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Polish Government Loses Key Votes, Putting Future In Doubt

Zoe Maven
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Polish Government Loses Key Votes, Putting Future In Doubt

The future of Poland’s government was thrown into doubt on Wednesday after it lost four votes in a session dominated by a fierce debate over a law that critics say would curb media freedom.

The parliamentary drama raises the prospect of early elections and comes a day after the departure from the government of the Agreement party. It had been a junior partner in the ruling coalition led by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party.

In one of the four votes, MPs voted by 229 to 227 to suspend the session in the 460-seat lower house in order to postpone a vote on the media law.

But speaker Elzbieta Witek, a PiS party member, ordered another vote which the government won by 230 to 225 to resume proceedings despite howls of outrage from the opposition.

The PiS’s fragile parliamentary majority does not mean that the government will collapse as a formal vote of no confidence by parliament would be required for that to happen and it could continue as a minority government.

But commentators have said a minority government would be difficult to sustain long-term as it would have to rely on the far-right Confederation party, which is highly critical of the government.

The next elections are currently scheduled for 2023.

The United Right coalition, which is dominated by the PiS, has governed Poland since 2015.

It has been accused by the European Union of rolling back democratic freedoms but is still popular among many Poles, mainly for its social welfare reforms.

Iran’s Raisi Names Anti-Western Hardliner New Foreign Minister

Zoe Maven
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Iran’s Raisi Names Anti-Western Hardliner New Foreign Minister

Iran’s New President Ebrahim Raisi named an anti-Western diplomat as foreign minister on Wednesday as the country and six world powers seek to restore their 2015 nuclear deal.

Raisi, a hardliner under Western sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses when he was a judge, was sworn into office on Aug. 5 with the Islamic Republic’s clerical rulers facing growing crises at home and abroad.

The mid-ranking Shi’ite cleric replaced pragmatist Hassan Rouhani as president after an election in June when most prominent rivals – including moderates and reformists – were barred from standing.

Presenting his cabinet to parliament for an expected vote of confidence, Raisi chose Hossein Amirabdollahian as foreign minister and Javad Owji, an ex-deputy oil minister and managing director of the state-run gas company, as oil minister.

Reports in semi-official Iranian media suggested that the Supreme National Security Council, which reports directly to hardline Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would take over the nuclear talks in Vienna from the foreign ministry, which had been led by relative moderates during Rouhani’s administration.

Iran and world powers have been negotiating since April to revive the pact that was repudiated in 2018 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who also reimposed sanctions that have devastated Tehran’s economy by squeezing its oil exports.

A sixth round of the talks were held on June 20, with Iranian and Western officials saying major gaps remained to be resolved in returning Tehran and Washington to full compliance with the pact.

Iran has violated limits on its enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons, since 2019.

Russia Announces New Criminal Charge Against Navalny

Zoe Maven
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Russia Announces New Criminal Charge Against Navalny

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny faces a new criminal charge of establishing an organisation that incited Russians to break the law, the Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said on Wednesday.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, is already serving a 2-1/2-year sentence for parole violations he calls trumped up.

He was arrested in January after he flew back from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning and this latest new crime is punishable by up to three years in jail.

Authorities have cracked down hard on opposition activists ahead of parliamentary elections in September.

The Investigative Committee said in a statement that Navalny and his allies used his Anti-Corruption Foundation to call on Russians to take part in unauthorised protests in January that authorities said were illegal.

A court in Russia declared Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and regional campaign groups “extremist” in June, effectively outlawing their activity.

The Investigative Committee on Tuesday announced a new criminal investigation into two close Navalny allies for raising funds for his political network.

Afghan President Ghani Arrives In Mazar-I-Sharif

Zoe Maven
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Afghan President Ghani Arrives In Mazar-I-Sharif

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flew to the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif Wednesday to rally his overburdened forces, with Taliban fighters having now taken more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals in less than a week.

Ghani arrived in Mazar as the Taliban captured Faizabad overnight, making it the ninth city to be overrun since Friday. He plans “to check the general security in the northern zone”, according to a statement released by the palace.

The Afghan leader was also likely to hold talks with Mazar’s long-time strongman Atta Mohammad Noor and infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum about the defence of the city, as Taliban fighters inched closer to its outskirts.

The loss of Mazar would be a catastrophic blow to the Kabul government and represent the complete collapse of its control over the north — long a bastion of anti-Taliban militias.

Hours before Ghani arrived, pictures posted on official government social media accounts showed Dostum boarding a plane in Kabul, along with a contingent of commandos, en route to Mazar.

Fighting in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when the US-led military coalition began the final stage of a withdrawal set to be completed before the end of the month.

But even as the Taliban routed government forces, US President Joe Biden gave no hint of delaying his deadline to withdraw all American troops by August 31, instead urging Afghan leaders to “fight for themselves” on Tuesday.

Biden has stressed that Washington would continue to support the Afghan security forces with air strikes, food, equipment and money for salaries.

US Says UK Judge Who Blocked Assange Extradition Was Misled

Zoe Maven
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US Says UK Judge Who Blocked Assange Extradition Was Misled

Lawyers for the US government on Wednesday criticised a British judge for blocking the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, questioning evidence about his mental health and accusing an expert witness of misleading the court.

Judge Vanessa Baraitser in January refused to grant a request by Washington for Assange to face trial in the United States on spying charges, ruling he was at serious risk of suicide.

But lawyer Clair Dobbin, representing the US government which is appealing the decision, said the judge “didn’t appreciate the weight” of expert evidence that concluded Assange was not a suicide risk.

Instead, the judge relied on evidence presented by Assange’s psychiatric expert Michael Kopelman, Dobbin told the High Court in London.

She said that Kopelman had admitted to misleading the court by “concealing” that his client had fathered children while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Judge Baraitser concluded that Assange’s mental health would deteriorate faced with the “harsh conditions” likely to await him in the US jail system, “causing him to commit suicide”.

Assange, who is currently being held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, is wanted on 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The 50-year-old Australian followed court proceedings via a video link from prison, sporting long white hair and an unbuttoned white shirt with an untied tie draped around his neck. Dozens of his supporters gathered outside the court, some waving placards saying “Free Assange”” and “10 years enough

More Than 60 Killed In Algerian Raging Wildfires

Zoe Maven
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More Than 60 Killed In Algerian Raging Wildfires

Firefighters, troops and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria on Wednesday as the country experienced rising death tolls of at least 65 people in the latest wildfires.

Soldiers deployed to back the overstretched emergency services tackle the rash of more than 50 fires that broke out on Tuesday accounted for 28 of those killed, state television reported.

The authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time. They have announced several arrests but have yet to elaborate on the identity or suspected motives of those detained.

Fire official Youcef Ould Mohamed said high winds fueled the rapid spread of the fires in the tinder-dry conditions created by a heat wave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean.

Emergency services spokesman Nassim Barnaoui also told reporters A total of 69 separate wildfires remained active Wednesday, spread across 17 provinces,.

Most of the fires and 16 of the deaths were recorded in Tizi Ouzou district, in the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, east of the capital Algiers.

There have been mounting calls for aid convoys to be sent to the worst-hit districts with food and medicine from the capital.

An appeal for volunteer doctors to assist the city’s overstretched medical services also appeared on Facebook.State media have reported four arrests for suspected arson.

Meteorologists expect the heat wave across North Africa to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 46 degrees Celsius.

Zambia Set For National Polls This Thursday

Zoe Maven
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Zambia Set For National Polls This Thursday

Zambians are set to decide on Thursday whether to re-elect President Edgar Lungu after the country’s worst economic performance in decades and a crackdown on dissent that has raised fears of unrest in the African country.

His main rival, in what polls suggest is a close election race, is 59-year-old Hakainde Hichilema, making his sixth run for the presidency.

Hichilema has already narrowly lost to Lungu twice: in a 2015 by-election after the death of ex-president Michael Sata and then in general polls the following year.

Lungu deployed the army following clashes between the rival supporters in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary polls, a move critics denounced as a tactic to intimidate opposition voters.

Analysts say the result of the closely fought election will set the tone for investment in the copper-rich southern African nation, where more than half of its 17 million people live in poverty.

Surveys suggest economic hardship has eroded support for Lungu, accused of borrowing unsustainably to finance flashy infrastructure projects, as living costs soared.

In the capital Lusaka, Lungu’s green Patriotic Front (PF) party manifestos have dominated billboards lining newly built freeways and overpass bridges. They trumpet “achievements” in construction, agriculture and youth employment.

Opposition voters, whose party colour is red, are keeping a low profile in Lusaka, traditionally a PF stronghold.

Because of the Covid restrictions, only door-to-door campaigning has been allowed this year rather than mass gatherings, although politicians have rallied under the guise of mask-distribution events.

Two Dead And Dozens Trapped In India Landslide

Zoe Maven
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0
Two Dead And Dozens Trapped In India Landslide

At least two people have died and dozens more are trapped under debris in a huge landslide in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

According to local reports, falling boulders have buried a truck, a passenger bus and other vehicles.

Jairam Thakur, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh said Police and local officials have begun rescue efforts and there have been several deadly landslides in India in recent months during an unusually heavy monsoon.

It’s still unclear what caused Wednesday’s landslide – it happened on a highway in Kinnaur district. Local reports say five people have been rescued, but around 30 others are still trapped.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police teams have been dispatched to help with rescue efforts and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also been put on alert.

Nine people were killed last month in Himachal Pradesh when falling rocks hit their vehicle. At least 136 people died in landslides in the western state of Maharashtra recently after heavy rains flooded hundreds of villages and swept away homes.

Briton Suspected Of Spying For Russia Arrested In Germany

Zoe Maven
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0
Briton Suspected Of Spying For Russia Arrested In Germany

A British man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia.

German federal prosecutors said the man – named only as David S – worked at the British embassy in Berlin who allegedly passed documents to Russian intelligence “at least once” in exchange for an “unknown amount” of money.

He was arrested in Potsdam outside Berlin on Tuesday and his home and workplace have been searched.

A spokesman for Germany’s foreign ministry said Berlin was taking the case very seriously, and said spying by a close alliance partner on German soil is unacceptable.

The arrest which was the result of a joint UK-German investigation, was intelligence-led and had been going on for some time leading up to the arrest.

MI5 and other UK agencies, as well as British police, had been working with the Germans to learn as much as they could about the alleged activity.

London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest of a 57-year-old British national in Germany, as well as the involvement of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

German authorities are in charge of the investigation, but officers will continue to work with German counterparts, the police said.

German online news site Focus Online reports that the documents passed on were to do with counter-terrorism, and that the man is not thought to have diplomatic immunity.

Federal Govt. Restates Commitment to Care For Women, Children with Disabilities

Olasunbo Okoromi
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Federal Govt. Restates Commitment to Care For Women, Children with Disabilities

The Nigerian Government has restated its commitment to address issues affecting Women and children living with disabilities across the country.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Nura Alkali stated this in Abuja, at a one-day meeting on the development of strategies for care and support for women and children with disabilities in Nigeria.

Represented by the Director, Humanitarian Affairs in the Ministry, Alhaji Ali Grema, and the Permanent Secretary said there were still significant gaps in the mainstream operations of gender and disabilities at field levels.

According to him, women and children are often times underrepresented in decision making processes.

“Discrimination against PWDs Act 2018 provides for full integration of PWDs in the society and also set out general obligations and specific measures required for implementation”. He said

He said there was need for all stakeholders to work together as no single actor or stakeholder, working alone, can implement the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act of 2018 effectively.

“Thus, the Minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq last year inaugurated the Coalition of NGOs for the care and support of women and girls with disabilities in order to promote and advance their rights and we are 100 per cent committed to that,” Alkali said.

The Director Special Needs in the Ministry, Mrs. Nkechi Onwukwe, said the meeting was aimed at evolving strategies on holistic care and support for women and children with disabilities.

Onwukwe said this was in line with Social Development Goals numbers 1, 3 and 5, adding that the Ministry would continue with its concerted efforts towards addressing issues that relate to persons with disabilities in Nigeria.

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