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☆ The ‘fearless young activists’ thrown in jail for climate campaigns in Cambodia
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“We demand that our friends in Mother Nature Cambodia, and all political prisoners, be released immediately,” said Fridays for Future, the youth-led global climate strike movement founded by Thunberg, in a statement. “Like what we are seeing with dictators in other countries, Cambodia is becoming more repressed,” said Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spaniard who co-founded Mother Nature Cambodia over a decade ago, alongside local Cambodian activists. Environmental activists stage a mock funeral procession in the streets of Phnom Penh. Video footage showed activists Mother Nature Cambodia activists Ly Chandaravuth, Long Kunthea, Thun Ratha, Phuon Keoraksmey and Yim Leanghy surrounded by dozens of armed police officers and dragged away into waiting cars, bound for prisons across the country. “This week, a new generation of Cambodian activists was born – one that did not exist back in 2012,” he said.

Persons: Greta Thunberg, ”, Thunberg, Mu Sochua, “, ” “, ” Mu Sochua, Chantha Lach, Hun Sen –, Hun Manet, Hun Sen, Alejandro Gonzalez, Davidson, Pen Bona, Ole von Uexkuell, Magnus Lejhall, Gonzalez, Valeria Mongelli, –, Ly Chandaravuth, Long, Phuon Keoraksmey, Yim, Pilorge, lèse, Thameen Al, Kheetan Organizations: CNN, Nature Cambodia, Reuters, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, Nature, TT, Agency, AFP, Getty, Facebook, Court, Cambodian League, Promotion, Human, Journalists, ” United Nations Human Rights Locations: Cambodia, Nature, Reuters Cambodia, Nature Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodian, Sweden, Stockholm, Sihanoukville, Thun

France, where Ryanair serves cities such as Marseille and Bordeaux, has floated proposals for a minimum ticket price in an effort to reduce pollution from aviation. The French price proposal, which EU officials said has drawn some support from the Netherlands and Belgium, got short shrift from senior Ryanair executive Eddie Wilson. Having established a strong position in large parts of Western Europe, Ryanair is now looking east to countries such as Poland for further growth. Europe's main airlines lobby group expressed relief and called on more European coordination to support the sector. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has said a stronger ITA will reinvigorate competition in the Italian market but Ryanair's Wilson is unperturbed, describing ITA as a sideshow.

Persons: Eddie Wilson, Wilson, Andrea Giuricin, Giorgia, Giuseppe Cocuzza, Ourania Georgoutsakou, Carsten Spohr, Ryanair's Wilson, Rome Fiumicino, Sacbo, Angelo Amante, Keith Weir, Joanna Plucinska, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Ryanair, Europe's, European Union, Ryanair DAC, Alitalia, TRA Consulting, European Commission, Airlines for, ITA, Lufthansa, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Thomson Locations: Italy, ROME, France, Marseille, Bordeaux, Sicily, Sardinia, Netherlands, Belgium, Europe, Western Europe, Poland, Rome, Catania, Airlines for Europe, Bergamo, Milan, Malpensa, Brescia, London

☆ Explainer: What has changed in Iran one year since Mahsa Amini protests erupted?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A photo of Mahsa Amini is pictured at a condolence meeting organised by students and activists from Delhi University in support of anti-regime protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, in New Delhi, India, September 26, 2022. Protests began soon after the Sept. 16 death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested by morality police three days earlier for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory Islamic dress code. But as the protests fizzled they returned to streets and surveillance cameras were installed to identify and penalise unveiled women. Outside Iran, Western countries imposed new sanctions on security forces and on dozens of Iranian officials over the protests, further straining already difficult ties. Journalists, lawyers, activists, students, academics, artists, public figures and family members of killed protesters, especially among ethnic minorities, have been targeted in recent weeks.

Persons: Mahsa, Anushree, Mahsa Amini, Saqez, Amini's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Amini, penalise, Iran's, Parisa Hafezi, Angus McDowall, William Maclean Organizations: Delhi University, REUTERS, Rights, schoolgirls, Authorities, Security, Revolutionary Guards, Journalists, Thomson Locations: Iran, New Delhi, India, Rights DUBAI, Tehran ., Islamic Republic, Baluchis, U.S, Israel

☆ Russia-North Korea summit: "Comrades" Putin and Kim send rivals a warning
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Discussions of any open violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea would signal that major international agencies will be paralysed, said Andrei Lankov, a Korea expert at Seoul's Kookmin University. The summit is an indicator that North Korea-related Security Council resolutions are dead, as are all attempts to stop North Korea or penalise it for having a nuclear program, he said. UKRAINE FACTORLankov also said that Russia may be unlikely to provide North Korea with advanced technology that it could eventually lose control of. If Russia, North Korea and China feel that they are threatened, it makes sense they would seek to support each other through partnerships or even alliances to counter the United States. "It's just difficult for me to imagine that Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin can trust each other enough for a real long term concerted alliance formation," he said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Putin, Duyeon Kim, Leif, Eric Easley, Andrei Lankov, Lankov, Mason Richey, Jinping, Josh Smith, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Vostochny, North, Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, REUTERS Acquire, Center, New, New American Security, Ewha University, U.S, Seoul's Kookmin University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, SEOUL, Russia's, U.S, Ukraine, North Korea, New American, Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, Northeast Asia, China, South Korea, Korea, UKRAINE, Kyiv, Poland, United States

☆ What has changed in Iran one year since Mahsa Amini protests erupted?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Persons: Mahsa, Anushree, Mahsa Amini, Saqez, Amini's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Amini, penalise, Parisa Hafezi, Angus McDowall, William Maclean Organizations: Delhi University, REUTERS, Rights, schoolgirls, Authorities, Security, Revolutionary Guards, Journalists, Thomson Locations: Iran, New Delhi, India, Rights DUBAI, Tehran ., Islamic Republic, Baluchis, U.S, Israel

☆ Cambodia PM Hun Sen to hand over power to son next month
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Phnom Penh, July 26 (Reuters) - Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday he will step down and hand over power to his son next month, ending a near four-decade reign that has in recent years overseen an erosion of democracy in the Southeast Asian country. "Hun Manet...will become the prime minister in the coming weeks," Hun Sen said in a nationally televised address, adding his son would be appointed to the post by the king on Aug. 10 and parliament would confirm the new premier with a vote on Aug. 22. Hun Sen, who has ruled the Southeast Asian country for 38 years, was speaking just days after his ruling Cambodian People's Party swept a general election after running virtually unopposed. Hun Sen said he would stay on as head of the ruling party and member of the National Assembly. Reporting by Reuters staff, Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Hun Sen, Hun Manet, Critics, Devjyot, Kanupriya Kapoor, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Cambodia's, Cambodian People's Party, National Assembly, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Phnom Penh, Sunday's

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - India's power consumption is becoming increasingly "peaky" as a result of rapidly growing air-conditioning loads and the deployment of increasing amounts of solar power. In response, the government has announced increased use of time-of-day tariffs to encourage consumption during solar hours and penalise usage after sunset. On June 23, the Ministry of Power outlined plans for a three-rate tariff, with prices varying between normal hours, solar hours and peak hours ("India to cut daytime power tariffs, raise fees for night use", Reuters, June 23). Prices during solar hours will be reduced by 10-20% compared with normal while peak hours will be 10-20% more expensive - a total swing from least-expensive to most-expensive of 20-40%. Chartbook: India electricity systemIn May 2023, India's total electricity consumption was marginally lower than in the same month a year earlier as a result of cooler temperatures.

Persons: John Kemp, David Evans Organizations: Ministry of Power, Reuters, Thomson Locations: India

☆ Ahead of election, Cambodia amends law to bar non-voters from contesting in future
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Hun Sen, who has held power in Cambodia for more than three decades, last week ordered the rubber-stamp parliament to revise the law so that anyone who does not vote in the general election on July 23 will be barred from contesting any future elections. At the last election in 2018, the Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won all of the parliamentary seats, having scored 4.8 million votes out of the 6.9 million cast. Hun Sen's administration has denied targeting opponents and says it is enforcing the law. The election commission said earlier this month that anyone urging people not to vote would be fined or imprisoned. The CPP will run virtually unopposed next month, after the election commission disqualified the sole opposition Candlelight Party from running, citing improper paperwork.

Persons: penalise, Hun Sen's, Hun Sen, Kheng, Phil Robertson, Kanupriya Kapoor, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Interior, Cambodian People's Party, Human Rights Watch, Party, Reuters, Thomson Locations: PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

☆ Opposition Turkish TV probed for 'insulting' election coverage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Election officials count votes during the second round of the presidential election, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, May 28, 2023. President Tayyip Erdogan extended his two-decade rule in the second round of the election on Sunday. His rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said it was "the most unfair election in years" but did not dispute the outcome. RTUK penalised four television stations in March for their election coverage. International rights groups and Turkish opposition parties have accused the RTUK of attempting to silence opposition media as a tool of the government.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, RTUK, Gurkan Ozturan, Burcu Karakas, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Radio, Television Supreme, Borders, Media, European Centre for Press, Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Diyarbakir, Turkey, Sertac, ANKARA, Turkish, Istanbul, Ankara

☆ Angry Tesla Shanghai workers vent to Elon Musk over bonus cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicles are seen during a delivery event at its factory in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. The situation marks a rare outburst of discontent at Tesla's Shanghai plant, whose workers Musk praised last year for burning "the 3 a.m. oil" to keep operations running during the city's two-month COVID lockdown. Some took to Twitter, owned by Musk and blocked in China, to tweet to the billionaire, his mother Maye Musk, and Tesla. "Please pay attention to the performance (bonus) of frontline workers at Tesla's Shanghai factory being arbitrarily deducted," said a person with the handle @AFeiywu on Twitter in a tweet directed at Elon Musk and Tesla's Asia unit. She recently completed a two-week tour in the country during which she visited the Shanghai factory and promoted her memoir.

☆ Iran vows crack down on people who promote removing the veil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

His comments come as an increasing number of women have been defying Iran's compulsory dress code, appearing unveiled in malls, restaurants, shops, streets, and other public areas. Several female celebrities and activists have also in recent months posted photos of themselves on social media without the veil. Iranian police on Saturday installed cameras in public places to identify and penalise unveiled women, Iranian media reported. He did not say what the punishments might be or what exactly entails promoting unveiling. Videos of unveiled women resisting the morality police have flooded social media.

☆ Iran installs cameras in public places to identify, penalise unveiled women
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Iranian women walk through rain in a flower market, ahead of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, in Tehran, Iran March 16, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERSApril 8 (Reuters) - In a further attempt to rein in increasing numbers of women defying the compulsory dress code, Iranian authorities are installing cameras in public places and thoroughfares to identify and penalise unveiled women, the police announced on Saturday. Videos of unveiled women resisting the morality police have flooded social media. It urged citizens to confront unveiled women. Last week a viral video showed a man throwing yoghurt at two unveiled women in a shop.

☆ Swiss regulator deflects blame for Credit Suisse debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( John O'Donnell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BERN, April 5 (Reuters) - Switzerland's financial regulator deflected blame for the collapse of the country's second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse, saying it had been quick to respond, calling instead for more powers to take lenders to task. Axel Lehman had told shareholders he was 'truly sorry" for taking Swiss bank to the brink of bankruptcy. "Our instruments hit their limits ... as seen in the case of Credit Suisse," said Amstad, making a rare public appeal for more power. But, as we have seen, Credit Suisse paid billions in fines and that didn't change its catastrophic business strategy," said Dominik Gross of the Swiss Alliance of Development Organisations. While the takeover of Credit Suisse has been agreed, many hurdles, such as winning regulatory approval from countries around the world, lie ahead.

ZURICH, March 21 (Reuters) - Swiss authorities imposed curbs on bonus payments for Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) employees, a move that will penalise bankers after a multi-billion-franc state rescue of the bank. Credit Suisse declined to comment. Battered by years of scandals and losses, Credit Suisse for months had been battling a crisis of confidence. The bank's bonus pool shrank by 50% in 2022 to 1 billion Swiss francs, according to its annual report. The Swiss government also instructed its finance ministry to propose further measures on variable remuneration for Credit Suisse.

☆ Dutch warn against internet toll as EU looks to Big Tech to fund networks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other operators have long lobbied for a Big Tech contribution and have found an ally in Breton, a former chief executive at Orange. These companies account for more than half of data internet traffic, according to telecom operators. Adriaansens said the Dutch government had commissioned a study by economic consultancy Oxera which showed the drawbacks of such a tax. "I think that there is this concern that our infrastructure is not able to meet our expectations and our ambitions. According to Oxera's study, Europe's telecoms providers have not been burdened with higher network costs despite the strong growth in internet data traffic.

An Austrian official said that Austrian authorities were monitoring the situation at Raiffeisen and its business in Russia closely because of the bank's importance. Almost a year since Moscow launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Raiffeisen is among a handful of European banks that remain in Russia. Raiffeisen made a net profit of roughly 3.8 billion euros last year, thanks in large part to a 2 billion euro plus profit from its Russia business. Alternatively, OFAC can also resort to less stringent measures such as levying fines and sending warning letters over sanctions violations. OFAC has sanctioned five major Russian banks, including state-backed Sberbank (SBER.MM) part of a response to that country's invasion of Ukraine, as well as wealthy oligarchs.

☆ Take Five: The Bottom Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Australia and India's central banks are navigating the shifting sands of data and markets are digesting what the world's top central banks have to offer. The question is what impact this will have on bonds and stocks markets after a stellar January? Reuters Graphics4/ RUN RALLY, RUNIt was a stellar start to 2023 for markets - stocks and government bonds enjoyed one of the best Januaries on record, fuelled by optimism that the worst is over. That's not good for a central bank, nor is the idea that their communication is ineffective. Policy rate hikes and cuts by central banks overseeing the 10 most traded currencies.

☆ Australia aims for bigger fines a week into Outback hunt for radioactive capsule
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Members of the Incident Management Team coordinate the search for a radioactive capsule that was lost in transit by a contractor hired by Rio Tinto, at the Emergency Services Complex in Cockburn, Australia, in this undated handout photo. Department of Fire and Emergency Services/Handout via REUTERSSYDNEY, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Authorities in Australia will review laws that penalise the mishandling of radioactive material with a A$1,000 ($707) fine as a search for a hazardous capsule lost in the Outback enters a seventh day. The penalty for failing to safely handle radioactive substances is A$1,000 and A$50 per day the offence continues, according to state legislation from 1975. The silver capsule, 6 mm in diameter and 8 mm long, contains Caesium-137 which emits radiation equal to 10 X-rays per hour. Authorities suspect vibrations on the bumpy road loosened screws and a bolt on the gauge letting the capsule fall out.

☆ Industry vs. Regulator - aviation heavyweights spar in Dublin
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Joanna Plucinska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Willie Walsh, outspoken head of the world's biggest airline trade body, IATA, joined the European Union's top permanent transport official Henrik Hololei on stage at the Airline Economics conference in the world's aviation finance capital. But Walsh wanted to know what could be done to lift that closure, which threatens to penalise some Western airlines at the expense of Chinese and other carriers that continue to fly over Russia. He added there would be no "business as usual" if Russian airspace did reopen. Airlines accuse airports of overcharging carriers, while airports say they have to fund huge capital investments. "We allowed those who wanted to find the poster child for environmental damage to pick on aviation," he said.

☆ French refinery, metro strikes loom in clash over pension reform
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Blandine Henault | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Protestors and French CGT labour union workers attend a demonstration as part of a nationwide day of strike and protests to push for government measures to address inflation, workers' rights and pension reforms, in Paris, France, September 29, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - France's CGT trade union on Thursday called for strikes in the refinery sector against plans to make people work longer before they can retire and Paris metro unions said they would do "everything they can" to stop the pension reform. The French will have to work two years longer, to age 64, before retiring, if the reform, announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday, is adopted by parliament. They will also need to work longer to get a full pension. "There is a right to strike, there is a right to demonstrate, but I think it is also important not to penalise the French," she said.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) (FAB.AD), the $50 billion Gulf lender that the brother of the United Arab Emirates’ president chairs, last week said it had considered a bid for the $23 billion UK-listed bank. Half its revenues come from Hong Kong, China and other Asian countries, where much of Abu Dhabi’s oil goes. StanChart’s commodities trading strength fits with Abu Dhabi’s keenness to become an energy trading hub. CONTEXT NEWSFirst Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) on Jan. 5 said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so. The Abu Dhabi lender said it had been in "the very early stages of evaluating a possible offer".

☆ Bond-buying scars will open European can of worms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The euro zone will soon have to pay for a decade of European Central Bank largesse. The first is to use provisions accumulated by national central banks over the past decade. But the central banks had wide differences in their approach to provisioning, meaning some may be left weaker than others. A central bank cannot be declared bankrupt, but operating with little or negative equity could hurt its credibility. And even if central banks don’t penalise them, they face the added risk that governments may tax them instead.

☆ FIFA, UEFA rules compatible with EU competition rules, EU court adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Soccer bodies UEFA and FIFA's rules giving them the right to block clubs from joining a breakaway league and penalise players who do so are compatible with EU antitrust laws, an adviser to Europe's top court said on Thursday. The case centres on the dispute between UEFA, FIFA and the European Super League last year but could also impact other sports, clubs and players tempted by lucrative deals offered by rebel bodies and seeking to cash in during relatively short careers. The Super League took its case to a Spanish court which subsequently sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). "The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law," Advocate General Athanasios Rantos at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe's highest, said. While the Super League is free to set up its own independent football competition outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem, it cannot at the same time continue to participate in FIFA and UEFA football competitions without their prior authorisation, he said.

☆ Indonesia set to pass new criminal code that will ban sex outside marriage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ananda Teresia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The government and House of Representatives have agreed on the draft code, clearing a hurdle to its passage. Parliament had planned to ratify a draft new code in September 2019, but nationwide demonstrations over perceived threats to civil liberties halted its passage. Legislators in the world's third-largest democracy have since watered down some of the articles deemed most contentious. "This criminal code is a huge setback for Indonesia," said Bivitri Susanti, a law expert from the Indonesia Jentera School of Law. Once ratified, the new code will come into effect after three years as the government and related institutions draft related implementing regulations.

☆ Analysis: Russian oil revenues could weather EU ban, G7 price cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Olesya Astakhova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Looking ahead to 2023, one of the main variables will be the ceiling G7 countries and the EU agree on importing Russian oil. Some of the biggest importers of Russian oil, including China and India, are not part of the initiative. The more Russian oil that is lost to world markets, the greater the likely impact on prices. "If the price cap is around $60 per barrel, Russia will continue to export its oil comfortably." Beyond the price cap and European import ban, Russia's oil sector may also be affected by COVID-19 restrictions in China, an increasingly important buyer of its crude.

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