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☆ Militant group blamed for 2002 Bali bombings to be disbanded, say senior leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Senior members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian militant network blamed for the deadly Bali bombings, have announced they are disbanding the group, according to a report by a Jakarta-based think tank on Thursday. The report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) confirmed the authenticity of a June 30 video statement by 16 Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders announcing they were dissolving the extremist network. The Al-Qaeda-linked militant group is accused of orchestrating some of the deadliest attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombing of Bali nightclubs that killed more than 200 people. Indonesia’s National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) declined to comment on the development, but said it planned to hold a press conference soon. Despite the clout of the figures involved, IPAC noted the group has a history of splinters and it was possible one could emerge in the future, although probably not immediately.

Persons: CNN —, Jemaah Islamiyah, Jemaah, ”, Sidney Jones, Jones, IPAC, ” Adhe Organizations: CNN, Institute for, JI, Counter Terrorism Agency, Radicalism, Deradicalization Locations: Jakarta, Indonesian, Islam, Indonesia, Bali

CNN —UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he raised his “very strong concerns” to China’s premier regarding potential Chinese interference in British democracy after a parliament employee was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. UK newspaper, The Sunday Times broke the story on Sunday, reporting that the researcher was arrested alongside another man on March 13. According to a statement from London’s Metropolitan Police, police arrested a man in his 30s in Oxfordshire, southern England, and a man in his 20s in Edinburgh, Scotland. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on September 7, 2023. According to the Sunday Times reporting, the arrested parliamentary researcher was also linked to the chairperson of the British government’s foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Premier Li Qiang, Tom Tugendhat, Li Qiang, Yasuyoshi Chiba, Alicia Kearns, ”, Kearns Organizations: CNN —, Premier, Conservative, Sunday Times, London’s Metropolitan Police, ASEAN Summit, Getty, Command, Twitter, Inter, Parliamentary Alliance, China Locations: China, New Delhi, Beijing, Oxfordshire, England, Edinburgh, Scotland, Jakarta, AFP, London, British, People’s Republic of China

☆ Peculiar dead white dwarf star has two faces
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have made a first-of-its-kind discovery — a white dwarf star with two completely different faces. White dwarfs are burnt remains of dead stars. The newly discovered white dwarf has two sides, one made of hydrogen and the other made of helium. Researchers have nicknamed the star Janus, for the Roman god of transition, which has two faces. “We might have possibly caught one such white dwarf in the act.”As the white dwarf cools over time, the heavier and lighter materials may mix together.

Persons: Janus, ”, Ilaria Caiazzo, Caiazzo, Neil Gehrels, ” Caiazzo, “, K, Miller, James Fuller Organizations: CNN —, California Institute of Technology, Observatory, Gran, Canarias, Keck, Caltech Locations: Canary, Maunakea, Hawaii

The "Dana Desa" village fund introduced by President Joko Widodo in 2015 and valued at $4.7 billion this year has long been criticised as prone to corruption. "So it's reasonable if the use of the village fund is somewhat loose and anyone can do what they want with it." ILLEGAL ARMSIt is unclear how much of the $337 million in village funds allocated for the Papua region in 2023 is being diverted into arms. "I have never seen a project funded by the village fund, not at all," said Bernadus Kobogau, a tourism official in Intan Jaya. In Papua's highlands, village funds are treated like a "revolutionary tax", he said, commandeered either via intimidation and coercion, or given willingly by supporters of independence.

Persons: Dana, Joko Widodo, Phillip Mehrtens, Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo, Dana Desa, Faizal Ramadhani, Sebby Sambom, Bernadus Kobogau, Deka Anwar, Anwar, Latifah Anum Siregar, makan tuan, Stefanno Sulaiman, Lincoln Organizations: Reuters, Indonesia Corruption Watch, West Papua National Liberation Army, Free Papua Movement, Institute for, Democracy Alliance for Papua, Thomson Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesian, Papua, New Zealand, Jakarta, Indonesia, Nduga, Intan Jaya, Nabire

☆ Astronomers Catch a Star Swallowing a Planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An artist’s impression of a doomed planet skimming the surface of its star. Photo: K. Miller, R. Hurt/Caltech/IPACAstronomers have long theorized that stars swallow up planets whole. But they haven’t had evidence of it—until now. Researchers said in a new study that for the first time they caught a star in the act of gobbling up a planet in its orbit.

☆ Astronomers observe star swallowing planet for first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —In a world first, scientists have observed the moment that a dying star consumed a planet — a fate that eventually awaits Earth. Astronomers observed this as a white-hot flash, followed by a longer-lasting colder signal, which they later deduced was caused by the star engulfing a planet. “That infrared data made me fall off my chair,” De said, with the readings suggesting the star could have been merging with another star. However, further analysis using readings from NASA’s infrared space telescope, NEOWISE, revealed that the star was in fact consuming a planet. Our own planet will meet the same fate, but not for 5 billion years, researchers say.

☆ New Zealand to become the latest country to ban TikTok in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —New Zealand will ban TikTok on all devices with access to its parliament by the end of this month, becoming the latest country to impose an official bar on the popular social media platform owned by a Beijing-based tech conglomerate. Led by the United States, a growing number of Western nations are imposing restrictions on the use of TikTok on government devices citing national security concerns. The United States, UK and Canada have ordered the removal of the app from all government phones, citing cybersecurity concerns. The short video sharing app has more than 100 million users in the United States alone. China has accused the United States of “unreasonably suppressing” TikTok and spreading “false information” about data security.

☆ Deadlier and more media savvy, separatist rebels evolve in Indonesia's Papua
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Kate Lamb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Egianus Kogoya, young West Papuan rebel commander, sits on a captured plane piloted by New Zealand national Philip Mehrtens in Indonesia's Papua region in this undated picture released on February 14, 2023. Separatist rebels kidnapped New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, 37, after he landed his small plane in the remote Papuan highlands on Feb 7. An estimated 500 fighters identify as members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM). Cahyo Pamungkas, a researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency, said the separatists are using social media to get their message out. "Social media is a tool of resistance to deliver the stories from Papua because national media is mainly dominated by perspectives from Jakarta," he said.

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