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Friday, December 30, 2022

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Swiss-Based Mining Company Halts Illegal Operation in Azerbaijan's Karabakh Region

The announcement of Base Metals came amidst the ongoing protest of the Azerbaijani ecological activists, civil society members, and volunteers on the Lachin road against illegal exploitation of mineral resources in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh economic region / Courtesy

By Ilham Karimli December 29, 2022

The management of Base Metals, a mining company that has been illegally extracting minerals in the certain parts of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region where Russian peacekeepers are deployed, announced on Wednesday a temporary shutdown.

The reason for the termination of the company’s activities in the region is reportedly “the desire to conduct some kind of expertise.” No details regarding the resumption of the Base Metals’ activities have been provided.

The announcement came amidst the ongoing protest of the Azerbaijani ecological activists, civil society members, and volunteers against the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan. Since December 12, the protesters have been demanding an end to illegal mining activities and misuse of the Lachin highway for the transportation of extracted minerals.

The rally was triggered by the failure of the temporary Russian peacekeeping mission to ensure the conduction of preliminary monitoring of ore deposits by the group of Azerbaijani experts. Since December 3, the group has been holding negotiations with the peacekeeping commands to launch the monitoring. On December 10, they were supposed to visit the deposits but were hindered by the Armenians living in the region. The peacekeepers have not been taking necessary measures to facilitate the monitoring by the experts since then, thus sparking criticism from the civil society and the government of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani authorities have been calling for more efficient control over the Lachin highway by the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

The demands gained momentum after reports surfaced about the illegal transportation of minerals from the Azerbaijani territories temporarily monitored by the peacekeepers to Armenia via the highway. Baku-based Caliber.Az news agency reported on November 30 that eight Kamaz trucks accompanied by a Nissan Patrol SUV with an Armenian license number 731-AB-61 ER, made their way from the Khankendi city of Azerbaijan to Armenia between November 10 and November 14. Moreover, on November 16-18, identical vehicles were seen on the Lachin highway going back from Armenia to Khankendi.

According to operational data, raw materials extracted at the gold mines near the village of Gulyatagh of the former Aghdara (current Tartar) region of Azerbaijan, located in the zone of temporary responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers, have been transported on these trucks. The materials were moved by the Base Metals company, a subsidiary of Vallex Group Company based in Switzerland, which engaged in the looting of precious metals in Kalbajar, Zangilan, and Aghdara during the occupation and currently is active in the area where Russian peacekeepers are stationed.

Base Metals is officially registered in Switzerland, financially sponsored by Armenian-origin Swiss citizen Vartan Sirmakes and is headed by Moscow-based Armenian Valery Mejlumyan. Vallex Group established Base Metals in 2001 and deployed it illegally for the exploitation of the Heyvali deposit in the Kalbajar region of Azerbaijan then occupied by Armenia. According to various sources, from 2009-2011, the company processed 400,000 tons of ore, exceeding the norm by 250,000 tons. After “draining” Heyvali, Base Metals shifted its operations to the Gizilbulag and Damirli fields in the former Aghdara (current Tartar) region of Azerbaijan. The ore extracted from this deposit was mainly exported to European countries. Base Metals illegally involved foreign experts in the mining in the Karabakh region, including South African mining engineer Johann Murray, who in 2016 sat for an interview with a separatist “television.”

The company reportedly paid $38.5 million in taxes to the illegal separatist regime in 2019 for its activities.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan proved that Vallex Group and Base Metals companies earned $178 million from looting the Gizilbulag field from 2009-2017.

Iran President Pledges “No Mercy” For Protesters

By Nargiz Mammadli December 30, 2022

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the farewell ceremony for 200 unknown martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war in front of Tehran University, on December 27, 2022. / president.ir

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed that “no mercy” will be shown to those who took part in the recent anti-government protests.

“The arms of the nation are open to all, but we will not show mercy to the miscreants,” President Raisi said while addressing nation on December 27, according to the official website of the Iranian president.

Referring to the “enemies” of the Iranian nation, he said that “you thought you could achieve your goals by creating rumours and rioting, while you have experienced this path many times and failed, why did you make a mistake in your calculations again?”

“The country has made a lot of progress and that is why the enemy is angry,” the president added.

Since mid-September, Iran — a country of over 85 million people — has been rocked by countrywide protests. Protests in Iran were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman who was detained by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.

The anti-government protests, largely fueled by the middle and upper classes, pose one of the biggest threats to the country’s leaders. Protests of this scale have not been seen in Iran since the 2009 Green Movement brought millions to the street. Tehran accuses the West and foreign-based media of inciting the unrest.

As of December 28, Iran’s security forces killed at least 507 people in the crackdown on the protests, including 69 under the age of 18, according to the foreign-based Human Rights News Agency (HRANA). Nearly 18,500 people have been arrested, of whom at least two have been executed, 11 are on death row and 47 others are facing the death penalty on the charges of “enmity against God,” “rebellion” or “corruption on Earth.”

On December 27, Iran’s Supreme Human Rights Council Secretary Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed reports of sexual abuse of detained female protesters revealed by imprisoned activist Narges Mohammadi. Earlier, Mohammadi wrote a letter to the BBC, in which she detailed horrific acts of physical abuse and sexual violence against detained female protesters in Evin prison. Gharibabadi rejected the letter, citing a recent visit to Gharchak prison in Tehran Province during which “no mention or complaints about sexual abuse were raised.”

The head of the Justice Department of Tehran Province, Ali Alqasimehr, said on December 26 that 83 percent of those in the province imprisoned over the course of the current cycle of countrywide protests have been released. Those who remained in custody were “part of the main elements and leaders of the riots,” he added.

Protest-hit Iran welcomes Musk’s internet service offer

Iranian authorities imposed curbs on access to internet amid months-long protests

28/12/2022 Wednesday
AA

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk

Iran on Wednesday welcomed SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk’s announcement about providing 100 active Starlinks to the Islamic Republic.

Speaking following a Cabinet meeting in Tehran, Minister Information and Communications Technology Issa Zarepour said Tehran welcomes the offer “provided it complies with the laws."

In a tweet on Monday, three months after he promised to activate the internet service in Iran, Musk announced that his company is close to having 100 active Starlinks in the country.

“Approaching 100 Starlinks active in Iran,” Musk wrote in response to a tweet that read there is “more freedom for the women (in Iran) to choose whether they cover their hair or not."

The US-based billionaire, who recently bought Twitter in a record-breaking deal, had in September said he would activate Starlink in Iran as part of an effort "to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information" to Iranians.

The offer came amid sweeping protests across the country over the death of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody.

In order to quell angry protests, Iranian authorities imposed curbs on accessing the internet while blocking many social media platforms, including Whatsapp and Instagram.

“According to the laws, any satellite operator that intends to provide internet services in the Islamic Republic of Iran must comply with the laws of the country,” Zerepour said on Wednesday.

He stressed that the Iranian laws “apply to all operators providing satellite internet services”, including Musk-owned Starlink and London-based One Web.

The minister said both companies have been notified that if they adhere to the country’s rules and regulations, they are “welcome to have their activities in the country”.

Regarding reports about some telecom companies incurring losses worth billions of dollars as a result of filtering in recent months amid protests, Zarepour said only Rightel Telecommunications has declared bankruptcy so far.

Iran has been rocked by widespread protests in recent months, resulting in the death of more than 200 people, according to officials. Foreign human rights groups, however, have put the death toll at more than 450.

The filtering of social media and low internet has been part of measures taken by the government to restore calm, but the measures have been widely criticized.

Iranian chess player ‘moving to Spain’ after competing without hijab: Report

World News

Published on Dec 30, 2022

Sara Khadem: Sara Khadem and her husband- film director Ardeshir Ahmadi- will move to Spain along with the couple’s young child, the report said.

Sara Khadem: Sara Khadem of Iran sits in front of a chess board. (Reuters)

One of Iran’s top-ranked female chess players is planning to settle in Spain after photographs emerged of her taking part in an international tournament without a hijab, a report said. Sara Khadem, who is ranked 804 in the world, is not planning to return to Iran after the tournament, Guardian reported quoting Spanish newspaper El País.

Sara Khadem and her husband- film director Ardeshir Ahmadi- will move to Spain along with the couple’s young child, the report said. However, it remains unclear whether the family had already obtained residency. The newspaper reported that they own a flat in the country.

Sara Khadem, also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, made headlines around the world when she appeared to play for a second day at the Fide World Rapid and Blitz Chess championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, without a hijab.

The player has become the latest in a string of sportswomen who defied Iran’s strict dress code for women amid anti-hijab protests which erupted in September.

SARS-COV-2 INFOGRAPHIC

Egyptian-American political commentator returns to US after release from Dubai

Osman was arrested in the UAE in November due to online criticism he made of the government of Abdel-Fatah El Sisi.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: DECEMBER 30, 2022 09:44

Women walk past the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, June 11, 2021
(photo credit: REUTERS/CHRISTOPHER PIKE)

Egyptian-American political commentator Sherif Osman has been released and returned to the US after being arrested in Dubai for criticizing the Egyptian government, the Detained in Dubai organization announced on Friday.

Osman was arrested in the UAE in November due to an extradition request filed by the Egyptian government over online criticism he made of the government of Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah El Sisi. Human rights activists expressed fears that his life would be in danger if he was extradited.

Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, stated "His arrest was appalling. Sherif was detained for social media content he published in the United States, under his constitutionally-protected right to free speech; yet he was arrested by the UAE, an American ally, with the objective of extraditing him to Egypt, another American ally; where he would have been thrown into a prison system notorious for abuse of political dissidents, and where one American had already lost his life in custody."

“We engaged not only the media and American consular officials on Sherif’s behalf, but also with his congressional representatives; urging the intervention of the US government to prevent his deportation and bring Sherif home. Dubai authorities were intent upon his extradition until his case garnered international attention, and we are extremely grateful for the diplomatic efforts the US undertook to secure his freedom once they became aware of Sherif’s plight.”

Stirling noted that the attention of the press likely influenced the decision to release Osman, adding that nearly 400 people have been extradited from the Emirates in the past two years.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gives a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination, during a European Union - African Union summit, in Brussels, Belgium February 18, 2022. (credit: Johanna Geron/Pool/Reuters)

"Over half of the population of Egypt’s jails are political prisoners; torture and abuse are routine; Sherif’s life would have been in danger had his deportation not been averted,” said Stirling.

Emirati official says UAE 'strictly adheres' to international standards

An Emirati official who declined to be named had said on December 4 that authorities were working to secure "requisite legal documentation required in preparing the extradition file," but did not specify to which country or if a request was made.

The UAE official said the Gulf state "strictly adheres to all internationally accepted standards" in detention cases including regular consular access and legal council.

Reuters contributed to this report.

At least 447 civilians killed in war-torn Yemen in 2022
35 women, 82 children among victims

30/12/2022 Friday
AA

At least 447 civilians have been killed in fighting between Yemen’s warring rivals this year, according to a rights group on Thursday.

Thirty-five women and 82 children were among the victims, the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to Human Rights said in a statement.

Around 891 civilians were also injured in the violence, including 84 women and 212 children, it added.

The rights group said it documented 3,411 violations across Yemen in 2022 which varied from torture, forced displacement, illegal arrests, home demolitions to child recruitment.

The commission blamed the warring rivals for these violations, but singled out Houthi rebels for blame for landmine explosions and child recruitment.

The Yemeni conflict began in September 2014 when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the war in early 2015 to restore the government to power.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions risking starvation.

Huawei says it’s out of ‘crisis mode,’ though revenue flat

By ZEN SOO

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese technology giant Huawei says it has emerged from “crisis mode” after years of U.S. restrictions that have stifled its overseas sales, even though its revenue for 2022 failed to grow from a year earlier.

“U.S. restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual,” Eric Xu, Huawei’s current chairman, said in a New Year’s message released Friday.

Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand, has struggled since then-U.S. President Donald Trump blocked its access to U.S. processor chips and other technology in 2019 on grounds that Huawei could facilitate Chinese spying.

Huawei denies accusations that it could be a security risk.

Huawei’s unaudited revenue for 2022 is forecast to be 636.9 billion yuan ($91.6 billion) — nearly unchanged compared to a year earlier and in line with earlier estimates.

Xu said in the message that the firm’s telecommunications network business maintained “steady growth” and that a decline in its devices sector — mainly phones — had abated.

He also said that the firm achieved “rapid growth” in its cloud business.

Huawei did not release more detailed financial figures for its businesses or the firm’s overall profit.

For the coming year, Xu pledged to maintain Huawei’s heavy investment in research and development and said that its cloud business needs to become the “foundation” in driving growth.

He mentioned the pandemic only in passing, praising the company’s “frontline staff outside of China — those who have held the fort to serve our customers despite the adverse impacts of COVID-19 ...”

Xu’s message did not mention the recent abrupt end to stringent virus controls or major outbreaks of coronavirus now sweeping China and other countries.

‘Farcical’ : Aung San Suu Kyi’s jail time increases as secretive trials end

ByMartin Petty
December 30, 2022

A court in army-ruled Myanmar on Friday convicted deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi on five counts of corruption and jailed her for seven more years, an informed source said, wrapping up a marathon of trials condemned internationally as a sham.

In a closed-door court session, Suu Kyi, who was arrested during a coup in February 2021, was found guilty of offences relating to her lease and use of a helicopter while Myanmar’s de facto leader, said the source, who has knowledge of her trials.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to another seven years jail.CREDIT:AP

A Nobel Peace Prize winner for her decades-long campaign for democracy in Myanmar, the popular, Oxford-educated Suu Kyi has spent much of her political life in detention under military governments.

Friday’s verdict adds to sentences of at least 26 years handed down since December last year. The source, who could not be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said Suu Kyi was in good health.

Suu Kyi led Myanmar for five years from 2015 during a decade of tentative democracy that came after the military ended its 49-year rule, only for it to wrest back control early last year to stop her government from starting a second term, accusing it of ignoring irregularities in an election her party won.

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Western countries have dismissed the trials as a sham designed to keep the junta’s biggest threat at bay amid widespread domestic resistance to its rule.

The United Nations Security Council last week passed a resolution calling for the junta to end hostilities and release all political detainees, including Suu Kyi.

‘Farcical, totally unjust’

Human Rights Watch urged a stronger international response and more effective sanctions to hurt the junta and said the court had effectively delivered a life sentence given Suu Kyi’s age.

“The Myanmar junta’s farcical, totally unjust parade of charges and convictions against Aung San Suu Kyi amount to politically motivated punishment designed to hold her behind bars for the rest of her life,” its deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said.

“The junta is obviously hoping the international community will miss this news, and there will be little global publicity about the final result of the military’s blatantly unjust campaign against Suu Kyi.”

A spokesperson for the junta could not immediately be reached for comment.

The military has insisted her trials are legitimate and that Suu Kyi, who has been held in the annex of a jail in the capital Naypyitaw, has received due process by an independent court.

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‘A clear message’: UN council demands end to violence in historic Myanmar vote

Since December last year, she has been convicted of breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning, illegally owning radio equipment, incitement, breaching a state secrets law and trying to influence the country’s election commission.

Suu Kyi has dismissed those as “absurd”.

It was unclear where she will serve her sentences now that the trials have concluded.

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, a broad alliance of anti-junta groups, said judges in “kangaroo courts” were making decisions without evidence and based on lies.

“We demand immediate unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi...and all political prisoners,” its spokesperson Kyaw Zaw said.

Reuters

Romania urged to act on traffickers by GRETA in 2021

The GRETA report notes that Romania remains predominantly a country of origin of victims of trafficking in human beings

Sravasti Dasgupta

A rights group called GRETA (Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings) had called attention to the crime in Romania last year, even as far-right influencer Andrew Tate was detained by authorities in the country on Thursday.

In a press release in June 2021, GRETA had urged Romania to ensure that human trafficking offences lead to effective and dissuasive sanctions and that victims of trafficking have access to compensation.

The report also noted that Romania remains predominantly a country of origin of victims of trafficking in human beings

The year-old press release by the group has resurfaced after Mr Tate locked horns with climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter.

Earlier this week, Mr Tate tagged Ms Thunberg in a post bragging about the carbon emissions of his various sports cars.

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“I have 33 cars,” he began, before listing the specifications for his Bugatti and Ferraris.

“This is just the start,” he continued. “Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”

Ms Thunberg replied: “Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld***energy@getalife.com.”

He then shared his response in a video in which a two-minute clip has him speaking, wearing a robe and holding a cigar.

At one point, he is seen collecting two pizza boxes from someone and placing them on the table.

Subsequently, authorities in Romania used Mr Tate’s social media post in which he ridiculed Romanian pizza chain, Jerry’s Pizza, to confirm he was in the country.

The pizza boxes, it seems, helped authorities track him down.

Civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo, sharing a screenshot of Mr Tate’s video from the day before and tweeted: “Romanian authorities needed proof that Andrew Tate was in the country so they reportedly used his social media posts.”

The coincidence of the GRETA group release from last year and the exchange between Ms Thunberg and Mr Tate that led to authorities finding him was also highlighted by Ms Caraballo in another post.

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Mr Tate, a former kick boxer gained a large following of men online, and has been banned from various social media sites, for his aggressive and oftentimes misogynistic views. In 2016, he was booted out from the reality TV show Big Brother, after a video emerged of him hitting a woman with a belt.

Greta Thunberg roasts Andrew Tate after failed social media callout

Bragging about the ‘enormous emissions’ of his vehicles, the social media dud took to Twitter to boast of his 33 cars - including a Bugatti - offering to send the climate campaigner the complete list if she gave him her email address

Greta Thunberg

Denise Smith
December 28 2022

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has delivered a roundhouse kick to Andrew Tate after calling him out for his 'small d*** energy'.

The former kickboxer who was recently banned from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok over his ‘depraved’ and 'toxic' comments against women, was left with egg on his face after he attempted to troll the 19-year-old by listing off his expansive car collection.

Bragging about the "enormous emissions" of his vehicles, the social media dud took to Twitter to boast of his 33 cars - including a Bugatti - offering to send Greta the complete list if she gave him her email address.

In true Greta style, the eco-warrior took little time in delivering a brutal comeback, offering up her email address of "smalld***energy@getalife.com".

Andrew Tate

Tate wrote: "Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions."

He then shared a flashy video compilation of him driving several high-end cars and boarding private jets which played out to Greta's famous speech at the United Nations in 2019.

Greta replied with a short and sweet message.

"Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld**kenergy@getalife.com," she wrote.

Fans of the climate activist rushed to support her on Twitter calling her ‘inspirational’, while another user wrote: “I did not see ‘Greta burns Tate’ on my bingo card.”

Tate rejoined the Twitter in November after Elon Musk took over the company and announced a new policy that promotes “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach”.

‘Blossom killed in bud…’: Fresh Iran protests after protester's memorial

World News

Published on Dec 30, 2022 12:38 PM IST

Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: Large crowds gathered around Hamidreza Rouhi’s grave at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran.

Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.(File) — Iran Anti-Hijab Protests: Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Fresh protests were reported in several Iranian cities after memorial services for those killed by the security forces in the ongoing demonstrations turned violent, Iran International reported. Large crowds gathered around Hamidreza Rouhi’s grave at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran on the 40th day of his death. Hamidreza Rouhi was a university student and a model and was shot dead on November 18, the report said.

“This blossom killed in the bud was an offering to the homeland," the crowd chanted. People were also heard chanting against Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“Down with the Dictator”, people can be heard saying in the video footage from the protests.

"Poverty, corruption, high cost of living, We will continue until the toppling [of the egime]," the crowd chanted.

Security forces tried to stop the crowd by using tear gas, the report said adding that shotgun pellets were fired by the forces.

Hamidreza Rouhi's parents weren't allowed to attend the memorial and were even stopped from leaving their home.

Massive protests in Iran were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the country's controversial morality police. According to Amnesty International, as of November, Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 21 people in connection with the protests.

Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13 for dressing "inappropriately"- not wearing her hijab properly. Three days later, she died while in custody.