Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Six In The Morning Wednesday 27 January 2021

 

The US has accused China of carrying out genocide. Will it now boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics?


Updated 0559 GMT (1359 HKT) January 27, 2021


The United States' determination that China is committing genocide in Xinjiang presents a rare moral predicament for athletes and countries preparing to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement on the last day of the Trump administration, drawing attention to the systematic abuse of the minority Uyghur population in China's far west.
The designation is the first by the US State Department since 2016, when then Secretary of State John Kerry determined that the atrocities committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria amounted to genocide, and only among a handful of times a US administration has applied the term to an ongoing crisis.



Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was an FBI informant

Extremist leader repeatedly worked undercover for investigators after his arrest in 2012, former prosecutor and court files reveal

Aram Roston

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters.

In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Tarrio’s own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling.

Tarrio, in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, denied working undercover or cooperating in cases against others. “I don’t know any of this,’” he said, when asked about the transcript. “I don’t recall any of this.”


AstraZeneca denies pulling out of EU meeting amid deepening row over Covid vaccine deliveries

The EU has been at loggerheads with the company over its failure to deliver pre-agreed supplies of the Covid-19 jab

Matt Mathers@MattEm90

AstraZeneca has reportedly denied pulling out of a meeting with the EU to discuss Covid-19 vaccine supplies.

Reports emerged on Wednesday morning suggesting that the firm had scrapped plans to attend the talks, allegations it later denied.

It comes amid an escalating row between the EU Commission and the pharmaceutical giant, who on Tuesday confirmed that the UK would have the first claim on vaccines produced here.

Holocaust Remembrance Day: 'Anti-Semitism starts with conspiracy theories'

Prominent German Jewish figures have warned of the danger of conspiracy theories and rising anti-Semitism during the Bundestag's annual Holocaust memorial service.

The German Bundestag commemorated the end of the Holocaust with a ceremony in the Reichstag building and online on Wednesday. The commemoration also celebrates 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany.

The president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, opened the 25th annual Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism.

Suga apologizes after LDP execs visit hostess bars during state of emergency

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologized on Wednesday after lawmakers from his ruling coalition visited hostess bars during the current state of emergency in which the government has called on people to avoid unnecessary outings to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The news is another headache for Suga whose approval rating has tumbled due to dissatisfaction with his handling of the pandemic, which critics have called too slow and inconsistent.

"I'm terribly sorry that this happened when we are asking people not to eat out after 8 p.m. and to avoid non-essential, non-urgent outings," Suga said in the Diet. "Each lawmaker should behave to gain the public's understanding."

Iraq: Anbar’s post-ISIL reconstruction spawns autonomy debate

Construction projects in Anbar province have created jobs at a time when Iraq suffers from a severe economic downturn and soaring poverty.

It is one of Iraq’s smallest provincial capitals, but Ramadi could soon boast the largest shopping mall in the country.

The development, which will span 125,000 square metres (1.4 million square feet) once complete, is one of dozens of investment projects that have transformed this part of Anbar province since the ISIL (ISIS) armed group was defeated here in 2016.


No comments:

Translate