It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, August 19, 2024
Na’amod – We Will Stand
UK Jews call for an arms embargo on Israel
August 18, 2024
Na’amod is Hebrew for “We will stand”, and is the name taken by a movement of UK Jews who have been campaigning since 2018 against support for apartheid and occupation, and calling for peace through dignity, freedom and democracy for Palestinians and Israelis.
They see the dehumanisation of Palestinians as an affront to religious teachings such as b’tselem Elohim (we are all created in God’s image).
On Friday evening, more than a hundred Na’amod supporters gathered opposite Downing Street with a loud message for Foreign Secretary David Lammy who had just visited the Middle East. The protest was called in solidarity with Jewish protesters who that morning had tied themselves to the British Consulate in Jerusalem calling for a UK arms embargo on Israel. Such an embargo, they claim, would be an act of solidarity with ordinary Israeli people, as a huge symbolic step towards ending support for occupation and genocide, and helping to bring peace and stability to the region.
The protest ended with songs and prayers.
‘You feel a bit mass-produced’: donor-conceived people on the export of UK sperm
Hannah Devlin Sun, 18 August 2024
Emma Dine: ‘In seven years I’ve gone from one [half-sibling] to 25.’Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures
Experts have warned that sperm donated in the UK is being exported and used to create large numbers of children across multiple countries, contradicting a strict 10-family limit that applies in the UK.
A legal loophole means that while a single donor can be used to create no more than 10 families in UK fertility clinics, there are no restrictions on companies making sperm or eggs available for additional fertility treatments abroad. The Guardian talked to the people affected. Emma Dine, south Wales
Dine, 36, learned she was donor conceived at the age of 10. She had wanted to reconnect with the man she believed to be her biological father, who had left the family home when she was three years old. But her mother revealed that her biological father was, in fact, an anonymous sperm donor.
“It was one of my life’s missions to find my biological father.” Dine eventually tracked him down through DNA testing websites. In the process, she also matched with 25 half-siblings.
“I do little maths scenarios in my head,” says Dine. “About 5% of the UK population is on Ancestry.com. If we’ve identified 25 siblings on there alone – there’s going to be variables, but if you just directly extrapolate it, you’re looking at 500. Even if you take that down by a degree of magnitude, it makes me uncomfortable.”
She initially worried the donor would be put off wanting to establish a relationship when he became aware of how many biological children were out there. But he and his wife have been open and welcoming and Dine says they have an uncanny amount in common; they own the same breed of dog and are both runners.
However, the steady accumulation of genetic half-siblings has, at times, felt overwhelming. “I matched with my first half-brother Sam back in 2017. In seven years I’ve gone from one to 25.”
She worried about the possibility of inadvertently forming a romantic connection with a blood relative and as a result says she has leaned towards dating men who are not from the UK. And discovering she is one of a large number of half-siblings has affected her sense of identity. “You hear about people’s parents meeting at Glastonbury. This isn’t very glamorous or romantic and the numbers add to that feeling. It does make you feel a bit mass-produced.” Grace Halden, London
Halden is a solo mother by choice and used donor sperm to conceive twin daughters, who were born in 2019. Halden, who is a senior lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, has a professional background in bioethics but says she was unaware of the possibility of her donor’s sperm being exported. “I selected a UK donor that I believed would be used for a maximum of 10 families. Everybody makes different decisions, but for me I wanted to keep the donor sibling pool as small as I could within my control.”
When she revisited her donor’s profile page some time after her daughters’ birth, however, she was alarmed to see a note stating “export only”. “I was blindsided. I felt as if I perhaps wouldn’t have made the decision I’d made if I’d thought exportation was an option.”
When she contacted the clinic, she was referred to the terms and conditions of the consent forms she had signed. “Sure enough, it was buried in there,” she said. After raising the issue on a local social media group, she realised others were making similar discoveries.
Halden has since been reassured that in her case, the donor’s sperm will not be exported and says the sperm bank has responded positively after she raised the issue. However, she is concerned there is a wider lack of transparency.
“Yes, it’s a business, but they’re in the business of creating people. The priority must always be the children who are created.” Kevin Moore, Wiltshire
Moore, 39, is donor conceived and also a sperm donor. Now based in Wiltshire, Moore is originally from Florida, where, “in the 80s, when I was born, they didn’t keep on top of records”.
He is on a WhatsApp group with seven of his donor half-siblings, but says he has no idea of the total number. “There are a lot of stories coming out of the States with these huge family gatherings.”
With each addition it is harder to form a meaningful connection, he has found. “It’s just hard to establish a relationship with someone every year, every two years,” he said. “You have to go through the same life story … I’m like, ‘Not again.’”
Moore is also a sperm donor and has at least 14 biological children, based on the figure provided five years ago by the HFEA, the UK’s fertility regulator. “I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s quite a lot.’ That’s where I think the 10 family limit feels a bit heavier. Even now, because there’s no limit within families, I could have 20 plus. That’s kind of intense.”
So far, the mother of one of his biological children – a 12-year-old girl – has been in touch. “As a first experience it was very respectful and nice,” he said, but it came at a time when he needed to support his own parents in the US who were having health problems. “You don’t know if and when they’re going to find you but you have to be prepared to have that conversation 20 times.”
Moore is in favour of “some sort of limit” and says 10 families feels about right. “For me, it raises the question of why one donor has to be used 50 times,” he said. “Is there not a better solution than this? You imagine these extended families of thousands and thousands of people. It’s less a personal issue for me, but more an issue for society.” Liam Renouf-Macnab, London
Renouf-Macnab, 29, connected with four biological half siblings after taking part in the ITV documentary Born From the Same Stranger and has since been in touch with another three half siblings. “Seven feels manageable,” he says. “I’m building relationships with them and that’s been really amazing.”
From non-identifying information provided by the HFEA, he knows he is from a sibling pod of 17 and although this is feasibly within the 10-family limit, he says he felt shocked by the number.
“I feel proud to be part of a heritage that’s really connected to women’s rights, fertility rights, LGBT rights,” he says. “But the marketisation of the industry to create 17 children felt like something I had to deal with and process and think through.”
Renouf-Macnab would like to see tighter regulation of the industry, with sperm banks brought into public ownership and a legal obligation on the HFEA to inform donor-conceived people of their biological origins. “One thing I support is that donor-conceived people have the right to know. If the HFEA, at 18, contacted the people who are donor conceived to tell them, it would spur parents on to make sure they have those conversations early.” UK sperm donations being exported despite 10-family limit
Hannah Devlin Science correspondent Sun, 18 August 202
THE GUARDIAN
Donor-conceived children could have to navigate relationships with dozens of biological half-siblings across Europe.Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images
Sperm donated in the UK is being exported and can be used to create large numbers of children across multiple countries, contradicting a strict 10-family limit that applies in the UK, experts warn.
A legal loophole means that, while a single donor can be used to create no more than 10 families in UK fertility clinics, there are no restrictions on companies making sperm or eggs available for additional fertility treatments abroad.
With the lifting of donor anonymity and the ability to track down genetic relatives on DNA testing sites, this raises the prospect of some donor-conceived children navigating relationships with dozens of biological half-siblings across Europe.
Prof Jackson Kirkman-Brown, chair of the Association for Reproductive and Clinical Scientists (ARCS), is among those calling on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to tighten restrictions.
“If you believe that it’s necessary to enforce the 10-family limit in the modern world then logically that should apply wherever the sperm are from,” said Kirkman-Brown, who is also director of the Centre for Human Reproductive Science at the University of Birmingham. “There is data showing that some of the children who find the really big families struggle with that.”
Until five years ago, the UK was primarily an importer of sperm, largely from Denmark and the US. But, as a growing number of international sperm and egg banks have opened donor centres in the UK, the picture is becoming more complex.
From 2019-21, 7,542 straws of sperm were exported from the UK, according to data provided by the HFEA (one IVF cycle typically requires one straw of sperm). The European Sperm Bank, which accounted for 90% of exports, applies a worldwide limit of 75 families a donor and estimates that its donors help on average 25 families.
Cryos, the world’s largest sperm and egg bank, which opened a sperm donation unit in Manchester in April, said it “aims for 25-50 families per donor” worldwide.
Prof Lucy Frith, of the University of Manchester, who is researching donor-conceived experiences, says that making contact with biological half-siblings is often viewed positively. “But when numbers of siblings began to grow [it] felt unmanageable to have contact and relationships with a growing and indeterminate number of people,” she said. “There are no hard and fast figures of when the number becomes ‘too much’ and this depends on individuals, but generally over 10 was felt to be a large group.”
The potentially open-ended number of future siblings is another challenge. “Once you’ve frozen sperm it doesn’t get any older,” said Kirkman-Brown. In theory, a donor could continue to be used over years or even decades. “You can end up with donor siblings older than your parents, which is not somewhere we’ve been yet,” he added.
Others noted that the increasing commercialisation of the market contrasts with the altruistic basis for donation of sperm and eggs, with the UK law only allowing compensation for time and expenses.
“It’s presented to donors as a beautiful gift to help someone create a family, not as, ‘We’re going to maximise the number of births from your gametes and make as much money as we can from that,’” said Prof Nicky Hudson, a medical sociologist at De Montford University. “When you speak to donors and present these possibilities to them, they’re really surprised.”
Hudson is researching egg donation, which is emerging as a new market thanks to advances in egg freezing techniques and could expand further when compensation increases from £750 to £986 in October.
The shipping of eggs could open new frontiers for biological motherhood. “The idea of a dad to loads of children already exists in our cultural imagination,” Hudson added. “We don’t have that for women.”
“Egg donors really strongly rejected the idea of their eggs being shipped abroad,” she added. “One told me it’s akin to human trafficking.”
The rationale for enforcing the 10-family limit across licensed clinics, according to the HFEA, is that consultation with donors and donor-conceived people suggests this is the number people feel comfortable with in terms of the numbers of potential donor-conceived children, half-siblings and families that might be created.
“As the HFEA has no remit over donation outside of HFEA licensed clinics, there would be no monitoring of how many times a donor is used in these circumstances,” said Rachel Cutting, director of compliance and information at the HFEA.
Others suggested that this remit could be expanded, in a comparable way to the HFEA’s mandate that overseas donors cannot be anonymous.
“The HFEA is limited by its statutory duties, but it could stipulate that it will only import gametes that meet the UK limit (10 families), outside the UK,” said Frith. “So a donor who has donated in another country would have those offspring taken into account.”
“The HFEA’s position that this is outside its remit is not good enough,” said Sarah Norcross, director of the fertility charity Progress Educational Trust. “I’m not against there being more than 10 families if some are outside the UK, but 75, which some of these banks have alighted on, is a heck of a lot of relatives. Even if they say we can’t control the number of families abroad, they could insist that the number is made available to the recipient.”
Both the European Sperm Bank and Cryos said they expect to supply most of the UK sperm to the UK market, based on customer demand.
The European Sperm Bank added: “We follow this topic very closely and engage in dialogue with both donor-conceived individuals, families and expert groups to get more insights and a deeper understanding of their wishes and concerns.”
UK
Hundreds attend Bath's 'historic' first Pride event
Emma Elgee & Lee Madan BBC News, West of England
BBC People joined the Pride march through Bath city centre
Hundreds of people have attended a city's first official Pride event.
A large group marched through Bath's streets holding placards and flags before joining a picnic with charity and music stalls at the Holburne Museum.
Those attending said the day felt "special" and "amazing", adding that it was an important step for the city to have its own day of protest and celebration.
Claire Warner, from the organising committee, said: "It's important Bath has a Pride to call its own and we're so excited to have this first major historic event."
Claire Warner helped organise the day and said it was a "labour of love"
Ms Warner continued: "We've not had one to call our own before, there have been smaller village Prides and one in Bristol.
"I'm not sure why its taken to now to have one, but it has really come together and in the last couple of weeks it has just snowballed, like the whole community and the city have come together."
Ms Warner said the event has been a "real community effort" and "a labour of love".
"We've been given free venue spaces, people have offered services and we've had a couple of donations to up our insurances so anyone can come," she added.
"It's beautiful to see the city come together for this event."
She added it was an opportunity for people to advocate for and demand equal rights.
Molly Ridley runs a queer focused café
Molly Ridley, who runs Daisy and Bean Bakeshop, a café designed to be queer focused, said the day was "wonderful".
She said: "It is so special. I was born locally and to see how far Bath has come, the huge steps that have been taken in the last year alone is so beautiful to see.
"We weren't quite expecting so many people to turn up today and it's just so exciting to have so many people here celebrating pride."
Jo Dolby is a church leader at Oasis Church Bath
Jo Dolby, church leader at Oasis Church Bath, a queer affirming church, said it was a very moving day.
"It's incredible, it's really moving to celebrate and to still protest as things are not where they need to be," she said.
"To be with people who get it and want to celebrate is a beautiful thing.
"We will build on this in future years."
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Hundreds of rival far-right and anti-racism protesters gather in Brit seaside town
Around 700 protesters from rival far-right and anti-racism groups descended on Bournemouth today.
Approximately 200 anti-immigration campaigners were met by 500 people from a number of organisations, including Stand Up To Racism, at around 10.30am.
Huge crowds congregated in the centre of the Dorset seaside town, while at least 100 riot officers and six vans were out in force to prevent any clashes.
A ‘no go’ zone was set up by rows of police officers between the town hall and Upper Gardens.
Placards saying ‘stop the boats’ and ‘British lives matter’ were held up by the Enough Is Enough march, with many waving Union Jack and England flags.
They also chanted ‘save our kids’ and ‘we want our country back’, as well as playing Rule Britannia and Jerusalem on a loud speaker.
Meanwhile, opposing groups had signs which read ‘refugees are welcome here’ and ‘no to racism’, while singing ‘say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here’.
They also shouted ‘no to Nazi scum’ and ‘where’s your Tommy gone’, in reference to Tommy Robinson.
Assistant chief constable for Dorset Police, Mark Callaghan, had warned beforehand: ‘While we will be there to enable lawful protest, we will not tolerate any hate, violence or disorder in our communities.
‘Offenders can expect to be arrested, charged and brought before the courts.’
Police had anticipated it would be ‘two peaceful static protests’ but had put in place a dispersal order and enacted extra stop and search powers under Section 60 and 60AA.
The anti-immigration protest had all but fizzled out without any disorder by around 2pm.
Remaining far-right protesters were waved off with taunts from the rival groups saying: ‘There are many more of us than you.’
UK
Man finds metre-long ‘vampire fish’ with mouth of swirling teeth in Devon river
This blood-sucking fish is up to 10 times the size of any lamprey Jason Moore has ever seen before (Picture: Jason Moore/Pen News
A fisherman found a blood-sucking creature described as ‘a living dinosaur’ and the ‘stuff of nightmares’ while trying to fish in an English river.
Jason Moore, 47, was looking for a spot to catch chub when he found eel-like lamprey, up to one metre long, in the River Exe in Devon.
He said: ‘I was looking for rocks and snags and tree overhangs where the chub live, just trying to work out where I was going to go fishing next.
‘It was in the water, on the water’s edge. I was sort of like “wow, that’s amazing, look at the size of that! Let’s fish it out and have a look”.’
What he found was a dead lamprey as much as 10 times larger than any he’s seen before, and there were signs it had spawned eggs before it died.
Jason said: ‘It’s long and eel-like, and its mouth is – I don’t know how to describe it really – a bit like a leech I suppose, but much, much bigger.
‘It’s got rows and rows and rows of teeth, that almost look like the Demogorgon from Stranger Things. It looks quite horrifying.’
Jason believes this metre-long ‘vampire fish’ shouldn’t strike fear into the hearts of the British public (Picture: Jason Moore/Pen News)
Another lamprey found on the Dutch island of Texel last year (Picture: Jarco Havermans via Pen News)
Nicknamed the ‘vampire fish’ for its blood-sucking tendencies, lampreys are said to be an inspiration for the sandworms in the Dune franchise.
Their bite can be so vicious, one man claimed to still be suffering from the wound nine years later.
‘No doubt the inspiration for many a sci-fi monster’, one person commented under a photo Jason posted of the specimen on Facebook.
It might appear ‘like something from a horror film’, but Jason believes theres no need to be afraid of the blood-sucking fish lurking in British waterways.
He said: ‘I think most people are a bit shocked that that type of thing swims in our rivers really.
‘But I wouldn’t want anybody to be scared or horrified, or really think about not going in the rivers, not kayaking, or avoiding a river for recreation just because that’s in there.’
Vapes warning after fires in recycling centre
Lincolnshire County Council Firefighters tackled a blaze in Lincolnshire after a vape caused a fire in a bin lorry
People have been warned not to dispose of used vapes in their household bins after more than 60 fires at a recycling centre.
Lincolnshire County Council said the blazes at the site near Grantham were caused by electronic devices containing batteries.
Last year, seven tonnes of burning rubbish had to be dumped from a bin lorry onto a road in Lincolnshire after a discarded vape was believed to have set it alight.
The council has introduced a dedicated battery recycling scheme at its 11 waste disposal sites.
Rachel Stamp, waste manager at the county council, said the term "disposable vape" was misleading.
"All vapes contain a battery, and if you throw them in your bin, they can be damaged during processing which causes a spark that can start a fire," she said.
“General waste and recycling gets compacted a number of times on its journey from your home to the energy from waste plant or recycling centre, and it takes just one battery or vape to set the whole load alight.”
'Difficult to extinguish'
The council said up to 5 million vapes were thrown away in the UK every week.
Dan Moss from Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Fires at waste sites or in vehicles can often be difficult to extinguish, and can have serious effects on the environment, and the safety of firefighters and local communities.
"As waste is compacted and bulked together, there’s plenty of material for fire to spread quickly, and, depending on the type of waste burning, the fumes can be dangerous."
UK
Exclusive: Half The Country Believes Nigel Farage Is 'Responsible' For The Riots
Kevin Schofield
HUFFPOST Sun, 18 August 2024
The UK has seen a wave a rioting in the past week. Getty Images
Half of British voters believe Nigel Farage is personally “responsible” for the riots which broke out across the UK earlier this month.
Polling by Savanta seen by HuffPost UK shows that 51% of the public blame the Reform UK leader for the disorder, which led to hundreds of arrests and tough prison sentences for some of those involved.
Farage came just behind former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson, who was blamed by 54% of those polled.
Billionaire X owner Elon Musk came next on 44%, with prime minister Keir Starmer being blamed by 40%.
Farage has faced a storm of criticism over a video he posted within hours of the killing of three young girls attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
In it, he suggested “the truth is being withheld from us” by the police and repeated misinformation that the alleged killer was being watched by the security services.
A vigil for the victims, who were all under 10 years old, later descended into violence, sparking far-right riots throughout the country.
The poll of 2,237 people, carried out between August 9 and 11, also showed that 64% of people believe the police had dealt with the riots well - despite claims of “two-tier” policing by, among others, Farage.
Just over half (52%) said Starmer had done well during the crisis, with 38% saying he did badly.
Elsewhere, the poll found that 82% of British adults think those who took part were most to blame for the civil unrest, with 75% blaming far-right organisations and 73% saying social media companies were responsible.
Nearly two-thirds of the public (64%) said the UK’s immigration policy was the cause of the riots, with 59% blaming the killings in Southport.
To prevent the riots happening again, 37% of UK adults think “violent protestors [need] to be charged quickly and given custodial sentence to deter others”, while 30% believe concerns about immigration need to be addressed.
Only one in 10 say addressing social inequality will prevent another outbreak of unrest.
Chris Hopkins, Savanta’s political research director, said: “Contrary to online talking points, the country is broadly more likely to say Keir Starmer did well in managing the situation than not.
“Our research probably makes grimmer reading for Nigel Farage, who is only behind former EDL leader Tommy Robinson in being seen as ‘responsible’ for the violent protests.
“The public think that swift justice for violent protestors is the best way to stop them happening again - a course of action being followed by the government. The next thing they think needs to happen is public concerns about immigration being addressed.”
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
Nigel Farage, million-pound man
New financial disclosures reveal the Reform UK leader makes over £1M a year in non-parliamentary activities.
Most of Nigel Farage’s earnings are from being a presenter on GB News, which brings in close to £100,000 a month. | Jonathan Hordle/ITV via Getty Images
Nigel Farage appears to have become the top-earning British MP, according to new financial disclosures and media reports.
In the first register of financial interests for the newly elected British parliament, the Reform UK leader disclosed annual earnings of well over £1 million.
Most of Farage’s income comes from being a presenter on right-wing TV network GB News, which brings in close to £100,000 a month for working 32 hours, according to the filing.
He also received £16,597.22 from Cameo, an online platform allowing users to purchase personalized video messages from celebrities. He spent an estimated 24 hours every month recording these videos, according to the filing.
In addition, Farage was paid £4,000 a month writing commentary for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, which takes up another 16 hours, the filing showed. Other engagements including speaking opportunities and social media revenue amounted to more than £13,000 with an estimated 64 hours of work.
All these sources of income would be on top of his salary as an MP, which amounts to £91,346 plus expenses for his office and staff, as well as housing costs either in his constituency or in London, according to the BBC.
With all his outside business — which occupied more than 130 hours of his time every month, or about 30 a week — Farage might struggle to fit his latest gig as elected MP for Clacton, in Essex, in his agenda.
The politician also declared a few trips funded by private donors, including travel to the U.S. last month after former U.S. President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. The trip cost £32,836 including flights and accommodation and was paid for by tech entrepreneur Christopher Harborne. Harborne has donated money to Boris Johnson and Farage’s Brexit Party, now rebranded as Reform UK.
In the financial declaration, Farage explained the purpose of the U.S. trip was to “support a friend who was almost killed and to represent Clacton on the world stage.”
Nigel Farage denies getting £98,000 monthly salary from GB News
Sky News Updated Sun, 18 August 2024
Nigel Farage has denied being paid nearly £98,000 a month for appearing on GB News.
The Reform UK leader was responding to reports about his secondary income.
However, writing on X, he said: "To be clear... the GB News sum paid to me and declared includes VAT, and was for several months of work. It was paid to my company, which has significant expenses."
Mr Farage told the BBC he gets a varying amount from GB News as a contractor and does not get a fixed monthly sum.
The Clacton MP is back on the channel after cancelling his show during the general election.
Mr Farage also declared on the MPs' register £4,000 per month from The Daily Telegraph and a £16,597 payment for recording private video messages on the Cameo app.
The app allows people to pay celebrities for things such as bespoke birthday greetings.
MPs already get paid £91,000 per year plus expenses.
His entry also recorded a donation of £32,836 from businessman Christopher Harborne to pay for a visit to the US following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
The Reform UK leader stated the purpose of the visit was to "support a friend who was almost killed and to represent Clacton on the world stage".
Mr Farage, 60, became an MP at the eighth attempt when he won the Essex constituency with a majority of more than 8,000.
Reaction Engines has announced a significant advancement in hypersonic propulsion technology, achieving a major milestone in the development of its propulsion system designed for high-Mach air vehicles, according to a press release from the company.
The breakthrough was made during ground-based testing, where the company successfully integrated its precooler technology with existing jet-engine architecture, demonstrating sustained Mach 3.5 operating conditions.
The testing involved coupling Reaction Engines’ precooler with a modified Rolls-Royce jet engine, simulating a propulsion system intended for an unpiloted, reusable high-Mach air vehicle.
Initially, the system achieved sustained Mach 2.3 operating conditions, which exceeds the maximum operating speed of the Concorde. The test then progressed to Mach 3.5, matching the airspeed record of the SR-71, the fastest air-breathing aircraft ever built.
In addition to the precooler technology, Reaction Engines is working on developing and testing new intake designs and technologies aimed at hypersonic capabilities. The company is currently manufacturing and assembling hardware for a full-scale ground-based high-Mach thermomechanical test, while sub-scale aerodynamic wind-tunnel testing is ongoing to evaluate intake performance under various supersonic conditions.
“As the world’s most advanced heat exchanger technology company, this significant milestone is a testament to our relentless efforts to develop novel, innovative, reusable and affordable propulsion systems for hypersonic air vehicles at pace,” said Mark Thomas, Chief Executive of Reaction Engines, in the press release.
“This capability is transferrable to thermal management solutions for multiple applications and mission profiles.”
While this advancement is a critical step forward in Reaction Engines’ pursuit of hypersonic flight, the technology is still in the testing phase. The focus remains on the broader potential applications of the propulsion system in high-Mach air vehicles.
Sheikh Hasina sued over 2013 'mass killings'; former PM now faces 11 cases
Over 27 people died in the police firing during a rally in Motijheel in 2013
Web Desk Updated: August 18, 2024 14:06 IST
Protesters celebrate beside a defaced portrait of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after news of her resignation, in Dhaka | AP
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been charged over the 'mass killing' incident that happened on May 5, 2013, in the Motijheel district near Dhaka. The incident happened during a rally organised by the Islamist advocacy group Hefazat-e-Islam at Shapla Square demanding the enactment of a blasphemy law. Over 27 people died in the police firing.
The case was filed in a Dhaka court by Babul Sardar Chakhari, chairman of the Bangladesh People's Party (BPP), on Sunday. The court recorded the plaintiff's statement and said he would pass an order on the issue later in the day. This brings the number of cases filed against Hasina to 11, including eight for murder, one for abduction, and two for committing crimes against humanity and genocide.
Another murder case was filed against Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday over the death of a college student during the quota reform protests in the country. The case was filed by Mohammad Parvez, the uncle of the deceased student Tanvir Siddiqui. He alleged that Tanvir, a student at Government Ashekane Awlia Degree College, participated in the shutdown programme of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement and was attacked by unidentified men during the protest at Bahaddarhat kitchen market. The attackers hurled bricks and stones before firing at students on the orders and directions of Hasina and Nowfel.
As legal troubles mount for Hasina in Bangladesh, her alleged plans to seek asylum in the UK could get murkier with Bangladesh-origin British MP Rupa Huq stating it would be unwise for the UK to give refuge to Sheikh Hasina.
In an opinion column published by the Standard newspaper of the UK on Friday, the MP says she has been flooded with mails asking her to force the UK not to give Hasina asylum. "As a British Bangladeshi MP, my inbox is a lightning rod for Bangladeshi issues worldwide. At the moment, pleading mails ask me to 'ban the butcher' and similar requests as it is rumoured London is her next destination," she wrote.
She added that she personally thought it would be unwise for the UK to give refuge to Hasina considering the "deep unpopularity of her bloodthirsty regime and political sensitivities around immigration".
Huq added that there was a collective sense of relief among her Bangladeshi cousins as the atmosphere of fear surrounding any criticism of the government seemed to be easing. "However, risks remain," she said, adding that the deposed camp argues they maintained stability, but as elections approach, it's time for a change.