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Showing posts from September 16, 2018

Peru won't stop in fight against terrorism: president

LIMA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra said Friday that his country will not give in to terrorism after one column of the Shining Path guerrilla group was dismantled. "Firm and clear political decisions produced this blow against terrorism," said Vizcarra during an event for Armed Forces Day. "This government will not cede a millimeter in the fight against terrorism." The remark came two days after Interior Minister Mauro Medina announced one column of the Shining Path group that was active in the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers (VRAEM) in southern Peru had been dismantled. During operations against the guerrilla group, forces engaged in a shootout with Shining Path members in the village of Virgen Casa, Haunta province. One alleged leader of the armed group, known as "Basilio," was killed. "We will intensify our actions until we have pacified the entire VRAEM," said Vizcarra. The preside

UNSC reiterates importance of protecting civilians in armed conflict

The United Nations (UN) Security Council has reiterated the importance of protecting civilians in armed conflict and requested the secretary-general to report on this matter every 12 months. In a statement on Friday, council expressed outrage that civilians continue to account for the vast majority of casualties in situations of armed conflict.          The Council also reaffirmed that parties to armed conflict and states bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure the human rights of all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction.    In addition, the Council reiterated the need for systematic monitoring and reporting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.          The council stipulated that the next report should include a summary of achievements, challenges to UN work on protecting civilians and an on progress made against the recommendations in the UN chief's reports of 2017 and 2018. Source: http://n

Woman Stabs Five, Including Three Newborns, at New York Nursery; Then Slits Her Wrist

Local elected officials said it appeared it was an unlicensed facility for new mothers and their babies to convalesce for a month, in keeping with Chinese tradition. New York: A woman stabbed five people — including three newborn babies — and then slashed her wrist early Friday inside a New York City home that was apparently being used as an unlicensed neighborhood nursery for new mothers and their children, authorities said. All of the victims in the attack, which happened before 4 am, were hospitalized but expected to survive The 52-year-old suspect — an employee at the nursery — was taken into police custody and was being treated for her wounds and undergoing a psychiatric examination, authorities said. No immediate charges were filed, and police said the motive was under investigation Investigators were trying to piece together what happened inside the building, a three-story, multifamily townhouse in a neighborhood popular with Chinese immigrants in

Censorship: China Shuts Over 4,000 Websites In Massive "Clean-Up" Campaign

China keeps the internet under tight control and has been cracking down on a range of illegal online activities.  Shangai:  China has shut down more than 4,000 websites and online accounts in a three-month campaign against "harmful" online information, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, citing the country's illegal publication watchdog. China keeps the internet under tight control and has been cracking down on a range of illegal online activities including pornography, gambling, religious proselytising and even "spreading rumours". In a campaign that started in May, the authorities tackled 120 violations and ordered 230 firms to rectify irregularities. More than 147,000 pieces of harmful information were removed by the end of August, according to China's National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications. Xinhua said the campaign targeted content in online fiction that spread improper values, vulgarity and obsceni

Islamic State Group Claims Responsibility For Iran Parade Attack: Propaganda Agency

Beirut: The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting at a military parade in southwestern Iran on Saturday, its propaganda agency Amaq said. Citing a security source, Amaq said: "Islamic State fighters attacked a gathering of Iranian forces in the city of Ahvaz in southern Iran". The statement was posted on Amaq accounts on on messaging application Telegram. At least 24 people were killed in the attack, including a young girl as well as troops, Iran's state media reported. Three of the attackers died at the scene while a fourth was arrested and later succumbed to his wounds, armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier he held a US ally in the region responsible. "Terrorists recruited, trained, armed & paid by a foreign regime have attacked Ahvaz," Zarif said in a tweet, adding: "Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US mas

24 troops killed, several wounded in Iran military parade attack

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Two gunmen opened fire on the large crowd of spectators watching the parade in the city of Ahvaz and then attempted to attack the viewing stand before being shot and wounded by security forces. Revolutionary Guard members carry a wounded comrade after a shooting during their parade marking the 38th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran  |  Photo Credit: AP  Tehran: Militants attacked a military parade in southwestern Iran on Saturday, killing at least 24 troops and wounding some 20 others, state media reported. "24 of the military forces were martyred and more than 20 were injured. The injured are in a crucial state," the deputy governor of Khuzestan province, Ali-Hossein Hosseinzadeh Hosseinzadeh, told the semi-official news agency ISNA. Two gunmen opened fire on the large crowd of spectators watching the parade in the city of Ahvaz and then attempted to attack the viewing stand for offic

Crackdown in Jammu and Kashmir: Search, cordon operations underway in Pulwama

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Following the abduction and killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir, a combined search and cordon operation has been launched to comb out terrorists from Pulwama. Cordon and search operations in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama.   |  Photo Credit: ANI Pulwama: A massive anti-terror crackdown in Kashmir where a joint effort has been put in South Kashmir and eight villages have been cordoned off. It is combined effort by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and the Indian Army where they are undertaking a door to door search operation. The backdrop of the operation is yesterday's killings where three cops were abducted and brutally killed by terrorists. The bullet-ridden bodies of two SPOs and a police constable were found in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district. They were kidnapped from their homes. The cordon a

Five Lashkar Terrorists Killed In Jammu And Kashmir: Police

Police said the five had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) recently and were on their way to other parts of the Valley. Srinagar: Five terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba who recently infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir were killed in an encounter Friday, police said. The encounter took place at Sumblar area in north Kashmir's Bandipora district. Police said the five had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) recently and were on their way to other parts of the Valley. Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/five-lashkar-terrorists-killed-in-jammu-and-kashmir-police-1920222

Hungary upholds 'terrorism' verdict for Syrian

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A Hungarian court on Thursday upheld a terrorism charge against a Syrian man convicted over a border riot in 2015 . The court, however, reduced Ahmed H.'s sentence from seven years in prison to five, of which he has already served three. "I'm sad," Ahmed's wife Nadia Philippidou told DW. "I expected to hear [he would be] released." In an earlier interview, she said that Ahmed is the "best person in my life" and that she is tired of trying to raise her children without their father. Ahmed had spent more than a decade living in Cyprus with his Cypriot wife and two young daughters. He was helping his parents and brother's family flee Syria for Europe in 2015 when he was arrested in Hungary. Hundreds of migrants became stranded after the border with Serbia was closed the day before. Ahmed used a megaphone to communicate with police, and when the protest turned violent, he was involved in throwing rocks at the authoritie

ISIS Sympathiser From Kerala Deported by Afghanistan, Says NIA

  New Delhi: In a first, the National Investigation Agency has got the custody of an alleged ISIS sympathiser from Kerala who, along with 21 others, had travelled to Afghanistan to join ISIS. "This is a big breakthrough in the case. So far we only had second hand information about the Kerala group which had gone to Afghanistan. Arrest of this accused will give us information about who was radicalising the group, why and how?" a top NIA official told CNN-News18. Nashidul Hamzafar, 26, a resident of Kasaragod in Kerala, was on his way to join the group of 21 when he was detained by Afghan authorities and subsequently handed over to India. As per NIA spokesperson, "Nashidul was detained by Afghan Security Agencies last year for illegally entering the country to join his associates in proscribed terrorist organization ISIS/Daesh." It is the first extradition of alleged ISIS sympathiser from Afghanistan. Top NIA officials told CNN-News18

A hidden violation—sexual violence against men and boys in Syria and Turkey

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Seven years of armed conflict in Syria has resulted in a human rights and humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions in which the civilian population suffers daily threats to life, dignity and wellbeing. The conflict has also given rise to massive internal displacement and an unprecedented refugee crisis in which millions of people have fled the country. Turkey hosts by far the greatest number of refugees from Syria, at just over 3.5 million people. Conflict-related sexual violence is among the many human rights violations that have characterised the armed conflict in Syria. While remaining a devestating problem for women and girls, sexual violence against men and boys has also been documented by the UN and by international and national non-governmental organisations. Previous research has also revealed the ongoing risk of sexual violence to men and boys and to specific groups such as LBGT+ people as they flee Syria and in countries of asylum. All Survivors Projec

The story of a Tibetan village chief who fled to India with the Dalai Lama

Kesong, some 200 km from Arunachal Pradesh, was the first Tibetan village the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) marched into on May 23, 1959, to “emancipate it from serfdom”, says the Communist Party of China narrative. When villagers from somnolent Kesong stage a play to mark 60 years of the day in 2019, they know who will be the villain of the piece – the then village chief who had, at the first rumblings of liberation and the fear of losing his life, fled to India following the furtive footsteps of the 14th Dalai Lama. Along with the Dalai Lama, thousands of Tibetans fled to India through the North East Frontier Agency, which became the union territory of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972. At the no-frills “Patriotism Education Centre”, a bare building which serves as a museum for Kesong’s past life as a village of “Tibetan serfs”, village chief Suokang Wangqing Geli lurks like a criminal whose game is up in a faded black and white photograph. Wang, the local government-appoi

Harnessing the Power of Women Foreign Ministers

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In a first-of-its-kind summit, the world’s female foreign ministers will meet in Montreal today and tomorrow to discuss a range of global challenges, from advancing peace and security to eliminating violence against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings. The meeting, jointly hosted by Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland, and her European Union counterpart, Federica Mogherini, comes at a critical time globally. Despite great strides in human rights protections, women and girls remain targets of egregious rights violations for which those responsible are rarely held to account. Sexual violence against women and girls as war crimes and crimes against humanity remains pervasive. In Myanmar in late 2017, security forces raped and sexually assaulted thousands of Rohingya women and girls. Nearly every sexual assault described to Human Rights Watch by survivors involved a gang rape. But for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute s

Greater efforts to protect Roma from violence and punish perpetrators key to ensuring Roma security and inclusion, say participants at Warsaw event

The very limited progress in implementing government strategies and policies for Roma inclusion remain major obstacles to their inclusion, participants said at an event in Warsaw on 14 September 2018. The lack of progress is coupled with negative public and political discourse, persistent discrimination and growing manifestations of intolerance and racially motivated violence against Roma and Sinti in the OSCE area. The event was co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and the Central Council for German Sinti and Roma during the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. “We continue to receive worrying reports about hostile and inflammatory anti-Roma discourse and racially motivated crimes against Roma and Sinti, which widens social distance and deepens inter-ethnic tensions, especially when such crimes are perpetrated in a climate of impunity,” said Dan Pavel D

IN PICS: One million protesters rally in Barcelona for Catalan independence

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All photos AFP Around one million people rallied in Barcelona on Tuesday, banging drums and blowing whistles in a show of support for Catalan independence nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Wearing coral-red T-shirts and waving the red, yellow and blue Catalan separatist flag, a sea of protesters gathered for the rally on Catalonia's "national day" which commemorates Barcelona's fall to troops loyal to Spain's King Philip V in 1714. The annual "Diada" holiday has since 2012 been used to stage a massive rally calling for secession for the wealthy northeastern region that has its own distinct language. But this year's event had particular significance as a test of strength after a referendum last October 1st deemed illegal by the courts, and the Catalan parliament's unilateral declaration of independence on October 27th, all came to naught. Demonstr

Radical anti-Putin stars, once beloved by the West, now face prison in Europe

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Russian opposition stars were once hailed by the Western media and beloved by Europe – but not so much now that they live there! The countries they fled to are now investigating them for criminal activities. Oleg Vorotnikov – founder of the controversial Voina (War) art band, and wanted in Russia for assaulting police officers in 2011 at an unsanctioned rally – has now been charged with illegal weapons possession and trafficking in Austria, the group itself reported. There has so far been no independent confirmation that the artist is facing arrest. Vorotnikov, also nicknamed 'Vor' (the Russian word for 'thief'), rose to prominence along with his wife, fellow 'actionist' Natalia Sokol. READ MORE: Man behind Pussy Riot seriously ill & may have been poisoned, say family The couple engaged in a series of bizarre stunts, including drawing a giant penis outside the security service building in St. Petersburg, and gatecrashing a bi

US Prepared to Strike in Cyberspace

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WASHINGTON —  The United States is prepared to go on the offensive in cyberspace to ensure adversaries know there is a price to pay for hacks, network intrusions and other types of attacks. President Donald Trump signed a new National Cyber Strategy on Thursday, calling for a more aggressive response to the growing online threat posed by other countries, terrorist groups and criminal organizations. "My administration will use all available means to keep America safe from cyber threats," Trump said in a statement, calling the new strategy an "important step." Other key officials called the new strategy an important and badly needed change. "We're not just on defense," National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters. "We're going to do a lot of things offensively, and I think our adversaries need to know that." "Our hands are not tied as they were in the Obama administration," he added. Strategy effect

Terrorists abduct, kill three policemen in Kashmir's Shopian

SRINAGAR: Terrorists shot dead three policemen after abducting them from Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir early Friday, police said. The bodies were recovered from an orchard in Wangam area, more than a kilometre from the village the policemen were abducted from. Police identified the dead as constable Nissar Ahmed and two special police officers - Firdous Ahmed and Kulwant Singh - from Kapren and Heepora areas of Shopian district. Police said the residents of Batagund village had chased the terrorists and urged them not to abduct the policemen, but the terrorists fired a few shots in the air and and threatened the villagers. They said the terrorists crossed a river in the area and shot dead the policemen. Nissar Ahmed was working with the armed police, Firdous Ahmed, who was under process of being converted to constable, served in the Railways. Kulwant Singh was posted with Kulgam police. The terrorists had also kidnapped the brother of a police constable but he was

Arab Conflicts Seen Not Rooted in Ideology Alone

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WASHINGTON —  Ideology is not the main reason that some people in the conflict-ridden Arab world join extremist groups. Rather, a host of other issues, including political participation, poverty, income disparity and unemployment, push people toward violence and extremism, a panel of experts said Thursday. "The mainstream population [in the Arab world] is poor and vulnerable. Decisions to survive and provide for the family, not ideological beliefs, lead to people joining extremist groups," said Rami Khouri, a professor of journalism and public policy at the American University of Beirut. Khouri added that in addition to tackling poverty, inequality and economic disparity, environmental factors such as shortage of water and drought must not be ignored when solutions are sought to end conflicts in the region. Mehran Kamrava, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in Qatar, argued that while addressing poverty is key to resolving conf

Rights group urges Kyrgyzstan to end 'abusive crackdown' on extremism

BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan has convicted hundreds of people for extremism by using an excessively broad definition of the crime, Human Rights Watch said and it urged the largely Muslim Central Asian nation to review such cases. Imprisoning people for mere possession of “extremist literature” - which includes some reports by rights activists - risked generating support for militant groups in the volatile ex-Soviet republic, the New York-based HRW said in a report. The Bishkek government said on Wednesday that such cases would be reviewed after legal reforms next year. The mountainous nation of six million, which hosts a Russian military airbase, is vulnerable to the spread of militant Islamist views, and its government fought against armed radicals in the 1990s. Last year Russian authorities blamed a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen for a deadly suicide bomb attack in St Petersburg. HRW however said Kyrgyzstan’s broad crackdown on extremism had been too heavy-handed and

Amnesty Accuses Maduro Government of Executing Thousands

An international human rights watchdog group has accused Nicolas Maduro's government of committing some of the worst human rights violations in Venezuela's history. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International said the number of killings in the South American country in recent years was "greater than those in many countries at war." The report highlighted the violence perpetrated by security officials during anti-crime operations in poor neighborhoods. "State officials, adopting military methods, use force in an abusive and excessive manner, in some cases intentionally killing during security operations," Amnesty said in a statement. The report said there were 8,292 extrajudicial executions carried out between 2015 and 2017. "In cases documented by Amnesty, victims were unarmed. Autopsies revealed bullet wounds in the neck, throat, head. They were killed while on their knees or lying down," said Esteban Beltran, director

German intelligence mulls putting largest Turkish-Islamic group under surveillance

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Germany's domestic intelligence agency is deciding whether to put the country's largest Islamic umbrella group under official surveillance, the Süddeutsche Zeitung  newspaper and public broadcasters NDR and WDR reported on Thursday. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has sent a confidential dossier to each of Germany's 16 states on the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), which has been at the center of a series of controversies. Read more:   German government under fire over Maassen spy chief scandal The states were reportedly asked to provide material and comments to establish whether DITIB's activities meet strict requirements to put it under observation. The issue is to be discussed at a meeting between the BfV and its state security agencies in November. DITIB runs more than 900 mosques tied to the Turkish government's Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, which provides financing

Turkey arrests Austrian national for alleged terror links

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's official news agency says an Austrian national has been arrested for alleged terror links. Anadolu Agency reported Friday that writer Max Zirngast — referring to him as only Max Z. — was arrested along with two others for "membership in an armed terror organization" and jailed pending trial. They are accused of links to the Turkish Communist Party/Kivilcim, which is considered a terror group. One suspect was released but is required to regularly check in with police. Zirngast was detained last week, prompting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to demand his release and an explanation from Turkey. Zirngast, who is also a student of political science, has contributed to left-wing publications. Ties between Turkey and the European Union have been strained over arrests of foreign nationals, including journalists Source: https://in.news.yahoo.com/turkey-arrests-austrian-national-alleged-terror-links-095442831.html

Analysts: Poor Economy, Unemployment Lure Tunisians to Extremism

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Seven years after the Arab Spring, little has been done to address youth unemployment in Tunisia, a key factor in extremist groups' ability to recruit marginalized youth, rights groups and experts warn. "Someone who is marginalized with nothing to lose, no stability in life, no vision of the future, no hope for change, can become a very easy target for terrorist groups," Amna Guellali, director of Human Rights Watch's Tunisia office, told VOA. The Arab Spring was ignited in Tunisia, in part because of deteriorating economic conditions. A frustrated street vendor set himself on fire outside a local municipal office in Sidi Bouzid to protest repeated harassment from authorities, who often confiscated his goods or fined him for selling without a permit. Although economic conditions that force people to eke out a living on society's margins play a big role in the unrest, Guellali said that unemployment is the central issue in Tunisia. "Unempl