Sharplift News

2021-06-13 06:45:57 The Group of Seven (G7) nations have unveiled a significant infrastructure initiative for lower-income countries in a bid to counter China’s multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, dubbed the “New Silk Road”.

Their “Build Back Better World” (B3W) project, championed by US President Joe Biden’s administration, is aimed squarely at competing with the Belt and Road initiative, which has been widely criticised for saddling small countries with unmanageable debt.

Story. Aljazeera
13-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-12 13:15:04 Mustafa al-Darwish, a 26-year-old man on death row in Saudi Arabia, could be killed at any moment for crimes he allegedly committed as a teenager. He exhausted his final appeals at the end of May and his death sentence only requires the king's signature. Right groups have said. They fear his death could be part of a larger upcoming mass execution.

Al-Darwish was arrested in 2015 for taking part in anti-government protests in 2011 and 2012 when he was aged 17 to 18. Charges against him included participation in armed rebellion against the rulers, 

Story. DW
12-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-12 11:15:05 The parents of imprisoned Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich have called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel for help in granting their son's release, according to a report published by the German Bild newspaper on Friday.  Dimitri and Natalia Pratasevich have expressed deep concern over their son's well-being while in prison, and believe he is being tortured by the government. 

Pratasevich's parents are also on the run from Lukashenko, with the couple having fled Belarus for Poland. The 26-year-old Pratasevich also lived in Poland prior to the arrest, continuing his work against the Lukashenko regime. The blogger previously served as the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta, which coordinates demonstrations against Lukashenko..

Story. DW
12-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-12 09:00:03 At a virtual press conference, Gordhan said "The government has agreed that the financial partner will hold 51% of the shares and the government 49%." The Takatso consortium consists of the pan-African investor group Harith Global Partners and the aviation group Global Aviation, Gordhan added. Africa's second-largest airline was placed on a safeguard plan in December 2019 to avoid bankruptcy.

In April, the independent administrators in charge of its restructuring declared SAA solvent again. The 635 million euros restructuring plan was followed by a large-scale layoff plan. South Africa’s national airline was heavily indebted and unable to pay full salaries. The SAA has not recorded any profits since 2011. The airline has for years been surviving through public funds.

Story. Africa News
12-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-12 07:00:07 The United Nations human rights chief has warned that violence is intensifying across Myanmar, slamming the country’s military government for being “singularly responsible” for a “human rights catastrophe”.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said multiple reports indicated that armed conflict was continuing, including in Kayah, Chin and Kachin states, with the violence particularly intense in areas with significant ethnic and religious minority groups.

Story. Aljazeera
12-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-11 17:30:02 In a report published on Thursday, Amnesty called on the UN to investigate, saying China had subjected Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims to mass detention, surveillance, and torture.

In a 160-page report based on interviews with 55 former detainees, Amnesty said there was evidence the Chinese state had committed "at least the following crimes against humanity: imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; torture; and persecution." China has been accused by some Western nations and rights groups of pursuing a genocide against the Turkic ethnic groups in Xinjiang 

Story. BBC
11-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-11 15:30:06 The outgoing chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service has offered the closest acknowledgement yet his country was behind recent attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear programme and a military scientist.

The comments by Yossi Cohen, speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 investigative programme Uvda in a segment aired on Thursday night, offered an extraordinary debriefing by the head of the typically secretive agency in what appears to be the final days of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule.

It also gave a clear warning to other scientists in Iran’s nuclear programme that they too could become targets for assassination. “If the scientist is willing to change career and will not hurt us anymore, then yes, sometimes we offer them” a way out, Cohen said.

Story. Aljazeera
11-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-11 13:00:08 Firmin Ngrebada, prime minister of the Central African Republic (CAR), has resigned along with the entire cabinet, the latest political crisis to hit the war-weary country.

The development on Thursday came during a turbulent week after France announced it was suspending military operations with its former colony. A former chief of staff to Touadera, Ngrebada had been in post since early 2019 when he helped craft a February 2019 peace deal signed with rebel groups in Khartoum that now appears on the verge of collapse.

Story. Aljazeera
11-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-11 11:30:09 Representative Ilhan Omar asked about US opposition to International Criminal Court (ICC) inquiries into alleged war crimes in Israel and Afghanistan. “Equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided,” a group of 11 Jewish Democrats said in a statement two days after Omar posed her question to Blinken.

“Legitimate criticism of the policies of both the United States and Israel is protected by the values of free speech and democratic debate,” six House Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement Thursday.

Story. Aljazeera
11-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment

2021-06-11 09:15:08 France is to scale down counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel region of West Africa after eight years, President Emmanuel Macron has said. The existing 5,100-strong task force will be incorporated into a broader international mission, he announced. French forces have been operating in Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso to fight militants. Last week, France paused operations in Mali following a military coup.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group have strengthened their grip on the region, which has become a front line in the war against Islamist extremism. It is also a major transit route for illegal drugs, weapons and jihadists.

Story. BBC
11-June-2021

Contact us @sharpliftnews Open / Comment