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Showing posts from October 24, 2021

US calls on Tigray rebel group to 'halt its advances' in key northern cities

  A statement from the State Department also urged the   Tigray   People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to "halt its advances in and around the cities of Dessie and Kombolcha."  Tigrayan rebels said Saturday they have secured "full control" of the strategic northern  Ethiopian  city of Dessie, sparking a furious denial by the government even as residents reported a retreat by federal forces from the area. The rebels' capture of Dessie marks a new step in their offensive in the nearly year-long war, after they retook most of Tigray from federal forces in June and expanded their presence into neighboring regions. "We urge the TPLF not to use artillery against cities and recall our strong objections to the ENDF airstrikes in Mekelle and other areas of Tigray which have cost countless lives," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in the statement, referring to the Ethiopian National Defense Force. "There is no military solution to this conflict,

Car bomb near Yemen's Aden airport kills at least a dozen civilians

"Twelve civilians were killed in an explosion" in the vicinity of Aden airport and "there are also serious injuries", said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.  Another security official confirmed the toll. A spokesman from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) -- part of  Yemen 's government --  said the blast was caused by a car bomb explosion. "A car bomb was detonated, killing a number of our peaceful citizens, including children, and wounding a number of other civilians," STC spokesman Ali al-Kathiri said in a statement.   The explosion comes almost three weeks after six people were killed in a car-bomb attack that targeted Aden's governor, who survived.  AFP footage on Saturday showed people pulling out a body from a vehicle that had been completely destroyed, as firefighters put out flames nearby.   The internationally recognised government relocated to Aden from the capital Sanaa in 2014, forced out by the  Huthis , who are

Media Fight for Justice, Better Protection in Malta

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  On a sunny afternoon near the hamlet of Bidnija in Malta, a small crowd gathered by the side of a rural road to remember one of the country’s best-known journalists.   It has been four years this October since Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a bombing just a short distance from her home.  But despite international attention to the journalist’s death and her work uncovering corruption, little has changed in terms of Malta’s press freedom environment, analysts and local journalists say.  Barriers to access, the use of lawsuits as a form of harassment and an over-reliance on state funding are all cited as ongoing issues. Rights groups have also said that Malta’s two main parties dominate media ownership — and by extension, press coverage itself.  FILE - In this Nov. 29. 2019 file photo, Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech, leaves court after being questioned in the 2017 bomb blast that killed investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as she drove near her home, in Valletta, Mal

Turkish twist to Pakistan’s terror policy

  India’s decades-old rivalry with Pakistan has tended to dictate its Afghan policy, no doubt. But now, the advent of Taliban-II has caused some real worries for its policymakers — whether we could expect an increase in Pak-sponsored terror. As the US’s only designated major defence partner, Indian concerns in this respect have surely been conveyed to it, as also recently during the Defence Policy Group meeting between the two countries Gp Capt Murli Menon (Retd) Defence Analyst During my consular tenure in Ankara (Turkey) from 2008 to 2011, one acknowledged achievement of diplomats in the mission (support staff included, of course) was the favourable reinforcement of the host country’s age-old fondness for India, as against the trumped-up factoids in favour of our ‘twin-at-birth’ Pakistan. It took some doing to convince the then Turkish PM Recep Erdogan (now President) and his minions that it was undivided India from whence substantial gold jewellery and other donations came to Turkey

Ukraine's Zelenskiy Defends Drone Strike On Russia-Backed Separatists

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has defended the use of a Turkish-supplied armed drone to strike Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying the military acted in self-defense and did not violate any agreements. "When the Ukrainian army feels the need to defend its land, it does so. And it will further act under this principle,” Zelenskiy said, according to comments  published on the presidential website  on October 29. The Ukrainian military this week  released footage  of what it said was a Bayraktar T2B drone destroying a Russian-made howitzer in a separatist-controlled area. The military said the drone was used “for the first time” to suppress artillery fire that killed a Ukrainian soldier and wounded another. SEE ALSO: Ukraine Uses Turkish Drone Against Russia-Backed Separatists For First Time Moscow accused Ukraine of violating the Minsk agreements meant to put an end to a war that has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014, and said the use of dron

Iran Hit With Yet Another Cyberattack Likely Conducted By Foreign Country

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  Analysts say a cyberattack earlier this week that disrupted the sale of subsidized fuel in Iran appears to be the latest in a series of cyberstrikes between Tehran and its rivals. The incident, which led to chaos and criticisms of Iran's preparedness for cyberthreats, is seen as a warning to the Islamic republic. It came ahead of the second anniversary of deadly protests over a sudden rise in the price of gasoline -- demonstrations that quickly turned into demonstrations against the clerical establishment. Warning Shot? "The message here is that we not only have the capabilities to breach your infrastructure system -- a system that will immediately affect Iran from border to border -- but also to cripple [it],” said Tel-Aviv based Cyber security expert Tal Pavel told RFE/RL. "It’s not by mistake that the entity that did the attack chose gas stations,” said Pavel, the director and founder of the Institute for Cyber Policy Studies in Israel.  The October 26 attack, which

Ukraine Launches Terror-Financing Probe Into Bank Loan After RFE/RL Report

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  Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a terrorism financing investigation after it emerged that the country’s state-owned export-import bank lent tens of millions of dollars to companies owned by a businessman with interests in parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. The Prosecutor-General’s Office  told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service  on October 27 that it opened the probe last week after lawmakers demanded an investigation following an investigative report published earlier this month. According to the findings by Schemes (Skhemy), an investigative news project run by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in cooperation with UA: Pershy television, Ukreksimbank  lent $60 million  to companies owned by Serhiy Bryukhovetskiy. Bryukhovetskiy also paid millions of Ukrainian hryvnyas in taxes to the separatists and put up as collateral for the loan a Kyiv shopping mall whose ownership is under dispute. Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists has claime

Self-Exiled Turkmen Opposition Activist In Turkish Custody Facing Deportation Starts Hunger Strike

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  A self-exiled Turkmen opposition activist who was detained by Turkish authorities at Ashgabat's request has reportedly   started a hunger strike . The Bulgarian-based Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF)  said on October 25 that Akhmet Rahmanov began his hunger strike three days previously. "I hope to attract the international community's attention to the mass violation of the human rights of Turkmenistan's citizens at home and abroad," Rahmanov told the THF in a deportation center in Tuzla near Istanbul. The THF said earlier that the 47-year-old Rahmanov  went incommunicado  on October 18 after he visited a migration office in the southwestern Turkish city of Antalya to prolong his residence permit. A day later, Rahmanov's friends were informed that he had been placed in a deportation center. Rahmanov has been a longtime administrator of the opposition Democratic Choice of Turkmenistan movement's online chat page. He has also been critical of authoritarian

The Facebook Papers: A bulleted guide to the biggest revelations from troves of leaked documents

  Over a dozen news organizations reviewed Facebook documents leaked by a whistleblower. The outlets published several reports Monday based on those documents, known as the Facebook Papers. The topics include Facebook's fading popularity with teens and failures in addressing hate speech. Seventeen US news organizations on Monday said they had reviewed leaked internal documents obtained by former Facebook employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen. Their reports on the documents span a wide variety of issues at the company, including its fading popularity with teens, its ability to counter hate speech, and its treatment of politicians. Some of the internal documents reviewed by the news organizations were previously reported on by  The Wall Street Journal . Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the bevy of reporting published Monday: Facebook employees were concerned about the company's business practices but were dismissed when they questioned leadership NBC ,  The Atla

Human rights campaigners are criticizing David Beckham for signing a controversial $277m World Cup deal with Qatar

  David Beckham has signed a $277m deal with Qatar to serve as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup. The upcoming soccer tournament has magnified concerns about Qatar's human rights records. Veteran activist Peter Tatchell told The Mail on Sunday that Beckham's Qatar deal is "really disappointing." Source  David Beckham's $277m Qatar Deal Slammed by Human Rights Activists (insider.com)

Human Rights Watch asks for protecting Bangladesh Hindus, but calls for law enforcement 'restraint'

New York, Oct 22 (IANS) While asking Bangladesh authorities to protect Hindus, the international group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said law enforcement should act "with caution and restraint". "The authorities need to be de-escalating violence, not shooting live ammunition into a crowd," HRW's Asia Director Brad Adams said in a statement issued by the group here. "Bangladesh authorities are dealing with an extremely stressful situation that could easily escalate into even more bloodshed, unless law enforcement acts with caution and restraint," he added HRW's statement did not identify or directly condemn those carrying out the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, but turning to India it said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has "called on Narendra Modi's government to quell communal violence in India, where the ruling party has fueled violence targeting the minority Muslim community". However, HRW acknowledged that "Hindus, who mak

Interview: Hong Kong activist Frances Hui on extradition fears

  Pro-democracy activists who fled Hong Kong after the passage of its harsh national security law are being careful to avoid travel to countries that might send them back at China's request, activist Frances Hui told me in an interview. Why it matters : China's growing extraterritorial reach means that even leaving China can't guarantee safety for those targeted by Beijing. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets.  Subscribe for free Driving the news:  Activists  disrupted  the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony in Greece last week, denouncing China's repressive policies in Xinjiang and Tibet. Hui is part of a China human rights coalition that held a press conference the next day in Athens. But Hui, who is now living in the U.S., didn't travel to Greece for the event because the country has an extradition treaty with China. What she's saying:  "Every time when I’m looking at foreign countries to visit, I would always lo

US retail giants pull Chinese surveillance tech from shelves

  U.S. retail giants   Home Depot and Best Buy have pulled the Chinese video surveillance technology makers Lorex and Ezviz from their stores over links to human rights abuses. In a statement to TechCrunch, Home Depot said it's "committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical sourcing and we immediately stopped selling products from Lorex when this was brought to our attention." Home Depot also stopped selling Ezviz products, a spokesperson confirmed. Best Buy said it was "discontinuing its relationship" with both Lorex and Ezviz. Lowe's, which did not comment, also removed Lorex from its shelves following inquiries from TechCrunch and  video surveillance news site IPVM . Lorex is a subsidiary of Dahua Technology, and Ezviz is a video surveillance camera brand owned by Hikvision. Dahua and Hikvision, both headquartered in China,  were added  to the U.S. government’s economic blacklist in 2019 after the companies were linked to China’s  ongoing effort