Iran’s President-elect Raisi addresses ties to mass executions
Iran’s President-elect Ebrahim Raisi has for the first time addressed his links with the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was deputy prosecutor of Tehran.
Rights groups maintain that, shortly after the eight-year Iran-Iraq war ended, Raisi was one of the members of a so-called “death commission” that ordered the disappearance and execution of thousands of prisoners.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily could shut at weekend unless accounts are unblocked
Adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai says newspaper cannot pay staff after officials froze banking facilities
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper and website could shut down this weekend if authorities do not agree to the board’s request to unfreeze its assets, after the arrest of its senior editors and executives last week.
According to various local reports on Monday afternoon, an internal memo said Next Digital, Apple Daily’s parent company, would seek restored access to its accounts so it can pay staff, but that if this did not happen by Friday it would make a decision to stop publication of the pro-democracy title.
The potential end of the 26-year-old paper comes after a police operation in which officers raided the homes of five executives, including Apple Daily’s editor-in-chief, Ryan Law, and arrested them under the national security law, before raiding the newsroom with an unprecedented warrant allowing the seizure of journalistic materials.
Ethiopia: Voters head to the polls amid conflict, logistical issues
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed claimed the delayed vote would be Ethiopia's "first free and fair election," even amid internal conflict and while not all of the country can vote.
Ethiopians headed to the polls on Monday in a much-anticipated election seen as a test for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his promises of reform.
After polls opened early in the morning, voters lined up in the capital, Addis Ababa, amid heightened security. Polling stations around the country are also being guarded.
Science under scrutiny: Covid crisis throws spotlight on scientific research
In the feverish rush to study the coronavirus as it scorched its way across the planet, the unprecedented demand for information has put any mistakes under the glare of world attention and tested public trust in science, experts say.
Although serious problems are rare, in a health emergency even small errors can ripple through scientific research and onto the internet, magnifying people's uncertainty.
"I think the combination of a pandemic with social media and people deliberately putting out misinformation, that gets a lot of people thinking that all science is fraudulent, which it is not," scientific integrity consultant Elizabeth Bik told AFP.
Bik has dedicated her career to ensuring mistakes -- or worse -- do not slip through the net.
Tokyo Olympic spectator cap set at 10,000 or 50% capacity per venue
By Ayano Shimizu
The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizers on Monday agreed to allow up to 10,000 spectators to enter each games venue, provided the number does not exceed 50 percent of a venue's capacity.
During an online meeting, representatives of five organizing bodies, including International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike, finalized a policy on spectator limits, having already barred people from overseas.
They are expected, however, to leave open the option of holding the games without spectators in case the infection situation worsens before or after the Olympics begin on July 23.
ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY
Paths to Insurrection
By Rob Kuznia
Six months ago, tens of thousands of people converged in Washington, DC, from all corners of the country to decry what they erroneously believed to be a stolen election.
The raucous protest culminated on January 6 with a deadly riot at the US Capitol, a landmark stain on American democracy.
Deluded rallygoers, who saw themselves as patriots fighting for their country, demanded that Congress declare Donald Trump the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election.
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