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Showing posts from May 2, 2021

Scottish independence: Boris Johnson pushes back against IndyRef2

  Boris Johnson has said it would be “irresponsible and reckless” to hold a second independence referendum as the possibility of an outright majority in the Holyrood elections for the Scottish National party remains on a knife-edge on Saturday morning. With an SNP victory now assured after the first day of counting, the scene is set for a clash with Downing Street as the party’s leader,  Nicola Sturgeon , warned Johnson that he would “have to go to court” to stop her new government introducing legislation for another referendum. But as Sturgeon said she would do so “when the time is right” if a pro-independence majority is achieved once the rest of the results are declared, Johnson told the Daily Telegraph: “I think a referendum in the current context is irresponsible and reckless.” Referencing the work of the armed services and the furlough scheme, Johnson insisted: “I think there’s been an eloquent testimonial during the pandemic to the power of the union.” It remains in the balance

Islamic extremists behind attack on Maldives' ex-president Mohamed Nasheed, says top official; 2 arrested

  Male:   A top official in the Maldives said Saturday that Islamic extremists were responsible for an explosion earlier this week that critically wounded former president Mohamed Nasheed, as police said they arrested two of four suspects. Hospital officials said Saturday that Nasheed is conscious and no longer needs breathing support. Two of his bodyguards and two apparent bystanders, including a British citizen, were also wounded in Thursdays blast. Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem told reporters that investigators still do not know which extremist group was behind the attack, which left Nasheed, 53, in critical condition in an intensive care unit after life-saving surgeries to his head, chest, abdomen and limbs. No group has claimed responsibility. Nasheed, the current Parliament speaker, has been an outspoken critic of religious extremism in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation, where preaching and practising other faiths are banned by law. He has also been criticised by religio

France charges three over neo-Nazi attack plot

Three members of a neo-Nazi group arrested in eastern France on suspicion of planning an attack on a masonic lodge have been charged, a judicial source said Saturday.   The suspects, two men aged 29 and 56 and a 53-year-old woman, were indicted on Friday evening by a Paris anti-terrorist judge on suspicion of forming a "terrorist criminal association", the source added. Three others also arrested on Tuesday -- two men and a woman -- have since been released. Also read | German FA president faces calls to resign after Nazi remark Belonging to a group calling itself "Honour and Nation", the suspects are believed to have planned a violent attack, although they were not on the verge of carrying it out, a source familiar with the investigation said. They were arrested based on their communications, research into explosives and scouting of the potential target. The probe is just the latest into France's far-right scene. Also read | Open letter by French soldiers warni

Afghanistan: 25 Killed, 52 Injured in Blast Near School in Kabul

  An explosion near a school in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens more, the interior ministry said. Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said at least 52 people, most of them students, were injured in the blast. He did not specify the cause or the target of the explosion. Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, spokesman for the health ministry, said 46 people had been taken to hospitals so far. Kabul is on high alert since Washington announced plans last month to pull out all U.S. troops by Sept. 11. with Afghan officials saying Taliban have stepped up their attacks across the country. No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s blast. It took place in western part of Kabul, a heavily Shi’ite Muslim neighbourhood that has frequently been attacked by Islamic State militants over the years. Source:  https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/afghanistan-25-killed-52-injured-in-blast-near-school-in-kabul/ar-BB1gvmyb?ocid=BingNews

'Was tortured with electric stick pushed inside my private parts': China's Uighur camp survivor

Chinese President Xi Jinping has become the chief architect of the biggest extermination campaign of the 21st century - the Uighur genocide in Xinjiang. According to interviews and raw data, China wants to end the Uighur people. There are nearly a million of them in forced labour camps.   Tur Sunay Ziyawudun, a Uighur woman was detained twice by the Chinese. Her second stint lasted nearly ten months. On Thursday, she testified at the US Capitol. "I was taken on March 8, 2018, and kept there for more than 10 months. Buses would arrive every day with more detainees. It was very overcrowded. There was a bucket in the corner for a toilet and cameras watching us inside the cell," Ziyawudun said. "We were always hungry. Each meal was a watery soup and a bun. We were given injections of unknown medications. Every day we had to endlessly swear loyalty to the Chinese government and reject our faith. We had to watch endless videos about Xi Jinping," she said. The testimony is

A cyberattack forced a temporary shut down of the largest US fuel pipeline, which carries nearly half the fuel consumed by the East Coast

The largest US refined fuel pipeline operator, Colonial Pipeline, says it was the victim of a cyber attack. The attack forced the company to halt operations of its 5,500 miles of pipeline. Colonial transports approximately 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. Colonial Pipeline, the largest US refined fuel pipeline operator, has shut down operations because of a cyberattack, the company said. After learning it was "the victim of a cybersecurity attack," the pipeline operator on Friday took certain systems offline, temporarily halting pipeline operations and certain IT systems. It also hired an outside cybersecurity firm that is investigating the severity of the breach, the company said  in a statement.  "At this time, our primary focus is the safe and efficient restoration of our service and our efforts to return to normal operation," the statement said. Federal authorities and law enforcement have also been contacted, according to Colonial. The company is the

NPA rebel yields due to hardship, meaningless revolution

ILOILO CITY  – A regular member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and nine Milisya ng Bayan (MB) members surrendered to the government last May 6. "Agot" (not his real name), 24, married, resident of Barangay Molina, Tubungan, Iloilo, gave up to the community support program (CSP) team under the Army's 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) based in the municipality of Miagao. “Hardship and the realization of this meaningless revolution pushed alias 'Agot' to yield,” a statement of the 301st Infantry Brigade said on Saturday. "Agot" was assigned under the Sibat platoon of the Southern Front (SF) of the Kilusang Rehiyon–Panay (KR-P). Meanwhile, the MBs, supporters of the SF of KR-P, were from Tubungan and Miagao. “Aside from being a force multiplier, these individuals act as the eyes and ears of the enemy in their barangays to report on presence and movement of government security forces; and offer logistical support to the NPA

AMISOM Burundian troops, Battle Groups 55 and 56 end their tour of duty in Somalia

  Mogadishu, May 8, 2021 – The African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, yesterday recognized the contributions of Burundi troops to restoring peace in Somalia.   At an end of tour of duty parade in Mogadishu, the outgoing officers from BNDF Battle Groups 55 and 56 were presented with medals and certificates after eighteen months in AMISOM.  The troops from the two battle groups arrived in Somalia in November 2019, however, their deployment went beyond the mandatory one-year tour of duty due to disruptions by the COVID -19 pandemic.  The AMISOM deputy force commander in charge of operations and plans, Maj. Gen. William Kitsao Shume, commended the soldiers for securing the Main Supply Routes (MSRs) by conducting regular patrols and mentoring the Somali National Army (SNA) through joint operations and training.  “The Battle Groups have secured Jowhar Airfield, protected key population centres which include the towns of Balcaad and Ceel-Baraf. They mentored SNA through joint operations an

U.S. human rights violations: exporting turmoil and leaving other countries behind in chaos

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U.S. President Joe Biden recently announced his decision to withdraw all the remaining U.S. troops currently stationed in Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, bringing an end to America’s longest war. During the 20-year war in Afghanistan, at least 2,500 U.S. service members were killed in all. In Afghanistan itself, the war led to the deaths of more than 30,000 civilians, while injuring more than 60,000 civilians and generating around 11 million refugees. U.S. soldiers stand guard at the site of car bombing in Nangarhar Province, east Afghanistan, Jan. 5, 2015. (Xinhua/Tahir Safi) The U.S. initially deployed troops in the name of counter-terrorism, but in the end left behind a chaotic mess in the region. Under the pretext of preserving justice, the U.S. launched wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, giving rise to tragic consequences for these countries and horrendous suffering among their local people. In April 2019, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter stated that the U.S. only enjoyed 16 ye

Amnesty: Yemen's Houthis must release model fearing 'virginity testing'

  DUBAI (Reuters) - Amnesty International said on Friday Yemen's Houthi authorities must halt plans for forced virginity testing and release an actor and model the human rights group says has been detained on "spurious grounds." Twenty-year-old Yemeni Intisar al-Hammadi was arrested in February at a checkpoint in the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthi group in Yemen's six-year conflict. A judicial source previously told Reuters she had been charged with carrying out an indecent act and going against Islamic principles. "Intisar al-Hammadi has regularly appeared in photographs online including in social media posts, without a headscarf defying strict societal norms in Yemen," Amnesty said. Yemen has consistently been at the bottom of the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap index. "Hammadi was arrested by plainclothes security forces at a checkpoint in Sanaa on 20 February," Amnesty said. "While detained, she was interroga

Maximum Pressure: Turkey’s Anti-PKK Counter-Terrorism Campaigns in Northern Iraq

In late April, the Turkish military launched a large-scale cross-border counter-terrorism campaign into northern Iraq, targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its network. The push into northern Iraq followed two main axes: Operation Claw-Lightning and Operation Claw-Thunderbolt  (Pençe-Şimşek and Pençe-Yıldırım).  Thus far, the counter-terrorism campaign has focused on disrupting the PKK’s logistical infrastructure and operational capacity. Capitalizing on the Turkish Armed Forces’ robust combat capabilities and the nation’s burgeoning defense industry, Turkey is pursuing a maximum pressure military policy. The Geopolitical Calculus of the Campaigns: Revisiting the Doctrinal Roots In the 1990s, Turkey’s military policy was largely shaped by the geopolitical calculus of a ‘two-and-a-half war,’ which was married to the ‘active deterrence’ strategy. Within this framework, the ‘two wars’ referred to keeping high combat readiness for fighting two inter-state conflicts at one time,

What's Behind Russian Support for World's Separatist Movements?

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in June is just the beginning, if some in the Kremlin have their way. Mansur Mirovalev Mansur Mirovalev is a Moscow-based journalist. July 23, 2016, 6:48 PM IST  /  Updated July 23, 2016, 6:48 PM IST MOSCOW — Britain’s decision to leave the European Union is just the beginning, if some in the Kremlin have their way. Northern Irish, Scottish, Basque, Catalan and Italian secessionists have been invited to Moscow for a conference, partly funded by Russia, planned for August. They will mingle with Texan, Californian, Puerto-Rican and Hawaiian wannabe-separatists from all over the world, the conference organizer says. “Our goal is to consolidate efforts based on international legal standards [and] to achieve the very democracy the European Union and the United States talk about, but [the democracy] in its true meaning,” Alexander Ionov, head of the Anti-Globalist Movement of Russia, which is organizing the event, told NBC News. One of the internati

Mexican cartel uses explosive drones in drug war

A new development in Mexico`s fifteen year ongoing drug war, with drones packed with plastic explosives being dropped on Police Officers from the sky. By James Blears The attack happened near to the City of Aquililla in the Western Mexican State of Michocan.  Police Officers had been trying to fill trenches dug and barricades placed over a road, when two drones, fitted by plastic explosives designed to remotely detonate,  fell on them out of the sky.  Two Police Officers were wounded, but have been treated in hospital and sent home.  In August a raid discovered explosive drones in a car of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel.  This cartel is fighting another called the New Michocan family, for control of this city, as its the birthplace of their leader, known as El Mencho. The DEA is offering a ten million dollar reward for information leading to his capture.  The Jalisco New Generation Drug Cartel, which started in the State of Jalisco, has spread its tentacles nationwide, and it`s

U.S. backing for Guatemala drug cartel fight key to ending graft, minister says

  Guatemala has asked the United States for support in fighting drug cartel money-laundering that the Central American country sees as a key source of corruption, Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo said, as Washington ramps up a focus on graft in the region. The government of President Joe Biden has put the battle against corruption at the heart of efforts to slow migration to the United States from Central America. Last month, Washington was outspoken in criticism of Guatemalan authorities for perceived backsliding on judicial independence; sanctioned a former and a current lawmaker for alleged corruption, and announced a plan to create an anti-corruption task force for Central America. Brolo said a department in President Alejandro Giammattei's office that had U.S. support was fighting corruption in the executive branch, and that the government had identified that funds from drug traffickers were a key driver of graft. "There is a historic cause of corruption in Guatemala and it i

U.S.-Mexico Efforts Targeting Drug Cartels Have Unraveled, Top DEA Official Says

A senior Drug Enforcement Administration official told NPR efforts to target drug cartels operating inside Mexico have unraveled because of a breakdown in cooperation between law enforcement agencies and militaries in the two countries.  "We're willing to share [intelligence] with our counterparts in Mexico, but they themselves are too afraid to even engage with us because of repercussions from their own government if they get caught working with DEA," said Matthew Donahue, the DEA's deputy chief of operations.  The collapse of joint drug interdiction efforts has occurred at a time when cartels are manufacturing huge quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamines in illegal labs inside Mexico. U.S. officials say those illicit drugs are being smuggled into communities across the United States, driving an explosion in overdose deaths that took more than 90,000 American lives last year. "It's essential that we get [Mexico's] cooperation for the safety of Americ