Algerian authorities are believed to have shot dead at least one Moroccan tourist after a group of holidaymakers accidentally strayed into Algerian waters on jetskis, one of the survivors told Moroccan media.

Mohamed Kissi said that the group of friends on jetskis had got lost off the coast and strayed in Algerian waters when his brother, Bilal Kissi, was shot dead; another man, Abdelali Merchouer, was missing, presumed dead. The men were reported to have French-Moroccan dual nationality.

The group came under fire after taking a wrong turn off the beach resort of Saïdia on Morocco’s north-east tip on Tuesday, the Moroccan news website Le360 reported. The men had crossed the maritime border between Morocco and Algeria.

Sweden’s Nobel reverses invitation policy. Russia, Belarus, Iran and far-right leader are welcome

The foundation that administers the prestigious Nobel prizes has reversed its policy and invited Russia, Belarus and Iran, as well as a far-right Swedish politician, who all were previously banned

Via AP news wire

The Nobel Foundation that administers the prestigious awards, has reversed its invitation policy and invited Russia, Belarus and Iran, as well as the leader of a far-right Swedish party, who had previously been banned.

Vidar Helgesen, the executive director of the private foundation said in a statement that there was a global trend in which “dialogue between those with differing views is being reduced.”

To counter that, he said, “we are now broadening our invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free, peaceful societies.”

Japan records hottest summer, Australia gets warmest winter

Countries around the world continue to report extreme temperature records. In India, August was not only the hottest but also the driest on record.

Japan‘s summer this year was the hottest since records began 125 years ago, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on Friday.

Based on measurements at 15 locations around the country from June through August, the average temperature deviation was +1.76 degrees Celsius. According to JMA, that exceeded the previous record of +1.08 degrees in 2010.

Average temperatures were considerably higher in the northern, eastern, and western parts of the country, the agency added.

In China, artificial intelligence extends its hold on daily life

China’s artificial intelligence (AI) market is currently worth €20 billion, but that figure could more than double within two years. Beijing aspires to overtake the US to become the world leader in the sector by 2030. AI technology enables machines to imitate human intelligence to generate texts, images and videos or even create original art and designs. In China, AI is already profoundly transforming both personal and workplace life. FRANCE 24’s Lou Kisiela, Antoine Morel and Yan Chen report.

In wartime Ukraine, going back to school means preparing for air raids and huddling in shelters

By Olga Voitovych and Ivana Kottasová, CNN

Updated 11:27 AM EDT, Fri September 1, 2023

 

Kateryna Pylypenko prepared two backpacks for her youngest son’s first day of school on Friday. One with school supplies, and one for the bomb shelter.
“The bag (for the shelter) will be kept in the classroom. We were told it should contain water, a toy… and something to eat while they wait in the shelter for the air raid alarm to end,” Pylypenko told CNN.

Germany: Russian man guilty of Chechen dissident murder plot

A Russian man has been convicted of plotting to kill a dissident on the orders of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The murder was to have taken place in Germany, where the plotter is based.

A German court on Thursday sentenced a Russian man to 10 years in prison for plotting to murder a Chechen dissident in Germany.

The planned killing came as a commission from the regime of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, a key Kremlin ally.

The 47-year-old defendant, named only as Valid D. under German privacy laws, was convicted for “willingness to commit murder and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state,”a spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court in Munich said.

Federal prosecutors had called for an 11-year sentence for the murder plot, which was never carried out.

Gabon will ‘respect all commitments’ after coup, says junta

Gabon will respect all its commitments at home and abroad, the junta announced on Thursday, aiming to “reassure all donors, development partners and the state’s creditors” a day after President Ali Bongo was ousted. The country’s main opposition alliance meanwhile urged coup leaders to acknowledge it won the August 26 presidential election.

The general who led the overthrow of the Bongo dynasty, Brice Oligui Nguema, will be sworn in on Monday as transitional president, the army announced on state TV.

General Nguema’s swearing-in would take place at the constitutional court.

The junta also sought to reassure donors they would “respect all commitments” at home and abroad and “phase in transitional institutions”, Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, spokesman for Gabon‘s newly formed Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), said on state TV on Thursday, a day after rebel officers ousted President Ali Bongo.

The country’s coup chief Nguema “wishes to reassure all donors, development partners and the state’s creditors that all measures will be taken to guarantee that our country’s commitments, both external and internal, will be respected”, said Manfoumbi.

U.S. envoy: China’s reaction to Fukushima water release is economic coercion

By Chris Gallagher and Sakura Murakami

The U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, visited the Fukushima region on Thursday and told reporters he expected the U.S. to support Japan should China’s ban on Japanese seafood develop into a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean last Thursday, prompting China, Japan’s biggest trade partner, to impose a ban on Japanese aquatic products.

Japanese officials have signalled the possibility of diplomatic action to urge China to lift its ban, which Japan says is not based on scientific evidence, including filing a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint.

Ecuadorian police arrest six after car bombs explode in Quito

South American nation is grappling with surge in violence as voters prepare for October presidential run-off.

Police in Ecuador have arrested six suspects after a car bombing in a commercial area of the capital, Quito, as the South American nation grapples with a surge in violence that authorities say is linked to drug trafficking.

The explosion late on Wednesday did not cause any casualties, police said.

The vehicle exploded due to the ignition of “two gas cylinders with fuel, a slow fuse and apparently dynamite sticks”, police investigations director Pablo Ramirez told reporters.

Ramirez said agents arrested six people, among them a Colombian national, several kilometres from the site of the explosion hours after the incident. The suspects have a record of extortion, robbery and murder, he said.

Journalist for top Polish paper allegedly denied medication in Belarusian prison

A representative of the Polish community in Belarus says a former correspondent for a top Polish newspaper has been denied life-saving heart medication in a Belarusian prison

A former correspondent for a top Polish newspaper has been denied life-saving heart medication in Belarusian prison, a representative of Belarus’ largest Polish community organization told reporters Tuesday.

Andrzej Poczobut, 50, a former reporter with the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, has been put in solitary confinement with no access to lawyers or medical care, Marek Zaniewski from the Union of Poles in Belarus said at a press briefing.

The country’s largest and most prominent rights group, Viasna, also reported on its website that Poczobut has been transferred to a one-man “punishment cell” at a prison in Navapolatsk, a city in northern Belarus, where he is serving an eight-year sentence.

Ukraine war: Wave of drone strikes hits several Russian regions

Gangs forcing hundreds of thousands of people into cybercrime in south-east Asia, says UN

‘Dying by the dozens every day’ – Ukraine losses climb

The EU’s civil protection service said the fire had burned more than 310 sq miles (810 sq km) – an area bigger than New York City.

Meta uncovers world’s ‘largest’ spam campaign to boost China

The Facebook parent company said it purged thousands of accounts from a so-called “Spamouflage” campaign linked to Chinese law enforcement. The operation reportedly also targeted other platforms like YouTube and Reddit.

Facebook parent Meta said on Tuesday it had shut down a so-called “Spamouflage” campaign to covertly boost China’s image on its platforms.

Meta said it removed some 7,700 Facebook accounts plus hundreds of other pages, groups and Instagram accounts that pushed pro-China narratives online.

The accounts typically praised China and its policies in Xinjiang, and criticized the United States, Western foreign policy, and individuals critical of Beijing, including journalists.

“We assess that it’s the largest, though unsuccessful, and most prolific covert influence operation that we know of in the world today,” said Meta’s global threat intelligence lead, Ben Nimmo.

More than 180 killed in clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara region since July, says UN

At least 183 people have been killed since July in clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, the United Nations said Tuesday as it appealed for the killings, violence and rights abuses to end.

“We are very concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in some regions of Ethiopia,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado told reporters in Geneva.

“In Amhara region, following a flare-up in clashes between the Ethiopian military and the regional Fano militia, and the declaration of a state of emergency on August 4, the situation worsened considerably.”

“At least 183 people have been killed in clashes since July, according to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office.”

Tension in the Amhara region ratcheted up this year after the end of a devastating war in neighbouring Tigray that also drew in fighters from Amhara.

Brick thrown at Japanese embassy in China in Fukushima spat

By Natsuko Fukue

Japan said Tuesday that harassment being faced by Japanese in China after the release of water from the Fukushima nuclear plant was “extremely regrettable”, confirming that a brick was thrown at the country’s embassy in Beijing.

Last week, China banned all seafood imports from its neighbor as Japan began releasing treated wastewater from the crippled plant in an operation Tokyo and the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog have said is safe.

Since then, Japan has urged its citizens in China to keep a low profile and has increased security around schools and diplomatic missions.

‘Indian hostility’ looms over Asia Cup’s stripped-back hosts Pakistan

Pakistan gets set to host just four of 13 matches of the regional cricket tournament after India’s refusal to tour.

When Pakistan last hosted the Asia Cup in 2008, Imran Khan was a political novice, Narendra Modi was still banned from travelling to the United States, India’s cricket team was making its third visit to the country in five years and the entire tournament was played on Pakistani soil.

It was also the last time an Indian cricket team set foot in Pakistan.

Fast forward 15 years as Pakistan gets set to face off against minnows Nepal on Wednesday at the Multan Cricket Stadium to open the 16th edition of the regional cricket tournament, it will be the first of just four of the 13 Asia Cup matches that will be played in “host” nation Pakistan.

Taliban stop female Afghan students leaving country to study in Dubai

Protesters gathered in the southern city of Suwayda on Monday, closing provincial roads. The province of Suwayda has remained under government control since Syria’s 2011 uprising and is home to much of the country’s Druze minority.

Video shared by the activist-led organisation Suwayda24 showed several hundred people gathered in a central square waving Druze flags and chanting “long live Syria, and down with Bashar al-Assad”.

Iran, Iraq agree to disarm Kurdish militants — Tehran

Iran’s foreign ministry says Iraq has agreed to disarm and relocated exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups operating in autonomous northern Iraq. It said Iran will take action if Baghdad does not honor the deal.

Iran said on Monday it and Iraq had reached an agreement to disarm and relocate Kurdish militant groups.

Tehran said it would take action if Baghdad does not honor its commitment by mid-September.

“According to a deal reached between the Iranian and Iraqi governments, the Iraqi government has pledged to disarm armed terrorist groups in Iraq by September 19,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani told a news conference.

“The September 19 deadline will under no circumstances be extended,” Kanani said. “After this deadline, if Iraq fails to meet its commitments, the Iranian government will assume its responsibility, in order to ensure the country’s security.”

Erdogan to push Putin on grain deal in Russia

Turkey said Monday that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will “soon” visit Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin on reviving a Black Sea grain deal that could be used as a springboard for broader Ukraine peace negotiations.

Erdogan’s ruling party spokesman Omer Celik told reporters that the meeting will take place in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi and focus on averting a looming “food crisis”.

“As you know, (Erdogan) will pay a visit to Sochi soon,” Celik said in televised remarks.

The Bloomberg news agency had earlier reported that Erdogan could meet the Russian president on September 8.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that a meeting was being prepared “intensively” but provided no time or place for the talks.

Erdogan has used his good relations with Moscow and Kyiv to try to bring the two sides into formal peace talks.

Japan conveys concern to China over harassment following Fukushima water release

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that Japan conveyed its concern to China over harassment by Chinese citizens following the start of the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant last week, calling such behavior “regrettable.”

Earlier in the day, Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao and called on China to encourage its people to “react calmly” to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens and facilities in the neighboring nation.

Okano also strongly urged the Chinese government to deliver “accurate information” on the safety of the water, which has been treated through a process capable of removing most radionuclides except tritium.

Australian writer detained in China fears he will die in jail

A Chinese-Australian writer who has been detained in China for more than four years said he fears he could die in jail, after a large cyst was found on his kidney.

Yang Hengjun, an Australian citizen and democracy activist, was detained in 2019 during a visit to see family in China and charged with espionage – accusations he has denied.

A Beijing court held his trial in secret in 2021 but a verdict has been repeatedly delayed.

In a message to supporters last Thursday, Yang, 58, said he had experienced discomfort and pain in his kidney for a couple of months.