US official claims pressure to downplay intelligence reports
An intelligence analyst at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said he was put under pressure to downplay the threat of Russian interference in the 3 November election as it "made the president look bad".
In a whistleblower complaint, Brian Murphy said he had been demoted for refusing to alter reports on this and other issues such as white supremacy.
The directives were illegal, he said.
The White House and DHS have both denied the allegations.
Belarus opposition figure says authorities threatened to kill her
Maria Kolesnikova says she was told she would be leaving country ‘alive or in bits’
The Belarus opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova said security officers put a bag over her head and threatened to kill her when they tried to forcibly deport her to Ukraine earlier this week, according to a complaint filed by her lawyer.
Kolesnikova, one of the most prominent leaders of month-long protests against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, prevented the attempt to expel her by tearing up her passport.
She has emerged as a hero for the protest movement trying to bring down the curtain on Lukashenko’s 26-year rule, and a chief target for the authorities who have detained her over accusations of an illegal attempt to seize power in the former Soviet republic.
Beirut fire: Huge blaze breaks out at site of explosion in Lebanon capital
Lebanese army says ‘warehouse of oil and tyres’ has caught fire
A huge fire has broken out in Beirut’s port at the site of a deadly explosion that killed nearly 200 people last month.
Video images show a large column of black smoke billowing into the sky over the Lebanese capital. Port workers, filming the tower of flames and black smoke above the port, could be seen running from the area in panic in, with people shouting “everyone, go!”
Opinion: Moria migrant camp in Greece is the EU's flaming failure
The Moria refugee camp on Lesbos is in flames — as is the European Union's asylum concept. It is time for the EU to provide sustainable infrastructure for displaced people, DW's Jannis Papadimitriou writes.
The Moria camp for displaced people on the Greek island of Lesbos had already caught fire twice, in 2016 and in 2019, but this time, fanned by winds that topped 70 kilometers per hour (40 mph), the camp has burned to the ground. Firefighters were distracted by a blaze in a regional forest.
Taken from their mothers in colonial Belgium, mixed-race women sue for compensation
In a landmark case, five mixed-race women are suing the Belgian state this Thursday for "crimes against humanity". Now over 70 years old, these women were born in what was then Belgian Congo, the present-day DRC. The offspring of Congolese mothers and European fathers, they were abducted from their mothers to be placed in religious institutions and subject to the supervision of the state. These children were seen as a threat by the Belgian state, which feared that they would rise up against the colonial order.
Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 should not be held in China, human rights groups say in letter to IOC
Updated 0621 GMT (1421 HKT) September 10, 2020
More than 160 human rights groups around the world have signed a letter calling for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reverse its decision to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing allegations of widespread rights abuses by the Chinese government.
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