ERX🌎 NEWS NETWORK

China Bans Largest US Chip Maker Micron from Key Infrastructure Projects

2023-05-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

It is China’s first major move against a US chip maker, as tensions increase between Beijing and Washington.

US Chip Maker Micron from Key Infrastructure Projects

China says products made by US memory chip giant Micron Technology are a national security risk.

The country’s cyberspace regulator announced on Sunday that America’s biggest maker of memory chips poses “serious network security risks”.

It means the firm’s products will be banned from key infrastructure projects in the world’s second largest economy.

It is China’s first major move against a US chip maker, as tensions increase between Beijing and Washington.

The announcement is the latest development in a deepening row between the US and China over the technology crucial to economies around the world.

The long-running dispute has seen Washington impose a series of measures against Beijing’s chip making industry and invest billions of dollars to boost America’s semiconductor sector.

In a statement, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said: “The review found that Micron’s products have serious network security risks, which pose significant security risks to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting China’s national security.”

The CAC did not give details of the risks it said it had found or in which Micron products it had found them.

A Micron spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that the company had “received the CAC’s notice following its review of Micron products sold in China”.

“We are evaluating the conclusion and assessing our next steps. We look forward to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities,” they added.

In response, the US government said it would work with allies to address what it called “distortions of the memory chip market caused by China’s actions”.

“We firmly oppose restrictions that have no basis in fact,” a US Commerce Department spokesperson said.

“This action, along with recent raids and targeting of other American firms, is inconsistent with [China’s] assertions that it is opening its markets and committed to a transparent regulatory framework.”

The CAC’s announcement came a day after a G7 leaders meeting in Japan issued a joint statement which criticised China, including its use of “economic coercion”.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said G7 nations were looking to “de-risk and diversify our relationship with China”.

“That means taking steps to diversify our supply chains,” he added.

Micron chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra attended the summit in Hiroshima as part of a group of business leaders.

Last week, the company said it would invest around 500bn yen ($3.6bn; £2.9bn) to develop technology in Japan.

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

REPORT: U.S. officially points the finger at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi killing

2021-02-27T08:30:00.001-08:00

As it became clear the intel report would be released this week, the Biden admin would seek to balance American ideals and American interests.

WASHINGTON — A long-awaited American intelligence report made public Friday concludes that the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia approved the gruesome political killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident journalist who lived in Virginia and wrote for the Washington Post.

Image:

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives at the Future Investment Initiative FII conference in Riyadh on Oct. 24, 2018.Giuseppe Cacace / AFP via Getty Images file

While that overall conclusion by the CIA and other agencies about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was first reported two years ago, its official publication on U.S. government letterhead shines a spotlight on the dilemma facing President Joe Biden, who has emphasized the importance of human rights in foreign policy but is not prepared to cut ties with a key American ally.

"We base this assessment on the Crown Prince's control of decision-making in the Kingdom," the report said, "the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Mohammed bin Salman's protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi."

U.S. to release public report blaming Saudi crown prince for journalist’s murder:

The document released Friday is a sparse, page-and-a-half executive summary of a larger classified intelligence assessment.

The confidence levels assigned to the judgments — generally expressed as high, moderate or low — appear to have been blacked out.

The analysis doesn’t cite particular intelligence, but offers broad analytical statements. For example, it notes that “since 2017, the crown prince has had absolute control of the Kingdom's security and intelligence organizations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the crown prince's authorization.”

And it says the Saudi team sent to kill Khashoggi in Turkey “included seven members of Mohammed bin Salman's elite personal protective detail, known as the Rapid Intervention Force,” which “exists to defend the crown prince, answers only to him, and had directly participated in earlier dissident suppression operations in the Kingdom and abroad at the crown prince's direction. We judge that members of the RIF would not have participated in the operation against Khashoggi without Mohammed bin Salman's approval.”

The crown prince, the assessment says, “viewed Khashoggi as a threat to the Kingdom and broadly supported using violent measures if necessary to silence him. Although Saudi officials had pre-planned an unspecified operation against Khashoggi, we do not know how far in advance Saudi officials decided to harm him.”

On Friday, Secretary of State Tony Blinken also announced that 76 Saudi individuals alleged to have harassed dissidents were subject to visa restrictions, and the Treasury Department sanctioned the Rapid Intervention Force, or RIF, also known as the Tiger Squad, and the former deputy head of Saudi intelligence.

“Those involved in the abhorrent killing of Jamal Khashoggi must be held accountable,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “The United States stands united with journalists and political dissidents in opposing threats of violence and intimidation.”

In a statement, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: "For too long, the United States failed to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the brutal murder of journalist, dissident, and Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi. I’m encouraged to see the new administration taking steps to rectify that by releasing this long-overdue congressionally mandated report into his killing."

As it became clear the intelligence assessment would be released this week, the Biden administration sought to balance American ideals and American interests, emphasizing a "recalibration" with Saudi Arabia even as officials acknowledged they would still be doing business with a key partner in the fights against terrorism and Iran.

Click here to read the report.

"We've made clear from the beginning that we are going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters this week.

Blinken spoke by phone with his Saudi counterpart Thursday, after which Biden had a call with King Salman, the crown prince's father.

The signal was clear: The Biden administration wants to keep MBS, as he is known, at arms length. How that will work going forward remains to be seen. King Salman is 85, and MBS, at the moment, is his heir.

In November 2019 Biden promised to make the Saudis "pay" for the killing of Khashoggi, as he answered a question from Andrea Mitchell of NBC News during a Democratic debate.

"We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are," Biden said.

But experts say that is not realistic.

"The world economy still needs that Saudi oil, even if we don't need it here in the U.S. per se, and the Saudis need our military protection, and we don't want them to lose a war against Iran," Middle East expert Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution told CNBC's Shepard Smith Thursday evening. "We are not going to make the Saudis a pariah nation, if what you hear by that word, as I do, is North Korea or Iran itself or some other extremist government."

O'Hanlon added, "The two sides need each other."

Still, the decision to release the declassified intelligence summary — which had been mandated in a law passed by Congress and sought in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit — represents a clear break by Biden with former President Donald Trump's policy of equivocating about the Saudi state's role in a brutal killing that was widely condemned by members of Congress, journalists and a U.N. investigator.

The president confirmed to reporters late Wednesday that he had read the intelligence report.

U.S. spies ask how deeply Saudi prince was involved in Khashoggi death

Khashoggi, 59, was a Saudi citizen working as a Washington Post columnist when he was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, and killed by a team of intelligence operatives with close ties to the crown prince. His body was dismembered in part with a bone saw, American officials have said, and the remains have never been found.

After first denying the killing, the Saudi government changed course and asserted that Khashoggi was killed by accident as the team sought to forcibly extradite him. The Saudis say that the team acted on its own and that the crown prince was not involved.

Eight men were convicted in a trial that international observers called a farce; five got the death penalty. Their sentences were commuted to 20 years after they were allegedly forgiven by Khashoggi's relatives.

Agnes Callamard, who investigated the killing for the U.N., accused Saudi Arabia of a "deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human rights law."

Nicholas Kristof: Trump bragging about protecting Saudi Crown prince over Khashoggi’s murder ‘breaks my heart’

The CIA presented the White House with its assessment in 2018, but it did not appear to change Trump's friendly relations with Saudi Arabia and with the crown prince in particular.

Trump bragged in 2019 that he had protected MBS from congressional scrutiny in recorded interviews with journalist Bob Woodward.

"I saved his ass," Trump said. "I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop."

"Do you believe that he did it?" Woodward asked.

"No, he says that he didn't do it," Trump replied.

Biden has ended American support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, but he has not fully severed the military relationship with an important Middle East ally and counterterrorism partner.

Source" NBC News

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

US carry out strikes on Eastern Syria as Biden takes first military action on Iran-backed militias

2021-02-26T12:33:00.002-08:00

— Syrian Foreign Ministry condemns U.S. strikes in Eastern Syria

[[ .... In its statement, the Pentagon said its latest operation "sends an unambiguous message".

"President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq," it said. .. ]]

President Joe Biden speaks about lives lost to Covid after death toll passed 500,000, in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC, February 22, 2021. Image copyright: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES US

Image caption: The strike was the first military action undertaken by the Biden administration

The US has carried out an air strike targeting Iran-backed militias in Syria, in the first military action undertaken by the Biden administration.

The Pentagon said the strike destroyed "multiple facilities" and was ordered in response to attacks against US and coalition personnel in Iraq.

Militia officials said one person had been killed but a war monitor reported at least 22 fatalities.

Syria condemned the attack as a "bad sign" from the new US administration.

The Pentagon said its strike near the Iraqi border in eastern Syria was a "proportionate military response" that was taken "together with diplomatic measures", including consulting coalition partners.

After Trump, what will Biden do about Iran?

How the US and Iran became adversaries?

It began after a civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on US targets earlier this month. A US service member and five other contractors were also injured when the rockets hit sites in Irbil, including a base used by the US-led coalition.

Rockets have also struck US bases in Baghdad, including the Green Zone, which houses the US embassy and other diplomatic missions.

There are about 2,500 US troops in Iraq to assist Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.

The messaging around this strike is probably more important than the strike itself.

Ten days elapsed between the trigger - 15 February's rocket attack in Irbil - and retaliation.

The US defence secretary made a point of thanking the Iraqi government for its intelligence input.

The Pentagon said the air strikes had been conducted "together with diplomatic measures", including consultation with coalition partners.

Nor did the attacks take place on Iraqi soil, thus minimising any embarrassment for the government in Baghdad.

In short, Washington seems to be drawing a sharp distinction with the more intemperate, unilateral instincts of the previous administration.

But at a time when the Biden administration is exploring ways of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the strikes also sends a message to Tehran: just because we're willing to sit down and talk doesn't mean your proxies around the region can do what they want.

What to know about the air strike:

The Pentagon said the strike on Friday was launched "at President Biden's direction".

It targeted facilities located at a border control point used by a number of Iran-backed militia groups, including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, who are allied with the Damascus government.

Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada have previously carried out or supported rocket attacks targeting US assets in the country. The US has launched retaliatory strikes.

But Kataib Hezbollah has denied involvement in recent attacks against US interests.

In its statement, the Pentagon said its latest operation "sends an unambiguous message".

The US did not confirm any casualties, but an Iraqi militia official told the Associated Press news agency at least one fighter was killed and a number of others wounded.

The official said the strikes hit an area along the border between the Syrian city of Boukamal and the Iraqi town of Qaim.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the US attack had killed at least 22 fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an Iraqi umbrella group of mostly Shia paramilitaries that includes Kataib Hezbollah.

"The strikes destroyed three lorries carrying munitions," the observatory's Rami Abdul Rahman earlier told AFP. "There were many casualties."

Several attacks targeting US personnel have been claimed by little-known groups. But some Iraqi and Western officials say these are a front for established militias, so they can carry out attacks without being held accountable.

"We're confident in the target that we went after"

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters he was "confident in the target that we went after".

"We know what we hit," he said. "We're confident that that target was being used by the same Shia militants that conducted the strikes" on 15 February.

Syria's foreign ministry said it "strongly condemns the cowardly American aggression".

"It is a bad sign regarding the policies of the new US administration, which should adhere to international" norms, it said in a statement.

RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US needed to spell out directly its plans for the region, and criticised the "four or five minutes" warning of the strike that the US had given Moscow, Syria's key ally.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the strike was meant to punish the militias but not to escalate tensions with Iran, with whom the US is seeking to renew talks over a nuclear deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump, the New York Times reports.

Since 2009, the US has designated Kataib Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, accusing them of threatening the peace and stability of Iraq.

Iran's influence over Iraq's internal affairs has grown steadily since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Syrian Foreign Ministry condemns U.S. strikes in Eastern Syria

Syria condemned on Friday U.S. airstrikes in Eastern Syria, describing them as a negative indication of the new U.S. administration policies. The airstrikes killed at least 17, Reuters reported, citing a medical source.

The "cowardly" attack is against international law, Syria's foreign ministry argued, warning it would lead to an escalation in the region.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday directed the airstrikes against facilities belonging to what the Pentagon said were Iran-backed militia.

"At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria. These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

A source from the Syrian military told a correspondent of China Media Group that there were multiple airstrikes near the port of Abu Kamal, a town in eastern Syria on the border with Iraq, around midnight on Thursday.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the decision to carry out these strikes was meant to send a signal that while the United States wanted to punish the militias, it did not want the situation to spiral into a bigger conflict.

China urges all relevant parties to respect Syria's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday in the daily press conference.

Wang also called on all sides to avoid adding new factors to the current situation.

The Kremlin said on Friday it was closely monitoring the situation in Syria and that it was in constant contact with Syrian authorities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference that he could not say whether the U.S. had notified Russia of its plans in advance, adding that operational contacts were made through the military.

On February 15, rockets hit the U.S. military base at Erbil International Airport killing one non-American contractor and injuring a number of American contractors and a U.S. service member. Another salvo struck a base hosting U.S. forces north of Baghdad days later hurting at least one contractor.

Some Western and Iraqi officials say the attacks, often claimed by little-known groups, are being carried out by militants with links to Kata'ib Hezbollah as a way for Iranian allies to harass U.S. forces without being held accountable.

Earlier this week, the Kata'ib Hezbollah group, one of the main Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups, denied any role in the rocket attacks.

Under former U.S. President Donald Trump, tensions escalated, culminating in the U.S. killing of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory Iranian ballistic missile attack against U.S. forces in Iraq last year.

(With input from BBC, AFP, Reuters)

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

German 'IS leader' handed lengthy prison sentence

2021-02-25T04:18:00.000-08:00

A notorious Iraqi preacher said to be the Islamic State jihadist group's de facto leader in Germany was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison by a German court on Wednesday.

Abu Walaa is a notorious Iraqi preacher believed to be the Islamic State jihadist group's de facto leader in Germany

The 37-year-old Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah Abdullah, better known as Abu Walaa, helped radicalise young people in Europe and helped them travel to Iraq and Syria, the court found.

He was found guilty of belonging to a foreign terrorist organisation, helping to plan subversive violent acts and financing terrorism.

Handing down the verdict after 245 days of hearings, judge Frank Rosenow said Abu Walaa was "authorised to act in the name of IS" and was used by the jihadist group as its "representative in Germany" for propaganda and recruitment.

The Iraqi preacher was in the dock with three other men in a costly, high-security trial that began in 2017 in the northern German town of Celle.

His three co-defendants were handed sentences ranging from four to eight years for supporting IS.

Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 11 and a half years for Abu Walaa, while the defence had argued for an acquittal and criticised key witness testimonies.

- 'Preacher without a face' -

Abu Walaa arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 2001, and was arrested in November 2016 after a long investigation by Germany's security services.

Based in a mosque in the northern city of Hildesheim, he is alleged to have recruited at least eight jihadists -- most of them "very young" -- to IS, including German twin brothers who committed a bloody suicide attack in Iraq in 2015.

Dubbed the "preacher without a face" for his online videos in which he always appeared with his back to the camera, he is also alleged to have preached jihad at the now-closed Hildesheim mosque.

Judge Rosenow said the mosque was "the centre" of the jihadist scene in Germany, in which Abu Walaa was a "leading authority figure".

Among those whom Abu Walaa allegedly helped radicalise was at least one of three teenagers who were convicted of a 2016 bomb attack on a Sikh temple in Essen, western Germany.

Another jihadist with possible links to Abu Walaa was Anis Amri, the Tunisian who killed 12 people when he drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market in 2016.

Amri was allegedly in contact with Abu Walaa's co-defendant Boban Simeonovic, who is believed to have put the Tunisian asylum seeker up in his flat in Dortmund.

Simeonovic was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday.

Amri, who was killed by police in Italy while fleeing police, also attended a Berlin mosque known for its links to jihadism at which Abu Walaa occasionally preached.

A direct link between Amri and Abu Walaa remains unproven.

- 'Notorious liar' -

The charge against the Iraqi preacher is largely based on the testimony of a security service informant who spent months collecting evidence.

The informant was exempted from testifying in person before the court over fears that it would put his life in danger.

Another key informer was a disillusioned jihadist who agreed to cooperate after returning to Germany from IS-controlled territory, and told investigators how he had been part of Abu Walaa's network before travelling to Syria.

Yet Abu Walaa's lawyer Peter Krieger insisted that these testimonies were untrustworthy, telling the court that the key witness was a "notorious liar".

While German authorities now see far-right terrorism as the primary danger to domestic security, the threat of Islamist extremism remains.

According to the interior ministry, German security forces have prevented 17 attacks since 2009, the majority since a spate of successful attacks in 2016.

Authorities believe 615 potentially dangerous Islamists are currently living in Germany, five times as many as in 2013.

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

US Electoral College formally confirms Joe Biden's victory over Trump

2020-12-15T02:06:00.000-08:00

LANSING, Michigan: Democrat Joe Biden on Monday (Dec 14) won the state-by-state Electoral College vote that formally determines the US presidency, all but ending President Donald Trump's floundering campaign to overturn his loss in the Nov 3 election.

US President-elect Joe Biden gestures as he exits Penn Medicine Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Dec 12, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar)

California, the most populous state, delivered its 55 electoral votes to Biden on Monday afternoon, officially putting the former vice president over the 270 votes needed to secure the White House. Based on November's results, Biden earned 306 Electoral College votes to the Republican Trump's 232.

Earlier in the day, electors in several major battleground states where Trump has unsuccessfully sought to reverse the outcome - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - also voted for Biden, who is set to take office on Jan 20 alongside running mate Kamala Harris.

Traditionally a formality, the Electoral College vote - set for Monday by federal law - assumed outsized significance because of Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.

Biden planned a prime-time address at 7.30pm ET on Monday to mark the occasion and call on Americans to "turn the page" on the Trump era.

"The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago," he was expected to say, according to excerpts released by his transition team. "And we now know that nothing - not even a pandemic - or an abuse of power - can extinguish that flame.

"In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed."

There was next to no chance that Monday's voting would negate Biden's victory and, with Trump's legal campaign to reverse the results failing, the president's dim hopes of clinging to power rest with persuading Congress not to accept Monday's electoral vote during a Jan 6 special session - an effort that is virtually certain to fail.

Once in office, Biden faces the challenging task of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, reviving the US economy and rebuilding relations frayed with US allies abroad by Trump's "America First" policies.

THREATS OF VIOLENCE

In Arizona, at the beginning of the electors' meeting there, the state's Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, said Trump's claims of fraud had "led to threats of violence against me, my office, and those in this room today", echoing similar reports of threats and intimidation in other states.

"While there will be those who are upset their candidate didn't win, it is patently un-American and unacceptable that today's event should be anything less than an honoured tradition held with pride and in celebration," Hobbs said.

A group of Trump supporters called on Facebook for protests all day on Monday outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, one of the hardest-fought states where Trump lost.

But by early afternoon only a handful had gathered, including Bob Ray, 66, a retired construction worker. He held a sign that read: "order a forensic audit," "save America" and "stop communism".

Under a complicated system dating back to the 1780s, a candidate becomes US president not by winning a majority of the popular vote but through the Electoral College system, which allots electoral votes to the 50 states and the District of Columbia largely based on the size of their population.

Electors are typically party loyalists who represent the winning candidate in their state, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, which allocate some of their Electoral College votes based on which candidate won each of the states' congressional districts.

While there are sometimes a handful of "rogue" electors who vote for someone other than the winner of their state's popular vote, the vast majority rubber-stamp the results.

Trump said late last month he would leave the White House if the Electoral College voted for Biden, but has since pressed on with his unprecedented campaign to overturn his defeat. On Monday, he repeated a series of unsupported claims of electoral fraud.

"Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime," he wrote on Twitter.

TRUMP'S GAMBIT

Trump had called on Republican state legislators to appoint their own electors, essentially ignoring the will of the voters, but lawmakers largely dismissed the idea.

"I fought hard for President Trump. Nobody wanted him to win more than me," Lee Chatfield, Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, said in a statement. "But I love our republic, too. I can't fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump."

Once the Electoral College vote is complete, Trump's sole remaining gambit would be to persuade Congress not to certify the count on Jan 6.

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh assassinated, state media reports

2020-11-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

TEHRAN, Iran: Iran's top nuclear scientist was killed Friday in an alleged assassination that the country's foreign minister linked to Israel.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed while his car was traveling east of Tehran.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, considered one of the masterminds of Iran's controversial nuclear program, died after his car was apparently ambushed in a district east of Tehran. Photos from the scene showed the shattered windshield of a car, and blood on the road.

Iranian state media confirmed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated on Friday (Nov 27) in an attack on his car outside Tehran and accused arch foe Israel of being behind it.

The scientist was "seriously wounded" when assailants targeted his car before being engaged in a gunfight with his security team, Iran's defence ministry said in a statement.

It added that Fakhrizadeh, who headed the ministry's research and innovation organisation, was later "martyred" after medics failed to revive him.

Fakhrizadeh, once described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the father of Iran's nuclear weapons programme, had been travelling in a car near Absard city in Tehran province's eastern Damavand county.

A state television report on the assassination described him as one "of our country's nuclear scientists" and said that Israel "had an old and deep enmity towards him".

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami was quoted by Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA as saying Fakhrizadeh was targeted by gunfire and a Nissan vehicle explosion, before a firefight ensued.

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif called the death "cowardice -- with serious indications of Israeli role."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment to CNN.

Fakhrizadeh was head of the research center of new technology in the elite Revolutionary Guards, and was a leading figure in Iran's nuclear program for many years.

"Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today," Zarif said in a tweet. "This cowardice -- with serious indications of Israeli role -- shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators Iran calls on int'l community -- and especially EU -- to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror."

US President Donald Trump retweeted prominent Israeli journalist Yossi Melman, who wrote: "Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi assassinated in Damavand, east of Tehran according to reports in Iran. He was head of Iran's secret military program and wanted for many years by Mossad. His death is a major psychological and professional blow for Iran."

The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri warned of "severe revenge" against "the killers" of Fakhrizadeh, state-news agency IRNA reported.

"The assassination of this capable and worthy manager, although it was a bitter and heavy blow to the country's defense complex, but the enemies know that the path started by the martyr Fakhrizadeh will never be stopped," Bagheri said, according to IRNA.

The Trump administration said it was closely monitoring the apparent assassination. The death "would be a big deal," a US official told CNN.

Trita Parsi, the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said it was not clear who was behind the apparent assassination, but that "there are not that many candidates."

In this picture released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Fakhrizadeh sits in a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, in January 2019.
In this picture released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Fakhrizadeh sits in a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, in January 2019.

"At the end of the day the only countries that actually have the intent, the motivation and the capacity -- and the capacity is really important -- really reduces the number of candidates to no more than Israel and potentially the United States," he told CNN's Becky Anderson.
In April 2018, Netanyahu mentioned Fakhrizadeh by name when he unveiled a nuclear archive he said Mossad agents had taken from Tehran. He called him the head of a secret nuclear project called Project Amad. "Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh," Netanyahu told reporters.

Iran began to withdraw from its commitments to the 2015 landmark nuclear deal in 2019, a year after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement and unleashed crippling sanctions on the country.

In the last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency documented several new breaches of the agreement. Earlier this week, Iran said it had begun injecting Uranium Hexafluoride gas into centrifuges at its Natanz facility.

Why was Fakhrizadeh targeted?

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed while his car was traveling east of Tehran.

Fakhrizadeh is the most prominent face of nuclear program that has been the main flashpoint in an international dispute. He is mentioned in multiple reports by the US State Department and the International Atomic Energy Agency as holding deep insight into Iran's nuclear capabilities.

It's unclear what role he held in Iran's efforts -- always officially denied -- to develop a nuclear weapon. It is also not clear how much he would know of the most secret elements of anything Iran may be doing, given his profile. But he was a symbol of Iran's past ambitions, and was protected heavily.

That did did not stop him being targeted and killed in broad daylight in the outskirts of Iran's capital. The message is clear: Iran's enemies can kill its nuclear celebrities anywhere.

Is the timing significant?

There are just over 50 days left in the Trump administration, before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated and diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Washington are likely to pick up again.
There are many in Israel and the US who see the current "maximum pressure" policy of sanctions and hostility as the only route to stop Iran from expanding its influence and getting the bomb eventually.
Fakhrizadeh's killing makes that kind of diplomacy harder, and gives voice to hawks in Iran that peacemaking is futile. It also gives voice to Iran's enemies, who can argue that taking on Iran head first is possible and can be palpably a deterrent.
While the apparent assassination is embarrassing to Iran, it wants diplomacy with Biden rather than outright conflict.
Beyond condemnation, Iran has yet to respond to the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani earlier this year.

Biden has promised a return to diplomacy with Iran after four hawkish years under incumbent US President Donald Trump, who withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and began reimposing crippling sanctions.

SERIES OF ASSASSINATIONS

Trump said at the time that the deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) did not offer sufficient guarantees to stop Tehran from acquiring an atomic bomb.

Iran has always denied it wants such a weapon.

Trump on Friday retweeted reports on Fakhrizadeh's assassination, without commenting on it himself.

The killing comes a day after Thailand said it had returned three Iranians jailed over a botched 2012 bomb plot in Bangkok that Israel had linked to a spate of attacks on its diplomats around the world.

Iran said the three were "a businessman and two" other Iranians detained abroad on the basis of "false accusations," without giving further information.

The killing of Fakhrizadeh is the latest in a series of assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran in recent years that the Islamic republic has blamed Israel of carrying out.

The New York Times reported earlier in November that Al-Qaeda's second-in-command was secretly shot and killed in Tehran by two Israeli operatives on a motorcycle at Washington's behest.

The senior leader, who went by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was killed in August along with his daughter, Miriam, the widow of Osama bin Laden's son Hamza, the Times said, citing intelligence sources.

Iran said the report was based on "made-up information" and reaffirmed its denial of the presence of any of the group's members in the Islamic republic.

Iran's state news IRNA and Mehr news agency at the time reported a similar incident and identified the victims as Habib Dawoud, a 58-year-old Lebanese history teacher, and his daughter Maryam, 27, without giving further details.

Source: AFP/CNN

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Accusations of police brutality multiplying in France

2020-11-26T21:53:00.002-08:00

PARIS: A video of police beating a black music producer in Paris triggered outrage and condemnation on Thursday (Nov 26), leading to the suspension of several officers and a public backlash that drew in French World Cup football stars.

Outcry grows in France after police was filmed beating music producer. (Photo: AFP/Thomas Coex)

The incident comes after a string of high-profile probes into police violence and as concern grows over new legislation proposed by the government that would restrict the right of citizens to film and publish images of police on duty.

Online news site Loopsider published security camera images on Thursday showing three officers punching, kicking and using their truncheons on the producer, identified as Michel, as he entered his studio in the French capital late on Saturday.

The beating lasted around five minutes, during which Michel said he was repeatedly subjected to racist abuse, before he was dragged out of the building in the northwestern 17th district of the capital.

He was initially arrested for violence and failure to obey the police. But prosecutors threw out the probe and instead opened an investigation against the police officers themselves for committing violence while in a position of authority.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told French television that the officers "had soiled the uniform of the republic" and that he would press for their dismissal.

Police sources said four officers had been suspended in total.

As the hashtag #Michel trended on French social media, politicians and footballers who played on France's 2018 World Cup winning team denounced the latest evidence which comes amid a wider debate in France about police methods.

The death in US police custody of George Floyd in May has also reverberated in France where allegations of brutality against police officers are commonplace, particularly in poor and ethnically diverse areas in the country's major cities.

"People who should have been protecting me attacked me. I did nothing to deserve this. I just want these three people to be punished because we have a good justice system in France," Michel told journalists on Thursday.

"I was lucky to have videos which protect me, unlike a lot of others, otherwise I would not be here with you today," he added.

Michel's lawyer, Hafida El Ali, told AFP that his client had been detained for 48 hours after the beating on the basis of "lies by the police who had outrageously attacked him".

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz told AFP that he had asked France's National Police General Inspectorate (IGPN) to shed light on what happened "as quickly as possible".

'EXCEPTIONALLY SERIOUS'

Loopsider, which has exposed several episodes of police violence in recent months, said that the images "had to be seen to understand the full extent of the problem".

Michel told the site he was in the street not wearing a face mask on Saturday, but went inside his studio when police arrived.

The beating took place in the hallway of the building, with the violence captured on CCTV.

Paris' Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was "profoundly shocked" "by an intolerable act ... that is exceptionally serious."

Football stars on the 2018 squad such as Antoine Griezmann, Samuel Umtiti and Kylian Mbappe all denounced the images.

"Unbearable video, unacceptable violence," Mbappe wrote on Twitter next to a picture of the injured producer. "Say no to racism."

There has already been virulent criticism of the police this week after they used tear gas late Monday to remove migrants from a camp set up in central Paris.

Prosecutors have opened probes into that operation after videos showed a journalist being assaulted and an officer tripping a migrant as he runs away from the scene.

The beating of the producer has piled new pressure on Paris police chief Didier Lallement who has faced criticism over the dispersal of the migrant camp, as well as on hardline Interior Minister Darmanin.

'WOULD STILL BE IN PRISON'

The outcry comes after the lower house of parliament on Tuesday evening gave initial approval to a security bill which would restrict the publication of photos or videos of police officers' faces.

Media unions say it could give police a green light to prevent journalists from doing their work and potentially documenting abuses, as well as stopping social media users from posting incriminating footage.

A protest against the law has been called for Saturday in Paris.

In a sign that the government was possibly preparing to backtrack, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced late Thursday that he would appoint a commission to redraft Article 24 of the law that would restrict images of the police.

In a reminder of a previous police operation that caused outrage, three officers accused of severely injuring a man named Theodore Luhaka outside Paris in February 2017 are to face trial on charges of involuntary violence, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Luhaka was severely wounded in the area of his rectum by a blow from a truncheon. The judge has followed advice of prosecutors and the officers will not be tried for rape.

President Emmanuel Macron swept to power in 2017 as a centrist who rallied support from across the political spectrum. But with the new security law, critics and even some supporters accuse him of tilting to the right as he seeks re-election in 2022.

Source: AFP

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Trump finally agrees to Biden transition – but still not conceding

2020-11-24T20:56:00.001-08:00

President Donald Trump came his closest yet to admitting election defeat Monday after the government agency meant to ease Joe Biden’s transition into the White House said it was finally lifting its unprecedented block on assistance.

(FILES) – President Donald Trump came his closest yet to admitting election defeat on November 23, 2020 (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

Trump acknowledged it was time for the General Services Administration to “do what needs to be done.”

In the same tweet he insisted that he was still refusing to concede, saying: “Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!”

But for the Republican to sign off on the GSA’s decision to work with the Biden transition team signaled that even he sees the writing on the wall after three weeks of evidence-free claims that the November 3 election was stolen from him.

This means that Biden’s team will now have access to funds, office space and the ability to meet with federal officials.

Biden’s office, which hours earlier announced a highly experienced group to be nominated for top US foreign policy and security posts, said the GSA would now allow “support necessary to carry out a smooth and peaceful transfer of power.”

“In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies,” Biden’s transition director Yohannes Abraham said in a statement.

The sudden break in Trump’s dogged attempt to deny Biden’s win came after Michigan became the latest state to certify its results and more powerful Trump supporters came out demanding that the impasse end.

Biden to shift diplomacy

Earlier, Biden announced a foreign policy and national security team crammed with veterans from the Barack Obama years, teeing up an end to the upheaval under Trump and a return to traditional US diplomacy.

Top of the list was former State Department number two Antony Blinken, tapped for secretary of state.

Biden also named the first female head of intelligence, the first Latino chief of Homeland Security, the first woman as treasury secretary, and a heavyweight pointman on climate issues — Obama-era top diplomat John Kerry.

The list put out by Biden’s team ahead of a formal announcement Tuesday demonstrated a push to bring back the US role of leader in multilateral alliances, in contrast to Trump’s “America first” regime.

“They will rally the world to take on our challenges like no other — challenges that no one nation can face alone,” Biden tweeted. “It’s time to restore American leadership.”

Blinken, a longtime advisor to Biden, will spearhead a fast-paced dismantling of Trump’s go-it-alone policies, including rejoining the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization and resurrecting the Obama-crafted Iran nuclear deal.

Biden named the first woman, Avril Haines, as director of national intelligence, and Cuban-born Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security, the agency whose policing of tough immigration restrictions under Trump was a frequent source of controversy.

Signaling the Democratic president-elect’s campaign promise to raise the profile of global warming threats, he named Kerry as a new special envoy on climate issues.

And in a further message of US reengagement with the international community, Biden named career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield for UN ambassador.

Jake Sullivan, who also advised Biden when he was vice president under Obama, was named national security advisor.

Picked to manage the world’s biggest economy as Treasury secretary was Janet Yellen, who will make history as the first woman in the job if confirmed. The 74-year-old was confirmed as Federal Reserve chairwoman under Obama in 2014 and replaced by Trump four years later.

The picks underline an emphasis on professionals whom Biden already knows well, in contrast to the Trump White House where officials were often picked without having traditional background for the job or proved incompatible and departed in acrimony.

Dwindling options

The president, meanwhile, has largely halted at least his public work duties, while heading out to a golf course he owns in Virginia half a dozen times since the election.

He has also not taken questions from reporters since the election — a previously unimaginable silence from a president who for most of his time in office sparred near daily with the press.

His options for overturning the election, however, are dwindling rapidly in the face of repeated court defeats.

With Biden having won a comfortable victory, Trump’s last card is to disrupt the normally routine process of state-by-state certification of results, followed by the formal December 14 vote by the Electoral College. However, that too is bearing little fruit.

More cracks appeared in the facade of Republican unity on Monday when Senator Rob Portman said it was “time to expeditiously resolve any outstanding questions and move forward.”

There was also a push from Trump’s highest profile Wall Street backer, Stephen Schwarzman, head of the Blackstone private equity group, who told Axios “the country should move on.”

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Peru's President resigns after two protesters died following violent Police crackdown

2020-11-16T10:48:00.001-08:00

Peru's President Manuel Merino has resigned after deadly crackdown on protesters led to death of two students.

Image GETTY IMAGES: Taken as Manuel Merino announces his resignation in a televised message from the Government Palace, on 15 November 2020

The deaths, which happened while people were protesting the sudden impeachment of his predecessor, Martin Vizcarra, sparked outrage in the country with calls for his resignation.

Manuel Merino, former speaker of Congress, had been in the post less than a week.

He replaced President Martín Vizcarra, who last Monday was removed in an impeachment procedure over bribery allegations, which he denies.

Politicians had called for Mr Merino's resignation after a violent crackdown on demonstrations against him.

Twelve ministers from his recently appointed cabinet resigned earlier on Sunday in protest against police brutality and his handling of the crisis.

Congress failed to agree a replacement for Mr Merino when it met on Sunday, rejecting a team led by Rocío Silva Santisteban, a writer and former human rights activist.

A new list, made up of an interim president and senior politicians from across the spectrum, was being drafted.

Why were there protests?

Tens of thousands of demonstrators - many of them young - have been taking part in protests against Mr Vizcarra's removal in recent days.

They accuse Congress of staging a parliamentary coup. Mr Vizcarra, 57, has enjoyed continued support among many voters for his attempts at reform.

Saturday's protests in Lima were largely peaceful but clashes broke out towards the evening between police and protesters.

Two students, Jack Pintado, 22, and Inti Sotelo, 24, were killed in the protests.

"I want to let the whole country know that I'm resigning," Mr Merino said in a televised address.

There are concerns of a growing political crisis as Peru faces a severe economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Peru imposed one of the earliest and strictest lockdowns in Latin America to stop the spread of coronavirus - but has still seen cases rise rapidly.

It has so far reported nearly 935,000 infections and more than 35,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University - making it the country with the third highest rate of deaths per 100,000 people in the world.

Mr Merino had been expected to retain the presidency until July 2021 - when Mr Vizcarra's term was due to end.

Mr Vizcarra has been embroiled in a bitter battle with Congress, which is dominated by rival parties, since he took office in March 2018.

He has denied allegations that he accepted bribes worth 2.3m soles ($640,000; £487,000) when he was governor of the southern Moquegua region.

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Canada plans to bring in over 1.2 million immigrants over 3 years

2020-11-01T16:29:00.002-08:00

Highlights:

— Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino says plan seeks to fill workforce shortages and boost Canada’s economy.

— Several of Canada’s key industries, including farming and food processing, rely on migrant labourers.......

— A movement has grown over the past several months demanding Canada grant permanent immigration status for front line workers

— Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has made immigration a key pillar of its plan to boost the economy

2 Nov 2020

Several of Canada’s key industries, including farming and food processing, rely on migrant labourers [File: Shannon VanRaes/Reuters]

Canada plans to bring in more than 1.2 million new immigrants over the next three years, the federal immigration minister said on Friday, as the country tries to fill gaps in its labour market and boost the economy, both hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the federal government aims to accept 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, another 411,000 in 2022 and then 421,000 in 2023.

Canada needs more workers, he said, “and immigration is the way to get there”.

“Before the pandemic, our government’s goal to drive the economy forward through immigration was ambitious. Now it’s simply vital,” said Mendicino, who tabled the new immigration targets earlier in the day.

Robert Falconer, a refugee and immigration policy researcher at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, tweeted Friday that if the government meets its goals, the next three years will be “the highest years on record since 1911”.

In a notice outlining the details of its plan, Ottawa said it aims to welcome 232,500 newcomers from the economic class of immigrants in 2021, as well as 103,500 family members of people already in Canada, 59,500 refugees and other protected persons. Another 5,500 people will be accepted on humanitarian grounds.

Canada’s immigration system has long been held up as a model, as it has historically brought in skilled workers as well as refugees and individuals seeking to reunite with family members already in the country.

The country closed its borders to most immigrants in March due to COVID-19. Through August, it had settled 128,425 newcomers, Reuters news agency reported – less than half of the 341,000-person target it had set for 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has put glaring inequalities and longstanding problems with Canada’s immigration system under increased scrutiny.

Several of Canada’s key industries, including farming and food processing, rely on migrant labourers.

Many asylum seekers and refugees face poor working conditions, while several key industries in Canada, such as healthcare, food processing and farming, rely on workers whose precarious immigration status places them at risk of abuse.

A movement has grown over the past several months demanding Canada grant permanent immigration status for these front line workers, many of whom are labouring under conditions that place them at risk of contracting COVID-19.

‘Status for all’

Amid that pressure, the federal government announced plans earlier this year to regularise the status of a narrow segment of these workers – asylum seekers working in specific healthcare jobs – that politicians dubbed “guardian angels”.

Some estimates put the number of workers eligible for that pathway to residency at about 1,000 people, however – far lower than the total number of workers with non-permanent status in Canada.

“Immigrants are critical to our healthcare sector and represent one in four working in our hospitals and long-term care homes,” Mendicino said on Friday.

“Whether they’ve been taking care of our most vulnerable, or putting food on our tables, newcomers have played an outsized role in our response to COVID-19.”

Reacting to the announcement, the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, an advocacy group, said the government should put in place “a single-tier immigration system” that ensures status for all migrants.

Hundreds of organisations across Canada have endorsed that demand and a national day of action is scheduled for November 1.

“All migrants, refugees and undocumented people in the country must be regularised and given full immigration status now without exception. All migrants arriving in the future must do so with full and permanent immigration status,” the groups say in an open letter.

Canada has been hard hit by COVID-19, reporting more than 232,000 cases and at least 10,000 deaths attributed to the virus since the pandemic began.

Earlier on Friday, the country’s top public health officer urged Canadians to reduce their contacts with others by at least 25 percent in order to stem the second wave of the pandemic.

“To bend the epidemic curve and reduce transmission to lover levels … we must really reduce our number of contacts as much as possible,” Dr Theresa Tam said, as reported by CBC News.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

US prosecutors seek tough sentences for George Floyd killer cops

2020-08-30T08:11:00.001-07:00

MINNEAPOLIS: Prosecutors are seeking stiffer-than-usual sentences for four former US police officers charged over the killing of George Floyd, arguing that they showed "particular cruelty" to the handcuffed African American.

George Floyd's death sparked an enormous mobilization nationwide, as protesters took to the streets to denounce systemic racism and police brutality AFP/Angela Weiss

The 46-year-old resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota died in May after being pinned to the pavement under the knee of white officer Derek Chauvin as Floyd gasped that he could not breathe.

The case is proceeding amid renewed fury over police violence against African Americans, galvanised by the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin this week.

Court papers filed on Friday in the Floyd case indicate that the Minnesota attorney general's office will argue there were a number of aggravating factors.

These include evidence that Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes as bystanders, including multiple children, pleaded for his life and then watched him die.

"George Floyd, the victim, was particularly vulnerable because officers had already handcuffed him behind his back and then placed him chest down on the pavement, and Mr Floyd clearly and repeatedly told the officers he could not breathe," the court documents state.

Chauvin inflicted "particular cruelty", as well as "gratuitous pain" as he abused his position of authority, prosecutors allege.

"Despite Mr Floyd's pleas that he could not breathe and was going to die, as well as the pleas of eyewitnesses to get off Mr Floyd and help him, (the) defendant and his co-defendants continued to restrain Mr. Floyd," the papers say.

Three or more suspects "actively participated" in the killing, prosecutors noted, saying this would justify longer sentences.

GROUNDSWELL OF OUTRAGE

The charges against Chauvin include unintentional second-degree murder, while three ex-colleagues - J Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao - are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.

The shockingly public nature of Floyd's death - which bystanders filmed and then posted on social media - sparked an enormous mobilisation nationwide, as protesters took to the streets to denounce racism and police brutality.

The groundswell of outrage reached beyond American borders, prompting huge demonstrations around the world against the mistreatment of ethnic minorities and the rewriting of colonial history.

Commentary: A better version of America is emerging

The face of Floyd, a father-of-three whose last job was as a security guard, has become a symbol brandished in anti-racist marches everywhere.

He was remembered at a massive demonstration in Washington on Friday that highlighted the case of 29-year-old Blake, who was gravely wounded when a policeman fired multiple shots at him as he tried to get into his car on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Conviction in Minnesota for second-degree unintentional murder and third-degree murder usually carries sentences of up to 12 and a half years.

The court documents did not say how much extra time prosecutors will request if the men are convicted, but the maximum for second-degree murder is 40 years in prison.

A defence attorney for ex-officer Kueng sought a dismissal on Thursday, attributing the death to health problems and fentanyl in Floyd's system.

Attorney Thomas Plunkett will file evidence that Floyd swallowed drugs during a May 6, 2019, arrest for selling drugs and was convicted of a 2007 armed drug robbery in Texas.

Source: AFP/CNA, other contributors

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Hurricane Laura Knocks Down Confederate Statue 2 Weeks After Jury Voted to Keep It

2020-08-30T01:23:00.001-07:00

Just two weeks after a police jury in Louisiana voted to keep a Confederate statue amid calls to remove it, Hurricane Laura's strong winds took down the century-old monument.

PHOTO: Provided by PeopleMickey Welsh/The Advertiser via USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa

The hurricane made landfall in the United States on Thursday morning, inflicting significant structural damage to areas around Louisiana. Despite Laura being downgraded to a tropical storm from a Category 4 hurricane, its 150-mph winds were enough to topple the South's Defenders Monument located in front of Calcasieu Parish Courthouse in downtown Lake Charles, according to CNN.

Powerful winds in Louisiana knocked down a Confederate statue, the South's Defenders Monument, after a jury decided to keep it

The statue had stood in front of the courthouse for 105 years, and recently became a point of contention amid calls to remove monuments to the Confederate States of America — a breakaway government that fought against the U.S. in the American Civil War — around the country today as many view them as symbols of racism.

"In the year 2020, a courthouse lawn is not the place for this monument," Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter wrote in a Facebook post on June 26. "The statue should not be destroyed or erased."

"It should be relocated with thoughtfulness and modern context, and while I do not have the answer for where it should be relocated to, I am willing to be a part of a constructive conversation about this and how to move forward together," he continued.

Pictures after Laura hit the area showed the statue on the ground, bent and broken. On Aug. 13, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury voted 10-4 to keep the statue in front of the courthouse, CBS News reported.

"Lake Charles and Calcasieu Parish has been filled with controversy and tension after our parish government by a vote of 10-5 refused to take down the Confederate South’s Defenders Monument," Davante Lewis of the Louisiana Budget Project said of the monument being toppled. "Hurricane Laura had other plans and brought it down herself."

In June, a statue of English enslaver Edward Colston was thrown into a harbor in Bristol, England in a display of solidarity with Black Lives Matters activists in America. Colston was responsible for trafficking some 80,000 men, women and children from Africa to North America through the Royal African Company, the BBC reported.

A short time after the monument was removed, a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester was erected in its place, only to be removed after Mayor Marvin Rees said the citizens should choose what stood there.

Laura has caused extensive damage in the south since making landfall. The storm has claimed six lives in Louisiana so far, according to NBC News. One of the youngest victims, a 14-year-old girl, was killed when a tree fell on her home.

"It is clear that we did not sustain and suffer the absolute, catastrophic damage that we thought was likely based on the forecast we had last night," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday, NBC News reported. "But we have sustained a tremendous amount of damage. We have thousands and thousands of our fellow citizens whose lives are upside down."

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

50% of White Americans Would Vote for Trump If Election Were Held Today

2020-08-05T20:28:00.001-07:00

Roughly 50 percent of white voters would vote to re-elect Republican President Donald Trump if the election were held today, according to a new poll by Hill-HarrisX.

Chip Somodevilla/GettyThen-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives two thumbs up to the crowd during the evening session on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Overall, the poll found that 43 percent of voters would choose Biden in a present-day matchup whereas 40 would choose Trump. In a mid-July poll by Hill-HarrisX, Biden had a 7-point national lead over Trump.

Although the poll showed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden beating Donald Trump in an immediate matchup among almost every other demographic, Trump led Biden amongst male voters 45 to 43 percent, Midwest voters 42 to 39 percent, Independent voters 35 to 33 percent, voters earning above $75,000 a year by 48 to 39 percent and voters aged 35 to 49 by a margin of 44 to 37 percent.

Biden beat Trump among all other non-politically-affiliated voter demographics. Biden's largest leads over Trump occurred in Black voters by 65 percentage points, Hispanic voters by 22 points, both voters aged 18 to 34 and voters earning under $75,000 a year by 14 points and female voters and Western regional voters by 11 points.

However, the two political rivals ran very closely when paired among three demographics in particular. Biden led Trump by only one percentage point among Southern regional voters, voters over the age of 65 and voters with more than four years of college education.

Roughly 3 to 7 percent of voters in all demographics said that they will not vote while 5 to 16 percent of voters in all demographics said they weren't sure who they'd vote for if the election was held today.

The poll, conducted by the Washington, D.C. newspaper The Hill and the market research company HarrisX, questioned 2,850 registered voters online between August 2-5.

Biden has generally been leading Trump in polls leading up to the November 3 national elections.

Two late-July polls of 600 likely voters by the conservative-leaning Restoration PAC found Biden leading Trump Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial swing states that Trump unexpectedly won in 2016.

The polls showed Biden ahead of Trump by 11 percentage points in Michigan (51.3 to 40.3 percent) and 12.4 points in Wisconsin (50.3 to 37.9 percent).

If Biden flips Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania and while maintaining the blue states won by Hillary Clinton in 2016, he would secure 278 electoral votes, compared with the 260 that would be won by Trump.

Ipsos, YouGov and Morning Consult polls conducted in mid-July among likely voters all found Biden leading Trump by at least 7 points nationally.

Despite Biden's good showing in polls, Democratic party members are reminding voters not to take anything for granted, especially since Russia is reportedly preparing to meddle in the election on several fronts and Trump has generally been undermining confidence in mail-in voting.

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Donald Trump impeached as president by U.S House of Representatives

2019-12-19T20:25:00.002-08:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

President Donald J. Trump has been impeached by the United States Congress

- Trump is now the third president to be impeached in the history of the United States
- The president was accused of using his public office to coerce a foreign government into attacking his political rival

- The House votes were 230 to remove Trump against 197 for him not to be impeached on first article of impeachment which was abuse of power
- For the second article of impeachment - obstruction of congress
- lawmakers voted 229 to 198 against Donald Trump

President Donald Trump has been impeached by the House of Representatives of the United States of America. The members of the US House of Representatives voted 230 in favour of removing Trump against 197 for him not to be impeached on the first article of impeachment - abuse of power.

On the second article, which is obstruction of congress, the federal lawmakers voted 229 to 198 for Trump to be impeached.

The president was accused of using his public office to coerce a foreign government into attacking his political rival.

Trump was accused of pressuring Ukraine to open an investigation into the president's political rival and former vice president, Joe Biden. The president was also accused of obstructing congress's investigation into his conduct.

Although he has been impeached by the House of Representatives, Trump still remains in office until his impeachment is approved by the upper house of the American legislature, the Senate

The charges against Trump was spearheaded by the Democratic-led House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Speaking on the impeachment, Pelosi said Trump gave Democrats no choice but to pursue impeachment. She described Trump as an ongoing threat to America's national security and the integrity of the U.S elections.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi led the impeachment proceedings that led to the ouster of Donald Trump as president.

Meanwhile, the president is not expected to be removed from office immediately as he now has to face trial at the Senate. A two-thirds majority at the Senate is required to convict and oust him.This means 67 out of 100 senators.

The Republicans control the 100-seat chamber with a 53-47 majority. So, the president is widely expected to be acquitted.

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Johnson Pledges January Brexit After Missing Thursday Deadline

2019-10-31T10:36:00.001-07:00

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons in London on October 30, 2019. AFP

Prime Minister Boris Johnson blamed his opposition Labour rival for Britain’s failure to leave the European Union by Thursday’s deadline and promised to deliver Brexit by January — if he wins the upcoming pre-Christmas election.

Johnson is riding high in opinion polls going into the December 12 vote that will be Britain’s third in four years.

But he risks a backlash over his unkept “do or die” promise to take Britain out by October 31 — and again set himself up for another potential fall by promising to meet the next deadline.

The Conservative leader, who wants no more delays to the process, cast himself as a victim of parliamentary opposition parties that refused to follow the wishes of UK voters who chose to leave Europe in the knife-edge 2016 referendum.

“After three-and-a-half years, it was perfectly obvious to me that this parliament is just not going to vote Brexit through,” Johnson said during a campaign stop at a hospital.

“If you vote for us and we get our programme through, which we will — as a I say, it’s oven-ready, it’s there to go — we can be out, at the absolute latest, by January next year.”

‘It’s not about me’

Pro-EU campaigners and business executives breathed a sigh of relief that Britain had been given a stay of execution to avoid a Halloween Brexit nightmare that could have seen it crash out of the bloc after 46 years without a plan.

Johnson confounded expectations by securing a revised EU divorce deal that Brussels had long refused to touch.

But he was forced to follow through on parliamentary orders and ask EU leaders for more time after Labour mustered enough cross-party support to extend parliamentary debates and delay a final vote.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would throw out Johnson’s plan and get Brexit “sorted” within the first six months of grabbing power by negotiating more EU-friendly separation terms.

He would then put it up for a vote against the option of simply staying the 27-nation bloc.

“We’ll let the people decide whether to leave with a sensible deal or remain. It really isn’t that complicated,” Corbyn told a party rally at a London art centre.

“And we, the Labour government, will carry out whatever the people decide.”

But the veteran socialist avoided answering a direct question on which way he himself would vote.

“It’s not about me, it’s not any individual on this platform, it’s not a presidential election,” Corbyn said.

‘Government that cares’

Corbyn has been accused of seeking to shift the debate onto more domestic subjects such as health and social care to avoid scrutiny of his own vague position on Europe.

He has said in the past that he voted to leave in 2016. But he has also spent much of his political career attacking Brussels as a cauldron of crony capitalism.

Corbyn promised to push the most “radical” agenda Britain has ever seen. He pledged to put “wealth and power in the hands of the many” and eliminate everything from poverty to university tuition fees.

“Together we can pull down the corrupt system to build a genuine government that cares for all,” he said.

Business leaders warn that Labour’s plan to reimpose state ownership over railways and other major industries would cost at least £196 billion ($253 billion, 228 billion euros).

But a National Institute of Economic and Social Research study suggested Wednesday that Johnson’s Brexit deal could leave Britain £70 billion worse off in 10 years.

Outgoing MPs blame abuse

Almost 60 members of the 650-seat lower House of Commons have announced they will not stand in the coming election.

The number has raised eyebrows because — while dozens usually leave before general election — many came from the more moderate and wing of Johnson’s party.

Senior cabinet minister Nicky Morgan was one of several to at least partly link her decision to the “abuse” lawmakers receive from the public.

Divisions over Brexit have seen sometimes toxic rhetoric on all sides. Death threats against lawmakers and attacks on social media have risen in recent years.

Morgan described the “clear impact on my family and the other sacrifices involved in, and the abuse for, doing the job of a modern MP”.

Long-standing Conservative MP Caroline Spelman warned of a “wild west of internet abuse” as she stepped down.

AFP

Yemen To Become World’s Poorest Country If War Continues - UN

2019-10-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

War-ravaged Yemen is on course to become the world’s poorest country if the conflict persists, the United Nations said in a report.

A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition lies on a bed at a treatment centre in a hospital in the capital Sanaa. As a result of the violence, disease, and food insecurity, a Yemeni child dies every 11 minutes and 54 seconds. Photo: Mohammed Huwais, AFP

“If fighting continues through 2022, Yemen will rank the poorest country in the world, with 79 percent of the population living under the poverty line and 65 percent classified as extremely poor,” according to the United Nations Development Program report, published Wednesday.

Because of the war, poverty in Yemen has jumped from 47 percent of the population in 2014 to a projected 75 percent by the end of 2019.

Yemen, long the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, plunged into war after Huthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in late 2014.

A Saudi-led military coalition has waged a brutal military offensive ever since in an attempt to prop-up the internationally-recognized government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

It has also displaced millions and left more than two-thirds of the population in need of aid.

The U.N. has previously described Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“Not only has the war made Yemen the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, it has plunged it into a harrowing development crisis too,” UNDP Yemen’s resident representative, Auke Lootsma, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The ongoing crisis is threatening to make Yemen’s population the poorest in the world a title the already suffering country cannot afford.”

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

USA: 31 dead in 2 mass shootings in Ohio and El Paso in less than 24 hours

2019-08-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

There have been two mass shootings in the US over the weekend - one in El Paso, Texas, and one in Dayton, Ohio.

Mass shooting scene in El Paso, Texas

They occurred less than 24 hours apart. It's also just a few days after a gunman killed three people at a garlic festival in California.

In Ohio, police say nine people were killed, plus the shooter, and a further 27 were injured.
In Texas, 22 were killed and at least 24 were injured.

Here's what we know so far.

Two mass shootings left at least 31 dead in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas on Sunday and Saturday. The shootings occurred less than 24 hours apart.

In Ohio on Sunday, reports of the shooting began at around 1AM in the Oregon entertainment district of Dayton. Police say nine were killed, plus the shooter, and 26 were injured, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In El Paso, Texas Saturday, 20 were killed and at least 26 were injured. The suspected shooter was arrested. Two additional victims died in the days after the attack.

The shootings were the 31st and 32nd mass shootings in the US in 2019, according to The New York Times, which defines a mass shooting as a single shooting incident that kills three or more people.

El Paso Walmart

A shooter opened fire in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. The suspect was a 21-year-old white man.

Twenty people were killed, and 26 others were injured at an El Paso Walmart, Texas officials say

3 Mexican nationals were killed and 6 were wounded. Investigators are currently looking into a manifesto the suspect may have written, which details anti-immigrant beliefs and fears that Hispanic people will turn Texas into a "Democrat stronghold."

The suspect appears to have posted about his rampage on 8chan's /pol imageboard - a place on the internet that continues to radicalize mass shooters, such as Brenton Tarrant who live-streamed the massacre he inflicted in Christchurch.

There's an obsession with "high scores," meaning more points for a larger body count — as if it were a game, and it shows how the massacre of innocent people is becoming 'gamified'

An off-duty soldier was present at the scene.

Off-duty soldier describes how he scooped up children and carried them to safety during the El Paso shooting

He told media outlets he grabbed children and carried them to safety during the shooting.

"I'm in the military, so when I hear the gunshots we're trained to think fast," he said. "Grab your weapon, think fast, take cover, do anything you can."

2020 candidates and local celebrities react to the deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas

Beto O'Rourke gave a speech where he was visibly shaken on Saturday. He said he would return to his hometown of El Paso and announced he was cutting his campaign trail short.

"I'm thinking about El Paso, I want you to be thinking about El Paso as well," he said. "There is no luxury in this democracy of sitting this one out, whether it is gun violence, whether it is many of the issues we discuss today ... It is on every single one of us to make this right."

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said people all over the world were looking at the US and wondering what's going on.

"What is the mental health situation in America, where time after time, after time, after time, we're seeing indescribable horror?" he said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said "enough is enough," and the mass shootings in the US are "a sickness."

"This is beyond anything that we should be tolerating," he said. "We can beat the NRA. We can beat the gun manufacturers."

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted: "Far too many communities have suffered through tragedies like this already. We must act now to end our country's gun violence epidemic."

President Trump called the tragedy a "terrible shooting" and promised "total support of [the] Federal Government."

"Today's shooting in ElPaso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice," he tweeted. "I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today's hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people."

One suspect in custody — Police

El Paso police say one suspect is in custody in connection with the deadly Walmart shooting.

Another mass shooting happened less than 24 hours later in Dayton, Ohio.

Police responded to another mass shooting in the US less than 24 hours later, in Dayton, Ohio.

The shooting occurred in the city's nightlife center, the Oregon District. Police said in a press conference Sunday afternoon that the suspect parked a vehicle, shot his first victim in an alley, then went onto the street and shot eight more people before officers engaged him outside the Ned Peppers Bar on East Fifth Street.

The shooter was killed by police at the scene, where there were 9 killed and 27 wounded. 16 people were reportedly transported to the hospital - 12 were released, four were hospitalized, and one person remains in critical condition, according to hospital officials.

The first reports came in about 1 a.m local time. There are some eyewitness accounts that report the shooter was denied entry into the bar before opening fire.

Police later confirmed the suspect as Connor Betts, a 24-year-old from Bellbrook, Ohio. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley also said Dayton police officers "neutralized" Betts in less than a minute.

Authorities said Betts used a .223-caliber high-capacity magazine rifle and was wearing a mask, bullet proof vest, and hearing protection.

Police said in the Sunday press conference there is no evidence at this time that this was motivated by bias but the investigation is ongoing and they are seeking witnesses.

A post on the bar's Instagram page stated everyone was safe and their "hearts go out to everyone involved."

Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the dead and the injured in the mass shootings that occurred this week.

"I am spiritually close to the victims of the episodes of violence that have bloodied Texas, California, and Ohio, in the United States, striking defenseless people," he said.

He urged everyone "to join my prayer for the people who lost their lives, the injured and their family members."

Just a few days ago, on July 28, a gunman killed three people at a garlic festival in California, before being shot dead himself. Seven other mass shootings happened in the US over that weekend.

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Multiple Bomb explosions rattle Bangkok during ASEAN summit, wounding two

2019-08-02T13:37:00.002-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

At least two small bombs exploded in Bangkok on Friday, rattling the Thai capital as it hosted a regional summit attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and leaving two people wounded.

Bombs rattle Bangkok during ASEAN summit, wounding two

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha was told of “the bombing incidents and has ordered an immediate investigation”, Thai government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said, adding “security measures have been tightened.

The public is urged not to panic.” Two women were wounded in one explosion just outside the city centre, the Erawan Emergency Centre told AFP.

A second explosion shattered glass near a well known downtown skyscraper, emergency police added.

Bomb disposal experts were deployed around the Mahanakorn Tower — owned by the King Power group that counts Leicester City football club among its assets.

There were unconfirmed reports of several other devices being found across the city.

The bombings took place just before a keynote speech by Pompeo, who has joined the Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers meeting.

The government urged the media to avoid speculation on the motive for the bombings.

The blasts come weeks after former junta leader Prayut was inaugurated as a civilian prime minister, sparking outcry among many pro-democracy supporters in the deeply politically divided kingdom.

The incidents raise the uncomfortable memory of Thailand’s last hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2009.

Then, protesters from the pro-democracy “red shirt” faction smashed their way into the summit venue in the resort city of Pattaya demanding elections.

Pandemonium ensued, with a number of leaders having to be rescued from a hotel roof by Thai army helicopters while others fled by boat.

Thailand has a long history of political violence linked to mass protests, coups and short-lived governments.

(AFP)

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

EU nominates first woman to lead commission

2019-07-02T16:54:00.002-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

European Union leaders have nominated people to its four top jobs, including a woman to head the European Commission.

EU leaders struck a deal on the bloc's top jobs with German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen getting the powerful European Commission chief. AFP

Following a tense three-day negotiation, German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen has been nominated to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as the new president of the bloc's powerful executive arm, the European Commission for the next five years.

The role of head of the European Council will be filled by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in the Autumn, current president of the council, Donald Tusk, confirmed.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has been nominated to succeed European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, whose single, eight-year term ends in November.

On Tuesday Ms Lagarde announced she would step down "temporarily" from the leadership of the global crisis lender during the nomination period.

Should her bid be successful, Ms Lagarde will step down two years before the end of her second five-year term at the helm of the IMF.

Spain's acting foreign minister, the socialist Josep Borrell, would be the EU's new top diplomat in Brussels if elected.

All of those nominated, bar Mr Michel, must be confirmed by a European Parliament vote. The assembly sits in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday to elect its own new president.

Several lawmakers have already objected to the leaders' package of nominations, and it remains to be seen whether the parliament will flex new found muscles following the massive turnout for EU-wide elections in May. Party leaders have said the vote has brought the assembly - the EU's only elected institution - even more democratic legitimacy.

"It won't be easy in parliament," said Mr Juncker, who steps down on Oct. 31 as head of the commission, which proposes and enforces EU laws.

Already plagued by crises like Brexit and deep divisions among nations over how best to manage migration, the leaders had been keen to show that they could take quick decisions and that the European project remains important to its citizens.

But the leaders struggled to establish a delicate balance between population size and geography - an even mix of countries from the north and south, east and west, and ensure that at least two women were nominated.

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

G20 Summit Officially Opens In Japan’s Osaka

2019-06-29T09:49:00.001-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Leaders of the Group of 20 opened a high-stakes summit in Japan’s Osaka on Friday that is expected to be one of the most fractious in years.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, French President Emmanuel Macron, Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman, Japan Prime Minister Shinxo Abe, Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, (Second row L-R) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, British Prime Minister Theresa May, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, European Union President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Senegal President Macky Sall, Chile President Sebastian Pinera and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and third row’s invited guests attend the family photo during the G20 Osaka Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened the meeting, which will be dominated by contentious discussions on trade, geopolitical tensions, and climate change.

But the mood appeared friendly in the opening minutes, with smiles on the faces of the arriving leaders as they posed for the traditional “family photograph”.

US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping, whose countries are mired in a damaging trade war, exchanged a handshake before the photo.

And as the leaders headed into the first session, French President Emmanuel Macron leaned down to whisper something into Trump’s ear, covering his mouth for privacy as he did so.

The first session of the meeting is focused on the digital economy, with concerns about privacy and security on the agenda.

“Digitalisation has rapidly changed various aspects of our society and economy,” Abe said as he opened the session.

“I’m happy to see the momentum to globally tackle the digital economy.”

But in a sign of the ongoing tensions likely to dominate talks, Trump appeared to make reference to US concerns about the security threat posed by Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.

As “we expand digital trade, we must also ensure the resilience and security of our 5G networks”, he said.

Trump’s administration has taken measures to ban Huawei, with China reportedly seeking an end to the restrictions as part of any resumption of talks on resolving the trade war.

The summit is being overshadowed by the trade war between the world’s top two economies, with hopes that Xi and Trump can reach a truce when they hold talks on Saturday on the sidelines of the summit.

AFP

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Credible evidence links Saudi crown prince to Khashoggi murder — UN expert

2019-06-19T09:12:00.003-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

There is "credible evidence" linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a UN expert said Wednesday, calling for sanctions on the prince's personal foreign assets.

AFP/File / FETHI BELAID
The UN expert says Khashoggi was "fully aware of the powers held by the Crown Prince, and fearful of him"

The allegation regarding Prince Mohammed's possible direct role in Khashoggi's execution was detailed in a new report by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard.

Callamard, an independent human rights expert who does not speak for the United Nations, called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to initiate a formal international criminal investigation into the case.

She told reporters it was clear "the execution of Mr Khashoggi was the responsibility of the state of Saudi Arabia."

She added: "There is credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi Officials’ individual liability, including the Crown Prince's."

- Consulate murder -

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Prince Mohammed, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. His dismembered body has never been found.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Riyadh initially said it had no knowledge of his fate, but later blamed the murder on rogue agents.

Saudi prosecutors have absolved the crown prince of responsibility.

But Callamard said probes by Saudi Arabia and Turkey "failed to meet international standards regarding the investigation into unlawful deaths".

The report specifically came across evidence that the crime scenes were "thoroughly, even forensically, cleaned" by the Saudis, in what "may amount to obstructing justice."

Callamard said the Saudi crown prince must have been aware of the cover-up efforts.

She stressed she had not found concrete evidence of who ordered the killing, but pointed out to reporters that "people directly implicated in the murder reported to him (the crown prince)".

"What needs to be investigated is the extent to which the crown prince knew or should have known what would (happen) to Mr Khashoggi, whether he directly or indirectly incited the killing... (and) whether he could have prevented the execution," she said.

The UN expert also insisted that any international sanctions over Khashoggi's killing "ought also to include the crown prince and his personal assets abroad, until and unless evidence is provided and corroborated that he carries no responsibilities for this execution."

Asked if sanctions should also include arrest, she said that "if and when the responsibility of those individuals has been proven ... then absolutely."

- No finding on 'guilt' -

Callamard stressed that "no conclusion is made as to guilt," within her findings that were based on a large body of evidence, including CCTV footage from inside the consulate and recordings of the killing itself.

"The only conclusion made is that there is credible evidence meriting further investigation, by a proper authority, as to whether the threshold of criminal responsibility has been met," she said.

The recording of the killing features an official asking "if the sacrificial animal had arrived", sounds of a struggle, and someone saying "keep pushing", the report said.

UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard said she had "determined that there is credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi Officials’ individual liability, including the Crown Prince's"

"Assessments of the recordings by intelligence officers in Turkey and other countries suggest that Mr Khashoggi could have been injected with a sedative and then suffocated using a plastic bag," it added.

Turkey praised the report, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeting: "Strongly endorse UN Rapporteur Agnes Callamard's recommendations for elucidating Khashoggi's murder & holding those responsible accountable."

- Criminal investigation -

The report identified by name the 15 people she said were part of the mission to kill Khashoggi, and suggested that many of them were not on the list of 11 unnamed suspects facing a closed-door trial in Saudi Arabia.

Callamard questioned the credibility of the trial and urged its suspension, saying it would be best for the international community to take over the probe and subsequent trial.

She urged Guterres to launch an official international criminal investigation that would "build up strong files on each of the alleged perpetrators and identify mechanisms for formal accountability, such as an ad hoc or hybrid tribunal".

She also called on the FBI in the United States, where Khashoggi was a resident, to open an investigation into the case "and pursue criminal prosecutions within the United States, as appropriate".

AFP

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

UK Theresa May resigns after Brexit failure, world leaders react

2019-05-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced her resignation as Conservative leader, clearing the way for a new PM to pick up the formidable challenge of delivering Brexit and reuniting a shattered Tory party.


Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation outside 10 Downing street in central London on May 24, 2019. - Beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Friday that she will resign on June 7, 2019 following a Conservative Party mutiny over her remaining in power. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)

May said in an emotional statement in Downing Street that she would resign as Tory leader on June 7, triggering a contest to succeed her in which the Eurosceptic former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is favourite to win.
In comments that highlighted the consequences for Brexit, Johnson said he was determined to leave the EU at the currently scheduled date, even if the UK failed to reach an agreement with the bloc in time, Financial Times reported.

“We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal,” he said in a speech in Switzerland, adding that “of course” he would stand in the coming Tory leadership contest.

He added, “The job of our next leader has to be getting the UK properly out of the EU, putting Brexit to bed.”

Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s successor as foreign secretary, also said that he would stand in the leadership contest, telling an event in Surrey that it was “only right that my party constituency should be the first to know”.

May said she would continue in a caretaker role as prime minister until a new Conservative leader is elected. That process — involving Tory MPs and party activists — is expected to be wrapped up before the end of July.

The PM finally yielded to the inevitable in a statement in Downing Street on Friday just after 10am, following a meeting with Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs.

Sir Graham had made it clear that she stood no chance of winning parliamentary backing for her revamped Brexit deal and had lost the confidence of her party.

The PM admitted on the steps of Number 10 that she had been defeated by the challenge of delivering Brexit, having lost her parliamentary majority in the 2017 general election.

“I did my best,” she said.

May put her Brexit deal to the House of Commons but was defeated three times, initially by the biggest majority against a government in history, as Eurosceptics, Remainers and Labour united against her plan.

--> Key reactions <--

Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation looks likely to make Britain’s looming departure from the EU even more difficult, with some suggesting a hard or “no-deal” Brexit is now almost inevitable.

Here are the main reactions to the announcement she will step down as leader of the Conservative Party, and hence also as Prime Minister, on June 7.

– No change –

The European Union said the resignation does nothing to change its position on the Brexit withdrawal deal agreed with Britain.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker noted May’s decision “without personal joy”, a spokeswoman said, adding that the council of EU leaders has “set out its position” on the Brexit deal.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tweeted that he “would like to express my full respect for @theresa_may and for her determination, as Prime Minister, in working towards the #UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU”.

– ‘Deliver Brexit’ –

One of the leading contenders to succeed May, Britain’s former foreign minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “A very dignified statement from @theresa_may. Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit.”

– ‘Rapid clarification’ –

French President Emmanuel Macron hailed May for her “courageous work” in seeking to implement Brexit in the interests of her country while showing respect for Britain’s European partners.

But the Elysee statement added: “The principles of the EU will continue to apply, with the priority on the smooth functioning of the EU, and this requires a rapid clarification.”

“At a time of an important choice, votes of rejection that do not offer an alternative project will lead to an impasse.”

– Merkel’s ‘respect’ –

German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted May’s decision “with respect”, saying they shared a “good and trusting” working relationship, according to her spokeswoman.

Pledging to keep working with May in the same spirit as long as she is in office, Merkel noted Berlin “wishes to maintain close cooperation and a close relationship with the British government”, spokeswoman Martina Fietz said.

Fietz declined to comment on how the resignation could affect Brexit, as “the development depends essentially on domestic political developments in Britain”.

– ‘Misjudged the mood’ –

Anti-EU populist Nigel Farage, whose Brexit Party is leading opinion polls in Britain, blamed May for misjudging the mood of her country by trying to preserve close trade ties with the bloc.

“It is difficult not to feel for Mrs May, but politically she misjudged the mood of the country and her party. Two Tory leaders have now gone whose instincts were pro-EU,” he wrote in a tweet, referring to May and her predecessor David Cameron.

Militia hands over men wanted for Central African Republic massacre

– ‘Very difficult period’ –

In Moscow, the Kremlin said that May’s premiership has been a very difficult time for Russia’s relations with Britain.

“Mrs May’s stint as prime minister has come during a very difficult period in our bilateral relations,” said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

– ‘Impossible to stop’ –

The Madrid government warned that a no-deal Brexit now appears almost inevitable.

“Under these circumstances, a hard Brexit appears to be a reality that is near impossible to stop,” Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa told reporters, adding that the British government and parliament would be “solely responsible for a no-deal exit (from the EU) and its consequences”.

– Pound wobbles –

On the financial markets, sterling briefly sank below $1.27 but did not reach the four-month lows that were plumbed a day earlier and was still higher compared to late Thursday, as dealers argued that the resignation news had already been priced in.

Stock markets mostly rebounded with US President Donald Trump offering an “olive branch” to China in their trade war, dealers said.

(AFP)

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Powerful Storm of Cyclone Fani Hits India’s Coast

2019-05-03T08:07:00.002-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Cyclone Fani made landfall near Puri, India, on Friday with wind gusts at more than 120 miles per hour, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. The storm has led to the destruction of buildings and trees, as well as possible deaths. CreditCreditAssociated Press

HIGHLIGHTS

• Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, made landfall near Puri, India, around 8 a.m. on Friday, lashing the coast with winds gusting at more than 120 miles per hour.

• Tens of millions of people are potentially in the cyclone’s path, and more than a million were evacuated this week from coastal areas. Large sections of coastal India and Bangladesh are threatened by storm surges, and heavy rains could cause rivers to breach.

• The fast-moving storm struck the coast as the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. Several hours after it made landfall, the cyclone was downgraded to a “very severe” storm from an “extremely severe” storm.

Cyclone Fani Batters India

The powerful storm made landfall in India on Friday morning.

Reports of destruction, and possibly deaths
A relief official for the state of Odisha, where the cyclone made landfall, said Friday afternoon that many trees had been uprooted and houses destroyed, and that there had been unverified reports of deaths. The official, Pravat Ranjan Mohapatra, said the situation would be clearer in a few hours. NDTV, a major Indian news network, reported that three people had been killed.

Along India’s coast, streets were largely empty as residents heeded warnings from the India Meteorological Department to stay indoors.

“In Bhubaneswar, we are all indoors,” said Jagdish Chandra Rout, head of communications for Gopalpur Port Limited. “Nobody is visible on the road, nothing is moving on the road.”

Mr. Rout said he felt the area was much better prepared for the storm than in 1999, when more than 10,000 people died in a cyclone.

“We feel that yes, we may have some difficult days ahead, but no panic,” he said. “We are prepared, we know what is coming when and where.”

In Puri, winds and rainfall were increasing, said Bishwajit Panda, a 19-year-old college student.

“We fear that our house should not be damaged, our shop should not be damaged, some tree should not fall on house, electric pole should not fall on shop,” he said. “We live in fear. During the days of cyclone it is the life of fear we live.”

A cyclone relief shelter in Puri on Friday.
Credit
Dibyangshu Sarkar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mass evacuations in India and Bangladesh

The Indian authorities evacuated more than a million people from parts of the nation’s eastern coast this week.

Using television, loudspeakers, radio and text messages to warn residents about the dangers of the storm, India’s disaster relief agency and meteorological department warned of the “total destruction” to thatched huts in some districts, major damage to roads, the uprooting of power poles and the potential danger from flying objects.

Cyclone Fani is forecast to drop as much as eight inches of rain on northern parts of the state of Andhra Pradesh and on the state of Odisha.

Schools have been closed, fishermen asked to keep off the water and tourists urged to leave the city of Puri, a Hindu pilgrimage site where an elaborate, centuries-old temple could be at risk of severe damage. Airports in the cyclone’s path were closing and hundreds of trains have been canceled.

Along Odisha’s coast, more than 850 storm shelters have been opened, said Bishnupada Sethi, the state’s special relief commissioner. Each can hold about 1,000 people, along with livestock.

“People are reluctant to leave their homes, though, which is problematic,” Mr. Sethi said on Thursday.

In Bangladesh, as the storm approached on Friday the government said it had evacuated half a million coastal residents to shelters by 11 a.m.

The government there, similarly, suspended fishing operations, closed ports and ordered an early harvest of rice crops.

Cyclone’s effects felt on Mount Everest
The cyclone was affecting the weather as far away as Mount Everest, where climbers on their way to the summit turned around after conditions worsened.

At Camp 2, 21,000 feet above sea level, climbers reported an increase in cloud cover and moisture, and high winds tore apart tents. Many climbers from higher up the mountain began making their way down to Base Camp, at 17,600 feet above sea level.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs banned helicopters from flying in high mountain areas through the end of the weekend and issued a warning to mountaineers and trekkers on the mountain. More than 1,000 people, including climbers, high-altitude guides, support staff and government officials, have reached Everest Base Camp since the spring climbing season began in March.

A history of devastating cyclones

The Bay of Bengal has experienced many deadly tropical cyclones, the result of warm air and water temperatures producing storms that strike the large populations along the coast.

Officials said Cyclone Fani could be the most powerful to strike India since 1999, when a cyclone lingered for more than a day over India’s eastern coast, flooding villages, blowing apart houses and ultimately killing more than 10,000 people.

Since that storm, the authorities in the region have significantly improved disaster preparation and response capabilities, strengthening coastal embankments and preparing evacuation routes, according to a World Bank report. Subsequent major storms have resulted in far fewer deaths.

The state of Odisha was much better prepared for Cyclone Phailin in 2013. About one million people were evacuated, more than twice as many as in 1999, and the storm killed 45 people, the World Bank said.

“All of these efforts bore fruit when Cyclone Phailin made landfall,” the report said.

Cyclone Fani could still bring severe dangers to the region, however, threatening flooding in inland river basins, depending on its path, in the Ganges River delta region, where the Indian city of Kolkata is home to millions.

In 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed at least 3,000 people in nearby Bangladesh, and in 1991, a cyclone killed at least 1,000 there and left millions homeless. In 1970, the so-called Great Bhola Cyclone drove a tidal wave into what was then East Pakistan, in a disaster that killed an estimated 300,000 people, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s World Weather & Climate Extremes Archive.

“Unfortunately this region, especially the delta area, has produced the highest death tolls from tropical cyclones on the planet,” said Mr. Herndon, the storm researcher. “Many people live in regions barely above sea level.”

And Cyclone Fani has already proved “one of the most intense in the past 20 years,” according to Clare Nullis, a spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization.

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Sri Lanka bans face covering to ensure national security — face covering "hinders identification"

2019-05-01T07:02:00.002-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

— SEE other places where it is illegal to cover your face

A ban on face coverings in public has come into effect in Sri Lanka, following a series of suicide attacks on Easter Sunday, in which at least 250 people were killed.

A woman wearing a niqab looks on during a protest by a French-Algerian businessman and political activist, on October 3, 2018 in St. Gallen by following a massive vote in the Swiss northeastern canton of St. Gallen to prohibit all face-covering garments in public spaces.Image copyright GETTY IMAGES

Any face garment that "hinders identification" was being banned under emergency legislation to ensure national security, according to the office of the president.

President Maithripala Sirisena said he was using an emergency law to impose the restriction from Monday.

Those who support the ban say it's vital for public safety and encourages assimilation of ethnic and religious minorities.

But rights groups say it discriminates against Muslim women, some of whom view these garments as a religious obligation.

The niqab and burka - worn by Muslim women - were not specifically named.

The move is perceived as targeting those garments, however.

How many people are affected?

Sri Lanka has a sizeable and centuries-old Muslim population - of the country's 21-million population, just under 10% are Muslim.

Only a small number of women are thought to wear the face-covering niqab, or the burka - a one-piece garment that covers the face and body.

Muslim groups have been highly critical of the president's decision.

"It is the stupidest thing to do. Three days ago we [the Muslim community] took a voluntary decision regarding this. The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulema told all Muslim women not to wear face veils for security reasons. If they wanted to wear a veil, then they were told not to come out," Hilmy Ahmed, vice-president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council, told the BBC.

"We see this as a reflection of the conflict between the president and the prime minister. We strongly criticise the decision. We will not accept the authorities interfering with the religion without consulting the religious leadership."

Where else in the world has adopted similar bans either through parliamentary act or under emergency legislation?

Several countries have permanently banned full-face veils in public places, including France, Belgium and Denmark.

Chad, Gabon and the Republic of Congo in Africa also have restrictions in place.

Europe

France was the first European country to ban face coverings, including the Islamic veil, in public places in 2011 following a vote in parliament the previous year.

The ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights in July 2014.

A ban against a full-face veil led to protests in Denmark when it came into effect, in August 2018. The law says that "anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public" will have to pay 1,000 krone (£118; $157), with fines 10 times higher for repeat offenders.

The Senate in the Netherlands passed a law in June 2018 banning face coverings in public buildings such as schools and hospitals, and on public transport. It does not apply on public streets.

In Germany it's illegal to have any face coverings while driving. Germany's lower house of parliament has also approved a partial ban for judges, civil servants and soldiers. Women wearing a full-face veil are also required to uncover their faces for identification purposes.

A ban on full-face veils in public spaces such as courts and schools came into force in Austria in October 2017.

A law banning the full-face veil came into effect in Belgium in July 2011. The law bans any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places such as parks and on the street.

A bill was passed in Norway in June 2018 banning clothing covering the face from being worn at educational institutions.

Bulgaria's parliament passed a bill in 2016 to fine and cut the benefits of women who cover their faces in public.

There are also some restrictions in Luxembourg, in specific public locations such as hospitals, courts and public buildings.

Some European countries have bans in specific cities or regions.

This includes Italy, where several towns have bans on face-covering veils, including Novara, run by the anti-immigration Northern League, which imposed its ban in 2010.

In Spain, the city of Barcelona announced a ban on face coverings in 2010, in some public spaces such as municipal offices, public markets and libraries.

Face veils are also banned in public areas in some regions of Switzerland.

Africa

In 2015, multiple suicide bombings by women wearing full-face veils in the region prompted full-face coverings to be banned in public places in Chad, Gabon, Cameroon's northern region, Niger's Diffa region and the Republic of Congo.

In Algeria, public officials have been banned from wearing full-face veils in the workplace since October 2018.

Xinjiang is home to ethnic Uighur Muslims, who say they face discrimination.

The region has seen violent clashes, which the government blames on Islamist militants

Answer and win the new iPhone 7 RED

Saudi Arabia executes 37 for terrorism

2019-04-23T09:15:00.001-07:00

Buy Luxury Apartments on the Island, Lagos

Saudi Arabia has executed 37 people who were convicted in terrorism-related cases, the Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday.

The 37 people were all Saudi nationals, who received the death penalty for charges including adopting extremist terrorist ideology, the formation of terrorist cells, attacking security offices using explosives and killing a number of security personnel.
According to the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, charges also included provoking sectarian treason and cooperation with hostile parties to harm the country’s interests.

“The charges were upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court before a royal decree was issued to carry out the death sentences.

“The Ministry of the Interior made this announcement to affirm that this country will not hesitate to deter anyone who wishes to harm its security and stability,’’ the statement read.

It did not state how the death penalty was implemented.

Executions in Saudi Arabia are known to be carried out by beheading with sword or shooting, sometimes in public.

Human Rights Watch said that the kingdom executed 139 people in 2018 based on Interior Ministry statements; most of them were executed for murder and drug crimes.

(dpa/NAN)