News in Brief
BERLIN (AFP) -- A man who worked in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s press office is suspected of having spied for Egypt, a government report said Thursday. Police carried out "executive measures” against the man in December 2019 after he was found to have "worked for years for an Egyptian intelligence service”, according to a report on the protection of the constitution. The investigation is ongoing. The man worked for the visitor service of the federal government press office (BPA), headed by Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert, according to the Bild daily. He was a mid-level employee, meaning he would have completed an exam and at least two years of vocational training. The premises of the visitor service were searched as part of the investigation, Bild reported. The main tasks of Egyptian secret service agents in Germany include gathering information about members of groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the government report. They are also interested in members of the Coptic Christian community and in recruiting Egyptian nationals as spies, it said.
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LA PAZ (AFP) -- Bolivia’s interim president became the latest world leader to test positive for the coronavirus Thursday, as the United States notched yet another record-breaking surge of cases while global infections and fatalities continued their relentless rise. COVID-19 has now claimed more than 550,000 lives across the planet, and infected more than 12 million people since it first emerged in China in late 2019 -- among them Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and now Bolivia’s Jeanine Anez. In a video on Twitter Anez said she was "fine” and would continue working from isolation. Bolsonaro said he was feeling "very well” on Thursday after announcing he had the virus earlier this week, and Johnson, who contracted the respiratory disease in March, has recovered. The United States notched up half that figure in just one day Thursday, with 65,551 new cases recorded by Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University -- a new high.
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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- Malaysian police Friday questioned five Australian journalists from Al Jazeera over a documentary about the plight of migrants which authorities have denounced as inaccurate, as the broadcaster expressed shock at the probe. The investigation into the Qatar-based network’s program has added to concerns about a widening media crackdown in Malaysia after a scandal-plagued party came to power earlier this year. In addition to the Al Jazeera case, the head of a leading news portal has been accused of contempt of court while a health news site’s editor is being probed over an article. The documentary, "Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown”, looked at the detention of undocumented foreigners during a coronavirus lockdown, as well as the plight of other members of the migrant community. But the government decried it as misleading and inaccurate, and police are now investigating the broadcaster for breaking laws against sedition, defamation and transmitting offensive content.
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KINSHASA (AFP) -- Two protesters were shot dead and a policeman was lynched Thursday in clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo over plans to name a new head to the country’s election panel, sources said. The body of one protester was taken to a hospital morgue in the city of Lubumbashi, in southeastern DR Congo, a member of the local United Nations human rights office told AFP. The UN official deplored the use of force by military police. An employee of the hospital confirmed that the body was that of a 32-year-old man and said he had received a gunshot wound. A UN source added that in the capital Kinshasa, another protester was killed and "a policeman was lynched after firing on the demonstrators” while several other police were injured.
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SYDNEY (Reuters) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation said it has revoked permission for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to conduct charter flights to the United States, citing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerns over Pakistani pilot certifications. The information is contained in a revocation of special authorization dated July 1 provided by the department to Reuters on Friday. Pakistan last month grounded almost a third of its pilots after discovering they may have falsified their qualifications. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency suspended PIA’s authorization to fly to the bloc for six months in a blow to the carrier’s operations. Pakistan’s Geo News reported PIA had confirmed the U.S. banand said it would address the concerns through ongoing corrective measures within the airline. Pakistan’s grounding of pilots with dubious credentials followed the crash of a PIA jet in May that killed 97 people.
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ATHENS (Reuters) -- Greece’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday regulating street demonstrations as thousands marched through central Athens to denounce the new law. The law was introduced by Greece’s conservative government in an attempt to regulate demonstrations which it says cause frequent disruptions to the public and affect commerce. About 10,000 demonstrators rallied outside parliament holding banners reading "hands off demonstrations”. A group of protesters who peeled off from the main group threw petrol bombs at police, who responded with teargas. The bill mandates the appointment of a liaison officer, restrictions on demonstrations or outright bans if authorities deem they threaten public safety. It also holds organizers accountable for harm or damage caused by protesters. The new legislation was approved by 187 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. Street protests occur frequently in Greece, which is still recovering from a deep socioeconomic crisis that erupted in late 2009 and led to three international bailouts on tough austerity terms.
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LA PAZ (AFP) -- Bolivia’s interim president became the latest world leader to test positive for the coronavirus Thursday, as the United States notched yet another record-breaking surge of cases while global infections and fatalities continued their relentless rise. COVID-19 has now claimed more than 550,000 lives across the planet, and infected more than 12 million people since it first emerged in China in late 2019 -- among them Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and now Bolivia’s Jeanine Anez. In a video on Twitter Anez said she was "fine” and would continue working from isolation. Bolsonaro said he was feeling "very well” on Thursday after announcing he had the virus earlier this week, and Johnson, who contracted the respiratory disease in March, has recovered. The United States notched up half that figure in just one day Thursday, with 65,551 new cases recorded by Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University -- a new high.
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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- Malaysian police Friday questioned five Australian journalists from Al Jazeera over a documentary about the plight of migrants which authorities have denounced as inaccurate, as the broadcaster expressed shock at the probe. The investigation into the Qatar-based network’s program has added to concerns about a widening media crackdown in Malaysia after a scandal-plagued party came to power earlier this year. In addition to the Al Jazeera case, the head of a leading news portal has been accused of contempt of court while a health news site’s editor is being probed over an article. The documentary, "Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown”, looked at the detention of undocumented foreigners during a coronavirus lockdown, as well as the plight of other members of the migrant community. But the government decried it as misleading and inaccurate, and police are now investigating the broadcaster for breaking laws against sedition, defamation and transmitting offensive content.
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KINSHASA (AFP) -- Two protesters were shot dead and a policeman was lynched Thursday in clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo over plans to name a new head to the country’s election panel, sources said. The body of one protester was taken to a hospital morgue in the city of Lubumbashi, in southeastern DR Congo, a member of the local United Nations human rights office told AFP. The UN official deplored the use of force by military police. An employee of the hospital confirmed that the body was that of a 32-year-old man and said he had received a gunshot wound. A UN source added that in the capital Kinshasa, another protester was killed and "a policeman was lynched after firing on the demonstrators” while several other police were injured.
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SYDNEY (Reuters) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation said it has revoked permission for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to conduct charter flights to the United States, citing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerns over Pakistani pilot certifications. The information is contained in a revocation of special authorization dated July 1 provided by the department to Reuters on Friday. Pakistan last month grounded almost a third of its pilots after discovering they may have falsified their qualifications. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency suspended PIA’s authorization to fly to the bloc for six months in a blow to the carrier’s operations. Pakistan’s Geo News reported PIA had confirmed the U.S. banand said it would address the concerns through ongoing corrective measures within the airline. Pakistan’s grounding of pilots with dubious credentials followed the crash of a PIA jet in May that killed 97 people.
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ATHENS (Reuters) -- Greece’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday regulating street demonstrations as thousands marched through central Athens to denounce the new law. The law was introduced by Greece’s conservative government in an attempt to regulate demonstrations which it says cause frequent disruptions to the public and affect commerce. About 10,000 demonstrators rallied outside parliament holding banners reading "hands off demonstrations”. A group of protesters who peeled off from the main group threw petrol bombs at police, who responded with teargas. The bill mandates the appointment of a liaison officer, restrictions on demonstrations or outright bans if authorities deem they threaten public safety. It also holds organizers accountable for harm or damage caused by protesters. The new legislation was approved by 187 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. Street protests occur frequently in Greece, which is still recovering from a deep socioeconomic crisis that erupted in late 2009 and led to three international bailouts on tough austerity terms.