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Bahrain revokes Human Rights Watch parliament conference visas

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Bahrain revokes Human Rights Watch parliament conference visas

Transfer comes after HRW referred to as for convention attendees to lift the problem of ‘repression of human rights in Bahrain’.

Bahrain has revoked visas issued to Human Rights Watch to attend a global parliamentary convention, the rights group stated on Friday, days after elevating issues concerning the Gulf state’s rights report.

Visas that have been issued for 2 members of the rights group on January 30 have been cancelled on March 8 – three days earlier than the convention begins on Saturday, HRW stated.

Bahrain, a US ally, will from Saturday host the 146th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organisation with the motto “For democracy. For everybody”.

The IPU, which teams parliaments all over the world and goals to advertise democracy and human rights, stated it was “conscious” the visas have been revoked however stated it “is just not answerable for the visa course of, which is a sovereign resolution of the host nation”.

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The occasion would have marked the primary time that HRW representatives had been in a position to enter the Gulf state since 2012.

HRW, which holds everlasting observer standing with the IPU, had on Monday referred to as for convention attendees to lift issues about what it referred to as “the intense repression of human rights in Bahrain”.

It additionally stated the physique ought to urge Bahrain to “launch all these imprisoned solely for peaceable speech” and rescind legal guidelines barring political opponents from contesting elections.

There was no fast remark from the Bahrain authorities.

Authorities launched a crackdown after an Arab Spring-inspired motion of largely Shia protesters hit the streets in 2011 to demand an elected authorities for the Gulf kingdom of some 1.4 million folks.

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A whole lot of demonstrators have since been jailed and opposition events outlawed. In parliamentary elections in November, Bahrain’s two fundamental opposition teams, the Shia Al-Wefaq and the secular Waad, have been prevented from presenting candidates. These events have been dissolved in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Bahrain’s authorities has stated it made key reforms in recent times on human rights, legal justice and prisoner therapy. It has additionally denied accusations of human rights abuses and stated its elections are democratic.

Rights teams, together with HRW, have criticised Bahrain for “whitewashing” or “sportswashing” its human rights report by holding worldwide occasions, equivalent to final week’s annual Formulation One race, as a manner of distracting from repression of political opposition.

Tirana Hassan, HRW’s performing govt director, referred to as the visa cancellations “a blatant instance of [Bahrain’s] escalating repression”.

“Bahrain’s internet hosting of sporting and high-level worldwide occasions is a clear try to launder its decades-long marketing campaign to crush political opposition and suffocate the nation’s vibrant civil society,” Hassan stated in a press release.

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How Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani's Alleged Bribery Scheme Took off and Unraveled

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How Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani's Alleged Bribery Scheme Took off and Unraveled
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – In June of 2020, a renewable energy company owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani won what it called the single largest solar development bid ever awarded: an agreement to supply 8 gigawatts of electricity to a state-owned power company. But there was a problem.
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Brazil’s former President Bolsonaro and aides indicted for alleged 2022 coup attempt

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Brazil’s former President Bolsonaro and aides indicted for alleged 2022 coup attempt

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others were indicted by federal police Thursday on charges of attempting a coup to keep him in office after being defeated in the 2022 elections.

The Associated Press reported that the findings would be delivered to Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday, where they will be referred to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet to either throw out the investigation or agree with the charges and put Bolsonaro on trial.

Bolsonaro, who leans right politically, has denied claims that he tried to remain in office after his defeat in 2022 to left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

After losing the election, Bolsonaro launched an aggressive campaign against the Brazilian government that claimed the election was stolen.

BOLSONARO BANNED FROM RUNNING FOR OFFICE FOR 8 YEARS

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others were indicted by federal police Thursday. (Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images)

One week after Lula took office, Bolsonaro’s supporters raided and trashed the buildings of the South American country’s Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace. Hundreds of them are expected to stand trial.

Since his defeat, Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats.

In June 2023, electoral judges voted to ban the former leader from public leadership for eight years after determining he attacked the public’s confidence in the country’s democratic institutions. The court also deemed Bolsonaro a threat to political tensions.

FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO INDICTED BY FEDERAL POLICE IN UNDECLARED DIAMONDS CASE: AP

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Jair Bolsonaro

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has ordered federal police to question ex-President Jair Bolsonaro over his supporters’ attacks on government buildings following socialist successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

The decision was made with four out of seven votes by the Superior Electoral Court.

In July, Bolsonaro was indicted by Brazil’s federal police for alleged money laundering and criminal association in connection with diamonds he allegedly received from Saudi Arabia while he was in office.

It was the second formal accusation of criminal wrongdoing against Bolsonaro, having also been charged in March with forging his and others’ COVID-19 vaccine records.

The former president denies any involvement in either allegation.

 

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On Tuesday, Brazilian police arrested four military and a federal police officer accused of plotting a coup that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 election, and allegedly kill Lula and other top officials.

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Kyle Schmidbauer, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

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German Defence Minister says he won't run for chancellor in 2025

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German Defence Minister says he won't run for chancellor in 2025

The announcement, which Boris Pistorius made in a video posted to SDP social media channels, clears the way for incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz to run for a second term.

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Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said he is “not available” to run as a candidate for chancellor in February’s snap election, saying he would instead support Olaf Scholz’s re-election bid.

The announcement, which Pistorius made in a video posted to social media channels belonging to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), ends days of speculation about him replacing Scholz.

“I have emphasized this over and over in recent weeks and I’m saying it again as clearly as possible; in Olaf Scholz, we have an excellent chancellor,” Pistorius, currently polling as Germany’s most popular politician, said.

“He led a coalition that would have been challenging in normal times through possibly the biggest crisis of recent decades.”

He added not running was his “sovereign and entirely personal” decision.

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Collapse of the coalition

Chancellor Olaf Scholz called a snap election after the collapse of the governing ‘Traffic Light Coalition’ at the start of November.

As per German election rules, the Bundestag will hold a government confidence vote on December 16th before voters head to the polls on February 23.  

Germany’s coalition government, made up of the SDP, the FDP and the Greens, collapsed on 7 November after Scholz fired the then Finance Minister and FDP party head, Christian Lindner.

“He (Lindner) has broken my trust too many times”, Scholz told the press at the time, adding that there is “no more basis of trust for further cooperation” as the FDP leader is “more concerned with his own clientele and the survival of his own party.”

The coalition had governed Germany since 2021 and its collapse meant Scholz’s government no longer had a majority in parliament.

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The SDP confirmed on Thursday that they would nominate Scholz as their lead candidate for chancellor next week.

But according to current opinion polls, the chances of Germany’s next chancellor belonging to the centre-left Social Democrats is highly unlikely.

Most pollsters put the centre-right Christian Democrats at more than double the level of support of the SDP.

A tally published on Thursday by political research group Infratest dimap shows the CDU/CSU polling at 33% with the SPD trailing behind at 14%, level with the Greens.

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