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Showing posts from November 22, 2020

Ethiopian PM Ahmed rejects Tigray conflict talks in AU meeting

  Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed again ruled out dialogue with the leaders of the defiant Tigray region Friday but said he was willing to speak to representatives "operating legally” there during his meeting with three African Union special envoys trying to end the deadly conflict between federal troops and the region's forces. FRANCE 24's Maria Gerth-Niculescu has more. Source Ethiopian PM Ahmed rejects Tigray conflict talks in AU meeting (msn.com)

Five British MPs escaped death after Iran diplomat ‘smuggled bomb on flight’

  The agent had intended to use the “Mother of Satan” explosive device at a rally in the French capital that was attended by a 35-strong delegation of British politicians and officials, The Sun reports. The same type of bomb was used in the Manchester Arena attacks and during the 2015 massacre in Paris. Conservative MPs Bob Blackman, Matthew Offord, David Amess and Theresa Villiers and Labour’s Roger Godsiff attended the rally, in June 2018, along with other high-profile guests including Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. But the target of the plot was Maryam Rajavi, the head of an exiled Iranian opposition group.  Blackman told the newspaper that had the device been detonated, “the US would undeniably have declared war on Iran - and it was only because the plot was foiled, World War Three was averted”. The Iranian alleged to have masterminded the plot, Asadollah Assadi, was “an undercover intelligence operative who brought the explosive device to Vienna from Tehran in his bagg

Suicide Bomber Kills Six In Mogadishu Ice-cream Parlour

A suicide bomber blew himself up in an icecream parlour in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday, killing six people and wounding eight, an official said. News18 MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber blew himself up in an ice-cream parlour in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday, killing six people and wounding eight, an official said. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the blast, but the Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab frequently carries out bombings in the capital and elsewhere. The group is allied with al Qaeda and wants to rule Somalia according to its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. The Gelato Divino parlour is located near K4 Junction in the heart of Mogadishu, near the international airport. “A suicide bomber blew up himself in the ice-cream restaurant,” information ministry spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Omar said. “Six people died and eight others were injured.”  Source:  https://www.news18.com/news/world/suicide-bomber-kills-six-in-mogadishu-ice-cream-pa

Coalition destroys Houthi-laid marine mines in southern Red Sea

ANKARA: Turkey and Russia have agreed to monitor a truce over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region from a joint peacekeeping center, Ankara’s defense ministry said on Tuesday. The deal comes after days of talks between Turkish and Russian officials about how the two regional powers would jointly implement a Moscow-brokered cease-fire signed this month between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Technical details for setting up the joint center were concluded and an agreement was signed, the defense ministry said in a statement, adding that it would begin work “as soon as possible.” Turkey is a staunch ally of Azerbaijan and has fervently defended its right to take back the Nagorno-Karabakh lands Baku lost to ethnic Armenian separatists in a 1988-94 war. The truce deal ended more than six weeks of fighting that claimed more than 1,400 lives and saw ethnic Armenians agree to withdraw from large parts of the contested region of Azerbaijan. The Turkish parliament voted this month to deploy a mission t

Rouhani says Iran will retaliate for scientist killing 'at the proper time'

DUBAI  : Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on Saturday accused Israel of killing the country's top nuclear scientist, believed by the West to be the architect of Tehran's secret military nuclear programme. Iran's clerical and military rulers have threatened revenge for Friday's killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which could further increase tensions in the Middle East region and beyond. "Our people are wiser than to fall in the trap of the Zionist regime (Israel) ... Iran will surely respond to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time," Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting. "Once again, the evil hands of Global Arrogance and the Zionist (Israeli) mercenaries were stained with the blood of an Iranian son," Rouhani said in a statement earlier on Saturday, adding that Fakhrizadeh's death will not slow down Iran's nuclear work. Israel has declined to comment on the killing. The death of Fakhrizadeh could provoke confrontation between I

What Happens If American Troops Withdraw From Afghanistan?

  America’s retreat means handing over Afghanistan to Pakistan on a platter, says former Indian envoy to Kabul An end to the bloody civil war in Afghanistan has always been elusive. Fighting continues unabated despite the ongoing peace talks in Doha between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Taliban is bent on negotiating from a position of strength. The US announcement of a pull-back by January 15 next year, the outgoing Trump administration has given the Taliban negotiators the upper hand and left little room for maneuver for President-elect Joe Biden. This was Donald Trump’s election promise to his base that American lives will not be sacrificed for wars abroad and he wants to honour it. What happens in Afghanistan is of little concern. Acting US defence secretary Christopher Miller, appointed after Mark Esper was sacked by Trump, hinted about imminent troop withdrawals: He wrote  on November 13 that “all wars must end” and “it's time to come home,” according to reports in t

WHO says would be 'highly speculative' to say Covid-19 did not emerge in China

GENEVA  : The  World Health Organizatio n's top emergency expert said on Friday it would be "highly speculative" for the WHO to say the  coronavirus  did not emerge in China, where it was first identified in a food market in December last year. China is pushing a narrative via state media that the virus existed abroad before it was discovered in the central city of Wuhan, citing the presence of coronavirus on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers claiming it had been circulating in Europe last year. "I think it's highly speculative for us to say that the disease did not emerge in China," Mike Ryan said at a virtual briefing in Geneva after being asked if COVID-19 could have first emerged outside China. "It is clear from a public health perspective that you start your investigations where the human cases first emerged," he added, saying that evidence might then lead to other places. He repeated that the WHO intended to send researcher

US sanction on Russian, Chinese firms for supporting Iran missile programme

The companies are Chengdu Best New Materials Co Ltd and Zibo Elim Trade Co, Ltd. in China and Nilco Group, which is also known as Nil Fam Khazar Company and Santers Holding and Joint Stock Company Elecon in Russia for transferring sensitive technology and items to Iran’s missile programme. The US has imposed sanctions on four companies from China and Russia for supporting Iran’s missile programme that remains a “significant proliferation concern,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said. The announcement was made on Friday as the US continues to take tough measures against Iran for continuing their activities related to nuclear arms. “The US has sanctioned four entities in China and Russia for their support of Iran’s missile programme, which remains a significant proliferation concern. We will continue to use all our sanctions tools to prevent Iran from advancing its missile capabilities,” Pompeo said. The companies are Chengdu Best New Materials Co Ltd and Zibo Elim Trade Co, Ltd. in

French anger after black man beaten echoes US Black Lives Matter movement

  Pressure on the French government and police leadership intensified Friday after the police beating of a black music producer in Paris sparked outrage across the spectrum, from top politicians to football stars. The incident put the government on the backfoot as it tries to push through controversial new security legislation that would restrict the right of the media to publish the faces of police agents. What about the right to publish images of police agents in the UK and the US? FRANCE 24's Armen Georgian explains. Source French anger after black man beaten echoes US Black Lives Matter movement (msn.com)

France jails, throws out Pakistani imam for 'condoning terrorism'

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  A Pakistani who occasionally officiates as an imam at the mosque of Villiers-le-Bel (Val d'Oise), France is sentenced to 18 months in prison and banned from the country for "condoning terrorism".  He was prosecuted for having posted videos on the social network Tik Tok praising, in particular, the attack of September 25 in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo. Arrived in France in 2015, Luqman Haider published three videos in which he is accused of having made laudatory comments about terrorist acts.  In these videos, Haider congratulated the perpetrator of the machete attack that took place on September 25 in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo. According to him, the assailant was a “brave man known throughout Pakistan” who had earned “status”, “honour through the Prophet”. The Pakistani arrived in France in 2015 after a tumultuous four-year journey. France – and more precisely Paris – was his objective to “flee the poverty” of his country of origin.

Dismay as U.S. considers pulling troops out of Somalia

  No country has been involved in Somalia’s future as much as the United States. The Trump administration is now considering withdrawing the several hundred U.S. military troops from the nation at what some experts call the worst possible time. Source:  https://news.yahoo.com/dismay-u-considers-pulling-troops-190828278.html

Ethiopia War Destabilising East Africa, Warns EU

ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI: Fighting between Ethiopia’s military and regional forces from the northern Tigray region is seriously destabilising the East African and Horn region and hostilities should halt, the European Union foreign policy chief said. Hundreds of people have been killed since fighting began on Nov. 4, more than 41,000 refugees have fled to Sudan and there are reports of militias targeting civilians. “I expressed my great concern regarding increasing ethnic-targeted violence, numerous casualties and violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law,” Josep Borrell said late on Tuesday after speaking to Ethiopia’s foreign minister. A 72-hour government deadline for Tigray forces to surrender is due to expire on Wednesday evening. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party spearheading the fighting, has rejected the ultimatum. Ethiopia has described the fighting as an internal law enforcement matter, a position Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reitera

Hong Kong activist tells German paper he's doing well in prison isolation

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FILE PHOTO: Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Tiffany Yuen arrive at West Kowloon Magistrates's Courts to face charges related to an illegal vigil assembly commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, in Hong Kong BERLIN (Reuters) - Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong told a German newspaper he was doing well despite being held in solitary confinement and having trouble sleeping because of bright lights after he was remanded in custody this week. Wong, who on Monday pleaded guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorised assembly near police headquarters in last year's anti-government protests, also said he does not expect a fair trial on Dec. 2. Facing a maximum three-year jail term, Wong told Die Welt daily he was not allowed to leave his solitary cell or meet other prisoners and was forbidden to do sport. "Because the light in the cell burns for 24 hours, it is difficult for me to sleep," Wong told the paper in written answers from

U.S. blacklists Libyan militia, leader after Russia stops U.N. sanctions

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States unilaterally blacklisted Libya's Kaniyat militia and its leader on Wednesday after Russia last week prevented a U.N. Security Council committee from imposing sanctions over human rights abuses by the group. The U.S. sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the U.S. government to target human rights violators worldwide by freezing assets and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them. "Mohamed al-Kani and the Kaniyat militia have tortured and killed civilians during a cruel campaign of oppression in Libya," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The United States and Germany earlier this month proposed that the U.N. Security Council's 15-member Libya sanctions committee impose an asset freeze and travel ban on Kaniyat militia and al-Kani. However, such a move has to be agreed by consensus and Russia said on Friday it could not approve the sanctions because it wanted to see m

Azerbaijan to investigate alleged war crimes on both sides of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

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Azerbaijani soldiers on patrol in Aghdam in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh - Emrah Gurel /AP Azerbaijani prosecutors have launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by both sides in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Harrowing videos circulating on social media appear to show unidentified uniformed men alongside beheaded and mutilated bodies as well as Azerbaijani soldiers taunting and torturing captured men.  One clip shows a soldier cutting the ears off dead bodies while others have emerged allegedly of Armenian soldiers defiling Azerbaijani war dead. The videos have not yet been independently verified but if true would depict war crimes, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general said yesterday that his office was investigating abuses and inhumane treatment allegedly committed both by Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.  “There are many fake videos but we must say frankly that there also are

'You have stolen our forest': rights of Baka people in the Congo ignored

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  Photograph: Mike Goldwater/Alamy Josi Emerson, president of the Baka pygmy village of Seh in the Congolese rainforest, was working in his field in June 2018 when he heard vehicles and shouts. Ecoguards, dressed in paramilitary uniforms and carrying guns, had arrived in Jeeps. Emerson rushed home but it was too late. The guards, employed by the Congolese government to stop poaching and supported by international conservation group the WWF, were going from hut to hut accusing the Baka villagers of killing an elephant. “A guard slapped me three times in the face. ‘You know what is happening here’, he said. “[Then] they started beating everyone. They beat my brother with a machete and cut his back, right to the bone – and they beat my mother with a piece of wood. They beat everyone. They made me lie down in the ashes of the fire. They destroyed our cooking pots with their boots, they looked for ivory in our houses but they found nothing,” he said. Emerson’s allegation of physical violenc

Rights bodies urge Pak authorities to probe violence against Ahmadiyyas

  New York [US], November 26 (ANI): Pakistani authorities should urgently and impartially investigate a surge in violent attacks on members of the Ahmadiyya religious community, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said on Thursday. The authorities should take appropriate legal action against those responsible for threats and violence against Ahmadis. Since July 2020, there have been at least five apparently targeted killings of members of the Ahmadiyya community. In only two of the cases have the police taken a suspect into custody. Pakistani authorities have long downplayed, and at times even encouraged, violence against Ahmadis, whose rights to freedom of religion and belief are not respected under Pakistani law. "There are a few communities in Pakistan who have suffered as much as the Ahmadis," said Omar Waraich, head of South Asia at Amnesty International. "The recent wave of killings tragically underscores not

Analysis: Libya's rival forces have stopped shooting, but they're not pulling back

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  Car is seen between destroyed buildings in Benghazi By Ayman al-Warfali and Angus McDowall SIRTE, Libya/TUNIS (Reuters) - In Libya's frontline city of Sirte, parts of which still lie in ruins, the commission set up to oversee warring rivals' recent ceasefire has put its name on a large downtown conference centre - an outward sign of its commitment to peace. So far the ceasefire is holding, and some elements of the truce have been implemented: flights between rival cities Tripoli and Benghazi have resumed and foreign fighters have left oil facilities - the keys to Libya's economy. But meetings of the Joint Military Commission in northern Libya, attended by five officers each from the two sides, have yet to make progress on other key demands of a U.N.-brokered agreement, underlining its fragility. The rivals in a civil war that has left thousands dead and the country in chaos have yet to withdraw troops from frontline positions, open a major coastal road linking Sirte to Mi

France, EU lawmakers push for sanctions on Turkey next month

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FILE PHOTO: Russian President Putin meets with Turkish President Erdogan in Moscow By Robin Emmott and John Irish BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) - The European Parliament urged the EU on Thursday to impose sanctions on Turkey after President Tayyip Erdogan this month paid a visit to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of Cyprus. With 631 votes in favour, three against and 59 abstentions, the parliament agreed a non-binding resolution in support of EU member Cyprus urging EU leaders to "take action and impose tough sanctions in response to Turkey's illegal actions". The resolution is likely to bolster support for France's push for EU sanctions on Turkey next month, following through on a threat made by the bloc in October over a dispute between Ankara and EU members Greece and Cyprus over natural gas rights. The parliament resolution called Turkey's gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean "illegal", a charge Ankara rejects. Paris, at odds with Ankara on ot