Russia puts more Kremlin critics on a wanted list as its crackdown on dissent reaches new levels

Russia puts more Kremlin critics on a wanted list as its crackdown on dissent reaches new levels
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This photo posted on social media shows Russian women's rights activist Darya Serenko in Moscow in February 2022. Serenko left her homeland as the Russian government intensified its crackdown against critics. (X: @Bayanov74)
Russia puts more Kremlin critics on a wanted list as its crackdown on dissent reaches new levels
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A screenshot of a post on Telegram and shared by the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona showing a wanted notice against Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar by the Kremlin. (X: @mediazona_en)
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Updated 11 April 2024
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Russia puts more Kremlin critics on a wanted list as its crackdown on dissent reaches new levels

Russia puts more Kremlin critics on a wanted list as its crackdown on dissent reaches new levels
  • The Kremlin’s crackdown against opposition activists, independent journalists and government critics has intensified during Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022

TALLINN, Estonia: Russian authorities have put more Kremlin critics on a wanted list as its crackdown against dissent reaches unprecedented levels since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine more than two years ago.

Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported Tuesday that it found women’s rights activist Darya Serenko and prominent journalist and author Mikhail Zygar in the Interior Ministry’s database of individuals wanted on criminal charges. The entries don’t specify the charges or when they were added to the list.
Both Serenko and Zygar have long left Russia.
The Kremlin’s crackdown against opposition activists, independent journalists and government critics has intensified during the war. Hundreds have faced criminal charges over protests and remarks condemning the war in Ukraine, and thousands have been fined or briefly jailed.

Serenko, a longtime activist and author, co-founded the Feminist Anti-War Resistance group shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and moved to Georgia during the crackdown. Both she and the group were designated as “foreign agents,” a label that comes with additional government scrutiny.
Zygar, an author and a founding editor in chief of Russia’s independent TV channel Dozhd, also left Russia after the invasion and was declared a “foreign agent.” Unconfirmed Russian media reports earlier this year said Zygar could be facing charges of spreading false information about the army over a social media post about Russian atrocities in Bucha, a suburb near Kyiv occupied for several weeks by Moscow’s forces.

 

Spreading false information about the army is a criminal offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison under a law Moscow adopted days after announcing what the Kremlin insists on calling a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The law has been widely used against those who publicly criticize the war or the Kremlin, including those who left Russia. Many have been tried and convicted in absentia.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced charging another women’s rights activist Zalina Marshenkulova with “justifying terrorism.” Marshenkulova, who also lives abroad, was charged in absentia over unspecified social media posts, according to a statement by the Committee’s branch in Moscow. The charge carries punishment of up to seven years in prison.
Marshenkulova said in a Telegram post that she was “not surprised” and described charges against her “surreal” and “arbitrariness.”

 

 


Children killed in Mozambique election violence: HRW

Children killed in Mozambique election violence: HRW
Updated 10 sec ago
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Children killed in Mozambique election violence: HRW

Children killed in Mozambique election violence: HRW
  • The southern African nation has been rocked by unrest since an October 9 vote won by the ruling Frelimo party
  • Thousands of people have demonstrated across the country in recent weeks in protests brutally suppressed by the police
JOHANNESBURG: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday that Mozambican security forces killed at least 10 children and injured dozens more in post-election violence.
The southern African nation has been rocked by unrest since an October 9 vote won by the ruling Frelimo party in power since independence but contested by the opposition.
Thousands of people have demonstrated across the country in recent weeks in protests brutally suppressed by the police.
One 13-year-old girl was “caught in a crowd of people fleeing tear gas and gunfire... One of the bullets hit her in the neck, and she instantly fell to the ground and died,” HRW said in a statement.
The rights group said it had documented “nine additional cases of children killed and at least 36 other children injured by gunfire during the protests.”
The authorities have not responded to HRW’s claims.
Police have also detained “hundreds of children, in many cases for days, without notifying their families, in violation of international human rights law,” HRW said.
President Filipe Nyusi, who is due to step down in January, condemned an “attempt to install chaos in our country” in a state of the nation address last week.
He said that 19 people had been killed in the recent clashes, five of them from the police force. More than 800 people were injured, including 66 police, he added.
Civil society groups recorded a higher death toll — with more than 67 people killed since the unrest began — and said that an estimated 2,000 others had been detained.
Nyusi, 65, has invited the main opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane, for talks.
Mondlane, who came in second after Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo, 47, but claims to have won, has been organizing most of the protests.
He said he would accept the president’s offer as long as the talks were held virtually and legal proceedings against him were dropped.
The 50-year-old is believed to have left the country for fear of arrest or attack but his whereabouts are unknown.

At least 22 Somalis dead after boats capsize off Madagascar, official says

At least 22 Somalis dead after boats capsize off Madagascar, official says
Updated 3 min 47 sec ago
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At least 22 Somalis dead after boats capsize off Madagascar, official says

At least 22 Somalis dead after boats capsize off Madagascar, official says

MOGADISHU/ANTANANARIVO: At least 22 Somali citizens died when two migrant boats capsized off the coast of Madagascar over the weekend, Somalia’s Information Minister Daud Aweis said.
Madagascar’s Port, Maritime, and River Authority (APMF) said the boats had set sail from Somalia for the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte on Nov. 2, a journey of several hundred kilometers.
On Saturday, the port authority reported that local fishermen discovered the first boat drifting on Friday near Nosy Iranja. They rescued 25 people, including 10 men and 15 women, but seven occupants died, the authority said.
A second boat carrying 38 people arrived at Madagascar’s Port du Cratère, according to APMF. The maritime authority did not disclose a death toll for the second boat but confirmed the rescue of 23 people.
Somali Information Minister Aweis, citing information from his counterparts in Madagascar, confirmed the total death toll at 22.
“They were about 70 Somalis, 22 of them died. One boat was carrying 38 people and the other boat was carrying 32 people,” Aweis said on state-owned television late on Sunday.
In recent decades thousands of people have attempted to make the crossing to Mayotte, which has a higher standard of living and access to the French welfare system.
Mayotte is officially part of France, although Comoros claims it.
Aweis said Somalia will investigate where the boats sailed from, terming those who organized the trip as criminals involved in illicit immigration.
“This is also a message of warning to those who want to immigrate illegally before they go and die in such manner. It is unfortunate people still go despite danger,” he added.
In early November, at least 25 people died off Comoros islands after traffickers capsized their boat.


Charlotte airport workers plan to strike during busy Thanksgiving travel week

Charlotte airport workers plan to strike during busy Thanksgiving travel week
Updated 15 min 32 sec ago
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Charlotte airport workers plan to strike during busy Thanksgiving travel week

Charlotte airport workers plan to strike during busy Thanksgiving travel week
  • Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina
  • Workers say they previously raised the alarm about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport plan to go on strike during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to protest what they say are unlivable wages.
Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina, which is set to begin Monday at 5 a.m.
Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the impending strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.”
ABM and Prospect Airport Services contract with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.
Workers say they previously raised the alarm about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover expenses like car repairs while performing jobs that keep countless planes running on schedule.
“We’re on strike today because this is our last resort. We can’t keep living like this,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. “We’re taking action because our families can’t survive.”
Several hundred workers were expected to walk off the job and continue the work stoppage throughout Monday.
Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person with no children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials have said this holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers departing the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.
In addition to walking off the job, striking workers plan to hold an 11 a.m. rally and a 1 p.m. “Strikesgiving” lunch “in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers won’t be able to afford later this week,” union officials said.
“Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running,” the union said. “Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.”
ABM said it would take steps to minimize disruptions from any demonstrations.
“At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy,” the company said in a statement last week.
Prospect Airport Services said last week that the company recognizes the seriousness of the potential for a strike during the busy holiday travel season.


UK travel disrupted as Storm Bert fallout continues

UK travel disrupted as Storm Bert fallout continues
Updated 51 min 50 sec ago
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UK travel disrupted as Storm Bert fallout continues

UK travel disrupted as Storm Bert fallout continues
  • There were more 200 flood warnings and flood alerts in place across England and Wales
LONDON: Britain’s roads and railways were hit by closures on Monday after Storm Bert battered the country over the weekend, causing widespread flooding and killing four people.
There were more 200 flood warnings and flood alerts in place across England and Wales, while trains from London to the southwest were canceled and rail services in central England were severely disrupted.
“Do not attempt to travel on any route today,” Great Western Railway, whose trains connect London to Bristol and Cornwall, said on X.
Amongst those killed during the storm include a dog walker who in North Wales, and a man who died when a tree hit his car in southern England.
Major roads in Northamptonshire and Bristol were closed, while fallen trees on rail lines cut off services between London and Stansted Airport, Britain’s fourth busiest hub.
The disruption comes after Storm Bert hit Britain late on Friday, bringing snow, rain and strong winds.
The Met Office kept a warning for strong winds in place for northern Scotland on Monday and said the storm would clear from that part of the country early on Tuesday.

DHL cargo plane crashes into a house in Lithuania, killing at least 1

DHL cargo plane crashes into a house in Lithuania, killing at least 1
Updated 25 November 2024
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DHL cargo plane crashes into a house in Lithuania, killing at least 1

DHL cargo plane crashes into a house in Lithuania, killing at least 1
  • The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a “DHL cargo plane

VILNIUS: A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house Monday morning near the Lithuanian capital, killing at least one person.
Lithuanian’s public broadcaster LRT, quoting an emergency official, said two people had been taken to the hospital after the crash, and one was later pronounced dead. LRT said the aircraft smashed into a two-story home near the airport.
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a “DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport.”
It posted on the social platform X that city services including a fire truck were on site.
DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment.
The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. The carrier could not be immediately reached.
The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that’s not unusual for cargo flights.