मंगलवार, 25 जुलाई 2023

Radical British-Pakistani preacher charged with directing a terrorist organisation.

Radical British-Pakistani preacher charged with directing a terrorist organisation

NAOMI CANTON | TNN | Jul 25, 2023, 07:40 IST

British-Pakistani Islamist

preacher

Anjem Choudary appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court in London on Monday. He has been charged with running the proscribed UK terror group al-Muhajiroun, which is linked to numerous terror attacks and seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate in Britain.

On Sunday, Choudary, 56, was charged with three counts under the terrorism act: directing a

terrorist

organisation, membership in a banned organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for the organisation. He was not asked to enter a plea. Al-Muhajiroun was proscribed in theUK in 2006 for glorifying terrorism. Several of its members have been implicated in terror attacks. These include the murder of Lee Rigby and the 2017 London Bridge attack.

British-Indian terrorist Siddhartha Dhar was also a member when he joined the IS terror group in Syria in 2014, where he is believed to have executed hostages. The group first emerged in 1996 led by Syrian Islamist Omar Bakri Muhammed. It has since re-emerged under various aliases to avoid law enforcement. Prosecutors told the court it had changed its name to Islamic Thinkers Society and alleged that Choudhary had been giving weekly online lectures to small groups belonging to ITS on how to radicalise people and set up an Islamic state in Britain. Choudhary was born in London to parents who migrated from

Pakistan

Punjab.

Cruise line apologizes after dozens of whales slaughtered in front of passengers.

Cruise line apologizes after dozens of whales slaughtered in front of passengers

The Faroe Islands hunt on average 800 pilot whales annually.

ByJon Haworth

July 14, 2023, 5:26 PM

LONDON -- A cruise line has apologized to over 1,000 of its passengers after one of its ships arrived at port in the middle of a whale hunt where dozens of the marine mammals were being slaughtered.

Ambassador Cruise Lines confirmed on Thursday that the arrival of their ship Ambition in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands -- located between Scotland, Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic -- “coincided with the culmination of a hunt of 40+ pilot whales in the port area,” according to the cruise line.

MORE: Dolphin hunting season begins again in Japanese cove made famous by bloody documentary

PHOTO: Faroe Islands, Torshavn, April 12, 2023. — Faroe Islands, Torshavn, April 12, 2023.
Picture Alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images, FILE

“We were incredibly disappointed that this hunt occurred at the time that our ship was in port. We strongly object to this outdated practice, and have been working with our partner, ORCA, a charity dedicated to studying and protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises in UK and European waters, to encourage change since 2021,” Ambassador said following the arrival of their ship in the Torshavn port area on the southern part of the main island.

The government of the Faroe Islands, however, has been clear on their stance of the whale hunting for several years.

MORE: Man who calls himself 'Dolphin Dave' cited for continuously harassing humpback whale, dolphin pod: Officials

“As has been the case for centuries, whaling still occurs in the Faroe Islands today,” a statement from the government of the estimated 53,000 people on the island said explaining the values of the whaling hunt. “The Faroese have eaten pilot whale meat and blubber since they first settled the islands over a millenia ago. Today, as in times past, the whale drive is a community activity open to all, while also well organised on a community level and regulated by national laws.”

In their apology, Ambassador said that sustainability is one of the cruise line’s “core values” and that the company fully appreciates that “witnessing this local event would have been distressing for the majority of guests onboard. Accordingly, we would like to sincerely apologise to them for any undue upset.”

MORE: 21-foot killer whale dies after beaching itself on Florida coast

PHOTO: A humpback whale swims and feeds off of Jeffreys Ledge in the Gulf of Maine, near Gloucester, Massachusetts, on May 8, 2023. — A humpback whale swims and feeds off of Jeffreys Ledge in the Gulf of Maine, near Glo...
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

“We are dedicated to supporting ORCA in their endeavours to collect data and to monitor whales and dolphins and we are extremely disappointed that this has happened after weeks of trying to open constructive dialogue with the Faroese government and Visit Faroes on these issues,” Christian Verhounig, Ambassador’s CEO, said in their statement. “We continue to educate our guests and crew not to buy or eat any whale or dolphin meat and stand against any profiteering from commercial whaling and dolphin hunts.”

But the Faroe Island’s government said that the hunt is part of the island’s sustainability efforts and that “the meat and blubber from the hunt is distributed equally among those who have participated … Hunting and killing methods have been improved to ensure as little harm to the whales as possible. All hunters must now obtain a hunting license in order to kill a whale.”

MORE: Sculpture of whale's tail saves train from plummeting 30 feet off railway platform

PHOTO: People hunt dolphins in Leynar on June 14, 2023. — People hunt dolphins in Leynar on June 14, 2023. The Faroe Islands has killed more t...
SEA SHEPHERD UK/AFP via Getty Images

Although pilot whale meat and blubber contains much protein, iron, carnitine and vitamins, the Faroe Islands government said there are concerns that the high levels of mercury and PCBs in the whales can have detrimental health effects and said that “ocean pollution by heavy industries and industrialized agriculture has resulted in the pollution of whales.”

“Records of all pilot whale hunts have been kept since 1584 and the practice is deemed sustainable, as there are an estimated 778,000 whales in the eastern North Atlantic region,” the government continued. “Approximately 100,000 swim close to the Faroe Islands, and the Faroese hunt on average 800 pilot whales annually.”

In 2023 alone, the Faroe Islands has registered 646 whale killings to date, including the 78 on Sunday when the Ambition arrived.

सोमवार, 24 जुलाई 2023

Ecuador Declares State of Emergency Amid Violent ClashesBy Reuters

Ecuador Declares State of Emergency Amid Violent Clashes

By Reuters

July 24, 2023

More

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso walks, on the day of his annual report to the nation, a week after dissolving the National Assembly and calling for early elections, in Quito, Ecuador, May 24, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Toro/File PhotoREUTERS

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso on Monday declared a state of emergency and night curfews in three coastal provinces, amid a wave of violence over the weekend in the Andean country that left at least eight people dead.

Lasso declared the state of emergency in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios and in the city of Duran, near Guayaquil, after Agustin Intriago, the mayor of coastal city Manta, was shot dead on Sunday.

It also comes on the back of riots over the weekend in the prison Penitenciaria del Litoral, in Guayaquil, involving clashes between gangs inside the prison.

Lasso has frequently resorted to declaring states of emergency as Ecuador struggles with prison riots and waves of violence throughout the country.

"We cannot deny that organized crime has permeated the state, political organizations and society itself, it is a problem that has been brewing for more than a decade," Lasso said after a security cabinet meeting.

Political Cartoons on World Leaders

The state of emergency will last for 60 days in the provinces, while the curfew will vary during that period, the government said.

The murder of Manta's mayor is under investigation, Lasso said.

Sunday's riots left at least six inmates dead and 11 injured, according to the SNAI prison authority.

Prisoners also took 96 guards as hostages in jails in Cotopaxi, Azuay, Cañar, El Oro and Napo, and are continuing a hunger strike that began on Sunday in 13 Ecuadorean prisons, without disclosing reasons for the strikes.

The prison system in the South American country has faced structural problems for decades, but jail violence has soared since 2021, killing at least 400 people in frequent confrontations, which have drawn the concern of the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Tags: Ecuador, crime, South America

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मंगलवार, 25 जुलाई 2023