Thousands more dismissed over failed coup attempt
Another 6,000 people sacked and dozens of associations closed over alleged links to July coup plotters.
Turkey has dismissed more than 6,000 people and ordered the closure of dozens of associations under the state of emergency imposed after the failed coup in July, in a purge that showed no sign of slowing.
More than 100,000 people have already been suspended or sacked so far in a crackdown on those alleged to have links to coup plotters while dozens of media outlets have been shut down.
In the latest government decrees published in the country's official gazette late on Friday, 2,687 police officers including 53 high-ranking commissioners were dismissed.
German police quash Breitbart story of mob setting fire to Dortmund church
Country’s politicians warn against fake news after Breitbart website said group chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ vandalised church on New Year’s Eve
German media and politicians have warned against an election-year spike in fake news after the rightwing website Breitbart claimed a mob chanting “Allahu Akbar” had set fire to a church in the city of Dortmund on New Year’s Eve.
After the report by the US site was widely shared on social media, the city’s police clarified that no “extraordinary or spectacular” incidents had marred the festivities.
The local newspaper, Ruhr Nachrichten, said elements of its online reporting on New Year’s Eve had been distorted by Breitbart to produce “fake news, hate and propaganda”.
Saudi Arabia’s dream of becoming the dominant Arab and Muslim power in the world has gone down in flames
Saudi Arabia’s military pressure on Assad served only to make him seek more help from Russia, precipitating intervention which the US was not prepared to oppose
As recently as two years ago, Saudi Arabia’s half century-long effort to establish itself as the main power among Arab and Islamic states looked as if it was succeeding. A US State Department paper sent by former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in 2014 and published by Wikileaks spoke of the Saudis and Qataris as rivals competing “to dominate the Sunni world”.
A year later in December 2015, the German foreign intelligence service BND was so worried about the growing influence of Saudi Arabia that it took the extraordinary step of producing a memo, saying that “the previous cautious diplomatic stance of older leading members of the royal family is being replaced by an impulsive policy of intervention”.
Riots overtake peaceful protest by Algerian shopkeepers
OBSERVERS
In the Bejaïa region, in northern Algeria, shopkeepers are fighting against a new finance law that came into effect on January 1. This law, which includes new taxes, risks to threaten revenue from sales as well as decreasing the purchasing power of Algerian households. Shopkeepers, especially those from Bejaïa, went on strike but their movement was quickly overrun when violent riots broke out, according to our Observer.
This finance law aims to reduce the high public deficit after the price of oil plummeted. As of January 1, the value-added tax (VAT), income tax, property tax and the price of fuel all increased.
Shopkeepers from Kabylie as well as other areas decided to show their opposition to the new measures by keeping their doors shut on Monday. Other people opposed to the new law joined them in protest. However, their peaceful protests were quickly disturbed by rioters. Early in the morning, young people began to clash with security forces. A bus and a police van were both burned, and security forces used tear gas on the protestors.
Indigenous women in politics: a complex proposition
Changes to Mexican law have sought to promote participation of indigenous women in politics – but they have stirred opposition, not least from the very people they seek to help.
In Santa María Quiegolani – an indigenous town of the Sierra Sur in Oaxaca, Mexico – the women wake up at 3 a.m. to work in the kitchen and do domestic chores; their parents decide who they should marry; and they take care of the children. Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza was only 12 years old when she decided to escape her closed future and left her hometown to study in high school. She continued on to the university where she earned a degree in accounting.
At age 27, Eufrosina returned to Quiegolani and ran for municipal president under the usos y costumbres system – the traditional norms by which indigenous communities choose their leaders. But in spite of her educational accomplishments, she was reminded of her status back in her community. Municipal authorities voided the ballots cast for her.
Treasure HuntMyanmar is the source of over 80% the world's rubies,
yet decades of isolation under the former ruling junta
means little is known about the industry
E very week Aye Min Htun prays he will find the ruby that changes his life, one of thousands of people scratching a living in Myanmar’s mines set to gain little from the end of US sanctions on the military-dominated industry.
For centuries emperors, kings and warlords have vied for control over the valley of Mogok, north of Mandalay, once known as the “land of rubies” for its extraordinary treasure trove of the precious gem.
Its unique “pigeon-blood” stones are the most expensive of these gems in the world – last year the so-called Sunrise ruby sold for a record US$30.3 million, over US$1 million a carat.
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