Month: July 2021

A Libyan militia leader sanctioned by the United States for allegedly killing civilians was shot dead Tuesday in an exchange of fire with forces attempting to arrest him in an eastern city, officials said.  Libyan officials said security forces raided Mohamed al-Kani's house in Benghazi to carry out an arrest warrant on charges of killing civilians. Libyan officials and the U.S. allege al-Kani was responsible for the deaths of people found in mass graves last year in the western town of Tarhuna.  Tarhuna, a strategic town about 65 kilometers (41 miles) southeast of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, was under control of the al-Kaniyat militia, which gained a reputation for its brutal tactics. Led by al-Kani, the militia had initially sworn allegiance to a former government in Tripoli. But it switched sides in the…

The atmosphere at Olympics venues in Tokyo is eerie as the screams, shouts and cries of joy from athletes bounce off empty seats, with spectators banned from events.  The absence of fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major blow.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has had to fast-track its digital plans to add new elements at venues and heighten the experience for competing athletes, while also connecting them to the millions watching on screens at home.  "Human connection cannot be replicated digitally," said Yiannis Exarchos, chief executive of Olympic Broadcasting Services. "I think we need to be honest.  "I am a lover of technology but there is only so much technology can do," he told reporters.  Organizers seek to make up for the absence of spectators with…

The first person charged under Hong Kong's national security law was found guilty on Tuesday of terrorism and inciting secession in a landmark case with long-term implications for how the legislation reshapes the city's common law traditions.  An alternative charge of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm was not considered. The High Court will hear mitigation arguments on Thursday and sentencing will be announced at a later date.  Former waiter Tong Ying-kit, 24, was accused of driving his motorcycle into three riot police while carrying a flag with the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times," which prosecutors said was secessionist.  The widely anticipated ruling, much of which has hinged on the interpretation of the slogan, imposes new limits on free speech in the former British colony. Pro-democracy activists…

Retired U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican known as a consensus-builder in an increasingly polarized Washington, has died. He was 77.  Enzi died Monday surrounded by family and friends, former spokesman Max D'Onofrio said.  Enzi had been hospitalized with a broken neck and ribs after a bicycle accident near Gillette on Friday. He was stabilized before being flown to a hospital in Colorado but remained unconscious, D'Onofrio said.  Enzi fell near his home about 8:30 p.m. Friday, family friend John Daly said, around the time Gillette police received a report of a man lying unresponsive in a road near a bike.  Police have seen no indication that anybody else was nearby or involved in the accident, Lt. Brent Wasson told the newspaper.  A former shoe salesman first elected to…

More than three months after winning an election which sparked a constitutional crisis, Samoa’s first female prime minister was finally able to take office on Tuesday.  A smiling Fiame Naomi Mata’afa sat in the chair her predecessor had been reluctant to relinquish after 22 years in power. She held her first Cabinet meeting, with members of her FAST Party dressed in the distinctive red clothes that party members and supporters often wear.  Fiame, 64, said they were ready to begin their work.  That could include a reset of the island nation’s relationship with China. On the campaign trail, Fiame had pledged to stop a $100 million port development backed by Beijing, calling the project excessive for a nation that’s already heavily in debt to China.  After a knife-edge election result…

Chinese companies with shares traded on American stock exchanges are facing significant challenges from political leaders in both Washington and Beijing. New regulations in both countries will make it much harder for other companies to follow in their footsteps, restricting access to billions of the dollars in funding that helped grow internet retail giant Alibaba, the online gaming firm Tencent, the ride-hailing service Didi, and until recently China Telecom. In Beijing, regulators have signaled that they plan to scrutinize domestic firms that want to list their shares abroad, particularly when those businesses collect data on Chinese consumers. Experts say this is causing many Chinese firms to reconsider plans to sell their shares on exchanges outside of China. At the same time, the Biden administration is moving forward with plans to…

Pakistan said Monday it "amicably" repatriated dozens of Afghan soldiers and police personnel to authorities in Afghanistan a day after they had crossed the border, apparently fleeing advances by Taliban insurgents.   Stepped up Taliban attacks in recent weeks have forced hundreds of pro-Afghan government forces to take shelter in Tajikistan, Iran, China and Pakistan, enabling the insurgents to seize landlocked Afghanistan's strategic border crossings with these neighbors.  The Pakistani military said the 46 Afghan security forces, including five officers, were given "refuge and safe passage" into Pakistan "on their own request" Sunday night after the men were unable to hold their military posts across the border.  "The said soldiers have now been amicably returned to Afghan authorities on their request along with their weapons and equipment," the statement said.…

Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph says an apology by the head of a South Korean television station after the broadcaster portrayed Haiti using stereotypical images "didn't go far enough.” Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. (MBC) used video footage of a riot in Haiti as Haitian athletes marched in the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. The broadcaster is under fire for its use of stereotypical images to portray several countries, including a picture of Count Dracula for the Romanian team and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to represent Team Ukraine. At a press conference Monday, Park Sung-jae, the president of MBC, bowed deeply and promised a "major makeover,” including installing an ethics committee and better screening system. The station also apologized to the embassies of Ukraine and Romania in Seoul, Park said. "Their apology didn't go far enough, but the incident shouldn't be allowed to distract from the athletes who…

Within months, U.S. forces in Iraq will end their combat duties there, President Joe Biden announced on Monday during a White House meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.   In response to reporters' questions in the Oval Office, Biden, alongside the Iraqi leader, said the new role for American troops in Iraq will be "to continue to train, to assist, to help and to deal with ISIS (Islamic State group) as it arises, but we're not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission."  Biden declined to say how many U.S. troops, of the current level of approximately 2,500, will remain there  "This is a shift in mission. It is not a removal of our partnership or our presence or our close engagement with Iraqi…

Somalia's indirect election of lawmakers, expected to begin Sunday, was delayed once again as regional parliaments were not ready. No new date was set for the Somali upper house elections.  Authorities said the vote did not take place because the five state leaders failed to submit a list of the final candidates. They also said a regional parliamentary committee was not put in place to oversee the vote.  The chair of the federal election implementation committee, Mohamed Hassan Irro, said the process is on the right track despite the setbacks.  He says the country is working toward a fruitful poll process, adding that the main challenging aspect has been resolved following a political agreement between the federal and state-level leadership in the country.  Somalia's parliamentary and presidential elections were scheduled…

With Europe’s rise in coronavirus infections accelerating, more governments are seeking ways to force the unvaccinated, mainly in their twenties and thirties, to get inoculated, and avoid a return to lockdowns. Italy and Britain have followed France’s lead in planning or imposing restrictions on the unvaccinated.  The moves prompted street protests in both countries Sunday and Saturday. Several British Conservative lawmakers are threatening to boycott their party’s annual conference later this year because of vaccination requirements for attendees. Initial evidence, however, suggests compulsion is working. Within 24 hours of Italy announcing that from next month entry to sports stadiums, museums, cinemas, swimming pools and gyms will only be permitted for people who’ve been inoculated, appointments for vaccinations soared in some regions by 200%, say authorities in Rome. France saw a…

Tunisian troops blocked the head of parliament from entering the building early Monday, hours after President Kais Saied announced he had fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament for 30 days.  Saied said he was acting in response to the country’s economic woes and political deadlock and added that the country’s constitution gave him that authority.  Rached Ghannouchi, the parliament speaker and head of the Ennahdha party, called the president’s actions a “coup” and said the legislature would continue its work.  Two other main parties in parliament also called it a coup, which the president rejected.  Saied’s announcement drew crowds of demonstrators into the streets in the capital, Tunis, and elsewhere to celebrate.  There were also protesters outside the parliament building and some clashes between the opposing groups.  Tunisia has struggled economically for years, and along…

Police in Australia have warned that more anti-lockdown protests won’t be tolerated after thousands of people defied COVID-19 public health orders in Sydney Saturday. Health officials fear the illegal demonstration could become a super-spreader event as an outbreak of the delta variant in Sydney gets worse.  The hunt for the ringleaders of Saturday’s anti-lockdown demonstrations in Sydney is continuing. Dozens have been charged after confrontations with the police and riot officers.  Some protesters brought their children, and few were wearing masks. Police warn they will arrest people over unlawful activity. Health officials said the protests Saturday in three Australian cities, including Melbourne and Brisbane, would put lives at risk. Authorities have said that up to 3,500 people took part in the rally in Sydney.  After the protest, New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller said any repeat of the unrest would be met with a significant show of force.  “There is some…

Myanmar’s economy is forecast to shrink by 18% as it grapples with the coronavirus and the political turmoil unleashed by a coup, the World Bank said Monday. The contracting economy threatens millions with poverty, joblessness and hunger.  A decade ago, the Southeast Asian nation was seen as a promising frontier market. Its military began to slacken its grip, the economy opened up to the outside world for the first time in decades and Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party was democratically elected.  But observers believe a February 1 coup following a second resounding election victory for Suu Kyi’s party has turned back the clock, wiping out the fragile gains.  “The February coup — together with the most recent third wave of the pandemic, which rapidly worsened in June and July — has had significant economic impacts, much larger than those observed after the earlier surge in COVID-19 cases that began in September…

A look at the best news photos from around the world ...

Experts have said that rare footage of an endangered marsupial in outback Australia is a sign that native animals are beginning to recover from years of feral cat predation. Feral cats threaten the survival of over 100 native species in Australia, according to federal environment officials. The opportunistic predators have caused the extinction of some ground-dwelling birds and small to medium-sized mammals. Experts have said they have been a “major cause of decline” for many endangered marsupials, including the bilby, bandicoot, bettong and numbat. In the northern state of Queensland, though, there are signs that some native animals are beginning to recover. At the Astrebla Downs National Park, 1,500 kilometers northwest of Brisbane, 3,000 feral cats have been removed since 2013. Licensed hunters have said that thermal imaging technology, rather…

On the eve of the funeral for slain Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, host Carol Castiel and assistant producer at the Current Affairs Desk, Sydney Sherry, speak with Haiti expert Georges Fauriol, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and fellow at the Caribbean Policy Consortium, about the chaos following Moïse’s assassination, the breakdown of democratic institutions in Haiti, and the power struggle that ensued over who would become Haiti’s next leader. What does this crisis reveal about the state of affairs in Haiti, and is the international community, Washington in particular, playing a constructive role in Haiti’s political rehabilitation? ...