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Showing posts from December 8, 2019

AP Exclusive: China Tightens up on Info After Xinjiang Leaks

The Xinjiang regional government in China’s far west is deleting data, destroying documents, tightening controls on information and has held high-level meetings in response to leaks of classified papers on its mass detention camps for Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities, according to four people in contact with government employees there. Top officials deliberated how to respond to the leaks in meetings at the Chinese Communist Party’s regional headquarters in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, some of the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution against themselves, family members and the government workers. The meetings began days after The New York Times published last month a cache of internal speeches on Xinjiang by top leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. They continued after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with news orga

Roadside bomb blast kills 10 people in Afghanistan’s Ghazni: Officials

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At least ten people, including four women and a child, have lost their lives when a roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Ghazni, officials say. According to Ghazni provincial governor spokesman Aref Noori on Saturday, the deadly explosion occurred in the volatile district of Jaghatu on Friday evening. “Unfortunately, in the explosion 10 people, including four women and a child, were killed,” he said, adding that all the victims were civilians and that the blast also wounded six others. Separately, Marwa Amini, deputy spokeswoman for the interior ministry in capital Kabul, confirmed the bomb explosion and the death toll. No individual or group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, but it bears all the hallmarks of the Taliban.  The militants often plant roadside bombs and landmines to target Afghan security forces, however, the deadly weapons also inflict heavy casualties on civilians. PressTV-Multiple casualties as

European powers and Turkey renew support for UN-led peace process in Libya

Turkey and Europe's three most powerful countries have agreed that humanitarian aid must be allowed into north-east Syria and on a UN assessment of the region, the British government said. They condemned attacks any civilians in Syria, including those in the besieged rebel stronghold of Idlib. Leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Turkey repeated their support UN-led efforts in Libya towards a "Libyan-owned" political solution in the conflict-ridden country. "On Syria, the leaders agreed that humanitarian access, including cross-border, must be ensured and that a UN needs assessment should form the basis for getting aid to those who require it in the north-east," a Downing Street spokesman said. "The leaders said they would work to create the conditions for the safe, voluntary and sustainable return of refugees and that the fight must be continued against terrorism in all its forms. "They also agreed that all attacks against

Delhi Special Cell, Mumbai ATS arrests SIMI terrorist absconding for 18 years

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A terrorist, belonging to banned Islamist terror group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was arrested in a joint operation conducted by Delhi Special Cell Police and Mumbai's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday night. © Provided by Zee News The terrorist, identified as Illayas, is a relative of banned terror organisation The Indian Mujahideen's chief  Abdul Subhan Qureshi who is now under Delhi Police's Special Cell custody since 2018. The Indian Mujahideen was declared a terrorist organisation on June 4, 2010, and banned by the government. A Mumbai ATS team had arrived at Delhi on Thursday, after receiving intel on the whereabouts of  Illayas. In a joint operation, the Delhi Special Cell Police and Mumbai ATS teams raided a location in Delhi's Shahin Bagh and nabbed the terrorist. He was produced in court on Saturday where Mumbai ATS was granted his custody for three days. The team took him to Mumbai to interrogate him further.

Syria: Three White Helmets killed while transporting explosives in ambulance

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At least three members of the so-called civil defense group White Helmets have been killed while transporting a shipment of explosives inside an ambulance in Syria’s west-central province of Hama, amid reports that they are preparing to carry out terrorist and chemical attacks across the country in a bid to incriminate Syrian government forces and invent pretexts for possible acts of aggression on army troops. Local sources told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency  that the members of the notorious White Helmets were killed when the explosives denoted inside the vehicle as they were traveling along a road on the outskirts of Qastun village in the northwestern sector of the province on Saturday afternoon. The sources added that members of the Western-backed “aid” group were apparently transporting explosive materials from an area in the neighboring Idlib province to a location in the northwestern part of Hama. Russia: White Helmets, militants p

U.S. threatens visa restrictions over South Sudan peace process

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday threatened visa restrictions on anyone who attempts to damage the peace process in South Sudan as Washington upped its pressure on the war-torn country to form a unity government and reevaluates its relationship with the African nation. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would implement visa restrictions barring those who “undermine or impede the peace process in South Sudan” from entering the United States, including those who violate a ceasefire or United Nations arms embargo, commit human rights abuses or engage in corruption. “The people of South Sudan have suffered enough while their leaders delay the implementation of a sustainable peace. The South Sudanese deserve leaders who are committed to building consensus and willing to compromise for the greater good,” Pompeo said in a statement, adding that the visa restrictions could also apply to family members. The announcement comes after Washingt

Pibor communities vow to forge ahead with peace process despite devastating floods - South Sudan

The easiest way to get around Pibor right now is by boat. Unexpectedly heavy rains have caused devastating floods across the entire Jonglei region in the eastern part of South Sudan, leaving land previously parched by the sweltering sun submerged in deep, stagnant water. “Over 78 people died because of these floods,” says Boma Governor, David Yau Yau. “Some of the livestock, the cows in the cattle camps, also destroyed. People’s belongings have been destroyed. The whole of Boma is covered with water. The situation is helpless up until now. While the water is receding, the immense humanitarian need remains. Hundreds of people are crammed into makeshift camps outside the governor’s office. Children are unable to go to school, so they find entertainment instead by fishing in the temporary lakes created by the rain. Samuel Gai has lived in Pibor his whole life. The

Next stage in Bougainville peace process begins - PNG PM

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Papua New Guinea's prime minister James Marape has acknowledged the result of the Bougainville independence vote. Vote count by referendum officials. Photo: Bougainville Referendum Commission In the result announced yesterday, a 97.7 percent majority voted for independence in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region's non-binding referendum. Mr Marape said his government had heard the voice of Bougainvilleans. Praising the "excellent" conduct of the referendum, he said the next stage in the Bougainville peace process would now begin. To come into effect, the referendum result must be ratified by PNG's national parliament. First, the PNG and Autonomous Bougainville governments are to conduct consultations on the result and its implications. The consultations will begin early in the new year, according to the prime minister. PNG Prime Minister, James Marape. Photo: Facebook / PNG office of the prime minister Mr Marape said the tw

Rehabilitating the Islamic State’s Women and Children Returnees in Kazakhstan

Last week’s  terrorist stabbing  in London shines a light on the limits of rehabilitation. It was committed by 28-year-old Usman Khan, who recently had been released on parole after serving eight years of a 16-year sentence for involvement in a pipe-bombing plot and had been inspired by al-Qaeda. In prison, he participated in a rehabilitation program that was hosting a conference near the iconic London Bridge, where the attack occurred. One of the two people killed in the stabbing was a course coordinator in the program. This assault comes at a time when the battle against ISIS has extended into a struggle over what to do with not only the group’s foreign fighters returning from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq but also with the children and wives of those captured or killed. Of the 40,000 children waiting in  Al-Hol refugee camp  in Syria, the U.K. government took back several orphans, and the United States and Canada have retrieved some children and are preparing for more. Many

China ramps up campaign to redefine 'human rights'

BEIJING (AFP) - China is ramping up a global campaign to promote its own vision of human rights, inviting the likes of North Korea and Syria to a forum on the topic and drafting other countries to back its policies at the United Nations. Western nations have condemned China's rights record, including a security crackdown that has detained an estimated one million mostly Muslim minorities in re-education camps in the north-west Xinjiang region. China is responding with an increasingly strong counter-narrative, which emphasises security and economic development over civil and political freedoms. "The people of each country all have the right to decide for themselves their human rights development path," Chinese vice-foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu told delegates at a summit on the issue this week. Attendees at the "South-South Human Rights Forum" included representatives from North Korea, Pakistan and Syria - three countries with their own chequered human righ

Analysts: Seized Weapons Show Iran's Deep Involvement in Yemen's War

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The recent U.S. seizure of suspected Iranian guided missile parts headed to rebels in Yemen highlights Iran's continued far-reaching involvement in the war-torn country, experts say.     U.S. officials said earlier this month that a U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard boarding team seized a small boat in the northern Arabian Sea that was carrying sophisticated weapons to Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.     Iran has not commented on the seizure, but the country has in the past denied sending weapons to Houthi rebels.       Some experts believe the incident shows Iran's escalating efforts to defy international obligations and to destabilize Yemen and the broader region.    "This is one additional piece of evidence that Iran continues to violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions in exporting arms, which it's not allowed to do," said James Phillips, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.   FILE - Iranian Supreme Leader

UK Security Services reduce the terror threat level

London, UK - Early November saw the UK Security Services reduce the terror threat level from 'severe' to 'substantial' with the notion that an attack could occur without further warning. The threat level is at its lowest since August 2014, however, the recent attack on London Bridge by a known assailant; Usman Khan demonstrated that the UK is still a prime target for violent non-state actors to sow havoc and uncertainty on the already unstable streets of the UK. Khan, who was convicted of terrorism offences in 2012 killed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones in a frenzied knife attack that eventually saw the Metropolitan Police Service firearms unit fatally wound Khan following a struggle with passing citizens. The irony of the event saw the attack take place at a prisoner rehabilitation conference at Fishmongers Hall, situated just meters away from the area Khan was tackled to the ground and shot by police. Whereas the members of public involved

US Senate recognizes Armenian 'genocide', angering Turkey

The US Senate has formally recognized the killings of Armenians a century ago as “genocide,” prompting angry denunciations by Turkey which rejects such a classification.  The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed the resolution. The nonbinding legislation had already passed the lower House of Representatives in October. The resolution had been blocked three times at the request of President Donald Trump’s administration, but won approval on its fourth try. The resolution comes at a time of mounting issues that have soured the relationship between the two NATO allies. Some historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed around World War I. Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces, but disputes the description, saying the toll has been inflated. Ankara also argues that such accusations do not take into account the number of Turkish deaths during the conflict. Armenian Prime Minister Niko

Italy's anti-fascist Sardines rally to counter rising nationalism

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Large anti-Salvini protest planned for Rome after several successful demonstrations by movement founded by flatmates. Rome, Italy -  On the evening of November 14, Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party, was in Bologna to kick off his campaign for January's regional elections. The area has been a left-wing bastion since World War Two, but polls put the League neck-and-neck with the incumbent centre-left Democratic Party. Bolstered by a recent win in Umbria, another leftist stronghold, Salvini arrived in Bologna to support League candidate Lucia Borgonzoni, and to address the 5,000 supporters waiting for him in the city's sporting arena. In triumphant tones, Salvini promised to "liberate" the region from the left.  To the League, the election was as good as won. But close by, thousands of people braved an autumnal downpour and filed into Bologna's main square, squeezing in like sardines. They carried homemade placards in the shape o