Six In The Morning Sunday 16 October 2022

 

Xi: China will never rule out use of force in Taiwan

At the Chinese Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping said that "the resolution of the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese themselves to decide." Taipei warned it will not back down on its sovereignty.

President Xi Jinping opened the 20th Communist Party Congress on Sunday. In his speech, Xi said China has not ruled out the use of force regarding Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing considers Chinese territory.

"We insist on striving for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and with the greatest efforts," he said. "However, we are not committed to abandoning the use of force and we reserve the option to take all necessary measures," he said.

He added that "the resolution of the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese themselves to decide." 

Russian troops kill Ukrainian musician for refusing role in Kherson concert

International condemnation swift after conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko shot dead in his home

Charlotte Higgins and Artem Mazhulin in Kyiv

Russian soldiers have shot dead a Ukrainian musician in his home after he refused to take part in a concert in occupied Kherson, according to the culture ministry in Kyiv.

Conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko declined to take part in a concert “intended by the occupiers to demonstrate the so-called ‘improvement of peaceful life’ in Kherson”, the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

The concert on 1 October was intended to feature the Gileya chamber orchestra, of which Kerpatenko was the principal conductor, but he “categorically refused to cooperate with the occupants”, the statement said.

The Violent MullahsUnrest in Iran Sends Waves of Uncertainty Across the Region

With each victim in Iran, the question as to how the West should react becomes more pressing. Experts are skeptical that the end is nigh for the regime in Tehran – and the country's nuclear ambitions remain a concern.

By Monika Bolliger, Ann-Dorit Boy, Susanne Koelbl, René Pfister und Bernhard Zand

Asalouyeh, a dusty gas and oil town on the Persian Gulf, has only ever really held a place in Iran’s industrial history. But on Monday, hundreds of workers protested in front of the gates of a large petrochemical factory there. "Death to the dictator!" they chanted. "It will be a bloody year!"

Sanandaj, the capital of the Kurdistan province of northwestern Iran: Gunfire can be heard in brief clips posted to Twitter, while tanks and explosions are visible. Armed men are apparently firing on demonstrators in the clips. The authenticity of the videos is just as difficult to verify as the number of victims. Human rights groups report that there have been a number of deaths and injuries.

UK accused of putting Tamil refugees at risk in Indian Ocean

MoD personnel escorted refugees away from Diego Garcia in boat with no record of having radio or lifesaving equipment, lawyers say

Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent

Lawyers have accused the UK of facilitating dangerous onward boat journeys by Tamil refugees who had arrived at the British-claimed territory of Diego Garcia in distress.

Fishing boats that fled Sri Lanka were escorted to the Indian Ocean island after getting into difficulty but the same vessels were later permitted to leave without basic safety equipment, putting passengers – including children – at “grave risk”, lawyers have claimed.

One boat, carrying 46 people, ended up on the French territory of Réunion after three weeks at sea, while another, carrying 35 people including an 18-month-old child, had to be escorted back to Diego Garcia due to a failed engine but has since been allowed to leave again, they say in legal letters to the government.

The Man Who Bet on Neymar Wants His Money

A Brazilian supermarket magnate saw promise in the soccer star long before he became a household name. Now, believing he was cheated, he’s going to court for the payday that never arrived.

By Tariq Panja

Delcir Sonda still remembers the moment he first saw the boy. Years before he would grow up to become one of the biggest stars in the biggest sport in the world, years before anyone outside of his local community in São Vicente — a dormitory town for the nearby port of Santos — had heard his name, Sonda noticed Neymar playing soccer in a cage.

It was a chance encounter. Sonda was boating with some friends one Sunday afternoon in the mid-2000s when he spotted a group of boys playing on a hard surface inside a fenced enclosure. Intrigued, he asked his friends to stop so he could take a closer look.

“There was one kid there that was just totally different to the others,” Sonda said of Neymar, who would have been 11 or 12 years old at the time. “He got stuck in my head. I never imagined that this kid would one day become my player.”