The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Russia expels Japanese journalist in military espionage row- RIA

    Russia on Monday said it had expelled a Japanese journalist for trying to obtain secret information related to Russian military capabilities in the Russian Far East, the RIA news agency reported.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry said the journalist, whom it did not name, was given 72 hours to leave Russia and had already left after being detained by police in the Russian Pacific port city of Vladivostok in December 2019.

    “The ministry summoned a Japanese embassy official to make an official diplomatic protest over the incident,’’ RIA reported.

    Ties between Japan and Russia are strained by a long-standing territorial row over a chain of islands in the Pacific.

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    The islands, known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles and in Japan as the Northern Territories, were seized by the Soviet army in the waning days of World War Two.

    The dispute has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal peace treaty to this day.

    “The Japanese citizen was detained by Russian law enforcement officers in Vladivostok on Dec. 25, 2019 trying to receive secret materials about Russia’s military potential in the Far East,” the ministry said.

    The announcement came two days after a Japanese telecommunications firm, SoftBank Group Corp, said one of its former employees had been arrested on suspicion of leaking company information.

    “The former employee is suspected of passing information to Russia’s trade mission in Japan in exchange for money,’’ the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing the police.

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • Indian panel wants encryption broken in fight against child porn

    Indian enforcement agencies should be able to break end-to-end encryption to hunt down distributors of child pornography online, a parliamentary panel has urged on Monday.

    The panel met officials of companies such as Google, Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp before preparing Saturday’s report, which will be considered by several ministries in drafting future policies and law.

    “It is a challenge to our collective conscience,’’ the panel said in the 21-page report reviewed by Reuters, referring to child pornography online.

    “Breaking of end-to-end encryption helps to trace distributors of child pornography.

    “India should require that the originator or sender of such messages be traced once law enforcement becomes aware of the sharing of such content.’’

    The call came as India finalises other rules to force social media giants to deploy automated tools against unlawful content, fanning industry fears that more regulation could boost compliance requirements.

    Facebook’s WhatsApp has already been at odds with the government, which has been pushing it to reveal the originators of messages on its platform amid reports that rumours spread via WhatsApp have led to mob lynching in recent years.

    READ ALSO: Kindergarten teacher on trial for child abuse, pornography

    WhatsApp, which counts India as its biggest market, with over 400 million users, says it provides end-to-end encryption to help protect user privacy and messages cannot be deciphered by the company or others.

    “If a company offers breaking such encryption for child porn, then it will be asked by all agencies,’’ an industry source, who sought anonymity, said of the panel recommendation.

    “It’s like opening secure borders.’’

    The U.S. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children said between 1998 and 2017, about 3.8 million reports of online child sexual abuse imagery originated from India, the world’s highest such figure.

    “The panel also recommended mandating Internet service providers to ‘proactively’ monitor, remove and report such content to the authorities.

    “Online search websites should also block searches for child pornography sites,’’ it added.

    The panel added that adult sections denying entry to underage children should also be incorporated into streaming platforms such as Netflix and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • High casualties feared as Afghan passenger plane crashes

    A local passenger plane has crashed in Afghanistan’s south-eastern province of Ghazni and a high number of casualties is feared, officials said on Monday.

    “The plane crashed in Deh Yak district around 1.00 p.m. (1100 GMT).

    “The plane caught fire immediately after the crash and it is unlikely that anyone survived the accident,’’ provincial governor spokesman, Arif Noori, said.

    Provincial council member, Khaliq Dad Akbari, also confirmed the crash, saying that the death toll was unclear.

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    According to both officials, the crash area is controlled by the Taliban.

    “Rescue teams had been dispatched to the scene but it was unclear whether Taliban militants would block them from reaching it,’’ Noori said.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Earthquake kills 22 in Turkey

    Agency Reporter

    Rescue workers raced against time to find survivors under the rubble after a powerful earthquake claimed 22 lives and left more than 1,200 injured in eastern Turkey.

    The magnitude 6.8 quake struck yesterday evening, with its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig province, and was felt across neighbouring countries.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a speech in Istanbul and headed to Elazig where he attended the funeral of a woman and her son.

    He vowed the state would do “everything we can” to help those affected in a disaster he described as a “test”.

    The Turkish government’s disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) said 42 people had been rescued alive from collapsed buildings in Elazig.

    Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said earlier 22 people were estimated to be trapped under the rubble.

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    Among those found alive was a woman called Azize who had contacted emergency authorities and spoken to a rescue worker by telephone, state news agency Anadolu reported.

    Nearly 2,000 search and rescue personnel were sent to the region while thousands of beds, blankets and tents have been provided, the presidency said.

    The rescue efforts have been taking place in freezing temperatures as wood and plastic were burned to keep crowds warm.

    “I have three relatives in that building: one man, his wife and her mother. They are still under the rubble,” the 40-year-old told AFP.

    “I was home during the earthquake. It lasted for so long, it was like a nightmare. I froze in the living room when it happened, my wife and our two children were screaming and running around,” he said.

    He added that some neighbours jumped out of the windows in panic as families including his were forced to spend Friday night on the streets.

    Some 20 rescuers were on top of the remains of one collapsed building, slowly clearing the rubble one bucket at a time surrounded by broken wooden beams and concrete.

    Sivrice, a town with a population of about 4,000, is situated south of Elazig city on the shores of Hazar lake -one of the most popular tourist spots in the region and the source of the Tigris river.

    The lake is home to a “Sunken City”, with archaeological traces dating back 4,000 years in its waters.

    The interior minister said 18 people were killed in Elazig while four died in Malatya.

    Among the 1,243 people injured were residents in other southeast provinces including Diyarbakir and Sanliurfa.

    (Newsnow.co.uk)

  • London police to deploy live facial recognition cameras

    The Metropolitan Police on Friday said officers plan to deploy live facial recognition (LFR) technology to help cut serious crime in London, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

    Following trials in the capital and other British cities, the use of the technology will be “intelligence-led and deployed to specific locations in London,’’ the police said.

    It will help “tackle serious crime, including serious violence, gun and knife crime, child sexual exploitation and help protect the vulnerable.”

    The move is however opposed by some human rights groups.

    “Rolling out #FacialRecognition surveillance tech is a dangerous and sinister step giving the state unprecedented power to track and monitor anyone of us,” tweeted Liberty UK, one of several groups that have fought legal battles over the technology.

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    The technology from Japanese-based NEC will give officers “an additional tool to assist them in doing what officers have always done – to try to locate and arrest wanted people,” the police insists.

    Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said it was “an important development for the Met and one which is vital in assisting us in bearing down on violence.

    “As a modern police force, I believe that we have a duty to use new technologies to keep people safe in London,” Ephgrave said.

    Ephgrave added that research suggested the public support police use of the technology.

    “We are using a tried-and-tested technology, and have taken a considered and transparent approach in order to arrive at this point,” he said.

    “Similar technology is already widely used across the UK, in the private sector.” (dpa/NAN)

  • Second case of coronavirus confirmed in the U.S

    A second case of the deadly new strain of coronavirus sweeping China has been confirmed in the U.S., health officials said on Friday.

    A person who returned to the U.S. state of Illinois from Wuhan in central China, where the outbreak originated, is the second to be diagnosed with the new strain in the U.S., according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    The patient returned from Wuhan on Jan. 13 and sought medical assistance after experiencing symptoms several days later, the CDC said in a statement.

    The person is in a stable condition in hospital, it added.

    Officials are working to identify people the patient had contact with since arriving in Illinois.

    READ ALSO: Coronavirus: China closes 14 cities

    Five U.S. airports are conducting public health entry screening.

    Travellers from Wuhan must now enter the U.S. through one of those airports.

    The CDC recommends that travellers avoid all non-essential travel to Wuhan.

    The health institute said that more cases are likely to be reported in the U.S. in the coming days and weeks, but added that the risk to the public is believed to be low.

    The first U.S. case was detected in Seattle, Washington.

    In China, 26 people had died from a lung disease linked to the virus as of Friday, with at least 830 people confirmed infected, according to the country’s National Health Commission.

    The new coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a disease that infected 8,000 people and killed 800 globally in a 2002-03 pandemic that also started in China.

    Cases of the disease have also been reported in other Asian countries and Saudi Arabia.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • 37m people affected by lockdowns as China tries to curb new virus

    Some 37 million people in Chinese cities were affected by travel bans on Friday, as authorities aimed to curb the spread of a new virus in the country.

    According to the National Health Commission, the virus known as coronavirus has infected no fewer than 876 people across the country.

    The commission stated that 26 patients had been reported dead as of Friday, including two patients outside of Hubei province, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated.

    No less than 11 cities had announced they were suspending train and long-distance bus services.

    This is coming in spite of the fact that hundreds of thousands of people had been planning to travel to their home towns for the Lunar New Year holiday on Saturday.

    According to local governments and state media, the cities that have so far imposed transportation bans include Wuhan, Chibi, Lichuan, Xiantao, Ezhou, Huanggang, Xianning, Qianjiang, Huangshi, Jingzhou and Dangyang.

    In spite of a rising death toll, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was “too early” to declare an international health emergency over the outbreak.

    READ ALSO: NCDC warns Nigerians on novel coronavirus

    The real number of patients could be much higher, as many in Wuhan are reportedly unable to receive treatment due to overcrowding in hospitals.

    Experts at Imperial College in London estimated a total of 4,000 cases had symptoms by Jan. 18.

    The new coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a disease that infected 8,000 people and killed 800 globally between 2002 and 2003 pandemic that also started in China.

    Cases of the disease have been reported in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the U.S., as well as in the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Trial: Democrats accuse Trump of ‘corrupt scheme’ to pressure Ukraine

    DEMOCRATS accused President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial of a corrupt scheme to pressure Ukraine to help him get re-elected and warned that America’s global prestige would suffer if the U.S. Senate acquits him.

    The Republican Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, sounded a defiant note, telling reporters in Switzerland the Democrats did not have enough evidence to find him guilty and remove him from office.

    In a two-hour opening argument for the prosecution after days of procedural wrangling, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff said on Wednesday that Trump had pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden’s son on unsubstantiated corruption charges last year.

    “To implement this corrupt scheme, President Trump pressured the President of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations into two discredited allegations that would benefit President Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign,” said Schiff, leading the House Democrats’ prosecution team of “managers.”

    The Democratic team pressed its case against Trump in eight hours of arguments.

    READ ALSO: Senate adopts rules for Trump impeachment after long debate

    They contended that Trump was trying to find dirt on Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination for the November election, and his son Hunter Biden who had served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, to help the president win a second term.

    Trump was impeached last month by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for his dealings with Ukraine and impeding the inquiry into the matter.

    Trump is almost certain to be acquitted by the Republican-controlled 100-member Senate, where a two-thirds majority is needed to remove him from office. But the trial’s effect on his re-election bid is unclear.

    His fellow Republicans in the Senate said his behaviour does not fit the description of “high crimes and misdemeanors” outlined in the U.S. Constitution as a reason to oust a U.S. president.

  • Chinese cities cancel New Year events over coronavirus outbreak

    Agency Reporter

    AJOR Chinese cities, including Beijing and virus-hit Wuhan, banned all large gatherings over the coming Lunar New Year festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, in an expanding effort to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak.

    The announcement on Thursday came as authorities expanded travel restrictions imposed on Wuhan to surrounding municipalities, shutting down travel networks and attempting to quarantine about 25 million people – more than the population of Florida.

    Cases of the virus have been detected around China, including Hong Kong and Macao, and other countries, including Japan, South Korea, the United States and Thailand. Singapore and Vietnam are the latest to join the list.

    At least 17 deaths have been confirmed in China, with more than 630 people infected.

    U.S.-bound travellers from Wuhan will be routed to five airports for screening: Chicago’s O’Hare, New York’s John F. Kennedy, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, and Los Angeles’s and San Francisco’s international airports.

    Residents of Wuhan report empty shelves in stores and express frustration that the government isn’t telling them the full story.

    The World Health Organisation is planning an emergency meeting on whether to declare a global health emergency.

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    The extreme measures were accompanied by other indications that Communist Party authorities were struggling to control the outbreak, notably the aggressive censorship of any criticism or skepticism on social media.

    But some outspoken doctors warned that the controls would not be enough to stop the spread of the pneumonia-like virus, which has now killed 17 people in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.

    “A bigger outbreak is certain,” said Guan Yi, a virologist who helped identify severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. He estimated – “conservatively,” he said – that this outbreak could be 10 times bigger than the SARS epidemic because that virus was transmitted by only a few “super spreaders” in a more defined part of the country.

  • World leaders at Holocaust forum condemn rising anti-Semitism

    WORLD leaders have voiced alarm at resurgent anti-Semitism as they gathered at Israel’s national Holocaust Memorial to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also castigated Iran in their speeches to the World Holocaust Forum, accusing it of rabid anti-Semitism and of seeking Israel’s destruction.

    Leaders of Russia and France looked closer to home in lamenting the killing of six million Jews in Europe during World War Two by the Nazis and vowing to combat rising anti-Semitism.

    But, the Prince of Wales ignored Pence while greeting dignitaries, including world leaders, at the event.

    German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the conference at the Yad Vashem memorial centre that he bowed his head in “deepest sorrow (for) the worst crime in the history of humanity” committed by his countrymen.

    “I wish I could say that we Germans have learned from history once and for all. But I cannot say that when hatred is spreading,” he said.

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    Steinmeier spoke in English rather than in German, a choice made, his office said, to avoid causing any distress to Holocaust survivors in the audience.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was vital to oppose xenophobia and anti-Semitism everywhere.

    “You just said that it’s not known where anti-Semitism ends,” Putin told Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at a meeting before the conference convened.

    “Unfortunately we do know this – Auschwitz is its end-result.”

    Putin later met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.

    In remarks to reporters, Abbas said he and Putin needed to discuss “regional issues”, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan and Israeli proposals “to annex Palestinian lands”.