TNT PRESS

Senior court official arrested and his vehicle seized in KZN

10Oct

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Asia-pacific

Senior court official arrested and his vehicle seized in KZN

Photo credit: Olga Ernst via Wikimedia Commons A senior court official at Pongola in KwaZulu-Natal in one of two people arrested in connection with stock theft in the Vryheid area on Friday. The official, together with a co-accused arrested at the same time, will now appear in familiar surroundings at the Vryheid Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face charges of stock theft, cruelty to animals, defeating the ends of justice and possession of a dangerous weapon. A vehicle belonging to the official has also been seized since it was allegedly being used in the commission of a crime. Police spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbele, said members of the Stock Theft Task Team were alerted about illegal slaughtering of cows on a farm at Brakfontein and rushed to the area. CARCASSES OF FIVE COWS F...

Trump’s coronavirus treatment was based on fetal tissue research

10Oct

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World

Trump’s coronavirus treatment was based on fetal tissue research

After falling ill from a coronavirus infection, US President Donald Trump received REGN-COV2, an experimental-antibody drug. The treatment proved surprisingly effective, with the US leader returning to his office within a matter of days. The president has since praised the drugs as "miracles coming down from God." The antibody-drug was developed — with or without divine assistance — by the US biotech company Regeneron, which has now asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant emergency use approval for REGN-COV2. REGN-COV2 comprises two monoclonal antibodies: REGN10933 and REGN10987. REGN-COV2 is designed to provide a passive immunization by using synthetic neutralizing antibodies. The drug was developed using a cell line derived from fetal tissue. Regeneron test...

Husband of Narges Mohammadi: ‘What does this have to do with Islamic benevolence?’

10Oct

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World

Husband of Narges Mohammadi: ‘What does this have to do with Islamic benevolence?’

Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi The Zanjan Provincial Prosecutor General stated: "The sentence for Ms. Mohammadi was reduced according to a recently passed law by court order and therefore she was released from custody.” He added that Mohammidi's prison sentence had been reduced from ten to eight and a half years: "This term expired last night, so she has been released.” This spring, the Iranian parliament had passed a law to reduce the discretionary imprisonment with the effect of reducing all such imprisonments by one level. For instance, life imprisonment was converted into so-called prison sentences of the first category. Taghi Rahmani said that early on Thursday morning, Mohammadi was taken to her parents' house without prior notice. He stressed that his wife's ...

Armenia, Azerbaijan begin Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks

10Oct

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World

Armenia, Azerbaijan begin Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks

UPDATE: Early Saturday morning, Armenia and Azerbaijan said that they had agreed to a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting at noon Saturday, read the full story here. Previously, representatives of Baku and Yerevan met in the Russian capital Moscow on Friday a bid to resolveviolent clashes over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced the start of the talks on Facebook, posting a picture of the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan sitting at a round table. Russia, which announced the talks on Thursday, is acting as mediator in the discussions, which will seek to agree on a cessation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh and exchanges of bodies and prisoners of war. De jure, the contested region li...

Opinion: Nobel Prize for the WFP is an appeal for greater cooperation

10Oct

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World

Opinion: Nobel Prize for the WFP is an appeal for greater cooperation

This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). A surprising choice, some might think, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. After all, the World Health Organization (WHO) was nominated — as were US President Donald Trump, the climate activist Greta Thunberg and some 300 other candidates. But the Nobel Committee was right to honor the work of the WFP and thus highlight the problem of global food shortages. Last year, more than 690 million people — the equivalent of almost 9% of the world's population — suffered from hunger. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the global food crisis. In spring this year, WFP director David Beasley warned that the world faced famines "of biblical proportions." In response to the situation, the ...

Israel: Ultra-Orthodox communities top coronavirus hot spots

10Oct

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World

Israel: Ultra-Orthodox communities top coronavirus hot spots

The media outlets in Israel are busy these days, producing reports on sometimes harsh police measures against anti-government protesters and stories about Israeli officials defying their own lockdown rules. But as happened during the first lockdown, Israel's ultra-Orthodox — or Haredi — communities and their mass gatherings have also come under a lot of media scrutiny, with negative headlines dominating. Since the first lockdown in March-April, Moshe Morgenstern has volunteered as a health coordinator in the municipality of Bnei Brak in addition to his main work as a lawyer. Every morning, Moshe receives the total number of infections for this largely ultra-Orthodox city adjacent to Tel Aviv. "Today we have — wait, wow, it doesn't look good — we have 883 new cases. Every day...

Pakistan bans TikTok for failing to filter ‘immoral’ content

10Oct

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Entertainment, World

Pakistan bans TikTok for failing to filter ‘immoral’ content

Pakistan on Friday banned video-sharing platform TikTok in the country after a "number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video-sharing application," the Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a statement. The telecom regulator said it had issued warnings to TikTok to moderate unlawful content, but the social media company failed to comply with its instructions. Arslan Khalid, an advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, backed the PTA's warning to TikTok in June to filter its "obscene content." He claimed that the "exploitation, objectification (and) sexualization of young girls on TikTok" was causing pain to parents. On Friday, the telecom authority said that it was ready to review its decision "subject to a satisfactor...

North Korea holds anniversary military parade, South Korea says

10Oct

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World

North Korea holds anniversary military parade, South Korea says

North Korea held a large military parade early on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party, South Korea's military has said. North Korean state media has not shown any signs of a parade, but images were picked up by South Korean intelligence. It was unclear whether the early morning activity was a large parade or a practice. The anniversary is often used to showcase military power. "There was a sign that North Korea conducted a military parade this morning at Kim Il Sung Square, mobilizing large scale equipment and personnel," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Read more: Fake news on both sides of the inter-Korean border is the norm "South Korea and US intelligence authorities are closely monitoring developmen...

Hong Kong police arrest nine over Taiwan escape plot

10Oct

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World

Hong Kong police arrest nine over Taiwan escape plot

Hong Kong police arrested nine people accused of helping pro-democracy activists flee the former British colony for Taiwan, they announced on Friday. The group allegedly supplied a 'getaway' speedboat as 12 anti-Beijing demonstrators attempted to escape, fearing prosecution by authorities there. "Their roles include ownership of the boat, financial backing, providing accommodation before the trop, transportation to the pier and arranging their lives after arriving in Taiwan," a police spokesperson was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. Police also seized the equivalent of €53,000 ($63,000) in Hong Kong currency, computers, mobile phones, and financial documents relating to the boat journey. China's coastguard picked up the 12 activists in late August, although Hong Ko...

SA faces Argentina-like debt crisis warns Mboweni

10Oct

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Asia-pacific

SA faces Argentina-like debt crisis warns Mboweni

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivers his 2018 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in parliament. Image: Flickr South Africa is heading Argentina’s way on the fiscal front if “serious measures” are not taken to rein in spending,bring down its debt and “to close the mouth of the hippopotamus,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has warned. Speaking during a Stellenbosch University webinar marking the centenary of the institution’s economics department Friday, Mboweni stressed that tough decisions lay ahead for South Africa, otherwise the country would “head Argentina’s way” in a few years. The stark warning Mboweni comes ahead of his Medium-Term Budget Speech, set for October 21, which will map out the country’s expenditure plans for the next three years. South Africa’s finance minister s...