Author: The Nation

Queen Elizabeth will host new U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace before a summit of the G7 big economies in June, the Yesterday Times newspaper reported.

Describing it as a “soft power” reception, the Yesterday Times said the Queen would be joined by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The palace declined to comment on the report.

Britain has announced plans to hold the first in-person summit of the G7 for nearly two years in June in Cornwall, southwest England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes the meeting will forge a consensus that the global economy must recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in a pro-free trade and sustainable way.

 

Our Reporter

 

South Africa’s spy agency has been accused of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on illegal undercover operations to protect former President Jacob Zuma from corruption investigations.

The allegations, made by whistle-blowers at a corruption inquiry, include attempts to influence judges and newspapers. The allegations are staggering. Two whistle-blowers, and other witnesses, have given details of a systematic plot to turn South Africa’s state security agency into something almost like a private army for former President Zuma. During his decade in power, Zuma faced – and still faces – multiple allegations of corruption.

But a judge-led inquiry is now revealing the extent to which, it is alleged, Zuma used state institutions to protect himself during his presidency.

Witnesses have described how vast sums of money were allegedly stolen from the security agency and funnelled to Zuma’s allies. And how agents were allegedly used for overtly partisan, political operations.

Zuma has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But he’s also refused to appear to answer specific allegations at the corruption inquiry – a refusal that South Africa’s constitutional court has now declared unlawful.

 

Our Reporter

 

Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have waged a “devastating and genocidal war” in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the region’s ousted leader Debretsion Gebremichael has said.

Gebremichael urged the international community to investigate the alleged atrocities.

The Ethiopian government said his claims were “unfounded”, and his forces were guilty of “horrendous crimes”.

Conflict broke out in November after Debretsion’s forces captured Ethiopian government military bases in Tigray.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy responded by ordering a ground and air offensive, which led to his troops capturing the regional capital, Mekelle, on November 28. Debretsion fled the capital with fighters from his Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and vowed to resist federal control over the region.

The conflict has led to about two million people, or a third of Tigray’s population, being displaced.

Read Also: Ethiopia declares military operation in Tigray over

This was the first time in more than two months that Debretsion had spoken in public. An audio recording of his comments, lasting for about 20 minutes, was broadcast on a Facebook account run by a TPLF media outlet.

“A devastating and genocidal war was waged against the people of Tigray because they firmly fought for their right to self-determination and they held a democratic election. The invasion and massacre has continued. So does the struggle of the people of Tigray,” he said.

Debretsion also alleged widespread incidents of murder, rape, torture and starvation.

It is unclear when the recording was made but he mentioned the killings of other TPLF leaders, which suggested it was recent.

Debretsion is wanted by the government on charges of treason. The authorities in Ethiopia announced earlier this month that several senior TPLF members, including Ethiopia’s former Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, had been killed in the conflict.

Debretsion said the TPLF had suffered setbacks because “four governments” were fighting against it in Tigray.

 

Our Reporter

 

Police detained more than 2,700 people and broke up rallies in Moscow and across Russia yesterday as supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny braved the bitter cold and a massive show of police force to demand he be set free.

The nationwide rallies are the second straight weekend of protests that are part of a high-risk opposition campaign to try to pressure the Kremlin into freeing President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent.

The opposition politician was arrested on Jan. 17 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia last summer. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies.

Read Also: Russia: vaccine to sell for $10 globally

Navalny’s dramatic return to Moscow despite the obvious threat of arrest and the protests that his jailing has sparked pose a major challenge for Putin who has dominated the Russian political landscape for over two decades.

In a highly unusual move, police imposed a security lockdown in the heart of the capital yesterday, sealing off streets to pedestrians near the Kremlin, closing metro stations and deploying hundreds of riot police as snow fell.

Yulia, a 40-year-old protester in Moscow, said she had joined the rallies despite having a panic attack the night before because of worrying about repercussions for taking part.

“I understand that I live in a totally lawless state. In a police state, with no independent courts. In a country ruled by corruption. I would like to live differently,” she said.

Police have said the protests were illegal as they had not been authorised and would be broken up. Authorities have said demonstrators could spread COVID-19.

At one point, a column of protesters marched towards the prison in northern Moscow where Navalny is being held, chanting “Let him go!”

Police put turnout at the Moscow protest at around 2,000 people. Reuters reporters estimated crowds of several thousand that were smaller than last weekend when police estimated 4,000 people and the opposition put the figure at 50,000, an assertion the authorities dismissed as nowhere near the truth.

Police detained at least 2,737 people nationwide, including 681 in Moscow, according to OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group. The figures were expected to rise.

Yulia Navalnaya, the Kremlin critic’s wife, was among those detained.

“If we stay quiet, then they could come for any of us tomorrow,” she wrote on Instagram before joining the protests.

The protest is a test of Navalny’s support after many of his prominent allies were targeted in a crackdown this week. Several, including his brother Oleg, are under house arrest.

In the far eastern city of Vladivostok, video footage showed protesters chanting “Putin is a thief” as they linked hands and marched in temperatures of around -13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit). Police detained more than 100 people in the city, OVD-Info said.

In Tomsk, the Siberian city that Navalny visited before suddenly collapsing on a domestic flight last August, demonstrators gathered in front of a concert hall and chanted “Let him go!”.

Navalny, 44, is accused of parole violations which he says are trumped up. A court is due to meet next week to consider handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.