Rescuers ‘very close’ to children missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon

Rescuers ‘very close’ to children missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon
A soldier at the site of the plane crash in the Amazon forest, municipality of Solano, department of Caqueta, Colombia, May 23, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 31 May 2023
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Rescuers ‘very close’ to children missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon

Rescuers ‘very close’ to children missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon
  • Children — aged 13, nine, four and one — have been lost in the jungle since the light aircraft crash in Colombia’s southeast on May 1
  • Soldiers found the bodies of the three adults and the debris of the plane stuck vertically in the thick vegetation, its nose destroyed

BOGOTA: The discovery of a rudimentary shelter, some half-eaten fruit and a fresh footprint led the Colombian military to announce Tuesday it was getting “very close” to the four Indigenous children roaming the Amazon since a plane they were on crashed a month ago.
The children — aged 13, nine, four and one — have been lost in the jungle since the light aircraft crash in Colombia’s southeast on May 1 claimed the lives of the three adults on board: their mother Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, the pilot, and an Indigenous leader.
The bodies of the adults were found with the plane wreck, but a massive search by 160 soldiers and 70 Indigenous people with intimate knowledge of the jungle has been under way ever since for the youngsters — Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien Noriel (4) and baby Cristin.
On Sunday, rescuers found the latest traces, which “confirm two things: the first that they are alive, and the second that we are very close,” team leader General Pedro Sanchez told Blu Radio.
The search area has been narrowed to about 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles), said Sanchez, from an initial 320 square kilometers — about double the size of Washington, DC.
Judging by its size, the footprint found may belong to Lesly, whom relatives have said knows the jungle well.
Unlike a sandal print found previously, the new trail indicates at least one of the children is now barefoot.
Last week, the team had found a pair of shoes and a diaper in the dense jungle.
Near the fresh print, the team on Sunday also found “a kind of resting place” or shelter. “The children probably used it for a night or two,” said Sanchez.
“At some point we crossed paths (with the children),” he added.
Search team member Col. Fausto Avellaneda said the latest finds “gives us new motivation and excitement.”
“This is a fresh footprint found approximately two kilometers from the last footprint we had found, and it gives us a sign that the children are still alive,” he said in a video distributed by the military.
On the morning of May 1, a Cessna 206 airplane left a jungle area known as Araracuara heading for the town of San Jose del Guaviare in the Colombian Amazon.
Minutes after starting the 350-kilometer (217-mile) journey, the pilot reported problems with the engine and the plane disappeared from radars.
Between May 15 and 16, soldiers found the bodies of the three adults and the debris of the plane stuck vertically in the thick vegetation, its nose destroyed.
The air force has since dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with instructions in Spanish and the children’s own Indigenous language, telling them to stay put.
The leaflets also included survival tips, and the military has dropped food parcels and bottled water for the children who are of the Huitoto community, known for living in harmony with the jungle.
Huitoto children learn hunting, fishing and gathering and the kids’ grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, has told AFP the children are well acquainted with the jungle.
Rescuers have been broadcasting a message recorded by the children’s grandmother, urging them not to move so the soldiers can find them.
Air force helicopters and satellite images are being used in the search in an area home to jaguars, pumas, snakes and other predators, as well as armed groups that smuggle drugs and terrorize local populations.
According to Sanchez, the minors and their mother had boarded the plane to escape guerrilla activity near their community.
But he said it was “unlikely” the kids had fallen into the hands of any armed group. “We have not found any adult prints.”
Sanchez said the search was complicated by “a totally jungle terrain where you can see nothing 20 meters ahead, trees 40-50 meters (tall)... where the rays of the Sun enter with great difficulty.”
It rained about 16 hours per day, erasing any tracks and muffling the sound of movement, he added.


UPDATE 3-Biden, US officials warn of hunger for millions in a government shutdown

Visitors tour the Capitol grounds in Washington, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP)
Visitors tour the Capitol grounds in Washington, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP)
Updated 4 sec ago
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UPDATE 3-Biden, US officials warn of hunger for millions in a government shutdown

Visitors tour the Capitol grounds in Washington, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP)
  • More than 40 million Americans relied on SNAP to make ends meet in 2022; inflation has put new pressure on household budgets, with prices higher since the COVID-19 pandemic for goods from bread to fresh vegetables and baby formula

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and one of his top aides warned on Monday that a federal government shutdown could cause widespread suffering, including a rapid loss of food benefits for nearly 7 million low-income women and children.
Biden told a meeting on Historically Black Colleges and Universities that failure by Congress to fund the federal government would have dire consequences for the Black community, including by reducing nutritional benefits, inspections of hazardous waste sites and enforcement of fair housing laws.
He said he and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had agreed a few months ago on spending levels for the government.
“We made a deal, we shook hands,” he said. “Now a small group of extreme House Republicans .. don’t want to live up to that deal, and everyone in America could be faced with paying the price for it.”
Asked if he had spoken with McCarthy, Biden said, “I haven’t.” He shook his head when asked when they would speak.
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters earlier that the “vast majority” of the 7 million participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program would see an immediate reduction in benefits in the days and weeks after a shutdown starts.
Nearly half of US newborns rely on WIC, the USDA says.
A separate benefits program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will continue as normal for the month of October but could be affected afterward, he said.
More than 40 million Americans relied on SNAP to make ends meet in 2022; inflation has put new pressure on household budgets, with prices higher since the COVID-19 pandemic for goods from bread to fresh vegetables and baby formula.
During a shutdown, farm service agencies will also stop making loans to farmers during harvest time, and new homebuyers will not be able to get loans in rural areas, Vilsack said. More than 50,000 Department of Agriculture workers will be furloughed, meaning they will not receive a paycheck.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives may move to advance steep spending cuts this week that would almost certainly be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate. While the cuts would not become law, a failure by both chambers to agree could force a partial shutdown of the US government by next Sunday.
House lawmakers on Tuesday were set to take up four spending bills for the coming fiscal year that would also impose new restrictions on abortion access, undo an $11 billion Biden administration climate initiative, and resume construction of the Mexico-US border wall, a signature initiative of former President Donald Trump. Biden has vowed to veto at least two of the bills.
Vilsack called Republican fiscal plans “punitive” and “petty.” 

 


Anti-Muslim hate speech in India concentrated around elections, report finds

RSS Hindutva supporters beat a Muslim man during a clash in New Delhi, India, February 24, 2020. (REUTERS)
RSS Hindutva supporters beat a Muslim man during a clash in New Delhi, India, February 24, 2020. (REUTERS)
Updated 8 min 57 sec ago
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Anti-Muslim hate speech in India concentrated around elections, report finds

RSS Hindutva supporters beat a Muslim man during a clash in New Delhi, India, February 24, 2020. (REUTERS)
  • About 80 percent of those events took place in areas governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is widely expected to win the general elections in 2024

WASHINGTON: Anti-Muslim hate speech incidents in India averaged more than one a day in the first half of 2023 and were seen most in states with upcoming elections, according to a report by Hindutva Watch, a Washington-based group monitoring attacks on minorities.
There were 255 documented incidents of hate speech gatherings targeting Muslims in the first half of 2023, the report found. There was no comparative data for prior years.
It used the United Nations’ definition of hate speech as “any form of communication... that employs prejudiced or discriminatory language toward an individual or group based on attributes such as religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender, or other identity factors.”
About 70 percent of the incidents took place in states scheduled to hold elections in 2023 and 2024, according to the report.

A RSS Hindutva supporter brandishes a gun during a protest against a new citizenship law outside the Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi, India, January 30, 2020. (REUTERS)

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat witnessed the highest number of hate speech gatherings, with Maharashtra accounting for 29 percent of such incidents, the report found. The majority of the hate speech events mentioned conspiracy theories and calls for violence and socio-economic boycotts against Muslims.
About 80 percent of those events took place in areas governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is widely expected to win the general elections in 2024.
Hindutva Watch said it tracked online activity of Hindu nationalist groups, verified videos of hate speeches posted on social media and compiled data of isolated incidents reported by media.
Modi’s government denies the presence of minority abuse. The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Rights groups allege mistreatment of Muslims under Modi, who became prime minister in 2014.
They point to a 2019 citizenship law described as “fundamentally discriminatory” by the United Nations human rights office for excluding Muslim migrants; an anti-conversion legislation challenging the constitutionally protected right to freedom of belief, and the 2019 revoking of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s special status.
There has also been demolition of Muslim properties in the name of removing illegal construction and a ban on wearing the hijab in classrooms in Karnataka when the BJP was in power in that state.

 


Missing for 4 months, prominent Pakistani TV anchor returns home

Missing for 4 months, prominent Pakistani TV anchor returns home
Updated 26 September 2023
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Missing for 4 months, prominent Pakistani TV anchor returns home

Missing for 4 months, prominent Pakistani TV anchor returns home
  • Imran Riaz Khan, widely perceived to be sympathetic to ex-PM Imran Khan, was arrested two days after the May 9 protests

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani anchorperson and YouTuber Imran Riaz Khan has been “safely recovered,” Sialkot Police confirmed on Monday, four months after the journalist was arrested and his whereabouts remained unknown following a nationwide crackdown against supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan. 

The TV anchor, widely perceived to be sympathetic to ex-PM Imran Khan, was arrested from Sialkot airport on May 11, according to his lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq, after the violent protests of May 9 which saw angry Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters torch government buildings and attack military installations across the country. His lawyer told media Khan was arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance, under which authorities can arrest a person to maintain public order and extend the period of such detention for a time period not exceeding six months at a time.

According to Ashfaq, Khan was taken to Cantt police station after his arrest and later to the Sialkot prison. On May 15, a law officer told a court that Khan was released from jail after an undertaking in writing was taken from him.

Following that, his whereabouts remained unknown for four months. 

Khan’s father Muhammad Riaz lodged a case of alleged abduction of his son at the Sialkot Civil Lines police against “unidentified persons” and police officials and subsequently filed a petition at the Lahore High Court for his son’s recovery. During a hearing of the petition, the LHC gave the Punjab police chief one “last opportunity” to recover the missing anchor. 

“Journalist/Anchor Mr.Imran Riaz Khan has been safely recovered,” Sialkot Police wrote on Twitter. “He is now with his family.”


Taiwan golf ball maker fined for storing 30 times limit for hazardous material

Taiwan golf ball maker fined for storing 30 times limit for hazardous material
Updated 26 September 2023
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Taiwan golf ball maker fined for storing 30 times limit for hazardous material

Taiwan golf ball maker fined for storing 30 times limit for hazardous material

TAIPEI: Taiwan authorities fined a golf ball manufacturer $75,000 on Monday and warned of criminal charges for storing 30 times the legal limit of hazardous material and other violations after a major factory fire killed nine people and left one other missing.

The mayor of Pingtung county said at a news conference that Launch Technologies Co. had 3,000 tons of organic peroxides on site, far more than the 100 tons of hazardous material that is permitted, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

Those responsible would be held accountable for public endangerment and negligent manslaughter, Mayor Chou Chun-mi said.

Company officials could not be reached for comment.

It’s unclear what caused the fire on Friday, but two explosions in the already burning building trapped firefighters and workers under rubble. Four firefighters were among the nine who died. More than 100 other people were injured.

Organic peroxides, which are highly flammable, are used in a variety of rubber products including golf ball cores. Launch Technologies is one of the world’s major golf ball makers, producing 20 percent of the global supply last year.

Taiwanese law requires organic peroxides to be stored in a separate warehouse building, but Launch Technologies kept the material on the first floor of the factory building, Chou said.

Larger fines were assessed for failing to designate a point person to help fight the fire and failing to give a complete inventory of the organic peroxides on site when firefighters arrived, she said.

Launch Technologies, which was founded in 2006, has been fined before.

Since 2018, the company has been fined $6,200 for safety and health violations and another $9,300 over labor conditions, according to Taiwan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The company was also fined $9,300 for air pollution violations in 2020, according to its 2021 annual report.

In 2011, a court ordered Launch Technologies to pay compensation to five workers who had sued the company for working overtime beyond the legal limit and in polluted conditions harmful to their health. Company general manager Lu Ying-cheng said at a news conference on Sunday that Launch Technologies has made improvements to the work environment in recent years.


Fresh fighting erupts in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

Fresh fighting erupts in Ethiopia’s Amhara region
Updated 25 September 2023
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Fresh fighting erupts in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

Fresh fighting erupts in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

KAMPALA: Fresh fighting erupted in the second-biggest town of Ethiopia’s turbulent Amhara region as militiamen clashed with the military over government plans to disarm local forces.

Fighters from a militia called Fano fought against military units on Sunday in the town of Gondar, an important tourist and commercial hub, residents said. “It was very heavy,” said one person reached by telephone who declined to give their name because of safety concerns.

Calm had mostly been restored by Monday morning, with the military back in control of the town, although sporadic gunfire could still be heard, residents said. Shops were shut and the streets were empty.

Other areas of Amhara, including the regional capital Bahir Dar and Lalibela, another important tourist town, did not see fighting, residents said Monday. Violence gripped Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-most populous state, in early August, with Fano fighters seizing control of several major towns and protesters blocking roads. The military retook control after several days.

In response to the unrest, the government blocked internet access and imposed a state of emergency. The fighting sparked fears of a new civil war following the conflict in the neighboring Tigray region, which ended with a ceasefire in November.

The violence was sparked by a plan initiated in April to disarm the region’s forces, which the government says represent a threat to Ethiopia’s constitutional order. The Amhara ethnic group says they need the forces for protection, citing attacks against their group.

The United Nations said last month the violence had killed over 180 people and the world body expressed concern over a wave of arrests of ethnic Amhara.

Local officials are being targeted for assassination across Amhara, “resulting in the temporary collapse of local state structures in many areas,” Ethiopia’s state-appointed human rights commission said last month.