Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Six In The Morning Wednesday 23 June 2021

 


Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, symbol of pro-democracy movement, to close

Tabloid founded by Jimmy Lai and targeted by police raid last week will print final edition on Thursday



Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, will shut down online at midnight on Wednesday and print its final edition on Thursday, in a move observers fear signals the death knell for press freedom in the territory.

The paper and its activist founder, Jimmy Lai, had become symbols of the pro-democracy movement and a thorn in the side of Hong Kong’s government and police, making it a prime target in the government’s efforts to stifle Hong Kong’s media.

National security police raided its offices last week as part of a crackdown that also included the freezing of its assets and accounts, crippling the company and guaranteeing its demise.

Hungary's PM uses soccer to push vision of right-wing Europe

Populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long used soccer to advance his right-wing politics

Populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long used soccer to advance his right-wing politics, and now widespread international criticism of a new law seen as targeting the LGBT community has turned this month's European Championship into a major stage for his challenge to Europe's liberal values.

Last week, as more than 60,000 soccer fans poured into Budapest's Puskas Arena, an emblem of Orban's famous devotion to soccer, the Hungarian Parliament approved a controversial bill that bans sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment.


Antarctic nearing climate disaster despite landmark historic treaty

Burning fossil fuels threatens one of the last areas on Earth left unspoiled by extractive human industries.

When the Antarctic Treaty came into effect 60 years ago, its signatories had little idea how successful it would be.

World leaders agreed to leave an uninhabited continent twice the size of Australia free from war, weapons and nuclear waste. They declared that the southern polar region, which is 98% ice and does not have an indigenous population, should belong to no country and instead be devoted to collaborative science. In the following decades, extra rules to stop companies mining minerals and drilling for oil turned Antarctica into the biggest nature reserve in the world.

Dozens killed after air strike on market in Ethiopia's Tigray region

An air strike killed at least 43 people in the town of Togoga in Ethiopia's Tigray region on Tuesday, a medical official told Reuters, after residents said new fighting had flared in recent days north of the regional capital Mekelle.

Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane did not confirm or deny the incident. He said air strikes were a common military tactic and that government forces do not target civilians.

The bomb hit a market at around 1:00 p.m., according to a woman who said her husband and two-year-old daughter had been injured.

Egypt arrests TikTok star after ‘human trafficking’ conviction


Police arrest female TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for ‘human trafficking’.

An Egyptian TikTok influencer has been arrested after she and another influencer were convicted of human trafficking and handed long jail terms.

In the latest twist in a nearly year-long saga, a Cairo court on Sunday sentenced Haneen Hossam, 20, in absentia to 10 years in prison, and co-defendant Mawadah al-Adham, 23, who was present, to six years.

Russian jets and ships target British warship


More than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships have shadowed a British warship sailing near Crimea.

Moscow's defence ministry said that HMS Defender entered Russian territorial waters near Crimea while a patrol ship fired warning shots and a jet dropped bombs in its path.

Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said no warning shots were fired.

However, a BBC correspondent onboard the warship said it has been harassed by the Russian military.




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