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☆ Powerful quake rocks Turkey and Syria, kills more than 3,400
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A man carries a girl following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. People search through rubble following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. Rescuers carry out a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. He said their shared four-story building collapsed just as he, his wife and three children ran toward the exit. Rescuers stand on rubble of a collapsed building, following an earthquake, in Latakia, Syria, February 6, 2023 in this handout image.

☆ Let Hamilton speak out, says Bahrain rights group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) urged Formula One's governing body on Tuesday to allow seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton and other drivers to speak freely on 'political' issues. read moreMercedes' Hamilton, the sport's all-time most successful driver, has used his profile and platform to address human rights abuses and racial injustice around the world. The Middle East has four races this year -- In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The FIA has said the update is merely aligned with "the political neutrality of sport" but Alwadaei said it appeared to target Hamilton. "We are saying to Mohammed Ben Sulayem that this policy is wrong and it must be reversed immediately," he added.

☆ Why Egypt is asking its people to eat chicken feet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Abu Dhabi CNN —Egypt’s economic situation is so dire that the government is asking people to eat chicken feet. In Egypt, chicken feet are seen as the cheapest of meat items, considered by most as animal waste rather than food. After the recommendation to switch to chicken feet, the price of one kilogram of the product reportedly doubled to 20 Egyptian pounds ($0.67). But those firms don’t operate like private companies, enjoying special privileges without disclosing their financial data to the public. Experts have questioned why international creditors had not leveraged their loans to drive Egypt’s military out of the economy.

☆ Analysis: Iraq's mercurial Moqtada Sadr risks isolation with political retreat
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Ahmed Rasheed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Pro-Sadr clerics, former legislators and analysts say Sadr has no clearly defined political role for the first time since 2005, leaving him at his weakest since entering Iraqi politics. Sadr officials, pro-Sadr Shi'ite clerics and religious sources in the sacred Iraqi city of Najaf told Reuters they believed Tehran was behind the pronouncement. Haeri told Sadr's followers to seek future guidance on religious matters from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a scholar who is Iran's Supreme Leader. Ghazi Faisal, chairman of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies think-tank, said Haeri gave "momentum to Iranian efforts to consolidate the powers of its allies in Iraqi politics." Human rights groups accused Sadr militiamen of kidnapping and killing Sunnis at the height of Iraq's civil war.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's Fiji First has not conceded defeat, while a coalition of three parties say they have a combined majority and have agreed on People's Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka as prime minister. In a statement on Facebook, Bainimarama said the military "has been deployed to complement the Police in maintaining law and order". Bainimarama has been prime minister for 16 years, taking power in a coup, and later winning two democratic elections in 2014 and 2018. New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand was "aware of the statement from Fiji's Police Commissioner". The prime minister must be voted in by more than 50% of lawmakers on the parliament floor.

☆ Fiji national election a tight race in early provisional counting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Voters queue at a polling station to vote during the Fijian general election in Suva, Fiji, December 14, 2022. Bainimarama is in a tight race against another former coup leader and one-time prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, whose People's Alliance Party has formed a coalition with Fiji's oldest political party, the National Federation Party. The election office said result updates were put "temporarily on hold" shortly before 11 p.m., and later said its election results app, used by the public, had errors. Bainimarama's Fiji First supporters campaigned on stability and progress, while the opposition said national debt was too high and questioned the state of democracy, he said. A multinational observer group led by Australia, India and Indonesia includes 90 election observers who are also monitoring the national vote counting centre.

☆ How almost $427 million in taxpayer money is locked away in a forgotten government fund — and lawmakers won't spend it or return it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The intended beneficiaries of the taxpayer-fueled Presidential Election Campaign Fund — presidential candidates — don't want it, as they're soured by its restrictions on their election fundraising and spending. An accounting of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, as of October 31, 2022. Several nonprofit leaders told Insider that Congress could use the Presidential Election Campaign Fund money to immediately ease suffering, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2019-20 congressional session, two Republican lawmakers sponsored similar bills that attempted to kill the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Until that or any other repurposing decision comes down, the FEC continues to spend taxpayer resources keeping the Presidential Election Campaign Fund alive.

☆ Fact Check-PCR test for COVID-19 uses gene cloning but cannot be used to clone humans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits for COVID-19 use what’s known as gene cloning – not reproductive cloning – to detect the presence or absence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but social media posts claim that humans are being cloned using COVID-19 PCR tests. The claim appears to originate from an Aug. 18 segment of the Stew Peters Show titled, “Patent PCR Test Linked To Human Cloning Video Shows Animal Experiments, Cross Species Genetics” (here). The 2015 paper by Hoseini and Sauer explains methods for gene cloning with PCR and used a gene encoding a red fluorescent protein as its example. PCR tests for COVID-19 cannot be used for human cloning. Molecular cloning, or gene cloning, that is described in a 2015 paper about using PCR to copy individual genes is an entirely different process.

Rising salinity in the Delta has multiple causes, experts and farmers say, including overextraction of groundwater and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides. "With time, with the sea level higher, that line of salinity will go down into the Delta. EVAPORATIONSea water intrusion and salinity also threaten the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta in Bangladesh. "You have to do much better job in a place like the Nile Delta because the water just evaporates quickly," she said. Rice cultivation helps wash the soil, but the government has imposed restrictions on the crop in parts of the Delta to conserve scarce water.

☆ Taliban ban women from parks, morality ministry says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Afghan women will no longer be allowed in parks, a spokesperson for the Taliban's morality ministry said, in part because they had not been meeting its interpretation of Islamic attire during their visits. "Unfortunately, the owners of parks didn't co-operate with us very well, and also the women didn't observe hijab as was suggested. However, the Taliban have said women should wear long flowing clothes that cover their bodies and also cover their faces, such as the all-enveloping burqa. Some women in Kabul and other urban centres do not cover their faces in public and others wear a surgical face mask. The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

How Putin and Friends Stalled Climate Progress A handful of powerful world leaders rallied around Russia and undercut global cooperation. Mr. Putin has gained from this as the increasingly autocratic Mr. Xi finds common cause with the Kremlin. “Much depends on whether authoritarian leaders perceive climate action to be in their self-interest.”Though their actions help Mr. Putin, their track records on climate are mixed. Mr. Xi called Mr. Putin his “best friend.”He was returning the favor from a year earlier, when Mr. Putin hosted Mr. Xi at the Grand Kremlin Palace and awarded him one of Russia’s highest medals for foreign dignitaries. At a news conference with Mr. Putin, Mr. Bolsonaro thanked his “dear friend,” saying that Mr. Putin had offered him support when other world leaders were criticizing his Amazon policy.

Representatives from around the world will meet from Nov. 6-18 at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt to try to agree pledges to limit warming to below 2C above pre-industrial levels and ideally to 1.5C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Policies in place, without strengthening, will likely lead to a 2.8C rise in temperature by the end of the century, 0.1C higher than was estimated last year. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster," UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said. The gap between pledges and limiting warming to 2C is 15 GtCO2e a year and for 1.5C it is 23 GtCO2e a year. read moreOn Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization said greenhouse gas concentrations climbed at above-average rates to new records last year.

These "conditional" pledges, if implemented fully, could reduce expected warming to a 2.4C rise, while unconditional pledges could lead to a 2.6C rise, the report said. "We still aren't anywhere near enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions (to the levels required)," UNEP executive director Inger Andersen told reporters at a briefing. The gap between pledges and limiting warming to 2C is 15 GtCO2e a year and for 1.5C it is 23 GtCO2e a year. According to a separate U.N. report earlier this week analysing the latest pledges submitted by countries, 2.5C of warming is likely by the end of the century. read moreOn Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization said greenhouse gas concentrations climbed at above-average rates to records last year.

☆ In COP27 host Egypt, Red Sea coral reefs resilient but under stress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Mariam Rizk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] General view of a hotel with pools in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh town as the city prepares to host the COP27 summit next month, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt October 20, 2022. REUTERS/Sayed Sheasha/File PhotoHURGHADA, Egypt, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Egypt hosts next month's COP27 climate summit at a Red Sea resort, where climate change and human activity are threatening one of the world's most prized coral reefs. These Red Sea reefs, which make up about 5% of the global reef cover, contain the most diversity of species outside of Southeast Asia. "We have in Egypt coral reefs that will be among the last remaining in the world, which means it will provide hope for humanity that a unique ecosystem like this remains alive," Hanafy said. But the Red Sea reefs face other threats, including scuba divers.

View of a COP27 sign on the road leading to the conference area in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh town as the city prepares to host the COP27 summit next month, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt October 20, 2022. The Nov. 6-18 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh is the first annual U.N. climate conference to be held after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. CONCRETE BARRIERAnother concern among activists is the difficulty ordinary citizens may face accessing Sharm el-Sheikh. A petition led by 12 Egypt-focussed rights groups has called on Egypt to address restrictions on civil society, saying "effective climate action is not possible without open civic space". "Certainly we're very alive to the fact that Sharm el-Sheikh is an enclosed space, very controlled, very curated," she said.

☆ The EU agreed to slap sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia drones that it used to bombard Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has agreed to sanction Iran over the drones it has supplied to Russia. Three people and an entity connected to the drones will be sanctioned, the Czech EU presidency said. "After three days of talks, EU ambassadors agreed on measures against entities supplying Iranian drones that hit Ukraine," the Czech Presidency of the EU Council wrote in a tweet. Another four Iranian entities could also receive EU sanctions, it also said. Iran is already under a wide swathe of UN and EU sanctions imposed over the last decades, relating to human rights and the development of nuclear military capabilities.

☆ How more than $424 million in taxpayer money is locked away in a forgotten government fund — and lawmakers won't spend it or return it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The intended beneficiaries of the taxpayer-fueled Presidential Election Campaign Fund — presidential candidates — don't want it, as they're soured by its restrictions on their election fundraising and spending. A US Treasury document detailing the finances of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Several nonprofit leaders told Insider that Congress could use the Presidential Election Campaign Fund money to immediately ease suffering, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2019-20 congressional session, two Republican lawmakers sponsored similar bills that attempted to kill the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Until that or any other repurposing decision comes down, the FEC continues to spend taxpayer resources keeping the Presidential Election Campaign Fund alive.

☆ Navid Afkari: Executed Iranian wrestling star’s voice is ‘everywhere now’
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-28 | by ( Don Riddell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

Editor’s Note: Wrestler Navid Afkari was executed by the Iranian government on September 12, 2020. On that fateful morning, he learned that another Iranian wrestler, Navid Afkari, had been executed, hanged for a crime that his family and friends say he didn’t commit. The spirit of wrestling is deeply engrained in Iranian culture, where it has transcended the arena of sport. The executionAccording to the Afkari family, his final days were brutal, but there wasn’t necessarily any reason to think that the end was near. Iranians in Canada on Mel Lastman Square demonstrate against the execution of wrestler Navid Afkari by the Iranian regime, in Toronto, Ontario in September 2020.

☆ Reacția unei jurnaliste din Gaza care transmitea live în timp ce clădirea de lângă ea era bombardată (VIDEO)
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-17 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: 1 min

O jurnalistă care transmitea live din Gaza pentru televiziunea Al Jazeera a uimit presa internațională prin calmul de care a dat dovadă, deși o clădire de lângă ea era bombardată de militarii israelieni, relatează Euronews, citat de libertatea.ro. Reacția reporterei a devenit virală. În tot acest timp, un atac aerian a avut loc la câțiva metri de ziaristă, o clădire a postului TV Al-Aqsa al Hamas a fost distrusă. S-a îndepărtat însă de la marginea acoperișului blocului pe care se afla. Stăpânirea de sine a jurnalistei a devenit virală.

Persons: Jazeera, Al Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Fâșia Gaza

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