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Showing posts from July 4, 2021

Yemen’s Peace Process: A Path to Conflict?

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 The possibilities and risks of Yemen embracing peace and stability after a long period of internal civil war remain bleak. A boy pulls containers of water after he filled them at a faucet, amid an acute shortage of clean drinking water in Sanaa, April 20, 2015. Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters. The war in Yemen will come to an end. Yet, its conclusion will not resolve the initial reasons that plunged the country into conflict, and led communities to raise arms against one another. It is likely that many of the underlying issues will continue to exist in the near future, compounded by new complications born of the war, paving the way to continued conflict.  While peace may benefit some, it can fuel feelings of anger and resentment in others. One challenge for peace-makers is to ensure that those costs and feelings are below a certain threshold and will not be a cause of conflict.  A peace process, due to its inherent exclusionary nature and limitations of its scope of priorities, is the firs

As Secular Peace Effort Stutters in Israel, Religious Mediators Hope to Step In

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  The inclusion of an Islamist party in Israel’s government has spurred a group of imams and rabbis hoping to build a religious-based peace movement. July 4, 2021,  5:00 a.m. ET Rabbi Michael Melchior at his home in Jerusalem. He made an unlikely friend in Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, a founder of the Islamist party Raam. Amit Elkayam for The New York Times JERUSALEM — The rabbi stood before the grave of the imam, weeping as he gave his eulogy. In life,  Rabbi Michael Melchior said , Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish had promised him that he would never leave his side. In death, the sheikh had left him feeling as bereft as an orphan. Sheikh Abdullah died in 2017, four years before the  Islamist party he helped found, Raam , became the first independent Arab faction to join an Israeli government coalition. But the sheikh’s funeral and his unlikely friendship with Rabbi Melchior, as well as their below-the-radar attempts at religious-based peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians, were

Militarization in Philippines has 'damaging effects' on civic space, democratic freedoms — think tank

MANILA, Philippines — Academics cast fear over what they said was the blow to human rights caused by the "explosive cocktail" of the global drive to counter-terrorism coupled with the Philippine government's "autocratic instincts and violent tendencies." In its paper entitled " An explosive cocktail: Counter-terrorism, militarisation, and authoritarianism in the Philippines ," nonprofit Saferworlds said that President Rodrigo Duterte has weaponized counter-terrorism, a "core framework influencing security decisions" that worsened following Duterte's election.  Researchers Aries Arugay, Marc Batac and Jordan Street expressed concern over the potentially "damaging effects on conflict dynamics, civic space and the democratic freedoms of Filipino citizens" moving forward, pointing to the global war on terror's "patterns of failure" where "civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence." The research, do

The Southern Philippines’ Post-Conflict Transition Is on Track, but Behind Schedule

Two years into the three-year mandate of a transitional authority tasked with governing a long-troubled corner of the southern Philippines, its chief minister, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, is  pushing to extend the term of his interim administration . The transitional authority’s 80 members were appointed to lead the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, in 2019, as part of a peace deal the Philippine government signed with Muslim rebels fighting for independence in Mindanao. The extension, if approved, would postpone a scheduled vote for the region’s first democratically elected parliament from May 2022, as originally foreseen by the transition agreement, until 2025. Ebrahim is also chairman of the 40,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, which fought a four-decade separatist war against the Philippine government before negotiating to demobilize in exchange for regional autonomy. His proposal for a three-year extension comes amid delays in implementing the a

Maoists use WhatsApp to lure Maratha youth into joining Naxalite movement

Maoists have now taken to WhatsApp in a bid to communicate with Maratha youths and recruit them to the Naxalite movement. The letter from the insurgent group, which has been circulating on the messaging app, has raised the hackles of the Maharashtra government, with home minister Dilip Walse Patil condemning the digital communique as an instrument to cause unrest in society. A police investigation into the matter is underway, and initial findings have revealed that the letter from the Maoists surfaced in Kamalapur village, which is about 73 km from Gadchiroli town. A local journalist received the missive on WhatsApp and it was a genuine letter signed by "Sahyadri" aka Milind Telumbde, the secretary of CPI(M), said Sandip Patil, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police, Nagpur Range. The officer stated that the structure of the letter is similar to a number of letters seized during the probe into the Yalgaar Parishad case. The language used in the letter appears to be written

Beware! THESE 9 Android apps caught stealing your Facebook details: Here's how to delete them

  Google Play Store is full of malicious apps that can affect any system. With the cases of hacking and cyber crimes increasing day by day, hackers have come up with unique ways to bypass Google's security gates for malicious apps on the Google Play Store. . According to Doctor Web, a shocking revelation has been made whereas many as nine Android apps have been found stealing Facebook users' logins and passwords. These apps seem to be installed more than 5,856,010 times from the Google Play Store. Doctor Web's malware analysts revealed that  9 out of 10 trojan apps exist on the Google Play Store. These Android apps are stealer trojans and were spread as harmless software. In order to get access to all of the apps' functions, and also to disable in-app ads, users were first asked to log onto their Facebook accounts and they were shown the replica of the Facebook login page which was almost similar to the original one. After that hackers somehow managed to access the user

Complaint filed against Twitter India, MD Manish Maheshwari for 'spreading communal hatred'

  A complaint has been filed before the Delhi Police Cyber Cell against Twitter India's Managing Director, Manish Maheswari and a non-profit organisation for allegedly spreading communal hatred. The complaint filed by advocate Aditya Singh Deshwal and addressed to DCP Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police sought registration of an FIR against Twitter Communications India Private Ltd, Manish Maheshwari, MD, Twitter India, Shagufta Kamran, Public Policy Manager of Twitter India as well as Armin Navabi and Susanna Macintyre, the founder and CEO respectively of Republic Atheist. The advocate cited a picture of Goddess Kali shared by the handle Atheist Republic and said that content posted by the Twitter users was not only abusive but has been posted for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred and ill will in society. "It would also be not out of place to mention here that these posts have been put by the

Tigray rebels vow to drive out ‘enemies’ despite ceasefire declaration

  Celebrations on streets of Mekelle after soldiers and officials appointed by Ethiopian government flee city Emmanuel Akinwotu  West Africa correspondent and  Lizzy Davies Dissident leaders of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region have dismissed a government ceasefire declaration and vowed to drive out “enemies” from the region, after rebel fighters advanced on the Tigrayan capital. Federal security forces and officials from the central government appointed interim administration fled Mekelle on Monday night . Residents took to the streets in jubilation, firing celebratory gunfire and fireworks into the sky. An overnight statement from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) hailed the advances of the Tigrayan fighters, and declared Mekelle was fully under its control, vowing to drive out “enemies” from the federal government. “The government of Tigray calls upon our people and army of Tigray to intensify their struggle until our enemies completely leave Tigray,” the statement said. “T

Russia unveils new security strategy that aims to balance ties with India, China

  The Russian National Security Strategy, which was released by Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday, comes amid the over year-long standoff between India and China.  The new security policy aims to further expand strategic cooperation with India, while developing comprehensive partnerships with China. According to a   report  in the Russian news agency Sputnik, this policy seeks to create a process that ensures regional stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region, apart from different groups on a non-aligned basis. It has also made a subtle reference to the India-China conflict. “Dangers also result from the creeping militarisation of outer space, and risks associated with armed conflicts escalating into local and regional wars involving the world’s nuclear powers,” it said.  Should reduce usage of US dollars The policy has also recommended reducing the usage of US dollars in international transactions, saying this will accelerate Russia’s economic security.   “The reductio