News in Brief

Date: 08 April 2023 - 22:32

News ID: ۱۱۳۷۹۹

BEIJING (RT) – China has accused the United States of seeking to maintain “hegemony in cyberspace” using the false pretext of “national security,” responding after President Joe Biden signed a new executive order which ostensibly curtails the government’s use of spyware technology. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the recent White House order to crack down on certain surveillance tech would not change the fact that Washington is the “biggest threat to global cybersecurity,” saying U.S. agencies have targeted foreign states and companies “under the pretexts of national security and human rights without any evidence.” “The U.S. government, in an attempt to maintain its hegemony in cyberspace, knowingly abuses technology for cyber surveillance and theft of secrets,” she told reporters, urging the U.S. to “stop its global hacking operations.”

***
KUALA LUMPUR 8 (Reuters) – Malaysia said on Saturday it was firmly committed to protecting its sovereign rights and interests in the South China Sea after China expressed concern about Malaysian energy projects in a part of the sea that China also claims. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday China was worried about activity by the state energy firm Petronas in a part of the South China Sea that Malaysia says is its territory. Anwar said he was open to negotiations with China, drawing criticism from the opposition, which said Anwar was risking Malaysia’s sovereignty. The foreign ministry said in a Saturday statement Anwar’s comment meant Malaysia would like all issues related to the South China Sea to be resolved in a peaceful manner and without compromising Malaysia’s position. “The government of Malaysia is unequivocally and firmly committed to protecting Malaysia’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and interests in its maritime areas in the South China Sea,” the ministry said. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes annually. Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have some overlapping claims.

***
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – A truck crashed into pedestrians and motorcycle taxis near western Kenya’s border with Tanzania, killing at least 10 people and injuring 10 others Saturday, authorities said. A local police commander said the crash in the town of Migori happened along a major highway when the driver lost control of the brakes. An operation to free people trapped under the truck was underway, and there were fears the deal toll might rise, Migori county commander Mark Wanjala said. Two more people were reported to have been knocked across a bridge and into a river, but an attempt to rescue them had not started, Wanjala said. Witnesses told local media the truck driver honked the vehicle’s horn repeatedly before the crash. The truck was carrying bags of rice toward the Isebania border town into neighboring Tanzania. Videos of people looting the rice while people remained trapped under the track appeared on social media. Many Kenyans travel to their rural homes during the Easter holidays, and road accidents during the busy season are common. Police urged motorists to exercise caution and ensure vehicles were well serviced before embarking on long drives.

***
LONDON (Xinhua) – Women being sexually abused is “a common experience” across the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI), east of the U.S. city of San Francisco, British newspaper The Guardian has reported. The report told the story of Cristal, 31, who came forward about the horrific sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of multiple guards at the federal prison in Dublin, California. But now Cristal is in immigration detention, awaiting deportation to Mexico, a country she left as a baby. Indictments against five officers show that guards systematically victimized women in their custody, intimidated them into silence, lied to cover up crimes and often targeted non-citizens, said the report. At least 26 of those survivors are now facing deportation, including several who directly testified in court and at least eight victims have already been deported, according to the report, citing a coalition of legal advocates. “These are people who have been abused by federal employees in some of the most horrific ways one could be harmed in prison,” Susan Beaty, supervising attorney with the Oakland-based non-profit Centro Legal de la Raza, who is representing Cristal and other survivors, was quoted as saying.

***
BERLIN (AFP) – Germany’s ambassador to Chad has been expelled for his “impolite attitude” and “non-respect of diplomatic practices”, the government in N’Djamena said in a statement. The ambassador, Jan Christian Gordon Kricke, has been in the role since July 2021, and the government gave no official explanation for his expulsion. Government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh urged him to “leave Chadian territory within 48 hours.” “We have not been officially contacted,” a source at the German Embassy told AFP on condition of anonymity, who said he had heard the news via social media. Kricke has previously served as a diplomat in Niger, Angola and the Philippines. He was also a special representative for Germany in the unstable Sahel. A government source told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that Kricke was seen as “interfering too much” in the governance of the country and making divisive remarks. He had been warned on several occasions, the source added. General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno took power after his father, President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the country for 30 years, died during an operation against rebels in April 2021. The military junta initially promised to hand power to civilians, however, in October, Deby’s rule was extended for two years.

***
KINSHASA (Reuters) – A Democratic Republic of Congo military court sentenced six men to life in prison over the death of the Italian ambassador, his bodyguard and driver, a lawyer said. Envoy Luca Attanasio, Italian bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci and their Congolese driver Mustapha Milambo were killed on Feb. 22, 2021, during a botched kidnapping as they drove to a World Food Programme project from the eastern city of Goma. A lawyer representing Italy, Boniface Balamage, told Reuters that five of the people sentenced to life were already in prison while one was at large and tried in absentia. “On the day when justice took its course, we celebrate the shining example and commitment of Luca, Vittorio and Moussa,” the Italian embassy in Kinshasa tweeted. According to Congo’s presidency, six armed men intercepted the two-car convoy on the road, killed Milambo and led six passengers away. Army and park rangers tracked the group and a firefight ensued during which the kidnappers shot the two Italians.