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Samoa's First Woman PM-Elect Dismisses Rival's "Electoral Games" Amid Vote Crisis

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Samoa's First Woman PM-Elect Dismisses Rival's 'Electoral Games' Amid Vote Crisis" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-05/mmjkcj6g_fiame-naomi-mataafasamoa-pmafp_625x300_25_May_21.jpg" title="Samoa's First Woman PM-Elect Dismisses Rival's 'Electoral Games' Amid Vote Crisis" /></div>
Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (centre white )was sworn in as Samoa's first female PM in a tent outside parliament
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Apia, Samoa:
A constitutional crisis in the Pacific nation of Samoa headed back to the courts on Tuesday as Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata'afa dismissed the "electoral games" of her predecessor, who has refused to relinquish power.
Mata'afa was sworn in as the country's first female prime minister at an extraordinary ceremony in a tent outside parliament on Monday after the island nation's long-serving ruler refused to cede power and ordered the doors of the building to be locked.
Mata'afa revealed Tuesday she was facing a private prosecution over the makeshift ceremony.
"It's all part of the electoral game I suppose... I don't think we were terribly surprised," Mata'afa told New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ of the latest legal manoeuvres.
She said the legitimacy of the ceremony was always likely to be challenged as incumbent prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi continues to dispute the results of the election on April 9.
Malielegaoi led the South Pacific nation for 22 years but has lost a string of court challenges seeking to overturn the vote and call a new election.
He has labelled the swearing-in ceremony "treason" and insists he is still prime minister.
While the judiciary has so far sided with Mata'afa, the international community continues to hedge its bets on who will win the political power struggle under way in the nation of 220,000.
Influential players in the region's politics, including Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have restricted themselves to calls for dialogue and respect for the democratic process.
China has not made its position known, although it enjoyed a close relationship with Malielegaoi's government and Mata'afa has said she will scrap a major Beijing-backed port project in the island nation.
The United Nations said Secretary General Antonio Guterres had been following developments and the world body "stands ready to provide support to Samoa if requested by the parties".
The only country to offer Mata'afa formal recognition is the tiny Federated States of Micronesia in the northern Pacific.
"(FSM) both upholds and promotes democratic values -- it is imperative that we show our friends, especially during their darkest hours, that we stand with them," President David W. Panuelo said in a statement.
"Samoa is a cherished friend and Pacific neighbour; recent weeks have been very troubling for the Samoan people... they must know that they are not facing these challenges alone."
Samoa gained independence in 1962 after nearly 50 years as a New Zealand protectorate and the incumbent Human Rights Protection Party has been in power since 1982, apart from a brief coalition period in 1986-87.
It has always enjoyed huge parliamentary majorities but Mata'afa's FAST Party came from nowhere after its formation in mid-2020 to claim 26 of the legislature's 51 seats in last month's vote.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/samoas-prime-minister-elect-fiame-naomi-mataafa-elect-dismisses-rivals-electoral-games-amid-vote-crisis-2448718">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/samoas-prime-minister-elect-fiame-naomi-mataafa-elect-dismisses-rivals-electoral-games-amid-vote-crisis-2448718</a>

news world Samoa's First Woman PM-Elect Dismisses Rival's "Electoral Games" Amid Vote Crisis

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (centre white )was sworn in as Samoa's first female PM in a tent outside parliament Apia, Samoa: A constit...

US Security Assistance To Pakistan Remains Suspended, Says Pentagon

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="US Security Assistance To Pakistan Remains Suspended, Says Pentagon" src="https://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2018-03/us-flag_650x400_71522138285.jpg" title="US Security Assistance To Pakistan Remains Suspended, Says Pentagon" /></div>
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Pakistan Army Chief. (File)
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Washington:
The status of US security assistance to Pakistan that was suspended by the previous Trump administration hasn't changed, the Pentagon said on Monday as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and US National Security Advisor Jek Sullivan met his Pakistani counterpart in Geneva.
"At this time, the US security assistance to Pakistan is still suspended. I will not get into speculating one way or another about if or whether that will change going forward," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at a news conference.
He was responding to a question on if the new Biden administration has reviewed the policy in this regard of the previous Trump administration and if there are any changes in it or was this issue on the table during talks with the Pakistani leadership.
Former US president Donald Trump, in January 2018, had suspended all security assistance to Pakistan, arguing that he was not satisfied with the latter's cooperation and role in the fight against terrorism.
Earlier in the day, Austin spoke with Pakistan's General Bajwa to discuss shared regional interests and objectives, Kirby said.
"During the call, the secretary reiterated his appreciation for Pakistan's support to the Afghanistan peace negotiations and expressed his desire to continue to build on the United States-Pakistan bilateral relationship," he said.
"I reiterated my appreciation for the US-Pakistan relationship and my desire to continue to work together to further regional security and stability," Austin said in a tweet.
A day earlier, Sullivan met his Pakistani counterpart Moeed Yusuf in Geneva.
"Both sides discussed a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest, and ways to advance practical cooperation. They agreed to continue with the conversation," spokesperson of the National Security Council Emily Horne said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-security-assistance-to-pakistan-remains-suspended-says-pentagon-2448705">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-security-assistance-to-pakistan-remains-suspended-says-pentagon-2448705</a>

news world US Security Assistance To Pakistan Remains Suspended, Says Pentagon

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Pakistan Army Chief. (File) Washington: The status of US security assistance to Pakistan tha...

"Courage, Grace...:" Joe Biden To Host George Floyd Family On His First Death Anniversary

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'Courage, Grace...:' Joe Biden To Host George Floyd Family On His First Death Anniversary" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-03/4hhkvlsg_joe-biden-afp650_625x300_26_March_21.jpg" title="'Courage, Grace...:' Joe Biden To Host George Floyd Family On His First Death Anniversary" /></div>
Press Secretary said for Joe Biden, hosting the Floyds for a "real conversation" will be a moving moment
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Washington:
US President Joe Biden marks the anniversary Tuesday of the police murder of George Floyd by hosting the African American man's family -- but without being able to celebrate hoped-for national police reform.
Floyd's daughter Gianna, his mother, sister and brothers will be among those attending private talks with Biden at the White House, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
"The courage and grace of his family, and especially his daughter Gianna, has really stuck with the president," she told reporters. "He's eager to listen to their perspectives."
The choking to death of Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 last year and subsequent conviction of the officer, Derek Chauvin, who'd knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, were seen as seminal moments in the long US struggle for racial equality.
After the killing during Floyd's arrest outside a store, protests and riots erupted across a country already crackling with tension from the election battle between Biden and then president Donald Trump.
In the wake of the verdict this April against Chauvin, who faces sentencing next month, Biden sought to build on political momentum by urging Congress to pass a far-reaching police reform bill in time for the first anniversary.
Americans must confront the "systemic racism" revealed by Floyd's killing "head on," he declared.
However, the ambitious deadline comes with only the House having passed the bill, known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, while the Senate continues to wrangle over key details.
The bill seeks to reform what critics say have become ever more violent and unaccountable police forces around the country.
Opponents argue that police are being unfairly blamed when they are simply trying to operate in a dangerous and often heavily armed society.
However, Biden and reform proponents say that a culture of impunity and underlying racism have made incidents like Floyd's death increasingly common.
Personal impact on Biden
Among other measures, the bill would ban potentially fatal restraint techniques used on suspects, like chokeholds.
It would also end so-called "no-knock warrants," when police are authorized to burst into a suspect's house unannounced -- a volatile situation that led to the accidental killing of a Black woman, Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020.
The most far-reaching of the measures that senators are still debating would be to end current legal protections that block civil lawsuits against police accused of misconduct.
Psaki put a brave face on chances of success, saying "the president is still very much hopeful that he will be able to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act into law."
While nothing is easy to get through the heavily divided Congress, Biden hopes that the energy unleashed in the wake of Floyd's death will "help move this legislation across the finish line."
Confirming that there's still hope for the bill, House Democrat Karen Bass, Senate Democrat Cory Booker and Republican senator Tim Scott issued a joint statement on Monday citing "progress."
"This anniversary serves as a painful reminder of why we must make meaningful change. While we are still working through our differences on key issues, we continue to make progress toward a compromise and remain optimistic," they said.
For Biden himself, hosting the Floyds for a "real conversation" will be a moving moment, Psaki said.
George Floyd's death was "a day that certainly impacted him personally and impacted millions of Americans."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/courage-grace-us-president-joe-biden-to-host-george-floyds-family-on-his-first-death-anniversary-2448700">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/courage-grace-us-president-joe-biden-to-host-george-floyds-family-on-his-first-death-anniversary-2448700</a>

news world "Courage, Grace...:" Joe Biden To Host George Floyd Family On His First Death Anniversary

Press Secretary said for Joe Biden, hosting the Floyds for a "real conversation" will be a moving moment Washington: US Presi...

"Am Confessing...": Belarus Blogger Arrested From Diverted Plane In Video

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'Am Confessing...': Belarus Blogger Arrested From Diverted Plane In Video" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-05/km88rbs_roman-protasevich_625x300_25_May_21.jpg" title="'Am Confessing...': Belarus Blogger Arrested From Diverted Plane In Video" /></div>
Roman Protasevich's video was posted on Telegram messaging app.
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BRUSSELS:
Arrested Belarussian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich, who was on the diverted Ryanair flight, says he is cooperating and admitting to charges of organising protests in a video circulated by state TV channels on Monday.
The passenger flight from Athens to Vilnius was diverted while in Belarusian airspace on Sunday over a supposed bomb threat, prompting a global outcry to Minsk's forced landing of the aircraft.
"I am in Detention Centre no 1 in Minsk. I can say that I have no health problems, including with my heart or any other organs," Protasevich said in the clip that appears to have been filmed on a phone camera.
The 26-year-old is wearing a black hoodie and sits behind a table in a non-descript room with a pack of cigarettes by his side.
He fidgets with his hands as he makes the statement and some dark markings are visible on his forehead.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"I confess and cooperate with the investigation" says Roman <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Protasevich?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Protasevich</a> in a video released by the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Belarusian?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Belarusian</a> authorities. This obviously looks like a forced confession; + the marks on his forehead..
<a href="https://t.co/a7L3gtQkP2">pic.twitter.com/a7L3gtQkP2</a>
— inna shevchenko (@femeninna) <a href="https://twitter.com/femeninna/status/1396901093007839237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
"The attitude of employees towards me is as correct as possible and according to the law. I continue cooperating with investigators and am confessing to having organised mass unrest in the city of Minsk," he said.
Earlier, the Belarus Interior Ministry said Protasevich was being held in Minsk and dismissed unconfirmed reports he was hospitalised with a heart condition.
"The administration of the institution has not received any complaints about his health," the ministry said on its Telegram channel.
Together with co-founder Stepan Putilo, Protasevich until recently ran the Nexta telegram channels that helped mobilise protesters during the demonstrations that gripped ex-Soviet Belarus for months after a disputed election last August.
Protesters demanded the resignation of strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over two decades and in secured a landslide victory in an election his opponents say was rigged.
The authorities unleashed a violent crackdown on protesters, detaining thousands, many of whom reported torture and abuse in custody. Several people died in the unrest.
Exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in the election, also appeared in a similar video published by state media, urging her supporters not to protest.
Physical and moral pressure
Her allies said the video was made under pressure and that Tikhanovskaya was threatened into recording it.
She soon fled to neighbouring EU member Lithuania.
"This is how Roman looks under physical and moral pressure," Tikhanovskaya said on Twitter on Monday, commenting on the video, and called for his "immediate" release.
Protasevich and Putilo -- who both fled to Europe -- were last year added to Belarus's list of "individuals involved in terrorist activity".
In Minsk, they face charges of causing mass unrest, an offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail. 
 
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belarusian-critic-roman-protasevich-appears-in-video-amid-global-outcry-over-detention-2448678">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belarusian-critic-roman-protasevich-appears-in-video-amid-global-outcry-over-detention-2448678</a>

news world "Am Confessing...": Belarus Blogger Arrested From Diverted Plane In Video

Roman Protasevich's video was posted on Telegram messaging app. BRUSSELS: Arrested Belarussian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich...

"Outrageous": Joe Biden Condemns Belarus Forced Plane Landing, Backs Sanctions

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="'Outrageous': Joe Biden Condemns Belarus Forced Plane Landing, Backs Sanctions" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-04/c7suahe_joe-biden-afp_625x300_29_April_21.jpg" title="'Outrageous': Joe Biden Condemns Belarus Forced Plane Landing, Backs Sanctions" /></div>
I have asked my team to develop options to hold accountable those responsible, Biden said. (File)
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Washington:
US President Joe Biden slammed Belarus on Monday for the "outrageous" act of forcing a flight from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk where a dissident journalist onboard was arrested.
"This outrageous incident and the video Mr. Pratasevich appears to have made under duress are shameful assaults on both political dissent and the freedom of the press," Biden said, using an alternative spelling of the activist's name, after Belarusian TV broadcast video of Roman Protasevich "confessing" to charges of organizing mass unrest.
"I welcome the news that the European Union has called for targeted economic sanctions and other measures, and have asked my team to develop appropriate options to hold accountable those responsible," Biden added in his statement.
Belarus's strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept the Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
EU leaders agreed Monday to cut air links with Belarus, and the bloc said it would adopt further "targeted economic sanctions" against Belarusian authorities to add to the 88 regime figures and seven companies already on a blacklist over a crackdown on opposition.
The TV footage showed Protasevich -- who could face 15 years in jail -- with dark markings on his forehead, saying he was being treated "according to the law."
"The United States joins countries around the world in calling for his release, as well as for the release of the hundreds of political prisoners who are being unjustly detained by the Lukashenka regime," Biden said.
The White House added that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had spoken to exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to convey "the United States' strong support for the demands of the Belarusian people for democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/outrageous-joe-biden-condemns-belarus-forced-plane-landing-backs-sanctions-2448670">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/outrageous-joe-biden-condemns-belarus-forced-plane-landing-backs-sanctions-2448670</a>

news world "Outrageous": Joe Biden Condemns Belarus Forced Plane Landing, Backs Sanctions

I have asked my team to develop options to hold accountable those responsible, Biden said. (File) Washington: US President Joe Biden sl...

Vox Stealth Edits March 2020 Article “Debunking” Lab Origin of COVID

Left-wing website website Vox has been caught stealth editing an old article from March 2020 “debunking” the lab origin of COVID following numerous prominent officials now saying the lab origin is a distinct possibility.
Writer and investor Paul Graham documented the edits, tweeting, “Some of the stealth edits that Vox made to its article debunking “conspiracy theories” that Covid-19 originated in a lab leak between its original publication in March 2020 and now.”
The edits include removing the words that the virus definitively did “not come from the Wuhan lab” and saying that the fact the virus emerged in the same city in which the lab is located “appears to be pure coincidence” rather than the previously more definitive “is pure coincidence.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="8.4552845528455">
Some of the stealth edits that Vox made to its article debunking "conspiracy theories" that Covid-19 originated in a lab leak between its original publication in March 2020 and now. <a href="https://t.co/RYxZ2B81mc">pic.twitter.com/RYxZ2B81mc</a>
— Paul Graham (@paulg) <a href="https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1396769717805780994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
“Vox is editing it articles “debunking” the coronavirus lab leak theory. These edits aren’t being disclosed to readers,” tweeted Mike Cernovich. “Vox is a disinformation website.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="9.174672489083">
Vox is editing it articles “debunking” the coronavirus lab leak theory. These edits aren’t being disclosed to readers.
Vox is a disinformation website. <a href="https://t.co/MU7rOuHlDq">pic.twitter.com/MU7rOuHlDq</a>
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1396874509542510593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
As we <a href="https://summit.news/2021/05/24/questions-over-social-media-censorship-of-wuhan-lab-leak-after-fauci-admits-possibility/">highlighted</a> earlier, new information based on a US intelligence report reveals that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became so sick in November 2019 that they required hospital treatment.
This followed Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledging for the first time that the origin of COVID-19 “could have been something else, and we need to find that out.”
Last week, Biden’s CDC Director <a href="https://summit.news/2021/05/20/bidens-cdc-director-says-lab-origin-of-covid-19-a-possibility/">said</a> she remained open to the possibility that the virus was leaked from the Wuhan lab and scientific groups have also asserted that the lab leak is the most likely source.
Following the bolstering of the possibility that the virus was leaked from the lab, Politifact was also <a href="https://summit.news/2021/05/21/politifact-forced-to-pull-fact-check-that-debunked-lab-leak-origin-of-covid/">forced to pull</a> a ‘fact check’ that claimed it had “debunked” the lab leak origin theory of COVID-19.
For over a year, social media networks have characterized the lab leak theory as “misinformation” and removed it under the umbrella of “fake news.”
Now that more and more evidence continues to drop that such “conspiracy theories” were actually not only plausible but quite possibly true, the backpedaling continues apace.
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source <a href="https://summit.news/2021/05/24/vox-stealth-edits-march-2020-article-debunking-lab-origin-of-covid/">https://summit.news/2021/05/24/vox-stealth-edits-march-2020-article-debunking-lab-origin-of-covid/</a>

revolution summit Vox Stealth Edits March 2020 Article “Debunking” Lab Origin of COVID

Left-wing website website Vox has been caught stealth editing an old article from March 2020 “debunking” the lab origin of COVID following n...