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Human Rights Council Ratchets Up Pressure on Myanmar

By Nick Cumming-Bruce | Thursday,  Sept. 27, 2018

GENEVA  The United Nations Human Rights Council stepped up pressure to punish Myanmar’s military commanders for a brutal campaign against Rohingya Muslims, deciding on Thursday the 27 Sep. to create a body to expedite criminal prosecutions. The council overwhelmingly supported a resolution to set up an “independent mechanism” that will collect and analyze evidence of the “most serious international crimes” and prepare dossiers that will make it easier for prosecutors to bring cases to trial in national, regional or international courts.

The council’s action came a month after a United Nations fact-finding team said Myanmar’s army commander, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top generals should be prosecuted in an international court. It recommended prosecution on charges of genocide for a campaign that forced some 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, and crimes against humanity in connection with actions against other ethnic minorities.

The team presented a 444-page report to the council this month, setting out harrowing details of a Myanmar Army campaign that led to the systematic slaughter of thousands of people, the mass rape of women and girls, and the wholesale destruction of villages.

Thirty-five of the council’s 47 members backed the resolution. The only countries to oppose it were China, the Philippines and Burundi. The others abstained or did not vote.

Thursday’s resolution was the product of a collaboration between all 28 countries in the European Union and all 57 states in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It was co-sponsored by more than 100 countries from all regions.

“This is unprecedented,” Farukh Amil, Pakistan’s ambassador and the coordinator of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, told reporters after the vote, referring to the level of cooperation. “This is a very powerful message that has gone to the government of Myanmar.”

The International Criminal Court has ruled that it has jurisdiction to investigate the forced eviction of Rohingyas from Myanmar. But calls for the United Nations Security Council to refer Myanmar to the court for investigation of the full range of atrocities would likely be vetoed by China.     ‘Courtesy New York Times’

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Canada strips Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi of honorary citizenship

Aung San Suu Kyi received the honour from Ottawa in 2007, when she was a democracy advocate under long house arrest. But the Myanmar leader has been under fire for her failure to condemn the military campaign that has driven more than 700,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh in what the UN human rights chief called “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Canadian parliament’s decision to revoke the symbolic honour was due to a “persistent refusal to denounce the Rohingya genocide”, said Adam Austen, spokesman for Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.

“We will continue to support the Rohingya by providing humanitarian assistance, imposing sanctions against Myanmar’s generals and demanding that those responsible be held accountable before a competent international body,” said Austen.

MP Gabriel Ste Marie, who proposed the motion, told reporters he thought the vote was “a great symbol”.

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Eight(8)  Palestinians Killed in Gaza Border Clash

By Reuters | Sept. 28, 2018

GAZA  Israeli soldiers fatally shot 8  Palestinians, including two boys, who were among thousands of people who thronged to the fortified Gaza border on Friday as part of weekly protests begun six months ago, Gaza health officials said. Gaza health officials said 505 people were wounded. They identified the dead as males, two of them ages 12 and 14.

About 200 Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza protests began on March 30 to demand the right of return to lands that Palestinian families fled or were driven from on Israel’s founding in 1948, and the easing of an Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade. Hamas said Friday’s protest also marked the 18th anniversary of the last Palestinian revolt against Israel.

A Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier in an earlier protest, and Palestinians have used kites and helium balloons to fly incendiary devices over the border fence, destroying tracts of forest and farmland in Israel.

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Russia accuses Israel of indirectly downing its Russian IL-20M plane over Syria

Reuters | September 18, 2018

Russia’s Defence Ministry said a Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, with 15 Russian service personnel on board, was brought down by anti-aircraft batteries of Moscow’s ally, Syria, in a friendly fire incident. Russian officials accused Israel of indirectly causing the incident near Syria’s Mediterranean coast, and threatened to retaliate against Israel for what it described as a hostile act. The Russian ministry said it held Israel responsible because, at the time of the incident, Israeli fighter jets were mounting air attacks on Syria targets and had only given Moscow one minute’s warning, putting the Russian aircraft in danger of being caught in the cross-fire. “We view the actions of the Israeli military as hostile,” Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian state television. “As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian service personnel perished.”

Russian MoD: S-400 data shows Israeli F-16 hid behind Russian IL-20M  to avoid Syrian missile

Data captured by Russia’s S-400 system proves Israeli jets were responsible for the downing of the Russian plane, the Defense Ministry said, adding that the Syrian missile changed its course shortly before hitting the Il-20. Data gleaned from the S-400 air defense system deployed at the Russian Khmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province has revealed that the Syrian anti-air missile was, in fact, targeting an Israeli F-16 jet before it abruptly altered its course and eventually hit the Russian aircraft. This, and the position of all the aircraft at the moment of the September 17 incident, proves that an Israeli jet was de facto using the larger Il-20 as a cover, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov told journalists at Monday’s news briefing. The radar images revealed at the briefing “clearly showed the direction of the flight of the S-200 missile launched by the Syrian air defense system, as well as the locations of the Russian and Israeli aircraft,” Konashenkov said, adding that “it is quite clear that the missile was targeting the Israeli jet.”

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Russia to supply S-300 to Syria after Il-20 downing during Israeli raid  MoD

Within two weeks Russia will deliver to Damascus an S-300 air defense system, previously suspended on a request by Israel. It comes as part of response to the downing of a Russian Il-20 plane amid an Israeli air raid on Syria.

Moscow accused Tel Aviv of failing to inform Russia about its impending attack on targets in Syria, which resulted in a downing of the Russian electronic warfare aircraft by Syrian return fire. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the defense ministry to take several measures in response to the incident, the ministry said in a statement. Arguably, the most concerning thing for Israel will be the delivery to Syria of an S-300 anti-aircraft system, which will boost Syria’s capabilities to deny Israel access to its airspace. The system was purchased by Damascus several years ago, but never delivered.

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China’s investment in Suez Canal zone tells success story of economic partnershipl

(Source:Xinhua)  Mahfouz Taha(1st L), Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) vice chairman, attends the China Harbour Engineering Company’s start ceremony of the 100-day construction competition in Sokhna Port of Suez Governorate, Egypt, Aug. 28, 2018. The Chinese investment in Egypt’s SCZone has been a success story of the productive China-Egypt economic partnership, Mahfouz Taha, SCZone vice chairman, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)

Mahfouz Taha, Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) vice chairman, recieves an interview with Xinhua in Suez Governorate, Egypt, Aug. 28, 2018. The Chinese investment in Egypt’s SCZone has been a success story of the productive China-Egypt economic partnership, Mahfouz Taha, SCZone vice chairman, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Taha hailed the investment attracted by Chinese industrial developer TEDA to the economic zone, including China’s fiberglass giant manufacturer Jushi, which has helped Egypt become one of the largest fiberglass producers and exporters in the world.

“We consider a developer like TEDA and a tenant like Jushi our partners in development. TEDA is the largest industrial developer in the SCZone, which is another success story,” the Egyptian official said.

Located in TEDA’s industrial zone in the Ain Sokhna district of Suez province east of the capital Cairo, Jushi Egypt has recently celebrated the completion of a 200,000-ton fiberglass production base in its factory.

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U.S. sanctions China for buying Russian fighter jets, missiles

Lesley Wroughton, Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Chinese military for buying fighter jets and missile systems from Russia, in breach of a sweeping U.S. sanctions law punishing Moscow for meddling in the 2016 U.S. Election. The U.S. State Department said it would immediately impose sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD), the branch of the Chinese military responsible for weapons and equipment, and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in “significant transactions” with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms exporter. The sanctions are related to China’s purchase of 10 SU-35 combat aircraft in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018, the State Department said.

They block the Chinese agency, and Li, from applying for export licenses and participating in the U.S. financial system. It also adds them to the Treasury Department’s list of specially designated individuals with whom Americans are barred from doing business.

The administration also blacklisted an additional 33 people and entities associated with the Russian military and intelligence, adding them to a list under the 2017 law, known as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.

CAATSA also seeks to punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and involvement in Syria’s civil war.

Doing significant business with anyone on that list can trigger sanctions like those imposed on China.

Some of those added to the list, which now contains 72 names, were indicted in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, the official said. Earlier , President Donald Trump issued an executive order intended to facilitate implementation of the sanctions.

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A rare brazen terrorist attack on an Iranian military parade; 29 dead

The Iranian government is blaming Arab separatists and the United States.

Sep 22, 2018  | (AFP)  At least 29 people were killed and 60 others wounded, including women and children  in an attack on an Iranian military parade claimed by the Islamic State group, as Tehran accused a US ally in the region of the assault. The attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz came as the country marked the anniversary of the start of its 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein s Iraq and prompted President Hassan Rouhani to warn of a “crushing response”.

“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the smallest threat will be crushing”, Rouhani said on his official website. “Those who give intelligence and propaganda support to these terrorists must answer for it.”

The city lies in Khuzestan, a province bordering Iraq that has a large ethnic Arab community and has seen separatist violence in the past that Iran has blamed on its regional rivals. According to reports,  members of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps soldiers and civilian attendees were killed and injured, and two of the shooters were killed and the other two captured.

”Terrorists began shooting from a long distance while inside the park, at the armed forces as well as civilians watching the parade,” Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarch, a spokesman for the Iranian armed forces told MEHR, another Iranian news agency.

 “This crime is a continuation of the plots of the regional states that are puppets of the United States, and their goal is to create insecurity in our dear country,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement published on his website.

The Associated Press reports said that the region’s Arab separatists claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Islamic State claimed responsibility as well, but Iranian authorities did not deem those claims credible and blamed the separatists.

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Russia’s Su-57 jet gets hypersonic missile that can shoot down enemy aircraft ‘300km away’

26 Sep, 2018 | A hypersonic anti-aircraft missile with a range of over 300km will be part of the arsenal of the Su-57, Russia’s most-advanced multipurpose fighter jet. The weapon is meant to take out high-value targets with impunity.

The Su-57 is Russia’s first 5th-generation aircraft, designed to be a formidable threat to major air powers such as the US. It is normally expected to carry weapons in its internal bays, to reduce radar cross-section and avoid compromising its stealth capabilities. But larger missiles may be carried externally at a hardpoint, and one of those will be the R-37M, a missile with a greater range than anything the US aircraft would have at their disposal.

The R-37M is an upgraded version of the missile that came into service in 1985. The older variant is among the larger air-to-air missiles, measuring 4.2 meters in length and 600kg in weight, suitable only for bigger aircraft like the Mig-31BM interceptor.

The updated missile’s main feature is its range, which is reported as 300km, although some sources say it may be as high as 400km, depending on flight profile. The costly missile is meant to take down equally important targets like AWACS planes, but with Mach 6 speeds and an active-seeker homing system taking over during the terminal phase, it poses a threat to more agile targets like fighter jets.

The R-37M variant, which is reportedly in the final stages of development, was given a new guidance system and lost some weight and length to fit on smaller platforms. Boris Obnosov, director of the Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV), confirmed to Interfax on Wednesday that the Su-57 will be among aircraft capable of firing the new missile. KRTV is the parent company of NPO Vympel, the developer of the R-37.

The progress with developing the R-37M puts into question the future of another potential very long-range air-to-air missile considered for the Su-57. Called KS-172 and developed by NPO Novator, part of the competing military concern Almaz-Antey, this missile reportedly has an even greater range of over 400km.

This was made possible by using a two-stage composition, with a wider powerful first stage quickly boosting the smaller second stage. The weapon had a few successful tests, but is believed to be nowhere near entering service. Interestingly, China is reportedly developing a similar two-stage extended-range missile for its J-20 stealth fighters.

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India  Successful Flight Test short-range tactical ballistic missile ‘Prahaar’

Know what’s special about this indigenously developed weapon

India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed surface-to-surface short-range tactical ballistic missile ‘Prahaar’ from the Odisha coast. ‘Prahar’, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is capable of filling the gap between the multi-barrel rocket system ‘Pinaka’ and medium-range ballistic missile ‘Prithvi’. It can also engage multiple targets in different directions, official sources said.

The test launch was successful as the missile travelled a range of 200 km before zeroing in on the target, achieving all mission objectives, the sources said. The sophisticated missile was test-launched from launch pad-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here at about 1.35 pm. It was launched from a mobile launcher, they said. It is a solid-fuelled short-range missile fitted with inertial navigation system, they said.

The missile is equipped with state-of-the-art navigation, guidance and electromechanical actuation systems with advanced on board computer. It is a quick-reaction, all-weather, all-terrain, highly accurate battlefield support tactical weapon system, the sources said. Various tracking radars as well as electro-optic equipment were engaged to track and monitor the missiles trajectory, they said. “The DRDO successfully flight tested the indigenously developed surface-to-surface tactical missile ‘Prahar’, from Launch Complex-III, ITR, Balasore,” a government statement read.

Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat and DRDO chairman G. Satheesh Reddy witnessed the launch and complimented all the team members. (Source: PTI)

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Death toll rises to at least 136 after Lake Victoria ferry disaster

(20 Sep. 2018) : The ferry MV Nyerere capsized close to the pier on Ukara Island on Africa’s largest lake on Thursday 20th Sep. when passengers rushed to one side to disembark as it approached the dock.Thirty-seven people had been rescued from the sea, Jonathan Shana, the regional police commander for the port of Mwanza on the south coast of the lake told Reuters.

How did this happen?

 Local media say the ferry’s official capacity was 100 people but officials say the vessel was carrying more than 400 passengers when it capsized. It operates on a busy route, crossing eight times a day between the islands of Ukara and Ukwerewe, which are close to Tanzania’s second-largest city of Mwanza. The ferry was said to have been particularly busy because it was market day in Bugorora, on Ukerewe island. The vessel was also carrying cargo, including bags of cement and maize, when it capsized around 50 metres from the shore. It is thought that many of the passengers would not have been able to swim.

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EU lawmakers call for global ban on ‘killer robots’

By Daphne Psaledakis

The European Union took a stance against “killer robots” on Wednesday when the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for an international ban on the development, production and use of weapons that kill without a human deciding to fire. Autonomous weapons are machines programmed to select and attack targets using artificial intelligence, without human control. Opponents fear they could become dangerous in a cyber-attack or as a result of a mistake in their programming.

“I know that this might look like a debate about some distant future or about science fiction. It’s not,” Federica Mogherini, the EU chief of foreign and security policy, said during a debate in parliament on Tuesday. The resolution passed on Wednesday is an effort to preempt their development and use.

Countries including the United States, China, Israel, South Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom are moving closer to autonomous weapons systems, with precursors such as armed drones, according to campaign group Human Rights Watch. Russian news agency TASS reported in 2017 that Russian arms maker Kalashnikov had developed an automated weapon that was able to “identify targets and make decisions.”

Most members at the debate on Tuesday spoke in favour of the resolution that the use of such weapons was an issue of human rights and humanitarian law. Some were concerned that legislation could limit scientific progress on artificial intelligence for everyday use. Another concern stressed by the parliamentarians was the security risk the bloc would face if it banned the use of the weapons while others did not.

“Autonomous weapons systems must be banned internationally,” said Bodil Valero, security policy spokesperson for the EU Parliament’s Greens/EFA Group. “The power to decide over life and death should never be taken out of human hands and given to machines.” The resolution passed on Wednesday calls for the EU to establish a common position before international negotiations scheduled at the United Nations in November.

At the UN level, 26 governments are demanding artificial intelligence weapons be banned, according to a statement from the EU Parliament’s Greens/EFA group. “This resolution adds important momentum towards further steps to prevent their development and use,” said peace organisation PAX in a statement after the vote on Wednesday.          ‘Courtesy Reuters’

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Indonesia tsunami : At least 832 die in Indonesia tsunami and earthquake

Fri. 28 Sep. 2018 | By Lucia Binding, Sky News Reporter

Official figures almost double as Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla says the final number of dead could be “in the thousands”.

The national disaster mitigation agency warned the figure could climb higher as the affected area on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is bigger than initially thought. Many people were reported trapped in the rubble of buildings brought down in the 7.5 magnitude earthquake which struck on Friday and triggered tsunami waves as high as six metres (20 feet). Almost all the deaths have been recorded in Palu, two days after the waves slammed into the city of 350,000.

Eleven deaths had been recorded in the nearby region of Donggala to the the north of Palu, agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. He added that the access to Donggala, as well as the towns of Sigi and Boutong, is limited and there are no comprehensive reports from those areas.

Risa Kusuma, a 35-year-old mother comforting her feverish baby boy at an evacuation centre in Palu, said: “Every minute an ambulance brings in bodies. “Clean water is scarce. The minimarkets are looted everywhere.”

Hundreds of stricken people have been looting supermarkets and petrol stations amid an acute shortage of water, food and fuel.

Residents were seen scrambling over broken glass and through broken-down barricades at a supermarket in the centre and making off with plastic bin bags full of goods including nappies, crisps and gas canisters.

Rescuers have been trying to reach trapped victims in collapsed buildings after the tsunami hit the two central Indonesian cities – sweeping away buildings with massive waves.

Why were so many killed on Friday Tsunami?

A 7.5 magnitude quake occurred at a shallow depth of 10km (6.2 miles)  just off central Sulawesi at 18:03 (10:03 GMT), US monitors say. A tsunami warning was issued but lifted within the hour.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency has been criticised for its response but officials say the waves struck while the warning was in place. People including dancers were still busy on the beach in Palu (population: 335,000), preparing for a festival, and were caught when waves up to 3m (10ft) in height swept in.

“The tsunami… dragged cars, logs, houses,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster agency, told Reuters news agency. “It hit everything on land.”

Some people survived by climbing 6m (18ft) trees, he added. As well as destroying homes, the quake wrecked a shopping centre, a mosque, a hotel and a road bridge.

Reports are still coming in of the impact of the disaster on communities further up the coast from Palu and closer to the quake’s epicentre, including the smaller town of Donggala, where there was at least one death and 10 people were injured. “We have heard nothing from Donggala and this is extremely worrying,” the Red Cross said in a statement.

“This is already a tragedy, but it could get much worse.”

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Britain will send 800 troops to the Arctic to confront Putin’s aggression as two Royal Navy ships are saved from the axe

By TIM SCULTHORPE, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAIL | 30 September 2018

Britain will deploy 800 British troops to the Arctic to ward off Russian aggression, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced today. The Royal Marine and Army commandos will be deployed to Norway every winter for the next decade, operating alongside US and Dutch marines as well as Norwegian troops.  Mr Williamson announced the move before his speech at the Tory party conference in Birmingham in which he pointed to Russia’s re-opening of Soviet-era bases high in the arctic circle. Melting ice has made the far north more navigable than ever before and led to claims of race to take control over the territory and its natural resources.  Ahead of his speech he said there had been an ‘increased tempo’ of submarine activity and insisted it proved Britain needed to ‘demonstrate we’re there’ to ‘protect our interests’.

Also in the speech, he announced that he would be protecting HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion being withdrawn from service early. There had been speculation that the two ships were facing the scrapyard as the MoD looked to make savings.

He also said Britain will recruit teenagers into a ‘cyber cadet force to help guard the nation against digital warfare,Around 2,000 youths will be trained each year in a new £1million GCHQ programme. The measure is the latest step in bolstering Britain’s cyber defences against interference from the Kremlin, rogue states and terrorists.    Mr Williamson, announcing the cyber cadets, said: ‘We live in a modern world where our phones are rarely out of our hands and we rely on computers to make daily tasks easier.

‘Cyber threats to the UK are constantly evolving and this exciting initiative to train and develop ‘cyber cadets’ – the first of its kind in a Nato state – reaffirms our leading role in tackling security threats head on. ‘It is important to recognise the vital role cadets play in our communities, and I am determined to grow the number of young people signing up and make sure their successes are properly recognised each year.’

He added: ‘This programme has been designed with GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre. 2,000 cadets a year will be trained in cyber security. ‘Teaching young people skills, they need to succeed in today’s world. This investment in cadets is an investment in the future of our young people.’

On the subject of Russian aggression, Mr Williamson told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘We see Russian submarine activity very close to the level that it was at the Cold War, and it’s right that we start responding to that.

‘If we could turn back the clock 10 years many people thought that the era of submarine activity in the High North, in the North Atlantic, and the threat that it posed did disappear with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

‘This threat has really come back to the fore.’

Theresa May and Boris Johnson traded blows today as a potentially tumultous Tory conference kicked off. The former foreign secretary launched another vicious attack on the PM’s Chequers plan for Brexit – branding it ‘deranged’ and ‘preposterous’. But a defiant Mrs May shot back that her critics were ‘playing politics’ and insisted she is still confident of getting a deal with the EU.

 ‘Courtesy Dailymail’

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