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As winter cold sets in across Ukraine, concerns are growing that Russia will soon resume large-scale attacks on the power grid, repeating a tactic it used last year to try to break the will of Ukrainians by plunging them into cold and darkness. Those fears are compounded by what Ukrainian experts and current and former officials say is an energy system that is more fragile than it was a year ago. In interviews, they described power plants still hobbled by Russian attacks last winter, unfinished repairs to substations and shortages of critical equipment like transformers. The Ukrainian authorities declined to provide detailed data on the current state of the power grid, saying it was sensitive information in wartime. “Not a lot has changed since then,” Victoria Voytsitska, a former lawmaker and senior member of the Ukrainian Parliament’s energy committee, said in an interview.
Persons: , Victoria Voytsitska, Organizations: United Locations: Ukraine, Russia, United Nations, Ukrainian
Here’s a look at some of Ms. Braverman’s most prominent disputes. Despite her dismissal, Ms. Braverman was again appointed home secretary six days later, on Mr. Sunak’s first day in office. While the plan was first announced by Ms. Braverman’s predecessor, Priti Patel, Ms. Braverman has been an ardent supporter and put the policy front and center. Ms. Braverman had for weeks characterized these protests as “hate marches,” despite the fact that the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful. But then Ms. Braverman, who as home secretary oversees policing in Britain, went a step further later in the week.
Persons: Braverman, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Braverman’s, Truss, Sunak’s, Priti Patel, Sunak, Organizations: Conservative, Appeal, London’s Metropolitan Police Service, Islamists, Hamas Locations: Britain, Rwanda, Israel, Gaza, London
Opinion | Israel Is Silencing Internal Critics
  + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Michael Sfard | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +10 min
Freedom of political expression in Israel with regard to the Israeli-Arab conflict, especially with regard to Israeli policy toward Palestinians, has always been precarious, especially for the Palestinian citizens of Israel. It shouldn’t be surprising: In societies that contain widespread nationalistic tendencies, as is sadly the case in Israel, war and national tragedies create the perfect environment for witch hunts and the accelerated branding of critics and minorities as enemies from within. The suppression of speech and targeting of critics of Israel’s policy toward the conflict has always had a strategic goal. Crushing dissent and eliminating the political force of Palestinian citizens of Israel are crucial conditions that must be met to achieve that goal. Michael Sfard is an Israeli human rights lawyer and the author of “The Wall and the Gate: Israel, Palestine and the Legal Battle for Human Rights.”
Persons: Nurit Peled, Jean, Paul Sartre, , Ms, Elhanan, Sakharov, , , Itamar Ben, Benjamin Netanyahu, Castigating, they’ve, Israel Frey, Frey, Michael Sfard Organizations: Legal Center, Arab, Rights, Academia, Equality, Education, Israel Police, Twitter, police, Human Rights Locations: Jerusalem, French, Israel, Gaza, Haifa, Umm, Jordan, Palestine
While Russia narrowly avoided what many feared could be a civil war, the violent clashes on Oct. 3-4, 1993, marked a watershed. The public feels scared and intimidated after years of sweeping Kremlin efforts to quash dissent, he said. As tensions soared, Yeltsin ordered the parliament disbanded, a move that Russia’s Constitutional Court declared illegal. Grigory Yavlinsky, a veteran politician who defied Yeltsin and later opposed Putin, described the 1993 events as a key moment that determined Russia’s post-Soviet history. “The result is … the system that has led Russia where it now is,” he said in a recent commentary.
Persons: Vladimir Putin, Josef Stalin, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Prigozhin, , Andrei Kolesnikov, ” Kolesnikov, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Alexander Rutskoi, Viktor Alksnis, Grigory Yavlinsky Organizations: Kremlin, Communist, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Putin, Constitutional Locations: Moscow, Russia, Soviet, Russian, Ukraine, USSR
By Tarek AmaraTUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday rejected financial support announced by the European Union in September, saying the amount is small and goes against a deal signed three months ago. The European Commission last month said it would disburse 127 million euros ($133 million) in aid to Tunisia as part of the deal to fight illegal immigration from Africa to Europe. “Tunisia rejects what the EU announced, not because of the small amount ... but because the proposal conflicts with the memorandum of understanding signed in July," Saied said. The July deal included a pledge of 1 billion euros in aid to Tunisia to help its battered economy, rescue state finances and deal with the migration crisis. Tunisia last week postponed a visit by a delegation from the European Commission to discuss the details of the migration agreement.
Persons: Tarek Amara TUNIS, Kais Saied, Saied, Tarek Amara Organizations: European Union, European Commission, , EU Locations: Europe, Tunisia, Africa, “ Tunisia, North Africa, Lampedusa, Germany
Vietnam’s opaque legal system has come under increased criticism from Western observers this year, even as the Southeast Asian country draws closer to the United States. In April during a visit to Hanoi, a delegation of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee of Human Rights expressed “great concern at the worsening human rights situation in the country” calling for the release of “political prisoners” including NGO leaders, journalists and environmental activists, according to Reuters. “Vietnam and the United States are critical partners at what I would argue is a very critical time,” Biden said at the time, referencing climate change. The importance of her cause has been underlined by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which lists Vietnam as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. Ben Swanton, co director of The 88 Project, which advocates for human rights in Vietnam, called her trial “a total sham.”“This is yet another example of the law being weaponized for the purpose of political persecution,” he said.
Persons: Hoang, Hong, Nguyen Van Tu, Matthew Miller, , , ” Miller, Joe Biden’s, ” Biden, “ I’m, Hong “, Ben Swanton Organizations: CNN, US State Department, State, European, Human, Reuters, Human Rights Watch, Obama, Columbia University, HRW, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, Amnesty Locations: Ho Chi Minh City, United States, Vietnam, Hanoi, “ Vietnam
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank said Monday that interest rates will stay high enough to restrict business activity for “as long as necessary” to beat back inflation. Christine Lagarde said rates would stay high because upward pressure on prices “remains strong” in the 20 countries that use the euro currency. “And yes, we know that 30% — 30% — of the households in the member states have variable interest rate mortgages. Analysts think the ECB may be done raising rates given signs of increasing weakness in the European economy. Higher rates are central banks' chief weapon against excessive inflation.
Persons: Christine Lagarde, , ” Lagarde, , Lagarde Organizations: European Central Bank, European, ECB, Analysts, Bank of England, U.S . Federal Reserve Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Russia, Ukraine
CNN —Few media figures in the last 27 years have had a larger and more profound effect on American political and media life than Rupert Murdoch. Ailes, who helped Richard Nixon get elected president in 1968, specialized in the political use of media. Again, Murdoch is not the only reason for the lack of trust in the media and the flood of disinformation and misinformation. I have been writing about Murdoch and Fox since the 1980s, and have observed that Murdoch was more concerned about money than ideology. In a commercial sense, Murdoch is an incredibly successful media figure.
Persons: David Zurawik, Rupert Murdoch, David Zurawik Mich Rouse, Murdoch, Lachlan, Murdoch’s, Roger Ailes, Richard Nixon, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Mark Zuckerberg, James Organizations: Goucher College, Baltimore Sun, CNN, Fox and News Corporation, Murdoch’s Fox News, Democrats, Fox News, Murdoch, Capitol, Fox, Facebook, Media, Sport Committee Locations: Australia, America, Europe, Germany, Italy, American, Elon Musk’s
A cornerstone of those shared values is both countries’ historic commitments to a free press. Israel’s journalism, as in the United States, is freewheeling and independent, and reporters are famously skeptical and often critical of any government. Gilead Sher Courtesy Gilead SherAs in the United States, Israeli governments have always viewed a free press as inviolate because of the central role it plays in upholding democracy and fostering government transparency and accountability — until now. Missed so far, however, in most mainstream US news, are the government’s initiatives to erode Israel’s free press and gradually turn Israeli media into government propaganda vehicles. And indeed, as already stated, Netanyahu’s government has targeted much more than the free press.
Persons: Dan Perry, Gilead Sher, Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Gilead, Biden, Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Orban, Israel Organizations: London, Associated Press, Israeli, CNN, UN, Assembly, BBC, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, MSNBC, Fox News, Hungarian Locations: Cairo, Europe, Africa, Israel, United States, New York, America
Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss called for the government to formally designate China as a threat to the UK. Florence Lo/APUnder the radarBut back to the question at hand: should the events of the past few days affect the UK’s official policy? Despite the arrests, observers believe it is unlikely there will be a sea-change in the UK government’s policy on China. The allegations that China is spying on the UK, in the very heart of Britain’s democracy, is of course a very real concern. But it will not be a surprise to the government, which has baked it into British foreign policy.
Persons: Tom Tugendhat, Tugendhat, Rishi Sunak, Premier Li Qiang, , Sunak’s, Liz Truss, Iain Duncan Smith, UK’s, Oliver Dowden, James, Han Zheng, Florence Lo, , Peter Ricketts, , doesn’t, ” Ricketts, Christopher Furlong Organizations: London CNN, Sunday Times, Conservative, CNN, Premier, Embassy, Metropolitan Police, Conservative Party, of, People, parliament’s Intelligence, Security, British National Security, Getty, Russia, Diplomats Locations: China, Beijing, New Delhi, London, gossiping, Europe, Hong Kong, South China, Taiwan, Westminster
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not post on social media platform X saying that his government was passing a “Digital Existence Act” due to the spread of a new coronavirus variant. That's why we're passing the “Digital Existence Act.”” (archive.ph/v621t)Confused users responded in the comments section saying: “Please explain how digital currency stops a virus,” and: “Is this real? Did he really tweet this.”The post is not visible on Trudeau’s official X account and there is no evidence that the alleged “Digital Existence Act” is real. The claim originates from the handle @Trudeaus_Ego, which describes its content as: “The egotistical thoughts of Prime Minister Trudeau” in its bio (twitter.com/Trudeaus_Ego). A screenshot shared online shows a parody post from an account impersonating Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing a “Digital Existence Act” due to a new variant of coronavirus.
Persons: Justin Trudeau, Trudeau, , Alison Murphy, Trudeau ”, Read Organizations: Canada’s, Twitter, Reuters, Omicron, Canadian Locations: Canada, Ottawa
London CNN —The United Kingdom government has been heavily criticized by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee for underestimating the growth of Russia’s Wagner private mercenary group, despite it posing a major threat to the country’s interests. Wagner “essentially operate like a criminal mafia,” Kearns said in an interview with Sky News Wednesday. Barbara Debout/AFP/Getty Images/FILEIt also criticized the UK government for only beginning to seriously monitor the group after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. “It is deeply regrettable that it was not until early 2022 that the Government began to invest greater resource in understanding the Wagner Network, despite Wagner fighters having already conducted military operations in at least seven countries for almost a decade,” read the report. “The Government has not told us anything specific that it is doing to challenge the network’s influence and impunity outside of Ukraine,” the report said.
Persons: Russia’s Wagner, Wagner, , Alicia Kearns, Wagner “, ” Kearns, , Barbara Debout Organizations: London CNN, United, Parliament’s Foreign, , CNN, Sky News, Getty, Government, Wagner Network, European Union Locations: Africa, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic, Libya, Mozambique, Mali, Bangui, AFP, , United States
CNN —The European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of legally binding targets to protect and restore nature in the European Union, despite strong opposition from some policymakers. The flagship EU nature law will also require countries to introduce measures to restore nature on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030. It is the first major piece of legislation to protect biodiversity in the EU in the last 30 years, according to Greenpeace. Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg reacts as she attends a voting session on EU nature restoration law during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty ImagesEU lawmakers and member countries will now negotiate the final text, aiming for a deal before EU Parliament elections in 2024.
Persons: what’s, Špela, Manfred Weber –, Manfred Weber, Mykhaylo Palinchak, , Ireland’s Frances Fitzgerald, , ” Fitzgerald, Greta Thunberg, Frederick Florin Organizations: CNN, European Union, Greenpeace, Greenpeace’s, European People’s Party, EPP, EU Parliament’s, Twitter, Socialists, Democrats, Greens, Getty, European Environment Agency Locations: EU, Greenpeace’s Central, Eastern Europe, Europe, Swedish, Strasbourg, AFP
CNN —Amid the raging war and constant threat of Russian missiles, a successful heart transplant has been performed on a 6-year-old girl in Kyiv, authorities with the Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday. It was the first time a heart transplant had been performed in Ukraine on children so young, the institute said. “The operation went smoothly, the girl was extubated two hours after the operation,” Todurov said in a post on his official Facebook page. Ukrainian Transplant Coordination CenterThe Heart Institute released images from the operation showing the mother of the boy whose heart was donated standing by the girl’s bedside. The Heart Institute has purchased special generators so operations can continue during blackouts, and it has an autonomous water supply.
Persons: CNN —, Dr, Boris Todurov, ” Todurov, Oksana Dmytrieva, ” Dmytrieva, , , hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, Heart Institute, Transplant Coordination, Ukrainian, Facebook, National Children’s Locations: Russian, Kyiv, Ukraine, Kherson region, Kirovohrad
UK banks are appropriate airbag for mortgage crash
  + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +4 min
Last year this was 2.9% on average for Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays. Hunt may be able to get banks to hike their savings rates merely by veiled threats. After all, the government would only be getting banks to do what they should be doing anyway. “It is taking too long for the increase in interest rates to be passed on to savers, particularly with instant access accounts,” Hunt told parliament. Around 60% of household deposits are held in instant access accounts, the committee said.
Persons: Banks, Jeremy Hunt, shouldn’t, it’s, Hunt, ” Hunt, , Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Monday, Banking Group, NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds, JPMorgan, NatWest –, Alpha, Treasury, Bank of England, Labour Party, National Savings and Investments, of, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, Barclays –, Thomson
CNN —The United States and Papua New Guinea are poised to sign a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement – a move that has sparked controversy in the Pacific Island nation and comes as Washington and China jostle for influence in the region. Those concerns were heightened last year after Beijing signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands – and tried, but failed, to win support for a sweeping, regional trade and security communique with Pacific Island nations. “Papua New Guinea does not have enemies but it pays to be prepared. Blinken is expected to meet with leaders of the Pacific Island Forum regional body in Port Moresby on Monday, the forum has said, taking Biden’s place at the gathering. That bid has included opening embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga this year, while Biden hosted Pacific Island leaders in Washington for a summit in September and released the first-ever national strategy on engaging the Pacific Islands.
Two lawmakers with knowledge of the exports and two former officials said the approvals reflected Britain’s increased willingness to support Taiwan. One of the lawmakers, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said authorising the export licences amounted to giving a "green light" to better equip Taiwan. It shows the government authorised 25 export licences to Taiwan during the first nine months of 2022 under the categories "components for submarines" and "technology for submarines." Taiwan has for decades been unable to buy conventional submarines from other countries because of their concerns of angering China. Asked about the decision to approve the increase in export licences, the official said: "You just don't do something like this without thinking through the implications very carefully."
A Norwegian study has found a “substantial” amount of metals and minerals ranging from copper to rare earths on the seabed of its extended continental shelf, authorities said on Friday in their first official estimates. “Of the metals found on the seabed in the study area, magnesium, niobium, cobalt and rare earth minerals are found on the European Commission’s list of critical minerals,” the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), which conducted the study, said in a statement. About 24 million tonnes of magnesium and 3.1 million tonnes of cobalt are estimated to be in manganese crusts grown on bedrock over millions of years, as well as 1.7 million tonnes of cerium, a rare earth element used in alloys. The manganese crusts are also estimated to contain other rare earth metals, such as neodymium, yttrium and dysprosium. “Costly, rare minerals such as neodymium and dysprosium are extremely important for magnets in wind turbines and the engines in electric vehicles,” the NPD said.
The European Parliament on Thursday urged member states to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, in a sign of growing support for new measures against Tehran as it arms Russia in Ukraine and suppresses protests at home. The parliament’s resolution, which condemned Iran for its crackdown on protests, followed remarks from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday saying she favored the move. Germany, the bloc’s most powerful country, has been pushing for the IRGC to be placed on the EU terrorism list for months.
Lawyers exit Hong Kong as they face campaign of intimidation
  + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +18 min
The event that precipitated his hasty departure, Vidler said, was the appearance of articles in the state-backed media in Hong Kong about him. “This was in my view state-sponsored intimidation and harassment,” said Vidler, whose wife and children later left Hong Kong. One Hong Kong solicitor who has relocated to England told Reuters that she knew of at least 80 Hong Kong lawyers who had moved to Britain since the security law was imposed in June 2020. Another lawyer, now living in Australia, estimated that several dozen Hong Kong lawyers had moved there. Mainland officials have long sought influence over these two influential bodies, according to senior Hong Kong lawyers.
CNN —Russian sausage magnate-turned-lawmaker Pavel Antov died in India on Saturday after falling from the third floor of his hotel, according to the Indian police. Police believe Antov died by suicide after falling from the third floor of his hotel in the Rayagada district, although the postmortem report has not been released yet, Sharma said. He was a member of the Russian parliament’s United Russia party, which was formerly headed by Vladimir Putin and is still staunchly supportive of the Russian President. Russian Consul General in Calcutta Alexey Idamkin told Russian state media RIA Novosti on Monday that the Odisha State Police and the Consulate General in Calcutta didn’t see anything suspicious in the death of two Russians in India. In mid-September, Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin, who was the top manager for the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok, according to Russian state media.
Jeremy Clarkson tweeted that he was 'horrified' at the hurt his article caused. “This sort of language has no place in our country, and it is unacceptable that it was allowed to be published in a mainstream newspaper,” it reads. This was the highest circulation of any UK national newspaper at the time. “In light of Jeremy Clarkson’s tweet he has asked us to take last week’s column down,” the page now reads. Meghan recalled how she was stressed by UK newspaper the Mail on Sunday publishing a private letter she had written to her father, Thomas Markle.
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance shook hands with Qatar’s energy minister, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, after Qatar agreed a deal with the U.S. company to send Germany liquefied natural gas. Qatar warned that an investigation by authorities in Brussels into its role in an alleged influence and bribery scheme could adversely affect energy deals with Europe, and it condemned a push by the European Parliament to suspend dealings with the Persian Gulf kingdom. The European Parliament’s move “will negatively effect regional and global security cooperation, as well as ongoing discussions around global energy poverty and security,” a statement by a Qatari diplomat to the European Union said Sunday, noting that Qatar is an important supplier of liquefied natural gas to Belgium.
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance shook hands with Qatar’s energy minister, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, after Qatar agreed a deal with the U.S. company to send Germany liquefied natural gas. Qatar warned Sunday that an investigation by authorities in Brussels into its role in an alleged influence and bribery scheme could adversely affect energy talks with Europe and condemned a decision by the European Parliament to suspend dealings with the Persian Gulf kingdom. The European Parliament’s move “will negatively effect regional and global security cooperation, as well as ongoing discussions around global energy poverty and security,” a statement by a Qatari diplomat to the European Union said Sunday, noting that Qatar is an important supplier of liquefied natural gas to Belgium.
Belgian police said late last week that they had carried out raids and arrested four people in connection with an ongoing corruption probe into alleged payments and gifts from Qatar to members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their staff. Kaili did not appear at a scheduled hearing on Wednesday, and was remanded in custody until she appears before a court on December 22, Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said Wednesday. Federal prosecutors confirmed a “large-scale investigation” was conducted into the alleged criminal activity, corruption, and money laundering activities within the European Parliament on Wednesday. Kaili, who has spoken in defense of Qatar in the European Parliament, traveled to Qatar shortly before the start of the soccer World Cup. While this scandal has rocked Brussels, the allegations have come as no great surprise to those who know the European institutions, especially the Parliament.
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