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01-03-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW YORK/ NEW DELHI: A record number of countries have enforced internet shutdowns in 2022 that had a “devastating impact on human lives”, a new report has found. The digital rights group Access Now and the #KeepItOn campaign, a coalition of about 70 organizations documented …

01-03-2023 TEHRAN: At least 650 girls have been poisoned by toxic gas in Iran since November, in what many believe is a deliberate attempt to force their schools to shut. No girls have died, but dozens have suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue. “It became evident that some people …

01-03-2023 ABUJA: Opposition parties in Nigeria have called for the presidential election to be scrapped, describing it as a sham. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party said results had been manipulated, compromising the poll. Governing party candidate Bola Tinubu is currently in the lead with just over …

01-03-2023 ZURICH: Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi has been named FIFA men’s player of the year while Spain’s Alexia Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or last year, was named women’s player of the year. Messi, 35, scored two goals in the World Cup 2022 final against France, with Argentina …

01-03-2023 OTTAWA: Canada has blocked the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from government-issued devices, saying it presents an “unacceptable” level of risk to privacy and security. Canada on Monday also moved to block federal employees from downloading the application in the future, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said in …

01-03-2023 WASHINGTON: The United States government has announced plans to clamp down on child labour in the country following a surge in violations and news reports detailing the illegal employment of underage refugees and migrants in dangerous industries. US officials said on Monday that the Department of Labor had seen …

01-03-2023 MANAMA: Bahrain must drop all charges against three men who have been arrested amid ongoing violations of the “rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association” in the Gulf country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. The appeal on Tuesday by the international rights group comes after three independent …

01-03-2023 WASHINGTON/ ANTAKYA, ISTANBUL: The devastating February 6 earthquake and aftershocks that hit southern Turkey have caused damage worth more than $34 billion in the country, the World Bank said on Monday. The amount is equivalent to 4% of Turkey’s GDP in 2021, the Washington-based institution said, adding that the …

01-03-2023 RAMALLAH, OCCOPIED WEST BANK: On December 15, Twitter owner Elon Musk suspended the accounts of some journalists, including reporters from newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post. Defending his decision, Musk claimed the journalists had breached the company’s new rule about revealing people’s locations. The suspensions …

01-03-2023 LONDON: The United Kingdom should address how structural racism affected the death toll in all inquiries into how the government handled the pandemic, a campaign group has argued. During the global health crisis, people of ethnic minority backgrounds died at a far higher rate than white Britons. Civil rights …