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Sabtu, 28 Desember 2019

Hong Kong police arrest protesters in shopping mall - Reuters Australia

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police arrested about a dozen protesters and used pepper spray on Saturday to break up a protest in a shopping mall aimed at disrupting retail businesses near the border with mainland China.

Demonstrators have been targeting malls across Hong Kong since earlier this week and more than a hundred protesters, many dressed in black with face masks, marched through a mall in Sheung Shui on Saturday, chanting “Go back to China”.

Sheung Shui, which is just over the border from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, is popular with so-called parallel traders who buy large volumes of duty-free goods in Hong Kong and then sell them on the mainland.

The Chinese traders have become a target for protesters in Hong Kong, who are blame them for overcrowding and pushing up prices and rents.

“Our intention is to make shops close their gates. There are many parallel traders, we want to cast them out,” said Kelly, a 17-year-old protester wearing mask.

Police wrestled one protester to the ground and pepper sprayed his face before handcuffing him. Many shops closed early and shoppers hurried out of the mall.

The protests in Hong Kong began more than six months ago in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party.

The demonstrations have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement and became more confrontational over the festive season.

More protests are planned in the next few days, including a countdown to New Year’s Day and a march on Jan. 1 organized by the civil human rights front that could attract thousands.

Many protesters have been angered by what they see as the use of unnecessary force by police and have demanded an independent inquiry into the force’s behavior.

Slideshow (11 Images)

Hong Kong police have earned a total of $17.3 million in meal and work-related allowances during the past six months of anti-government protests, government figures showed on Friday.

Demonstrators are also angry at what they perceive as increased meddling by Beijing in freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China denies interfering, saying it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time, and blames foreign forces for fomenting unrest.

Writing by Clare Jim; Editing by David Clarke

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-12-28 15:53:35Z
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Massive explosion in Somalia's capital kills at least 79 - The Washington Post

An explosion near a busy checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Dec. 28 killed nearly 80 people, officials said. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A giant explosion rocked Somalia’s capital Saturday morning, killing at least 79 people.

The blast, caused by a vehicle packed with bombs, appeared to target the morning rush hour at a busy tax collection center located near one of two checkpoints that control all entry and exit from the city. Although no group has yet claimed the attack, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist militia al-Shabab has regularly attacked government institutions around the country.

The director of Medina Hospital in Mogadishu said he had received 73 bodies; others were brought to the Digfer and Somali Sudanese hospitals, their directors confirmed. Mohamed Yusuf, Medina Hospital’s director, said he feared the toll would continue to rise as his teams dealt with dozens of severely injured patients.

A government spokesman, Ismail Mukhtar, said the dead included more than a dozen university students and numerous police officers and that the blast came from a vehicle laden with explosives. A Somali officer at the Turkish Embassy confirmed the deaths of two Turkish nationals employed by a private company called En-Ez Construction that was working on the road where the attack occurred.

Feisal Omar

Reuters

Somali security personnel assess the scene of a bombing near a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday.

Omar Mohamud, Mogadishu’s mayor, told reporters gathered near the blast site that at least 90 civilians, mostly students, were injured in the explosion. Witnesses described a ghastly scene.

“When the explosion happened, I was coming out of a nearby tea shop. With my own eyes, I have seen pieces of human beings and blood scattered around,” said Osman Abdulle, a police sergeant. “I have collected the bodies of my fellow policemen, who I recognized. I have also seen a university bus reduced to ashes.”

Another witness, Abdisalam Halane, said he heard the blast and rushed toward it, hoping to help friends in the police force who were stationed at the checkpoint. He counted at least 20 bodies on the ground but said many of them had been ripped apart.

“Blood and the remains of bodies were everywhere,” he said.

[‘If I don’t pay, they kill me’: Al-Shabab tightens grip on Somalia with growing tax racket]

Somalia’s government nominally controls Mogadishu, but routine attacks by al-Shabab give the city of 2.5 million people the feel of a contested area. Saturday’s attack was the largest since Oct. 14, 2017, when two truck bombs detonated by al-Shabab killed nearly 600 people in a market near the city center.

It was the latest in a string of attacks in Mogadishu, though 2019 saw al-Shabab extend its reach to cities it hadn’t attacked in years. In January, a small group of fighters mounted a 21-hour siege of a luxury hotel and office complex in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, killing at least 21, and in July, another group stormed a hotel in the southern Somali city of Kismayo, killing 26.

Al-Shabab operates extensively throughout rural parts of southern and central Somalia and is estimated to have about 10,000 fighters. It uses extortionary tactics to collect “taxes” from all manner of businesses across the country, including the main commercial port in Mogadishu. The group’s stated aim is to establish its harsh interpretation of Islamic law across Somalia and to expel all foreign troops from the country.

The U.S. military keeps about 500 personnel in Somalia, largely as part of a mission to train Somali special forces. Some U.S. Special Forces accompany Somali counterparts on ground missions. The U.S. military has carried out more than 60 airstrikes this year, mostly targeting al-Shabab, continuing a three-year uptick since the Trump administration loosened the rules of military engagement in Somalia, allowing for more aggressive use of force.

The Kenyan, Ugandan, Ethiopian and other African militaries have contingents in different parts of the country under the banner of the African Union. That joint force is scheduled to hand over its operations to the Somali army in May, but al-Shabab’s frequent demonstrations of its capabilities despite the multinational effort against it have cast doubt on any future troop withdrawal.

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-12-28 15:15:00Z
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Hong Kong police arrest protesters in shopping mall - Reuters Australia

The Chinese traders have become a target for protesters in Hong Kong, who are blame them for overcrowding and pushing up prices and rents.

“Our intention is to make shops close their gates. There are many parallel traders, we want to cast them out,” said Kelly, a 17-year-old protester wearing mask.

Police wrestled one protester to the ground and pepper sprayed his face before handcuffing him. Many shops closed early and shoppers hurried out of the mall.

The demonstrations have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement and became more confrontational over the festive season.

More protests are planned in the next few days, including a countdown to New Year’s Day and a march on Jan. 1 organized by the civil human rights front that could attract thousands.

Many protesters have been angered by what they see as the use of unnecessary force by police and have demanded an independent inquiry into the force’s behavior.

Slideshow (11 Images)

Hong Kong police have earned a total of $17.3 million in meal and work-related allowances during the past six months of anti-government protests, government figures showed on Friday.

Demonstrators are also angry at what they perceive as increased meddling by Beijing in freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China denies interfering, saying it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time, and blames foreign forces for fomenting unrest.

Writing by Clare Jim; Editing by David Clarke

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Truck bomb kills at least 76 in Somalia's capital - CBS This Morning

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2019-12-28 13:28:14Z
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India Citizenship Act protests: 'Our son was shot dead by police' - BBC News

At least 19 people have died in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in recent weeks amid violent protests over a controversial new citizenship law.

The police are accused of using excessive force, and Muslims say they fear losing their rights in the world's largest democracy.

Vikas Pandey and Anshul Verma report from one of the worst-hit places, the city of Kanpur.

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2019-12-28 12:00:38Z
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Somalia suicide car bomb attack leaves at least 65 dead - CNN

Government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar added that university students were among the dead.

The attacker drove his vehicle into the "Ex-control Afgoye" checkpoint, a well-known junction that links the south of Somalia to the capital, Mukhtar told CNN.

Earlier, Mukhtar said the blast also injured at least 60 others.

The attack happened during rush hour in the Somali capital at about 8 a.m. local time, and both civilians and soldiers are among the dead, police say.

Police conduct security searches at the checkpoint, but there is also a taxation office located nearby and the area is heavily populated with civilians and security forces.

Nurses from Mogadishu's Madina Hospital push a wounded person on a stretcher.

Police have warned that the death toll could rise as many of the wounded have been rushed to hospitals.

Two Turkish citizens were among the dead, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed shortly after the attack.

"May Allah's mercy be upon our 2 citizens and innocent Somali brothers&sisters who lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attack," Çavuşoğlu wrote on his Twitter account. He added Turkey would continue to stand with Somalia in the fight against terror.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. Since 2006, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group has carried out repeated attacks in Mogadishu against different targets -- killing international aid workers, journalists, civilian leaders and peacekeepers -- as well as Somalia's government and military targets.

It wants to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Two weeks ago, at least five people were killed after the group attacked a hotel popular with lawmakers and security officials in the Somali capital.

In February, the group claimed responsibility for a car bombing at a crowded shopping mall that left at least 10 dead. It was also behind three car bombings last November that killed at least 52 people with about 100 more injured.

Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu. CNN's Raja Razek and Sharif Paget in Atlanta and Lauren Said-Moorhouse in London also contributed to this report.

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2019-12-28 10:11:00Z
52780525324223

India Citizenship Act protests: 'Our son was shot dead by police' - BBC News

At least 19 people have died in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in recent weeks amid violent protests over a controversial new citizenship law.

The police are accused of using excessive force, and Muslims say they fear losing their rights in the world's largest democracy.

Vikas Pandey and Anshul Verma report from one of the worst-hit places, the city of Kanpur.

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