Day: November 28, 2022

Police arrested Belinda Magor over the weekend and released her on a warning after she sent a voice note on a WhatsApp group comparing Black men to pit bulls during a discussion on whether the dog breed should be banned or not.

Thousands of South Africans have signed an online petition calling for the ban of pit bulls in the country as domestic pets, after many people were mauled to death by the animals.

Magor said in the voice note that Black men were worse than pit bulls and instead called for the ban of Black men.

“Ban the Black man. They rape, steal, and kill, worse than any pit bull could, and they get away with it,” she said in the widely shared voice note which has caused shock in the country that ended the apartheid racial system nearly three decades ago.

Kekeletso Khena, deputy president of the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO), which led the protest in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, said: “We will no longer tolerate racists. If you think you cannot live with us, if you think we are so inhumane then you must not live our country.”

In the voice note, Magor also said all Black women should have their uteruses and ovaries cut out so that they cannot procreate.

Her rant has created anger online with social media users calling on authorities to punish her harshly.

“Belinda Magor did not call on black people to be banned but rather to be killed. Don’t try to soften the issue. This is a very serious case of hate crime. She must be severely punished,’’ Twitter user @Thuso1Africa wrote.

Source: Anadolu Agency

“We reviewed preparations for the Türkiye-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan trilateral meeting set to be held in Awaza,” in Turkmenistan, Cavusoglu said, adding that several agreements will be signed at the meeting.

The two officials also noted the importance of holding a meeting for energy, transportation, and foreign ministers ahead of the trilateral meeting in Turkmenistan.

Cavusoglu added that high-level visits between Türkiye and Turkmenistan will continue.

“We will be glad to host (Turkmen) President Serdar Berdimuhamedow in our country early next year,” Cavusoglu said.

The Turkish foreign minister also welcomed Turkmenistan’s observer status in the Organization of Turkic States, and voiced hope it will become a permanent member.

Although trade between the two countries is growing, Cavusoglu said there was no significant increase as he affirmed the need to enhance efforts to reach a $5 billion target.

‘Beneficial’ talks

For his part, Meredov said that political, economic, and cultural ties were addressed as well as possible future cooperation.

“We exchanged views on regional and national issues of mutual interest,” he added.

Calling their talks “beneficial,” Meredov also said they discussed the two countries’ cooperation at international organizations.

He said the two countries share “similar and close” views on political matters at the international level.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan also received Meredov at the presidential complex for a closed-door meeting. No further information about the meeting was released.

Later Monday, Cavusoglu held a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov to discuss an upcoming summit between Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.

* Diyar Guldogan in Ankara contributed to this story

Source: Anadolu Agency

“An inductive order prohibiting the importation and distribution of the GMO crop and food,” was issued in the ruling of Justice Mugure Thande, who added that the decision would come into force at the close of business on Monday.

The decision is pending hearing and determination of the application, the court said in the ruling on the lawsuit, filed by a farmer’s lobby group called the Kenyan Peasants League.

Open cultivation and importation of genetically modified crops have been barred in the East African nation since November 2012 but the government lifted the ban in October in response to the worst drought the country has faced in the past 40 years.

East Africa is facing elevated acute food insecurity due to the impacts of severe drought after at least three years of failed rainy seasons.

Source: Anadolu Agency

According to OeBB, about 8,000 passenger and freight trains run daily in Austria from various operators. About 1 million passengers are transported every day.

The strike is also having an impact on neighboring countries Germany and Switzerland.

Germany’s national railway company Deutsche Bahn had said on its website that night trains in and out of Austria would still be affected Tuesday night.

Cross-border connections to Switzerland will also be partially cancelled. With regard to international connections, OeBB had announced on its website that there will be “cancellations on Nightjet and Euronight connections here from Sunday evening until Tuesday morning.”

OeBB CEO Andreas Mattha criticized the strikes, saying: “I lack any understanding for this strike.

“The employers’ side has made the highest offer of all sectors, 8.44%,” he told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Although the rate of those who wanted an apology increased from 31% to 38% this year, nearly half of Dutch people do not support the government’s apology.

According to the survey, most of those who support an apology are from immigrant backgrounds, with two-thirds of Surinamese supporting the gesture.

“This is a one-sided Dutch policy that risks failing,” Armand Zunder, chairman of the Suriname National Recovery Commission (NRCS), told reporters.

The Netherlands will issue a worldwide official apology on Dec. 19. The apology will be issued by the government in eight locations worldwide with the attendance of seven ministers.

In recent years, major cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, as well as institutions such as the Dutch Central Bank and ABN Amro, have also announced that they have apologized for their role in the history of slavery.

Source: Anadolu Agency

“In the evening, I will go on an international business trip: first to Bucharest for a meeting of the NATO Ministerial Council … For the first time, the NATO meeting will be equally devoted to defense issues, involving new weapons, new ammunition and new military equipment for Ukraine, and energy, because energy has also become a weapon,” Dmytro Kuleba said on his Facebook account.

Kuleba noted that he will hold meetings with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Kuleba also said he would later travel to the Polish city of Lodz for a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Dec. 1-2.

“The OSCE Ministerial Council will be held for the first time without a Russian minister. And that’s right – he has nothing to do. They only imitate negotiations. They only imitate diplomacy. But in fact, they made their choice: this choice is war and war crimes,” Kuleba said.

He added that the foreign ministers of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday to discuss further support for Ukraine.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The bodies were transferred to Armenia “with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross” and “in accordance with norms of international humanitarian law” after examinations established no signs of violence on them.

On Sept. 20, Azerbaijan handed over the bodies of 95 Armenian soldiers killed in border clashes which it says was caused by the “provocation” of the Armenian army.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions – Lachin, Kalbajar, Agdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Qubadli, and Zangilan.

In fall 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Baku liberated several cities, villages and settlements in Karabakh from Armenian occupation, ending in a Moscow-brokered truce. The conflict’s peace agreement was celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

Since then, diplomatic efforts have been taken for reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan following their conflict in the fall of 2020.

Source: Anadolu Agency

“In connection with the detentions and trials in recent months against Russian citizens on charges of alleged illegal use of unmanned aerial vehicles … Robert Kvile was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. He was told that such a practice is inadmissible,” a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry read.

The statement said Kvile was notified that the sentences against Russian citizens are “politically motivated and have nothing to do with the principles of fair and unbiased justice.”

The ministry called on the Norwegian authorities to “abandon such Russophobic actions and persecution of Russian citizens on the basis of nationality.”

Norway is not a member of the EU, but decided on the ban after the war. It has also supported Ukraine and its neighbors through military, humanitarian and budget support.

According to Norwegian media, the 34-year-old had admitted to flying a drone to photograph landscapes and nature “on several occasions” in October, and was not suspected of espionage.

Numerous drone sightings have been reported in recent weeks in Norway, a NATO member and major oil and gas producer, and several Russian citizens have been detained.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The meeting of the New START Treaty’s Bilateral Consultative Commission were to begin on Tuesday in Egypt, but the Kremlin informed the Biden administration that “Russia has unilaterally postponed the meeting and stated that it would propose new dates,” a State Department spokesman told Anadolu Agency in an emailed statement. It did not specify which rationale Russia provided, if any, but it comes as the US continues to help Ukraine thwart an ongoing Russian invasion.

“The United States is ready to reschedule at the earliest possible date as resuming inspections is a priority for sustaining the treaty as an instrument of stability,” he added.

The commission is tasked with discussing issues related to the bilateral treaty’s implementation. It last met in Geneva in October 2021 to continue “the discussion of practical issues related to the implementation of the treaty,” the State Department said at the time.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not express any reason for why the meeting was postponed.

The New START agreement, signed in 2010, limits the number of Russian and US deployed strategic nuclear warheads to a maximum of 1,550.The agreement also limited the number of launch pads and heavy bombers to 800.

Shortly after the US President Joe Biden took the office in January 2021, the two countries extended the agreement to 2026.

Source: Anadolu Agency