The family of a leading Egyptian pro-democracy activist, who was arrested amid a recent clampdown following anti-government protests, said on Thursday that he was beaten, threatened and stripped to his underwear while in custody.

There was no immediate comment from Egyptian authorities to the allegations.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

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Amid Crackdown, Leading Egyptian Rights Activist is Arrested

Alaa Abdel-Fattah rose to prominence with the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak

He was among more than 2,900 people who activists say were arrested since the small and rare Sept. 20 protests that demanded general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi step down.

A statement from his family said he had told lawyers that since his arrest, he was subjected to several violations including being blindfolded, insulted, slapped, kicked and threatened never to set foot outside one of Cairo’s most notorious prisons, where he is being held.

Mona Seif, Abdel-Fattah’s sister, told The Associated Press that he had filed a legal complaint about all the alleged abuses with the State Security prosecutors during a hearing on Wednesday to renew his pre-trial detention.

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How Sissi’s Egypt Hands Out Justice

Egyptian courts have sentenced some 3,000 people to death since 2014, when President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi took power, according to the Arab Network for Human Rights Information

However, the family said it fears the retaliation of prison authorities.

“By returning to the same prison with the same people who threatened him, we are worried that he might face more violations and more torture,” said Seif, a staunch human rights advocate.

She said the family would remain together outside prison gates until they are allowed to go in to see him and are “assured that he is fine.”

Abdel-Fattah was released in March, after five years in prison for taking part in a peaceful protest against military trials of civilians. To many, his imprisonment after el-Sissi rose to power — at a time when authorities imposed draconian laws banning public gatherings and unauthorized demonstrations — was another sign of Egypt’s return to autocratic rule.

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Egypt Releases 3 Foreigners Arrested Over Protests

Recent mass arrests followed scattered protests that erupted Sept. 20 in Cairo and several provinces in the wake of corruption allegations leveled by an Egyptian businessman living in self-imposed exile against the president and the military

He was arrested last month from a Cairo police station, where he was required to check in every night under the legal terms of his release.

This time, Abdel-Fattah is facing several charges, including belonging to a terrorist organization and using the social media to spread false news that could threaten national security, said his sister.

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How Egypt’s President Tightened his Grip

Behind the scenes, President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi’s closest advisers reworked the constitution to prolong his presidency and tighten his grip on Egypt. Not since the decades-long rule of Hosni Mubarak has so much power been concentrated in the hands of one man

Nine Egyptian human rights groups released a statement denouncing the alleged ill-treatment of Abdel-Fattah and calling on the U.N. to examine the situation of human rights in Egypt.

“The continuous attempts to terrorize, crackdown on and punish everyone indiscriminately can only lead to more instability in the country,” read the statement.

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Repression Risks Fueling Egypt Instability, Analysts Warn

Egypt is reeling after a tense weekend of sparse anti-government protests for the second week in a row, which analysts say could bring more repression under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi

Shortly after Abdel-Fattah’s family posted their statement Thursday, the head of the EU parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, Marie Arena, urged Egyptian authorities to release him, as well as his lawyer, who was also arrested along with the activist.

Arena tweeted that she is “dismayed that one of the most prominent Egyptian human rights defenders” is in danger after being “subjected to death threats and torture by state security officers.”

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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. President Donald Trump says he’s planning to get involved in the case of an American diplomat’s wife who left the U.K. after she was involved in a fatal wrong-way crash.
 
Trump on Wednesday called what happened “a terrible accident” and said his administration would seek to speak with the driver “and see what we can come up with.”
 
British police say the 42-year-old woman is a suspect in an Aug. 27 collision between a car and a motorcycle near RAF Croughton, a British military base in England used by the U.S. Air Force. The 19-year-old motorcyclist, Harry Dunn, was killed.
 
Trump says: “The woman was driving on the wrong side of the road. And that can happen.”
 
The woman’s name hasn’t been officially released.

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From: MeNeedIt

Californians are playing a waiting game – waiting for the power to go out. The region’s power company is cutting off electricity to reduce the risk of forest wildfires. Residents are being told to prepare. Michelle Quinn went to one town waiting for the lights to go off

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From: MeNeedIt

Russian authorities say they intend to add an opposition-run anti-corruption foundation to a list of so-called “foreign agents” operating in the country — potentially curtailing the operations of one of the Kremlin’s fiercest critics.

In a statement released Wednesday, Russia’s Justice Ministry said an audit of the Anti-Corruption Foundation — a non-governmental organization run by opposition leader Alexey Navalny  — showed the organization was receiving foreign funding to maintain its operations.  

The move puts the group, commonly known by its Russian acronym FBK, afoul of Russia’s so-called “foreign agents” law — a controversial 2012 measure the Kremlin says is necessary to protect Russian sovereignty and that civil society leaders argue tars NGOs as traitors and spies.  

Formally, the designation opens up the FBK to increased scrutiny by authorities — as well as fines and possible suspension of its operations.

While the ministry statement provided no details on its audit, an Interfax news agency report said regulators had found two undeclared foreign donations to the FBK — one from the U.S. and another from Spain.  

Their total: just over $2,000.

FBK members rejected the foreign agent charge outright, arguing the organization had always relied on local “crowdfunding” to maintain its work.

“The foundation is sponsored inclusively by citizens of Russia, by you,” wrote FBK Director Ivan Zhadanov in a Facebook post.

“This is simply an attempt to strangle the FBK,” added Zhadanov.

The group’s founder, opposition leader Alexey Navalny, went further — arguing the move reflected the foundation’s growing influence thanks to a series of video investigations targeting corruption by Kremlin insiders close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

“Putin is terribly afraid of the FBK,” wrote Navalny in a post on Twitter. “He can only rely on thieves, bribe takers, and corruptioneers.

“We expose corruption” added Navalny, “and we won’t stop no matter what.”

An NGO in the crosshairs

The announcement comes amid an intensifying assault against the FBK with overt political overtones.

A longtime thorn in the Kremlin’s side, the FBK’s troubles began in earnest again this summer.

After opposition candidates — including members of the FBK — were banned from local Moscow elections en masse, the group worked to organize street protests in response.

The result: a series of mostly peaceful demonstrations that saw over 2,500 arrests — many at the hands of truncheon-wielding police and aggressive OMON (federal government) riot police security forces.

Next, authorities launched an investigation into money laundering by the FBK — accusing the organization’s members of over $15 million in illicit transactions. Coordinated raids of FBK offices across the country ensued.   

At the time, Navalny insisted the raids were prompted by an FBK plan called “smart voting” — an election tactic that coordinated voter anger around candidates who had managed to clear registration barriers.

The strategy was credited with aiding significant losses for pro-Kremlin candidates in Moscow local elections.

FBK members say they plan to expand the strategy in regional political races in 2020 — a move that observers say may have prompted renewed efforts to cripple the organization.

Indeed, the FBK has most recently drawn authorities’ ire in the form of court fines.

This week, Moscow police announced they would sue Navalny and other key FBK members for $300,000 in damages — a sum intended to cover expenses incurred by security forces while policing the rallies.  

A Moscow restaurant and several other city services have piled on with similar lawsuits.

Now faced with the prospect of the new foreign agent label, Navalny and other FBK members took to social media to plead for renewed donations nationwide.   

Throughout the day, the requests ricocheted around the internet, prompting reaction from pro-Kremlin voices online as well as public expressions of support.  

“I haven’t done that in a while,” wrote user @DaniilKen in a post on Twitter that showed a screenshot of a money transfer to the FBK.  “But it was hard not to respond to the Justice Ministry.”  

Just how many more Russians might follow now remains the key question going forward.   

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From: MeNeedIt

Women from across Africa are meeting at the annual Women in Tech Africa Week, hoping to bring more women into the tech industry and combat inequalities in technology use and access, especially for economic empowerment.

Francesca Opoku remembers having to physically send workers to deliver messages or documents when she started her small social enterprise in Ghana 10 years ago. Today, she works to keep up with fast-developing technology to grow her business that produces natural beauty products. She also trains women she works with in financial literacy, such as using simple mobile technology to manage their money.

“As a small African business, as you are growing and as you aspire to grow globally and your tentacles are widening, the world is just going techy,” Opoku said. “Business in the world is going techy. It’s especially relevant in small business. It’s the best way to make what you are doing known out there.”

She was at the launch of Women In Tech Africa in Accra, with events in six other countries including Germany, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Opoku said she wants to learn more about how she can use technology to make her business grow and to ensure she is not left behind in the technology divide.

Across Africa, this divide means women are 13% less likely to own a mobile phone and 41% less likely to use mobile internet than men.

Women In Tech Africa founder

Ethel Cofie, founder of Women In Tech Africa, an NGO that started in 2015, said addressing this gap is crucial. Her network of 5,000 women across 30 African countries is pushing the conversation about women in technology and leadership.

“There is a huge gender gap, and that is part of the conversation,” Cofie said. “When we are out here showing the world we actually exist, are doing things, what it does is, it provides avenues for us to support other women. One of the things Women in Tech has done is work with the Ghanaian Beauticians Association and Ghana traders associations. Even though these women are not necessarily as educated, they also need to be able to use tech to build their businesses.”

Cofie says the digital gap between men and women in Africa is a consequence of poverty and economic disparities. Men usually have higher incomes, and better access to mobile phones and internet data.

Education

Increasing digital access starts with education. At the G-7 summit this year, members pledged to work with developing countries to promote inclusion, equity and access for girls and women to quality education, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Faiza Adam, a network engineer, started Girly Tech this year to inspire underprivileged Ghanaian girls into STEM careers. She’s training young girls in web development, programming and robotics in Accra.

“Imagine where girls don’t embrace tech, then in five years to come, we have only males who are in the tech space — there is no diversity,” Adam said. “So, in the decision making, they tend to use the male, male, male ideas instead of female. So, when we have inclusion, or there is diversity — I bring my idea, and the guy also brings his idea from the male perspective — we come together and solve societal problems.”

Cofie and Adam both say more women in tech will mean more problems solved in their own communities. But Cofie adds that half the battles — like the gender divide — could be overcome with the right policies in place.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

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From: MeNeedIt

Officials are working urgently to retrieve the bodies of 11 elephants that died after trying to save each other from a waterfall in a national park in central Thailand.

Park rangers had initially thought six adult elephants had died Saturday while trying to save a three-year-old calf that had slipped down the falls.

But Monday, a drone found the bodies of five more elephants in the waters below the fall in Khao Yai National Park.

Authorities have strung a net downstream to catch the bodies as they float down the fast-moving waters. There is concern that the rotting bodies will contaminate the water.

Officers expect the bodies to reach the net in a few days. The elephants will be buried and the area sealed with hydrated lime to prevent contamination, the Bangkok Post reported.

This is not the first such incident at the waterfall, known as Haew Narok (Hell’s Fall). In 1998, eight elephants died at the same site.

Park officials put up fencing to keep the wild animals away from the area, but that has not worked.

The park is home to about 300 of Thailand’s approximately 3,000 wild animals.

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From: MeNeedIt

More than one-third of new mothers in four poor countries are abused during childbirth, a study published Wednesday in the medical journal The Lancet.

The study, carried out in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria by the World Health Organization, found that 42% of the women experienced physical or verbal abuse or some form of stigma or discrimination at maternity health facilities.

The study also found a high number of caesarean sections, vaginal exams and other procedures being performed without the patient’s consent.

Of the 2,016 women observed for the study, 14% said they were either hit, slapped or punched during childbirth. Some 38% of the women said they were subjected to verbal abuse, most often by being shouted at, mocked or scolded.

An alarming 75% had episiotomies performed without consent. The procedure involves surgically enlarging the opening of the vagina.

The authors of the study urged officials to hold those who mistreat women during childbirth accountable. They also urged the governments to put into place clear policies and sufficient resources to ensure that women have a safe place to give birth.

Among the specific steps proposed by the study are: making sure all medical procedures are performed only after getting an informed consent; allowing the patient to have a companion of their choice in the delivery room; redesigning maternity wards to offer the maximum privacy; and making sure no health facility tolerates instances of physical or verbal abuse.

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From: MeNeedIt

President Donald Trump on Tuesday awarded one of the nation’s highest civilian honors to Edwin Meese, best known for serving as President Ronald Reagan’s attorney general.

Meese, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, had a longstanding connection to Reagan that included serving as his chief of staff when Reagan was California’s governor. After Reagan became president, Meese served as his chief policy adviser before going on to serve as the nation’s 75th attorney general.

“He was a star,” Trump said. “Ed was among President Reagan’s closest advisers as the administration implemented tax cuts, a dramatic defense buildup and a relentless campaign to defeat communism.”

Meese was an early Trump critic who ended up supporting him and helping lead his transition team. Surrounded by family and friends in the Oval Office, the 87-year-old recalled some 30 years of working with Reagan at the state and national level and in his retirement.

“Ronald Reagan was a pivotal part of my life and I am always grateful to him,” Meese said.

Meese stayed active in conservative circles following his time in the Reagan administration as an author, speaker and fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.  
 
Meese resigned as attorney general in August 1988 after becoming ensnared in a probe of Wedtech Corp., a New York defense contractor. An independent prosecutor began looking at Meese’s record of assistance to Wedtech. A 14-month corruption investigation ended in a decision not to prosecute Meese, but a report by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility said Meese had violated ethical standards.

Trump said Meese delivered “monumental change for the American people” as attorney general and cited the Reagan administration’s efforts against drug use, which Trump said proved successful with lower drug use by young adults.

“Would you like to make a comeback?” Trump joked before presenting Meese with the award.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

About five years ago, Abdulhamid Bala narrowly escaped a brutal attack after the armed Islamist group known as Boko Haram invaded the remote community of Gwoza where he lived with his family in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State.

“Many Boko Haram members infiltrated the community but there were about 10 of them chasing us on motorcycles. They were shooting at us sporadically,” Bala told VOA.

Boko Haram had struck Gwoza several times and in August 2014, the insurgents completely overran the town, declaring it their headquarters.

In the midst of the chaos, Hamid ran into the mountains surrounding Gwoza losing sight of his father and younger brother. They’ve been missing ever since. Hamid reported his missing relatives to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

An epidemic

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says their highest caseload of missing persons in the world is currently in Nigeria.

Nearly 22,000 Nigerians have been reported as missing and 90% of the cases are linked to the Boko Haram insurgency, the Red Cross reports.

The armed sect declared war on the Nigerian government in 2009, with the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate.

It’s estimated that 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict and many ran to the Borno state capital of Maiduguri to seek safe haven.

Bala also fled to Maiduguri, about 140 kilometers northwest of Gwoza. He lives with his wife in the city’s largest refugee camp Bakassi, with more than 43,000 others. At the sprawling camp, many people have stories about being separated from a relative.

Children are especially vulnerable, with nearly 60% of those in the registry minors at the time they disappeared.

“Every parent’s worst nightmare is not knowing where their child is. This is the tragic reality for thousands of Nigerian parents, leaving them with the anguish of a constant search. People have the right to know the fate of their loved ones, and more needs to be done to prevent families from being separated in the first place,” said ICRC President Peter Maurer during his visit to Nigeria last month.

But the registry of 22,000 people does not capture the complete picture on the ground, as Edward Muthoka, the head of the ICRC’s Restoring Family Links team in Maiduguri explained.

“The security situation determines where we can work and where we cannot work. So the 22,000 is the tip of the iceberg because what about the areas that we never had a chance of going to? What about the villages where something happened and everybody was wiped out?” Muthoka told VOA.

The ICRC works closely with state agencies and community leaders to carry out its work.

But the government of Borno State, the heart of the insurgency, admitted that it’s struggling to reunite families.

“When you don’t have the capacity, either in terms of human resources or in terms of institutional strength, it becomes a challenge to carry out the responsibility because we are learning from our international partners who have the expertise, especially the ICRC, the UNHCR and UNICEF,” said Ya Bawa Kolo, the executive chairperson of Borno State’s Emergency Management Agency.

The nature of the insurgency means that people have been displaced many times making it harder to find them.

The ICRC has solved 367 cases of missing persons, helping to bring closure to relatives who don’t know if a family member is dead or alive.

Aperafubu Shettima was disconnected from his family after a 2015 Boko Haram attack on his community. After being reunited, the 14-year-old is now living happily with his parents and siblings at an IDP camp in Maiduguri.

Aishatu Bulama says the ICRC helped trace three of her young children. She, too, reunited with the rest of her family earlier this year.

On the other side of the camp, Hamid is trying to cope.

Earlier this year, he was showing signs of emotional distress, withdrawing from socializing with others at the camp, said Mohammed Buba Dada, an official from the International Organization for Migration.

Dada said that some refugees with missing relatives are exhibiting symptoms of depression. He encourages them to visit the camp’s resource center, set up by IOM, where refugees can play games, do artwork and mingle with one another as a way of managing the burden of not knowing where some of their loved ones are.

There, Bala enjoys playing board games. But the games only give him temporary relief. He wants news about his father and brother. He says at this point, any news would make him feel much better.

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From: MeNeedIt

Three U.S. House of Representatives committees are set to question Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, on Tuesday to find out more about the interactions between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian officials.

The closed-door deposition is part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry in the House, which Trump on Monday again rejected as a “scam” perpetrated by Democrats who do not want him to win a second term in office next year.

Sondland has become a prominent figure in the probe because of his efforts to get Ukraine to commit to investigate Trump’s potential presidential rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Biden’s son, Hunter.

A whistleblower complaint that launched the impeachment inquiry says the day after Trump spoke by telephone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sondland and U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker met with the Ukrainian leader and other political figures.

The whistleblower said that according to readouts of those meetings recounted by U.S. officials, “Ambassadors Volker and Sondland reportedly provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President had made of Mr. Zelenskiy.”

Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, Trump returned to his repeated defense of the conversation with Zelenskiy as a “perfect call.”  When asked if he is worried about what might emerge now that a second whistleblower has come forward, Trump replied, “Not at all.”

He described the call as “congenial” and said there was “no pressure.”

The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees have been leading the inquiry with depositions and subpoenas seeking documents from members of the Trump administration and the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

They issued fresh subpoenas Monday, demanding Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Office and Budget and Management Acting Director Russell Vought turn over documents by Oct. 15 relating to Trump’s decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine.

Part of the investigation includes examining whether or not Trump’s decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine was tied to his request for a Ukrainian investigation into the Bidens.

No evidence of corruption by the Bidens in Ukraine has been found.

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From: MeNeedIt

Iraqi President Barham Salih has condemned attacks on anti-government protesters and media after a week of demonstrations and related clashes left more than 100 people dead and 6,000 wounded.

He called those committing the violence criminals and enemies, and used a televised address Monday to call for a halt to the escalation.

Salih said Iraq had experienced enough destruction, bloodshed, wars and terrorism.

The military admitted earlier Monday to using “excessive force” in confronting protesters in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad.

The government took the step of removing security forces from the area and handing over patrols to police.  Officials also pledged to hold accountable any member of the security forces who “acted wrongly.”

The protests in Baghdad and in several southern Iraqi cities have grown from initial demands for jobs and improved city services, such as water and power, to calls now to end corruption in the oil-rich country of nearly 40 million people.

Iraq’s cabinet issued a new reform plan early Sunday in an effort to respond to the protests that have taken authorities by surprise.

After meeting through the night Saturday, cabinet officials released a series of planned reforms, which addressed land distributions and military enlistments as well as increasing welfare stipends for poor families and training programs for unemployed youth.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi told his cabinet late Saturday in televised remarks that he is willing to meet with protesters and hear their demands. He called on the protesters to end their demonstrations.

Former Shi’ite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads the largest opposition bloc in parliament, called Friday for the government to resign and said “early elections should be held under U.N. supervision.”

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From: MeNeedIt