Friday, December 27

World

1 dead, thousands without heat after Russian strike on Ukraine port city
16Nov By No Comments
World

1 dead, thousands without heat after Russian strike on Ukraine port city

  This photograph shows a heavily damaged residential building following a Russian strike in Odesa on Nov. 15, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv, Ukraine — A massive Russian attack that set apartments alight and knocked out heating to thousands in Ukraine\'s southern port city Odesa killed one person and wounded 10 others, authorities said Friday. The Thursday night strikes on the Black Sea city damaged residential buildings, the heating system, churches and educational institutions, according to Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, who said it had been "a massive combined enemy strike." Trukhanov said early Friday that a 35-year-old woman sleeping near a window at the time of the attack had died. The State Emergency ...
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Iran ready for possible oil export curbs after Trump election
16Nov By No Comments
World

Iran ready for possible oil export curbs after Trump election

  FILE - The Abadan oil refinery is seen in southwest Iran, Sept. 21, 2019. Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Iran has made plans to sustain its oil production and exports and is ready for possible oil restrictions from a Trump administration in the U.S., Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Wednesday, according to the oil ministry\'s news website Shana. In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and re-imposed sanctions that hurt Iran\'s oil sector, with production dropping to 2.1 million barrels per day, or bpd, during his presidency. "Required measures have been taken. I will not go into detail but our colleagues within the oil sector have taken measures to deal with the restrictions that w...
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Nigeria launches 'Human Rights Defenders' forum
16Nov By No Comments
World

Nigeria launches 'Human Rights Defenders' forum

  FILE - Protesters are detained by police officers following a planned demonstration on Oct. 20, 2024, to remember victims of protests against police brutality that took place four years earlier, at Lekki Toll Plaza, in Lagos, Nigeria. ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Nigerian National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday inaugurated a forum targeting rights violations in the West African nation. The Human Rights Defenders Forum was held on the sidelines of an NHRC meeting to review the state of human rights in Nigeria. The initiative is a partnership between the NHRC and the European Union. Officials say the forum, comprising various human rights groups, will be responsible for ensuring greater protection of civil liberties in Nigeria and serve as ...
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16Nov By No Comments
Asia-pacific

Myanmar junta can order migrant workers home to fight, agency says

By RFA Burmese2024.11.15Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.Myanmar’s Ministry of Labor has issued a ruling allowing it to call back overseas workers for military service and has made the employment agencies that send workers abroad responsible for bringing them back if ordered to, an agency told Radio Free Asia on Friday. Since the military ousted a democratically elected government in a 2021 coup, many thousands of Myanmar people have moved abroad to escape a crumbling economy, violent turmoil and, since early this year, the threat of being drafted into the military as it struggles against anti-junta forces.While many try their luck and head abroad in the hope of finding work, many others find work through employment agencies, filling jobs overseas through deals Myanmar has struck...
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UNMISS calls for tangible evidence of progress toward democratic elections in South Sudan
16Nov By No Comments
World

UNMISS calls for tangible evidence of progress toward democratic elections in South Sudan

  FILE - Nicholas Haysom, speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on Feb. 18, 2015. Haysom, who now heads the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, said leaders in South Sudan need to show tangible evidence that they will hold democratic elections in the country. Juba, South Sudan — The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has called for tangible evidence of progress toward democratic elections the country. Briefing the United Nations Security Council this week, special representative of the secretary-general and head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, told government leaders “the clock on the extension is already ticking.” Since winning its independence in 2011, South Sudan is just beginning its fourth extension of the transiti...
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A criticized Airbnb deal will let users play gladiator in Rome's Colosseum
16Nov By No Comments
World

A criticized Airbnb deal will let users play gladiator in Rome's Colosseum

  FILE - Tourists walk by the ancient Roman Colosseum as it's reflected in a puddle, in Rome, Sept. 5, 2024. ROME — The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights — albeit staged — for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote "a more conscious tourism." But some visitors to the monument Thursday, as well as housing activists, were skeptical about the value of the arrangement, citing ongoing controversies in many cities over the role of short-term rental platforms in fueling overtourism and limiting affordable housing for residents and students. Under the deal announced by Airbnb and the Colosseum on Wednesday, the sponsorship by the short-term...
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Residents in Myanmar feel the crunch as trade with China shuts down
16Nov By No Comments
Asia-pacific

Residents in Myanmar feel the crunch as trade with China shuts down

By RFA Burmese2024.11.15Residents in northern Myanmar are facing shortages of food and other supplies as China imposes restrictions on small-scale, informal trade, Radio Free Asia has learned.The restrictions are centered on three border crossings, two of which have been recently shut down, in the northeastern town of Muse, which lies across the border from China’s Ruili, Video posted on social media showed fresh fruit sellers in China giving their product away because they could not get it across the border before it spoils.More than 2 million residents in northern Shan state rely on Chinese foodstuffs and goods. The closures have resulted in price hikes.At the Muse border, the price of one liter (.26 gallons) of gasoline has risen to more than 10 thousand kyats ($4.76), while a bag of lo...
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'History is going on right now,' says Ukrainian journalist honored for her coverage
16Nov By No Comments
World

'History is going on right now,' says Ukrainian journalist honored for her coverage

  Journalists, from left, Rana Sabbagh, John-Allan Namu and Valeriya Yegoshyna, far right, pictured with Sharon Moshavi, second from right, president of the International Center for Journalists, in Washington. (International Center for Journalists photo) washington — Three investigative journalists are being recognized with international awards for their courage and reporting. Reporters John-Allan Namu from Kenya, Valeriya Yegoshyna from Ukraine and Rana Sabbagh from Jordan were in Washington this week for a ceremony highlighting their work. Namu and Yegoshyna were honored with the ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award by the global media network, the International Center for Journalists, or ICFJ. Sabbagh was awarded the ICFJ Knight...
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EU parliament loosens delayed anti-deforestation rules
16Nov By No Comments
World

EU parliament loosens delayed anti-deforestation rules

  FILE - An aerial view shows a deforested area during an operation to combat deforestation near Uruara, Para State, Brazil January 21, 2023. The European Parliament on Thursday approved a one-year delay on implementing the bloc\'s landmark anti-deforestation rules, while also voting to loosen some requirements of the controversial law. The move triggered an outcry from environmental groups, which had hailed the law as an unprecedented breakthrough in the fight to protect nature and combat climate change. Parliament was called to sign off on a delay requested by the European Commission following pressure from trading partners such as Brazil and the United States, and some member states including Germany. But lawmakers on the right used...
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HRW accuses Israel of war crimes, ethnic cleansing — a conclusion Israel rejects
16Nov By No Comments
World

HRW accuses Israel of war crimes, ethnic cleansing — a conclusion Israel rejects

  Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of Maghazi in the Gaza Strip, during their funeral at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Nov. 14, 2024. Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza, a conclusion Israel rejected. The report said Israel, which has repeatedly displaced and relocated civilians, is “committing the war crime of forcible transfer,” and the actions “appear to also meet the definition of ethnic cleansing" in the areas where Palestinians will not be able to return. "Human Rights Watch found that forced displacement has been widespread, and the evidence shows it has been systematic and part...
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