Russia expels British diplomat for alleged spying
Moscow kicks out the diplomat, who, it says, was ‘conducting intelligence and subversive work that threatens the security of Russia’. Russia has ordered a British diplomat to leave the country for allegedly spying, in the latest blow to the already dire state of relations between the two countries. The FSB security service said on Tuesday that the diplomat, whose photo was splashed across TV news bulletins, had intentionally provided false information when he entered the country. “During counterintelligence work, the Russian Federal Security Service has discovered an undeclared British intelligence presence under the cover of the national embassy in Moscow,” it said. “At the same time, the Russian FSB has discovered signs of the said diplomat conducting intelligence and subversive work that threatens the security of the Russian Federation,” it said in a statement. It named him as Edward Wilkes and said he was a second secretary, a relatively junior diplomatic rank. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was unaware of the reported diplomatic expulsion, the Reuters news agency reported. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that a decision was made to revoke the diplomat’s accreditation and he has been ordered to leave the country within two weeks. She said that the ministry had summoned the British ambassador to hand over the notice. The envoy, Nigel Casey, was shown by Russian state media arriving at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. According to the FSB, the British diplomat was a replacement for one of six British diplomats expelled earlier this year, also on espionage charges. Tense relations Reacting to the earlier expulsions in September, the United Kingdom rejected the spying allegations against its diplomats as “malicious and completely baseless” and said Russia’s behaviour was completely unacceptable. Relations between the UK and Russia have plunged to post-Cold War lows since the start of the Ukraine war. The UK has joined successive waves of sanctions against Russia and provided arms to Ukraine. Russia said Ukraine fired British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles at its territory last week for the first time. President Vladimir Putin cited the use of the British-made missiles, and the launching of US ATACMS ballistic missiles by Ukraine, as the reason Russia responded by launching a new hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week. Relations between London and Moscow have been repeatedly strained by alleged spy scandals, including the 2006 assassination of former Russian agent and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in a London poisoning attack. Then in 2018, the UK and its allies expelled dozens of Russian embassy officials they accused of being spies over the attempted poisoning of former double agent, Sergei Skripal, who was living in exile in the UK. Skripal survived the attempted Novichok attack but a British civilian died after touching a contaminated perfume bottle, triggering uproar in London. Adblock test (Why?)
Walt Disney agrees to pay $43.3m to settle pay discrimination suit
The suit was filed in 2019 after the plaintiff learned that six men with same job title earned substantially more. Walt Disney has agreed to pay $43.3m to settle a lawsuit alleging that its female employees in California earned $150m less than their male counterparts over an eight-year period, the plaintiffs’ lawyers have said. As part of the settlement, Disney has agreed to retain a labour economist for three years to analyse pay equity among full-time, non-union California employees below the vice president level, and address differences, the three law firms representing the plaintiffs said in a statement on Monday. The suit was originally filed by LaRonda Rasmussen in 2019, after she learned that six men with the same job title earned substantially more than her, including one man with several years less experience, who was earning $20,000 a year more than she did. Some 9,000 current and former female employees of the entertainment company eventually joined the suit. Disney attempted to stop the class action, but a judge ruled last December that it could proceed, Andrus Anderson, one of the law firms, said at the time. “I strongly commend Ms Rasmussen and the women who brought this discrimination suit against Disney, one of the largest entertainment companies in the world. They risked their careers to raise pay disparity at Disney,” Lori Andrus, a partner at Andrus Anderson, said in Monday’s statement. “We have always been committed to paying our employees fairly and have demonstrated that commitment throughout this case, and we are pleased to have resolved this matter,” a Disney spokesperson told Reuters. The case was also supported by an analysis of Disney’s human resource data from April 2015 until December 2022 that found female Disney employees were paid roughly 2 percent less than their male counterparts. The analysis was conducted by David Neumark, a University of California Irvine professor and labour economist. The settlement agreement, which was filed in a California state court, still requires approval by a judge, according to the lawyers. Adblock test (Why?)
Syrian Civil Defence creates early warning system for schools in Idlib
[unable to retrieve full-text content] The Syrian Civil Defence team created an early warning system to detect warplanes for schools in Idlib.
Netanyahu says he will present Lebanon ceasefire deal to cabinet
NewsFeed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will present a ceasefire deal to his cabinet that would stop the fighting in Lebanon but how long it will last depends on Hezbollah. Published On 26 Nov 202426 Nov 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Canada, Mexico leaders stress cooperation after Trump tariffs threat
The leaders of Mexico and Canada are urging dialogue and cooperation after United States President-elect Donald Trump pledged to impose 25-percent tariffs on the two countries when he takes office early next year. During a news conference on Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she planned to send a letter to Trump stressing the need to work together on joint challenges. “To one tariff will come another and so on until we put our common businesses at risk,” Sheinbaum said, warning that tariffs would cause inflation and job losses in both countries. In a post on social media on Monday evening, Trump said he planned to “charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States”. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem.” He also said he planned to impose “an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs” on Beijing, which Washington views as its largest global competitor. Trump, who won the November 5 presidential election over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, had repeatedly said during his 2024 campaign that he would impose increased tariffs on all imports into the US. The former president and his allies have portrayed the tariffs policy as a key tool to bring back jobs and manufacturing from overseas. Experts have said, however, that the move would increase costs for Americans. On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that he spoke with Trump on Monday evening after the Republican’s online posts. Trudeau said he stressed the longstanding ties between the two countries. “We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call,” he said, adding: “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.” The Liberal Party leader, whose popularity has dropped significantly over the past few years amid high costs of living and a housing crisis, is under pressure from Conservative politicians at the federal and provincial levels to resolve any problems before Trump takes office. “The federal government needs to take the situation at our border seriously,” right-wing Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a social media post on Monday night. Danielle Smith, the right-wing premier of Canada’s oil-producing province of Alberta, also said Trump had “valid concerns” about the US-Canada land border, which stretches 6,416km (3,987 miles). A 25 per cent tariff would be devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the U.S. The federal government needs to take the situation at our border seriously. We need a Team Canada approach and response—and we need it now. Prime Minister Trudeau must call an urgent… — Doug Ford (@fordnation) November 26, 2024 “As the largest exporter of oil and gas to the US, we look forward to working with the new administration to strengthen energy security for both the US and Canada,” she wrote on X. Trudeau said on Tuesday that he had spoken with Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault and planned to convene a meeting with provincial leaders to discuss the US. “There’s work to do, but we know how to do it,” the prime minister added. ‘Negotiating tactic’? Asa McKercher, the Hudson research chair in Canada-US relations at St Francis Xavier University in Canada, noted that Trump often threatened to enact harsh policies during his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021 but didn’t always follow through. “My initial thought is that this is probably some sort of negotiating tactic rather than something he actually wants to go through with — in part because it would be hugely damaging to the American economy,” McKercher told Al Jazeera of Trump’s tariffs threat. He explained that the tariffs would drive up prices on many things, including oil and gas supplies from Canada as well as food imports from Mexico. The US and Canada are each other’s largest trading partners, exchanging nearly $2.7bn ($3.6bn Canadian) in goods and services across their shared border daily in 2023, according to Canadian government figures. Meanwhile, US goods and services traded with Mexico totalled an estimated $855bn in 2022, the Office of the US Trade Representative said. Sheinbaum has warned that tariffs could put US and Mexican ‘businesses at risk’ [File: Raquel Cunha/Reuters] The three countries are signatories to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which they signed in 2020 when Trump was president to replace the longstanding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “He’s being a bully, which is what he is, and he’s making these kind of threats to see what kind of goodies he can get,” McKercher said of Trump, adding that the Republican’s remarks about fentanyl and irregular migration appear more geared towards Mexico than Canada. “That’s not really an issue in Canada-US relations,” he said. The Mexican peso weakened almost 2 percent in early trading on Tuesday after the US president-elect’s comments. During her news conference, Sheinbaum said her administration had always shown Mexico’s willingness to help fight the fentanyl epidemic in the US and that apprehensions of migrants and asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border were down. However, Sheinbaum noted that criminal groups in Mexico were still receiving guns from the US. She said the region’s shared challenges require cooperation, dialogue and reciprocal understanding. “We do not produce weapons. We do not consume the synthetic drugs,” she said. “Unfortunately, we have the people who are being killed by crime that is responding to the demand in your country.” Adblock test (Why?)
Pakistan’s Champions Trophy fate to be decided by ICC on November 29
The ICC will decide next steps for the Pakistan-hosted tournament after India refused to travel to the country. The International Cricket Council (ICC) will meet this week to determine the destiny of next year’s Champions Trophy after India refused to play in host nation Pakistan, a spokesperson said. Earlier this month, the ICC informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that India would not tour Pakistan for the eight-team tournament, leaving the fate of the showcase event hanging in the balance. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field. A spokesperson for the ICC based in Dubai told the AFP news agency on Tuesday they could “confirm an ICC meeting on Friday” where the issue will be on the agenda, without providing further details. The PCB has already rejected proposals that would allow India to play in a neutral third country, insisting the full schedule from February 19 to March 9 must be staged in Pakistan. India’s cricket board has not commented on the tournament. India has not visited Pakistan since 2008, and deteriorating political ties mean the great rivals only play each other at multiteam ICC events. Pakistan travelled to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup in October and November 2023 and played all its matches in the host nation. Pakistan suffered a multiyear drought of matches at home as teams refused to visit after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore. International play only fully resumed in 2020. When Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup, India’s matches were played outside the country. Pakistani cricket chiefs have rejected security fears for the Champions Trophy, pointing to their recent successful hosting of top teams including Australia, England and South Africa. The Champions Trophy will be the first ICC event staged in Pakistan since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan are the defending ICC Champions Trophy holders from when it was last staged in 2017. Pakistan won the last staging of the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2017 at The Oval, London, UK [John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images] Adblock test (Why?)
Four bodies recovered from capsized tourist boat in Red Sea: Egypt official
Authorities says five more people have been rescued, bringing the total to 33 survivors while seven remain missing. Four bodies have been recovered as rescue teams continue to search for survivors after a tourist boat capsized in the Red Sea off Egypt’s eastern coast. Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said on Tuesday that rescue teams have found five people alive, including one Egyptian two Belgian nationals, one Swiss national, and one Finn, bringing the total number of survivors to 33. The four people who died have yet to be identified, and seven people remain missing. “Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers,” Hanafi told the AFP news agency. The incident occurred on Monday after the Sea Story boat capsized, carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multiday diving trip, after it was hit by high waves, leading it to sink near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt. Hanafi said that the boat capsized within five to seven minutes after hitting a wave, leaving some passengers unable to escape from their cabins in time. A photo shared online by the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt shows the Sea Story luxury yacht, which authorities reported capsized early on the morning of November 25 [Red Sea Governorate/Facebook] On Monday, 28 people were rescued with minor injuries and were transported to a hotel in Marsa Alam as authorities coordinated with embassies to provide assistance and documentation. The governor’s office has said that the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, the United Kingdom, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. Moreover, Hanafi said the boat had cleared its last safety inspection in March, and no technical issues were reported. However, the Sea Story is one of many boats that have sunk in this area of Egypt due to rough weather conditions. In June, a vessel suffered severe damage from strong winds, but there were no casualties. Earlier in November, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea’s Daedalus reef. Adblock test (Why?)
French prosecutors seek 20 years for Dominique Pelicot in mass rape case
The 71-year-old Frenchman drugged his wife and invited dozens of strangers to rape her over a nine-year period. Prosecutors in France have demanded the maximum 20-year prison sentence for a man who organised the mass rape of his then-wife for almost a decade. Dominique Pelicot knocked his wife Gisele Pelicot unconscious with drugs and invited dozens of strangers to abuse her in their family homes in Paris and the southern town of Mazan between 2011 and 2020. The 71-year-old admitted to all charges against him in a trial that has scandalised France and drawn worldwide attention to the issue of sexual violence. Forty-nine other men have also been put on trial for participating in the abuse. Prosecutors are expected to announce what sentences they will seek against the co-accused over the next two days. Prosecutors have rejected arguments made by many of the men, aged between 21 and 68 at the time of the assaults, that they believed they were participating in a consensual fantasy or were not in their right mind. Gisele Pelicot carries flowers as she leaves the court in Avignon, France, on November 25, 2024 [Alexandre Dimou/Reuters] Footage played in court over recent weeks, part of some 20,000 videos and pictures recorded by Dominique Pelicot, showed Gisele lying motionless while men assaulted her. “The accused are trying to shirk responsibility by saying they thought Gisele Pelicot consented,” public prosecutor Laure Chabaud told the packed court in the city of Avignon. “But it’s not possible, today, in 2024, to consider that,” Chabaud added. Chabaud said that while 20 years is the maximum sentence that can be handed to Dominique, it is “too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated”. Prosecutors also said they were seeking a 17-year sentence for Jean-Pierre Marechal. The 63-year-old – who Dominique met on a now-shuttered chatroom of men soliciting rape material – has also admitted to drugging his own wife in order for both men to rape her. Sentencing for the accused is expected to take place at the trial’s conclusion around December 20. Gisele could have demanded the trial be kept behind closed doors, but instead asked for it to be made public. The 71-year-old said she hoped it would help other women speak up and tackle stigma for survivors of sexual violence. The trial has triggered rallies in support of Gisele in France, and spurred a debate on whether to update the country’s rape law, which currently makes no mention of a requirement that sex involve consent. Instead, prosecutors are required to prove a perpetrator’s intent to rape using “violence, coercion, threat or surprise”. Adblock test (Why?)
Imran Khan supporters breach lockdown in Pakistan’s Islamabad
Supporters seeking the release of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan broke through a ring of shipping containers locking down the capital, Islamabad, battled police, and ignored a government threat to respond with gunfire. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds on Tuesday, with reports of several people killed in clashes. Dozens more were injured, including journalists who were attacked by Khan’s supporters, who also beat a videographer covering the protests for The Associated Press news agency and broke his camera. Shortly after midnight, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi threatened security forces would respond with live fire if protesters fired weapons at them. “If they again fire bullets, the bullet will be responded with the bullet,” he said. Khan, who has been in jail for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains popular. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says the cases are politically motivated. Authorities say only the judiciary can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in parliament. He has been imprisoned since his first conviction in a corruption case in August 2023 and sentenced in several other cases. Khan’s supporters were about 10km (6.2 miles) from their destination, the city’s Red Zone where key government buildings are located. Naqvi said the PTI rejected a government offer to rally on the outskirts of Islamabad. In a bid to foil the protest, police have arrested more than 4,000 supporters of Khan since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services in some parts of the country. On Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested. Travelling between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible because of shipping containers blocking the roads. All educational institutions remain closed. The PTI relies heavily on social media to demand Khan’s release and uses messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to share information, including details of events. Adblock test (Why?)
Ronaldo scores two goals as Al Nassr win AFC Champions League tie in Qatar
Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar – On a cool, late autumn night in Qatar, thousands of football fans converged upon the Al Bayt Stadium to catch a glimpse of one of the biggest sporting icons on the planet – Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar, 39, and his Saudi football club Al Nassr were in town to face Qatar’s Al Gharafa Sports Club in an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite Group B match on Monday. Despite the stadium’s 50-kilometre (31 miles) distance from Qatar’s capital Doha, the late 7pm (16:00 GMT) weeknight kickoff and the competition’s relatively lower appeal to the average football fan in these parts, the event drew a staggering 37,000 spectators, or 12 percent of the entire population of the Gulf state. Football fans at the AFC Champions League Elite Group B match between Al Gharafa SC of Qatar and Al Nassr FC at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera] ‘Ronaldo, can I have your shirt?’ Among them were a few thousand loyal Al Gharafa fans and a few hundred travelling supporters backing the visiting team – but a large majority were unaligned spectators who simply turned up for a rare glimpse of Ronaldo, who is, undoubtedly, one of the most recognisable, charismatic and iconic sports personalities of the 21st century. Foremost among the fans were waves of children of varying ages, nationalities and footballing loyalties. Replica Ronaldo jerseys from his various football clubs – from Al Nassr to Real Madrid and Manchester United, as well as his national team Portugal – were common across the vast stands at Al Bayt Stadium, worn by kids and adults alike. “I have been a Ronaldo fan my whole life, so I came to see him and ask him for his shirt,” Noufil Abdel Malik told Al Jazeera before kickoff. Malik, just 12, had secured a seat behind the Al Nassr bench and held up a sign asking for Ronaldo’s shirt. Noufil Abdel Malik holds up a sign for Al Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo before kickoff [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera] Ronaldo’s double-goal performance sparks frenzy While none of the fans were lucky enough to have Ronaldo’s shirt thrown at them, the Al Nassr captain gave the spectators value for money, putting on a clinical match-winning display with two goals as his Saudi club prevailed with a 3-1 victory on the night. The result brought Al Nassr on the brink of qualification for the competition’s round of 16. The Saudi Pro League club need two points from their final three group games to progress in the competition. After the win, Ronaldo said that his fans, especially the younger ones, served as a huge source of motivation to continue playing the world game, despite the evergreen star striker turning 40 on February 5. “It’s still my motivation to make my fans happy, especially kids as I have a few kids of my own at home,” Ronaldo told Al Jazeera in his post-match comments. “The passion that children have is genuine. They love football so I just try to do my best [for them]. Score goals and make my team win.” Young fans of the Portuguese forward were present in their thousands at the AFC Champions League Elite match [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera] ‘Being in Qatar is always good’ The match marked Ronaldo’s return to Qatar for the first time since the FIFA World Cup 2022, where he led Portugal to the quarterfinals. The 1.87m forward admitted his return was a happy one as he added to his tally of a world record 915 senior career goals for club and country. “Being back in Qatar is always good,” he said. “To see the passion that people have for the club, for football and for me. I am happy that I was able to score two goals tonight and I am going back to Saudi Arabia a really happy man.” Arshveer Singh, an eight-year-old Ronaldo fan, was one of the thousands of young supporters who came to Al Bayt Stadium dressed in Al Nassr’s blue and yellow kit with Ronaldo’s name and famous number seven emblazoned on the back. “When I found out last week that Ronaldo will be in Qatar, I asked my dad to bring me here,” Singh said. “I am thrilled to watch him play live.” Eight-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo fan Arshveer Singh at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera] ‘At least 35,000 came to see only Ronaldo’ Even younger fans, many of whom probably stayed up well past their bedtime, watched on in a daze as Ronaldo flaunted his trademark celebration as the sound of “siu” (roughly translated to “yes” in the Portuguese language) reverberated around the stadium. Five-year-old Shahem al-Salem showed no signs of sleepiness even at 9pm – the excitement of watching the Ronaldo experience from a few metres away keeping the kindergarten student awake. “I don’t think I’ll go to school tomorrow,” he remarked shyly while glancing at his father, who nodded along happily. Shahem al-Salem was thrilled to see Cristiano Ronaldo play live for the first time at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera] For a match involving a Qatari club playing at home, the crowd was unabashedly supportive of the visiting team and for most of the game, it seemed that neither the local fans nor the organisers seemed to take offence. “Ronaldo has the power to bring people out of their homes and fill up stadiums no matter where he plays,” said Abdallah Abdel Razeq, an 18-year-old Lebanon national, after the match. “I can assure you that out of the 37,000 people in the stadium, at least 35,000 came only to see him.” Football fan Abdallah Abdel Razeq (right) and his cousins after the match at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar [Hafsa Adil/Al Jazeera] Adblock test (Why?)