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American rejects US citizenship in Russian court: agencies

American rejects US citizenship in Russian court: agencies
Photographers take pictures as US citizen Joseph Tater appears in court on a screen via video link from his prison in Moscow on Sept. 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 32 sec ago
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American rejects US citizenship in Russian court: agencies

American rejects US citizenship in Russian court: agencies
  • The defendant, Joseph Tater, was in court over prosecutors’ allegations he assaulted a police officer after abusing staff at a hotel in the Russian capital in August
  • In an appeal hearing at the Moscow City Court, he criticized the US government and media outlets, demanded two embassy officials leave
Updated 32 sec ago
AFP
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MOSCOW: An American rejected his US citizenship in a Moscow court on Thursday, saying he was the victim of political persecution in the United States, Russian state news agencies reported.
The defendant, Joseph Tater, was in court over prosecutors’ allegations he assaulted a police officer after abusing staff at a hotel in the Russian capital in August.
In an appeal hearing at the Moscow City Court he criticized the US government and media outlets, demanded two embassy officials leave and said he had been targeted by the CIA for years.
“My life is being threatened in the United States,” Russian state news agencies quoted him as saying in court.
He alleged the CIA had killed his mother while she was in hospital and that he had been arrested in the US on false charges.
His lawyer told the judge he had come to Russia “with the purpose of obtaining political asylum in connection with persecution by the relevant authorities in the US.”
Addressing two US embassy officials in the court, Tater was quoted as saying: “I am no longer a US citizen, I ask you to leave the courtroom.”
He also demanded American journalists — “especially CNN” — and “journalists from Ukraine” leave the hearing, the agencies reported.
The court rejected his appeal against being held in pre-trial detention until at least October. He faces up to five years in prison.
Russia has arrested several US citizens in recent years on charges ranging from espionage and criticizing the Russian army to petty theft and family disputes.
During the Ukraine offensive and amid tensions with the West, President Vladimir Putin has made it easier for Western citizens to relocate to Russia on political grounds.
Under a decree issued earlier this year, individuals who oppose their countries’ “destructive neoliberal ideology” can apply for residency in Russia without having to pass usual tests on Russian language, history and laws.

Topics: Moscow court Russian American Joseph Tater US

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Bangladesh to phase out plastic bags from next week

Bangladesh to phase out plastic bags from next week
Updated 5 sec ago
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Bangladesh to phase out plastic bags from next week

Bangladesh to phase out plastic bags from next week
  • Bangladesh was the first country to ban plastic bags in 2002 but failed with enforcement
  • Government vows to crack down on polythene producers from November
Updated 5 sec ago
SHEHAB SUMON

Dhaka: Bangladesh will enforce a ban on thin plastic grocery bags starting next week — over 20 years after it passed legislation prohibiting their use.

The country became the first in the world to ban plastic bags after they were found to have choked its drainage systems during devastating floods in 2002.

It introduced heavy fines and prison sentences for producing, using and marketing polythene — the plastic from which most single-use bags are made — but the initially successful initiative eventually failed to sustain, mainly due to weak enforcement.

Bangladesh’s new interim government announced earlier this month that it would take legal action against supermarkets from Oct. 1 and all other markets from Nov. 1 for failing to follow the 2002 ban.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the government and de facto minister of environment, said during a meeting with the Dhaka city administration that “the use of polythene — a curse to the environment, climate and bio-diversity — must be stopped at any cost” and that from Nov. 1, the government will launch operations against polythene producers.

“Everyone is being given ample time to adapt, and we are also working on providing alternatives.”

The implementation of the 2002 ban was not successful earlier in part because cheap alternatives to polythene were not widely available. But since then, Bangladesh has significantly developed its jute industry, which is expected to be a main contributor of eco-friendly packaging.

“Jute bags are an easy and sustainable substitute for plastic bags,” Alamgir Kabir, secretary general of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, or Bangladesh Environment Movement, told Arab News.
“We welcome the government’s initiative of banning single-use plastic bags in supermarket shops as it’s a good decision for the sake of public health. We want to see that this decision is being implemented fully.”

While the cheapest jute bag costs around 5 US cents in Bangladesh — or about as much as a banana or a cup of tea — it will initially be some burden for the poorer, but Kabir argued it was high time that Bangladesh took action against single-use plastics.

“If we consider the case of Dhaka city, our drainage system is completely disrupted by these polythene bags. These bags ultimately flow into the rivers causing a serious problem with navigability. They are a serious threat to our public health as plastic particles are found inside fishes, and this is how plastic enters into our food cycle,” he said.

“Authorities banned the use of plastic bags around two decades ago. But due to a lack of political and administrative will, this decision couldn’t be implemented, resulting in a flood of polythene bags across the country.”

Topics: Bangladesh

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Harrods apologizes to women who say they were abused by former owner Mohamed Al Fayed

Managing director of Harrods said the store is “deeply sorry” for failing employees who say they were sexually assaulted.
Managing director of Harrods said the store is “deeply sorry” for failing employees who say they were sexually assaulted.
Updated 24 min 2 sec ago
AP
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Harrods apologizes to women who say they were abused by former owner Mohamed Al Fayed

Managing director of Harrods said the store is “deeply sorry” for failing employees who say they were sexually assaulted.
  • Michael Ward said it is clear Al Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”
Updated 24 min 2 sec ago
AP

LONDON: The managing director of Harrods said Thursday that the London department store is “deeply sorry” for failing employees who say they were sexually assaulted by late owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
Michael Ward said it is clear Al Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct.”
Five women have told the BBC they were raped by Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, and several others allege acts of assault and physical violence. Lawyers for the alleged victims say they have been retained by 37 women and the list is growing.
Ward said he was “not aware of his (Al Fayed’s) criminality and abuse” during the four years he worked for the Harrod’s owner, though “rumors of his behavior circulated in the public domain.”
Al Fayed owned Harrods for a quarter century before selling it 2010 to a company owned by the state of Qatar through its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority.
“We failed our colleagues and for that we are deeply sorry,” Ward said in a statement. He said Harrods had set up a “settlement process” for Al Fayed’s victims.
“This was a shameful period in the business’ history,” the statement said. “However, the Harrods of today is unrecognizable to Harrods under his ownership.”
London’s Metropolitan Police say they were made aware of allegations in the past and had questioned Al Fayed in 2008 over the alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old, but prosecutors at the time did not take the cases forward.
Al Fayed’s family has not commented.
Egypt-born businessman Al Fayed moved to Britain in the 1960s and bought Harrods, an upmarket retail emporium in London’s tony Knightsbridge district, in the mid-1980s
He became a well-known figure through his ownership of the store and the London soccer team Fulham. He was often in the headlines after his son Dodi was killed alongside Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Al Fayed spent years promoting the conspiracy theory that the royal family had arranged the accident because they did not approve of Diana dating an Egyptian.
An inquest concluded that Diana and Dodi died because of the reckless actions of their driver — an employee of the Ritz Hotel in Paris owned by Al Fayed — and paparazzi chasing the couple. Separate inquiries in the UK and France also concluded there was no conspiracy.

Topics: Harrods Mohamed Al Fayed rape sexual abuse

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World wants ceasefire along Israel-Lebanon border, US’s Blinken says

World wants ceasefire along Israel-Lebanon border, US’s Blinken says
Updated 22 min 25 sec ago
Reuters
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World wants ceasefire along Israel-Lebanon border, US’s Blinken says

World wants ceasefire along Israel-Lebanon border, US’s Blinken says
Updated 22 min 25 sec ago
Reuters

WASHINGTON: Countries around the world, including leading Arab nations, those in the G7 and the European Union, want a halt to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
Asked about Israel’s rejection of a US-backed Lebanon ceasefire proposal, Blinken told MSNBC: “The world is speaking clearly for virtually all of the key countries in Europe and in the region on the need for the ceasefire.”
He added that he would be meeting with Israeli officials in New York later on Thursday.

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Britain announces fresh Russia sanctions

Britain announces fresh Russia sanctions
Updated 26 September 2024
Reuters
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Britain announces fresh Russia sanctions

Britain announces fresh Russia sanctions
  • Russia rejects Western pressure to limit its oil exports
Updated 26 September 2024
Reuters

LONDON: Britain said on Thursday it had sanctioned five new ships and two other shipping entities under its Russian sanctions regime.
Earlier this month Britain slapped sanctions on 10 further ships in Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of vessels which it says use illicit practices to avoid Western restrictions on Russian oil.
Russia rejects Western pressure to limit its oil exports, and in the past year there has been a growth in the number of tankers transporting cargoes that are not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.

Topics: UK Russia

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Taliban say it’s absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination

Taliban say it’s absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination
Updated 26 September 2024
AP
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Taliban say it’s absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination

Taliban say it’s absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination
  • The Taliban have barred women and girls from education beyond sixth grade, many public spaces, and most jobs
Updated 26 September 2024
AP

KABUL: The Taliban said Thursday it was absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination and other human rights violations, as four countries vow to hold Afghanistan’s rulers accountable under international law for their treatment of women and girls.
Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands are set to start legal proceedings against the Taliban for violating a UN convention on women, to which Afghanistan is a party.
The countries launched the initiative on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which is taking place in New York until Monday.
Despite promising more moderate rule after they seized power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women and girls from education beyond sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. In August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry issued laws banning women’s bare faces and prohibiting them from raising their voices in public.
More than 20 countries expressed their support Thursday for the proposed legal action against the Taliban.
“We condemn the gross and systematic human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based discrimination against women and girls,” the countries said.
“Afghanistan is responsible under international law for its ongoing gross and systematic violation of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” they added.
The countries said they did not politically recognize the Taliban as the legitimate leaders of the Afghan population.
“Afghanistan’s failure to fulfill its human rights treaty obligations is a key obstacle to normalization of relations,” they said.
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faced discrimination.
“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive (Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on social media platform X.
“It is absurd to accuse the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of violating human rights and gender discrimination,” he added.
The Taliban reject all criticism of their policies, especially those affecting women and girls, describing it as interference. They maintain that their actions are in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged other countries to register their support for the four countries’ legal action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moved forward.
“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls,” said Abbasi.

Topics: Taliban Afghan

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