Austria suspends payments to UN Palestinian agency - foreign ministry
> Austria is suspending payments to the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency, UNRWA, pending a full investigation into accusations that its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Austrian foreign ministry said on Monday.
https://www.reuters.com/world/austria-suspends-payments-un-palestinian-agency-foreign-ministry-2024-01-29/ #UNRWA #GazaWar #Hamas #Israel #Austria #Palestine
German air force to evacuate citizens from Israel tonight
> Two German Air Force planes will fly to Israel with materials and bring back German citizens who want to leave the country, a spokesperson for the defense ministry said on Saturday, adding the planes were not part of a military evacuation.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-768353 #Germany #Hamas #Gaza #Palestine #Israel
#Thailand - 57-year-old man arrested for 10-year-old FB posts
> Wichit posted ten messages on #Facebook between 24 October 2014 and 20 June 2015. The content of the posts dealt with political matters during the post-coup period and some of them referred to the monarchy.
https://prachataienglish.com/node/10612 #112 #southeastasia #TootSEA
Jordan: King warns of excluding Palestine in any regional peace deal
> Effort is being exerted by the #US to reach a peace deal between #SaudiArabia and #Israel that: “Might lead to a new horizon in the region, but the Palestinians must not be ignored in any peace deal.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230923-jordan-king-warns-of-excluding-palestine-in-any-regional-peace-deal/ #Palestine #Jordan
US mother sentenced to two years in prison for giving daughter abortion pills | #Nebraska
> Jessica Burgess, a Nebraska mother accused of helping her teenage daughter use pills to end her pregnancy, was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/22/burgess-abortion-pill-nebraska-mother-daughter #abortion #abortionrights #womensrights #christofascists #farright
Lula declares that Argentine democracy is 'in danger' with Milei
> “Neoliberalism has widened the economic and political inequality affecting current democracies. Its legacy is a mass of disenfranchised and excluded people. From its debris emerge #FarRight adventurers who deny politics who sell both easy and wrong solutions,” Lula assessed.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/latin-america/lula-says-to-biden-argentine-democracy-in-danger-with-milei.phtml #Argentina #Brazil #Lula #Milei
France's Carrefour puts up 'shrinkflation' warning signs
> French supermarket Carrefour has put stickers on its shelves this week warning shoppers of "shrinkflation" - where packet contents are getting smaller while prices are not.
> Lipton Ice Tea, Lindt chocolate and Viennetta ice cream are among the products being named and shamed.
> Shoppers are being told if bottles are smaller or pack contents lighter. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66809188 #inflation #greedflation #France
The European Commission has lifted the temporary bans on Ukrainian grain as Kyiv agrees to impose its own measures to avoid new market distortions.
> The prohibitions have been in place since 2 May and applied to five European Union states located in Ukraine's periphery: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.
The Central Bank of Russia raised its key lending rate by one percentage point to 13% on Friday, a month after imposing an even larger hike.
> Concerns about inflation persist and the ruble continues to struggle against the dollar. In August the bank increased the lending rate to 12% — a jump of 3.5 percentage points — as the ruble fell to 100 against the greenback.
https://www.euronews.com/2023/09/15/russia-raises-interest-rate-to-13-as-economy-struggles #Russia #economy
French Ambassador in Niger Being Held Hostage by Junta, Macron Says
> "As we speak, we have an ambassador and diplomatic members which are being literally held hostage at the French embassy, and food is prevented from being delivered. They're eating military rations," Macron told reporters during a visit to Burgundy.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-09-15/french-ambassador-in-niger-being-held-hostage-by-junta-macron-says #Niger #France
Nigeria power grid collapse causes nationwide blackouts
> On Thursday, the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria, reported “a total system collapse” that resulted in widespread blackouts.
> Data from the Transmission Company of #Nigeria (TCN) revealed that power generation dropped to zero in the early hours and increased to 273 megawatts (MW) by 1030 GMT, still much below the daily average of 4,100 MW.
Brazil: Trials begin for pro-Bolsonaro rioters who ransacked government offices in January
> Four men are on trial in Brasília accused of crimes including armed criminal conspiracy, violent uprising against the rule of law and an attempted coup
> AMIZMIZ, Morocco (AP) — An aftershock rattled Moroccans on Sunday as they mourned victims of the nation’s strongest earthquake in more than a century and sought to rescue survivors while soldiers and aid workers raced to reach ruined mountain villages. The disaster killed more than 2,100 people — a number that is expected to rise.
> The United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake https://www.cbs17.com/news/ap-in-ancient-cities-and-mountain-towns-rescuers-seek-survivors-from-moroccos-quake-of-the-century/ #Morocco #earthquake
Russia is turning to old ally North Korea to resupply its arsenal for the war in Ukraine
> Estimates say the reclusive and isolated Asian country has tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets that could give a huge boost to the Russian army.
https://qz.com/russia-is-turning-to-old-ally-north-korea-to-resupply-i-1850823022 #Russia #NorthKorea #DKRP #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #UkraineWar
#Canada - Trudeau only #G20 leader to pull away from longer handhold with Modi at ceremony
> Trudeau, who shook Modi’s hand, was the only leader to pull away from the longer handhold.
> Trudeau also skipped Modi’s leaders’ dinner the night before, with the prime minister’s office refusing to say why.
At least 632 dead as Morocco shaken by 6.8-magnitude quake
> "It is the first time in a century that the institute records a violent earthquake of this kind in #Morocco,"
https://www.anews.com.tr/africa/2023/09/09/at-least-296-dead-as-morocco-shaken-by-68-magnitude-quake
HSBC to halt corporate remittances to and from Russia
> HSBC Group will halt remittance services to and from #Russia and #Belarus for its corporate clients next month as financial institutions respond to Western sanctions over the #UkraineWar
> The British financial services group [..] in #HongKong, sent letters in the past month notifying business customers that it would no longer process commercial payments starting Oct. 27..."
At least 27 dead, hundreds displaced as cyclone slams southern #Brazil
> Authorities said on Wednesday the death toll had risen to at least 27, from 21 a day earlier. Twenty-six of the victims were in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, while the other fatality was reported in the neighbouring state of Santa Catarina. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/5/more-than-20-dead-hundreds-displaced-as-cyclone-slams-southern-brazil #Brasil
The Rolling Stones will release their first studio album in 18 years, Hackney Diamonds
> The announcement of the new album follows a cryptic teaser campaign, in which the band's iconic mouth and tongue logo was projected onto the façade of major landmarks in cities around the world, including New York, London and Paris.
Russias General Armageddon seen in first photo since Wagner mutiny
> Various media outlets reported that Surovikin had fallen out of favour with the Kremlin following the aborted mutiny by #Wagner in June, and that he was being investigated for possible complicity. State news agency RIA said last month he had been removed as head of the air force and his deputy Viktor Afzalov had assumed the job on a temporary basis.
https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2023/09/04/russias-general-armageddon-seen-in-first-photo-since-wagner-mutiny #Russia #Ukraine #UkraineWarNews #UkraineWar
