World

Exiled dissidents protest outside FATF headquarters to urge blacklisting Pakistan
21Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Exiled dissidents protest outside FATF headquarters to urge blacklisting Pakistan

As Financial Action Task Force (FATF) prepares to decide Pakistan’s fate, exiled dissidents from Pakistan, Tibet and Hong Kong gathered outside the headquarters of the financial watchdog in Paris on Saturday urging it to blacklist Pakistan and deliver on its mandate of stopping terror financing and sponsoring from Pakistan.The members of the FATF are meeting from February 22-25 to review Pakistan’s status, which is already on the grey list of the global anti-money laundering and terror financing watchdog.While Pakistan has been repeatedly adopting the tactic of showcasing taking action against terror financing by placing senior terror group leaders under arrest ahead of FATF plenaries, these UN listed entities, like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (now rebranded as Jamat ud Dawa -JuD) and Jaish e Moha...
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Japan PM expresses concern over China’s assertiveness in East and South China Sea in G7 talks
21Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Japan PM expresses concern over China’s assertiveness in East and South China Sea in G7 talks

Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga expressed concerns about China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas in G7 talks.He said Japan will say what needs to be said, and demand action from Beijing.The leaders held a teleconference on Friday just after 11 pm Japan time. It was the first G7 meeting that included Suga, US President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.Regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Suga said he has had an unwavering resolve to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people since assuming his post in September.He said much has been learned from last year, and that he has implemented what he believes to be the best measures.He called on the G7 to speed up the distribution of vaccines and oppose a protectionist approac...
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Venezuelan football players fight for a shot in women’s Libertadores cup
20Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Venezuelan football players fight for a shot in women’s Libertadores cup

CARACAS: Iraia Arrue chases a ball down the soccer field until she loses it near the goal line amid shouts from the bleachers and from her own team, sprinting for 90 minutes under the Venezuelan sun in a sports complex in eastern Caracas. Arrue's team, Deportivo Petare, is vying for a spot in the women's Conmebol Libertadores tournament in March to represent Venezuela, where soccer has historically struggled to draw crowds. Deportivo Petare's 1-1 tie last week against rival Atletico Sport Club left it no closer to qualifying, but Arrue says there's nothing more exciting than the possibility of playing against the best-known South American clubs. "The emotion that one experiences from playing, for example, against Boca Junior, playing against Corinthians, from Brazil, it would be inc...
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India warns US social media firms after dispute with Twitter
20Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

India warns US social media firms after dispute with Twitter

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. Indian technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned U.S. social media firms on Thursday to abide by the country's laws, a day after a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and Twitter over content regulation. NEW DELHI: Indian technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned U.S. social media firms on Thursday to abide by the country's laws, a day after a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and Twitter over content regulation. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad mentioned Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and WhatsApp by name and said they were welcome to op...
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US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang
20Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang

In a step which will lead to increased tensions between the US and China, the US House of Representatives have reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from the Xinjiang region in China unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour.“We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression,” said Representative Jim McGovern.According to McGovern, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United State...
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Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report
20Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report

Taiwan has grown anxious due to constant Chinese aggression and destabilising actions near the Diaoyutai islands, the most recent being sailing of four Chinese guard ships near the disputed Islands.Situated in East China’s Sea, the uninhabited islands also known as Senkakus in Japan — are claimed by Taipei, Beijing and Tokyo.On Monday and Tuesday, four Chinese guard ships sailed near the Islands, one of which was equipped with a cannon. Two of the ships sailed away on Tuesday morning, including an armed vessel, while the others attempted to approach a Japanese fishing boat, the Japan Coast Guard said.It was the first armed incursion since China’s enactment on February 1 of a new Coast Guard Law, which authorizes its coast guard to inspect and use weapons on foreign vessels in waters claime...
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Amazon to team up with Hon Hai on Indian manufacturing operation
19Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
USA, World

Amazon to team up with Hon Hai on Indian manufacturing operation

E-commerce giant Amazon.com is planning to work with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to open its first manufacturing line in India.In a statement on Amazon Blog in India, the company said it will start manufacturing efforts in India by teaming up with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Hon Hai in Chennai, to roll out its set-top box device Fire TV Stick.“The manufacturing cooperation with Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn on the global market, is scheduled to begin later this year.“The device manufacturing program will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Stick devices every year, catering to the demands of customers in India,” Amazon said in the statement.Amazon said the company “will continuously evaluate scaling capacity to additional mar...
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Myanmar junta rolls in armoured vehicles to major cities, cuts internet
16Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Myanmar junta rolls in armoured vehicles to major cities, cuts internet

The Myanmar military on Monday deployed armoured vehicles in the major cities and forced a near-total internet shutdown as the citizens’ protest against the coup intensified, demanding a return to civilian rule in Myanmar."A near-total internet shutdown is in effect in Myanmar as of 1 am (local time); real-time network data show national connectivity at just 14 per cent of ordinary levels following state-ordered information blackout; incident ongoing," said NetBlocks, an internet's observatory which tracks disruptions and shutdowns across the world.As per media reports, armoured vehicles have rolled into Myanmar cities and internet access has been largely cut off amid fears of a crackdown on anti-coup protesters after nine days of mass demonstrations demanding a return to civilian rule.On ...
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Toolkit used by Greta intended to target India, its interests: Fake news watchdog
16Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Toolkit used by Greta intended to target India, its interests: Fake news watchdog

A recent report by a fake news watchdog has revealed that the ‘toolkit’ used by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg regarding the farmers' protest was part of an elaborate design that was under play since 2007 and involved several shady companies in the US, fake foreign experts and even ghost entities to target India and its interests.DisInfo Lab, a fake news watchdog, said: "The name of one of the key players of our story came up in the toolkit dropped accidentally by Greta Thunberg. The toolkit had mentioned a foreign expert as resource point - Pieter Friedrich. It was startling. Pieter was part of a story we were already working on since about a month in the context of an info-war against India"."This elaborate design and planning that is underway since 2007 at least was driven by sing...
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Radicalisation, WEF meeting and imported COVID-19 cases to be discussed in Parliament
16Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Radicalisation, WEF meeting and imported COVID-19 cases to be discussed in Parliament

SINGAPORE: Radicalisation will be among the topics discussed in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 16), after it was announced on Jan 27 that a 16-year-old Singaporean had been detained under the Internal Security Act for making detailed plans to attack Muslims. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Annual Meeting and imported COVID-19 cases will be on the agenda as well. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Sweet Keat will also deliver his Budget speech at 3pm. According to the order paper, four MPs have filed questions for Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam related to the radicalised teenager who planned to use a machete to attack Muslims at two mosques in the Woodlands area. MP Christopher de Souza (PAP-Holland-Bukit Timah) has asked about legal tools that should be put i...
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