Six In The Morning Wednesday 16 December 2020

 Arab spring: 10th anniversary

'He ruined us': 10 years on, Tunisians curse man who sparked Arab Spring

Thanks in part to Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation, Tunisians are freer than before, but many are miserable and disillusioned

by Michael Safi in Sidi Bouzid

His act of despair still shakes the Arab world. Mohamed Bouazizi, the 26-year-old fruit seller whose self-immolation triggered revolutions across the Middle East, has a boulevard named after him in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis. In his home town of Sidi Bouzid, he is depicted in a giant portrait facing the local government headquarters.

But a decade since he set himself on fire in protest at state corruption and brutality, Bouazizi is out of fashion in Tunisia – along with the revolution his death inspired. His family have moved to Canada and cut most ties with Sidi Bouzid. “They were smeared,” says Bilal Gharby, 32, a family friend.

Russian FM dismisses media reports about Navalny poisoning

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has brushed off media reports that there were several attempts to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and that Russia’s security forces might have orchestrated and carried out the poisoning

Via AP news wire

Russia's top diplomat on Wednesday brushed off media reports that there had been several attempts to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and that Russian security forces might have orchestrated and carried out the poisoning

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was “used to” Western countries airing accusations against Russia in the media.

“It’s amusing to read all this news, but the manner in which (it was) presented says only one thing: that our Western partners lack any ethical norms and any skills of normal diplomatic work, and (are unwilling) to be guided by international law norms when it’s about establishing facts,” Lavrov charged at a news conference after meeting with his Croatian counterpart in Zagreb, Croatia's capital.

Big Tech turns on itself in face of new EU legislation

Together, the EU's planned Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act could be the biggest threats ever posed to the dominance of digital giants. Now, the Big Tech companies are pointing fingers.

After two decades of nearly unchecked growth, Big Tech companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google may have finally met their match.

The European Commission, a powerful European Union body, on Tuesday presented a draft of legislation that seeks to put unprecedented limits on the powers of Big Tech companies operating within the bloc.

Iran nuclear deal participants hold virtual talks amid tensions

The remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal hold a virtual meeting in the wake of further breaches of the accord’s limits by Tehran and high tension in the region.

Senior diplomats from Iran and major powers are meeting online to discuss the state of their nuclear deal that is eroding despite conciliatory signals from United States President-elect Joe Biden.

Wednesday’s consultations are meant to prepare upcoming talks among foreign ministers from Iran, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China, according to diplomats.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCP0A), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was agreed upon in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, Russia, the UK and US – plus Germany, together with the European Union.

More than two million children in Ethiopia's Tigray region cut off from humanitarian aid, UN says

By Eoin McSweeney, CNN

Updated 1205 GMT (2005 HKT) December 16, 2020

The United Nations has warned that millions of children are still cut off from aid in Ethiopia's conflict-riven Tigray region, despite promises made by the federal government earlier this month to allow humanitarian agencies access.

Some 2.3 million minors are struggling to get basic humanitarian assistance like treatment for malnourishment, critical vaccines, emergency medicines, and water and sanitation supplies, UNICEF, the UN agency responsible for children, said Tuesday.

Huawei: Uighur surveillance fears lead PR exec to quit

One of Huawei's European communications managers has resigned from the Chinese firm over concerns about its role in the surveillance of Muslim Uighurs.

Tommy Zwicky had worked in the company's Danish office for six months and was a former journalist.

It comes after internal Huawei documents were made public, which mentioned a "Uighur alarm" system that it had worked on with Chinese facial-recognition specialist Megvii in 2018.