IRAQ
US accusation walked back
The head of the Hashed al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization] paramilitary force has walked back his deputy’s accusation that the US was behind a string of recent explosions at the group’s bases. Faleh al-Fayyadh said that investigators had yet to determine who was behind the past month’s blasts at four training camps and arms depots used by the Hashed, which is mainly composed of pro-Iranian militias. Fayyadh, who also serves as the government’s national security adviser, issued the statement after an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi late on Wednesday. “Preliminary investigations” found that the incidents were “an external, premeditated act,” he said. “The investigations will continue until the responsible entities are accurately identified to be able to take the appropriate stances.” Just hours earlier, Hashed deputy commander Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis, who is on the US terror blacklist, had been unequivocal in blaming Washington. “We announce that the first and last entity responsible for what happened are American forces and we will hold them responsible for whatever happens from today onwards,” Muhandis said. The Pentagon on Wednesday denied any involvement in the explosions.
IRAN
US talks ‘useless’: Rouhani
President Hassan Rouhani struck a muscular tone on dealings with the US, saying yesterday that “talks are useless” as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers crumbles further. Rouhani made the comment in a speech in Tehran during the unveiling of the Bavar-373, a long-range surface-to-air missile system that he described as an improvement to the Russian S-300. “Now that our enemies do not accept logic, we cannot respond with logic,” Rouhani said in the televised speech. “When the enemy launches a missile against us, we cannot give a speech and say: ‘Mr Rocket, please do not hit our country and our innocent people. Rocket-launching sir, if you can please hit a button and self-destroy the missile in the air.’” On Wednesday, state TV reported that the Bavar-373 is able to recognize up to 100 targets at a same time and confront them with six different weapons.
MYANMAR
Facebook closes accounts
Facebook yesterday said that it had shut 216 social media pages, groups and accounts in the nation, some tied to the army, to stymie efforts to “manipulate or corrupt public debate.” The company closed 89 accounts, 107 pages, 15 groups and five Instagram accounts, some of which had hundreds of thousands of followers, it said in a blogpost. The people behind the deleted accounts repurposed legitimate news and entertainment content and posted about national and local topics, including crime, ethnic relations, celebrities, and the military, it said.
INDONESIA
Papua blocked from Web
Jakarta has blocked Internet access in unrest-hit Papua over fears that a stream of offensive and racists posts online will spark more violent protests in the region, the government said yesterday. Riots and demonstrations brought several Papuan cities to a standstill this week, as buildings were torched and street battles broke out between police and protesters in the nation’s easternmost territory. The riots appear to have been triggered by the arrest of dozens of Papuan students — who were also pelted with racist abuse — in Surabaya, Java, on Sunday.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese