Home Blog Page 2147

Russia Launches Mediterranean Drills Amid Rift With Britain

0

The Russian military on Friday launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes capable of carrying hypersonic missiles.

The latest comes as a certain show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea.

The Russian drills that began Friday in the eastern Mediterranean come as a British carrier strike group is in the area.

Earlier this week, British and U.S. F-35 fighters from HMS Queen Elizabeth flew combat sorties against the Islamic State group.

Moscow said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs in the path of British destroyer Defender on Wednesday to force her out of an area near Crimea that Russia claims as its territorial waters.

Britain denied that account, insisted its ship wasn’t fired upon and said she was sailing in Ukrainian waters.

Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, allowing Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to reclaim control over most of the country after a devastating civil war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that a pair of MiG-31 fighter jets capable of carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles arrived at the Russian airbase in Syria and flew missions practicing strikes on targets in the Mediterranean.

The Defense Ministry said the maneuvers in the eastern Mediterranean also involve several warships, two submarines and long-range Tu-22M3 bombers along with other combat aircraft. The supersonic, nuclear-capable Tu-22M3s were first deployed to Syria last month in a demonstration of an increased Russian military foothold in the Mediterranean.

UN Pleads Aid As One Million People Go Hungry In Madagascar

0

The World Food Programme, WFP says Southern Madagascar is experiencing its worst drought in four decades, with more than 1.14 million people in need of food supplies.

Of those, WFP say an estimated 14,000 people are already in catastrophic conditions, and this will double to 28,000 by October.

David Beasley, WFP Executive Director said they are facing the worst drought in over 40 years and that people can’t survive and so the government partnering with WFP and others to do the best possible.

The Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) in children under five in Madagascar has almost doubled over the last four months, reaching an alarming 16.5 percent.

Amongst the worst affected is the district of Ambovombe where GAM rates of 27 percent indicate a life-threatening scenario for many children.

Arduino Mangoni, deputy country director for WFP in Madagascar said,” The new admissions to the severe malnutrition health centers has skyrocketed since June, July 2020. It has gone up from around one thousand kids overall in the 10 most affected districts in the south to around 7000 in March, April 2021. So the trend is exponential,”.

WFP says it needs US$78.6 million dollars to provide lifesaving food in the next lean season in order to stop a preventable tragedy from unfolding.

Belarus Moves Opposition Blogger And Girlfriend To House Arrest

0

An opposition blogger who was arrested after a passenger plane was forced to land in Belarus has been moved from a detention facility to house arrest, an opposition leader said on Friday.

The arrest of Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega after Belarusian authorities intercepted the Ryanair flight on which they were travelling from Athens to Vilnius on May 23th caused international outrage.

Protasevich is now in a rented flat in the Belarusian capital Minsk, according to his father Dmitri Protasevich. He said the authorities had provided no further information.

Opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s office confirmed both were under house arrest. The Belarusian interior ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

The European Union imposed economic sanctions on Belarus on Thursday, targeting its main export industries and access to finance.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who faced street protests last year over a presidential election which opponents say was rigged, said the interception was justified to prevent a rebellion. He denies electoral fraud.

Protasevich is accused of organising mass riots, and faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted. Ms Sapega has been accused of causing unrest. Their supporters say the accusations against the two are false and dismiss video confessions which they say were made under duress in detention.

Protasevich’s father was quoted as saying his son and Ms Sapega were “still under the full control of the authorities” and the charges against them had not been dropped.

China Lashes Out At US Over Trade Restrictions On Firm

0

China has lashed out at the US government on Friday after the US banned import of solar panel materials from a Chinese company and placed trade restrictions on four others for alleged use of forced labour in Xinjiang.

On Thursday the White House said that the use of forced labour was part of Chinese efforts to repress millions of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang.

Washington said that Hoshine Silicon Industry would not be able to sell its products in the United States due to “reasonable indications” of forced labour in its manufacturing process.

The Commerce Department also announced that Hoshine and four other Xinjiang firms would be subject to tight restrictions on their ability to acquire US commodities, software and technology.

The White House said the United States believes that state-sponsored forced labour in Xinjiang is both an affront to human dignity and an example of the PRC’s unfair economic practices.

China lashed out at the order, calling it a “bandit-like act no different from pillaging other people’s property” that creates “forced poverty and forced unemployment” among Xinjiang’s people.

At a routine briefing Friday, Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said The US uses human rights as a pretence and to unscrupulously oppress the industrial development of Xinjiang

An official from US Customs and Border Protection, which issued the block on Hoshine imports, estimated that the United States imported goods from the company worth $150 million over the past 30 months.

Asked if the US trade actions could conflict with promoting solar energy, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said stopping forced labour comes first.

Tanzania C’bank Says It Is Working Cryptocurrency Push

0

Tanzania’s central bank IT is working on President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directive to prepare for crypto-currencies, pointing to a possible reversal of a ban it put in place in 2019.

Speaking during the opening a new central bank branch in the northern town of Mwanza this month, Hassan said there has been an emergence of blockchain technology or cryptocurrency in the financial sector.

She said many countries in the world have not accepted or started using these currencies but that she urges the central bank to start working on those issues. Just be prepared.

Her comments made shortly after El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, prompted fresh debate over the role of cryptocurrencies in economies and remittance transfers.

Tanzania’s central bank banned cryptocurrencies in November 2019, saying they were not recognised by local law, but it now says it is adapting following the president’s comments.

Meanwhile, a Bank of Tanzania spokesperson said the bank is working on the directives given but declined to give further detail.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions on whether the bank plans to adopt existing cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, or was looking to issue its own digital currency as China has done.

The new president, who came to power after the death of her predecessor in March, said this month the arrival of digital currencies in the East Africa nation was inevitable.

Hassan’s comments reflect her much more open attitude to foreign investment, a shift from the stance of her predecessor John Magufuli, who tussled with foreign gold miners and even locked horns with neighbouring Kenya over access to the market.

Fifteen U.N. Peacekeepers Wounded In Northern Mali Attack

0

The U.N. mission in Mali and the German military say Fifteen U.N. peacekeepers, including several from Germany, were wounded in northern Mali on Friday in an attack on their camp involving a vehicle-borne explosive.

The attack targeted a temporary base set up by the peacekeepers near the village of Ichagara in northern Gao region, where Islamist insurgents linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State are active.

The U.N. mission said in a post on Twitter that the wounded were being evacuated, without giving further details, while a spokesman for the German military said Several German soldiers were among the wounded.

The U.N. mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, has deployed over 13,000 soldiers to contain violence by armed groups in the north and centre of the West African nation.

It has recorded about 230 fatalities since 2013, making it the deadliest of the U.N.’s more than one dozen peacekeeping missions.

Amazon And Google Probed Over Efforts To Stop Fake Reviews

1

Amazon and Google are being investigated over concerns that fake five star reviews on their websites could be misleading shoppers and could face court action for breaking consumer law.

The Competition and Markets Authority, CMA is also worried that “law-abiding businesses” who sell over Amazon and Google may be losing out to firms using false recommendations.

The CMA has launched the formal probe after an initial investigation last year examined whether online companies were doing enough to protect consumers.

In particular, the CMA is concerned about whether Amazon and Google have been “doing enough” to “detect fake and misleading reviews or suspicious patterns of behaviour”.

CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli expressed worry thatmillions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations,.

She added that it was important that these tech platforms take responsibility stating that the body stands ready to take action if it was found that they are not doing enough.

Online shopping has soared during the Covid pandemic as retailers deemed as “non-essential” have been forced to close physical shops during periods of lockdown.

Meanwhile, both firms say they have resources and policies in place to stop fake reviews. A spokesman for Amazon said the company devoted “significant resources to preventing fake or incentivised reviews from appearing in our store”.

Google said that its policies state “reviews must be based on real experiences” and where it finds violations, they take action including disabling user accounts.

Ed Sheeran: Fatherhood Made Me Change My Bad Habits

Pop star Ed Sheeran says he has changed his approach to life and work since the birth of his daughter Lyra last year.

“As soon as Cherry told me she was pregnant, life shifted, in terms of work and health and what I was putting into my body, be it food or alcohol,” he said in an interview with the BBC Radio.

“I started exercising more and my routine became a bit more healthy.”

The star also changed his work habits, working “nine to five” instead of finishing recording sessions at 2am.

“It actually freaks out producers,” he said. “I was in Los Angeles working with these producers that usually start working at 6pm and finish at 6am with people like Post Malone and Dua [Lipa].

“I was like, ‘Yeah, we’re starting at nine’. And they were like, ‘What?’

“But I do find you get more done. There’s less faffing.”

Sheeran and wife Cherry Seaborn announced the birth of their first child, Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran, in August, telling fans they were “completely in love”.

The pop star later revealed the newborn was “not my biggest fan” and “just cries” when he sings his new songs to her.

Speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, he also said becoming a father had changed his relationship with his parents.

“It was amazing before, but now it’s just like there’s this eternal gratefulness and respect of being like, I know what they went through and I’m still going through it.

“And also, the other thing is, no-one knows what they’re doing. I see people and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that guy’s the best dad in the world’. But he started off like me, like not knowing anything.

“I’m learning day by day. So I think it’s amazing,”

Ousted Grammys CEO, Recording Academy Reach Settlement

Ousted Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan and the Recording Academy have reached a confidential settlement over why the former leader was let go from the organization.

“The Recording Academy and Deborah Dugan have agreed to resolve their differences and to keep the terms of their agreement private,” the academy and Dugan said in a joint statement late Thursday.

Dugan was fired days before the 2020 Grammys. She has since said the awards show was rigged and muddled with conflicts of interest. The former CEO of Bono’s (RED) charity organization was the first woman to hold the title of president and CEO at the academy.

The settlement comes weeks after the academy said its interim leader, Harvey Mason jr., would be its official CEO. This week the academy named Valeisha Butterfield Jones and Panos A. Panay as co-presidents of the organization.

Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover To Receive Honorary Oscars

Actors Samuel L. Jackson and Danny Glover are among four people who will receive honorary Oscars next year for their contributions to filmmaking and the world, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday.

The pair are among the next recipients of the academy’s Governors Awards, which will be handed out in a ceremony in January. Other honorees are writer-director Elaine May and Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann.

The recipients “have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy President David Rubin said in a statement.

Jackson, who portrayed Nick Fury in the “Avengers” and other Marvel movies, has appeared in more than 100 films. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a hit man in director Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 drama “Pulp Fiction.”

Ullmann was a frequent collaborator with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. She appeared in “Persona,” “The Passion of Anna,” “Cries and Whispers” and other Bergman films. Ullman was nominated for best actress for 1971 film “The Emigrants” and 1976 movie “Face to Face.”

Glover, star of the “Lethal Weapon” movies, will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his advocacy for justice and human rights. He currently serves as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.