Rural Daily

10Oct

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Armenia, Azerbaijan begin Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks

UPDATE: Early Saturday morning, Armenia and Azerbaijan said that they had agreed to a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting at noon Saturday, read the full story here. Previously, representatives of Baku and Yerevan met in the Russian capital Moscow on Friday a bid to resolveviolent clashes over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced the start of the talks on Facebook, posting a picture of the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan sitting at a round table. Russia, which announced the talks on Thursday, is acting as mediator in the discussions, which will seek to agree on a cessation of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh and exchanges of bodies and prisoners of war. De jure, the contested region li...

10Oct

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World

Opinion: Nobel Prize for the WFP is an appeal for greater cooperation

This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). A surprising choice, some might think, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. After all, the World Health Organization (WHO) was nominated — as were US President Donald Trump, the climate activist Greta Thunberg and some 300 other candidates. But the Nobel Committee was right to honor the work of the WFP and thus highlight the problem of global food shortages. Last year, more than 690 million people — the equivalent of almost 9% of the world's population — suffered from hunger. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the global food crisis. In spring this year, WFP director David Beasley warned that the world faced famines "of biblical proportions." In response to the situation, the ...

10Oct

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World

Israel: Ultra-Orthodox communities top coronavirus hot spots

The media outlets in Israel are busy these days, producing reports on sometimes harsh police measures against anti-government protesters and stories about Israeli officials defying their own lockdown rules. But as happened during the first lockdown, Israel's ultra-Orthodox — or Haredi — communities and their mass gatherings have also come under a lot of media scrutiny, with negative headlines dominating. Since the first lockdown in March-April, Moshe Morgenstern has volunteered as a health coordinator in the municipality of Bnei Brak in addition to his main work as a lawyer. Every morning, Moshe receives the total number of infections for this largely ultra-Orthodox city adjacent to Tel Aviv. "Today we have — wait, wow, it doesn't look good — we have 883 new cases. Every day...

10Oct

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Entertainment, World

Pakistan bans TikTok for failing to filter ‘immoral’ content

Pakistan on Friday banned video-sharing platform TikTok in the country after a "number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video-sharing application," the Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a statement. The telecom regulator said it had issued warnings to TikTok to moderate unlawful content, but the social media company failed to comply with its instructions. Arslan Khalid, an advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, backed the PTA's warning to TikTok in June to filter its "obscene content." He claimed that the "exploitation, objectification (and) sexualization of young girls on TikTok" was causing pain to parents. On Friday, the telecom authority said that it was ready to review its decision "subject to a satisfactor...

10Oct

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World

North Korea holds anniversary military parade, South Korea says

North Korea held a large military parade early on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party, South Korea's military has said. North Korean state media has not shown any signs of a parade, but images were picked up by South Korean intelligence. It was unclear whether the early morning activity was a large parade or a practice. The anniversary is often used to showcase military power. "There was a sign that North Korea conducted a military parade this morning at Kim Il Sung Square, mobilizing large scale equipment and personnel," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Read more: Fake news on both sides of the inter-Korean border is the norm "South Korea and US intelligence authorities are closely monitoring developmen...

10Oct

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World

Hong Kong police arrest nine over Taiwan escape plot

Hong Kong police arrested nine people accused of helping pro-democracy activists flee the former British colony for Taiwan, they announced on Friday. The group allegedly supplied a 'getaway' speedboat as 12 anti-Beijing demonstrators attempted to escape, fearing prosecution by authorities there. "Their roles include ownership of the boat, financial backing, providing accommodation before the trop, transportation to the pier and arranging their lives after arriving in Taiwan," a police spokesperson was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. Police also seized the equivalent of €53,000 ($63,000) in Hong Kong currency, computers, mobile phones, and financial documents relating to the boat journey. China's coastguard picked up the 12 activists in late August, although Hong Ko...

10Oct

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Asia-pacific

SA faces Argentina-like debt crisis warns Mboweni

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivers his 2018 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in parliament. Image: Flickr South Africa is heading Argentina’s way on the fiscal front if “serious measures” are not taken to rein in spending,bring down its debt and “to close the mouth of the hippopotamus,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has warned. Speaking during a Stellenbosch University webinar marking the centenary of the institution’s economics department Friday, Mboweni stressed that tough decisions lay ahead for South Africa, otherwise the country would “head Argentina’s way” in a few years. The stark warning Mboweni comes ahead of his Medium-Term Budget Speech, set for October 21, which will map out the country’s expenditure plans for the next three years. South Africa’s finance minister s...

10Oct

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Asia-pacific

Steenhuisen: Stop farm attacks or risk ‘civil war of sorts’

Crowds gather at Senekal Magistrate Court as two appear for the murder of 22-year-old farmer Brendin Horner. Image: Twitter@SABreakingNews Farm manager Brendin Horner’s brutal torture and murder may come to mark a tipping point for South Africa, says the DA leader John Steenhuisen. “It could strengthen radical groupings on the left and right, further polarizing and racialising our society, risking a rural civil war of sorts.” Or, he says, it could strengthen the centre, spurring South Africans from all communities to come together against this attack on our farming community and food security and more broadly against lawlessness. POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM The EFF, Steenhuisen says, has been quick to use the issue of farm murders to incite violence. On Wednesday, EFF leader Julius Malema t...

10Oct

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Asia-pacific

Economic progress should go hand in hand with social development- King says

As Morocco steps up measures to help the economy recover from the coronavirus repercussions, special attention is also given to generalize social development notably health coverage, family allowances, pensions and unemployment protection insurance, said King Mohammed VI. In a speech on the occasion of the opening of the Parliament’s fall session this Friday, the King stressed that measures to help the economy recover should be completed by social protection measures. The King recalled the need for extending universal compulsory health coverage for an additional 22 million individuals by end of 2022, at the latest. This should include the cost of medication, drugs, hospitalization and treatment. He also urged for ensuring universal access to family allowances for approximately seven mil...

5Oct

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World

Mellon foundation pledges $250m to ‘reimagine’ US monuments

Image captionA city employee inspects the decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus in Boston One of America's largest philanthropic organisations has announced a project to "reimagine" public monuments around the country. The Andrew W Mellon Foundation said it would spend $250m (£193m) over five years to build monuments, add context to existing ones and relocate others. The project aims to "celebrate and affirm America's diverse histories". It comes amid fierce public debate about monuments in the US, sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement. The charity said its pledge was the result of "years of discussion, research and intellectual exploration." The stories behind the statues targeted in protests Columbus and Confederate statues torn down in US Mellon has already spent $25m...