Monday, August 21, 2023

Six In The Morning Monday 21 August 2023

 

Hundreds of migrants killed by Saudi border guards - report

By Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Saudi border guards are accused of the mass killing of migrants along the Yemeni border in a new report by Human Rights Watch.

The report says hundreds of people, many of them Ethiopians who cross war-torn Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia, have been shot dead.

Migrants have told the BBC they had limbs severed by gunfire and saw bodies left on the trails.

Saudi Arabia has previously rejected allegations of systematic killings.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, titled They Fired On Us Like Rain, contains graphic testimony from migrants who say they were shot at and sometimes targeted with explosive weapons by Saudi police and soldiers on Yemen's rugged northern border with Saudi Arabia.


Ecuador votes to halt oil drilling in Amazonian biodiversity hotspot

Referendum result comes as blow to president, requiring state oil firm to dismantle operations area of Yasuní

In a historic decision, Ecuadorians voted on Sunday against the oil drilling of a protected area in the Amazon that is home to two uncontacted tribes and serves as a biodiversity hotspot.

With more than 90% of the ballots counted by early Monday, about six in 10 Ecuadorians rejected the oil exploration in the Block 44 area, situated within Yasuní national park, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. The area is inhabited by the Tagaeri and Taromenane, who live in self-isolation.


Spanish soccer leader's behavior at Women's World Cup final provokes angry reaction

The man who leads the Spanish soccer federation took some unwanted attention away from the celebrating players moments after Spain won the Women's World Cup

David Brunat,Graham Dunbar



Moments after Spain won the Women’s World Cup, the man who leads the country’s national soccer federation took some unwanted attention away from the celebrating players.

Criticism from the Spanish government and the soccer world rained down Monday on Luis Rubiales for his inappropriate conduct while reveling in Spain’s 1-0 win over England in Sunday's final in SydneyAustralia.

By grabbing his crotch in a victory gesture — seemingly oblivious to 16-year-old Princess Infanta Sofía standing nearby — and then kissing Spain player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the medal and trophy ceremony on the field, Rubiales’s behavior marred the biggest day for women’s soccer.


Pakistan to compensate Christians after blasphemy riots

Pakistani authorities say they will compensate nearly 100 Christians who lost their homes to a Muslim mob. The rioters were angered by reports of the alleged desecration of Islam's holy book, the Quran.


Christians who had their homes destroyed last week by Muslim rioters outraged by the alleged desecration of a Quran by a Christian man and his friend will be compensated to the tune of 2 million rupees (€6,236, $6,800), Pakistani officials said on Monday.

In the incident last Wednesday, a mob rampaged through Christian neighborhoods, burning at least 16 churches and damaging houses in their fury.

The two men accused of the desecration, which allegedly involved ripping pages out of the Quran and throwing them on the ground while writing insulting remarks on other pages, have been arrested, along with 160 suspected rioters so far.



‘Intense and long-lasting’ heatwave hits France, record temperatures expected



Tens of millions of people in France sweated through a late summer heatwave on Monday, with record temperatures expected in the wine-growing Rhone valley region and a forest fire also blazing in the southeast.


Temperatures are expected to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the most intense heat in the southern parts of the country where the mercury is already pushing past 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Health authorities have placed 50 out of 96 departments in mainland France in the second-highest heat warning level, with some areas expected to be placed in the maximum red category in the coming days.

“Some records could be broken, notably on Tuesday in the Rhone valley with 40-42C expected,” national weather service Meteo France said.

‘People foaming at the mouth’: 10 years since chemical attacks in Ghouta

In 2013, the Syrian regime attacked the towns of Zamalka, Ein Tarma, and Irbin in Ghouta countryside with a nerve agent.



 It has been 10 years since the chemical attacks in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and Umm Yahya – a nurse at a local hospital at the time – still cannot forget the images of people convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

Shortly after midnight on August 21, 2013, the Syrian regime attacked the towns of Zamalka, Ein Tarma, and Irbin in the Ghouta countryside with a nerve agent.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), a total of 1,127 people were killed in the attacks. Nearly 6,000 others suffered from suffocation and respiratory problems.




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