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Filibuster_HK
China probes report of possible North Korea sanctions breach at sea
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-china/china-probes-report-of-possible-north-korea-sanctions-breach-at-sea-idUSKCN1G60WC
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it is investigating a Japanese report that a Chinese ship may have carried out a ship-to-ship transfer with a North Korean vessel in breach of U.N. sanctions.
Japan said late on Tuesday that its military had spotted a North Korean-flagged tanker lying alongside a small vessel of unknown origin with Chinese characters on it in the East China Sea, indicating it was possibly an oil tanker from the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian.
Japan suspects they were conducting ship-to-ship transfers banned by the U.N. Security Council and has informed the Security Council and shared the information with other countries, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-china/china-probes-report-of-possible-north-korea-sanctions-breach-at-sea-idUSKCN1G60WC
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it is investigating a Japanese report that a Chinese ship may have carried out a ship-to-ship transfer with a North Korean vessel in breach of U.N. sanctions.
Japan said late on Tuesday that its military had spotted a North Korean-flagged tanker lying alongside a small vessel of unknown origin with Chinese characters on it in the East China Sea, indicating it was possibly an oil tanker from the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian.
Japan suspects they were conducting ship-to-ship transfers banned by the U.N. Security Council and has informed the Security Council and shared the information with other countries, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.
Filibuster_HK
Dozens of girls freed from suspected Boko Haram kidnapping
http://www.dw.com/en/dozens-of-girls-freed-from-suspected-boko-haram-kidnapping/a-42685303
Nigeria's military has said it rescued scores of girls who went missing after a militant attack on a school earlier this week. Their abduction was similar to the case of the 276 Chibok girls, who were taken in 2014.
As many as 76 girls were rescued late on Wednesday, two days after they were believed kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, Nigerian media reported.
Citing a spokesman for Ibrahim Gaidam, the governor of the northeastern state of Yobe, the Daily Post said the girls had been "rescued by gallant officers and men of the Nigerian army from the terrorists who abducted them." The newspaper said they were picked up from a village on the border between Borno state and Yobe.
The Reuters news agency said the military also recovered the bodies of two girls, and that at least 13 students were still thought to be missing. Sources told Reuters that 91 people had been unaccounted for after a roll-call at their school on Tuesday. Other news agencies, citing local officials, put the number of missing at between 50 and 111.
http://www.dw.com/en/dozens-of-girls-freed-from-suspected-boko-haram-kidnapping/a-42685303
Nigeria's military has said it rescued scores of girls who went missing after a militant attack on a school earlier this week. Their abduction was similar to the case of the 276 Chibok girls, who were taken in 2014.
As many as 76 girls were rescued late on Wednesday, two days after they were believed kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, Nigerian media reported.
Citing a spokesman for Ibrahim Gaidam, the governor of the northeastern state of Yobe, the Daily Post said the girls had been "rescued by gallant officers and men of the Nigerian army from the terrorists who abducted them." The newspaper said they were picked up from a village on the border between Borno state and Yobe.
The Reuters news agency said the military also recovered the bodies of two girls, and that at least 13 students were still thought to be missing. Sources told Reuters that 91 people had been unaccounted for after a roll-call at their school on Tuesday. Other news agencies, citing local officials, put the number of missing at between 50 and 111.
Filibuster_HK
Syrian government forces enter Kurdish-held Aleppo area: witness
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo/syrian-government-forces-enter-kurdish-held-aleppo-area-witness-idUSKCN1G60XD
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces entered an area of Aleppo controlled by Kurdish militia, a witness in the city and a Britain-based war monitor said on Thursday.
The witness said government forces had entered the al-Halak, Bani Zaid and Bustan al-Basha neighborhoods, which are controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces had started to enter the areas in the north of Aleppo city controlled by Kurdish forces.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo/syrian-government-forces-enter-kurdish-held-aleppo-area-witness-idUSKCN1G60XD
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces entered an area of Aleppo controlled by Kurdish militia, a witness in the city and a Britain-based war monitor said on Thursday.
The witness said government forces had entered the al-Halak, Bani Zaid and Bustan al-Basha neighborhoods, which are controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces had started to enter the areas in the north of Aleppo city controlled by Kurdish forces.
Filibuster_HK
之前有巴打po過春晚扮黑人事件，雖然性質唔同，不過荷蘭的Zwarte Piet都引起過唔少爭議，不過大部分荷蘭人都想保留Zwarte Piet呢個傳統，係度share埋歐洲動態的評論
不自覺的種族歧視
其實黑人Piet、以至「白人扮黑人」是否種族歧視，近幾週在荷蘭和歐洲都有不少討論。跟南非的種族隔離或美國６０年代前歧視黑人的情況不同，歐洲這種是「不自覺的歧視」。說刻意打壓某一族群嗎？似乎有點誇張。但這完全不是歧視？或不是某種定型？又似乎不對。
黑人Piet更大的問題是「白人扮黑人」。時裝雜誌Elle的法國分部一名編輯上月在自己的Instragram戶口上傳一張自己塗黑臉及戴上典型黑人鬈髮的假髮的樣子（下圖），立即受到批評，該編輯被逼道歉。
華文區人士，或歐洲人不會覺得「白人扮黑人」是種族歧視－－或至少「不一定」是。不過，在美國，這是高度歧視，是碰不得的禁忌，因為美國在１９世紀流行名為Minstrel show的娛樂，表演者全是白人，扮成黑人，而內容都是把黑人高度定型，不少是負面。
不過，這又輪到一些白人（或本土派？）不滿，認為這是沒有惡意，有沒有需要什麼都政治正確？荷蘭便有不少傳媒為黑人Piet的傳統辯護（詳見上面路透社文章）。
http://europechinese.blogspot.hk/2013/12/blog-post_8.html
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2013/11/13/dutch-self-image-shaken-by-black-pete-debate/
:^(
:^(
不自覺的種族歧視
其實黑人Piet、以至「白人扮黑人」是否種族歧視，近幾週在荷蘭和歐洲都有不少討論。跟南非的種族隔離或美國６０年代前歧視黑人的情況不同，歐洲這種是「不自覺的歧視」。說刻意打壓某一族群嗎？似乎有點誇張。但這完全不是歧視？或不是某種定型？又似乎不對。
黑人Piet更大的問題是「白人扮黑人」。時裝雜誌Elle的法國分部一名編輯上月在自己的Instragram戶口上傳一張自己塗黑臉及戴上典型黑人鬈髮的假髮的樣子（下圖），立即受到批評，該編輯被逼道歉。
華文區人士，或歐洲人不會覺得「白人扮黑人」是種族歧視－－或至少「不一定」是。不過，在美國，這是高度歧視，是碰不得的禁忌，因為美國在１９世紀流行名為Minstrel show的娛樂，表演者全是白人，扮成黑人，而內容都是把黑人高度定型，不少是負面。
不過，這又輪到一些白人（或本土派？）不滿，認為這是沒有惡意，有沒有需要什麼都政治正確？荷蘭便有不少傳媒為黑人Piet的傳統辯護（詳見上面路透社文章）。
http://europechinese.blogspot.hk/2013/12/blog-post_8.html
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2013/11/13/dutch-self-image-shaken-by-black-pete-debate/
Filibuster_HK
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny detained in Moscow
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/alexei-navalny-detained-moscow-russian-opposition-leader-faces-jail-election
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been detained by police then released a short while later weeks ahead of a presidential election in which he has been barred from running.
The 41-year-old anti-corruption campaigner has been repeatedly jailed for organising some of Russia’s biggest protests in recent years, railing against what he says are the gilded lives of Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.
He has been barred from running in the 18 March election over what his supporters say is a trumped-up suspended prison sentence but has called for a nationwide boycott aimed at undermining Putin’s legitimacy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/alexei-navalny-detained-moscow-russian-opposition-leader-faces-jail-election
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been detained by police then released a short while later weeks ahead of a presidential election in which he has been barred from running.
The 41-year-old anti-corruption campaigner has been repeatedly jailed for organising some of Russia’s biggest protests in recent years, railing against what he says are the gilded lives of Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.
He has been barred from running in the 18 March election over what his supporters say is a trumped-up suspended prison sentence but has called for a nationwide boycott aimed at undermining Putin’s legitimacy.
Filibuster_HK
'A very scary movie': how China snatched Gui Minhai on the 11.10 train to Beijing
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/how-china-snatched-gui-minhai-train-beijing-bookseller-hong-kong
Revealed: details of the extraordinary detention of the Hong Kong bookseller as he sought help from Swedish diplomats
At just after 3pm, the train pulled into Jinan West station in Shandong province, about 400km shy of its destination. The doors slid open and a gaggle of plainclothes agents pushed into the carriage. As they lifted the bookseller from his seat, an English-speaking female officer announced a police operation was underway.
“They had no uniforms and no credentials,” said one source with knowledge of the day’s events. “They simply took him.”
Within seconds Gui Minhai was gone.
“Perhaps something like this was planned all along and there was no way of stopping it,” Gui’s daughter, Angela, reflects a fortnight later, as she considers the latest misfortune to befall her father.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/how-china-snatched-gui-minhai-train-beijing-bookseller-hong-kong
Revealed: details of the extraordinary detention of the Hong Kong bookseller as he sought help from Swedish diplomats
At just after 3pm, the train pulled into Jinan West station in Shandong province, about 400km shy of its destination. The doors slid open and a gaggle of plainclothes agents pushed into the carriage. As they lifted the bookseller from his seat, an English-speaking female officer announced a police operation was underway.
“They had no uniforms and no credentials,” said one source with knowledge of the day’s events. “They simply took him.”
Within seconds Gui Minhai was gone.
“Perhaps something like this was planned all along and there was no way of stopping it,” Gui’s daughter, Angela, reflects a fortnight later, as she considers the latest misfortune to befall her father.
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Filibuster_HK
University lecturers begin strike in pension dispute
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-43140726
There have been pickets on campuses as university staff begin a strike in more than 50 universities, in a dispute over pensions.
Lecturers have walked out at universities including Oxford and Cambridge at the beginning of a month-long strike campaign.
Petitions signed by 80,000 students, many backing the lecturers, are demanding refunds for lost teaching.
Universities minister Sam Gyimah has called for more negotiations.
But Mr Gyimah says students "deserve to receive the education that they are paying for. For many, this is a vital time in their studies".
Members of the University and College Union say they are striking because changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme will leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 a year worse off in retirement.
Younger academics could lose almost half of their total retirement income, says the union.
But the employers' group Universities UK says the scheme has a deficit of more than £6bn which it cannot ignore.
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-43140726
There have been pickets on campuses as university staff begin a strike in more than 50 universities, in a dispute over pensions.
Lecturers have walked out at universities including Oxford and Cambridge at the beginning of a month-long strike campaign.
Petitions signed by 80,000 students, many backing the lecturers, are demanding refunds for lost teaching.
Universities minister Sam Gyimah has called for more negotiations.
But Mr Gyimah says students "deserve to receive the education that they are paying for. For many, this is a vital time in their studies".
Members of the University and College Union say they are striking because changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme will leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 a year worse off in retirement.
Younger academics could lose almost half of their total retirement income, says the union.
But the employers' group Universities UK says the scheme has a deficit of more than £6bn which it cannot ignore.
Filibuster_HK
EU27 rule out UK's preferred approach to future trade deal
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/feb/22/eu-rules-out-uks-preferred-approach-to-future-trade-deal
The EU has ruled out the UK government’s preferred approach to a future trade deal, describing it as a risk to the European project, just as Theresa May is seeking to strike an agreement on the way forward within her cabinet.
The inner cabinet is meeting at Chequers on Thursday to try to find an agreement among warring cabinet members on an approach sketched out to ministers by the prime minister’s Brexit adviser, Olly Robbins.
Under what is understood to be Mays preferred model, the UK would be in regulatory alignment with the EU in some areas while finding different ways to achieve the same outcomes in other sectors. In the so-called third basket of sectors, the UK would in time diverge from the EU and go its own way under the model.
Yet, with something close to incendiary timing, the European commission, hours abefore the cabinet get-together, has published a document ruling out the model.
It is claimed by Brussels that such an approach would breach an agreement among EU27 leaders to prevent cherry-picking by the UK that it is said would pose a risk to the integrity of the single market.
Next week, Brussels will publish its draft withdrawal agreement, including legal text on the Irish border, under which the UK would in effect commit to keeping Northern Ireland in the single market and customs union, unless a future free trade deal or technological solution emerges to avoid a hard border.
Under such a scenario, a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK would seem unavoidable, a scenario wholeheartedly opposed by the Democratic Unionist party, whose MPs give the Conservative government a working majority in the House of Commons.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/feb/22/eu-rules-out-uks-preferred-approach-to-future-trade-deal
The EU has ruled out the UK government’s preferred approach to a future trade deal, describing it as a risk to the European project, just as Theresa May is seeking to strike an agreement on the way forward within her cabinet.
The inner cabinet is meeting at Chequers on Thursday to try to find an agreement among warring cabinet members on an approach sketched out to ministers by the prime minister’s Brexit adviser, Olly Robbins.
Under what is understood to be Mays preferred model, the UK would be in regulatory alignment with the EU in some areas while finding different ways to achieve the same outcomes in other sectors. In the so-called third basket of sectors, the UK would in time diverge from the EU and go its own way under the model.
Yet, with something close to incendiary timing, the European commission, hours abefore the cabinet get-together, has published a document ruling out the model.
It is claimed by Brussels that such an approach would breach an agreement among EU27 leaders to prevent cherry-picking by the UK that it is said would pose a risk to the integrity of the single market.
Next week, Brussels will publish its draft withdrawal agreement, including legal text on the Irish border, under which the UK would in effect commit to keeping Northern Ireland in the single market and customs union, unless a future free trade deal or technological solution emerges to avoid a hard border.
Under such a scenario, a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK would seem unavoidable, a scenario wholeheartedly opposed by the Democratic Unionist party, whose MPs give the Conservative government a working majority in the House of Commons.
Filibuster_HK
Barnaby Joyce resigns as Deputy Prime Minister
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-23/barnaby-joyce-resigns/9477942?sf182823073=1
Mr Joyce has faced sustained pressure to step down after revelations of his affair with a former staffer became public.
In a separate matter, Mr Joyce is also the subject of a sexual harassment claim received by the Nationals.
Mr Joyce explained his decision to quit the frontbench, saying there had to be some "clear air".
He said he would resign at a meeting of the Nationals in Canberra on Monday morning.
Mr Joyce said he would sit on the backbench and would not be resigning from parliament.
He informed acting Prime Minister Mathias Cormann of his decision to stand down today.
Mr Joyce has not said who should replace him as leader and deputy prime minister.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-23/barnaby-joyce-resigns/9477942?sf182823073=1
Mr Joyce has faced sustained pressure to step down after revelations of his affair with a former staffer became public.
In a separate matter, Mr Joyce is also the subject of a sexual harassment claim received by the Nationals.
Mr Joyce explained his decision to quit the frontbench, saying there had to be some "clear air".
He said he would resign at a meeting of the Nationals in Canberra on Monday morning.
Mr Joyce said he would sit on the backbench and would not be resigning from parliament.
He informed acting Prime Minister Mathias Cormann of his decision to stand down today.
Mr Joyce has not said who should replace him as leader and deputy prime minister.
Filibuster_HK
New Russian stealth fighter spotted in Syria
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/new-russian-stealth-fighter-spotted-in-syria
Moscow appears to have deployed an advanced new stealth fighter to its airbase in Syria, reports in Russian news media and online videos of the aircraft indicated on Thursday, in what analysts say could be a risky attempt to gain publicity and operational experience for the jet in one of the world’s most tangled conflicts.
The deployment of two Su-57 fighter aircraft, which were filmed landing at Russia’s Khmeimim airbase along the Mediterranean coast, would represent the latest high-tech military system Russia has exhibited in Syria, a conflict that has already been used to demonstrate the prowess of Russian cruise missiles and combat helicopters.
The military had previously announced it would begin testing the fighters in combat. They have been touted as a future rival to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which the US uses in patrols over Syria.
Russia blocks UN resolution on eastern Ghouta ceasefire
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/russia-un-resolution-eastern-ghouta-ceasefire-syria
Russia has blocked a UN resolution that would have established a 30-day ceasefire and humanitarian deliveries in eastern Ghouta, saying that widespread reporting of heavy civilian casualties in the besieged area on the edge of the Syrian capital, Damascus, was a product of “mass psychosis”.
The Russian envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told an emergency meeting of the security council on the situation in eastern Ghouta that Russia would not support the ceasefire resolution put forward by Sweden and Kuwait in its present form, calling it unrealistic.
He circulated a list of proposed Russian amendments, thought to involve opening broad loopholes in the ceasefire, allowing a range of rebel groups to be targeted. A western diplomat said that at first glance the Russian amendments were “likely to be unacceptable”. Diplomats said the resolution could go to a vote on Friday.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/new-russian-stealth-fighter-spotted-in-syria
Moscow appears to have deployed an advanced new stealth fighter to its airbase in Syria, reports in Russian news media and online videos of the aircraft indicated on Thursday, in what analysts say could be a risky attempt to gain publicity and operational experience for the jet in one of the world’s most tangled conflicts.
The deployment of two Su-57 fighter aircraft, which were filmed landing at Russia’s Khmeimim airbase along the Mediterranean coast, would represent the latest high-tech military system Russia has exhibited in Syria, a conflict that has already been used to demonstrate the prowess of Russian cruise missiles and combat helicopters.
The military had previously announced it would begin testing the fighters in combat. They have been touted as a future rival to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which the US uses in patrols over Syria.
Russia blocks UN resolution on eastern Ghouta ceasefire
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/russia-un-resolution-eastern-ghouta-ceasefire-syria
Russia has blocked a UN resolution that would have established a 30-day ceasefire and humanitarian deliveries in eastern Ghouta, saying that widespread reporting of heavy civilian casualties in the besieged area on the edge of the Syrian capital, Damascus, was a product of “mass psychosis”.
The Russian envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told an emergency meeting of the security council on the situation in eastern Ghouta that Russia would not support the ceasefire resolution put forward by Sweden and Kuwait in its present form, calling it unrealistic.
He circulated a list of proposed Russian amendments, thought to involve opening broad loopholes in the ceasefire, allowing a range of rebel groups to be targeted. A western diplomat said that at first glance the Russian amendments were “likely to be unacceptable”. Diplomats said the resolution could go to a vote on Friday.
Filibuster_HK
Robert Mueller files 32 new fraud charges against ex-Trump aides
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/22/robert-mueller-files-new-charges-against-manafort-and-gates
More than 30 new charges, involving millions of dollars of bank and tax fraud, were filed on Thursday against Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his business partner.
The 32 new charges were filed by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and a Russian intelligence operation to skew the 2016 presidential election.
In a statement, Manafort’s spokesman reiterated his client’s innocence, adding: “The new allegations against Mr. Manafort, once again, have nothing to do with Russia and 2016 election interference/collusion. Mr. Manafort is confident that he will be acquitted and violations of his constitutional rights will be remedied.”
The new charge sheet portrays the two men as resorting to increasingly desperate efforts to keep money flowing to finance extravagant lifestyles, when contracts from their main clients, pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, dried up after 2014, when the Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/22/robert-mueller-files-new-charges-against-manafort-and-gates
More than 30 new charges, involving millions of dollars of bank and tax fraud, were filed on Thursday against Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his business partner.
The 32 new charges were filed by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and a Russian intelligence operation to skew the 2016 presidential election.
In a statement, Manafort’s spokesman reiterated his client’s innocence, adding: “The new allegations against Mr. Manafort, once again, have nothing to do with Russia and 2016 election interference/collusion. Mr. Manafort is confident that he will be acquitted and violations of his constitutional rights will be remedied.”
The new charge sheet portrays the two men as resorting to increasingly desperate efforts to keep money flowing to finance extravagant lifestyles, when contracts from their main clients, pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, dried up after 2014, when the Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia.
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Filibuster_HK
Iran hints at seaborne reactors while respecting nuclear deal
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-report/iran-hints-at-seaborne-reactors-while-respecting-nuclear-deal-idUSKCN1G625G?
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has fired a diplomatic warning shot at Washington by raising the prospect of building nuclear reactors for ships while staying within the limits set by its atomic deal with major powers, a U.N. nuclear watchdog report showed on Thursday.
A quarterly report on Iran by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which is policing the deal’s restrictions, showed that Iran remained compliant, but also that it had informed the agency of a “decision that has been taken to construct naval nuclear propulsion in future”.
Rouhani was alluding to the lack of economic benefit to Iran from the deal because many companies including big Western banks continue to shun the country for fear of breaching separate U.S. financial sanctions that stayed in place after other sanctions were rescinded.
Iran’s notification on marine propulsion could cover a range of intentions over any period of time, meaning there was no cause for concern, the senior diplomat said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-report/iran-hints-at-seaborne-reactors-while-respecting-nuclear-deal-idUSKCN1G625G?
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has fired a diplomatic warning shot at Washington by raising the prospect of building nuclear reactors for ships while staying within the limits set by its atomic deal with major powers, a U.N. nuclear watchdog report showed on Thursday.
A quarterly report on Iran by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which is policing the deal’s restrictions, showed that Iran remained compliant, but also that it had informed the agency of a “decision that has been taken to construct naval nuclear propulsion in future”.
Rouhani was alluding to the lack of economic benefit to Iran from the deal because many companies including big Western banks continue to shun the country for fear of breaching separate U.S. financial sanctions that stayed in place after other sanctions were rescinded.
Iran’s notification on marine propulsion could cover a range of intentions over any period of time, meaning there was no cause for concern, the senior diplomat said.
Filibuster_HK
Cambodia's ruling party set to sweep Senate election
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-election/cambodias-ruling-party-set-to-sweep-senate-election-idUSKCN1G70FZ
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Hun Sen is poised to sweep a Senate election at the weekend, helping to consolidate the prime minister’s rule of more than 30 years amid a crackdown on the opposition.
Sunday’s election for 58 members of the 62-strong Senate will see 123 members of parliament and 11,572 commune councilors vote at 33 polling stations across Cambodia. Two Senate members each are appointed by the king and the National Assembly.
But rights groups and opposition politicians say the Senate vote is a farce that shows Hun Sen, who faces a national election in July, is not committed to multi-party democracy. Almost half of the commune councilors have been stripped of their right to vote in Sunday’s election after their opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by a court last November at the request of Hun Sen’s government.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-election/cambodias-ruling-party-set-to-sweep-senate-election-idUSKCN1G70FZ
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Hun Sen is poised to sweep a Senate election at the weekend, helping to consolidate the prime minister’s rule of more than 30 years amid a crackdown on the opposition.
Sunday’s election for 58 members of the 62-strong Senate will see 123 members of parliament and 11,572 commune councilors vote at 33 polling stations across Cambodia. Two Senate members each are appointed by the king and the National Assembly.
But rights groups and opposition politicians say the Senate vote is a farce that shows Hun Sen, who faces a national election in July, is not committed to multi-party democracy. Almost half of the commune councilors have been stripped of their right to vote in Sunday’s election after their opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by a court last November at the request of Hun Sen’s government.
Filibuster_HK
Missouri governor indicted after accusation he tried to blackmail woman
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/22/eric-greitens-indicted-missouri-governor-invasion-privacy-422541?lo=ap_a1
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted by a grand jury in St. Louis Thursday on a charge of invasion of privacy, after the ex-husband of a woman with whom Greitens had an extramarital affair said the now-governor tried to blackmail her.
The indictment was announced by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, who said the alleged crime occurred in March 2015.
An attorney representing Greitens, a former Navy SEAL and onetime rising star in the Republican Party first elected in November 2016, signaled the governor would fight the charges.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/22/eric-greitens-indicted-missouri-governor-invasion-privacy-422541?lo=ap_a1
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted by a grand jury in St. Louis Thursday on a charge of invasion of privacy, after the ex-husband of a woman with whom Greitens had an extramarital affair said the now-governor tried to blackmail her.
The indictment was announced by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, who said the alleged crime occurred in March 2015.
An attorney representing Greitens, a former Navy SEAL and onetime rising star in the Republican Party first elected in November 2016, signaled the governor would fight the charges.
Filibuster_HK
Marion Marechal-Le Pen calls for 'France first' in speech to US conservatives at CPAC
http://www.dw.com/en/marion-marechal-le-pen-calls-for-france-first-in-speech-to-us-conservatives-at-cpac/a-42704699
France should follow the example of US President Donald Trump and pursue a "France first" agenda, Marion Marechal-Le Pen told a gathering of US conservatives outside of Washington, DC, on Thursday.
What Marechal-Le Pen said:
Speaking in English moments after US Vice President Mike Pence finished his speech, she said: "I'm not offended when I hear President Donald Trump say 'America first'," adding: "I want America first for the American people, I want Britain first for the British people and I want France first for the French people."
Marechal-Le Pen also criticized the European Union in her 10-minute speech: "France is no longer free today ... Our freedom is now in the hands of the European Union." The FN is known for its Euroscepticism. Marine Le Pen ran against French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 on an anti-EU platform.
On immigration and Islam, Marechal-Le Pen said: "France is in the process of passing from [being] the eldest daughter of the Catholic Church to the little niece of Islam."
She also said she had recently launched a political science school in order to train future conservative leaders, but she offered no details on where the school would be or when it would open.
http://www.dw.com/en/marion-marechal-le-pen-calls-for-france-first-in-speech-to-us-conservatives-at-cpac/a-42704699
France should follow the example of US President Donald Trump and pursue a "France first" agenda, Marion Marechal-Le Pen told a gathering of US conservatives outside of Washington, DC, on Thursday.
What Marechal-Le Pen said:
Speaking in English moments after US Vice President Mike Pence finished his speech, she said: "I'm not offended when I hear President Donald Trump say 'America first'," adding: "I want America first for the American people, I want Britain first for the British people and I want France first for the French people."
Marechal-Le Pen also criticized the European Union in her 10-minute speech: "France is no longer free today ... Our freedom is now in the hands of the European Union." The FN is known for its Euroscepticism. Marine Le Pen ran against French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 on an anti-EU platform.
On immigration and Islam, Marechal-Le Pen said: "France is in the process of passing from [being] the eldest daughter of the Catholic Church to the little niece of Islam."
She also said she had recently launched a political science school in order to train future conservative leaders, but she offered no details on where the school would be or when it would open.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-montenegro-usa-attacks/explosive-device-thrown-at-u-s-embassy-building-in-montenegro-idUSKCN1G609X?
PODGORICA (Reuters) - An unknown person threw an explosive device, probably a hand grenade, at the United States embassy building in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, before blowing himself up, the government said on Thursday.
Messaging in English on its official Twitter account, the government said that half an hour after midnight (1130 GMT), “An unknown person committed suicide with an explosive device.”
It added, “Immediately before, that person threw an explosive device from the intersection near the Sport Center into the U.S. embassy compound.”
It said, “Most probably, the device was a hand grenade,” adding that police investigation and identification were underway.