Karakalpakstan’s Sovereignty in Mirziyoyev’s Uzbekistan
Diplomat
23-05-22 12:31
Uzbekistan has been accused of suppressing activists who support Karakalpakstan's right to greater autonomy from Uzbekistan. Karakalpakstan is an autonomous region located in the northwest of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan annexed Karakalpakstan from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936. Uzbekistan is mainly made up of former Soviet republics and national groups, including the Karakalpak people. Karakalpakstan has a history of seeking political autonomy and independence. The conviction and sentencing in absentia of Karakalpak activists, including Aman Sagidullayev, is thought to be part of a crackdown on dissidents, dragging the tide of political discourse backwards since the death of Islam Karimov in 2016 and the rise of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. In recent years, many Karakalpaks have fled the country, while others have been arrested and prevented from fleeing.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan has said that those who attacked military properties during anti-government protests will be tried under the country's army law; at least 10 people were killed during the recent demonstrations. However, people accused of attacking civilian installations will be tried under anti-terrorism laws. The government has faced mounting criticism for the use of the Pakistan Army Act. The former Prime Minister Imran Khan has condemned the crackdown; he has previously claimed the current administration is colluding with the military to keep him out of the electoral process.
The soaring numbers of gulls in the UK are posing a threat to vulnerable birdlife, with complaints to local councils about noise and damage caused by gulls having doubled in the past five years. While the RSPB and Natural England have issues with culling the birds, which are often red-listed species, farmer-conservationists say that with curlews and other birds approaching extinction, action must be taken. A report in The Guardian suggests the government has made the predator imbalance worse by amending regulations governing culling and applications for special licenses to kill the birds now arrives too late in the season to be of use.
The Colombian government has announced that it is suspending a ceasefire with rebels whom it accuses of killing four Indigenous people, including minors who were avoiding forced recruitment in the south of the country. The FARC-EMC group will resume being targeted by the military in provinces including Caqueta, Putumayo, Guaviare and Meta, the government said in a statement. FARC-EMC is in fact a group led by former commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who refused to take part in pursuit of a 2016 peace deal with the government, despite over 14,000 of the group’s members surrendering their weapons. Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s administration also committed to continue to maintain a ceasefire with FARC-EMC in other parts of the country where attacks on civilians have decreased, adding that delegates would soon be appointed to lead peace talks with the group.
Bulgaria is aiming to form a coalition government with a rotating Prime Minister. The e-failed and corruption plagued country has endured five elections during a two-year period and hopes the new arrangement will finally bring an end to the stalemate. Centre-right party GERB will alternate the post of the Prime Minster with runner-up We Continue the Change. Both parties will hold the top post for a nine month period. The coalition will need to be approved by the 240-seat National Assembly, where both groups hold a combined majority of 133 seats.
A national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse is to be introduced in England following a recommendation by the seven-year independent inquiry into this form of abuse. Thousands of victims who were “let down by institutions in the past” will be able to claim fixed term compensation paid by the government. The inquiry recommended that applicants to the scheme should have experienced abuse “where there is a clear connection to state or non-state institutions”. It also criticised current civil and criminal compensation schemes for failing to provide adequate accountability and reparation. The government will consult on how the scheme should operate.
TikTok sues Montana to overturn first statewide ban on video-sharing app
CBC
23-05-22 21:36
TikTok is suing the state of Montana in response to its first-in-the-US ban on the social video-sharing platform, arguing that it contravenes freedom of speech rights guaranteed by the country’s constitution. The ban has a scheduled start date of 1 January 2024. The suit follows a similar one last week brought by five content creators. The Montana law stemmed from concerns by officials, law enforcement and some lawmakers, who suspect that the Chinese government could employ TikTok to gather information on US citizens or influence public opinion. ByteDance-owned TikTok maintains it has never faced such demands.
Federal prosecutors overseeing the investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents have subpoenaed information about the former president’s business dealings in foreign countries since he took office. The subpoena, which was sent to the Trump Organization, sought details on the company's real estate licensing and development dealings in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, France, Oman, Turkey, China, and the United Arab Emirates. The demand for records related to Trump's foreign ventures since 2017 suggests that prosecutors are exploring whether there is any connection between the former president’s deal-making abroad and the classified documents he removed from the White House and has not returned.
Legal & General's CEO, Sir Nigel Wilson, has warned that London risks falling behind other global financial centres amid over-regulation and politically misguided interventions dating back to Gordon Brown's tax raid on pensions. He states that the UK pension industry is de-equitising, with funds increasingly investing in bonds rather than stocks. As a result, pension funds and insurers now own just 4% of the stock market, down from 39% in 2000. Wilson also argues that the UK has not adapted to support the growth of young firms in the way the US has, a concern which threatens the UK's intellectual capability and global competitiveness.
Chinese citizens living in Florida have sued the state over a new law blocking citizens of China and several other countries from owning homes and land. The lawsuit stated that the state law, which comes into effect July 1, is unconstitutional and violates a federal law prohibiting discrimination in housing. The Florida legislation also prohibits most citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia and North Korea from owning property within 10 miles of any military installation or "critical infrastructure facility" such as a power plant, airport or refinery.
The UK government's lack of vision in its net-zero policies was highlighted in a letter to The Telegraph. The writer queried why a household would pay between £7,000 and £13,000 before grants to install a heat pump and add an extra 3,000 kWh to their electricity bill. Instead, the emphasis should be on installing solar panels, which have devastated recruitment figures in the last year and are eligible for tax bonuses in other countries, such as the US and Germany. The letter also highlighted the cost to consumers of decarbonising gas and electricity through the grid operation charge.
Oracle will soon have access to the source code, algorithm and content moderation material for TikTok, the popular social media app. The move is part of TikTok's Project Texas plan to section off US users' data and allow external partners such as Oracle to assess security risks. The development is part of attempts to address criticism from international governments about security risks stemming from TikTok's ownership by Chinese tech firm, ByteDance. TikTok is currently subject to federal and state-level legislation seeking to ban or limit use of the app on national security grounds.
In late 2012, Philip Schofield interviewed then-prime minister David Cameron on a live broadcast of This Morning and handed him a list of names of alleged Westminster paedophiles taken from the internet - a spectacularly reckless thing to do. The presenter was not sacked despite calls for him to be, but this article suggests that his departure after 18 years from ITV's flagship daytime programme may have finally come due to the incident. The author of the Times piece suggests that Schofield should have been sacked when the paedophile incident happened.
Sexual history will no longer be available as evidence in court cases brought by rape victims, according to a new set of proposals from the UK’s Law Commission, which is exploring different evidential approaches as part of an effort to increase conviction rates and prevent complainants from dropping out. Lawyers will also have to obtain written permission from a judge if they plan to use a victim’s sexual history as part of their case. The proposals are based on the Canadian model, which is designed to ensure fairer access to justice for victims.
Independence hero Xanana Gusmao is set to propose piping natural gas from the Greater Sunrise fields to Timor-Leste’s southern coast, rather than Darwin, after his party won last weekend's parliamentary elections with 41.6% of the vote. Gusmao, whose National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction party claimed 31 of 65 seats, is expected to become prime minister following the triumph. The plan to pipe the gas to the country's southern coast could help the nation, one of Asia’s poorest, to become economically more stable, but there are significant technical and financial hurdles to overcome, including an undersea pipeline through the Timor Trough.
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is facing allegations of impropriety after reportedly asking a civil servant to help her flout protocol and avoid taking a speed awareness course or points when she was caught speeding. Reports suggest that the civil servant declined because they cannot act on private matters or in a way that might appear politically partisan, while her party office was also unable to arrange for a private course. Braverman subsequently received points on her licence. Although the revelations may initially seem minor, they come as the government is due to release figures expected to show a significant increase in immigration levels. Braverman is an architect of the Illegal Migration Bill, which criminalises anyone arriving in the UK without permission, and has also spoken about limiting overseas recruitment and training more domestic workers to cut immigration.
The US has backtracked on comments made by President Joe Biden related to the lifting of sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller saying the US government was not considering lifting the sanctions. Speaking in Washington, Miller said Biden “made clear that we are not planning to lift any sanctions on him or on China more broadly” after China rebuffed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's request to meet Li next month due to sanctions. However, despite tension between the two nations, the White House has started engaging with China on a range of issues.
