Iranian protesters – The anti-government protests sweeping Iran are now in their eighth week, with no sign of ending, despite a bloody crackdown. The rest of the world has watched with alarm, with some countries taking steps in support of the protests.

What do Iranians want?

The protesters first want to be heard and get news coverage by the world’s media. The Iranian government has taken steps to minimise this as much as possible. For instance, foreign correspondents there (the BBC and others are banned) are not permitted to report the protests, film them or even take pictures.

As a result, citizen journalism and posting videos of protests on social media are key to getting the news out. But the government tries to stop this also. According to internet monitoring group NetBlocks, during the last seven weeks, the internet in Iran has often been shut down or massively interrupted.

Read Also – US elections: Biden hails better-than-expected midterms results

At the same time, 32 journalists have been arrested, according to the International Federation of Journalists, and the two remaining social media apps, Instagram and WhatsApp, have been blocked.

Opposition figures and civil society activists continuously call for more pressure on the regime to stop the violence and to hold it accountable. According to rights groups, more than 300 people, including at least 41 children, have been killed since the protests started.

Last month, 43 international human rights organisations urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to hold an emergency session about Iran, investigate the crackdown and take legal action against those responsible.

Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah, or king, of Iran and a central figure for opposition outside the country, wrote to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the UN’s children’s charity Unicef. He asked for multinational investigations into the killing of children in Iran. Along with other well-known opposition figures, Prince Reza has repeatedly called on Western leaders to condemn the violence by the Iranian government openly.

Many activists and opponents of the Iranian regime have also called for Iranian diplomats to be expelled from other countries and for the recall of foreign diplomats from Tehran.

Figures such as Hamed Esmaeilion, Prince Reza or Masih Alinejad, who has campaigned against the compulsory hijab (headscarf) rule in Iran, have for years tried to push the Iranian government into even deeper international isolation. To this end, Masih Alinejad has also been trying to get the Iranian football team banned from the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Iranian protesters look to outside world for help
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US President Joe Biden has expressed relief after Democrats fended off major Republican gains in the midterms.

Republicans are inching towards control of the House of Representatives, but Mr Biden noted that a “giant red wave” did not materialise on Tuesday night.

Read Also – US midterm elections results

Either party could still win the Senate, which hinges on three races that are too close to call.

The party in power, currently the Democrats, usually suffers losses in a president’s first midterm elections.

Republican strategists had been hopeful of sweeping victories, given that inflation is at a 40-year-high and Mr Biden’s approval ratings are relatively low.

But exit poll data suggests voters may have punished Republicans for their efforts to restrict access to abortion.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Biden said the results so far had made him breathe a “sigh of relief”.

“It was a good day, I think, for democracy,” he said.

He added that his optimism had been vindicated, and ribbed journalists who had predicted heavy Democratic losses.

Buoyed by the better-than-expected night, Mr Biden said he plans to stand for re-election in 2024. “Our intention is to run again, that’s been our intention,” Mr Biden, who turns 80 this month, told reporters.

Republicans, meanwhile, were closing in on the 218 seats they need to wrest control of the House from Democrats.

If Republicans win either chamber of Congress, they will be able to block the president’s agenda. The White House is also braced for congressional investigations into the Biden administration.

Mr Biden said he was prepared to work with Republicans and would host bipartisan talks next week.

But the president also said he believed the American people would view any Republican-led inquiries as “almost comedy”.

US elections: Biden hails better-than-expected midterms results
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Rishi Sunak has admitted not enough asylum claims are being processed, but promised to fix the system.

He was responding to questions from Sir Keir Starmer who accused the government of having lost control.

The Labour leader also called for Suella Braverman to be replaced with a “proper home secretary”.

Last week MPs were told that just 4% of those coming to the UK via small boat Channel crossings in 2021 had received decisions on their asylum claims.

The government is also facing questions about severe overcrowding at the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent, which has reportedly led to outbreaks of disease and violence.

There have been reports of over 4,000 people staying at the centre, despite it being meant to hold just 1,600 when it was built.

Migrants are supposed to be kept at the centre for 24 hours only but the chief inspector of immigration has said some people had been there for over a month.

On Monday, Ms Braverman said illegal migration was “out of control” and acknowledged the system was “broken”.

Repeating her comment at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir asked Mr Sunak “who broke it?”

“If the asylum system is broken and his lot have been in power for 12 years – how can it be anyone’s fault but theirs.”

The prime minister defended his government’s record, pointing to an increase of staff at Manston and the number of hotel beds available for arrivals.

“These are significant steps that demonstrate we are getting a grip of this system,” he told Sir Keir.

He accused Labour of not having a plan to fix the problem, describing their policy as “a blank page”.

Sir Keir said the government had wasted £140m on the Rwanda scheme which has so far failed to deport any failed asylum seekers.

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He urged the government to “scrap the Rwanda gimmick, crack down on smuggling gangs, end the small boat crossings, speed up asylum claims and agree an international deal on refugees?

“Start governing for once and get a grip.”

This was a difficult PMQs for the new prime minister for two reasons.

Firstly, he is Conservative prime minister number five after 12 years of Conservative government, and so there is nowhere to hide and no-one else to blame when things go wrong.

And secondly, because of the bluntness of his home secretary.

Suella Braverman said the other day that illegal immigration was “out of control”.

And Sunak was forced to admit the speed of processing asylum claims isn’t good enough.

The prime minister is, for now, managing to keep his side on side – with tribal stuff that Conservative MPs lap up about Keir Starmer having wanted Jeremy Corbyn to become prime minister.

But you have to wonder about the shelf life of those attack lines as the problems for the government stack up.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Rishi Sunak admits not enough asylum claims are being processed
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Russia – The 110 Russians freed include 72 seamen from commercial vessels held since February while 108 Ukrainian female prisoners of war are released.

Moscow and Kyiv have carried out one of the biggest prisoner swaps of the war so far, exchanging a total of 218 detainees, including 108 Ukrainian women, officials from both countries say.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s staff, said there were 12 civilians among the women freed on Monday.

“Another large-scale exchange of prisoners of war was carried out today,” Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “… We freed 108 women from captivity. It was the first [Ukrainian] all-female exchange.”

He said 37 of the women had been captured after Russian forces took the Azovstal steelworks in the city of Mariupol in May.

Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, withstood weeks of Russian bombardment. Resistance was concentrated in a dense network of tunnels under its Azovstal steel plant.

“Ukraine does not abandon anyone,” Yermak said. According to him, some of the people exchanged were mothers and daughters who had been held together.

Images released by Yermak showed dozens of women, some wearing coats and military fatigues, disembarking from white buses.

The oldest woman is 62 years old while the youngest is 21, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed the swap, saying 110 Russians were freed, including 72 seamen from commercial vessels held since February. It said all those returned would be flown to Moscow and provided with medical and psychological assistance.

Ukraine’s interior ministry said some of the released women had been in jail since 2019 after being detained by pro-Moscow authorities in eastern regions.

Source – https://www.aljazeera.com/

Russia and Ukraine swap prisoners, including Ukrainian women
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Liz Truss has insisted she will lead the Tories into the next general election, despite U-turns leaving her battling to salvage her authority.

The PM apologised for making mistakes after the new chancellor Jeremy Hunt junked almost all of her tax-cutting plans to stabilise market turmoil.

She added her month-old premiership “hasn’t been perfect,” but she had “fixed” mistakes.

And she said it would have been “irresponsible” not to change course.

In an interview with the BBC, she said she was still committed to boosting UK economic growth, but acknowledged it would now take longer to achieve.

Read Also – Liz Truss pays tribute to Queen

“I remain committed to the vision, but we will have to deliver that in a different way,” she said.

It comes after a dramatic day at Westminster after Mr Hunt announced that nearly all the tax cuts announced at last month’s mini-budget would be scrapped.

The decision has been welcomed by investors but has left Ms Truss’s economic agenda in tatters only weeks into her time in No 10.

In her interview, Ms Truss said she accepted responsibility for going “too far, too fast” – and she wanted to “say sorry for the mistakes that have been made”.

She added that she remained committed to a “low tax, high growth economy” – but preserving economic stability was now the “priority”.

“I do think it is the mark of an honest politician who does say ‘yes, I’ve made a mistake. I’ve addressed that mistake. And now we need to deliver for people.

“It would have been completely irresponsible for me not to act in the national interest in the way I have.”

Shadow Treasury minister James Murray said the PM’s apology “after weeks of blaming everyone else” would not “undo the damage” caused by her mini-budget.

“No sorry can change the fact that this crisis was made in Downing Street but is being paid for by working people,” he added.

Ms Truss watched on silently as Mr Hunt delivered a Commons statement to explain to MPs why the economic strategy, outlined last month by Kwasi Kwarteng, was being torn up.

The chancellor warned that “decisions of eye-watering difficulty” on tax and spending remain ahead of an economic statement on 31 October, when he will give further details of a plan to reduce the UK’s debt burden.

He said further windfall taxes on energy companies – a policy repeatedly rubbished by Ms Truss during her Tory leadership campaign – could not be ruled out, along with changes to the pension triple lock.

Ms Truss refused a Labour request to explain the U-turns to MPs herself before Mr Hunt’s statement, with Commons leader Penny Mordaunt saying she had been “detained on urgent business”. The prime minister later arrived in the Commons taking her seat beside Mr Hunt before he began his statement.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the PM of leaving an “utter vacuum” in government, while one of his MPs jibed she had been “cowering under a desk”.

In total, £32bn of the £45bn in tax cuts announced at last month’s mini-budget have now been ditched, including plans to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p from April.

Cuts to dividend taxes and VAT-free shopping for international tourists have also been scrapped, along with a freeze on alcohol duty rates.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Liz Truss – I’ll lead Tories into next election
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King Charles III – At the moment the Queen died, the throne passed immediately and without ceremony to the heir, Charles, the former Prince of Wales.

But there are a number of practical – and traditional – steps which he must go through to be crowned King.

What will he be called?

He will be known as King Charles III.

That was the first decision of the new king’s reign. He could have chosen from any of his four names – Charles Philip Arthur George.

He is not the only one who faces a change of title.

Although he is heir to the throne, Prince William will not automatically become Prince of Wales – that will have to be conferred on him by his father. He has inherited his father’s title of Duke of Cornwall – William and Kate are now titled Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge.

There is also a new title for Charles’ wife, Camilla, who becomes the Queen Consort – consort is the term used for the spouse of the monarch.

Read Also – Queen Elizabeth II has died

Formal ceremonies

It is expected that Charles will be officially proclaimed King on Saturday. This will happen at St James’s Palace in London, in front of a ceremonial body known as the Accession Council.

This is made up of members of the Privy Council – a group of senior MPs, past and present, and peers – as well as some senior civil servants, Commonwealth high commissioners, and the Lord Mayor of London.

More than 700 people are entitled in theory to attend, but given the short notice, the actual number is likely to be far fewer. At the last Accession Council in 1952, about 200 attended.

At the meeting, the death of Queen Elizabeth will be announced by the Lord President of the Privy Council (currently Penny Mordaunt MP), and a proclamation will be read aloud.

The wording of the proclamation can change, but it has traditionally been a series of prayers and pledges, commending the previous monarch and pledging support for the new one.

This proclamation is then signed by a number of senior figures including the prime minister, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Chancellor.

As with all these ceremonies, there will be attention paid to what might have been altered, added or updated, as a sign of a new era.

The King’s first declaration

The King attends a second meeting of the Accession Council, along with the Privy Council. This is not a “swearing-in” at the start of a British monarch’s reign, in the style of some other heads of state, such as the President of the US. Instead, there is a declaration made by the new King and – in line with a tradition dating from the early 18th Century – he will make an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland.

After a fanfare of trumpeters, a public proclamation will be made declaring Charles as the new King. This will be made from a balcony above Friary Court in St James’s Palace, by an official known as the Garter King of Arms.

Read More

King Charles III – meet the new monarch
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Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

She died peacefully on Thursday afternoon at her Scottish estate, where she had spent much of the summer.

The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and witnessed enormous social change.

Her son King Charles III said the death of his beloved mother was a “moment of great sadness” for him and his family and that her loss would be “deeply felt” around the world.

He said: “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother.

“I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”

Read Also – Liz Truss: How the Conservative leadership voted

During the coming period of mourning, he said he and his family would be “comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held”.

The King and his wife, Camilla, now Queen Consort, will return to London on Friday, Buckingham Palace said. He is expected to address the nation on Friday.

Senior royals had gathered at Balmoral after the Queen’s doctors became concerned about her health earlier in the day.

All the Queen’s children travelled to Balmoral, near Aberdeen, after doctors placed the Queen under medical supervision.

Her grandson and now heir to the throne, Prince William, and his brother, Prince Harry, also gathered there.

Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was appointed by the Queen on Tuesday, said the monarch was the rock on which modern Britain was built, who had “provided us with the stability and strength that we needed”.

Speaking about the new King, she said: “We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much, to so many, for so long.

“And with the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we usher in a new era in the magnificent history of our great country, exactly as Her Majesty would have wished, by saying the words ‘God save the King’.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – spiritual leader to the Church of England of which the monarch is supreme governor – expressed his “profound sadness”.

He said his “prayers are with the King and the Royal Family”.

Source – https://edition.cnn.com/

Queen Elizabeth II has died
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Rishi Sunak – The race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister was already slipping into acrimony on Saturday as Conservative factions briefed against Rishi Sunak, the early favourite, while one senior MP called for “no hope” candidates to drop out.

With predictions that up to 15 could put themselves forward as the next Conservative leader, Tory MPs expressed concern at the potential timetable for the race and the prospect of bitter infighting.

On Saturday, the newly appointed chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, launched his campaign by pledging to lower taxes for individuals, families and business, boost defence spending and continue with education reforms he started in his previous role.

Grant Shapps announced his leadership bid by telling the Sunday Times he was ruling out a general election. He said he would instruct his chancellor to cut personal tax for the most vulnerable and give state support to firms with high levels of energy consumption.

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is expected to launch her bid by pledging that she will advocate “classic Conservative principles”, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Sunak, the former chancellor, who entered the race on Friday evening with a slickly edited video campaign message posted on Twitter under the slogan “Ready for Rishi”, is viewed as one of the likely frontrunners.

Read Also – Sri Lanka: President Rajapaksa to resign after palace stormed

But he has already faced criticism among fellow MPs for indicating he will focus more on fiscal prudence than immediate tax cuts, with his video taking aim at other candidates who may offer “comforting fairytales” rather than economic truths.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Johnson loyalist, said on Friday evening that he could not back Sunak, whose resignation as chancellor helped precipitate the loss of faith in the prime minister that led to him resigning as Tory leader on Thursday.

“We have had a high-tax chancellor and I belong to a low-tax party and I want to see us getting back to being a low-tax party,” Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, told BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions.

Sunak was also hit by the start of what is likely to be a wave of anonymous briefings from Johnson’s Downing Street, where his role in the prime minister’s departure has caused significant anger.

One senior No 10 official was quoted in the Financial Times as calling Sunak “a treacherous bastard”, while a Johnson supporter in the cabinet told the paper: “Rishi will get everything he deserves for leading the charge in bringing down the prime minister.”

Source – https://www.theguardian.com/

Rishi Sunak – Johnson loyalists hit back at ‘treacherous’ as race begins
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Sajid Javid – Mr Hunt has told The Sunday Telegraph he is standing to be a leader of the Conservative Party “because we have to restore trust, grow the economy, and win the next election”.

He added: “Those are the three things that have to happen and I believe I can do that.”

Speaking in the “basement kitchen of his central London townhouse”, Mr Hunt said he started the week “desperately worried for the country and for the Conservative Party”.

He went on: “We were rapidly losing the trust of large swathes of the electorate, including many people who voted for us.

“We were in a situation where the country was facing paralysis; the government wasn’t able to deliver what it promised. 

“So I think I feel a sense of relief that that at least has been resolved.”

Mr Hunt wants to reduce business taxes. He told the newspaper he would cut corporation tax to 15% and remove business rates for five years for the most in-need communities.

Turning to the Tories’ electoral chances, he said: “We have to be honest that over the last year we lost the trust of many swathes of people who voted Conservative in 2019.

“I am the only major candidate who has not served in Boris Johnson’s government. I called out what was going wrong long before any of the other major contenders and I have not been defending the indefensible.

“So by choosing me, the Conservative Party is sending a signal to those voters that we have listened to your concerns and we have changed. That is the most important thing we need to do now. It is to restore trust.”

Read Also – Sri Lanka: President Rajapaksa to resign after palace stormed

It seems fair to say that the following weeks will containing a fair amount of bitching and backbiting.

In an early sign of that, Grant Shapps has taken a swipe at colleagues who may have been plotting their Tory leadership bids for weeks or even months.

Rishi Sunak’s Ready For Rishi website, which redirects to his official page, was reportedly set up in December 2021.

Mr Shapps, the transport secretary, told The Sunday Times: “I have not spent the last few turbulent years plotting or briefing against the prime minister.

“I have not been mobilising a leadership campaign behind his back. 

“I tell you this: for all his flaws – and who is not flawed – I like Boris Johnson.

“I have never, for a moment, doubted his love of this country.”

Mr Sunak’s team has said internet domains are bought regularly, adding that they had been transferred a number of them. 

Mr Shapps is not the only Tory having a go at Mr Sunak.

Marcus Fysh, Conservative MP for Yeovil, said he was backing Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to be the next Tory leader. 

He tweeted: “There are many great talents and friends standing for Conservative leader but for me the one who is experienced, tough, practical, has the right economic plan, will sort the NI Protocol and make the most of independence from the EU, unite party and country and win is Liz Truss.”

Source – https://news.sky.com/

Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt enter Tory leadership race
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Shinzo Abe – Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has died after being shot twice at a political campaign event.

He was in the process of giving a speech when a gunman attacked him from behind.

This is how Friday’s tragic events unfolded.

The event was taking place in the southern city of Nara. Mr Abe, 67, was making a campaign speech outside a railway station for Kei Sato, an incumbent member of the upper house of parliament.

Mr Sato is standing for the ruling party, the Liberal Democrats, in elections for the Upper House scheduled for 10 July.

The above image shows Mr Abe stepping up to make his speech as aides applaud.

But they are seemingly unaware of another figure in the background, a casually dressed youngish man with a black cross-body bag.

Read Also – Boris Johnson resigns: 5 things that led to the PM’s downfall

As terrified spectators duck down, security officials tackle the 41-year-old suspect, who makes no attempt to run. They wrestle him to the ground and take him into custody.

Bystanders care for Mr Abe as he lies bleeding and he is airlifted to Nara Medical University Hospital for treatment. Media reports say he is able to speak in the minutes after the attack but subsequently loses consciousness.

He is in cardiac arrest on arrival at the hospital. Unsuccessful attempts are made to resuscitate him and he is given a blood transfusion but is pronounced dead at 17:03.

Doctors say he received two wounds that damaged an artery and suffered significant heart damage.

They add that both wounds were deep, and blood loss was the cause of death.

No bullets were found during surgery.

‘Handmade’ weapon

Eyewitnesses say they saw the man carrying what they describe as a large gun and firing twice at Mr Abe from behind.

The weapon, which was reportedly a handmade gun, was seized when the suspected attacker was arrested. Strict firearms laws in Japan make purchasing a gun extremely difficult.

The suspect has been identified as Nara resident Tetsuya Yamagami. Local media reports say he is believed to be a former member of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan’s equivalent of a navy.

When questioned, he said he had been “dissatisfied” with Mr Abe and had intended to kill him.

Media reports say an explosives team later raided the suspect’s house to gather evidence.

It is unclear how the suspect came to know about Mr Abe’s attendance at the rally as it was confirmed only late on Thursday night.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Shinzo Abe: How the former Japan PM’s assassination unfolded
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