atomic Physics Institute of the Free University of Poland in 1937.
When war broke out in 1939, Rotblat was in the UK and he soon realized that he could make a contribution to the development of the atomic bomb. In 1944 he then joined the Manhattan Project, doing so in part because he believed that if the Allies developed their own atomic bomb it could stop Hitler.
Yet after less than a year in the project, after seeing at first-hand how difficult it was proving to make a bomb, Rotblat resigned. He convinced himself that the Nazis had no chance of building their own device. In his mind, work on a nuclear bomb was, from then onwards, no longer purely a defensive act.
Highlighting the dangers
Upon returning to the UK, Rotblat devoted his scientific career to studying the effects of radiation on living organisms. In 1949 he moved to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London – a teaching hospital associated with the University of London– where he remained for the rest of his career.
He also led efforts to communicate the perils of atomic weapons. In 1955 Rotblat joined forces with Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell and others to issue the Russell–Einstein Manifesto that alerted world leaders to the dangers of nuclear weapons and warfare. This led to the founding in 1957 of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
For this pioneering endeavour, Rotblat and Pugwash shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms”.
Writing for Physics World in 1999 just a few years before his death in 2005 aged 96, Rotblat noted how he believed that the scientific community could make a direct contribution towards the elimination of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.
“Nuclear weapons cannot be disinvented; we cannot erase from our memories the knowledge of how to make them,” he wrote. “Ultimately we have to tackle the seemingly Utopian concept of a war-free world…This is truly a task fit for the next century.” | Human Rights |
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, officials said Sunday. He was 79.
Musharraf, a former special forces commando, became president through the last of a string of military coups that roiled Pakistan since its founding amid the bloody 1947 partition of India. He ruled the nuclear-armed state after his 1999 coup through tensions with India, an atomic proliferation scandal and an Islamic extremist insurgency. He stepped down in 2008 while facing possible impeachment.
Later in life, Musharraf lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid criminal charges, despite attempting a political comeback in 2012. But it wasn’t to be as his poor health plagued his last years. He maintained a soldier’s fatalism after avoiding a violent death that always seemed to be stalking him as Islamic militants twice targeted him for assassination.
“I have confronted death and defied it several times in the past because destiny and fate have always smiled on me,” Musharraf once wrote. “I only pray that I have more than the proverbial nine lives of a cat.”
Musharraf’s family announced in June 2022 that he had been hospitalized for weeks in Dubai while suffering from amyloidosis, an incurable condition that sees proteins build up in the body’s organs. They later said he also needed access to the drug daratumumab, which is used to treat multiple myeloma. That bone marrow cancer can cause amyloidosis.
Shazia Siraj, a spokeswoman for the Pakistani Consulate in Dubai, confirmed his death and said diplomats were providing support to his family.
The Pakistani military also offered its condolences as did Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of the prime minister Musharraf overthrew in 1999.
“May God give his family the courage to bear this loss,” Sharif said.
Pakistan, a nation nearly twice the size of California along the Arabian Sea, is now home to 220 million people. But it would be its border with Afghanistan that would soon draw the U.S.′s attention and dominate Musharraf’s life a little under two years after he seized power.
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden launched the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks from Afghanistan, sheltered by the country’s Taliban rulers. Musharraf knew what would come next.
“America was sure to react violently, like a wounded bear,” he wrote in his autobiography. “If the perpetrator turned out to be al-Qaida, then that wounded bear would come charging straight toward us.”
By Sept. 12, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Musharraf that Pakistan would either be “with us or against us.” Musharraf said another American official threatened to bomb Pakistan ”back into the Stone Age” if it chose the latter.
Musharraf chose the former. A month later, he stood by then-President George W. Bush at the Waldorf Astoria in New York to declare Pakistan’s unwavering support to fight with the United States against “terrorism in all its forms wherever it exists.”
Pakistan became a crucial transit point for NATO supplies headed to landlocked Afghanistan. That was the case even though Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency had backed the Taliban after it swept into power in Afghanistan in 1994. Prior to that, the CIA and others funneled money and arms through the ISI to Islamic fighters battling the 1980s Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan saw Taliban fighters flee over the border back into Pakistan, including bin Laden, whom the U.S. would kill in 2011 at a compound in Abbottabad. They regrouped and the offshoot Pakistani Taliban emerged, beginning a yearslong insurgency in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The CIA began flying armed Predator drones from Pakistan with Musharraf’s blessing, using an airstrip built by the founding president of the United Arab Emirates for falconing in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The program helped beat back the militants but saw over 400 strikes in Pakistan alone kill at least 2,366 people — including 245 civilians, according to the Washington-based New America Foundation think tank.
Though Pakistan under Musharraf launched these operations, the militants still thrived as billions of American dollars flowed into the nation. That led to suspicion that still plagues the U.S. relationship with Pakistan.
“After 9/11, then President Musharraf made a strategic shift to abandon the Taliban and support the U.S. in the war on terror, but neither side believes the other has lived up to expectations flowing from that decision,” a 2009 U.S. cable from then-Ambassador Anne Patterson published by WikiLeaks said, describing what had become the diplomatic equivalent of a loveless marriage.
“The relationship is one of co-dependency we grudgingly admit — Pakistan knows the U.S. cannot afford to walk away; the U.S. knows Pakistan cannot survive without our support.”
But it would be Musharraf’s life on the line. Militants tried to assassinate him twice in 2003 by targeting his convoy, first with a bomb planted on a bridge and then with car bombs. That second attack saw Musharraf’s vehicle lifted into the air by the blast before touching the ground again. It raced to safety on just its rims, Musharraf pulling a Glock pistol in case he needed to fight his way out.
It wasn’t until his wife, Sehba, saw the car covered in gore that the scale of the attack dawned on him.
“She is always calm in the face of danger,” he recounted. But then, “she was screaming uncontrollably, hysterically.”
Born Aug. 11, 1943, in New Delhi, India, Musharraf was the middle son of a diplomat. His family joined millions of other Muslims in fleeing westward when predominantly Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan split during independence from Britain in 1947. The partition saw hundreds of thousands of people killed in riots and fighting.
Musharraf entered the Pakistani army at age 18 and made his career there as Islamabad fought three wars against India. He’d launch his own attempt at capturing territory in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir in 1999 just before seizing power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Sharif had ordered Musharraf’s dismissal as the army chief flew home from a visit to Sri Lanka and denied his plane landing rights in Pakistan, even as it ran low on fuel. On the ground, the army took control and after he landed Musharraf took charge.
Yet as ruler, Musharraf nearly reached a deal with India on Kashmir, according to U.S. diplomats at the time. He also worked toward a rapprochement with Pakistan’s longtime rival.
Another major scandal emerged under his rule when the world discovered that famed Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, long associated with the country’s atomic bomb, had been selling centrifuge designs and other secrets to countries including Iran, Libya and North Korea, making tens of millions of dollars. Those designs helped Pyongyang to arm itself with a nuclear weapon, while centrifuges from Khan’s designs still spin in Iran amid the collapse of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Musharraf said he suspected Khan but it wasn’t until 2003 when then-CIA director George Tenet showed him detailed plans for a Pakistani centrifuge that the scientist had been selling that he realized the severity of what happened.
Khan would confess on state television in 2004 and Musharraf would pardon him, though he’d be confined to house arrest after that.
“For years, A.Q.’s lavish lifestyle and tales of his wealth, properties, corrupt practices and financial magnanimity at state expense were generally all too well known in Islamabad’s social and government circles,” Musharraf later wrote. “However, these were largely ignored. … In hindsight that neglect was apparently a serious mistake.”
Musharraf’s domestic support eventually eroded. He held flawed elections in late 2002 — only after changing the constitution to give himself sweeping powers to sack the prime minister and parliament. He then reneged on a promise to stand down as army chief by the end of 2004.
Militant anger toward Musharraf increased in 2007 when he ordered a raid against the Red Mosque in downtown Islamabad. It had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan’s support of the Afghan war. The weeklong operation killed over 100 people.
The incident severely damaged Musharraf’s reputation among everyday citizens and earned him the undying hatred of militants who launched a series of punishing attacks following the raid.
Fearing the judiciary would block his continued rule, Musharraf fired the chief justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court. That triggered mass demonstrations.
Under pressure at home and abroad to restore civilian rule, Musharraf stepped down as army chief. Though he won another five-year presidential term, Musharraf faced a major crisis following former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December 2007 at a campaign rally as she sought to become prime minister for the third time.
The public suspected Musharraf’s hand in the killing, which he denied. A later United Nations report acknowledged the Pakistani Taliban was a main suspect in her slaying but warned that elements of Pakistan’s intelligence services may have been involved.
Musharraf resigned as president in August 2008 after ruling coalition officials threatened to have him impeached for imposing emergency rule and firing judges.
“I hope the nation and the people will forgive my mistakes,” Musharraf, struggling with his emotions, said in an hourlong televised address.
Afterward, he lived abroad in Dubai and London, attempting a political comeback in 2012. But Pakistan instead arrested the former general and put him under house arrest. He faced treason allegations over the Supreme Court debacle and other charges stemming from the Red Mosque raid and Bhutto’s assassination.
The image of Musharraf being treated as a criminal suspect shocked Pakistan, where military generals long have been considered above the law. Pakistan allowed him to leave the country on bail to Dubai in 2016 for medical treatment and he remained there after facing a later-overturned death sentence.
But it suggested Pakistan may be ready to turn a corner in its history of military rule.
“Musharraf’s resignation is a sad yet familiar story of hubris, this time in a soldier who never became a good politician,” wrote Patterson, the U.S. ambassador, at the time.
“The good news is that the demonstrated strength of institutions that brought Musharraf down — the media, free elections and civil society — also provide some hope for Pakistan’s future. It was these institutions that ironically became much stronger under his government.”
___
Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report. Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
___
Follow Jon Gambrell and Munir Ahmed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP and www.twitter.com/munirahmedap. | Asia Politics |
PARIS: Tens of thousands are expected to attend a march against anti-Semitism in Paris on Sunday amid bickering by political parties over who should take part and a surge in anti-Semitic incidents across France.
Tensions have been rising in the French capital -- home to large Jewish and Muslim communities -- in the wake of the Oct 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, followed by a month of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
More than 3,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed to maintain security at the "great civic march", according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
On the eve of the march, President Emmanuel Macron condemned the "unbearable resurgence of unbridled anti-Semitism" in the country.
"A France where our Jewish citizens are afraid is not France. A France where French people are afraid because of their religion or their origin is not France," he wrote in a letter published Saturday in the daily Le Parisien.
He said Sunday's march should show France as "united behind its values, its universalism".
Hamas's shock Oct 7 attack killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel and 239 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
The Israeli air and ground military campaign in response has left more than 11,000 people in Gaza dead, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
France has recorded nearly 1,250 anti-Semitic acts since the attack.
Macron has said he will attend the march only "in my heart and in my thoughts".
He condemned the "confusion" surrounding the rally and said it was being "exploited" by some politicians for their own ends.
- 'The more people, the better' -
The speakers of the lower and upper houses of parliament, Yael Braun-Pivet and Gerard Larcher respectively, called on Tuesday for a "general mobilisation" at the march against the upsurge in anti-Semitism.
They are to lead the march behind a banner stating "For the Republic, against anti-Semitism".
The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party said it would boycott the event which the far-right National Rally (RN) plans to attend.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has declared the march should also serve to stand against "Islamic fundamentalism" -- a pet theme of her anti-immigrant party.
"The more people there are, the better," she said, adding that she was ready to march "at the back" if her attendance was a problem.
LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon rejected the march as a meeting of "friends of unconditional support for the massacre" of Palestinians in Gaza.
Communist leader Fabien Roussel said he would "not march alongside" the RN.
He said the far-right party had been founded by people who were "repeatedly condemned for anti-Semitic remarks" and who "collaborated" with Nazi Germany.
Other left-wing parties as well as youth and rights organisations will march behind a common banner separated from the far right.
No speeches are planned.
- 'No posturing' -
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday that "there is no place for posturing" at the march.
"This is a vital battle for national cohesion," she wrote on X (formerly Twitter), hours before she herself is expected to walk at the head of the column.
Borne's own father survived the Nazi death camp Auschwitz in occupied Poland, only to take his own life when she was 11.
Among the long list of recent anti-Semitic acts, Paris prosecutors are investigating an incident on October 31, when buildings in the city and suburbs were daubed with dozens of Stars of David.
The graffiti, which brought back memories of the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II and deportation of Jews to death camps, was condemned across the political spectrum.
The march also comes a day after several thousand people demonstrated in Paris under the rallying cry "Stop the massacre in Gaza".
The left-wing organisers called for France to "demand an immediate ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas militants. | Europe Politics |
President Joe Biden announced Monday his intention to nominate a former appointee under former President Donald Trump with a controversial past in Latin America to the bipartisan United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
Elliott Abrams, who has served in three Republican administrations, most recently acted as the Trump administration’s special envoy to Iran and Venezuela where he was tasked at the time with directing the campaign to replace Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
The Republican insider’s long history in foreign policy is marked by a 1991 guilty plea for withholding information about the Iran-Contra affair that earned him two misdemeanor counts, two years probation and 100 hours of community service – though his crimes were later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
The secret Iran-Contra operation, which took place during Abrams’ time as an assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration, involved the funding of anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua using the proceeds from weapon sales to Iran despite a congressional ban on such funding.
Again in his role under former President Ronald Reagan, Abrams was also blasted by a Human Rights Watch report for his attempts in a February 1982 Senate testimony to downplay reports of the massacre of 1,000 people by US-trained-and-equipped military units in the Salvadoran town of El Mozote in December 1981 – the largest mass killing in recent Latin American history. He insisted the numbers of reported victims were “implausible” and “lavished praise” on the military battalion behind the mass killings – stances he doubled down on when they were put on display during a 2019 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing by Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, who used his history in Latin American to call into question his credibility.
He later served as a senior director of the National Security Council and then as a deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser under former President George W. Bush. Abrams currently serves as senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He attended Harvard College, the London School of Economics and Harvard Law School and served under two former US senators.
The United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy is a bipartisan body and does not allow for more than four of its seven members appointed by the president to be from any one political party, according to the State Department.
The commission “appraises the US Government activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics” and “may assemble and disseminate information and issue reports and other publications to the Secretary of State, the President, and the Congress,” according to the State Department.
Current members include Sim Farar, the managing member of JDF Investments Company; William Hybl, former special counsel to Reagan; and Anne Terman Wedner, a political organizer and former foreign service officer – four seats on the commission remained vacant as of March 2023, according to the National Archives.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report. | Latin America Politics |
Sadai Banowan via AP
toggle caption
Najia Sorosh, head of Sadai Banowan a women-run radio station, left, speaks into a microphone in the studio in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 4. A women-run radio station in Afghanistan's northeast has been shut down for playing music during Ramadan, a Taliban official said.
Sadai Banowan via AP
Najia Sorosh, head of Sadai Banowan a women-run radio station, left, speaks into a microphone in the studio in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 4. A women-run radio station in Afghanistan's northeast has been shut down for playing music during Ramadan, a Taliban official said.
Sadai Banowan via AP
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — A women-run radio station in Afghanistan's northeast has been shut down for playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, a Taliban official said Saturday.
Sadai Banowan, which means women's voice in Dari, is Afghanistan's only women-run station and started 10 years ago. It has eight staff, six of them female.
Moezuddin Ahmadi, the director for Information and Culture in Badakhshan province, said the station violated the "laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate" several times by broadcasting songs and music during Ramadan and was shuttered because of the breach.
"If this radio station accepts the policy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and gives a guarantee that it will not repeat such a thing again, we will allow it to operate again," said Ahmadi.
Station head Najia Sorosh denied there was any violation, saying there was no need for the closure and called it a conspiracy. The Taliban "told us that you have broadcast music. We have not broadcast any kind of music," she said.
Sorosh said at 11:40 a.m. on Thursday representatives from the Ministry of Information and Culture and the Vice and Virtue Directorate arrived at the station and shut it down. She said station staff have contacted Vice and Virtue but officials there said they do not have any additional information about the closing.
Many journalists lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Media outlets closed over lack of funds or because staff left the country, according to the Afghan Independent Journalists Association.
The Taliban have barred women from most forms of employment and education beyond the sixth grade, including university. There is no official ban on music. During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban barred most television, radio and newspapers in the country. | Middle East Politics |
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to legalize same-sex marriage, a huge step forward for LGBTQ rights in a region where some conservative governments are cracking down on the community.
“Same-sex marriage will happen at some point and it’s part of our strategy,” Mitsotakis, a center-right politician, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Athens. “Greek society is much more ready and mature.”
Read More: Pride, Against All Odds
Like the majority of countries in the European Union, Greece currently recognizes same-sex unions in some form but stops shy of supporting full marriage. For its part, Greece saw a jump in a 2023 ranking of LGBTQ rights among European countries by ILGAEurope after the government banned genital mutilation on intersex children last year.
More from TIME
The Brussels-based non-governmental umbrella organization benchmarks 49 countries on their legal and policy situation for LBGTI people, from 0% to 100%. With a ranking of 57% in the latest report, up five percentage points compared to the previous year, Greece has overtaken countries such as the U.K. and Germany.
LGBTQ rights around the world have come under the spotlight once again in recent months. In Uganda lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year outlawing homosexuality, with punishments as tough as the death penalty. In the U.S. meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Ron De Santis was accused of posting a homophobic video to mark the end of Pride month. In Europe, the LGBTQ community faced increasingly targeted attacks in 2022.
Momentum for change began in Greece in 2021 when Mitsotakis appointed a committee to draft a national strategy for improving LGBTQ rights. He has introduced a number of reforms since then including lifting a ban on homosexual men making blood donations and ending the practice of so-called sex normalizing surgeries on children. Few had expected him to become such a powerful force for change.
Same-sex civil partnerships were legally recognized in Greece in 2015 and gender identity in 2017, but progress on other issues had been piecemeal until Mitsotakis came to power in 2019.
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Biden released the statement on the 63rd anniversary of Niger's independence from its former colonial ruler, warning that the West African nation is now "facing a grave challenge to its democracy."
"In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honor our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance," Biden said. "The Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders. They have expressed their will through free and fair elections -- and that must be respected."
"Defending fundamental democratic values, and standing up for constitutional order, justice and the right of peaceful assembly, are essential to the partnership between Niger and the United States," he added. "I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger's hard-earned democracy."
On July 26, a group of mutinous soldiers led by the commander of Niger's presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, placed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum and his family under house arrest in the capital of Niamey.
They then announced on Nigerien state television that they have "put an end to the regime" of Bazoum due to "the continuing degradation of the security situation, the bad economic and social governance."
The group, which calls itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said "all institutions" have been suspended, aerial and land borders have been closed and a curfew has been imposed until the situation is stabilized.
"The defense and security forces are managing the situation. All external partners are asked not to interfere," Tchiani, flanked by soldiers, said in the televised statement.
Bazoum's apparent ousting marks the seventh attempted coup in West and Central Africa since 2020 and throws into question the future of Niger, a landlocked country that has had four coups since gaining independence from France in 1960. Bazoum was elected to office in 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.
Over the past week, the streets of Niger's capital have erupted in chaos as hundreds of people have marched in support of the president while chanting "No coup d'etat." But thousands of others have also come out in support of the junta, waving Russian flags and holding signs that read "Down with France." Protesters have also burned down a door and smashed windows at the French embassy in Niamey before being dispersed by Nigerien soldiers. France has since evacuated its citizens from Niger.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional body comprised of 15 West African countries, announced sanctions against Niger on July 30 and threatened to use force if the coup leaders don't reinstate Bazoum within one week. The African Union and the United Nations have also issued statements condemning the apparent coup.
Guinea, a nearby nation that has been under military rule since 2021, issued a statement on July 30 expressing support for Niger's junta and urging ECOWAS to "come to its senses." On July 31, the military-ruled governments of Burkina Faso and Mali, which share borders with Niger, released a joint statement denouncing the ECOWAS sanctions as "illegal, illegitimate and inhumane," refusing to apply them, and also warned that "any military intervention against Niger will be considered as a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali."
The U.S. government has said the ongoing situation in Niger remains "fluid," describing it as an "attempted takeover." Since the events unfolded, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken via telephone with Bazoum several times -- most recently on Wednesday -- as well as with other leaders in West Africa.
"We’ve seen a military junta attempt to seize control of the country and attempt to remove the democratically elected leader from power. We have been trying our utmost to reverse that situation," U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing on Wednesday. "We are trying to resolve this situation peacefully."
Later Wednesday, the U.S. Department of State announced that, "out of an abundance of caution," it is "ordering the temporary departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from the U.S. Embassy in Niamey." In the meantime, the embassy will remain open for limited, emergency services to U.S. citizens there. Routine consular services are suspended and Americans are now being advised not to travel to Niger.
“Commercial flight options are limited," Miller said in a statement on Wednesday evening. "We updated our travel advisory to reflect this and informed U.S. citizens that we are only able to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Niger given our reduced personnel."
U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder issued a statement Thursday clarifying that the State Department's ordered departure has no impact on U.S. forces in Niger.
There are currently 1,100 U.S. military personnel in Niger as part of a long-running counterterrorism mission that trains the Nigerien military and runs drone operations from a large base in the city of Agadez, located in the Sahara desert. Those operations have been suspended in the wake of the apparent coup, namely the drone activity since Niger's airspace has been closed below 24,000 feet.
Bazoum's government has been a key ally to both the U.S. and Europe in the fight against violent extremists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Africa's Sahel region. The U.S. Department of Defense has said it has provided $500 million in military assistance to Niger since 2012, "one of the largest" security assistance and training packages in sub-Saharan Africa.
Other countries in the region, including Burkina Faso and Mali, have ousted the French military and instead enlisted the help of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization.
In a voice message posted last Thursday on social media channels linked to Wagner, the group's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared to endorse the coup in Niger and offer the services of his fighters to the junta.
So far, there has been no indication that Prigozhin's mercenaries have arrived in Niger, but the U.S. Department of State is aware of unverified reports that leaders of the Nigerien junta have traveled abroad to seek assistance from Wagner, according to Miller.
"I would not be surprised to see Wagner attempt to exploit this situation to their own advantage, as they've attempted to exploit other situations in Africa to their own advantage," Miller told reporters during Wednesday's press briefing. "And when I say to their own advantage, I mean to their own personal financial advantage as well as their attempt to expand their influence on the continent. But I would add that any attempt by the military leaders in Niger to bring the Wagner forces into Niger would be a sign -- yet another sign -- that they do not have the best interests of the Nigerien people at heart."
ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford, Aicha El Hammar Castano, Luis Martinez, Emma Ogao and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report. | Africa politics |
SEOUL, South Korea -- The United States deployed a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying about 150 Tomahawk missiles to South Korea on Friday, a day after North Korea resumed missile tests in protest of the U.S.-South Korean live-fire drills.
The USS Michigan’s arrival in South Korea, the first of its kind in six years, is part of a recent bilateral agreement on enhancing “regular visibility” of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's advancing nuclear program, according to South Korean officials.
With the deployment of the USS Michigan, the U.S. and South Korean navies are to conduct drills on boosting their special operation capabilities and joint ability to cope with growing North Korean nuclear threats, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement.
It said the U.S. submarine arrived at the southeastern port city of Busan but didn’t say how long it would stay in South Korean waters.
The USS Michigan is one of the biggest submarines in the world. The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine can be armed with 150 Tomahawk missiles with a range of about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) and is capable of launching special forces missions, according to the South Korean statement.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries have been expanding their exercises in reaction to North Korea’s provocative run of missile tests since last year. North Korea has argued it was forced to ramp up testing activities to deal with its rivals’ expanded military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal, but experts say the North ultimately aims to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in eventual diplomacy.
In April, after their meeting in Washington, President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed that the United States would enhance the “regular visibility of strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula.” Biden also stated that any North Korean nuclear attack on the U.S. or its allies would “result in the end of whatever regime” took such action.
The two leaders also announced other steps to reinforce joint deterrence capabilities such as the docking a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine in South Korea periodically; bolstering joint training exercises; and the establishment of a new nuclear consultative group. The nuclear ballistic missile submarine hasn't come to South Korea.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, slammed the Biden-Yoon summit agreements, saying they revealed the two countries’ “most hostile and aggressive will of action” against the North. She threatened to further bolster her country’s nuclear forces.
On Thursday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, shortly after it vowed responses to the just-ended South Korea-U.S. firing drills near the Koreas’ heavily armed border.
They were the North’s first weapons launches since it tried to put its first spy satellite into orbit in late May. The launch failed as the rocket carrying the spy satellite crashed into the waters off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Friday that military search crews have salvaged what it believes is part of the crashed North Korean rocket. The ministry released photos of the white, metal cylinder, which some experts said would have been the rocket’s fuel tank.
___
Find more of AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific | Asia Politics |
Poland’s highest administrative court has announced that it will ask the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to issue a ruling on whether same-sex marriages conducted in another member state should be recognised in Poland even though Polish law does not allow for such unions.
The decision by the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) is groundbreaking, as up until now Polish courts have refused to refer such cases to the EU level.
🌈Czy Polska ma prawo odmawiać uznania małżeństwa pary jednopłciowej zawartego za granicą? O to NSA pyta TSUE! „Mamy realną szansę, by w polskim porządku prawnym pojawił się pierwszy akt małżeństwa pary osób tej samej płci”. 🌈
Czytaj w @oko_press: https://t.co/9caAKv27rx
— Agata Kowalska 🏳️🌈 (@AgataKowalskaTT) November 14, 2023
The case in question was brought by two men – one a Polish citizen, the other a dual Polish-German national – who married in Berlin. When they sought to have their union recognised in Poland, they were refused, first by the registry office and then by courts, which cited article 18 of Poland’s constitution.
That article states: “Marriage as a union of a man and a woman, family, motherhood and parenthood shall be placed under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland.”
Opponents of same-sex marriage have argued that this means marriage is constitutionally defined as being exclusively between a man and a woman. However, proponents say that it only puts such marriages under the protection and care of the state, without prohibiting other types of unions.
Poland’s highest administrative court has ruled that same-sex marriage is not barred under the constitution, say the gay couple who brought the case.
However, a conservative legal group has dismissed their interpretation as “fake news” https://t.co/CSvBOQ9LB3
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 3, 2022
Now the NSA has decided to ask the CJEU for a ruling on whether EU law, by protecting freedom of movement and residence within the bloc, prevents a member state from refusing to recognise marriages concluded in another member state.
The Polish court wants its EU counterpart to issue a so-called preliminary ruling, which is a final determination of EU law on a given issue. If the CJEU makes such a ruling, the national court that requested it is obliged to implement it and there is no scope for appeal.
The lawyer representing the couple, Anna Mazurczak, told legal news service Prawo.pl that the NSA’s decision is a “breakthrough”.
“I have been dealing with such cases for years and I was slowly losing hope for a change in the practice of courts, which consistently refused to ask the CJEU for a preliminary ruling,” she said.
A Polish same-sex couple have lost their long-running effort to have their overseas marriage recognised by Poland’s courts.
They will now take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that Poland has left them in a "legal vacuum" https://t.co/S6NoWdlhBz
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 17, 2022
The lawyer noted that two European rulings in recent years have offered hope for such couples. In 2018, the CJEU issued a ruling against Romania for refusing to grant residency to a non-EU citizen who had married a Romanian in a same-sex wedding conducted in another member state.
And this year, the grand chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (which is not an EU institution) upheld a 2021 ruling by another of its chambers that Russia’s refusal to provide legal recognition of same-sex unions violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
A number of Polish couples have also brought cases to the European Court of Human Rights regarding their country’s refusal to recognise same-sex unions.
In a separate interview with news website OKO.press, Mazurczak said that she believed the CJEU would issue a decision within “a few months, not years”.
The couple hope that, if their party comes to power at next month's elections, same-sex marriage can be legalised in Poland https://t.co/ZO37utaV5N
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 30, 2023
Poland has been ranked as the EU’s worst country for LGBT people for the last four years running in the annual Rainbow Europe index produced by ILGA-Europe, a Brussels-based NGO.
It has noted that the already-existing lack of rights for LGBT people has in recent years been exacerbated by a vociferous campaign by the national-conservative ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), against what it calls “LGBT ideology”.
However, last month’s elections saw PiS lose its parliamentary majority, making it almost certain that a new government will be formed by a coalition of three opposition groups. The largest of those, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), has pledged to introduce same-sex civil partnerships.
The smallest coalition partner, The Left (Lewica), also wants marriage equality. The leaders of the more conservative Third Way (Trzecia Droga) have indicated they would support civil partnerships but have rejected the idea of same-sex marriage.
A growing majority of Poles favour the legalisation of same-sex civil unions or marriage, with almost two thirds now in favour, a new poll has found https://t.co/ivS7MswKWi
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 10, 2022
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Krzysztof Cwik / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. | Europe Politics |
The UN Security Council has voted not to maintain MINUSMA, the UN peacekeeping force in Mali, as the mission ends on this day.
The United Nations Security Council voted on Friday to end the decade-long peacekeeping mission in Mali MINUSMA.
The 15-member council adopted a French-drafted resolution that called for MINUSMA to start "the cessation of its operations, transfer of its tasks, as well as the orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal of its personnel, with the objective of completing this process by December 31, 2023."
The resolution came into effect this Saturday.
Mali's ruling military junta requested the departure of the 13,000-strong force "without delay," earlier in June.
Following the announcement made by Mali's foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop, the US State Department expressed its concern about the effects the withdrawal will have on the security and humanitarian situation in the country.
However, such concerns from Washington did not influence the UN's decision.
Uncertain transition
Although the UN has been granted a six-month period to allow for a peaceful departure of its forces, Mali's junta could request a speedier withdrawal.
However, many political analysts worry a rapid disengagement will only leave Mali more vulnerable.
But for Mali's military rulers, the UN and western presence is seen as unwelcome.
One analyst told RFI English, "The junta accuses MINUSMA of being an instrument of France, to help the French to come back to Mali."
"Especially as French soldiers are still in neighbouring Niger. And the army is getting the attention of Malians every time they blame France, because of the deep bitterness Malians feel toward the colonial past. This isn't helping."
Like many experts on Malian politics, he wished to remain anonymous for fear of a backlash from the junta.
But if the force leaves too soon, he believes the risks for national and regional security sill increase significantly.
Regional security issues
Friday's decision from the UN comes as the country continues to fight an Islamist insurgency that emerged following an uprising in 2012.
The insurgency then spread to the whole Sahel region, in Niger, Burkina Faso, western Niger and – even more recently – to the north of Côte d'Ivoire.
MINUSMA was deployed by the UN Security Council in 2013 to support local and foreign efforts to restore stability.
Frustration over the growing insecurity spurred two coups in 2020 and 2021.
Mali's junto then teamed up with Russia's Wagner mercenary group in 2021. | Africa politics |
New Delhi, November 2
For the 31st year in a row, the world voted at the UN to condemn the blockade against Cuba.
The US and Israel were the only two countries in opposition while187 votes, including that of India, were in favour. Ukraine was the only abstention.
The resolutionwas titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”.
The UN General Assembly voiced concern that despite its resolutions dating back to 1992,“the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba is still in place”, and voiced concern, about “the adverse effects of such measures on the Cuban people and on Cuban nationals living in other countries”.
Six decades of the embargo has cost Cuba trillions of dollars, Singapore’s representative, who spoke on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said.
The representative of Azerbaijan,speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that Cuba is denied access to markets, international aid and technology transfers, which creates serious obstacles to its socioeconomic development. The embargo is the main impediment to broader access to the Internet, people-to-people contacts and the development of cultural, sport and scientific relations.
This embargo runs counter to Cuba’s continued efforts to realise sustainable development, he said.
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Ginger Minj is arguably one of the most recognizable faces to have come out of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the campy reality competition franchise helmed by RuPaul that seeks to find America’s Next Drag Superstar.
Though Minj hasn’t technically won a season yet (she’s appeared in three seasons of the Drag Race franchise), it hasn’t stopped her from achieving crossover fame. The queen has become a highly sought-after headliner in queer nightclubs across the country, and has even appeared alongside Jennifer Aniston in Netflix’s Dumplin’ and Bette Midler in Disney+'s Hocus Pocus 2.
Still, despite her success, Minj is the first to admit that now is a scary time to be a drag queen — especially in her home state of Florida, where drag queens and a range of LGBTQ issues are in the crosshairs of a sustained culture war through proposed legislation that would, among other things, ban minors from attending drag shows; that follows a series of bills introduced in at least 16 states, including Tennessee, Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma and others, seeking to do the same.
“Drag is a threat to people who don't understand it,” Minj tells Yahoo Entertainment. “On the surface, you see these really strong people who are very confident. They go out there and say, ‘This is not right’ and ‘We demand change’ and ‘Cure this' or 'Cure that,’ but if you look at people like us, and you don’t understand us, it can be a very scary thing.”
Minj, who started her career performing at Pulse Nightclub, the gay club in Orlando that became the target of a 2016 mass shooting, the largest in American history at the time, recalls the anxiety she felt after that tragedy — and how recent attacks have triggered past memories.
“It really shook the community, the whole world,” says Minj, who was touring the country with other Drag Race stars at the time of the Pulse shooting, so compromising their safety that FBI agents had to escort them on their remaining stops.
“‘You're all moving targets,’” she recalls the FBI saying. “‘You are 11 of the most famous drag queens in the world, and from now on we're going to have agents meet you at every stop you go to, and there will be an evacuation route.’”
For Minj and other headlining drag queens, performing at the risk of one’s own safety became the “new norm” in the years after the Pulse Nightclub shooting. The trauma and anxiety escalated further after the 2022 shooting at Club Q in Colorado. Now, she says, as politicians continue their "crusade" against the LGBTQ community by limiting access to drag performances, she's haunted by bouts of anxiety.
“It’s just so sad to me, and so nonsensical,” she says of the rising anti-drag sentiment coming from conservative politicians. “It breaks my heart, but it also fuels that fire to be like, No. I have not fought as hard as I have for as long as I have to let anybody take it away or intimidate me into not doing it.”
That’s why, Minj implores, she refuses to let fear push her away from the state she loves.
“If you want to party in our spaces, you gotta help us keep them safe,” she says. “I get to travel the world and go to all of these places where this isn't particularly an issue, where people embrace us and they love us and we can step on stage without feeling like, Oh, my goodness, what's going to happen? Am I being targeted? Am I going to be attacked? The initial reaction is: I should just move to one of those places. I should sell my house, pack up my dog and go someplace that loves and accepts me. And then I stop and think about it, and I go, No. This is my home, too.”
"I grew up here, I have worked for years to make a difference in this community," she adds. "So, it wouldn't be fair to me or anybody in it if I abandoned it and moved away. I need to stay here. I need to work and I need to fight."
To that end, Minj says she's gearing up for her most exciting gig yet, in which she fully plans on reminding audiences that drag is not only political, but also “the pinnacle of joy and fun” for all ages.
During the weekend of April 1, Minj is headlining Golden Con, an event where hundreds of Golden Girls fans flock to Chicago to celebrate everything they love about the hit 1980s sitcom. In a time when drag has become a hot-button issue, Minj hopes the celebration can be a time for unity, strength and friendship. (Just don't ask her to make the Golden Girls' favorite treat: “I have never successfully baked a cheesecake,” she admits. “That's why I have to go to the convention, so that I can get the cheesecake that's already there!”)
Minj says she’s optimistic for the future of drag, which is why she’s especially focused on equipping the next generation of artists with lessons she wished she had access to growing up.
“That’s really what my whole career has shifted to at this point — trying to share my story with the next generation of drag artists, or queer kids,” she says. “When I was growing up in Leesburg [Florida], there was nobody like me, so I am very grateful I am one of many who get to be that for this next generation.”
She adds: "I don't want to preach to people. That's not my goal. I like to have fun with people, and if they learn something along the way, then hey, that's great!" | Human Rights |
The Australian government decided to publicly release information about problems with Pacific patrol boats despite a warning from defence officials that this could harm important regional relationships.
In previously secret advice, the Department of Defence also raised fears that potential publicity about the problems “may then be exploited by criminal networks or malign actors”.
Pacific island countries rely on the Guardian-class patrol boats – about 15 of which have been donated by the Australian government so far – to detect illegal fishing, drug smuggling and other criminal activity.
Documents obtained under freedom of information laws reveal that three days before the government announced it was working to fix three problems, Defence urged it to take a quiet approach away from the media spotlight.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, went on to declare publicly that the former government “was sending broken boats out to the Pacific”.
The background brief to Marles dated 28 June 2022 said: “Proactive media on the current Guardian class patrol boat exhaust cracking issue is likely to damage relationships with Pacific partners and is not recommended by Defence.”
“Media attention may create unwanted political and media pressure for Pacific partners which may then be exploited by criminal networks or malign actors.”
“Proactive media” means actively releasing the information, rather than waiting until the government receives possible future questions from a media outlet to finally confirm the issues.
The same Defence brief said the Australian manufacturer, Austal, had “responded positively” and was “actively engaged in resolving this particular issue”.
The document said the boats were naval or police vessels primarily used for law enforcement so there was “a level of operational security around their status”. It said the area affected by the exhaust issue was unmanned while the vessels were at sea.
There is no suggestion that Defence wanted to hide the problem from Pacific governments, only that it favoured fixing the issues without media attention.
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But the government disagreed with that view and argued for transparency. The government gave authority for Defence to publish a statement on 1 July about the exhaust fault and two other issues that had emerged in the previous 16 months.
While that first statement was apolitical, ministers promptly used the issue to make partisan political points against the previous government.
The minister for defence industry and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, said on 1 July that the problems were “the latest example of how the former Liberal government was all announcement and no follow-through”.
Marles went even further in a doorstop interview the same day: “The fact that the former government was sending broken boats out to the Pacific is a disgrace.”
On Sky News on 3 July, Marles defended the manufacturer while taking another swipe at his political opponents: “I think Austal has a very proud record but, again, the former government was sending broken boats out to the Pacific and that’s just unacceptable.”
The opposition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, said Marles had “serious questions to answer as to why he went against official advice” and instead struck “a partisan and damaging tone in his comments”.
“This reckless rhetoric undermined the Australian national interest and our relationships with our Pacific partners,” Hastie said.
“We can only assume that he did this for short-term partisan reasons.”
The government was considering how to handle the issue at a time when it was preparing for the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting to be held in Fiji just weeks later.
It is understood the government judged that the problems were unlikely to remain a secret for long and it would be better to proactively release the information than to leave it to emerge in a less predictable way.
Marles and Conroy were approached for comment. Responding on behalf of the government, Conroy confirmed on Sunday that the government had “consulted Pacific governments before our public statements and are continuing to work closely with them on remediating the patrol boats”.
Asked why ministers believed it was important to release the information despite the Defence recommendation, Conroy said the Albanese government was “taking a more open and transparent approach to issues with Defence capability projects than the former Liberal government”.
“That’s why we were upfront with the public that the former government left us with 28 major defence projects running cumulatively 97 years late,” Conroy said.
“It’s why we were open with Pacific country partners and with the Australian public about the problems with the Guardian Class patrol boats.”
The newly obtained documents also reveal the head of the Department of Defence, Greg Moriarty, wrote to Austal on 17 June – two weeks before the announcement.
The department secretary raised concerns about “recurrent defects on a number of the 15 vessels delivered to date, the most recent being a significant design fault with the engine exhaust system”.
“This brings significant reputational risk, not only to Austal, but to Australia,” Moriarty said in the letter to the chief executive, Patrick Gregg.
“I cannot overstate the importance of comprehensively addressing this, and other design issues, as a matter of highest priority.”
Moriarty added: “The ongoing issues regarding design and build quality across the Guardian-class patrol boats are of great concern to Defence, most notably the reputational risk it poses as a result of perceptions of Australia providing a poor quality capability and/or service for our Pacific partners.”
Contacted for a response, Austal said it continued to have an “outstanding track record of delivering the Guardian-class program on time and to budget”.
“Seven ships were delivered in 2021, and a further six ships in 2022, a remarkable achievement given the supply chain challenges and the impact of Covid,” a spokesperson for Austal said.
“Defects, while disappointing, are unfortunately a fact of life with vessel construction, particularly with new classes of defence vessels given the complexity of the build.
“When advised of the issues Austal worked very closely with the Department of Defence and its suppliers and quickly identified the root cause and necessary remedial action.” | Australia Politics |
Libya's PM has suspended his foreign minister after she met informally with her Israeli counterpart.
Libya does not recognise Israel, as Tripoli backs the Palestinian cause, and the meeting has sparked protests.
Israel's Eli Cohen described the meeting with Najla al-Mangoush as a historic first step in establishing relations.
Israel is trying to build closer ties with more Arab and Muslim-majority countries, such as oil-rich Libya.
As well as suspending Ms Mangoush, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah referred her for investigation.
Mr Cohen said he met Ms Mangoush last week on the sidelines of a summit in Rome, and they discussed "the great potential for the relations between the two countries". He said they covered Israeli aid in humanitarian issues, agriculture, water management and the importance of preserving Jewish heritage in Libya, including renovating synagogues and cemeteries.
Libya's foreign ministry said Ms Mangoush had rejected a meeting with representatives from Israel, and what had taken place was "an unprepared, casual encounter during a meeting at Italy's foreign affairs ministry". A statement also said the interaction did not include "any discussions, agreements or consultations" and the ministry "renews its complete and absolute rejection of normalisation" with Israel.
Following reports of the informal meeting, protests broke out in the capital Tripoli and some other cities. Roads were blocked, tyres burnt and demonstrators waved the Palestinian flag, though the protests appear to have been relatively small.
The presidential council, which represents Libya's three provinces, said it was illegal to normalise relations with Israel.
The Speaker's Office in parliament has accused Ms Mangoush of grand treason and called for an emergency session on Monday.
Libya has been in turmoil for years, with the country split between the interim, internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a rival one in the east.
Should any deal between Israel and Libya be brokered, it would be complicated by that political division, which has existed since the overthrow of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi 12 years ago.
Gen Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army (LNA) runs the rival government in the eastern coastal city of Tobruk.
Israel's charm offensive began under the 2020 Abraham Accords, which seek to get countries which are hostile to Israel to recognise its sovereignty and establish diplomatic relations.
So far, Israel has done this with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. However, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticised for West Bank settlement construction and military raids on suspected militant strongholds in the occupied Palestinian territories.
On Sunday evening, Libya's Presidential Council requested "clarification" from the government over what had happened. The Presidential Council carries out the functions of head of state and is in charge of the country's military.
A letter from the body said the meeting between the two foreign ministers "does not reflect the foreign policy of the Libyan state, does not represent the Libyan national constants and is considered a violation of Libyan laws which criminalise normalisation with the 'Zionist entity'". It also asked Mr Dbeibah "to apply the law if the meeting took place".
Under Gaddafi, who was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, thousands of Jews were expelled from Libya and many synagogues were destroyed. | Middle East Politics |
Assam Government Hikes Minimum Wage Of Tea Garden Workers
In a cabinet meeting chaired by Sarma, the decision was taken to hike the wages in both Brahmaputra and Barak valleys with effect from Oct. 1.
The Assam government on Monday decided to hike the daily minimum wage of tea garden workers by Rs 18, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
In a cabinet meeting chaired by Sarma, the decision was taken to hike the wages in both Brahmaputra and Barak valleys with effect from Oct. 1.
"The cabinet decided to increase the minimum daily wages of tea garden workers. In Brahmaputra Valley, the daily wage has been increased to Rs 250 from Rs 232, with effect from Oct. 1. In Barak valley, the workers will get Rs 228 instead of Rs 210 from now. So, Rs 18 will be hiked in both places," he said.
Briefing the press after the meeting, Sarma said the government has given instructions to the garden managements to give a 20% bonus for the ensuing Durga Puja.
"There will be a 3% reservation in government jobs for tea garden workers and adivasi people with immediate effect. This will be for only non-creamy layer," he said.
The chief minister also said that a decision was taken to create Bajali district by bifurcating the existing Barpeta district.
"At present, the district will be formed with the existing Bajali constituency from Oct. 11. Later, the demarcation will be done as per suggestions of the cabinet sub-committee," he said.
Sharing another decision of the cabinet, Sarma said that for students studying in government schools from class 7 to 12, 5% seats will be reserved in medical and engineering courses.
"This will attract students towards government institutions," he said.
"Besides, for the Moran and Matak communities, one magistrate and one DSP posts will be reserved in Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) recruitment," he said.
Sarma said that The Assam Public Examination (Measure for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment Ordinance) was approved by the state cabinet and the details will be shared by Education Minister Ranoj Pegu on Tuesday.
The chief minister said a code of conduct was approved for the expenses of cabinet meetings outside Guwahati.
"The ministers while discharging duties attend lots of meetings and functions. In those, they get many types of gifts. In this regard also, an important decision was taken and Pegu will intimate it tomorrow," he said.
The cabinet also decided to ban drinking water bottles of sizes up to 250 ml from Monday, Sarma said. | India Politics |
KYIV, Ukraine -- The Kremlin's spokesman said Monday that U.N. aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine can’t go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe.
The United Nations rebuked Moscow on Sunday for allegedly denying aid workers access to Russia-occupied areas where residents are stranded amid “devastating destruction.”
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement that her staff were engaging with both Kyiv and Moscow, which control different parts of the area, in a bid to reach civilians in need. They face a shortage of drinking water and food and a lack of power.
Brown urged Russian authorities “to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law” and let them in.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t explicitly admit that Russia had blocked U.N. access, but told a conference call with reporters that Ukrainian attacks made a visit too risky.
“There has been constant shelling, constant provocations, civilian facilities and the civilian population have come under fire, people have died, so it’s really difficult to ensure their security,” Peskov said.
His comments came amid varying accounts by survivors of the quality of assistance that Russia is providing in areas it controls. The dam lies on the Dnieper River, which forms the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the eastern and western banks, respectively.
Many evacuees and residents accuse Russian authorities of doing little or nothing to help. Some civilians said that evacuees were sometimes forced to present Russian passports if they wanted to leave.
On the Ukrainian side, rescuers are braving Russian snipers as they rush to ferry Ukrainians out of Russia-occupied flood zones.
Ukraine's presidential office said Monday that the Kherson region affected by the flooding endured 35 Russian attacks over the previous 24 hours.
Exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press indicate that Moscow had the means, motive and opportunity to blow up the dam, which was under Russian control, earlier this month.
The explosion occurred as Ukraine mustered for a counteroffensive. Kyiv's forces have intensified attacks along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line recently.
Some analysts saw the dam breach as a Russian effort to thwart Ukraine's counteroffensive in the Kherson region.
The U.K. Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia has recently redeployed several thousand troops from the banks of the Dnieper to buttress its positions in the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors, which reportedly have seen heavy fighting.
The move “likely reflects Russia’s perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnieper is now less likely” following the dam’s collapse, the ministry said in a tweet.
Ukrainian forces have advanced up to seven kilometers (four miles) into territory previously held by Russia, she said. Russia’s Defense Ministry didn’t confirm losing any ground to the Ukrainian forces.
It wasn't possible to independently verify battlefield claims by either side.
Russia is also pursuing offensive actions, according to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.
Russia has concentrated a significant number of its military units, and particularly airborne assault troops, in Ukraine’s east, she said. They are stepping up Moscow’s offensive around Kupiansk in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv province and Lyman in the eastern Donetsk province, Maliar said on Telegram.
Ukrainian forces may have put their counteroffensive operations on hold as they review their tactics, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
It noted that Kyiv “has not yet committed the majority of its available forces to counteroffensive operations and has not yet launched its main effort.”
Russia attacked south and southeast Ukraine overnight with cruise missiles and self-exploding drones, Ukraine’s air force reported Monday. Four Kalibr missiles and four Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down, it said.
According to regional officials, the southern province of Odesa and the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region were targeted by the attack. No casualties or damage were immediately reported.
Three civilians were wounded by artillery fire in the Beryslav district of the Kherson province Monday, local officials said. A 64-year-old woman was in critical condition, according to their Telegram post. At least five residential buildings, two private residences and an administrative building sustained damage.
Officials in Russia’s southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said Monday morning that seven people, including a child, were wounded in Ukrainian drone attacks over the previous 24 hours.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | Europe Politics |
The Telegraph has reported on journalist Feras Kilani of BBC Arabic, who has come under scrutiny for producing two versions of an interview with senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk. These versions, published in English and Arabic, present significantly different accounts of the October 7th massacre, in which 1,400 Israelis lost their lives at the hands of Hamas terrorists. The stark contrast between the English and Arabic versions of the interview has raised questions about journalistic integrity and impartiality.
According to The Telegraph, in the English version of the interview, Kilani meticulously laid out evidence gathered by the BBC and other media outlets, demonstrating that Hamas had targeted and killed civilians during the October 7th attacks. The report mentioned video footage from Hamas body cameras and first-hand testimonies from international news networks, which indicated that Hamas militants had shot unarmed adults and children. Kilani challenged Abu Marzouk on these findings but did not receive a direct response.
The Telegraph's report highlights the significant differences between the English and Arabic versions of Kilani's interview. The Arabic version of the interview barely touched upon the evidence of civilian targeting by Hamas and portrays Abu Marzouk as insisting that his group did not kill civilians in Israel, emphasizing that only conscripts were targeted.
Furthermore, The Telegraph pointed out that while the English version reported Israel's claim that "more than 1,400 people were killed by Hamas in the 7 October attacks, most of them civilians," it failed to mention the "wealth of evidence" independently collected supporting this claim. The Arabic version, on the other hand, mentioned this evidence but presented it in a more neutral tone.
The differences between the headlines of the two versions are equally striking, as The Telegraph reports. The English version's headline reads, "Hamas leader refuses to acknowledge the killing of civilians in Israel," while the Arabic version's headline translates to "Musa Abu Marzouk to BBC: Hamas did not kill civilians in Israel."
Report adds to existing concerns about bias at BBC
The Telegraph's report also highlighted the concerns raised by both Jewish and media campaign groups regarding the implications for the BBC's reputation for accuracy and impartiality. The Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesperson called the allegation that the BBC provides different accounts to English and Arabic speakers "extremely serious" and urged an immediate investigation.
Camera Arabic, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, echoed these concerns, asserting that the BBC's Arabic-speaking audience deserves a news product that includes hard truths, crucial context, and impartial terminology, similar to what is offered in English.
Feras Kilani, who has a long career in journalism, including working with Syrian state TV and Al-Bayan in the United Arab Emirates before joining BBC World Service in 2009, has not responded to the controversy, as reported by The Telegraph.
The BBC responded to this report, in which they defended their approach, stating that it operates in 43 languages, and its reports are not mere translations of each other. “The articles you highlight, published three weeks ago, have both been through our robust editorial processes.” | Middle East Politics |
In what can only be described as an extremely bizarre case from Denmark, the governing party, the Moderates, has decided to expel the 28-year-old politician Mike Villa Fonseca from their ranks.
This move comes after revelations that the 28-year-old, who until recently served as the cultural and domestic affairs spokesperson for the government party, is in a relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
The relationship was not known to either party colleagues or the Danish public, and the politician was expelled from the party due to the Moderates' established rules prohibiting relationships with individuals under 18 years of age.
This is despite the fact that Danish law actually allows for relationships with individuals as young as 15 years old.
The disclosure of the relationship with the young woman has caused an uproar among the Danish population, especially after it was revealed that the politician has been a family friend since the woman was 10 years old, and that her parents have endorsed the relationship.
A tough future in Danish politics
According to several Danish media outlets, the parents have recently spoken about the relationship, acknowledging its unusual nature due to the age difference. However, they believe the relationship is beneficial for both parties.
Mike Villa Fonseca, however, is expected to face a difficult future in Danish politics. Several major parties, including the Social Democrats, Venstre, Liberal Alliance, and the Danish People's Party, have already stated that he will not be welcomed into their ranks. Considering the public sentiment in Denmark, it appears unlikely that he will garner many personal votes in the next Danish election.
Additionally, the police have confirmed that a report has been filed against the 28-year-old politician in connection with grooming.
The relationship with the young woman is alleged to have begun when she was in her 8th year of school.
Mike Villa Fonseca has been on sick leave since the story broke over the weekend.
Something similar happened i 2004
This is not the first time a case like this has hit Danish politics. Back in 2004, the then 34-year-old Jeppe Kofoed from the Social Democrats was at a party in the Danish city of Esbjerg, where it emerged that he had engaged in sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl from the party's youth division.
The case received massive media coverage, and the public was decidedly critical of the politician. However, his future turned out differently. Until the end of last year, he was serving as the Foreign Minister of Denmark.
The only difference between then and now is that Jeppe Kofoed was not in a committed relationship with the girl, which is the case for Mike Villa Fonseca. | Europe Politics |
Protesters yell 'shame on you Albo' as the Prime Minister visits a university to make $10 million funding announcement
Footage has emerged of the moment the Prime Minister was heckled by protesters who yelled "shame on you Albo" while he was visiting a university.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was heckled by protesters after visiting a university south of Sydney to make a funding announcement.
Mr Albanese spent Friday morning at the University of Wollongong where he unveiled a $10 million investment to establish an energy futures skills centre.
As the Prime Minister was getting into his Commonwealth car that was waiting out the front, protesters began yelling in his direction.
Held back by security and police, the protesters called out "free, free the refugees" and "how dare you reopen Nauru".
The protesters then continued to follow Mr Albanese's car as it drove away, with one member of the group screaming out "shame on you, Albo".
Smidgen of drama today after @AlboMP stopped in at the University of Wollongongâs Energy Future Skills Centre. pic.twitter.com/JEVTk2Yjh7— Romy Gilbert (@GilbertRomy) February 24, 2023
Mr Albanese earlier told a press conference it was "a pleasure" to be back at the university where he opened its smart infrastructure facility in 2011 while a minister in the Gillard Government.
"I want to thank the University of Wollongong staff and leadership for welcoming us back here," he said.
"This announcement of an Energy Future Skills Centre, with $10 million of funding, and $2.5 million for a renewable energy training facility here in Wollongong is a major way in which our plans are fitting together.
"When you look at our plans of 43 per cent reduction by 2030, net zero by 2050, making sure we have the best innovation and science used here at the University of Wollongong to drive those changes through, to drive energy efficiency, to lower costs while lowering emissions and making sure as well that we skill up Australians for the jobs of the future we can have cleaner, cheaper energy."
Earlier this month, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil was accused of sitting on her hands for six weeks after learning critical offshore processing laws had expired.
Ms O'Neil had revealed in Question Time she only learned legislation designating Nauru as a regional processing centre had lapsed on December 15.
A document obtained by Sky News Australia showed Ms O'Neil did not fulfil an obligation to inform the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees of its intention to relist Nauru until six weeks later on January 27.
Ms O'Neil told Parliament on February 8 she first learned the legislation had lapsed "late in the evening" of December 15 and the Prime Minister's Office was informed "immediately" after.
At that stage the laws had been out of action for two months.
Shadow home affairs minister Karen Andrews blasted Ms O'Neil for the "oversight", declaring it had been "jolly lucky" no boats had arrived while the legislation had lapsed. | Australia Politics |
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2023: Date, History, Significance And All You Need To Know
Kargil Vijay Diwas marks the victory of Indian soldiers in capturing the mountain heights that were occupied by the Pakistani Army
Kargil Vijay Diwas or Kargil Victory Day is celebrated every year on July 26 to rekindle the pride and valour of the Indian soldiers who took part in Operation Vijay.
Kargil Vijay Diwas marks the victory of Indian soldiers in capturing the mountain heights that were occupied by the Pakistani Army on July 26, 1999 during the Kargil War.
âà¤à¤¾à¤°à¤à¤¿à¤² à¤à¥ वà¥à¤°â— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) July 21, 2023
सà¥à¤°à¤à¥à¤·à¤¾ à¤à¤¾ पहरा बà¥à¤¨à¤¾ à¤à¤¸à¤¾ à¤à¤¹à¤°à¤¾,
à¤à¤¨à¤à¥ हिफ़ाà¤à¤¼à¤¤ नॠà¤à¥à¤à¤à¥ वॠलà¤à¥à¤°
पार à¤à¤°à¤¨à¥ सॠदà¥à¤¶à¥à¤®à¤¨ à¤à¤¬à¤°à¤¾à¤¯à¤¾,
रà¤à¥à¤·à¤¾ मà¥à¤ हमारॠà¤à¤¡à¤¼à¥ थॠà¤à¤¾à¤°à¤à¤¿à¤² à¤à¥ वॠवà¥à¤° I
लहॠà¤à¥ सà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¹à¥ बनाà¤à¤°
à¤à¤¨à¥à¤¹à¥à¤à¤¨à¥ à¤à¤¤à¤¿à¤¹à¤¾à¤¸ रà¤à¤¾à¤¯à¤¾ हॠI
à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤à¤¿à¤² à¤à¥ à¤à¥à¤à¤¿à¤¯à¥à¤ पर
विà¤à¤¯ धà¥à¤µà¤ फहराया हॠI
- तमनà¥à¤¨à¤¾ बॠà¤à¥à¤à¤°à¥à¤¤à¥#OperationVijay⦠pic.twitter.com/KY45LZ937q
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2023: History
The Kargil War, also known as Operation Vijay, was triggered by infiltration by Pakistani troops across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kargil district of Ladakh.
The Pakistani troops and terrorists captured key positions on the Indian side of the LoC. The intent was to cut off the link between Kashmir and Ladakh, and cause Indian forces to withdraw from the Siachen Glacier, thus forcing India to negotiate a settlement on the broader Kashmir dispute.
However, due to India's determined response, the Pakistani troops were forced to withdraw from the captured Indian territories. After intense fighting, often in extremely challenging conditions, the Indian forces successfully took command of the high outposts which had been lost to Pakistani intruders. The war concluded on 26 July 1999 when India announced the complete eviction of Pakistani intruders.
#OperationVijay— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) July 26, 2022
Kargil Vijay Diwas is a reminiscence of undaunted bravery & courage of the #Bravehearts who inscribed a golden chapter in history, with their blood & sacrifice.
They gave a befitting reply to enemy's misadventure and a resounding victory to #India.#IndianArmy pic.twitter.com/HwVFrYHwt1
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2023: Significance
Kargil Vijay Diwas is significant as it commemorates the determination, bravery, and sacrifice of the Indian soldiers and evokes a sense of patriotism among the citizens. It also serves as a reminder of the strategic and diplomatic victory India achieved during this conflict.
Kargil Vijay Diwas is important to remember the sacrifices that were made to secure our freedom. We should also be grateful for the courage and determination of the Indian Armed Forces, who continue to protect our country.
#KargilVijayDiwas#OperationVijay— PRO Defence Mumbai (@DefPROMumbai) July 24, 2023
Capture of Tiger Hill - the turning point in #KargilWar
The gallant brave men of the #IndianArmy took the enemy by complete surprise, who not only suffered a huge physical blow but a psychological one as well.@SpokespersonMoD @adgpi pic.twitter.com/LZ4YN312ZU
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2023: How To Celebrate
Across the country, people pay homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Kargil War. The day is marked with wreath-laying ceremonies at war memorials, particularly at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras, located in the foothills of the Tololing Hill. The memorial, built by the Indian Army, lists the soldiers who died during the War.
Here are some ideas for how to celebrate Kargil Vijay Diwas:
Attend a flag hoisting ceremony or parade.
Visit a memorial to the soldiers who died in the war.
Spend time with your family and friends and reflect on the importance of freedom and sovereignty.
Watch a documentary or movie about the Kargil War.
Read a book about the Kargil War.
Volunteer your time to support the Indian Armed Forces.
Captain Vikram Batra
During Operation Vijay, Captain Vikram Batra of 13 JAK RIF, was tasked to capture Point 5140. Leading from the front, in a daring assault, he killed four enemy troops in a close combat battle.
On 07 July 1999, his company was tasked to capture a feature on Point 4875. In a fierce hand-to-hand fight, he killed five enemy soldiers, according to the information on National War Memorial's website.
Despite sustaining grave injuries, he led his men from the front and pressed on the attack, achieving virtually impossible task in the face of heavy enemy fire, before attaining martyrdom.
Inspired by his courageous act, his troops killed the enemy and captured Point 4875. For exhibiting an act of conspicuous gallantry, inspiring leadership, indomitable courage and supreme sacrifice, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra (Posthumous). | India Politics |
BANGKOK — An entire Myanmar army battalion based near the Chinese border surrendered to an alliance of ethnic armed groups that launched a surprise offensive last month against the military, a spokesperson for one of the armed groups said Wednesday.
The surrender of 261 people — 127 soldiers and 134 of their family members — from the infantry battalion in northeastern Shan state appears to be the biggest by regular army forces since widespread armed conflict in Myanmar broke out in 2021 after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February that year.
The alliance expects to soon capture Laukkaing, the area’s major city, the spokesperson said.
The surrender — which has not been announced by the military government and could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press — came two weeks after the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, calling themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, launched a coordinated offensive against the military government on Oct. 27.
The alliance has claimed widespread victories and the military government made a rare acknowledgement on Nov. 2 that it had lost control of three towns, one of which is a major border crossing for trade with China.
The offensive in the northern part of Shan state was seen as a significant challenge for the army, which has struggled to contain a nationwide uprising by members of the Peoples’ Defense Force, a pro-democracy armed group established after the 2021 army takeover. The various PDF groups that operate around the country have joined forces with well-organized, battle-hardened ethnic armed groups — including those in the Three Brotherhood Alliance — that have been fighting Myanmar’s central government for greater autonomy for decades.
The military government faced another challenge on Monday when the Arakan Army launched surprise attacks on military targets in five townships in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state. A yearlong cease fire had previously been declared in the state between the military government and the Arakan Army.
Le Kyar Wai, a spokesperson for the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, told the AP on Wednesday that each of the soldiers who surrendered in Shan state, including the commander, was awarded 1 million kyat (about $480) and their family members were each given 100,000 kyat ($48).
“We give medical treatment to the injured. We delivered them safely to their desired destination,” Le Kyar Wai said, adding that the alliance groups planned to launch an operation soon to seize Laukkaing after they surrounded the city.
Laukkaing is known for hosting major organized criminal enterprises including cyberscam operations controlled by Chinese investors in cooperation with local Myanmar warlords.
The Chinese government in recent weeks has pushed a crackdown on these operations, and thousands of people involved have been repatriated to China. Many employed in the scams were tricked into working for them and then held against their will.
The Three Brotherhood Alliance had announced that one of the goals of its Oct. 27 offensive was to crack down on the scam operations. Le Kyar Wai said the alliance would rescue those held by the scam centers, arrest the people behind the operations and transfer them to relevant authorities, whom he did not specify but probably means Chinese law enforcement officials.
The soldiers who surrendered were not the first to lay down their weapons to the alliance groups in Shan state. On Oct. 30, 41 soldiers from another infantry battalion based in nearby Kunlong township surrendered to them. In total, more than 200 soldiers and police have surrendered to the alliance groups since Oct. 31, the groups said in a statement on Tuesday.
Since the offensive began last month, soldiers and police have also surrendered in Karen, Kayah, Rakhine and Chin states and Sagaing region, according to ethnic armed groups and independent local media. | Asia Politics |
‘We haven’t wasted a minute’: NSW Liberal Party tout their record at official election campaign launch in Sydney's west
The NSW Liberal Party have officially launched their campaign as the nail-biting state election gets underway.
The NSW Liberal Party have officially launched their election campaign ahead of the upcoming vote later this month.
Liberal Party heavyweights, candidates and supporters all flocked to the Liverpool Catholic Club in Sydney’s west on Sunday to hear the Premier’s vision for the state’s future.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet was flanked by dozens of children as he gave his campaign speech, with education a cornerstone of his election pledges this year.
He outlined several new policies in Sunday’s speech, promising $1.2 billion to build and upgrade public schools across the state if returned to the top job on March 25.
He also announced the creation of a new selective school in the north-western Sydney suburb of Box Hill.
“The children of our state should have access to the best schools and the best education, no matter where they live,” Mr Perottet told the audience.
The Premier also promised to create a ‘future fund’ for every child in the state, which he described as a “down payment to secure the future dreams of our children”.
Under the proposed plan, all children under 10 are eligible for an account which would begin with a $400 contribution from the government.
Families are then invited to contribute into the fund themselves, with the government offering to match the contributions up to $400 annually.
Mr Perrottet claimed the fund could result in $28,000 by the time a child turns 18.
The Premier also used the speech to tout his government’s record, claiming the party had turned the state around.
“In our time in government, we haven’t wasted a minute in transforming our entire state,” he said.
“Our record is etched in the skylines of cities and regions for all to see.
“People are once again proud to say they come from New South Wales.”
Our Kids Future Fund is a game changer ðð¼— Liberal Party NSW (@LiberalNSW) March 12, 2023
Weâre setting kids up for success with a new investment vehicle for each child born in NSW, Parents will be able to contribute to the fund, and the government will match the contribution up to $400 per year, with a $400 contribution made pic.twitter.com/7WdFx0qikC
While former prime minister John Howard was spotted at the event, more recent Liberal ex-PMs – such as Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison - weren’t in attendance.
Mr Perrottet’s predecessor Gladys Berejiklian was also notably absent from the campaign launch.
The state election looks to be a nail-biter, with analysts predicting it will be one of the closest in recent memory.
The Coalition can’t afford to lose any seats, currently holding just 46 of the 47 seats required to form majority government.
Labor needs to win nine seats to form majority government.
Chris Minns’ seat of Kogarah is the election’s most marginal, with the Labor leader holding the south Sydney electorate at a margin of just 0.1 per cent. | Australia Politics |
Italy’s far-right government is embroiled in a power struggle with magistrates amid controversial investigations involving leading figures within the ruling coalition.
In a memo citing sources from the office of the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, a “segment of the judiciary” came under attack “for choosing to play an active opposition role” in allegedly attempting to bring down her administration ahead of next year’s European parliamentary elections.
Tensions have been simmering between the two powers since allegations emerged regarding the business activities of the tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, a close Meloni aide, leading to calls for her resignation.
Santanchè denied she was being investigated during an address to parliament last week. However, judicial sources confirmed soon after the speech that she had been under investigation since October for bankruptcy and false accounting claims involving her publishing group, Visibilia.
“I never appropriated anything that does not belong to me, I have never abused my top positions in companies. I defy anyone to prove otherwise,” she said.
A judge also came under fire from the government after refusing a request from the public prosecutor to shelve a case involving Andrea Delmastro, an official from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist roots. Delmastro was accused of breaching secrecy rules after speaking out in parliament in relation to Alfredo Cospito, an anarchist jailed under a harsh regime usually reserved for mafia bosses.
Meanwhile, Ignazio La Russa, the president of the upper house and a Brothers of Italy co-founder, provoked controversy after casting doubt on rape allegations made by a woman against his son.
Maurizio Gasparri, a politician with the late Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, accused the judiciary of “attacking the constitution”.
But magistrates have hit back, arguing that the “false” accusations against them undermine trust in the judiciary. “To do this merely because a judge is doing his job conscientiously and is dealing with a case which happens to concern a politician … means delegitimising the judiciary,” Salvatore Casciaro, the secretary of the magistrates’ union, ANM, told Rai Radio 1.
Meloni’s government is trying to push through judicial changes, including limiting the use of wiretapping and abolishing the crime of abuse of office, both of which have been criticised by magistrates. The government is also seeking to separate the career paths of judges and prosecutors so they can no longer switch from one job to the other, a measure described by some magistrates as a way to “punish the judiciary”.
Carlo Sorgi, a retired magistrate, said: “It’s inevitable that this rightwing government, not being within legal parameters, clashes with those who have to enforce the legal parameters. When a case emerges [against one of their own] they feel scandalised. It’s absurd, but in reality they are attacking magistrates because they want faith in magistrates to be weakened in public opinion.”
Magistrates have often been accused of siding with the left by Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right League, who is embroiled in a trial for alleged kidnapping – which he denies – after refusing to let refugees disembark from a rescue ship in Sicily when he was interior minister in 2019.
“This row has been going on for 30 years,” said Gian Domenico Caiazza, the chair of the Italian defence attorneys’ association. “There is an imbalance between the judiciary powers and the political ones. It’s not a problem of left or rightwing, it’s a systematic issue … and each time a case emerges that hits a minister or undersecretary it touches a nerve.”
Elly Schlein, the leader of the centre-left opposition Democratic party, has criticised Meloni for remaining silent over the investigations, especially that involving Santanchè, who is accused of Covid benefit fraud as well as failing to pay suppliers and of firing staff without giving them redundancy payments. “It is absolutely unacceptable in a democratic system that, instead of responding to the serious accusations on the merits, Palazzo Chigi [the prime minister’s office] fuels a dangerous clash between the powers of the state by circulating a note with intimidating tones towards the judiciary.”
Francesco Galietti, the founder of Policy Sonar, a political consultancy in Rome, said: “This is a power struggle … you have one power that thinks it has a strong mandate which wants to suck the air out of another, which is hitting back, and it’s hitting where it hurts. The question now is how long it will take to reach a climax … and whether it could destabilise the government before the EU elections or not.” | Europe Politics |
Gabon's new military leader has pledged to return the country to democracy, but has refused to provide a timelines for fresh elections.
Gen Brice Oligui Nguema said the country's state institutions would be made more democratic and their suspension was only "temporary".
But Gabon's opposition coalition says the military shows no signs of handing power back to a civilian government.
The deposed president, Ali Bongo, was placed under house arrest this week.
Army officers appeared on state TV in the early hours of Wednesday to say they had seized control, ending the Bongo family's 55-year hold on power in the central African state.
They said they had annulled the results of Saturday's presidential election, in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner but which the opposition said was fraudulent.
In a televised address on Friday evening, Gen Nguema said the military would move "quickly but surely" to avoid elections that "repeat the same mistakes" by keeping the same people in power.
"Going as quickly as possible does not mean organising ad hoc elections, where we will end up with the same errors," he said.
Gabon's main opposition group, Alternance 2023, which says it is the rightful winner of Saturday's election, urged the international community on Friday to encourage a return to civilian rule.
"We were happy that Ali Bongo was overthrown but ... we hope that the international community will stand up in favour of the Republic and the democratic order in Gabon by asking the military to give back the power to the civilians," Alexandra Pangha, a spokesperson for Alternance 2023 leader Albert Ondo Ossa, told the BBC.
She added that the plan for Gen Nguema to be sworn in as transitional president on Monday was "absurd".
The coup in Gabon is the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020, following Niger, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad.
It has been condemned by the UN, the African Union and France - its former colonial power which had close ties to the Bongo family.
Mr Bongo, who had been in power since 2009, appeared in a video at his home this week calling on his "friends all over the world" to "make noise" on his behalf.
But his removal has also been celebrated by many in Gabon who have grown resentful of his, and his family's, regime.
Crowds in the capital, Libreville, and elsewhere were seen celebrating the army's declaration earlier this week. | Africa politics |
Putin threatens to seize more territory in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to order troops to take more land in Ukraine to protect Russian territory, he said in Tuesday remarks.
The assertion comes as Ukraine begins a long-awaited counteroffensive in the country’s south and east, claiming small victories that have been disputed by the Russian government. Putin said Ukraine has suffered “catastrophic” losses in their probing attacks into Russian-occupied portions of Ukraine; however, Ukrainian officials have so far called the offensive a success.
He also reiterated claims that the Kakhovka dam was destroyed intentionally by Ukraine. The dam failed two weeks ago, causing massive flooding in Ukraine’s south, displacing many people and threatening agriculture in the region as well as military movements.
The Ukrainian government, on the other hand, has blamed the Russians for the resulting humanitarian crisis.
Putin’s threat to take more territory would create a “sanitary zone” on Ukrainian land before the Russian border to prevent any Ukrainian attack into Russia itself, he said.
Last month, Russian irregulars supporting Ukraine raided border crossings and small towns in Russia, taking combat to Russian soil for one of the first times in the nearly 14-month-long conflict. Drone strikes have also thrust into Russia for the first time in recent weeks, though the Ukrainian government has denied its direct involvement in both attacks.
Also in the two-hour meeting with war bloggers and journalists, Putin threatened to pull out of a United Nations deal to allow Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea.
Those shipments have kept the Ukrainian economy afloat and have alleviated some global food shortages caused by the war’s disruptions to food supply chains. Before the conflict, Ukraine was the world’s fifth largest wheat exporter, according to U.N. data.
The U.S. announced a new $325 million aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday, comprising additional rocket systems and air defenses.
Early Tuesday morning, Russia launched a set of strikes on Kyiv and central Ukraine, killing 11 people in the small town of Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people,” Zelensky said on Telegram.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Europe Politics |
Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have arrested a man for urinating on a tribal worker in public.
Pravesh Shukla has been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act - a law meant to protect historically oppressed communities.
He was arrested after a video, which shows him assaulting the man, was widely shared on social media.
The incident has sparked outrage in the country.
Shukla or his family have not commented on the incident.
Some politicians of the main opposition party Congress have alleged that Shukla is associated with the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) - which is also in power in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP has denied the allegation.
The police also refused to comment on the allegation, saying that the "facts of the case need to be first investigated".
Despite laws that protect them, discrimination against tribespeople remains a daily reality for them and other people belonging to lower castes - thought to number around 200 million.
In the video, which was first circulated on Tuesday, Shukla can be seen smoking a cigarette as he urinates on the man's face who is sitting on the road. Reports say that he was drunk at the time of the incident.
As the clip went viral, several people demanded Shukla's arrest.
"This incident has put entire Madhya Pradesh to shame. Strictest punishment should be given to the guilty person and atrocities on tribal [people] in Madhya Pradesh should be stopped," Kamal Nath, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, tweeted on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also expressed his outrage and said the administration would impose the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against him.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez alleged that the accused, Pravesh Shukla, has ties with BJP lawmaker Kedarnath Shukla.
Mr Hafeez also shared photos which show the two of them together.
Mr Kedarnath Shukla, however, denied the allegations and said that he had no idea who the accused was. "When I go out in the constituency, there are many people who come with me. I attend so many programmes. He is not a BJP member," he said.
BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features. | India Politics |
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WASHINGTON (AP) — In response to Venezuela’s government and a faction of its opposition formally agreeing to work together to reach a series of basic conditions for the next presidential election, the U.S. agreed Wednesday to temporarily suspend some sanctions on the country’s oil, gas and gold sectors.
Tuesday’s agreement between President Nicolás Maduro’s administration and the Unitary Platform came just days before the opposition holds a primary to pick its candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
The U.S. Treasury issued a six-month general license that would temporarily authorize transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector, another that authorizes dealings with Minerven — the state-owned gold mining company — and it removed the secondary trading ban on certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds.
READ MORE: U.S. resumes deportation flights to Venezuela
The ban on trading in the primary Venezuelan bond market remains in place, Treasury says.
Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the U.S. welcomes the signing of the electoral roadmap agreement but “Treasury is prepared to amend or revoke authorizations at any time, should representatives of Maduro fail to follow through on their commitments.”
“All other restrictions imposed by the United States on Venezuela remain in place, and we will continue to hold bad actors accountable. We stand with the Venezuelan people and support Venezuelan democracy,” he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. and the international community “will closely follow implementation of the electoral roadmap, and the U.S. government will take action if commitments under the electoral roadmap and with respect to political prisoners are not met.”
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Jan 05 | Latin America Politics |
Opinion: Taliban-Huawei partnership raises fears of mass surveillance in Afghanistan
In the aftermath of a tragic suicide bombing that shook Kabul in September 2022, claiming the lives of nearly 60 students, particularly Hazaras, at an educational center, the Taliban put forth a proposal to install surveillance cameras in the city’s western suburbs, citing the intention to enhance security.
While the initial idea appeared rational, it swiftly evolved into a mandatory policy that encompassed the entire capital. Despite the Taliban’s assertions of safety concerns and the need to combat security threats, many residents grew uneasy about the heightened surveillance.
The rapid coverage expansion of surveillance system by the Taliban is causing increasing worries about its potential consequences. The Taliban is actively expanding and improving the coverage of this system in the capital city. In a recent video shared on a YouTube channel associated with the Taliban, the deputy of the Taliban-controlled Radio and Television Afghanistan (RTA) revealed that video footage showcases a large hall with dozens of control technicians at the Taliban’s security command center in Kabul, where multiple screens in various sizes display live images from various locations in the city. The Taliban has not disclosed the length of time that the captured and stored videos from these cameras are retained. Additionally, some of these cameras are portable and, when positioned at elevated points, offer extensive and accurate coverage of expansive areas spanning several square kilometers.
The Taliban’s active push for expanding the system has instilled fears of privacy violations, human rights abuses, and the reinforcement of their grip on the population. Given the Taliban’s history of oppressing dissenters, women, civil society, media, and minority groups, concerns are prevalent that this surveillance initiative will amplify control and further stifle opposition.
Through discussions with individuals across various parts of Kabul, it became evident that surveillance cameras had been deployed in multiple locations throughout the city, including high-rise buildings, parks, sports clubs, and educational centers. One Kabul resident expressed confusion at the installation of over ten cameras within a 100-meter radius of his home.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Interior recently unveiled plans to roll out an advanced CCTV system in each of Afghanistan’s provinces, with technical support from Huawei Technologies, a prominent Chinese tech company. The Taliban justified this widespread surveillance as a means to identify and eliminate insurgents and terrorist threats. However, the implementation of CCTV systems grants the Taliban access to facial recognition databases and sensitive personal information, jeopardizing individuals’ privacy and safety.
The Taliban’s definition of “insurgents” is extensive, encompassing armed rebels and various groups challenging their authority, such as political dissidents, human rights defenders, women’s rights activists, independent media, and anyone opposing their regime. The Taliban’s sweeping installation and utilization of surveillance cameras across Afghanistan carry grave consequences for the entire Afghan populace.
While surveillance cameras may appear commonplace in areas accustomed to government oversight and regulation, the partnership between the Taliban—a brutal extremist group in Afghanistan—and Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese technology company proficient in advanced surveillance tools, is deeply concerning and alarming for the people, media outlets, and human rights organizations, both within and outside the country.
The project to deploy surveillance cameras across all thirty-four provinces stands as one of the most ambitious and intrusive security and intelligence endeavors undertaken by the Taliban to monitor and control the people. If successful, this project will fortify the Taliban’s hold on citizens’ lives and suppress independent journalism and news reporting, giving them greater power to censor, manipulate, and obstruct information flow.
The Huawei-Taliban surveillance project emerges from the growing collaboration between China and the Taliban since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. China’s interests in working with the Taliban span various concerns, including preventing Afghanistan from becoming a haven for extremist groups and safeguarding its economic investments in the region.
For the Taliban, beyond economic factors, a pressing demand from China is access to advanced surveillance and monitoring technologies. Over the years, the Chinese government has amassed a suite of technological tools for surveillance, tracking, censorship, and stifling dissent. These capabilities provide the Taliban with potent means to monitor, track, and suppress political dissent, civilians, women’s rights, and media activists.
It’s believed that the two entities have agreed to collaborate on communication equipment, tracking technologies, and surveillance tools. According to Foreign Policy, a security source in China has confirmed China’s commitment to furnishing the Taliban with surveillance equipment.
The Washington-based Jamestown Foundation reports not only publicly disclosed agreements between the Taliban and China but also covert agreements that are taking shape. These undisclosed arrangements encompass providing the Taliban with tracking and surveillance tools, including military and commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones for identifying and targeting critical objectives. Access to Chinese aerial and surveillance technologies could substantially enhance the Taliban’s capacity for warfare, espionage, and suppression.
However, the Taliban’s influence in surveillance, tracking, and advanced interception tools extends beyond drones and surveillance cameras. It encompasses an array of equipment and technologies that could empower the Taliban to actively target opposition groups, monitor media and human rights activists, and exercise heightened control over the population.
The extensive surveillance and censorship efforts carry grave and perilous implications for these groups, exposing them to harassment, intimidation, arrest, torture, or execution by the Taliban for expressing their views or defending their rights. This surveillance and censorship also limit information access for both the Afghan populace and the international community, as the Taliban gains the ability to manipulate, suppress, or block data that contradicts or criticizes their policies or actions. Independent journalism and news reporting are also stifled, with journalists facing escalating threats, arrests, and torture for reporting under the Taliban’s rule.
The Taliban’s rapid implementation of a surveillance system, supported by Huawei and China, could have significant security implications on regional and global scales. This unique combination of US-made arms, advanced Chinese surveillance equipment, and jihadist ideology sets the Taliban apart as the only radical Islamist group with such capabilities. This development poses a serious risk to international efforts to establish peace, inclusive governance, and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it has the potential to generate unpredictable and dangerous consequences for global security. | Middle East Politics |
DALLAS -- As the Taliban swept back into power in Afghanistan, in the summer of 2021, Fahima Sultani and her fellow university students tried for days to get into the Kabul airport, only to be turned away by gun-wielding extremists.
“No education, just go back home,” she recalled one shouting.
Nearly two years later, Sultani, now 21, is safely in the U.S. and working toward her bachelor’s degree in data science at Arizona State University in Tempe on a scholarship. When she’s not studying, she likes to hike up nearby Tempe Butte, the kind of outing she enjoyed in her mountainous homeland.
Seeing students like Sultani rush to leave in August 2021 as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years, colleges, universities and other groups across the U.S. started piecing together the funding for hundreds of scholarships so they could continue their educations outside of their home country.
Women of Sultani’s generation, born around the time the U.S. ousted the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, grew up attending school and watching as women pursued careers. The Taliban’s return upended those freedoms.
“Within minutes of the collapse of the government in Kabul, U.S. universities said, ‘We’ll take one;’ ‘We’ll take three;’ ‘We’ll take a professor;’ ‘We’ll take a student,’” said Allan Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education, a global not-for-profit that helps fund such scholarships.
The fears leading the students to quickly board flights were soon justified as the Taliban ushered in a harsh Islamic rule: Girls cannot attend school beyond the sixth grade and women, once again required to wear burqas, have been banned from universities and are restricted from most employment.
Sultani is one of more than 60 Afghan women who arrived at ASU by December 2021 after fleeing Afghanistan, where she had been studying online through Asian University for Women in Bangladesh during the pandemic.
“These women came out of a crisis, a traumatic experience, boarded a plane not knowing where they were going, ended up in the U.S.,” said Susan Edgington, executive director and head of operations of ASU’s Global Academic Initiatives.
After making their way to universities and colleges across the U.S. over the last two years, many are nearing graduation and planning their futures.
Mashal Aziz, 22, was a few months from graduating from American University of Afghanistan when Kabul fell and she boarded a plane. After leaving, she scoured the internet, researching which schools were offering scholarships and what organizations might be able to help.
“You’ve already left everything and you are thinking maybe there are barriers for your higher education," she said.
Aziz and three other Afghan students arrived at Northeastern University in Boston in January 2022 after first being taken to Qatar and then a military base in New Jersey. She graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting management and plans to start work on her master’s degree in finance this fall at Northeastern.
Just two days after the fall of Kabul, the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma announced it had created two scholarships for Afghans seeking refuge in the U.S. Later, the university created five more scholarships that went to some of the young Afghans who had settled in the area. Five more Afghans have received scholarships to study there this fall.
Danielle Macdonald, an associate anthropology professor at the school, has organized a regular meetup between TU students and college-aged Afghans who have settled in the Tulsa area.
Around two dozen young people attend the events, where they’ve talked about everything from U.S. slang to how to find a job. Their outings have included visiting a museum and going to a basketball game, Macdonald said.
“It’s become a really lovely community,” she said.
Sultani, like many others who left Afghanistan, often thinks about those who remained behind, including her sister, who had been studying at a university, but now must stay home.
“I can go to universities while millions of girls back in Afghanistan, they do not have this opportunity that I have,” Sultani said. “I can dress the way I want and millions of girls now in Afghanistan, they do not have this opportunity.”
Since the initial flurry of scholarships, efforts to assist Afghan students have continued, including the creation of the Qatar Scholarship for Afghans Project, which has helped fund 250 scholarships at dozens of U.S. colleges and universities.
But there are still more young people in need of support to continue their educations in the U.S. or even reach the U.S. from Afghanistan or other countries, explained Jonah Kokodyniak, a senior vice president at the Institute of International Education.
Yasamin Sohrabi, 26, is among those still trying to find a way to the U.S. Sohrabi, who had been studying at American University of Afghanistan, realized as the withdrawal of U.S. forces neared that she might need to go overseas to continue her studies. The day after the Taliban took Kabul, she learned of her admission to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, but wasn’t able to get into the airport to leave Afghanistan.
A year later, she and her younger sister, who has also been accepted at the university, got visas to Pakistan. Now they are trying to find a way to get into the U.S. Their brother, who accompanied them to Pakistan, is applying to the school as well.
Sohrabi said she and her siblings try not to focus on what they have lost, but instead on how to get to WKU, where 20 other Afghans will be studying this fall.
“That’s one of the things in these days we think about,” she said. “It keeps us going.” | Asia Politics |
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greeks headed to the polls for the second time in less than two months on Sunday, with the conservative party in power a strong favorite to win with a wide majority after a campaign focused on economic growth and security.
The vote is overshadowed by a major shipwreck just over a week ago that left hundreds of migrants dead or missing off the coast of western Greece. But the disaster is unlikely to significantly affect the overall outcome as Greeks are expected to focus on domestic economic issues.
Conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 55, is eyeing a second term as prime minister after his New Democracy party won by a huge margin in May elections — but fell short of gaining enough parliamentary seats to form a government. With a new electoral law now favoring the winning party with bonus seats, he is hoping to form a strong majority in the 300-member parliament.
His main rival is Alexis Tsipras, 48, who leads the left-wing Syriza party and served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019 — some of the most turbulent years of Greece’s nearly decade-long financial crisis.
Turnout was slightly over 29 percent by 2 p.m. The final turnout at the previous election was 61.1 percent.
Tsipras fared dismally in the May elections, coming a distant second, 20 percentage points behind New Democracy. He has since been trying to rally his voter base, a task complicated by splinter parties formed by some of his former associates.
Speaking after voting in a western Athens neighborhood, Tsipras seemed to accept his party would be in opposition for the next four years.
“This crucial election is not only determining who will govern the country, it is determining our lives for the next four years, it is determining the quality of our democracy,” Tsipras said. “It is determining whether we will have an unchecked government or a strong opposition. This role can only be played by Syriza.”
Sunday’s vote comes after hundreds of migrants died and went missing in southern Greece when an overcrowded fishing trawler heading from Libya to Italy capsized and sank. The shipwreck drew criticism over how Greek authorities handled the rescue, as well as over the country’s restrictive migration policy.
READ MORE: Greek leader disputes criticism of rescue effort after deadly migrant shipwreck
But the disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean in recent years, has done little to dent Mitsotakis’ 20-point lead in opinion polls over Tsipras, with the economy at the forefront of most voters’ concerns. As Greece gradually recovers from its brutal financial crisis, voters appear happy to return to power a prime minister who delivered economic growth and lowered unemployment.
“Our expectations are that the country will continue the path of development that it has had in recent years,” said insurance company employee Konstantinos, who arrived early in the morning at a polling station in northern Athens with his newly-wed bride Marietta, still in her wedding dress, straight from their wedding reception. He asked that his surname not be used.
Another early morning voter, Sofia Oikonomopoulou, said she hoped the winning party on Sunday would have enough parliamentary seats to form a government “so that the country will not suffer any more.”
“We hope for better days, for justice, a health system, education, that everything will go better and that the Greek truly will be able to live a better life through these elections,” she said.
Mitsotakis, a Harvard graduate, comes from one of Greece’s most prominent political families. His late father, Constantine Mitsotakis, served as prime minister in the 1990s, his sister served as foreign minister and his nephew is the current mayor of Athens. The younger Mitsotakis has vowed to rebrand Greece as a pro-business and fiscally responsible euro zone member.
The strategy, so far, has worked. New Democracy routed left-wing opponents in May, crucially winning Socialist strongholds on the island of Crete and lower-income areas surrounding Athens, some for the first time.
“We are voting so people can have a stable government for the next four years,” Mitsotakis said after voting in northern Athens. “I am sure that Greeks will vote with maturity for their personal prosperity and the country’s stability.”
Trailing in opinion polls and on the back of his particularly poor showing in the May vote, Tsipras finds himself fighting for his political survival. His campaign in the runup to the previous elections was deemed by many as being too negative, focusing too heavily on scandals that hit the Mitsotakis government late in its term.
Despite the scandals, which included revelations of wiretapping targeting senior politicians and journalists, and a deadly Feb. 28 train crash that exposed poor safety measures, Tsipras failed to make any significant gains against Mitsotakis.
READ MORE: Tens of thousands march in Greece to protest train disaster
Whether the conservative leader will manage to form a government, and how strong it will be, could depend on how many parties make it past the 3 percent threshold to enter parliament. As many as nine parties have a realistic chance, ranging from ultra-religious groups to two left-wing splinter parties founded by top former members of the Syriza government.
In May elections, held under a proportional representation system, Mitsotakis’ party fell five seats short, and he decided not to try to form a coalition government, preferring instead to take his chances with a second election.
Sunday’s vote is being held under an electoral system that grants a bonus of between 25 and 50 seats to the winning party, depending on its performance, which makes it easier for a party to win more than the required 151 seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government.
Associated Press journalists Theodora Tongas, Derek Gatopoulos and Demetris Nellas contributed to this report.
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The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh has announced that it will dismantle itself and the unrecognised republic will cease to exist by January 1 2024.
Armenian officials said more than half of the population has already fled.
The move comes after Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive to reclaim full control over its breakaway region, demanding that Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh lay down their weapons and urging the separatist government to disband.
A decree to that effect was signed by the region’s separatist President Samvel Shakhramanyan.
The document cited an agreement reached last week to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the “free, voluntary and unhindered movement” of Nagorno-Karbakh residents and disarm troops in Armenia in exchange.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan that came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994.
During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.
In December, Azerbaijan imposed a blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging that the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces.
Armenia charged that the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh’s approximately 120,000 people.
Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam – a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region.
After the blockade was lifted following the offensive and a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russian peacekeepers, more than half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population – 65,000 people – have fled to Armenia.
The massive exodus began on Sunday evening, and the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia quickly filled up with cars that created a huge traffic jam.
On Monday night, a fuel reservoir exploded at a filling station where people seeking to leave were lining up for petrol that had been in short supply due to the blockade. At least 68 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, with over 100 more still considered missing.
It is not immediately clear if any of the ethnic Armenians that have populated the region will remain there.
Mr Shakhramayan’s decree on Thursday urged Nagorno-Karabakh’s population – including those who left – “to familiarise themselves with the conditions of reintegration offered by the Republic of Azerbaijan, in order to then make an individual decision about the possibility of staying in (or returning to) Nagorno-Karabakh”.
On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities charged Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government who was arrested a day earlier, with financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border.
Azerbaijani officials said Vardanyan, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, was detained as he was trying to cross into Armenia from the breakaway region along with thousands of others. He was escorted to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
His arrest appears to indicate Azerbaijan’s intention to quickly enforce its grip on the region.
Vardanyan moved to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022 and served as the head the regional government for several months before stepping down earlier this year. | Asia Politics |
Thousands marched across the nation today to mark 26 January as a day of mourning and invasion.But protesters expressed differing views on the Indigenous voice to parliament, with Greens senator Lidia Thorpe insisting on a “treaty before the voice”. Thorpe told Guardian Australia at a large rally in Melbourne that “I have not got a guarantee [from Labor] that our sovereignty will not be ceded [if an Indigenous voice to parliament proceeds].”Constitutional law experts say the voice will “have no impact on sovereignty”. “They’re like ships passing in the night,” says George Williams, the dean of the University of New South Wales law school.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, responded to Thorpe’s anti-voice sentiment by saying he was “not going to engage in that sort of partisan politics”, adding that an Indigenous voice “will improve our country, improve our national unity”.Top newsSenior Australian of the year Tom Calma said truth-telling and treaty would be addressed in tandem with the Indigenous voice to parliament. Photograph: Martin Ollman/Getty Images Thorpe’s position criticised | Senior Australian of the Year and co-chair of the Indigenous voice co-design group, Tom Calma, says he is “disappointed” Thorpe may oppose the voice. “It’s important that we as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have an opportunity to be able to contribute to policies that impact us, and programs and legislation – and that’s the first step,” he said. Missing Gold Coast woman a possible homicide | The search for 61-year-old Wendy Sleeman is “transitioning … to a suspected homicide”, police say, but investigators remain hopeful she is still alive. Her 30-year-old son, Slade Murdok, was today charged with a string of domestic violence-related offences, including kidnapping, assault and burglary. Northern Territory police arrested a 32-year-old man, reportedly Mark Horne, as a yacht attempted to sail out of Darwin on Wednesday afternoon NSW fugitive found in Darwin yacht | One of NSW’s most-wanted men, reportedly 32-year-old Mark Horne, has been found hiding in the hull of a yacht in Darwin. A nationwide manhunt started in October last year after he allegedly skipped bail. Horne was due to face trial in NSW for allegedly being involved in the shooting of a truck driver and theft of $550,000 in the Blue Mountains in September 2020. Slowing memory decline | A combination of healthy lifestyle choices such as eating well, regularly exercising, playing cards and socialising at least twice a week may help slow the rate of memory decline and reduce the risk of dementia, a decade-long study suggests. Netflix’s new model cracking down on shared passwords could see users paying extra to use accounts in multiple places. Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock Netflix password sharing fee | The streaming giant will crack down on password sharing in coming months and is likely to charge an additional fee to share a single subscription across multiple locations. Adani Group firms lose US$9bn in value | Shares in listed companies tied to Adani’s empire Adani Group lost US$9.4bn in market value after short seller investment firm Hindenburg Research published a detailed investigation into accusations of “brazen stock manipulation”, “accounting fraud” and “money laundering.” Donald Trump posted unsubstantiated claims that the election had been stolen during the Capitol riots in 2021. Photograph: Adrien Fillon/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock Trump’s Facebook and Instagram ban to be lifted | Meta will allow Trump to return “in coming weeks” but “with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offences”, Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg wrote in a blogpost explaining the decision. Pope opposed to anti-gay laws | Pope Francis has criticised laws that criminalise homosexuality as “unjust”, saying God loves all his children just as they are, and calling on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ+ people into the church. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said. What they said …“We ought to be proud of our country at some point in a united way. And whether it’s the 26th of January or another day, that’s something that our country has to mature and grow towards.” – Malarndirri McCarthy, the assistant minister for Indigenous affairsIn numbers Illustration: Antoun Issa/The GuardianAnd they’ve been mapped here.In picturesElder Carly Rose confronts a police officer as during an Invasion Day rally in Brisbane. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAPSee our photo gallery of Invasion Day rallies across the nation. The above image was taken in Brisbane, where elder Carly Rose confronted a police officer.Before bed readProtesters hold hands during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne. Photograph: Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty ImagesWesley Enoch, a Quandamooka man from Minjerribah in Queensland and one of Australia’s most renowned playwrights and artistic directors, has written on the importance of 26 January as a day of mourning and why an Indigenous voice is essential.“I’m not into changing the date. I’m into changing the country. Change the country first. Don’t change the date and think that you’ve solved it.”Sign upIf you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email.If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email [email protected] | Australia Politics |
Every morning, in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Kabul, Afghanistan, girls secretly gather in a house to study, something that millions of girls around the world do freely.
As the global community marks International Day of Education on Tuesday, Afghanistan is the only country where girls are forbidden to attend school. Calling the restriction on learning and teaching as an attack on human dignity, UNESCO has dedicated this year's observation to Afghan girls and women. Shortly after regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban closed most of the country’s secondary schools for girls, barring millions from getting an education after sixth grade. Nearly 500 days later, the ban persists, despite international calls for reversal.
While most public and private schools for girls in Afghanistan remain empty, underground schools are spreading.
Ray of light
The secret school in Kabul is part of a network of eight across five cities. The school is supported by SRAK, an Afghan organization that, according to its website, works in areas highly affected by the school ban. Srak means "the first ray of morning light” in Pashto.
Parasto, who requested to use only her first name for security reasons, is among its founders.
She told VOA that soon after the Taliban took control of the country, she received calls from teachers asking for help in setting up underground schools. She had experience in the education sector in President Ashraf Ghani’s government and sprang into action.
Setting up the schools is not difficult, she said, as “women and the children themselves are coming to us and asking for help.” In SRAK’s underground school in Kabul, volunteers teach Afghan girls English, math, sciences and other subjects. (Photo courtesy SRAK) Working her contacts, Parasto helped turn basements, living rooms and bedrooms into schools for teachers and students willing to risk everything for an education.
Rahila, a former math teacher who also requested to use only her first name for security reasons, is a volunteer at the school.
She said she went into a deep depression when the Taliban closed the girls’ schools, but then her neighbors started asking for help with math.
“I realized that the students and I are necessary for each other,” she said. “We both gave hope to each other.”
Soon, she was running out of space in her house because of the growing number of students.
That’s when she met Parasto, who helped her rent a large room in a Kabul house where Rahila and two other educators teach math, English, sciences and other subjects to nearly 100 girls for three hours a day.
Eighteen-year-old Kamila is one of Rahila’s students. She likes chemistry and English and dreams of becoming a defense attorney. Without the ban, she would be finishing high school soon. But now, she is rereading material from previous grades to avoid a break in learning.
“I am studying so that my future is bright and orderly. And [I will] not be illiterate like my mother,” she said.
Nearly 250 women who were affected by the Taliban’s ban on education in the 1990s are also learning to read and write in these underground schools. In SRAK’s underground school in Kabul, volunteers teach Afghan girls English, math, sciences and other subjects. (Photo courtesy SRAK) Education is free in the underground schools, as most families cannot afford tuition. SRAK members and supporters pay for rent and supplies, such as notebooks and pens.
Taliban stance
Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers claim the educational material and environment are not in line with the country’s cultural values and Islamic laws. The regime has consistently ignored international calls to resume educating girls.
In December 2022, the Taliban extended their gender-based education ban to women in universities.
Rejecting the international pressure, Neda Mohammad Nadim, the Taliban’s minister of higher education, told a local gathering that religious laws will be implemented “even if they sanction us, use an atomic bomb on us or even if they come back for another war.”
In the 17 months since taking control, the regime has failed to gain global recognition, largely due to the educational restrictions on girls and women.
Defiance and despair
Despite the possibility of arrest and death, Rahila said the teachers and students attend the underground schools because “the biggest fear for us was the death of our soul and emotions.”
Owners of homes where the schools operate know to brush off curious Taliban guards who often question them about activities on their property.
To avoid attention, the girls are told to come and leave in pairs and not bring books.
“We leave our books at home and our booklets in the classroom. If we have homework, we write it on a piece of paper and put it in our pocket with our pen,” Kamila said.
As the network of underground schools expands, it is unclear how girls like Kamila will acquire a high school diploma, or how long they will be able to continue studying.
There was a time in Afghanistan when girls dreamed of becoming doctors, scientists or engineers, but now just getting a high school diploma is a struggle, SRAK’s Parasto said. “Look at the dreams that we have killed inside our hearts, inside our minds.” | Human Rights |
Barbie has announced its newest release for its Inspiring Women series: a tribute to the late Wilma Mankiller, a renowned Native American activist and the first female Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
The doll, which depicts Mankiller as she appears in a 2005 photo taken by her husband Charlie Soap, was designed with input from both her estate and representatives of the Cherokee Nation.
"When Native girls see it, they can achieve it, and Wilma Mankiller has shown countless young women to be fearless and speak up for Indigenous and Human rights," said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. "She not only served in a role dominated by men during a time that tribal nations were suppressed, but she led. Wilma Mankiller is a champion for the Cherokee Nation, for Indian Country and even my own daughter."
Mankiller was regarded as a strong advocate and consensus builder for Native American communities and their complicated relationship with the federal government, inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame in 1993 and bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.
"I am deeply honored Mattel is recognizing Wilma with the Wilma Mankiller doll. Wilma inspired me and many others to make the world a better place. As her community development partner for over thirty years, we shared a passion for empowering Indian communities and educating future generations," said Soap.
Born in 1945 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, she was galvanized to join the larger movement for Native American self determination following the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native American students and activists. She began a career as a social worker and community advocate in California's Bay Area, before moving back to Oklahoma. While there, Mankiller worked on the Bell Waterline Project, a 16-mile waterline building effort among the Cherokee community in Bell, Oklahoma, and the subsequent documentary Cherokee Word for Water by friend and producer Kristina Kiehl.
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In 1985, she was elected first Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and remained in the role for 10 years. She is credited with revitalizing the Nations tribal government in her efforts to improve healthcare and housing services in her community. "Wilma Mankiller’s legacy was marked by her resounding commitment to Cherokee self-determination, which opened the door for the tribe to run its own services for its people, and the cultural value of 'Gadugi' — a Cherokee word that describes the community working together for the greater good," the company wrote in its announcement.
Mankiller died in 2010 of pancreatic cancer, and was memorialized at her death by her close friend and women's rights activist Gloria Steinem. "The millions she touched will continue her work, but I will miss her every day of my life," honored Steinem.
The Inspiring Women series, launched in 2018, features dolls in the likeness of historic icons like Mankiller — "Courageous women who took risks, changed rules, and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever," Mattel explains. The line includes women like civil rights and women's suffrage advocate Ida B. Wells, singer and entertainer Celia Cruz, pioneering pilot Bessie Coleman, and actress Anna May Wong, among many others.
"Wilma’s impact on women’s rights and her strength to break down barriers continues to be an inspiration for women and girls in Native communities throughout our world," wrote Kiehl. "Wilma always brought others to the table with her and she would be very happy that Mattel is including other indigenous dolls. Barbie celebrating her legacy with the Wilma Mankiller Inspiring Women doll continues to share her story with so many others for years to come.”
The Wilma Mankiller Inspiring Women doll is available on Mattel Shop and in retail stores now. | Human Rights |
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel leads a Congress rally. (Twitter)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was leading in the Patan seat by a margin of 187 votes against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Vijay Baghel after the first round of counting of votes for elections to the 90-member state assembly, the Election Commission of India said on Sunday.State BJP Chief Arun Sao was leading in Lormi seat by a margin of 2,376 votes against Congress' Thaneshwar Sahu after the first round of counting.Count...
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was leading in the Patan seat by a margin of 187 votes against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Vijay Baghel after the first round of counting of votes for elections to the 90-member state assembly, the Election Commission of India said on Sunday.
State BJP Chief Arun Sao was leading in Lormi seat by a margin of 2,376 votes against Congress' Thaneshwar Sahu after the first round of counting.
Counting of votes for Chhattisgarh Elections 2023 started at 8:00 am on Sunday, with security personnel maintaining a strict vigil in the counting centres in the state's 33 districts, including those affected by extremism. | India Politics |
Islington North is a constituency of contrasts, multimillion-pound Georgian townhouses next to council blocks, with one of the UK’s highest child poverty rates.
Jeremy Corbyn’s particular brand of politics navigated that for 40 years, appealing to his diverse working-class constituents as well as wealthier socialists. It is one of Labour’s safest seats – but now looks like it will be a bitterly divided battleground.
Should Corbyn decide to run at the next election as an independent it would pose an existential dilemma for Momentum, the grassroots leftwing group that emerged out of his leadership campaign and which has become a pressure group for the Labour left and the loudest critic of Starmer’s leadership.
Senior Labour sources have made it clear that should Momentum campaign for Corbyn, Labour would proscribe it as an organisation – similar to the way Militant or other leftwing groups that challenged the party’s MPs have been treated.
That same dilemma faces some of Corbyn’s closest allies who are still Labour MPs – John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon. It is a tortuous decision – to back a Labour candidate or, instead, one of their oldest friends – and there is no doubt it is one they will be publicly asked to make.
There is no certainty Corbyn will stand as an independent. He has a huge support base locally, including among some local councillors, and a significant number of grassroots activists who have quit Labour want to campaign for him. He has a ready-made vehicle – his Peace and Justice Project – and the public urging of his family members to run rather than retire.
But that run will have significant repercussions far beyond Holloway Road. The decision will almost inevitably seal the fate of many of the leftwing movements, politicians and activists still in Labour. And for the sake of the future of the left in the party, some former close advisers to the ex-Labour leader hope he will not stand.
Locally, party activists will need to decide if they are prepared to lose their Labour membership to support Corbyn, and councillors will need to choose whether to defect to Peace and Justice, if that is how the race pans out.
Anyone running for Labour selection will be under the spotlight for previous support for Corbyn. Matt Kerr, a senior figure in Scottish Labour, who ran for deputy leader, was recently blocked from the shortlist for Glasgow South West, where he had previously stood. Issues raised by the NEC panel were his support for Corbyn after his suspension – he had tweeted: “He’s been suspended for telling the truth.”
None of these dilemmas are particularly new for those they affect. For many months it has been clear that Starmer had no intention of readmitting Corbyn to the party, even if some of the former leader’s backers thought there may still be a path, given Corbyn is technically a party member.
Starmer takes no persuading to be hardline on the issue, and many of those who advise him dedicated the past few years to removing any trace of the previous leadership from the party’s structures. They are unapologetic about a desire to remove any association with a period of Labour’s history that led to a historic election defeat and unprecedented censure from the equalities watchdog for unlawful discrimination against Jewish people.
Equally, Corbyn has been dedicating his time to defending his legacy, in particular on austerity and on international politics – where he has also clashed with Starmer on Russia and Ukraine.
Many on the Labour left still want to keep the party as a broad church where they can fight on issues like nationalisation, student fees, trade union rights and fair pay. The question now is whether supporting the leader that first inspired many of them will cost them their ability to influence Labour in government. | United Kingdom Politics |
Japan puts ballistic missile defences on alert after North Korea's satellite launch warning
Japan has warned it will destroy and shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory after North Korea informed of a satellite launch between 31 May and 11 June
Japan has warned to destroy and shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory after North Korea informed it of a satellite launch between 31 May and 11 June.
Japan has also put its ballistic missile defences on alert as it sounded warning to Kim Jong Un.
“We will take destructive measures against ballistic and other missiles that are confirmed to land in our territory,” Japan’s defence ministry said in a statement.
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Nuclear-armed North Korea has said that it has already completed its first military spy satellite and its leader (Kim Jong Un) has approved final preparations for a launch to place it in orbit.
A report by the North’s KCNA state news agency, Kim has in May inspected a military satellite facility.
‘Violation of UNSC resolution’
North Korea’s plan to put a satellite into orbit — the country’s first space rocket launch in more than seven years — has drawn flak.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “Any missile launch by North Korea, even if it is called a ‘satellite,’ is a serious violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and a serious problem for the safety of people.”
Japan ‘strongly urges’ N. Korea to exercise restraint
Kishida further said that Japan had “strongly urged” North Korea to exercise restraint and refrain from carrying out the launch. He further said that Tokyo was cooperating with the US, South Korea and other countries on the issue.
Japan government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, told media that the North Korean authorities have notified Japan Coast Guard of the launch plans via email.
He said the launch could fly over Okinawa Prefecture’s Nansei Island chain or other parts of Japan, a move he characterised as a “serious provocation.”
A notice on the Japan Coast Guard website also warned of a launch over the same time period for a broad swath of ocean, including three areas where objects could be expected to fall — two in the Yellow Sea to the west of the Korean Peninsula and one spot east of the Philippines’ Luzon Island.
Japan on alert
The defence ministry of Japan has said it would use its Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) or Patriot Missile PAC-3 to destroy a North Korean missile.
The ministry’s spokesperson said that Japan expects North Korea to fire the rocket carrying its satellite over the southwest island chain as it did in 2016.
A report by Reuters quoted analysts saying that the satellite is part of a surveillance technology programme, that includes drones, meant to improve its ability to strike targets in the event of war.
In recent months, North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches and weapons tests, including a new, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
With inputs from agencies
also read
Canada ready to partner with South Korea on critical minerals, security, says Prime Minister Trudeau
Trudeau told South Korea's parliament that Canada was committed to increasing military engagement to reduce threats to regional security while also collaborating with Seoul to denuclearize North Korea
The US and other G7 nations rolled out a new wave of global sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The allied nations are aiming at sectors like architecture, and transportation; and hundreds of people and firms who are helping Moscow to evade existing sanctions
Lately, US and South Korean forces have been staging intensified series of annual springtime exercises. These include air and sea drills involving a US aircraft carrier and heavy bombers | Asia Politics |
President Joe Biden heads into Thanksgiving having notched a foreign policy win after Israel agreed to a temporary ceasefire, yet that victory could be short-lived as the president returns to Washington after the holiday.
Biden and his top negotiators succeeded in securing the release of 50 hostages and a temporary pause in fighting in Gaza, a blip of good news for the White House given the recent slate of negative polls showing the public leaning toward former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 general election rematch.
The president is spending Thanksgiving in Nantucket, Massachusetts, with his family, but when he returns to the White House, he'll be forced to navigate a series of headaches that have implications for his domestic and foreign policy agenda.
Despite the humanitarian pause, Biden faces continued pressure from his left flank to end the war in Gaza, and he will also return to fights over aid for Ukraine, government funding, and a possible impeachment vote by House Republicans.
The Biden administration announced on Monday $100 million in new security assistance for Ukraine, representing the 51st disbursement of U.S. aid to Ukraine since August 2021 that all but exhausts the funding previously appropriated by Congress to assist Ukraine in its efforts to fight off a Russian invasion.
The Senate hopes to bring a supplemental funding measure to a vote sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday that would fund Ukraine but also Israel, Taiwan, and the Department of Homeland Security. However, Republicans in both chambers have voiced opposition to further Ukraine assistance unless tied to substantive policy changes at the southern border.
Beyond the president's supplemental request, Congress will also look to tackle funding the government for the rest of the year after passing two short-term measures. Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) successfully ushered a "laddered" continuing resolution to Biden's desk earlier in November. The first tranche of funding is set to run out in late January, with the remainder expiring in early February.
Despite Biden's four-decade-long Senate career, the president has virtually no past relationship with Johnson, who entered the House in 2017.
White House aides have privately expressed concerns that their unfamiliarity with Johnson could complicate passage of both a supplemental funding request and the full appropriations legislation, especially after many Republican lawmakers came out against the stopgap measure Johnson backed that kept federal spending at current levels.
Furthermore, Johnson appears more supportive than his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), of House Republicans' attempts to impeach Biden.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued subpoenas of Biden's son, Hunter, and brother, James, earlier this month. The committee could conclude depositions in December, setting up a vote on impeachment articles for early January.
None of this takes into account a growing divide in the Democratic Party over Biden's handling of the war in Israel and consistently poor polling.
The RealClearPolitics polling aggregate showed Biden's economic approval rating hovering just above 38% on Wednesday, and the New York Times, CNN, YouGov, NPR, and others have released polls in recent weeks showing the president trailing Trump in six of seven battleground states.
Meanwhile, Democrats both in and outside the government are calling on Biden to do more to promote a permanent ceasefire in Gaza despite the recently brokered deal to free 50 hostages and temporarily pause fighting.
Those efforts have been led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the sole Palestinian American member of Congress.
"A temporary pause in the violence is not enough. We must move with urgency to save as many lives as possible and achieve a permanent cease-fire agreement," Tlaib wrote in a statement Tuesday evening. "When this short-term agreement expires, the bombing of innocent civilians will continue. We need a permanent cease-fire that saves lives, brings all the hostages and those arbitrarily detained home, and puts an end to this horrific violence."
"We must demand an immediate end to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), another top progressive voice, wrote in a Wednesday op-ed for the New York Times. "There must also be a significant, extended humanitarian pause so that badly needed aid — food, water, medicine and fuel — can get into Gaza and save lives." | Middle East Politics |
QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A suicide bombing in Pakistan killed at least 52 people and injured more than 50 on Friday at a religious gathering to mark the birthday of Prophet Mohammed in a restive province bordering Afghanistan, health officials and police said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast which comes amid a surge in attacks by militant groups in western Pakistan, raising the stakes for security forces ahead of national elections scheduled for January next year.
"The bomber detonated himself near the vehicle of the Deputy Superintendent of Police," Deputy Inspector General of Police Munir Ahmed told Reuters.
The blast ripped through near a mosque in Balochistan province where people were gathered for a procession to mark Mohammed's birthday, which is a public holiday, Ahmed added.
At least 58 people were wounded, said Abdul Rasheed, a district health official, adding that the toll could rise as many people were in a serious condition.
Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire broke down between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of various hardline Sunni Islamist groups.
The TTP denied it had carried out Friday's attack.
Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti called the attack a "very heinous act".
In July, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide bombing in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province at a religious political party's gathering.
Reporting by Saleem Ahmed in Quetta, Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Miral Fahmy
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Asia Politics |
Canada Expels Indian Diplomat As It Probes Sikh Separatist Leader's Murder
Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat as it was investigating what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations of the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the killing of a Sikh extremist leader in British Columbia province in June.
Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat as it was investigating what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called "credible allegations" of the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a Sikh extremist leader in Canada's British Columbia province in June.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
Reacting sharply to Trudeau's allegations, India on Tuesday described them as "absurd" and "motivated".
Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi. "Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the MEA said.
Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is “an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty". “It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves,” he said.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he added.
He also disclosed that he had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month.
Trudeau urged the Indian government to "cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter".
Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat". The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
"My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this," Joly said.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the RCMP is leading the murder investigation. "We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice," he said.
The Mounties' Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is responsible for the Nijjar file. "It's progressing," RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme told CBC News when asked about the investigation.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency in September 2020.
Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000 (about 2% of its total population).
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks.
Last week, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and Canada will resume after the resolution of political issues between the two countries.
"There were certain political developments in Canada on which India has raised its objections. India has shown a strong resentment against certain political developments in Canada, and therefore, for the time being, till these political issues are settled, we have paused the negotiations," the official said in New Delhi. | India Politics |
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Ukraine’s southern cities with drones and missiles for a third consecutive night Thursday, keeping Odesa in the Kremlin’s crosshairs after a bitter dispute over the end of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain through the key Black Sea port.
The strikes killed at least two people in Odesa. In Mykolaiv, a city close to the Black Sea, at least 19 people were injured, including a child, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia has targeted Ukrainian critical grain export infrastructure since it vowed “retribution” this week for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukrainian drone boats.
READ MORE: Russia launches strike on Odesa in retaliation for attack on Crimea bridge
The strikes on Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure have helped drive up food prices in countries facing hunger. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the end of the deal Monday would result in more human suffering, with potentially millions of people affected.
The grain deal provided guarantees that ships would not be attacked entering and leaving Ukrainian ports, while a separate agreement facilitated the movement of Russian food and fertilizer.
The Russian military on Thursday described its strikes on Odesa, a city whose downtown area is described by the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO as possessing “outstanding universal value,” as “retaliatory.”
In January, UNESCO added Odesa’s historic center to its list of endangered World Heritage Sites, with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay saying the “legendary port that has left its mark in cinema, literature and the arts.”
Despite multiple Russian artillery attacks and airstrikes during the war that began in February 2022, Odesa had not previously been subjected to the heavy barrages that have targeted other towns and cities in Ukraine’s south and east.
Odesa residents reeled from Russia’s sudden focus on their city.
“I remember the attack on the port last year, but now it feels like it was only 5 percent compared to what the Russians have launched at us during these past three days,” Oleksandr Kolodin, a 29-year-old photographer, told The Associated Press.
Some feared that Russia’s decision to tear up the grain deal would make Odesa a long-term primary target.
“We saw how they could attack Kyiv for an entire month,” said 29-year-old programmer Victor, referring to the intense bombardment of the Ukrainian capital in May. He asked to use only his first name out of concern for his safety.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it targeted “production shops and storage sites for unmanned boats” in Odesa and the nearby city of Chornomorsk. In the Mykolaiv area, the Russian military claimed to have destroyed Ukraine’s fuel infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots.
Neither sides’ claims could be independently verified.
The previous night, an intense Russian bombardment using drones and missiles damaged critical port infrastructure in Odesa, including grain and oil terminals. The attack destroyed at least 60,000 tons of grain.
In what appeared to be a tit-for-tat move, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced that as of Friday, all vessels in the Black Sea heading to Russian ports “may be considered by Ukraine as such carrying military cargo with all the associated risks.” That may result in higher insurance costs for those ships.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier this week that Moscow had formally declared wide areas of the Black Sea dangerous for shipping and warned that it would view any incoming ship as laden with weapons, effectively announcing a sea blockade.
Despite the risks, ship owners haven’t shown any less interest so far in carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, according to John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80 percent of the world’s commercial fleet.
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief condemned Russia’s targeting of grain storage facilities.
“More than 60,000 tons of grain has been burned,” Josep Borrell said in Brussels on Thursday, regarding Moscow’s recent tactics. “So not only they withdraw from the grain agreement … but they are burning the grain.”
German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the same meeting that the EU is involved in international efforts to get Ukrainian grain to the world market.
“The fact that the Russian president has canceled the grain agreement and is now bombing the port of Odesa is not only another attack on Ukraine, but an attack on the people, on the poorest people in the world,” she said. “Hundreds of thousands of people, not to say millions, urgently need grain from Ukraine.”
The White House warned Wednesday that Russia was preparing possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea. The warning could alarm shippers and further drive up grain prices.
Russia has laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, White House National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks,” the statement said.
Carlos Mera, head of agricultural commodities markets at Rabobank, said wheat prices have risen about 17 percent over the last week, calling it a surprising rise that started even before the grain deal ended Monday and attributing it to “a little bit of panic.”
A lot of the wheat exported from Ukraine goes to very poor countries, such as those in North Africa, he said. People in those places are already struggling with food insecurity and high local food prices. Russia, meanwhile, has been exporting record amounts of wheat in recent months despite complaints that its agricultural exports have been hindered.
WATCH: Global food security concerns reignite as clock ticks down on Ukraine grain deal
There is “a vast list of underdeveloped countries that depend on Ukrainian and Russian wheat,” Mera said. “And with prices going up, people will have to pay more for that wheat, which means more expensive bread in those countries.”
Russia has blasted Ukrainian towns and cities since the start of the war. Ukraine’s Western allies have helped upgrade its air defense systems. The latest military aid package from the United States, announced by the Pentagon on Wednesday, includes funding for four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and munitions for them.
Raf Casert in Brussels and Courtney Bonnell in London contributed.
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Independence Day 2023 Live Updates: PM Modi To Hoist Tricolour At Red Fort, Address The Nation
Track the latest updates from Independence Day celebrations in Delhi here.
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Anti-Drone Systems, Facial Recognition Cameras Deployed Around Red Fort
The area in and around Red Fort will be under watch of more than 10,000 personnel deployed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation. Around 1,000 cameras with facial recognition and video analytic systems have been installed in and around the high-profile area and at other strategic locations to ensure security and monitor VVIP movements. Anti-drone technology is also being used for security.
Fifty School Teachers To Attend Independence Day Event As Special Guests
Fifty school teachers who have displayed outstanding dedication and commitment in the field of education have been invited as 'special guests' to attend the 77th Independence Day ceremony at Red Fort.
The government announced service medals for 954 police personnel of various central and state forces, including 230 for gallantry, on the eve of Independence Day.
PM Modi To Deliver Tenth Consecutive Independence Day Address
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver his tenth Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort on Tuesday. This will be his last speech before the nation goes to Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Modi is known to present a summary of his government's performance as well as announce major schemes in his past Independence Day speeches, and is expected to continue this trend today.
President Murmu Emphasises On Maintaining Spirit Of Harmony, Prioritising The Deprived
President Droupadi Murmu underlined urged Indians to move forward with the spirit of harmony and brotherhood in her pre-Independence Day speech. The President said that "there is one identity" that is above all as the "citizen of India". | India Politics |
NEW DELHI: In a decidedly deadly demonstration of expanding sea control and power-projection capabilities in its primary area of strategic interest from the Malacca Strait to Persian Gulf, India has now undertaken synergised operations of two aircraft carriers accompanied by several warships, submarines and over 35 aircraft in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
The two carrier battle groups (CBGs) led by the old Russian-origin INS Vikramaditya and new indigenous INS Vikrant, each around 44,000-tonne, cruising on the high seas unfettered by land boundaries, came together for the first time for the mega exercise in the Arabian Sea.
Capable of moving 400 to 500 nautical miles a day, a CBG is a floating air base with fighter jets and helicopters that can sanitise over 200 nautical miles around it. âThis demonstration of naval prowess underscores India's commitment to safeguarding its national interests, maintaining regional stability, and fostering cooperative partnerships in the maritime domain,â Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said on Saturday.
It also marks âa significant milestoneâ in the Navy's pursuit of enhancing maritime security and power-projection in the IOR and beyond, he added.
Watch: IAF's Su-30MKI fighter jets complete 8-hour mission over the Indian Ocean region
The combat manoeuvres with the âseamless integrationâ of the two CBGs, coupled with the recent long-range strike missions practised by the IAFâs Rafale and Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets on the western and eastern seaboards, are an unmistakable strategic signal to China about its vulnerabilities in the IOR.
While China presses India along the land borders with its âsalami-slicingâ tactics, it is steadily also stepping up its presence in the IOR. With the worldâs largest navy with 355 warships and submarines, China now deploys seven to eight vessels and spy ships in the IOR at any given time. It is also helping Pakistan build a strong maritime force to challenge India in the Arabian Sea.
China will also begin to deploy CBGs in the IOR in the near future. It already has two carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, and is fast completing the third, the over 80,000-tonne Fujian, with the eventual aim being as many as 10 CBGs.
Indian Navy conducts twin aircraft carrier operations in Arabian Sea with more than 35 aircraft
For now, India enjoys an advantage in the IOR due to the logistical issues faced by China, and can successfully exploit its âMalacca Dilemmaâ if the push comes to a shove.
The Indian Navy, however, is yet to even get the preliminary nod for a third aircraft carrier, which will take over a decade to build. INS Vikrant, the largest-ever warship to be built in India for about Rs 20,000 crore, will also become fully combat-ready only after the MiG-29K fighters complete their ongoing trials from her flight deck by early-2024.
But the navy is all gung-ho. âINS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya are mobile air bases that can be positioned anywhere, allowing for increased mission flexibility, timely response to emerging threats and sustained air operations to safeguard our national interests across the globe,â Commander Madhwal said.
The successful demonstration of two-CBG operations serves as âa powerful testamentâ to the pivotal role of sea-based air power in maintaining maritime superiority. âIn addition, they provide our friends with an assurance that the Indian Navy is capable and ready to support our 'collective' security needs in the IOR,â he added.
India certainly needs three aircraft carriers, with one each for the eastern and western seaboards, while the third undergoes the periodic refit and maintenance cycle.
The Navy is now finalising the initial case for a ârepeat orderâ of INS Vikrant, instead of a more potent 65,000-tonne carrier due to budgetary constraints, as was earlier reported by TOI.Watch Indian Navy conducts twin aircraft carrier operations in Arabian Sea with more than 35 aircraft | India Politics |
Veteran anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders is heading for a dramatic victory in the the Dutch general election, says an Ipsos exit poll.
After 25 years in the Dutch parliament, his Freedom party is heading for 35 seats, according to the poll, well ahead of his nearest rival, a left-wing alliance.
If confirmed the result will shake Dutch politics.
But he will struggle to find parties to join him in government.
No single party can win enough seats to govern alone, and three big parties behind him have made clear they have no desire to work with Mr Wilders.
But he was in combative mood in his victory speech: "We want to govern and with 35 seats we will govern."
The left-wing alliance under Frans Timmermans is predicted to come in second with 26 seats.
The original favourites to win the race, the centre-right liberals under new leader Dilan Yesilgöz, are heading for third place, ahead of a brand new centre party under whistleblower MP Pieter Omtzigt.
If confirmed, the result will send shockwaves around Europe, as the Netherlands is one of the founding members of what became the European Union.
Mr Wilders wants to hold a referendum to leave the EU, dubbed a "Nexit", although he recognises there is no national mood to do so.
He also tempered his language in the run-up to the vote, saying on the eve of the vote that there were more pressing issues at the moment than his commitment to ban Islam, and he was prepared to put that on hold.
But in his victory speech on Wednesday night he declared that the Dutch voter had spoken and chosen "an agenda of hope".
He told his supporters that now the campaign was over it was time to work together and the Freedom Party would do so seriously from a great position of strength. | Europe Politics |
The use of Euro-English and Globish, a simplified version of English used by non-native speakers, may have become widespread in the EU, but France has never given up hope of Brussels bureaucrats speaking French.
On the contrary, Paris is now attacking the bloc for hiring some new employees based on assessments conducted in English.
Brussels is currently hiring new officials in fields such as space, defense and economics, using a selection process involving some tests that are only given in English. Paris contends that those criteria favor anglophone candidates over their rivals, and has filed two complaints before the EU’s top court; one of them was made public on Monday.
For France, English-only tests amount to discrimination and violate the EU treaties. The bloc’s rules generally provide that all EU citizens should be treated equally, regardless of nationality. Rules on recruiting EU officials also ban language-based discrimination in general, and accept it only under certain conditions.
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“It discriminates against non-anglophone candidates,” a French diplomat said on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on the matter publicly. They added this was not just a French fight, as other member states shared the same concern.
Another EU diplomat who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed that Italy supported the French position and stressed that “this is not a position against a specific language but in favor of multilingualism.”
France’s push against the ubiquity of English echoes a domestic debate over the country’s loss of influence in the world. French President Emmanuel Macron has been working to boost the use of French worldwide, and on Monday reiterated the importance of la francophonie during a speech as he inaugurated the Cité international de la langue française, a new cultural center devoted to French in the castle of Villers-Cotterêts.
The Commission was not immediately available for comment.
The European Personnel Selection Office, which handles pre-hiring exams set by EU institutions, regularly publishes decisions (known as “competition notices”) that specify the criteria for each selection procedure. France targeted two notices published in 2022 and 2023 that involved some exams given only in English.
The General Court of the EU, which adjudicates disputes involving EU institutions, is expected to rule on the issue within a year; it has previously annulled EPSO competitions for unduly restricting the choice of languages. Earlier this year, the Court of Justice of the EU, which is the final court of appeal for cases involving EU institutions, ruled in favor of Italy and Spain in similar cases.
Francophonie’s struggle
Paris has lobbied extensively in favor of keeping French as a lingua franca within the EU; when it held the Council presidency in 2022, for example, it decided that all preparatory meetings and notes would be in French.
French is an official EU language (one of 24) and is informally considered one of the Commission’s three working languages (the others being English and German), as well as one of the Council’s two spoken languages.
While from a legal point of view, all of the bloc 24 languages are equal, in practice entrance exams are often available in French and German as well as in English.
With 3,271 of its nationals working at the Commission in 2023, France is the third most represented country in the bloc’s institutions after Italy and Belgium.
However, French nationals are underrepresented among the EU’s higher-ranking staff compared to Commission targets to ensure geographical balance among the bloc’s employees.
Gregorio Sorgi contributed reporting. | Europe Politics |
The Israeli military has entered Gaza's main hospital in what it describes as a "targeted operation against Hamas".
An eyewitness at Al-Shifa hospital told the BBC troops moved in overnight and were interrogating people.
Israel has long accused Hamas of having a command centre under Al-Shifa and the US has said its intelligence backs this up, but Hamas has denied it.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he was "appalled" by the raid and that "hospitals are not battlegrounds".
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said it was "extremely worried" for patients and staff, with whom it had lost contact.
The BBC has been speaking to a journalist and a doctor inside the hospital to try to find out what is happening there, while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also been providing updates. We cannot independently confirm any of the accounts.
Eyewitness account from inside hospital
Khader, a journalist inside Al-Shifa, told the BBC's Rushdi Abualouf that Israeli troops were in "complete control" of the hospital and no shooting was taking place.
He said six tanks and about 100 commandos entered the complex during the night, with soldiers shouting "Don't move!" inside the main emergency department.
The Israeli forces then went room to room, floor by floor, questioning both staff and patients and were accompanied by medics and Arabic speakers, he added.
Over loudspeakers, the IDF asked all men between the ages of 16 and 40 to leave the hospital buildings, except the surgical and emergency departments, and go to the hospital courtyard.
Soldiers fired into the air to force those remaining inside to come out, Khader said.
He also said troops installed a scanning and sensor device and asked the men to pass through it.
Muhammad Zaqout, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry's director of hospitals, has also given an account of how the raid played out.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said "not a single bullet" had been fired - because "there are no resistors or detainees" inside.
Israel describes 'targeted operation' against Hamas
The IDF announced in a statement early on Wednesday that its forces were in the midst of a "precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area" in the hospital.
It said the raid was "based on intelligence information and an operational necessity", and it called for the surrender of "all Hamas terrorists present in the hospital".
Later on Wednesday, the IDF said that before entering Al-Shifa its troops "encountered explosive devices and terrorist cells, and an engagement began in which terrorists were killed".
A senior IDF official, who declined to be named, told reporters that Israel had found weapons and "terror infrastructure" but they did not immediately provide evidence.
No fighting had taken place within the hospital and there was no friction between soldiers and people there, the official said.
Israel's Army Radio also reported that troops had not yet found any sign of any of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas gunmen during the 7 October attack on southern Israel, when 1,200 other people were killed.
The raid on Al-Shifa came shortly after the US publicly backed - for the first time - Israeli claims that Hamas had infrastructure underneath the hospital.
White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby said the US had its own intelligence, which had come from a variety of sources, suggesting Hamas used hospitals in the Gaza Strip and tunnels underneath them to conceal military operations and hold hostages.
"Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members operate a command and control node from Al-Shifa in Gaza City," he said, adding that it showed "how challenging [the Israeli] military operation is, because Hamas has deeply embedded itself within the civilian population".
However Dr Ahmed Mokhallalati, a plastic surgeon at Al-Shifa reached by the BBC, insisted that there were only civilians in the hospital and said he had never seen a single gun inside the hospital, or any Hamas presence.
He said there were tunnels under every building in Gaza, including Al-Shifa hospital.
Hospitals have special protection under the rules of war
According to international humanitarian law, hospitals are specially protected facilities.
This means that parties to conflicts cannot attack hospitals, or prevent them performing their medical functions. However, they can lose their protection if they are used by a party to the conflict to commit an "act harmful to the enemy".
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says this could be something like a hospital being used as a base from which to launch an attack, as a shelter for able-bodied fighters, or to shield a military objective from attack.
But even if a hospital has lost its protected status, the ICRC warns, this is not a free licence to attack.
The first may mean that an attack is not justified if the humanitarian consequences - civilian casualties or long-term harm to healthcare services - outweigh the military advantage.
The second requires attacking parties to do everything feasible to avoid, or at least minimize, harm to patients and medical staff.
They must give a warning to allow a party misusing the hospital to stop the "act harmful to the enemy" or, if they persist, allow for the safe evacuation of civilians inside.
The IDF said it had repeatedly warned Hamas in recent weeks that its "continued military use of Al-Shifa jeopardises its protected status under international law and enabled ample time to stop this unlawful abuse of the hospital".
It said that warning was once again given to authorities in Gaza 12 hours before the raid.
The IDF also repeatedly called for the evacuation of Al-Shifa before the raid and said it had facilitated the evacuation of staff, patients and civilians sheltering in the hospital.
However, the World Health Organization had warned that evacuating patients would be a "death sentence", given that the medical system was collapsing and hospitals in the south could not admit them.
Worsening humanitarian situation
Intense fighting was reported around Al-Shifa for days, trapping patients, staff and displaced people who had sought shelter there.
Dr Mokhallalati told the BBC on Wednesday that the hospital was without power, oxygen and water.
On Tuesday, essential surgeries had been carried out without proper anaesthesia, with patients "screaming in pain", he said. No surgeries could be carried out on Wednesday.
Doctors were unable to help one patient with burns on Tuesday due to lack of equipment including ventilators and had to just "let him die", Dr Mokhallalati added.
He also said that six premature babies had died in recent days and that he feared more would die due to lack of oxygen and lack of power.
The IDF said its troops were providing incubators, baby food and medical supplies to the hospital.
"Why can't they be evacuated," Dr Mokhallalati said of the babies. "In Afghanistan, they evacuated the cats and dogs."
"Where is the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross]?" he added. "Where are the British and American governments? Is everyone just waiting for us all to die here and then say we were 'good people'?"
Although Israel previously said it was ready to allow staff and patients to evacuate, Palestinians have said Israeli forces opened fire at them and that it was too dangerous to move vulnerable patients.
Witnesses have described dire conditions inside the hospital, with families with scant food or water living in corridors and smell of decomposing bodies in the air. | Middle East Politics |
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, Taliban officials and supporters are prolific users of Twitter, using the platform to disseminate key messagesThe Taliban have started using Twitter's paid-for verification feature, meaning some now have blue ticks on their accounts.Previously, the blue tick indicated "active, notable, and authentic accounts of public interest" verified by Twitter, and could not be purchased.But now, users can buy them through the new Twitter Blue service.At least two Taliban officials and four prominent supporters in Afghanistan are currently using the checkmarks.Hedayatullah Hedayat, the head of the Taliban's department for "access to information", now has the tick. His account has 187,000 followers and he regularly posts information related to the Taliban administration. He had his paid-for blue tick removed last month, according to local media, but it has now returned.Abdul Haq Hammad, head of the media watchdog at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, also has a blue tick on his account that has 170,000 followers. Prominent Taliban supporters have also acquired the blue tick, including Muhammad Jalal, who previously identified as a Taliban official. He praised the new owner of Twitter on Monday, declaring that Elon Musk was "making Twitter great again".The presence of the hard-line Islamists on Twitter has been a topic of controversy for some time. In October 2021, former US President Donald Trump - who was suspended from the platform after his supporters stormed the US Capitol - said: "We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced.The Twitter Blue service was introduced in December.It costs $8 per month, and an increased fee of $11 is paid by those using the Twitter app on Apple devices.Subscribers to Twitter Blue benefit from "priority ranking in search, mentions, and replies" to help fight spam and bots, according to the platform.Before the introduction of Twitter Blue, none of the observed accounts for Taliban officials carried the blue tick mark - that was then used to indicate the identities of users verified by Twitter.After their return to power in Kabul in August 2021, the group took over verified accounts run by the previous administration, including the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The sporting body's account now carries a gold tick.Under Twitter's new policies, gold checkmarks indicate businesses, while grey ones are for other users, such as governing authorities.Taliban officials and supporters are prolific users of Twitter, using the platform to disseminate key messages.Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. | Middle East Politics |
Nigel Lawson, chancellor to Margaret Thatcher, has died at the age of 91.
He leaves behind five of his six children, including TV chef Nigella Lawson and journalist Dominic Lawson. One of his daughters, Thomasina, died aged 32.
Born in Hampstead, northwest London, on 11 March 1932, the son of the owner of a tea-trading firm, he climbed his way to the top of British politics after an education at Westminster School and Oxford University.
His political life started at Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics - like many other politicians - but he began his working life carrying out national service as a Royal Navy officer.
Lord Lawson, as he was to become, then became a financial journalist, writing for the Financial Times and The Sunday Telegraph, before becoming editor of The Spectator.
After 14 years as a journalist, in 1970 he stood to become an MP, unsuccessfully, for the Eton and Slough seat before eventually winning the now-defunct Leicestershire constituency of Blaby four years later.
When the Conservatives won the election in 1979 under Mrs Thatcher, she made him financial secretary to the Treasury and her policies at the time clearly reflected his influence.
She then promoted him to energy secretary, where he helped prepare for what he called "inevitable" full-scale strikes in the coal industry, which had been nationalised by Labour prime minister Clement Attlee.
But it was as chancellor that Mr Lawson ensured he would go down in the history books.
Tax cuts, the Big Bang and the Lawson Boom
The second longest-serving chancellor after Gordon Brown, Mr Lawson was key to Mrs Thatcher's economic policies - and success.
After getting the job in 1983 he pushed ahead with tax reforms, reducing corporation taxes and lowering National Insurance contributions for the lower-paid, while extending the VAT base.
From 1986, his public image grew after he reduced the standard rate of personal income tax and unemployment began to fall.
He also managed to turn around government finances from a budget deficit of £10.5bn in 1983 to a surplus of £3.9bn in 1988 and £4.1bn in 1989.
However, the government's current account deficit increased from below 1% GDP to almost 5% in three years.
Mr Lawson managed to honour his promise to bring taxation rates down, with the basic rate going from 30% to 25%, and the top tax rate from 60% to 40%. He also removed other higher rates so nobody paid above 40% in personal tax.
One of his major triumphs was the Big Bang of 1986, which saw the City's financial markets deregulated and London strengthened as a financial capital - but in 2010, he admitted the "unintended consequence" of that was the 2007 financial crisis.
He even had a period of economic growth named after him. The Lawson Boom saw the UK economy on the up after 1986, with unemployment halved.
However, that led to a rise in inflation to 8% in 1988 and interest rates doubled to 15% within 18 months, with critics accusing Mr Lawson of unleashing an inflationary spiral due to his policies.
In his 1992 memoir, written just after he stepped down as an MP, Mr Lawson admitted the 1987 manifesto was not properly thought through and if it had not been for the economic growth, the manifesto would have been a disaster.
"As it was, it was merely an embarrassment," he said.
While he was Mrs Thatcher's right-hand man, the pair did not always see eye-to-eye and he was overruled in cabinet when he opposed introducing a poll tax to replace local government financing.
There was also the now-infamous 1988 budget, which took nearly two hours for Mr Lawson to announce as there were continuous interruptions and protests from opposition parties.
The then deputy leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond, was suspended from the Commons for his constant interruptions.
Mrs Thatcher and her chancellor also clashed over the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM) membership in 1985, with Mr Lawson - ironically, as he became a Brexiteer - believing membership was the only way forward to help convince the markets the UK was committed to fiscal discipline.
It proved to be one of Mrs Thatcher's most tumultuous meetings with her senior ministers as she single-handedly faced them down after Mr Lawson had spoken separately to all of the ministers present to persuade them to ambush her.
Mr Lawson later said he had considered resigning after she said their arguments did not convince her, but he was dissuaded by colleagues. Mrs Thatcher was persuaded to sign up to the ERM five years later by Mr Lawson's successor, John Major.
The prime minister's relationship with her chancellor took another dive when she re-employed economist Alan Walters in 1989 as her personal economic adviser, with Mr Lawson at loggerheads with them over the ERM.
He threatened to resign if Mrs Thatcher did not sack Mr Walters over his lack of support for the ERM. Mrs Thatcher wrote in a private memo that was "absurd" and urged him to rethink - and Mr Lawson quit.
National Archive files released in 2017 revealed the extent Mr Walters was briefing against Mr Lawson, including telling Mrs Thatcher that Mr Lawson's position over the ERM was having a devastating impact on the UK economy.
Mr Lawson's resignation was seen as the beginning of the end for Mrs Thatcher, with her foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe resigning shortly after - and Mrs Thatcher resigned in 1990 after Michael Heseltine decided to challenge her for leadership of the Conservative Party.
Mr Lawson remained as a backbencher until 1992, when he was elevated to the House of Lords with a life peerage, and was known as Lord Lawson of Blaby.
Months after he stood down as an MP, he lost five stone after his doctor told him his knee problems would not stop if he continued to carry the weight.
It dramatically changed his appearance and he published The Nigel Lawson Diet Book, which became a best seller.
Previously 17 stone and 5ft 9, he had been an easy target for political cartoonists - although it did not bother him - and he admitted after losing weight: "I was certainly a fat man.
"It came up gradually, and by the time I was chancellor, certainly, that was the thing the cartoonists seized on; that was part of the image - no doubt about it."
Mr Lawson used his time away from the Commons to occasionally appear as a guest on daughter Nigella's cookery shows.
He also served on the advisory board of the Conservative magazine Standpoint.
Mr Lawson was married twice. His first wife was former ballet dancer Vanessa Salmon with whom he had Dominic (the journalist), Thomasina (who died of breast cancer aged 32), Nigella (the TV chef) and Horatia. After they divorced, Ms Salmon died of liver cancer aged 48.
His second wife was former Commons researcher Therese Maclear, who he married the same year he divorced Ms Salmon. They had son Tom and daughter Emily before they divorced in 2008.
In 2011, he found love again at the age of 79 with 42-year-old Dr Tina Jennings, a former banker who was previously married to New Zealand's richest man.
However, they split up two years later, with Dr Jennings reportedly finding it hard to go regularly to France, which Mr Lawson did every weekend.
In 2009, Mr Lawson was caught up in the parliamentary expenses scandal after he was accused of claiming £16,000 in overnight allowances by registering his farmhouse in Gascony, southwest France, as his main residence.
In 2013, the former chancellor pushed for the UK to leave the EU and ahead of the 2016 referendum he was appointed chairman of the Vote Leave campaign.
At the time, he was living in France and in 2018 started to apply for his official French residency card.
His critics accused him of hypocrisy for living in France yet campaigning for the UK to leave the EU, but he said he did not believe the issue of Britons living in other EU countries was a big problem in the Brexit negotiations.
In 2019, Mr Lawson returned to live in the UK after putting his Gascony mansion on the market. He said it was to be close to his children and grandchildren.
In opposition to Mrs Thatcher, who helped put climate change on the agenda, Mr Lawson was very sceptical of the concept and denied global warming is taking place to such a large degree as many scientists say.
He wrote a letter in 2004 criticising the Kyoto Protocol and claiming there were substantial scientific uncertainties.
As a member of the House of Lords Economics Affairs Select Committee, he carried out an inquiry into climate change in 2005 and recommended the Treasury take a more active role in climate policy.
The report said there was a mismatch between the economic costs and the benefits of climate policy - which kicked off a tussle between him and Michael Grubb, chief economist of the Carbon Trust.
He contributed to the 2007 documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle and in 2008 published a book called An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming.
In the book, he admitted global warming is happening and will have negative consequences but said the impact of those changes will be moderate rather than apocalyptic, and criticised "alarmist" politicians and scientists.
He was heavily denounced by climate scientists and the UK's chief scientific adviser at the time, Sir John Beddington, who privately told Mr Lawson he had "incorrect" and "misleading" claims in the book.
But that did not stop him airing his views, and in 2009 he launched a new thinktank called The Global Warming Policy Foundation.
His journalist son, Dominic Lawson, is also a climate change sceptic. | United Kingdom Politics |
Four people, including two children, were reportedly killed during a major Israeli incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin that the Israel Defense Forces said was aimed at suppressing jihadist activity.
Adam Samer al-Ghoul, eight, and Basil Suleiman Abu al-Wafa, 15, were shot dead during the fighting, Palestinian officials said, while the IDF said a terror leader and his associate had been found dead after their building was attacked.
A video from the Palestinian news agency Wafa appeared to show Adam being shot dead in a street by what the agency said were Israeli forces. No shooter can be seen in the film and there was no immediate comment from the IDF.
Muhammad Zubeidi, described by Israel as the Jenin camp commander from Islamic Jihad, was killed in a house where he had been sheltering with another man. They had been surrounded and were attacked with shoulder-fired missiles, grenades and other explosives, the IDF said.
Israel said Zubeidi had been involved in “extensive terrorist activity”, including the killing of Meir Tamari, a 31-year-old Israeli citizen who was shot dead at the end of May in his SUV while travelling near his home in the settlement of Hermesh.
Israel said 17 other people were arrested in Jenin after house searches where weapons and ammunition were found, while residents in one neighbourhood reported being forced from their homes amid violent confrontations.
Hundreds of Israeli troops entered Jenin and its camp on Tuesday evening, and continued their activities on Wednesday, in an operation that residents said was unusually large in scale and was probably timed to coincide with the pause in fighting in Gaza.
Jenin has long been a centre of Palestinian resistance to Israel, with a series of deadly clashes since Hamas launched its attack from Gaza. Fourteen people were killed in fighting earlier this month, while five were killed this week after Israeli forces launched a raid aimed at detaining a suspected militant.
Armed clashes were reported from early Tuesday evening, and overnight two hospitals in the area were cut off as the first casualties were reported.
Israel said it had conducted an airstrike during the raid, while the Wafa agency reported raids on homes in the east of Jenin, bulldozers knocking out electricity and destroying infrastructure and a drone attack.
Eight people were initially reported as injured while video and photographs showed damage to houses, cars and roads..
Christos Christou, the international director of Médecins Sans Frontières, said on Tuesday night that Israel had cut off the Khalil Suleiman hospital during the raid, meaning that “there was no way for any of the injured patients to reach the hospital, and there’s no way for us to reach these people”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that Israeli forces had blocked the entrance of Jenin government hospital for 40 minutes, preventing medics from transferring a patient with a gunshot wound in the leg to the hospital. The patient was subsequently arrested, the society added.
Israel says it has detained 2,000 wanted suspects in the West Bank since the 7 October terrorist attack, and that 1,100 of them are affiliated to Hamas, the dominant force in Gaza. | Middle East Politics |
Roni Kriboy, the Russian-Israeli hostage, who was abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas terror attack on October 7, initially escaped Hamas but Gazan civilians recaptured him and returned him to the terrorists. Kriboy’s aunt, Yelena Magid, told news agency CNN that her nephew initially managed to free himself from the clutches of Hamas but within a few hours found himself in their grasp.
Roni Kriboy was released on Sunday and Hamas said Kriboy was released “in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin” and his “support of the Palestinian cause”.
Speaking to Israeli radio station Kan Reshet B, Magid said Roni was held in a building in Gaza initially. Roni, a 25-year-old dual national, fled the building when it was bombed.
He even managed to stay hidden for a few days but his luck ran out when Gazan civilians found him, caught him and returned him to Hamas, his aunt Magid said. “He said that he was kidnapped by terrorists and they brought him inside some building,” Magid was quoted as saying.
“I understood from the bombings, the building collapsed and he managed to escape from there… and for several days he hid there and was alone and in the end the Gazans caught him and returned him to the hands of the terrorists,” she further added.
Magid said that Roni tried to reach the border. She said that her nephew suffered disorientation and did not have the means to understand his whereabouts. “He tried to reach the border. I think that because he didn’t have the means to understand his whereabouts and where to run away, he probably got into a bit of disorientation there in the area. He was alone for four days,” Magid added.
The woman said that her nephew suffered a head injury when the building he was being held in collapsed but has since recovered. Roni is the first adult male hostage to be released from the clutches of the terrorist group. Hamas, as mentioned earlier, said that his release was not officially part of the hostages-for-prisoners deal between Israel and Hamas.
Under the deal, 50 women and children held captive in Gaza were released and up to 150 Palestinian women and child detainees were freed from Israeli prisons.
However, Kriboy’s aunt did not buy Hamas’ reason that they freed him because of Vladimir Putin. “The boy was born here and grew up here all of his life. He hardly speaks Russian,” Magid said, pointing out that her nephew’s parents moved from Russia to Israel in 1992. | Middle East Politics |
A Chinese fighter jet conducted an "unsafe intercept" of a U.S. Air Force B-52 over the South China Sea earlier this week, the Pentagon said Thursday. Video of the Tuesday night confrontation was released by the Defense Department.
According to the Pentagon, the 38-second video shows the pilot of a Shenyang J-11 coming within 10 feet of the B-52, which is a long-range heavy bomber.
The Pentagon said the Chinese pilot "flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner" and "demonstrated poor airmanship by closing with uncontrolled excessive speed."
The Pentagon said it was "concerned" that China's fighter pilot "was unaware of how close he came to causing a collision."
The B-52 was conducting routine nighttime operations when the confrontation occurred, and had limited visibility, the Pentagon stated. Furthermore, the Chinese fighter jet's intercept "violated international air safety rules and norms."
Since the fall of 2021, China's military has initiated more than 180 similar interactions with aircraft of the U.S. military and other nations, according to the Pentagon.
In one such incident on May 26, also over the South China Sea, the pilot of a Chinese J-16 fighterthe nose of an RC-135, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft. The two aircraft came within 400 feet of each other, and the RC-135 was forced to fly through the J-16's wake turbulence, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command reported.
"There have been a series of these actions directed not just at us but at other countries in recent months," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time.
There have also been confrontations at sea. In June, a Chinese navy ship cutof an U.S. Navy missile destroyer in the Taiwan Strait, with the two ships coming within 150 yards.
Chinain the Taiwan Strait. It considers Taiwan, an island just off its east coast that's been democratically governed for seven decades, part of its sovereign territory.
— Eleanor Watson and Elizabeth Palmer contributed to this report.
for more features. | Asia Politics |
United Nations — The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency made his third trip to Ukraine's, Europe's largest atomic power station, this week in a bid to "prevent a nuclear accident." Ukraine accused Russia of , which Russian forces had occupied for months, a week and a half ago, threatening the vital cooling water supply to the sprawling nuclear plant.
The explosion at the dam sent water gushing out of the reservoir, flooding a wide region along the Dnieper River and cutting off the primary supply that fills a cooling pond at the Zaporizhzhia plant.
Russia accused Ukrainian forces of attacking the dam, but military analysts cast doubt on the claims as flooding the river valley stood to benefit Russia's forces as they try to repel a Ukrainian counteroffensive at various points along the 600-mile front line. Ukraine's president said it was "impossible" to have caused the damage done to the Russian-occupied dam with artillery, and said it was blown up "from inside."
Fighting has intensified around the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is also occupied by Russian forces, in recent months, with shellingseven times already, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators as Ukraine's infrastructure comes under increasing attack by Russian artillery.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi completed his latest visit to Zaporizhzhia Thursday and was expected to issue a full report on the safety of the facility in the coming days.
"We believe that we have gathered a good amount of information for an assessment of the situation and we will continue permanently monitoring the situation there in order to help prevent a nuclear accident," Grossi said in one of several videos he posted from the plant.
"One of the most serious consequences of the destruction of the Kahkovka dam has been the decrease in the level of waters which are needed to cool the nuclear power plant behind me," Grossi said. "I'm here standing just at the intersection between the reservoir on my right and the river proper, and then behind me, which you can see, is the cooling pond, essential for the safety of this plant is the water that you see behind me stays at that level."
Russia's TASS news agency said Grossi was shown fragments of Ukrainian shells allegedly found on the grounds of the plant. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of endangering the plant with artillery fire for months.
Grossi's long-standing appeal to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council to establish a safety zone around the nuclear plant has gone unheeded, and he said this week that he did not expect Moscow and Kyiv to sign a document on the site's security.
"Reaching a written agreement would be unrealistic at this stage because, as we know, there are no peace or ceasefire negotiations between the parties," he told reporters.
He recently presented a new plan of "five principles" to beef up the IAEA presence at the Russian-occupied facility, and a new team of international inspectors was rotated into the mission during his visit this week.
"My visit to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the first after I established the IAEA 5 principles for protecting the plant and avoiding a nuclear accident, which reinforce the essential role of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission at Zaporizhzhia," Grossi said.
He said the situation around the plant was "serious" but being "stabilized" after the blast at the dam.
In the days following the explosion, the head of Ukraine's nuclear energy company Energoatom, Petro Kotin, said there was no immediate threat to the Zaporizhzhia plant as there were "alternate replenishment sources" for the cooling pond.
The IAEA also voiced little immediate concern for the safety of the Zaporizhzhia facility in the wake of the dam explosion, but Grossi has consistently noted the importance of both sides in the war protecting the cooling pond at the nuclear plant.
for more features. | Europe Politics |
Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, is today one of the most isolated and unlivable cities in the world. But for over two thousand years, traders, sailors, shipbuilders, farmers, fishermen, architects, and scholars recognized great possibilities in the climate, soils, and strategic location of Gaza. Though it now relies on the World Food Program, Gaza’s name was once synonymous with the wine it produced, which was considered a delicacy in France, among other places. Today, Gaza is cut off from international trade, but it was one of the most interconnected commercial hubs on the Silk Road. Gaza has virtually no tourism. But it was once visited by such luminaries as Mohammed, the Roman emperor Hadrian, and Winston Churchill.
Gaza sits at the southeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea, on the edge of Asia, where it meets Africa. As a Silk Road entrepôt, Gaza received goods from thousands of kilometers east—including places like Uzbekistan and India—and shipped them to Mediterranean markets in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
At the time of Jesus, Gaza was the last stop on the still more ancient Incense Trade Route, over which gold, frankincense, and myrrh traveled, like the gifts the Three Wise Men are said to have brought to Bethlehem. Gazan merchants moved aromatics coming in from Yemen and Arabia to markets all around the Mediterranean. The city was fringed by farms, which brought olives, dates, and wine to its busy markets during its Egyptian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Ottoman eras. In fact, last year a Gazan farmer made headlines when, on digging to investigate why his olive trees were not taking root, he unearthed a large mosaic floor from the days of the Byzantine Empire.
In Late Antiquity, Gaza was a Greek-speaking Byzantine center of philosophy and rhetoric, known for its openness to diverse ideas and cultures overlapping from three continents. The fifth-century Byzantine Christian philosopher Aeneas of Gaza called the city “the Athens of Asia.” As the Byzantine Empire lost its grip on the Eastern Mediterranean to Arab caliphates over the course of the 7th century, Gaza’s language changed from Greek to Arabic and its churches were replaced with mosques. But Jewish and Christian communities remained in Gaza—and continued their viniculture, which was banned by Islamic law. Under Arab rule, the port of Gaza became a key node on the Islamic sea trading network that controlled three-quarters of the Mediterranean coastline, from Syria to Spain.
But as the Arab empire began to fracture, Gaza fell into neglect. By the time Crusaders arrived in 1100, they found it uninhabited and in ruins, according to the historian William of Tyre. Crusaders rebuilt Gaza as an outpost for pilgrims and travelers headed to and from the Holy Land. In 1149, the city was placed under the protection of the Knights Templar, the Pope’s warrior-monks and financiers of the Crusades, and it became a fortress town guarding the Egyptian border of the medieval Crusader state called the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Gaza fell to Saladin in 1187 but was retaken by Richard the Lionheart in 1192.
As the Crusades waned in the 1300s, Gaza was conquered by the Islamic Mamluks, and was once again transformed into a flourishing metropolis. Mamluk governor Sanjar Al Jawli oversaw a massive wave of construction projects, including a hospital, Islamic schools, open-air markets, public baths, and a horse racing course.
But in the 1400s, the European Age of Exploration opened new sea routes to the Far East, which reduced the need for Silk Road Muslim middlemen, like those of Gaza. By the time the Ottoman Empire cavalry rode in and took over in 1516, Gaza was a small town in decline again.
The Ottomans ruled Gaza for over 400 years. The first few centuries were peaceful and prosperous, and the prosperity extended to Jews. In his 1991 book The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, historian Stanford J. Shaw relates that there were “150,000 Jews in the Ottoman Empire as a whole at its height in the sixteenth century, approximately three percent of its population, compared to only 75,000 Jews in Poland and Lithuania at the same time.” In other words, the world’s largest Jewish population was in the Ottoman Empire, which the historian Tahir Kamran claims “provided a principal place of refuge for Jews driven out of Western Europe by massacres and persecution.” When the Ottomans took over, about 1,000 Jewish families lived in what is now Israel, and Gaza was one of the principal cities Jews inhabited. In fact, Jews had lived in Gaza since Biblical times, and Gaza is mentioned in the Old Testament as one of the five city-states ruled by the Philistines. Traces of Gaza’s old Jewish Quarter can still be found today.
The later Ottoman Empire fell into decline and neglected many of its outlying territories, including Palestine and Egypt. This encouraged Western powers to move in, with their missionaries, scholars, and merchants. Gaza became an important grain depot, with a German steam mill, and it exported barley to England to make beer. In an attempt to sever Britain’s trade routes to its colonies in India, Napoleon led an expedition to conquer Egypt and Palestine. In 1799, he personally marched into Gaza at the head of 13,000 troops, calling it “the outpost of Africa, the door to Asia.” American Presbyterian minister and historian Edward Robinson, sometimes called the “father of Biblical geography,” traveled through the Holy Land in 1838 and reported that Gaza produced soap, cotton, apricots, mulberries, and olives, and that it was a key stop on caravan routes for Bedouin traders between Syria and Egypt. In short, for much of its history, Gaza moved people, things, and ideas by land and sea, and its name was associated with geographic interconnectedness.
This began to change around the turn of the 20th century, when life in Gaza became more about surviving disasters and conflicts than pursuing prosperity through its status as a hub of goods and ideas. Gaza is situated near a geological fault called the Dead Sea Rift. In 1903 and 1914, the fault caused earthquakes that destroyed parts of the city. During World War 1, most of Gaza’s urban housing was damaged or destroyed in the First, Second, and Third Battles of Gaza, and in 1917 the British captured the city from the Ottomans. In 1920, what was left of post-Ottoman Gaza became part of the British territory known as Mandatory Palestine, which existed from 1920 to 1948. Some 135 of Gaza’s Jews were killed by Arabs in anti-Jewish riots in 1929. This forced the Jews to leave the city, although some later returned. During the Mandate, Palestine’s Jewish population doubled as over 400,000 Jews immigrated, especially from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Poland. But Gaza remained almost entirely Islamic: A 1945 survey shows that the district of Gaza had 150,540 residents (it was the fourth largest district in Mandatory Palestine), of whom 97 percent were Muslim, 2 percent Jewish, and 1 percent Christian.
Mandatory Palestine came to a violent end in 1948, after the United Nations agreed that the territory would be divided between a Jewish and an Arab state. The Arab state would comprise about 43 percent of Palestine’s area and 40 percent of its total population and would be 99 percent Arab and 1 percent Jewish. The Jewish state would cover 56 percent of Palestine’s total area and contain nearly half its population and would be 55 percent Jewish and 45 percent Arab. The Jewish side accepted this deal, but the Arabs rejected it, and thus the 1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence set off the Palestine War.
Jewish Zionist militias swept through Palestine and took 78 percent of the territory, far more than the 56 percent in the UN plan. By the time Israel and Egypt signed the 1949 Armistice Agreements that ended the war, some 6,000 Israeli Jews and over 10,000 Arabs had been killed in the fighting. Many of the 700,000 fugitive or expelled Muslim refugees crossed the Armistice Line from Israel into the Gaza Strip, which was then administered by Egypt. Meanwhile, in the three years that followed the war, around 600,000 Jews immigrated to Israel, including 260,000 from neighboring Arab states.
Israel took Gaza back from Egypt in the 1956 Suez Crisis, then returned it again—only to retake it once again (along with the West Bank and other territories) in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel hoped to trade these captured Palestinian territories with its Arab neighbors in exchange for peace, but a deal never materialized.
Many other attempts at a two-state solution have been made, including the Oslo Accords in 1993, in which the Palestine Liberation Organization recognized Israel’s sovereignty. But Gaza’s chances of being part of a two-state solution evaporated with the election of Hamas in 2007, the last election ever to be held in Gaza. Hamas has never wavered from the purpose stated in its founding charter, the 1988 Hamas Covenant:
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. … [Hamas] strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine. … The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
In 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, removing its military and all 21 Israeli settlements. In 2017, Israel offered that if Hamas demilitarized, returned Israeli captives and MIAs, and recognized the State of Israel’s right to exist in peace, then Israel would invest heavily in turning Gaza’s refugee camps into the “Singapore of the Middle East,” including building a seaport and airport to make Gaza a high-tech international crossroads. Hamas refused, and today, according to the UN, the average Gazan lacks potable water and lives on two pieces of Arabic bread a day.
Privately, Israel has asked Egypt to allow Gazans to escape the humanitarian disaster of the Gaza Strip and move into refugee camps in Egypt’s Sinai region. But the prospect that a mass exodus of Gazans might bring Hamas onto their soil has made Egypt and other Islamic countries wholly uninterested in taking Gazan refugees. The political geography of Gaza has thus remained a lose-lose stalemate since 1967: its Muslims are stuck in an isolated corner of a Jewish state, while Israel is stuck with a hostile territory it has never really wanted to govern. Israel’s former prime minister Levin Eshkol called Gaza “a bone stuck in our throats.”
The bustling prosperity of Gaza’s past and the impoverished confinement of its present illustrate how differing societies can shape the same landscape in starkly contrasting ways. And they show how the same geographically-blessed site can be connected or isolated, recognized or overlooked, fought over or abandoned, developed or wasted.
The philosopher Aeneas of Gaza wrote that “soul’s nature is so great, just because it has no size, as to contain the whole of body in one and the same grasp; wherever body extends, there soul is.” Today, the body of Gaza is cramped between heavily-guarded border walls and a coastline off limits to maritime exports. But as a bridge between seas and continents, Gaza will always have geography on its side. Many waves of prosperity, cultures, and empires have come and gone. It is hard to imagine now, but there will be a time when the body extends again, and travelers bound for foreign shores will once more sail out over the waves of Gaza. | Middle East Politics |
CANBERRA, Australia -- Three leading advocates for constitutional change in Australia conceded defeat on Saturday in a referendum that would have created an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. said based on early vote counting that the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia have rejected the amendment that would have created an Indigenous committee to advise Parliament and the government on issues that affect Australia’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.
The Voice needs majorities in each of at least four of the six states as well as a national majority for the referendum to pass.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Polling closed in all but one Australian state Saturday with the “no” vote dominating early counting in the country's first referendum in a generation, deciding whether to tackle Indigenous disadvantages by enshrining in the constitution a new advocacy committee.
The proposal for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament bitterly divided Australia’s Indigenous minority as well as the wider community.
The polls closed in a fifth state, Queensland, at 6 p.m. (08:00 GMT). Voting will close in Western Australia two hours later due to its unique time zone.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. said that based on an early vote count, the states of New South Wales and Tasmania will reject constitutional change. The Voice would need majorities in each of the four remaining states plus a national majority to survive.
Opinion polls in recent months have indicated a strong majority of Australians oppose the proposal. Earlier in the year, a majority supported the Voice before the “no" campaign gathered intensity.
The Voice would be a committee comprised of and chosen by Indigenous Australians that would advise the Parliament and government on issues that affect the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.
Voice advocates hope that listening to Indigenous views would lead to more effective delivery of government services and better outcomes for Indigenous lives.
Accounting for only 3.8% of the population, Indigenous Australians die on average eight years younger than the wider population, have a suicide rate twice that of the national average and suffer from diseases in the remote Outback that have been eradicated from other wealthy countries.
Almost 18 million people were enrolled to vote in the referendum, Australia's first since 1999. Around 6 million cast ballots in early voting over the last three weeks.
Around 2 million postal votes will be counted for up to 13 days after the polls close Saturday.
The result could be known late Saturday unless the vote is close.
If the proposal passes, it will be the first successful constitutional amendment since 1977. It also would be the first ever to pass without the bipartisan support of the major political parties. | Australia Politics |
The enduring U.S.-Republic of Korea security alliance has effectively deterred conflict and preserved peace on the Korean Peninsula for over 63 years. In today’s context, characterized by the escalating threat posed by a nuclear-armed and aggressive North Korea, increasing tensions in U.S.-China relations, and rapidly evolving security dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region, the significance of the U.S.-ROK security alliance has reached new heights. It is a crucial cornerstone of America’s ability to project military strength, navigate uncertainty, and uphold stability in an area of utmost importance to U.S. interests.
The alliance between the United States and South Korea has been robust since the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953. This treaty establishes mutual defense assistance in the event of an armed attack against either party.
Over the years, the alliance has expanded to include joint military exercises, operations, and regular coordinated consultations to address regional security issues. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have recently increased due to North Korea’s ongoing nuclear and missile tests and hostile rhetoric. In retaliation, the US has kept a noticeable military presence in South Korea, including sporadic submarine deployments. These deployments demonstrate the U.S. commitment to South Korea’s security and the upkeep of regional stability, sending a strategic message to North Korea and its allies.
In a significant move, the United States has recently deployed a nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) to South Korea. This deployment marks the first time since the 1980s that such a sub has been sent to the region. The decision comes as both countries engage in talks to enhance coordination and prepare for potential scenarios involving a nuclear conflict with North Korea.
White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell announced the submarine’s visit on Tuesday. The deployment was anticipated following a joint declaration made during a summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, back in April.
By deploying a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea, the United States aims to demonstrate its commitment to its ally’s security and strengthen coordination in addressing the North Korean nuclear threat. This move underscores the significance both countries place on maintaining a strong deterrent against potential aggression from North Korea and the importance of close collaboration in addressing regional security challenges as part of the agreements reached in April between the presidents of the United States and South Korea to address North Korea’s increasing nuclear threat, periodic visits by US SSBNs to South Korea were established. Additionally, the two countries agreed to establish a bilateral NCG (nuclear consultative group) and expand military exercises. The recent visit of the nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea demonstrated the United States’ commitment to implementing its “extended deterrence” pledge. This commitment entails the US utilizing its full range of military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to protect its allies. The South Korean Ministry of Defense emphasized that the visit signifies the allies’ strong ability and preparedness against North Korea.
The United States and South Korea aim to deter any potential aggression from North Korea by reaffirming their commitment to extended deterrence and showcasing their military posture. These actions underscore the importance of maintaining a robust defense alliance and sending a clear message regarding the consequences of North Korea’s nuclear provocations.
During the Cold War, the United States had a continuous military presence in South Korea to discourage any potential acts of aggression from North Korea. As part of this presence, submarines regularly patrol the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula to monitor North Korean naval activities. In 1994, a significant agreement known as the Agreed Framework was reached between the United States and North Korea. The primary objective of this agreement was to address concerns regarding North Korea’s nuclear program. Under the terms of the deal, North Korea committed to freezing and ultimately dismantling its nuclear weapons program. In return, the United States pledged to provide economic assistance and support in constructing civilian nuclear reactors.
The Agreed Framework represented a diplomatic effort to mitigate tensions and promote regional stability by curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. The presence of U.S. submarines during the Cold War and the subsequent agreement in 1994 reflected the ongoing commitment of the United States to maintain security in South Korea and address the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons has gained heightened significance due to its recent threats of nuclear weapon use in conflicts and a series of missile tests, totaling approximately 100 since the beginning of the previous year. North Korea has a numerical edge over the ROK in terms of soldiers, tanks, artillery, and aircraft, despite the ROK having a technological edge, more robust training programs, and contemporary equipment. Most North Korean forces are in a forward position close to the demilitarized zone, allowing them to attack the South rapidly and effectively in the event of a confrontation.
The Korean People’s Army (KPA) can reach the capital of South Korea and a sizable chunk of its populace with long-range artillery and tactical rockets. North Korea’s recent test of a more advanced intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States was of particular concern. Following the launch, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stated that his country’s nuclear combat capabilities had been further strengthened.
In response to these developments, President Joe Biden, during his summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-year in April, also warned about North Korea’s nuclear activities. The meeting resulted in both leaders acknowledging the integral role of the NCG (nuclear consultative group) in facilitating discussions and advancing bilateral approaches, including guidelines, for nuclear and strategic planning and responses to North Korean aggression.
The evolving nuclear ambitions of North Korea have prompted heightened concern and the need for close coordination between the United States and South Korea.
Both countries recognize the importance of effective strategic planning and responses to address North Korean provocations and safeguard regional security. The establishment and activation of the NCG serve as mechanisms for strengthening collaboration and ensuring a coordinated approach in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear threats.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior adviser and powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, issued a statement on Monday expressing concern over the United States’ efforts to strengthen its extended deterrence commitment to South Korea. Kim Yo Jong warned that these actions by the US would push North Korea further away from the desired negotiating table and prompt them to enhance their military capabilities. Kim Yo Jong emphasized that North Korea is prepared to respond strongly to any actions that violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity. She urged the US to refrain from provocative acts jeopardizing North Korea’s security, describing such actions as foolish.
The statement from Kim Yo Jong highlights North Korea’s discontent with the US reinforcement of its deterrence posture. It suggests that it could have adverse implications for future negotiations. The language used underscores North Korea’s commitment to safeguarding its national security and sends a clear message regarding the consequences of provocative actions by the United States.
Nurturing and enhancing the alliance relationship, which has proven beneficial for U.S. interests, will be a primary responsibility for the U.S. This task gains even more significance given the mounting concerns within the region regarding the long-term commitment of the United States, apprehensions about emerging isolationist tendencies in the country, and anxieties surrounding China’s aspirations to establish dominance in the area. During a cabinet meeting, Yoon emphasized the significance of establishing a consultative group, highlighting its role in creating a robust and efficient extended deterrence between South Korea and the United States. He further emphasized that their alliance has undergone an upgrade, now operating under a new nuclear-focused framework. Campbell and Kim Tae-hyo, South Korean Deputy National Security Director, jointly chaired the meeting.
In April, the agreements reached between Biden and Yoon drew condemnation from North Korea, who interpreted them as a demonstration of the allies’ intense hostility towards their nation. As a form of protest, North Korea threatened to escalate its nuclear utilization doctrine even further.
The author is a scholar of Peace and Conflict studies at the National Defence University, Islamabad. Her Area of interest is globalization and the great powers of Asia. | Asia Politics |
The Northern Territory government must urgently amend its laws to impose alcohol bans in central Australian communities, including the town camps in Alice Springs, according to a snap review.
The bans would remain in place until communities have time to develop their own alcohol management plans.
Once those plans are in place, communities may then opt out of the legislative restrictions.
These are the key recommendations of the highly anticipated first report of Dorrelle Anderson, who was appointed the regional controller for central Australia in the wake of rising social unrest and street violence in Alice Springs.
The report has not been made public, but details have begun to emerge since it was delivered to the NT yesterday and the federal government late on Wednesday night.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will meet with the NT chief minister Natasha Fyles on Thursday afternoon to discuss the report and a way forward.
Albanese has already said he wants to act on the report “as soon as possible”.
“I want not to delay but I also understand that some of these issues are intergenerational,” he said on Wednesday. “There aren’t easy off-the-shelf solutions. It’s not just about alcohol. It’s about employment. It’s about service delivery. It’s about getting staff on the ground.”
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NT police have reported a reduction in reported antisocial behaviour and domestic violence incidents since temporary restrictions came into force last week.
Since late last month, there have been takeaway alcohol-free days on Monday and Tuesday and alcohol-reduced hours on other days, with takeaways allowed between 3pm and 7pm and a limit of one transaction per person each day.
Fyles said she was still considering how to consult communities on whether or not ongoing bans should be opt-out. She said a public ballot in affected communities is one way to respect local decision-making agreements and listen to Indigenous leaders.
“I believe that one option going forward would be to have a ballot so that everyone can have confidence in whatever the decision is, there can’t be the accusation if you don’t like the decision that we didn’t talk to the right people,” Fyles said.
She said that the NT needed more funding to manage the challenges ahead.
“The commonwealth need to step up and we need to see needs-based funding,” she said. “I have said this time and time again: the NT, based on GST formulas and the cost we have of delivering services, it’s simply not fair.”
The chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Alliance Northern Territory, Dr John Paterson, said it was time for “intervention era and kneejerk responses” to end.
“What we need is for the commonwealth and NT governments to sit down with the organisations controlled by our communities and negotiate a formal agreement on new policies, programs and funding to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people right across the Territory,” Paterson said.
Intervention-era bans on alcohol in remote Aboriginal communities came to an end in July, when liquor became legal in some communities for the first time in 15 years, while other communities were able to buy takeaway alcohol without restrictions.
Alice Springs has become a flashpoint in recent weeks, with an increase in property crime and violence prompting new alcohol restrictions to be imposed.
Last week, the prime minister and territory government politicians announced additional funding for measures including liquor licence compliance and emergency accommodation.
Southern Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara and Luritja woman and Pertame language educator Samantha Armstrong said the voices of locals need to be prioritised when working on solutions.
“Elders have been trying to get their voice across for years about government policies surrounding Indigenous issues, particularly around Alice Springs,” Armstrong said.
She said over the past week there had been less crime and antisocial behaviour, but she did not want to return to intervention-era blanket alcohol bans and income management. | Australia Politics |
One of the seven former members of the Chilean military convicted of the torture and assassination of singer-songwriter Víctor Jara, retired brigadier Hernán Chacón Soto, took his own life after the verdict was returned by the Supreme Court, as confirmed to this newspaper by the Ministry of the Interior. Soto, 86, was found dead by the Investigations Police (PDI), as reported by Radio ADN, who arrived at his home to transfer him to prison to serve his sentence: 15 years for aggravated homicide and 10 years for aggravated kidnapping for his part in the murders of Jara and Littré Quiroga, who oversaw the prison system during the socialist government of Salvador Allende. The killings took place a few days after the coup d’état of September 11, 1973.
According to local media, the PDI arrived at Chacón’s home in the municipality of Las Condes, in the eastern part of Santiago, to notify him of the ruling, when he reportedly asked for permission to go to his bedroom to retrieve some medicines. At that point, he shot himself.
According to his defense testimony, in his rank of major at the time of the coup, he was only tasked with guarding the perimeter of the Estadio Chile, where the crimes took place. However, the court said such an assignment was not consistent with his rank, nor with the testimonies and evidence gathered.
According to the 2021 ruling of the Court of Appeals, which was ratified Monday by the Supreme Court, Chacón had tactical and intelligence knowledge, “conditions that allowed him to intervene directly in the interrogations” that were carried out in the locker rooms of the Estadio Chile, where Jara and Quiroga were imprisoned along with thousands of Allende supporters, “as well as in the previous process of classification of the detainees” — deciding who was to be interrogated.
The investigation adds that “several testimonies corroborated that he participated in the selection process and reported these to his superiors, so his statements that he was guarding the perimeter were neither credible nor plausible.” It was also noted that according to witnesses Chacón “was carrying a 9-millimeter STYER pistol at the time, a weapon that fully coincides with the technical description of the injuries that, according to forensic records, caused the deaths of Víctor Jara and Littré Quiroga.”
The seven former soldiers convicted of the murders of Jara and Quiroga, now aged between 73 and 86, went on to attain senior ranks within the Chilean Army, ranging from colonels to brigadiers.
On January 17, 2005, retired colonel Germán Barriga, who was part of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), the secret police operating during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), took his own life while on trial for the so-called Conference Street Case, referring to the kidnapping and imprisonment of the Communist Party of Chile leadership in 1976.
On September 28, 2013, retired general and former director of the National Information Center (CNI), the agency that replaced the DINA, Odlanier Mena, took his own life at his home in Las Condes during a weekend furlough from prison, having discovered that he was going to be transferred from the Cordillera prison, where dozens of ex-military personnel were held, to the Punta Peuco Prison, a special facility for prisoners convicted of crimes against humanity and human rights abuses committed during the dictatorship.
In 2015, retired general Hernán Ramírez Rurange killed himself at 76 shortly before he was due to serve his sentence in Punta Peuco for the murder of former DINA biochemist Eugenio Berríos, whose remains were discovered in Montevideo in 1995. Berríos had worked for Pinochet’s security services developing sarin gas to be used against opponents of the regime.
Ramírez Rurange, who had been Pinochet’s aide-de-camp in the 1980s, was head of the Army Intelligence Directorate. The justice system established that this organization was behind Berríos death and Ramírez Rurange was also summoned to testify in 1991 for the car bomb assassination of Allende’s former foreign minister Orlando Letelier in Washington in 1976, which was attributed to the DINA.
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Shefayim Hotel, just north of Tel Aviv, is hosting hundreds of survivors of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a community that suffered some of the most catastrophic losses in the Hamas attacks two weeks ago.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Shefayim Hotel, just north of Tel Aviv, is hosting hundreds of survivors of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a community that suffered some of the most catastrophic losses in the Hamas attacks two weeks ago.
Claire Harbage/NPR
SHEFAYIM, Israel — It's disorienting walking into the Shefayim Hotel along the Mediterranean coast: There is so much life and so much loss.
Families lounge on green lawns. Kids play basketball. Dogs are taken on walks through the hotel lobby past a handwritten roster of funerals that keeps getting longer.
These are the displaced residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza. It was one of the hardest-hit Israeli communities along the Gaza border in the brutal Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
Fifty-eight out of the community's 1,000 or so residents were killed; 17 from the community were kidnapped.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Displaced people congregate on the lawn of Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Displaced people congregate on the lawn of Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Now Israel is retaliating across the border with a bombing campaign on Gaza that officials there say has killed more than 5,700 Palestinians.
The survivors of Kibbutz Kfar Aza have evacuated, with hundreds of them staying together at this hotel on another kibbutz north of Tel Aviv, wondering: what next?
Hiding under pillows, he heard his neighbors get killed
Geologist Bar Elisha sits on a lawn chair in the hotel courtyard. The 41-year-old and his two young daughters were home when the ambush began. He left his house to get his firearm from where it was being stored, but it jammed.
Elisha says it's a miracle he survived.
"I heard them," he remembers. "Entering the houses, breaking doors, breaking windows, and just brutalizing everything all around."
Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images
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Israeli army soldiers patrol near damaged houses in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 18.
Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli army soldiers patrol near damaged houses in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 18.
Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images
Elisha hid under pillows in his neighbor's shed and listened to the attackers go door to door.
"I was like, oh my God, he's dead. His whole family's dead. I was sure they were murdered in cold blood. Then I heard them moving to the next house, and to the next house," he says.
Soldiers rescued Elisha 30 hours later, but the scene he emerged to was devastating. Homes had gaping holes. The attackers left behind an aerial photograph with buildings identified as targets. These are just some of the details that haunt the survivors.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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A list of funerals of those killed in the Hamas attacks is posted in the lobby of Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
A list of funerals of those killed in the Hamas attacks is posted in the lobby of Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
"Our little piece of paradise [has] become pure hell. I don't know how else to put it," says media consultant Avidor Schwartzman.
He moved to Kfar Aza a couple of months ago with his wife and baby. It had palm trees, a plastics factory, a dining hall — the kibbutz ideal of communal living. There was a waiting list to join, even though it's along the Gaza border, where rocket fire is an occasional part of life.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Avidor Schwartzman had moved to Kibbutz Kfar Aza a couple of months ago with his wife and baby. After the attack, he and his family will likely not return.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Avidor Schwartzman had moved to Kibbutz Kfar Aza a couple of months ago with his wife and baby. After the attack, he and his family will likely not return.
Claire Harbage/NPR
"When we moved there, we thought it was safe," says Schwartzman, who is 37. "Yeah, there was constant bombing and everything, but we never thought that dozens or even hundreds of terrorists will infiltrate the kibbutz and will start slaughtering entire families in their home, in their beds."
Schwartzman's wife, Keren Flash, lost both of her parents in the attack — they were killed in their home less than 500 feet away from Schwartzman's home.
Schwartzman does not think he will ever go home again. "We just don't feel safe anywhere right now," he says.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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People gather at a food truck where crepes are being made at Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
People gather at a food truck where crepes are being made at Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Living in limbo
In Gaza, Palestinians don't have the opportunity to take refuge in a peaceful hotel, and they cannot escape the deadly Israeli bombings.
The Israeli survivors at this hotel are relatively safe, but they are living in a kind of limbo.
Shiva, the Jewish ritual of mourning at home, can't be done at home. Their home is now uninhabitable. Shiva after shiva is being held in the lobby of a bank on the hotel grounds.
Ofer Baram is there, surrounded by dozens of family members and friends, sitting shiva for his son, Aviv, who was a 33-year-old stage manager for popular artists.
"Aviv was the glue that gathered us around him," Baram says. "If Aviv is not there — no reason to live there."
Libby Shmuel, a volunteer therapist, holds sessions in an office of the bank. She helped treat a man from the kibbutz who did not know where his father's body was.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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People sit shiva for slain family members on the grounds of the Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
People sit shiva for slain family members on the grounds of the Shefayim Hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
"He was imagining that his body is ... in a bag ... with many, many bags of other bodies." Shmuel says, explaining that, for him, it brought to mind scenes from the Holocaust. "It was so terrible, like Auschwitz, just a very bad image."
Shmuel, who is 48, specializes in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a type of therapy that uses eye movements, knee tapping and guided imagery to overcome trauma.
She guided him to visualize his father on a mountain — a place he fell in love with once on a trip abroad.
"He said, 'Dad, goodbye. I love you,'" says Shmuel. "And he could see his dad and just give him a hug, and say goodbye to him in a normal and dignified way. And then he got peace."
Survivors are lifted up by community
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Schwartzman sits on the grounds of the hotel with friends while his baby sleeps in the stroller next to him.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Schwartzman sits on the grounds of the hotel with friends while his baby sleeps in the stroller next to him.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Other attack survivors at the Shefayim Hotel find peace in being among their fellow community members, and those who are volunteering their time to support them.
"The human spirit here is so strong," says Schwartzman. "You see the civilians here that are taking care of everything, everything, everything that you need."
Elisha, the geologist, looks across the hotel lawn toward his daughters and the other families from Kfar Aza.
"I see so many people that I was sure they were dead," he says. "And this is what makes me strong. It strengthens me and makes me feel alive again."
He lifts up his 4-year-old daughter, Yali, and gives her a kiss.
Claire Harbage/NPR
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Survivors walk the grounds of the hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR
Survivors walk the grounds of the hotel.
Claire Harbage/NPR | Middle East Politics |
Three years ago on Sunday, the government brought in a second lockdown in England. People were told again to stay at home to protect the health service and save lives.
Covid will, for some, feel like a distant memory. For others, it will bring back painful recollections of isolation and lost loved ones.
Part of the Covid Inquiry's job is to find out how key decisions were made.
The evidence we have seen at the hearings this week has been remarkable.
Sitting in the press room at the inquiry in London - there was at times an overwhelming list of claims about what was going on at the heart of government, as we all grappled with the virus.
To recap a few: "Downing Street was in chaos"; "There was no plan for a Coronavirus response", and "It took too long for the first lockdown to be introduced".
Others include: Mr Johnson was "weak and indecisive" and "often changed his mind"; the prime minister apparently questioned shutting down the economy to save people who were going to "die anyway"; and "Health Secretary Matt Hancock said things which turned out to be untrue".
The list goes on.
It was claimed the atmosphere in No 10 was 'toxic and sexist'. Dominic Cummings, the PM's most powerful adviser, used the most vulgar language to refer to his colleagues and government ministers.
These are claims from key individuals. Some - like Mr Cummings - have made it clear how much they despise Mr Johnson. Others will give evidence before the end of the year and they may well have different recollections.
'The picture isn't pretty'
But we are learning a lot about what Downing Street was like at the time in the eyes of people working there. And the picture isn't pretty.
WhatsApp messages make it clear that the key players were bitterly divided and arguing with itself. Mr Cummings was scathing about some of the people who worked in Whitehall and furious about what was going on behind the scenes. Partly in response, senior civil servants were concerned that the environment was "macho" and "sexist". They were raising fears about a misogynist culture, and concerns that women were being ignored.
That tells us about the culture in the most powerful building in the country. But it also paints a picture of senior advisers who didn't trust each other, didn't agree and sometimes didn't even talk - just as the biggest crisis in decades was unfolding. When the machinery of government needed to be pulling together to respond to Covid - it was perhaps as divided as it has ever been.
What impact did that have?
It's suggested that the macho culture led to overconfidence in the early stages of the pandemic - which senior civil servant Helen MacNamara describes as a "de facto" assumption that "we were going to be great".
She also argued forcefully that the interests of key groups like women, ethnic minorities and disadvantaged people were being ignored because they weren't represented in high-level discussions.
None of this gives the impression of a government working effectively. But the problems appear to go deeper.
Did the government have a proper plan for responding to the pandemic? We've known for a while that the UK's planning had been based on a flu-like viral outbreak, rather than other illnesses such as Covid.
Different aides have said Mr Hancock insisted there was a plan. But many have also concluded that there wasn't. Ms MacNamara delivered a damning conclusion when she agreed that the former health secretary would often say things which turned out to be untrue. Mr Hancock will have his chance to defend himself against those claims in a few weeks.
The actions of the prime minister were of course crucial too. We've heard multiple key aides claim Mr Johnson was indecisive, took too long to make decisions and often veered between very different positions.
We've seen notes saying the chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, believed Mr Johnson agreed with MPs who thought Covid was nature's way of dealing with older people.
Sir Patrick, whose job it was to advise Johnson on matters of life and death, found him to be "weak and indecisive".
Incredibly, Mr Cummings told the inquiry he didn't think it was worth including the prime minister in discussions about Covid in February 2020 - because he would just get in the way.
For Mr Johnson's critics - this will confirm some of their worst fears; that he was the wrong man for the job. At the very least, it tells us that senior people around him had serious concerns.
Mr Johnson will deliver his defence before Christmas. But we've seen snippets of his witness statement, in which he argues any responsible leader would debate the pros and cons of lockdown. "We simply had no good choices, and it was necessary at all times to weigh up the harms that any choice would cause", he argues.
Stand back from it all a bit.
'The only time we see such unfiltered communications revealed in full'
We've heard some of these stories before. It's not a surprise that Mr Cummings didn't rate senior ministers and civil servants - he isn't shy about saying so. The divisions and tensions in No 10 were widely reported at the time. Many have consistently argued that Mr Johnson was the wrong man at the wrong time.
But the stark picture painted at this week's hearings - of a dysfunctional, divided and chaotic No 10 - is a timely reminder of the events of 2020.
The detailed and contemporaneous communications, foul-mouthed WhatsApp messages, diaries of concerned scientists and scribbled recordings of meetings involving cabinet ministers will bring back memories of those surreal, grim days of crisis - and help us discover a little more about what was going on in Downing Street.
It may be the only time we see such unfiltered communications revealed in full - many in Westminster have turned on the "disappearing messages" function on WhatsApp in recent months.
That doesn't mean there won't be a lot more to come before next year, however, with senior ministers getting set to give their version of events in the coming weeks. | United Kingdom Politics |
Matter Of Concern: India On U.S. Charging Indian National In Case Relating To Plot To Kill Separatist
India has constituted a probe team to investigate allegations relating to the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh extremist and known to be an American and Canadian citizen.
India on Thursday described as a "matter of concern" the U.S. charging an Indian national with conspiring to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil, and asserted that a high-level probe committee will investigate all aspects of the case.
India has constituted a probe team to investigate allegations relating to the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh extremist and known to be an American and Canadian citizen.
On Wednesday, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun.
U.S. prosecutors informed a Manhattan court on Wednesday that authorities in the Czech Republic arrested and detained Gupta, and he is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S.
"As regards the case against an individual that has been filed in a US court allegedly linking him to an Indian official, this is a matter of concern," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
"We have said and let me reiterate that this is also contrary to government policy," he said at a media briefing.
Bagchi said the "nexus between organised crime, trafficking, gunrunning and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for the law enforcement agencies and organisations to consider and it is precisely for that reason a high-level inquiry committee has been constituted and we will obviously be guided by its results."
The MEA spokesperson said the U.S. side shared some "inputs" pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners and terrorists and that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on 'our national security interests as well' and that relevant departments were examining the issue.
"During the course of discussions with the U.S. on bilateral security cooperation, the U.S. side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gunrunners, terrorists and other extremists," he said.
"We take such inputs very seriously and a high level inquiry committee has been constituted to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter," he said, in identical remarks that he made on Wednesday.
Bagchi said India will take necessary follow-up action based on the findings of the enquiry committee.
"We cannot share any further information on such security matters," he said.
Pannun, a leader of the so called 'Sikhs for Justice', is wanted by Indian probe agencies on various terror charges.
The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources, first reported last week that U.S. authorities foiled a plot to assassinate Pannun, and issued a warning to the Indian government over concerns it was involved in the plot.
The Washington Post on Wednesday said the Biden administration was so concerned after discovering the plot that it sent CIA Director William J Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to India in August and October respectively to demand investigation and hold those responsible to account.
Washington's allegations relating to the failed plot came weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that there was a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb in June.
India had strongly rejected Trudeau's charges.
On Canada's allegations, Bagchi said the main issue with Ottawa has been that of activities of anti-India elements in that country.
"In so far as Canada is concerned, we have said that they have consistently given space to anti-India extremists and violence and that is actually the heart of the issue. Our diplomatic representatives in Canada have borne the brunt of this," Bagchi said.
"'We expect the government of Canada to live up to its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We have also seen interference by Canadian diplomats in our internal affairs," he said.
It is obviously unacceptable, Bagchi added. | India Politics |
Rome’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride parade wound its way through the Italian capital on Saturday, providing a colourful counterpoint to the national government’s crackdown on surrogate pregnancies and same-sex parents.
About three dozen floats joined the event, including one celebrating what LGBTQ+ activists dub the “rainbow families” of same-sex couples with children.
Earlier this year, the government headed by far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni told municipal officials, when recording births, to register only the biological parent, and not the other parent in a same-sex couple.
Among those defying that order was Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, who came to the parade a day after he said he transcribed “with emotion and conviction,” the birth certificates of children who had been born abroad to same-sex couples.
Gualtieri said he had registered the birth certificates of a boy, born in France, whose parents are an Italian woman and a French woman, and of a girl, born in England, whose parents are two Italian-English women.
By doing so, “we guarantee to the children the recognition of Italian citizenship, with its related rights, and, to the mothers, their full obligations” to their children, Gualtieri wrote on Facebook. He is a prominent member of the opposition Democratic Party.
Such registration automatically enables the non-biological parent to do a range of parental actions, from authorising medical treatment for the child to picking the child up from school without special permission.
The government's comfortable majority in Parliament recently approved, at the preparatory commission level, a bill that would make it a crime for any Italian to use surrogacy, even abroad, to have a child. Debate in Parliament on the bill is slated to start later this month, with no date yet set for a vote on it by lawmakers.
Italy allows same-sex civil unions but not marriage. Italy also doesn't allow its citizens who are single to adopt children.
One of the thousands of Pride participants, Emma Ascoli, a 30-year-old musician, noted that some other nations allow surrogate births and that "also heterosexual people resort to surrogacy, but until it wasn't something related to LGBT people's right, it was a non-issue.”
Among opposition politicians joining the Pride event was Sen. Alessandra Maiorino, of the populist 5-Star Movement. She said it was important to be present because rights of the LGBTQ+ community are “under attack.” She decried as “intolerable” the Meloni government's attitude to children of same-sex couples.
Pride events aim to celebrate the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ communities and to protest against attacks on hard-won civil rights gains.
Italy's courts at times have ordered municipal officials to register both members of a sex-same couple as the legal parents of a child born abroad. And the nation's courts have repeatedly urged lawmakers to update legislation to reflect changing social norms. | Europe Politics |
It's a scorching hot June afternoon in the middle of an Italian heatwave. There hasn't been any rain for a month. But grey clouds are slowly rolling in and the humidity is rising fast. A storm is brewing. The kind that only happens once a summer here.
Two sisters are in the foothills of the Dolomites, about to start a 10km climb, weaving to the top of a small mountain. Three of their team-mates, and best friends, are by their side.
It's a beautiful route. There are few cars on the road up and a stunning view over a Veneto village awaits them as a reward.
They press on. There are 17 winding bends, numbered at each turn. They are elite cyclists - some of the best from their country. But they're not used to riding around bends, and they're certainly not used to cycling in pouring, driving rain.
It's far from the dusty landscape of northern Afghanistan where they come from, where often the rubbly roads are not even suitable to walk on.
At the top, they pause to admire the view of their new home. Fat droplets of rain run down off their helmets. It's time to go. They grin at each other as they take off on the descent: "See you at home!"
It had never been easy for the sisters to cycle, even before the return of the Taliban.
Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi were born in one of the most remote, conservative provinces in Afghanistan, where it was practically unheard of to see women cycling.
In 2017 a local cycle race was put on in their local Faryab province, in the north. The sisters - then aged 14 and 17 - decided they wanted to take part.
But there was one small problem. They didn't know how to ride a bike.
They borrowed a neighbour's to practice one afternoon. After a few hours, they finally got the hang of it.
They had to take part in the race secretly because they hadn't told their family. They covered themselves up, wearing big baggy clothing, large headscarves and sunglasses so people didn't recognise them. They even changed their names.
They ended up finishing first and second. "It felt amazing. I felt like a bird who could fly," Fariba, now 19, tells BBC Sport.
They carried on, entering as many small races as they could. It became harder to keep it from their family because they kept winning. Their parents soon found out from photos taken by local media.
"They were upset at first. They asked me to stop cycling," Fariba says. "But I didn't give up. I secretly continued," she smiles.
Their parents warned against the dangers, but eventually they were supportive.
The sisters faced regular harassment. "People were abusive. All I wanted to do was win races," Yulduz, 22, explains.
"There were lots of threats," Fariba adds. "People tried to hit us with their cars or rickshaws. They threw stones at us."
Even their female class-mates at school bullied them for riding bikes.
Soon though, they got noticed, and were called up for the national team.
"I will never forget the day," Yulduz says. "I felt on top of the world."
Their careers went steadily uphill from there, until the Taliban's return to power in August 2021.
It changed everything, and immediately put their lives in danger. The hard-line Islamist group bans women from playing any sport. But that's not all.
Since returning to power, the group have consistently cracked down on women's rights and freedoms.
They've banned all girls from going to school, and most recently from attending university - entirely cutting off female access to education.
They've banned women from most areas of employment - including humanitarian aid organisations.
Women don't have the freedom to dress how they want. The Taliban code of conduct says women must cover themselves entirely, but most women in big cities wear the headscarf.
They are not allowed to travel long distances without a male chaperone, and have been barred from going to parks and gyms. Without so many rights, many women have wondered what's left for them.
Fariba and Yulduz - and other female athletes like them - were representative of an Afghanistan which had been making some progress towards gender equality over the two decades since a US-led coalition's overthrow of the old regime. The new version of the country though was not one the Taliban recognised.
The sisters knew they had to leave if they had any chance of continuing their careers. So, they contacted Alessandra Cappellotto. The Italian, who won a world road title in 1997, now uses cycling to help women around the world.
Her charity Road to Equality had sponsored a race organised in Kabul for International Women's Day in March 2021. The Hashimi sisters had met Cappellotto then.
"They asked for help. Their lives were in danger. So it was natural to help them," Cappellotto says. She called every contact and organisation she could think of to get them out; from the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the United Nations.
With her influence, Fariba and Yulduz, as well as three of their team-mates - Nooria Mohammadi, Zahra Rezayee and Arezo Sarwari - got a seat on a flight from Kabul, organised by the Italian government.
Leaving Kabul airport was a chaotic, upsetting experience. They had to say goodbye to their families, not knowing when - or if - they'd see them again.
"I never thought I would be a refugee. I never imagined that I'd have to leave my country," Fariba says.
Cappellotto brought them to a small, hilly town in the Veneto region of northern Italy, close to where she lives.
It's no coincidence that it's a location that's hugely popular with cyclists, with countless picturesque cycling routes.
She helped the group settle in their new country, organised a house for them to live in, part-time jobs, and - most importantly - weekly private Italian lessons.
Alessandra also crucially set them up with brand-new bikes, a professional coach, and a training schedule.
"Alessandra is an Italian cycling hero," Fariba says. "She's helped us a lot. She's like a mother to us."
The group has formed a close bond with their coach, Maurizio. They affectionately call him the 'Capitano'.
Under his care, the team have had to work hard. "We never had a coach in Afghanistan. When I arrived, I felt there was a lot to learn," Yulduz says. "It was a shock. It was like I didn't know anything about cycling."
"They had a more basic technical level of cycling, yes," explains Alessandra. "But it's true that the level of cycling in Europe and Italy is the best in the world."
It was also an issue of safety. They weren't used to cycling on roads with cars. They had to take a cycling proficiency course - usually taken by children.
They joined the Italian cycling team Valcar, taking part in races around Italy such as the UCI World Gravel Championships in nearby Vicenza - where they came 33rd and 39th.
In October they took part in their first big race abroad since arriving in Italy. The 2022 Women's Road Championships of Afghanistan was hosted in Aigle, Switzerland, because of the situation in the country.
Fariba won the race after an exciting sprint-off against her sister, to become the new Afghan women's road champion. After they crossed the finish line, the sisters embraced in a long, tearful hug.
Fariba's win secured a contract with the Israel-Premier Tech-Roland team and she is set to step up to the Women's WorldTour level - the highest level in road cycling - later this year.
"I did not expect this in my wildest dreams. I will race for all Afghan women!" she told media after.
Her older sister Yulduz, who got silver, has also won a place on Israel-Premier Tech-Roland's Development team. Zahra Rezayee - their friend and flat-mate - secured the bronze.
"I am very happy for them," Fazli Ahmad Fazli, Afghan Cycling Federation President said. "These women are amazing riders and I'm sure that soon they will win in big races for Afghanistan."
Fifty riders took part in the race, many of whom fled Afghanistan in August 2021. They came from across different countries in Europe where they are claiming asylum, as well as Singapore and Canada.
The sisters have big dreams. They want to become the first cyclists ever - male or female - to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics.
It won't be easy - qualifying for the Olympics is hugely competitive. And Afghanistan may not be there at all.
In December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned the Taliban government that the country could be banned from Paris 2024 unless women and young girls were allowed safe access to sport.
If that happens, Afghan refugees could have the option to compete under the IOC Refugee Olympic team instead - like Afghan cyclist Masomah Ali Zada did at Tokyo 2020.
But Fariba and Yulduz, who have won Olympic scholarships giving them financial and technical support for their careers, want to represent their homeland - and the flag of its toppled government specifically.
"I want to raise the flag of Afghanistan," Yulduz says. "I want my father and mother to see me and feel proud. That would be the biggest dream ever."
"Cycling is a sport where willpower, the desire to work hard and passion count for a lot. And these girls definitely have these things," Alessandra tells me.
They desperately miss home, and become instantly emotional when talking about their families. But too often they're reminded why they left.
They have had social media messages from relatives who are members of the Taliban - telling them to cover up in photos they've seen of them racing in international media.
"My friends can't go to school or leave their homes," Yulduz says. "I think, what would have happened to me if I stayed?"
The past year has been a huge culture shock. But Italy, and the community they have become a part of, has welcomed them with open arms. "When the Taliban came, my dream was dying. But Italy gave me another hope," smiles Yulduz.
It's a brutal decision to have had to make so young - choosing between your homeland and family, and your career and dreams. These sisters are thankful to have each other to share the highs and lows of such tremendous change.
While the Taliban is in charge, returning home as professional athletes isn't an option. In the meantime, the sisters want to prove to everyone, but most of all themselves, that the sacrifice of leaving everything behind was worth it. And they're throwing everything they can into their cycling to do so. | Middle East Politics |
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The court alleges he is responsible for war crimes, and has focused its claims on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
It says the crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022 - when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Moscow has denied the allegations and labelled the warrants as "outrageous".
It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move - the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects, and can only exercise jurisdiction within its member countries - and Russia is not one of them.
However it could affect the president in other ways, such as being unable to travel internationally.
In a statement, the ICC said it had reasonable grounds to believe Mr Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others. It also accused him of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children being deported.
Russia's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.
In the past, she has spoken openly of efforts to indoctrinate Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
Last September, Ms Lvova-Belova complained that some children removed from the city of Mariupol "spoke badly about the [Russian President], said awful things and sang the Ukrainian anthem."
She has also claimed to have adopted a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol.
The ICC said it initially considered keeping the arrest warrants a secret, but decided to make them public in the event that it stopped further crimes from being committed.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told the BBC: "children can't be treated as the spoils of war, they can't be deported".
"This type of crime doesn't need one to be a lawyer, one needs to be human being to know how egregious it is," he said.
- Follow live updates: Putin faces arrest warrant over Ukraine war crimes
- Explainer: What is the International Criminal Court?
Reactions to the warrants came within minutes of the announcement, with Kremlin officials instantly dismissing them.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said any of the court's decisions were "null and void" and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrant to toilet paper.
"No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used," he wrote on Twitter, with a toilet paper emoji.
However Russian opposition leaders welcomed the announcement. Ivan Zhdanov, a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, tweeted that it was "a symbolic step" but an important one.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was grateful to Mr Khan and the criminal court for their decision to press charges against "state evil".
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said the decision was "historic for Ukraine", while the country's presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, lauded the decision as "only the beginning".
But because Russia is not a signed member of the ICC, there is very little chance that Vladimir Putin or Maria Lvova-Belova will appear in the dock at The Hague.
The ICC relies on the cooperation of governments to arrest people, and Russia is "obviously not going to cooperate in this respect", Jonathan Leader Maynard, a lecturer in international politics at King's College London, told the BBC.
However Mr Khan pointed out that no-one thought Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader who went on trial for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, would end up in The Hague.
"Those that feel that you can commit a crime in the daytime, and sleep well at night, should perhaps look at history," he said.
Legally, however, this does present Mr Putin with a problem.
While he is the head of a G20 state, and about to shake hands with China's Xi Jinping in an historic meeting, Mr Putin is now also a wanted man, and this will inevitably place restrictions on which countries he can visit.
There is also a level of embarrassment for the Kremlin, which has always denied allegations of Russian war crimes, that such an influential, pan-national body as the ICC simply does not believe its denials. | Europe Politics |
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ISLAMABAD (AP) — A senior Taliban delegation visited western Afghanistan’s Herat province on Monday in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed at least 2,000 people over the weekend and flattened entire villages, a statement said.
Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 quake hit a densely populated area in Herat and was followed by strong aftershocks in what was one of the deadliest temblors to strike the country in two decades.
READ MORE: Death toll from western Afghanistan earthquakes soars over 2,000
Disaster authority spokesperson Janan Sayiq told reporters in Kabul that so far around 4,000 people killed and injured — without giving a breakdown — and nearly 2,000 houses have been completely destroyed in 20 villages. The United Nations estimated the dead and injured to be closer to 2,500 people.
The Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, and his team are visiting the quake-affected region on Monday to deliver “immediate relief assistance” and ensure “equitable and accurate distribution of aid,” according to a statement from the capital, Kabul.
The quake also trapped hundreds and people have been digging with their bare hands and shovels to pull victims — both dead and alive — from under the rubble. Authorities said Monday they were still waiting for an update on the latest casualties from Herat.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, the provincial capital. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.
Residents of the city rushed out of their homes again on Monday to stay on the streets after another aftershock hit. The USGS said the aftershock was magnitude 4.9.
“I have lost five members of my family; three daughters, my mother, my sister-in-law, and three from my uncle’s family,” said Asadullah Khan. He added that a total of 23 people in his village were killed.
Dozens of teams have scrambled to help with rescue efforts, including from the military and nonprofit groups. Sayiq, from the disaster authority, said that more than 35 teams alongside local people were involved in rescue operations.
A global response to the Afghanistan quake has been slow, with much of the world wary of dealing directly with the Taliban government and focused on the deadly escalation between Israel and the Palestinians in the aftermath of the surprise attack by Gaza militants on Saturday that has left more than 1,100 dead in fighting so far and thousands wounded on both sides.
Aid agencies and nongovernmental groups have appealed for the international community to come forward but only a handful of countries have publicly offered support, including neighboring China and Pakistan. Some countries, such as Denmark and Norway, have said they will work with international partners and humanitarian agencies on the ground.
Aid group CARE USA — a member of CARE International umbrella — said in a statement that the quake struck at a time when Afghanistan was already facing a severe humanitarian crisis that was significantly underfunded while needs were increasing rapidly.
The fast-approaching winter, combined with this new disaster, is likely to exacerbate the existing challenges and make it even more difficult for people to meet their basic needs, like adequate shelter, food, and medicine, it said.
“CARE is deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake that struck the western province of Herat,” said Reshma Azmi, the group’s deputy director for Afghanistan. “This comes less than seven months after another powerful earthquake hit the country, leaving thousands homeless and displaced.”
Azimi was referring to the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in March that struck much of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. Also, an earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan in June 2022, striking a rugged, mountainous region, wiped out stone and mud-brick homes and killed at least 1,000 people.
“The situation is worse than we imagined with people in devastated villages still desperately trying to rescue survivors from under the rubble with their bare hands,” said World Vision, a global charity.
Reinforcements from Kabul arrived on Sunday but the area of the quake has only one government-run hospital.
“Our colleagues and their families are processing this devastation in their hometowns, and yet we are responding with everything we have,” said Thamindri de Silva, the head of the Afghanistan office of the charity. “People need urgent medical care, water, food, shelter and help to stay safe. Please stand with us as we respond.”
The International Rescue Committee IRC said in a statement the earthquake caused significant damage to villages and infrastructure and that emergency response teams have been deployed to the area to provide immediate humanitarian assistance.
The IRC said in a statement that, including bridges in the affected region.
Salma Ben Assia, IRC Afghanistan director, said that even before the devastating earthquake struck, “over 29 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. The earthquake has further exacerbated the situation,” warning that harsh winter conditions can have a disastrous effect on those displaced, particularly women and children.
In neighboring Pakistan, the government held a special session to review aid for Afghanistan, including relief teams, food items and medicine, as well as tents and blankets. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was deeply saddened by the devastation in Afghanistan.
“Our hearts go out to the affected communities. We stand in solidarity with the Afghans during this difficult time,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called his Afghan Taliban counterpart, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to express condolences, according to a post on X by Hafiz Zia Ahmad, the deputy spokesman for the foreign ministry in Kabul. The Iranian diplomat “promised humanitarian aid to victims,” said Ahmad.
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Keir Starmer leans over an open newspaper and points out a picture of him and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, holding hi-tech rivet guns while touring a design lab.“I’ve had a few shadow cabinet ministers ask me if this is how we’re going to get them to stick to fiscal discipline,” he jokes, before an interview with the Guardian in his constituency office in Camden, north London.The Labour leader has spent much of the last few days promising how careful he would be with the public finances should he end up in No 10 after the next election. But while he aims to burnish Labour’s reputation for economic competence, the UK’s cash-starved public services are at breaking point.Some in his party are anxious that his vow not to brandish a “big government chequebook” means schools and hospitals will not get the funding they need. But Starmer, despite his insistence on fiscal prudence, rules out a return to austerity under a Labour government.“Look, I’ve always made the case against austerity,” he says. “I’m against austerity. But I know we’re going to have to be fiscally disciplined.”While he acknowledges that schools, the NHS, courts and the police will all need more funding, every spending commitment will be fully costed. He denies he is trying to have it both ways. “That’s why we’ve made choices,” he says, citing plans to scrap non-dom tax status to fund training for more nurses and doctors.Starmer is looking to growth to provide extra money for public services. “It’s very important that our message on fiscal discipline is heard,” he says. “We’re going to inherit a really bad situation. The economy has been really badly damaged over 13 years of low growth.“The question Rachel [Reeves] and I have focused on is how we grow the economy. If growth the last 13 years had been at the same rate as the last Labour government, we’d have tens of billions for public services without raising a single penny more in tax.”Starmer and Rachel Reeves being filmed for the Labour party during a walkabout in Walthamstow, east London, last year. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The GuardianHe denies Labour is planning a wealth tax, saying there is “not much scope” for rises with overall tax so high – but admits dividends and rental income are the “sort of things” it could consider, rather than savings or property.“We’ve never said that we would introduce wealth taxes, we’ve said that we need a fair taxation system. It means looking at different forms of taxation that aren’t heavily dependent on the wage people earn,” he says.“But – and it’s a big ‘but’ in capital letters – we have got the highest taxation burden since the war, and the idea that there’s much scope for tax increases is wrong, which is why we’ve put our focus on growing the economy.”Starmer’s plans for reform have caused alarm in his party. Yet he is worried they have not “come through strongly enough”. He adds: “Obviously I know that if you put more money into public services they will improve, but I also know that reform will bring improvements.“In the NHS, obviously, everybody always has the question, ‘Does that mean the private sector?’ I don’t shy away when it comes to things like waiting lists – we’ll use whatever we can to get those down. But the reform I’m talking about goes way beyond that. We’re all living longer. We’ve got to move to a preventive model.”Another change he wants is devolution, giving people more control over their lives, but he acknowledges that handing power to local communities needs to be accompanied by funding. Reeves, however, has ruled out giving tax-raising powers to councils.Starmer defends Labour’s decision to use Vote Leave’s “take back control” slogan for devolution plans, insisting Brexiters can have faith he understands why they voted to leave the EU, despite being one of the biggest advocates of remain and a second referendum.“I’ve always understood that plea for change,” he says. “I don’t quarrel with the argument that people need more control in their lives. Obviously I campaigned for remain but I don’t argue that we should have the sort of change the many people who voted Brexit are crying out for.”Despite the economic damage of Brexit, Starmer is sticking resolutely to his line that he would get a better deal from the EU, presumably in the belief that going further would be electoral suicide. “We’ve left the EU and there’s no case for going back. But we will improve the deal we’ve got.”He is equally careful about small boats – reiterating there needs to be more cross-border work tackling criminal gangs trafficking people across the Channel. He criticises the broken asylum processing system, and underlines the need to make sure existing safe routes are working, particularly from Afghanistan.Starmer is philosophical about his new year push being overshadowed by the royal psychodrama around Prince Harry’s book, saying last week’s speech was just the latest staging post in getting ready for government.“I haven’t read the Harry stuff other than what’s come into the hands of the Guardian,” he says. “It’s obvious that gets attention, of course it does. But this was not a one-off speech, it was laying out what we’re going to be doing in 2023.“The impatience for change is palpable. The public is fed up with being asked to suck it up. They want the hope and reassurance that change is possible and change is coming.”Despite the media storm around Harry, Starmer refuses to comment directly, simply saying: “I still don’t think wading into private matters of the royal family is where politicians should be.”Starmer, who is approaching three years as leader of the opposition, has big plans for this year. He feels, having transformed Labour since the days of Jeremy Corbyn and attacked government failings over the last year, he has earned his party a hearing.“We’ve done hard work on changing the party, we’ve done hard work on exposing the Tories as not fit to govern. As we turn into a new year, we don’t rest on our laurels, we press on. We set out the case for a bold, reforming Labour government.”But what would that government look like? Starmer has faced criticism for not yet setting out what Labour would do with power. “Look, of course people are impatient for change when you have 13 years of failure. But we have to build the foundation for it.”He wants to “gently push back” at the idea Labour has not already set out any policies – the biggest so far is a £28bn a year green investment commitment – but admits the party needs to “build on” those they have already put forward.Starmer will set out more policy detail over the next three months, saying that Labour is doing a “huge amount of work” to prepare for government, and that by this time next year everybody will know exactly what it would do in power.“There were plenty of people urging me from day one: set out your plan for government. I resisted because I knew we could only do it if we got to this stage.” But he does not like complacency, and at every shadow cabinet meeting says the party has to fight like it is five points behind in the polls, rather than 20 ahead.Labour will have a 1997-style pledge card in the run-up to the next election, he confirms. “Yes, I want to be clear going into the election that if you vote Labour you will get ABCDE or whatever it may be.” The manifesto will be “short, sharp” and “tell a story about the future of the country”.Is Labour ready for government? “Yes,” he replies immediately, adding that his party has gone through a “shift in mindset” from opposition to government in waiting. Shadow ministers are receiving training from the Institute for Government and Starmer talks regularly to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.He also gets tips from the leaders of Labour’s sister parties abroad who have recently won elections, including the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Australian premier, Anthony Albanese. Aides have observed the US midterms. “By the time we hit that election we need the best campaigning team that the Labour party has ever seen,” Starmer says.Would he welcome back big Labour beasts of the past? Douglas Alexander is one former cabinet minister trying to become an MP. Starmer says he would be “very relaxed” about David Miliband, once tipped as the next Labour inhabitant of No 10, returning to the fold.“Of course I’m keen to use whatever experience there is,” he says. “There are good people of the past who want to run again. But there are really brilliant people of the future too.” | United Kingdom Politics |
Chhattisgarh Assembly Polls: All Preparations Complete For Sunday's Counting, Says CEO
Tight security arrangements have been made in all counting centres in the state's 33 districts, including the ones affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), officials said.
Counting of votes of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, which most pollsters have predicted will be a tough fight between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP, will be held on Sunday.
Polls were held in two phases on Nov. 7 and 17 for the 90-member Assembly. Voter turnout stood at 76.31%, which was slightly lower than the 76.88% recorded in the 2018 Assembly polls.
Tight security arrangements have been made in all counting centres in the state's 33 districts, including the ones affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), officials said.
"Counting for 90 seats would start at 8 am in 33 district headquarters for which all preparations have been completed. A three-layer security mechanism is in place at each counting centre," Chhattisgarh Chief Electoral Officer Reena Baba Saheb Kangale said at a press conference.
"The counting of postal ballots will begin at 8 am. Half an hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting votes from the EVMs will begin. A total of 90 returning officers, 416 assistant returning officers, 4596 counting personnel and 1698 micro-observers have been appointed for carrying out the counting process smoothly," she informed.
In every counting hall, there will be 14 tables arranged in rows of seven, except for Pandaria, Kawardha, Sarangarh, Bilaigarh, Kasdol and Bharatpur-Sonhat Assembly seats where 21 tables will be arranged, she said.
While Kawardha and Kasdol constituencies will see 20 rounds of counting, the lowest, at 12, will be held in Manendragarh and Bhilai Nagar constituencies, the CEO said.
A total of 1,181 candidates are in the fray, including Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo (both from Congress) and former CM Raman Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Patan seat, represented by Baghel, is witnessing a triangular contest with BJP fielding the chief minister's distant nephew and Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel.
Amit Jogi, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) state president and son of former CM late Ajit Jogi, is also in the fray from Patan.
In Ambikapur constituency, the BJP has fielded a fresh face, Rajesh Agrawal, against Deputy CM TS Singh Deo. Agrawal had joined the BJP after quitting the Congress ahead of Assembly polls in 2018.
Nine ministers, including Tamrdhwaj Sahu (Durg Rural constituency), Ravindra Choubey (Saja) and Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), state Assembly Speaker Charan Das Mahant (Sakti) and state unit chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), are among the other prominent Congress candidates.
From the BJP, apart from Raman Singh, the other prominent candidates are state unit chief and MP Arun Sao (Lormi constituency), opposition leader Narayan Chandel (Janjgir-Champa), Union minister Renuka Singh (Bharatpur-Sonhat), MP Gomti Sai (Pathalgaon), former ministers Brijmohan Agrawal (Raipur South), Ajay Chandrakar (Kurud) and Punnulal Mohile (Mungeli).
Two former IAS officers OP Chaudhary (Raigarh) and Neelkanth Tekam (Keshkal) are also contesting on BJP tickets.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has fielded 53 candidates, including its Chhattisgarh unit president Komal Hupendi from Bhanupratappur seat.
The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GPP) formed an alliance to fight the polls.
While the main fight is between the Congress and BJP, a three-way contest played out in several seats of the Bilaspur division where former CM Ajit Jogi's party and the BSP have pockets of influence. The AAP is also trying to gain a toehold in this division.
Exit polls telecast on several news channels on November 30 have predicted a close contest between the Congress and the BJP, with the ruling party having a slight edge.
Of the 90 Assembly seats in the state, 51 fall in the general category, 10 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 29 for Scheduled Tribes.
In the 2018 polls, the Congress swept the polls winning 68 seats, leaving the BJP, which had ruled since 2003, a distant second with 15 seats. | India Politics |
The IDF entered a specific area of Shifa Hospital early Wednesday morning while seeking to keep its exact goals, timing, and mission classified as the operation is still ongoing, as leaking certain details could endanger IDF forces.
The military also announced that they successfully delivered crucial medical equipment and supplies, such as incubators for babies and baby food.
In foreign media, it was reported that IDF spokespeople hinted at the possibility of finding hostages held by Hamas, similar to having found a hostage holding area under Rantisi Hospital earlier this week.
However, the military has not said anything concrete about hostages being located at Shifa; as of 9:00 a.m., its main finding was a significant stash of Hamas weaponry.
Although the IDF killed five Hamas terrorists on its way into Shifa, it has not encountered any violent resistance within the hospital itself so far. The situation is dynamic, however, as the IDF plans to search other specific areas of what is a very large hospital complex.
There are also vast underground tunnel networks under and around Shifa and it was unclear if this IDF operation would lead to penetrating those areas or if it might be more of an initial intelligence-collecting operation, much the way that there were three brief intelligence-collecting moves into Gaza in the days before the actual main invasion in late October.
No IDF forces have been harmed so far in the current Shifa operation.
The military would not address foreign media reports that it had entered through some kind of side wall as opposed to through a designated entrance.
Shifa Hospital's terror infrastructure
Communications for the hospital have not been shut down by the IDF, despite some foreign reports.
The IDF identified the current operation as very precise and gradual, saying that it was unaware so far of the accuracy of a video surfacing on social media showing one woman inside the hospital wounded by some kind of shrapnel or other broken building materials.
Since 2014, the IDF has said that Shifa served as Hamas's wartime command center and refuge for its top leaders.This is a developing story. | Middle East Politics |
Life in room 221 of the Berkshire hotel Ali has called home for the past 487 days is a drab affair, with an in-built guarantee that every day will be the same as the one before.The food is repetitive, his fellow guests never leave, the streets of Reading rarely change. “There is nothing to do. Nothing happens. All I want is an actual book to read but there are none here and there is no way I can afford them.”Ali is one of the 37,000 asylum seekers currently stranded in hotels and lives on £1 a day, a sum he says is earmarked for clothing and other essentials.For the 34-year-old, who fled religious persecution in Iran and survived a treacherous Channel crossing on a small boat carrying double its safe capacity, life in England has proved somewhat anticlimactic.His overloaded boat arrived in Kent on 2 July 2021, and Home Office officials put his details into the asylum system. After a brief stay in Kent, he was taken by bus to the capital, only to find that accommodation in London had run out.The Kurdish Iranian was transferred 40 miles west to Reading, and since 7 July 2021, Ali has lived in room 221, praying for something to happen.“One, two, three months is reasonable in a hotel, but not 17 months,” he said. “Expecting us to stay with nothing to do is intolerable.”For a man who was a successful scientific academic in Iran – he has two university degrees, including a master’s in astrophysics, and can speak six languages, including English – not being able to work or study has evolved into a type of psychological torture.Ali, like the other 100 or so hotel residents, has received no update on his asylum claim and no word on his application registration card (ARC), which offers a crucial platform for creating a fresh start.Ali: ‘We need to be brave enough to consider that all of us are human.’ Photograph: Andrew Aitchison/Andy Aitchison“Asylum seekers need an ARC for a bank account, a driving licence, sitting exams. When I checked the government website, it said asylum seekers will receive the card in three working days but I still don’t have it. The government tries to make everything more complicated.The situation is obstructing Ali’s hopes of studying international politics at Reading University - that and finding the £160 required for an entrance exam. “How can I afford that?”Ali and his fellow hotel residents routinely question why they cannot work and pay tax, noting the massive number of job vacancies and huge labour shortages in the UK.Free to leave the hotel and explore local neighbourhoods, Ali and all his friends have no interest in disappearing into the black economy, preferring to wait for a decision that will, they hope, allow them to work legally and contribute to society.One of the worst parts of Ali’s Groundhog Day existence is what he eats – bland canteen fodder that he feels relies too heavily on eggs.“Food is the most terrible part, so repetitive. I can’t tolerate it any more.”Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said life in limbo for individuals such as Ali has an increasingly deleterious effect on the mental health of asylum seekers.“Long delays leave people like Ali trapped in unsuitable accommodation for months or even years on end, unable to work, put down roots in their community, or move on with their lives. This is incredibly damaging to their mental health, causing unnecessary suffering and a real waste of human potential.”Life in England, limited as it is, has, though, given Ali a sense of how some of its citizens perceive him.“People don’t seem to have a good opinion of asylum seekers from the Middle East. They read the press about the wars, about the poor. They seem to think people with our hair colour, our skin colour, are stupid.“If you are white European, with blond hair and blue eyes, like Ukrainians, then you are considered intelligent. We need to be brave enough to consider that all of us are human.””Ali is determined to change such attitudes. “The problem is that nobody can understand that asylum seekers can change something. In 2018 an Iranian asylum seeker in the UK won the Fields medal [for outstanding achievement] in mathematics.”For the time being, Ali says it is difficult not to compare his contemporary reality with what he was forced to leave behind in Iran.“I had the best lifestyle. The best work, my own office. I had my job, my house and a luxury car, but sometimes, in life, everything changes suddenly and there is no option except leaving everything behind and just going.”Other memories haunt him, particularly the Channel crossing that nearly claimed his life.“Someone dropped in the water and you only have two or three seconds to think: you want to help, but helping is very dangerous – choosing between your life and his.“But when I tried to pull him, he tried to pull me down. I got him on the boat but I have that same dream every night, him pulling and me trying to save him, that exact moment in my dreams.”The one big positive aspect of his experience has been the welcome he has been given from many of the people of Reading.“English people are the kindest people I have seen in my life, very kind and very polite, sharing what they have with people who have nothing,” he said.It is the government, he feels, that is letting everyone down. “Their policies are not like the English people. They are trying to help; their government is not.” | United Kingdom Politics |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Judy Heumann, a renowned activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, has died at age 75.
The news of her passing on Saturday in Washington, D.C., was posted on her website and social media accounts and confirmed by the American Association of People with Disabilities. A cause of death was not immediately revealed.
Heumann, who lost her ability to walk at age 2 after contracting polio, has been called the "mother of the disability rights movement" for her longtime advocacy on behalf of disabled people through protests and legal action, her website says.
She lobbied for legislation that eventually led to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act. She served as the assistant secretary of the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, beginning in 1993 in the Clinton administration, until 2001.
Heumann also was involved in passage of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified in May 2008.
She helped found the Berkley Center for Independent Living, the Independent Living Movement and the World Institute on Disability and served on the boards of several related organizations including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Humanity and Inclusion and the United States International Council on Disability, her website says.
Heumann, who was born in Philadelphia in 1947 and raised in New York City, was the co-author of her memoir, "Being Heumann," and a version for young adults titled, "Rolling Warrior."
Her book recounts the struggle her parents experienced while trying to secure a place for their daughter in school. "Kids with disabilities were considered a hardship, economically and socially," she wrote.
She went on to graduate from high school and earn a bachelor's degree from Long Island University and a master's degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.
She also was featured in the 2020 documentary film, " Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution," which highlighted Camp Jened, a summer camp Heumann attended that helped spark the disability rights movement. The film was nominated for an Academy Award.
During the 1970s she won a lawsuit against the New York Board of Education and became the first teacher in the state who was able to work while using a wheelchair, which the board had tried to claim was a fire hazard.
She also was a leader in a historic, nonviolent occupation of a San Francisco federal building in 1977 that set the stage for passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which became law in 1990.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | Human Rights |
Hamas released a heartrending propaganda video Thursday showing Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas breaking down in tears upon learning from the terrorists holding him that his 10-month and 4-year-old sons had been killed along with his wife during their captivity in Gaza.
In the harrowing video, which The Messenger is not publishing, Yarden claims that the three bodies that Hamas offered to Israel as part of Thursday's hostage exchange were in fact those of his family: his wife Shiri, 10-month-old son Kfir, and his older brother Ariel, 4.
Israel refused to accept the bodies as part of the deal, reportedly because they would have taken the place of three living hostages.
Hamas earlier claimed that the Bibas brothers and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
While Israel has not confirmed the status of the Bibas family, the IDF said in a statement Wednesday that it was "examining the reliability of the information" before adding: "The responsibility for the safety of all the abductees and abductees in the Gaza Strip lies fully with the terrorist organization Hamas."
The IDF added on Thursday that the claims of the family's deaths were still unverified, calling the hostage video "psychological terrorism."
In its own statement, the Bibas family said it was waiting for Israeli military authorities to either confirm or refute Hamas' reports.
"We thank the Israeli people for the warm embrace but we ask to maintain our privacy in this very complex moment," the family said on Wednesday.
In the clip released by Hamas, a distraught Yarden, wearing a black t-shirt with an unkempt beard, pleads with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the bodies of his wife and sons to be brought back for burial in Israel.
Yarden was supposed to be transferred with the bodies on Thursday, but negotiations fell apart at the last minute, according to reports in Israeli media.
Kfir and Ariel Bibas, with their shocks of red hair and boyish smiles, have become internationally synonymous with the brutality of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks.
- Israeli Father Whose Family was Taken Hostage by Hamas Says He’s Seen ‘Hell’ After Viral Video of Abduction
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- Netanyahu Invites Hamas Hostage Families to Meet War Cabinet After Tens of Thousands March on Road to Jerusalem
The Bibas family was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border on Oct. 7.
Ten-month-old Kfir – the youngest of about 30 children who were taken hostage – had just learned to crawl before he was kidnapped along with his older brother.
As she waited for the latest hostage lists to be released on Wednesday, Yifat Zailer, Shiri's cousin, told the New York Times said the daily ordeal this week has been "this horrible mathematical equation."
“Our hearts skip a beat every time,” Zailer said. “It’s really hard to breathe.”
Even with the latest hostage releases set for Thursday, Israeli officials said there are still at least three children and 22 women held in captivity in Gaza, along with 131 men.
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Russia said it had defeated fighters who crossed the border into the Belgorod region from Ukraine after two days of combat, in what appeared to be one of the biggest incursions of its kind of the 15-month-old war.
Key points:
- Russian investigators have opened a terror investigation following the incursion
- Kyiv denies responsibility
- Fighting has eased around Bakhmut, which Ukraine says it aims to encircle
There was no immediate independent confirmation that the fighting had ended, although one of two groups claiming to be behind the raid said in a post on social media: "One day we will return to stay."
The two days of fighting had forced Russia to evacuate towns along the Ukrainian border.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the attack, which Kyiv denied. The two groups that claimed responsibility describe themselves as Russian armed dissidents.
The Russian military said it had killed more than 70 "Ukrainian nationalists" and destroyed four armoured vehicles. There was no independent confirmation of those losses.
Russian forces had surrounded the enemy fighters and defeated them with "air strikes, artillery fire and active action by border units", the defence ministry said.
"The remnants of the nationalists were pushed back to Ukrainian territory, where they continued to be hit by gunfire until they were completely eliminated," it added.
Russian investigators said on Tuesday they had opened a terrorism investigation following the attack.
Russian authorities evacuated residents from the region's Graivoron district after the raiding forces claimed to have captured the border town of Kozinka and several others.
"The cleansing of the territory by the Ministry of Defence together with law enforcement agencies continues," Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging service.
"I now appeal to the residents of the Graivoron district, who … temporarily left their homes, it is not possible to return yet," he said, adding that two buildings had been attacked by drones overnight.
Mr Gladkov said one woman had died during the evacuation, and there were reports of two people wounded.
The "number one" task on Tuesday was to reach them, he said.
On Monday, Mr Gladkov had said at least eight people had been wounded, several buildings damaged and many residents had left.Loading...
Kyiv denies involvement in raid
One of the groups claiming responsibility for the incursion, the Freedom of Russia Legion, said on Telegram: "Good morning everybody, except Putin's henchmen. We have met the dawn on liberated territory, and are moving further on."
It and a second group, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), said they represented armed Russian fighters opposed to the Kremlin and operating from Ukraine.
Moscow blamed the attack on Ukrainian forces, saying saboteurs were seeking to deflect attention from Russia's capture of the city of Bakhmut three days ago after the bloodiest land battle in Europe since World War Two.
Kyiv publicly denied blame for the raid, though some of its denials were pitched with apparent irony, to mimic past Russian denials of a role in separatist movements in Ukraine.
Kyiv "has nothing to do with it", tweeted Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
"As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerilla groups are composed of Russian citizens," he said.
The RVC published video footage late on Monday showing what it said was a fighter inspecting a captured armoured vehicle, putting a sticker with the group's logo over the "Z" symbol used to identify Russian forces.
Another video showed what it said were fighters operating an armoured vehicle on a country road.
Other videos posted on Russian and Ukrainian social media channels showed pictures and video of what were described as captured Russian servicemen and their identity documents.
Mash, a Russian news channel on Telegram, said drones had struck the roof of the Russian FSB security service building in Belgorod city overnight, nearly 80 kilometres from the district where the raid took place.
It posted a picture of emergency vehicles outside the building.
Ukraine says fighting eases in Bakhmut
Inside Ukraine, Russian forces are celebrating their first major victory in 10 months with the capture of Bakhmut.
Ukraine said on Tuesday fighting had decreased in Bakhmut but shelling continued in the area around it, with its troops keeping a small foothold on the city's edge and Russian forces clearing areas they hold.
Russian forces said on Saturday they had completely taken Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine after months of heavy fighting.
Ukraine said it had made advances on the devastated city's northern and southern flanks, and hopes to encircle it.
"In the city of Bakhmut, the fighting has decreased, the enemy continues to clear the areas under its control," Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Repeating Ukraine's assertions that its forces still hold a small part of the city, she said: "Our troops control the south-western outskirts of the city in the 'Litak' district."
She said Kyiv's forces had made some progress "on the flanks to the north and south of Bakhmut" but gave no details.
Russian offensive actions had decreased slightly, she said, and added: "At the same time, the amount of shelling is consistently high."
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
Moscow said capturing Bakhmut opened the way to further advances in the eastern industrial region known as the Donbas bordering Russia.
Ukraine said its advance on the Russian forces' flanks is more meaningful than its withdrawal inside Bakhmut itself, and Russia will have to weaken its lines elsewhere to send reinforcements to hold the shattered city.
Reuters/ABC | Europe Politics |
IDF and Israel Security Service (Shin Bet) forces eliminated the head of Hamas's anti-tank system in the Khan Yunis Brigade, as well as the organization's former director of military intelligence, the security services announced in a joint statement Monday.
Yaakub A'ashur, head of the anti-tank system in Hamas's Khan Yunis Brigade, was eliminated by an IDF aerial strike under the direction of the Shin Bet, the statement said. A'ashur was a battalion commander and later the head of the anti-tank formation in the Khan Yunis Brigade. As part of his role, he took part in leading and directing offensive lines against IDF forces.
Forces also eliminated Mohammed Khamis Dababash, a senior Hamas terrorist who had previously served as the organization's director of military intelligence, among other roles.
Over the last two years, Dababash served as secretary of the national relations portfolio in Hamas' political bureau. He also served as Hamas' representative at the gathering of the national and Islamic factions in the Gaza Strip. He was involved in the planning of the attack in the settlement of Atzmona in March 2002, in which five Israelis were murdered.
Other Hamas officials eliminated
Security forces also eliminated Tahsin Maslam, Hamas' commander of the combat assistance company, who oversaw special forces in Beit Lahia; Jahad Azzam, a military intelligence officer in Zeitun, and Manir Harev, a senior official in the Rafah Brigade.
The IDF says it has struck over 4,300 terrorist targets, including some 300 terrorist tunnel shafts, since it began its invasion of Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks. | Middle East Politics |
- A viral Russian social media post appears to mock a little girl killed in Ukraine on Saturday.
- A picture of a memorial to 6-year-old Sophia attracted thousands of 'laughing' emojis in a Russian post.
- The UN has condemned the missile strike on Chernihiv, which saw 144 casualties.
Tens of thousands of "laughing" reactions appeared on Russian social-media posts about the memorial of a Ukrainian child who was killed in a Russian air strike over the weekend.
Six-year-old Sophia was among seven people killed and 144 injured in the strike on Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, per officials.
The attack, on a city with little obvious military significance, prompted condemnation from the UN, whose spokesperson Saviano Abreu called it "heinous."
On Sunday, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense posted an image of a memorial to a little girl, lit only by a candle and surrounded by flowers.
—Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 20, 2023
Another image of the same memorial, however, has circulated on Russian social media, with a different reaction.
A post on a pro-Russian Telegram account, first highlighted on X by security analyst Jimmy Rushton, features the image along with the caption: "Chernihiv. For sale: Children's shoes, never worn."
—Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) August 20, 2023
The post references a short story attributed to Ernest Hemingway, designed to convey tragedy in just six words.
But the post has been taken as a macabre joke, with more than 45,000 "laughing" emojis in Rushton's screenshot, shared on Sunday. As of Monday, the post had 64,400 such emojis, as well as a much smaller number of negative reactions. The post had been viewed some 127,000 times, suggesting that around half of viewers responded with the laughing react.
Though neither the Ukrainian MOD post nor the pro-Russian account named the girl, they appear to both refer to Sophia, the young victim.
Chernihiv's mayor, Oleksandr Lomako, told the BBC the site that was struck — a theater —was hosting a conference of drone manufacturers.
According to Yuriy Belousov, Ukraine's prosecutor general, the theater was struck by an Iskander-M ballistic missile, which was air-detonated to exact maximum damage, Ukrainian state news outlet Suspilne reported.
At the time of the blast, people were leaving a church service on the day of a major feast in the Ukrainian Orthodox calendar, interior minister Ihor Klymenko said on Saturday. | Europe Politics |
By Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg Est. 2min 30-10-2023 (updated: 30-10-2023 ) Content-Type: News News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. GERB maintains its leading position in most major cities except for Sofia, where PP-DB candidate Vasil Terziev, one of Bulgaria’s biggest IT entrepreneurs, is leading convincingly (38.8%), according to Gallup International Balkan. [EPA/VASSIL DONEV] Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: DeutschPrint Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Bulgaria’s pro-EU parties won convincingly in the country’s local elections, and the intrigue in the second round is between the two leading parliamentary forces – the coalition between We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) or GERB, the strongest party in local government. GERB maintains its leading position in most major cities except for Sofia, where PP-DB candidate Vasil Terziev, one of Bulgaria’s biggest IT entrepreneurs, is leading convincingly (38.8%), according to Gallup International Balkan. In the second round, he will face Vanya Grigorova (19%), nominated by the pro-Russian left. The capital is one of the few places in the country where the left does so well. GERB governed the capital, Sofia, for 17 years. Still, TV journalist Anton Hekimyan (17%) was not a very successful candidate for mayor of the party of long-time GERB Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. However, the final results may rearrange the rankings as the difference between Vanya Grigorova and Anton Hekimyan is about 2%, according to the exit polls. Bulgaria’s local elections were marred by a huge scandal caused by the State Agency for National Security, which led to the cancellation of machine voting. Four years ago, the local elections led to heavy accusations of rigging, with nearly 20% of the ballots registered invalid. Machine voting was then introduced, which eliminated the problem. Still, this type of voting was abolished after the highly questionable intervention of the special services, which filmed a deputy minister checking one of the voting machines. The SANS report led to suspicions that voting could be rigged and the machines were removed, although the most common fraud occurs with paper ballots. PP-DB challenges GERB’s hegemony in Bulgaria’s second and third-largest cities. GERB candidates for mayor in the other major cities of Stara Zagora and Bourgas won in the first round. Despite great expectations, the radical anti-European party Vazrazhdane recorded weaker results in the local elections than expected, meaning it will have no mayor in any major cities. (Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg) Read more with EURACTIV EU governments slammed for abstention in UN Gaza ceasefire vote Languages: DeutschPrint Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Topics Politics The Capitals | Europe Politics |
Crossbenchers have called on the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, to resign or be sacked following revelations she accepted donations from a gaming company before the May election.
The Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie declared in federal parliament on Thursday that Rowland – who has policy responsibility for interactive gaming – was “completely and utterly conflicted” as a consequence of the donations and had made “a grievous error of judgment” that disqualified her from sitting on the front bench.
Wilkie’s motion followed a report in Nine newspapers that Sportsbet paid for a campaign dinner and made a second donation to Rowland’s campaign in the lead-up to the federal election. Labor did not disclose the donations because they were below the reporting threshold.
Rowland told parliament all donations were “compliant with the disclosure requirements of the Australian Electoral Commission, the register of members’ interests and the ministerial code of conduct”.
The communications minister said the government’s record on harm minimisation was “strong” and she was committed to reducing harms from online gambling.
“We’re committed to reducing harms from online gambling and we’re implementing a national self-exclusion register,” Rowland said.
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Wilkie, a long-time campaigner for gambling reform, noted Rowland had received gifts and donations from the online gambling industry “while minister and previously when Labor spokesperson on online gambling”.
He declared Rowland needed to explain “why she thinks her behaviour is acceptable” and why she shouldn’t resign as minister.
But Rowland’s colleagues swung in behind the minister. The manager of government business, Tony Burke, said the disclosure requirements had been met.
“We have no argument from anyone that a syllable of the code has been breached, and we have no argument from anyone that there has been a moment in time when the minister for communications has made life easier for the gaming companies,” Burke said.
“How on earth do we get to the point where we’ve got a resolution like this before the parliament?”
But the independent member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, said the problem was conflict of interest, “whether it’s perceived or whether it’s real”.
“How can it be acceptable for the minister who is responsible for online gambling to be responsible on one hand – and yes, I’m sure the minister has, in her plans, duties to strengthen anti-gambling measures – and then, on the other hand, accept tickets and hospitality on multiple occasions, including twice during this already short term of parliament?” | Australia Politics |
Over Rs 2,709 Crore Worth Enemy Property Shares Sold By Government
Assets left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China -- mostly between 1947 and 1962 -- are called enemy property.
Shares worth more than Rs 2,709 crore were sold by the government as part of its initiative to dispose of enemy properties in the country, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Assets left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China -- mostly between 1947 and 1962 -- are called enemy property.
Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra said in the Lok Sabha that the sale of the movable property such as "shares" is done on the recommendation of a high-level committee which suggests the quantum and price level for sale of "shares".
"As on date, 19 enemy properties in Uttar Pradesh have been disposed by way of sale through e-auction held on Sept. 8, 2023 and shares worth Rs 2709.16 crore have been sold," he said, replying to a written question.
The minister said as per the guidelines, the proceeds of sale or disposal of the enemy property are deposited into the consolidated fund of India.
He said before the disposal or auction of the enemy property, the valuation of immovable enemy property is done by a valuation committee under the chairmanship of the district magistrate of the district, where the property is situated.
The valuation reports submitted by the district magistrate is placed by the custodian before the enemy property disposal committee who gives its recommendation to the Central government for the disposal of enemy property or the manner in which the enemy property may be dealt with, he said.
There are a total of 12,611 establishments called enemy property, roughly estimated to be worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, in the country.
The government formed a Group of Ministers, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in 2020 to supervise monetisation of enemy properties.
Out of the 12,611 properties vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), a total of 12,485 were related to Pakistani nationals and 126 to Chinese citizens. | India Politics |
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan targeted the LGBT community and emphasized the need for a larger population in Turkey in a recent speech at a family council held at his presidential palace in Ankara on Thursday, the Gazete Duvar news website reported.
Erdoğan said there’s no room for LGBT ideology within the People’s Alliance, an election alliance that included Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and far-right and radical Islamic parties. He criticized what he termed “deviant currents” that are “targeting the institution of the family” and declared that Turkey will not allow global gender-neutral policies to take root in the country.
Erdoğan also touched on the subject of Turkey’s population, stating that the current figure of 85 million is insufficient.
“We need a much larger population,” he said, although he did not elaborate on why this is necessary.
The president expressed concerns about the fact that age of marriage is rising, divorce rates are increasing and the average number of children per family is decreasing in Turkey.
Although homosexuality has been legal throughout modern Turkey’s history, gay people regularly face harassment and abuse.
In recent years LGBT events have been prohibited, including Istanbul Pride, which was banned in 2014 after taking place every year since 2003.
Authorities suspended the scholarships of students who attended an LGBT parade two years ago.
Turkey was ranked 48th among 49 countries as regards the human rights of LGBT people, according to the 2022 Rainbow Europe Map published by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)-Europe in May.
In a controversial sermon in April 2020 Ali Erbaş, the head of Turkey’s top religious authority, the Diyanet, which runs mosques and appoints imams, claimed that homosexuality caused HIV and that all the evil and pandemics in the world are caused by homosexuality.
President Erdoğan stood behind Erbaş’s remarks targeting the LGBT community at the time. Government officials also engaged in hateful rhetoric against the community in the run-up to this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. | Middle East Politics |
American hostage may soon be freed by Hamas amid cease-fire, White House says
"We're going to watch this hour by hour and hopefully have a moment of joy."
One American hostage could be released from Gaza on Sunday as part of a prisoner exchange and four-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack, the White House's national security adviser said.
"This first set of hostages, 50 hostages over four days, is women and children -- and three Americans [are] in that category, two women and one child," Jake Sullivan told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "We have reason to believe one of those Americans will be released today."
Still, Sullivan cautioned, "Until we actually see her safe and sound ... we cannot have 100% certainty that it will happen. So we're going to watch this hour by hour and hopefully have a moment of joy where one of the Americans is safely out and ultimately reunited with her family. That's what we are waiting for as we speak."
Sullivan said the temporary cease-fire could be extended in exchange for Hamas freeing more of the 200-plus captives who are thought to be held in Gaza.
"If the pause stops, the responsibility for that rests on the shoulders of Hamas, not on the shoulders of Israel," Sullivan said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. | Middle East Politics |
An air raid on a Sudanese city has killed at least 22 people, health authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks yet in the weeks-long fighting between Sudan’s army and a renegade paramilitary force.
The raid took place on Saturday in a residential area of Omdurman, the neighbouring city of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement by the health ministry.
The attack, which wounded an unspecified number of people, drew immediate condemnation from the United Nations.
It was one of the deadliest of the clashes in urban areas in the capital and elsewhere between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Last month, an air raid killed at least 17 people, including five children, in Khartoum.
The RSF, which said the attack killed 31 civilians, blamed the army for attacking residential areas in Omdurman where fighting has raged between the warring factions. The military reportedly attempted to cut off a crucial supply line.
The RSF “vehemently condemn the deliberate air strikes conducted by the extremist terrorist militia led by [army chief Abdel Fattah] al-Burhan”, the group said in a statement.
“This heinous attack, orchestrated by the Sudanese Armed Forces [SAF] with the support of remnants from the former regime … has resulted in the tragic loss of more than 31 lives and numerous civilian injuries,” it added.
A spokesman for the military was not immediately available for comment.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, according to a statement released by his spokesman early on Sunday, and urged the Sudanese army and the RSF to end hostilities.
“The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire region,” the statement said.
“He reiterates his call for the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to cease fighting and commit to a durable cessation of hostilities. He also urges these parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and to enable humanitarian action,” it added.
Two Omdurman residents said it was difficult to determine which side was responsible for the attack. They said the army’s aircraft have repeatedly attacked RSF troops in the area and the paramilitary force has used drones and anti-aircraft weapons against the military.
At the time of the attack early on Saturday, the army was hitting the RSF, which used people’s houses as shields, and the RSF fired anti-aircraft rounds at the attacking warplanes, said Abdel-Rahman, one resident who gave only his first name.
Fighting has focused on Omdurman in recent days as the western part of the city is a key supply route for the RSF to bring reinforcements in from Darfur, its power base.
Attacks have also centred on the country’s state broadcasting complex in eastern Omdurman. Other overnight raids hit southern and eastern Khartoum.
At least 1,133 people have been killed in the fighting that began on April 15, according to the health ministry. More than 2.9 million people have been uprooted, including nearly 700,000 who fled to neighbouring countries.
The fighting threatens to drag the country into a wider civil war, drawing in other internal and external actors in the East African nation that lies between the Horn of Africa, Sahel, and the Red Sea.
The conflict broke out after months of increasing tensions between the leaders of the military and the RSF.
The fighting has also caused “alarming numbers” of rape and abduction of women and girls, according to aid agencies.
Several ceasefire agreements brokered by Saudi and United States mediators between the warring rivals failed to end violence in the country.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since September 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency, in a move decried by political forces as a “coup”.
The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the removal of former President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024. | Africa politics |
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