Myanmar military denies junta chief detained by generals

Myanmar military denies junta chief detained by generals
Myanmar’s military on August 14, 2024 said rumors top generals had detained the embattled junta chief in a new coup were “propaganda” spread by “traitors” ahead of a vist by China’s foreign minister. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 14 August 2024
Follow

Myanmar military denies junta chief detained by generals

Myanmar military denies junta chief detained by generals

YANGON: Myanmar’s military on Wednesday said rumors top generals had detained the embattled junta chief in a new coup were “propaganda” spread by “traitors” ahead of a visit by China’s foreign minister.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has faced public criticism from military supporters in recent weeks as government troops lose territory to ethnic minority armed groups and other opponents battling to overturn its 2021 coup.
On Tuesday several social media posts claimed that top generals had detained Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw in a bid to change the junta’s top leadership.
The claims were “propaganda... with the aim of disrupting the country’s peace and stability,” the junta said in a statement, accusing those sharing the news of being “traitors.”
“The head of state and authorities are fulfilling their national responsibility together,” it said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due to arrive in Myanmar on Wednesday for talks with Min Aung Hlaing.
The visit is “aimed at deepening bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields,” an unnamed Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
China is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta but analysts say it also maintains ties with ethnic armed groups that hold territory near its border.
In recent weeks an alliance of ethnic armed groups has seized territory from the junta in northern Shan state, which borders China’s Yunnan province.
Territory captured includes the military’s northeastern command in the Shan state town of Lashio, home to about 150,000 people.
The capture of the regional command — the first by opponents of the junta since the military’s 2021 coup — sparked rare public criticism of the top generals by its supporters.
Min Aung Hlaing later said the alliance was receiving weapons, including drones and short-range missiles, from “foreign” sources that he did not identify.
The last top Chinese official to visit the isolated junta was former foreign minister Qin Gang, who held talks with Min Aung Hlaing in May last year.
According to a senior Myanmar military official Wang Yi will not meet Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the military since it seized power.


Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel

Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel
Updated 24 min 24 sec ago
Follow

Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel

Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel
  • The Vermont representative told reporters that “what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable,” pointing in particular to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in the Palestinian territory, as well as large-scale destruction of buildings
  • The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the death toll from the ongoing war has reached 43,972 people, the majority civilians

WASHINGTON: A handful of left-leaning senators on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to halt arms sales to Israel, accusing the United States of playing a key role in the “atrocities” of the war in Gaza.
The four senators gave the media conference ahead of a Wednesday vote on resolutions condemning the US weapons sales — measures that are expected to fail given the large number of lawmakers who support Israel, a historic American ally.
The resolutions were put forth by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, alongside several other Democrats.

A Palestinian man bids carries the remains of a person killed in an Israeli strike, at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)

The Vermont representative told reporters that “what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable,” pointing in particular to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in the Palestinian territory, as well as large-scale destruction of buildings and infrastructure.
“What makes it even more painful is that much of what is happening there has been done with US weapons and with American taxpayer support,” he said.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the death toll from the ongoing war has reached 43,972 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The war began first began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The administration of President Joe Biden has steadfastly backed Israel while counseling restraint for more than a year.
“The United States of America is complicit in these atrocities,” Sanders said. “That complicity must end and that is what these resolutions are about.”
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, also speaking at the media conference, questioned whether America’s foreign policy and commitment to Israel had forced the United States to “be blind to the suffering before our very eyes?“
 

 


French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine

French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine
Updated 3 sec ago
Follow

French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine

French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine
  • Emmanuel Macron said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to "use all his influence" with Putin to try to achieve a de-escalation.

RIO DE JANEIRO: French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “listen to reason” on Ukraine, accusing Moscow of becoming “a force of global destabilization” after it loosened its rules on using nuclear arms.
Speaking to journalists after the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, the French leader said: “I want truly to call here on Russia to listen to reason. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council it has responsibilities.”
He said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the G20 to “use all his influence” with Putin to try to achieve a de-escalation.
Macron said Russia ally China had “the capacity to negotiate with President Putin so that he halts his attacks” on Ukraine.
Macron also cited the alleged involvement of another China ally, North Korea, which has reportedly deployed thousands of troops to fight alongside Russia, as a reason for Beijing to intercede.
Russia has reacted furiously to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change policy on Ukraine and allow Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time.
The tensions spiralled further on Tuesday after Russia said Ukraine used the missiles against a facility in Russia’s Bryansk region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was at the G20, said the escalation had brought the United States and Russia to “the brink of direct military conflict.”


’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial

’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial
Updated 15 min 47 sec ago
Follow

’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial

’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial
  • A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large

AVIGNON, France: The daughter of the French man standing trial for enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily-sedated wife on Tuesday clashed with her father at his trial, shouting in the courtroom that he would “die in lies.”
Since early September, Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock along with 49 other men for organizing the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot.
In a closing statement, Dominique Pelicot again admitted to the accusations, saying that his “motive” was wanting to satisfy a “fantasy.”
“I came to do what I did through people who willingly accepted what I proposed,” he told the court.
Dominique Pelicot, as in previous statements, went back to his past, saying that he was affected throughout his life by a rape he said he suffered at the age of nine in hospital, and then at the age of 14 being forced to witness the gang-rape of a young girl at a building site.
“I don’t know when I’ll get out, but if I do get out (of prison), I don’t have any plans. What saddens me the most is that people think I’m capable of certain things that I’m not capable of doing,” he added.
Family lawyer Antoine Camus then interjected that Dominique Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian, joined in court by her brothers David and Florian, needed an “audible and human response” to the actions she says she is “convinced” she suffered at his hands.
Caroline Darian, a pen name, in 2022, wrote a book “Et j’ai cesse de t’appeler papa” (“And I stopped calling you dad“). She believes she was also assaulted by her father who took intimate photographs of her.
“I am not going to try to convince her with perverse answers,” Dominique Pelicot replied.
“I don’t remember taking these photos. I tell her straight in the eyes that I never touched her.”
He then turned to her directly and said: “Caroline, I have never done anything to you.”
But she interrupted, saying: “You lie, you don’t have the courage to tell the truth! Even about your ex-wife!“
“You will die in lies! Alone, alone in lies Dominique Pelicot!,” she continued before being interrupted by judge Roger Arata.
Nude photos taken without her knowledge and photomontages of Caroline Darian with lewd titles were found on her father’s hard drive. In some, she appears asleep, sometimes wearing her mother’s underwear.
A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large.
 

 


Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians

Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians
Updated 49 min 31 sec ago
Follow

Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians

Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians

KYIV: A third Russian strike in three days on a civilian residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child, officials said Tuesday, as the war reached its 1,000th day.

The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region injured 11 others, including two children, Ukraine’s Rescue Services said, adding that more people could be trapped under the rubble.

The attack late Monday night hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the town of Hlukhiv, the regional administration said.

Ukraine has repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles, while on the battlefield it is under severe Russian pressure at places on the about 1,000-kilometer front line where its army is stretched thin against a bigger adversary.

On Sunday, a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions struck a residential area of Sumy in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people and injuring 84 others.

On Monday, a Russian missile barrage sparked apartment fires in the southern port of Odesa, killing at least 10 people and injuring 43.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the series of aerial strikes proved that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interest in ending the war.

“Each new attack by Russia only confirms Putin’s true intentions. He wants the war to continue. Talks about peace are not interesting to him. We must force Russia to a just peace by force,” Zelenskyy said.


Somaliland opposition leader Cirro wins in presidential election, beating incumbent

Somaliland opposition leader Cirro wins in presidential election, beating incumbent
Updated 53 min 11 sec ago
Follow

Somaliland opposition leader Cirro wins in presidential election, beating incumbent

Somaliland opposition leader Cirro wins in presidential election, beating incumbent

NAIROBI: Somaliland opposition leader Abdirahman Cirro defeated incumbent president Muse Bihi Abdi in last week’s election, the electoral commission said on Tuesday, setting up a handover of power as the breakaway Somali region pushes for global recognition.

Somaliland has had de facto self-rule since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991, but has not been recognized by any country, restricting access to international finance and the ability of its six million people to travel.

Cirro, leader of the opposition Waddani party, won 64 percent of the vote against Bihi’s 35 percent, said Musa Hassan, chairman of the Somaliland Electoral Commission.

“This election is not a win or loss for the candidates. It was an election of unity and fraternity and pushing ahead the Somaliland nation,” Cirro said in a televised address on Tuesday.

Occupying a strategic location at the juncture of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, Somaliland sees international recognition as being within reach after signing a preliminary deal with landlocked Ethiopia in January that would grant Addis Ababa a strip of land on its coast in exchange for recognition.

Somaliland is also hopeful that the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump will be favorable to its cause. Several leading Africa policy officials from Trump’s first term have voiced support for its recognition.

The breakaway region has enjoyed a comparative period of peace since achieving autonomy three decades ago, just as Somalia plunged into a civil war from which it has yet to emerge.

While Cirro has signalled broad support for the proposed pact with Ethiopia, his commitment to implementing it is not clear. Some analysts suspect he could be more open to dialogue with Somalia’s government, which opposes the agreement.

The deal has soured Somalia’s relations with Ethiopia, a major contributor toward a peacekeeping force in Somalia fighting Islamist militants, and drawn Somalia’s government closer to Ethiopia’s historic rivals, Egypt and Eritrea.

The presidents of Somalia and neighboring Djibouti, whose relations with Somaliland were also strained under Bihi, congratulated Cirro on his win.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry also sent a congratulatory message to Cirro.

“Congratulations to the newly elected President of Somaliland... and to the brotherly people of Somaliland for their political maturity,” Djibouti’s president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, wrote on X.

In his message, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud committed to ongoing reconciliation talks, which he said were focused on preserving the unity of Somalia.

“While I think there are concerns that (Cirro) may opt for a radical departure from his predecessor, jettison the MOU (deal with Ethiopia), embrace dialogue with Somalia, there’s a big difference between campaigning and governing,” said Matt Bryden, a strategic adviser with the Sahan think tank.