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Iraq has passed a new law that penalizes same-sex relations with up to 15 years in prison, a move condemned by rights advocates as the latest attack on the country’s LGBTQ community. The Iraqi parliament on Saturday passed a bill amending a 1988 anti-prostitution law to cover acts including “promoting homosexuality” – now punishable with up to seven years in prison – and “biological sex changes based on personal desires and inclination.”

 #iraq   #samesexmarriage   #lgbtq   #prison 

On January 16, the Russian armed forces destroyed a temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries in Kharkiv, with about 60 foreign soldiers killed in the strike, Russian defence officials said.

Following the developments, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador to Moscow, saying that "several dozen French" had been among the mercenaries killed in the strike. Paris, for its part, rejected the information as "manipulation."

"On January 16, 2024, Russia struck an abandoned maternity hospital in Kharkiv that had been transformed into a base for foreign military personnel. The press release stated that their [military personnel's] 'core' had been French and that a total of about 60 people had been killed. I have concluded that these personnel were classified as agents of the French government," Cinquini said.

 #russia   #ukraine   #france   #defence 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on April 28 for a surprise visit, where he will reportedly meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas. The US electric vehicle maker rolled out Full Self-Driving, or FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customers urging it to do so. Musk said this month Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China "very soon", in response to a query on social media platform X.
 #Tesla .   #ElonMusk .  #TeslaChina .   #ElonMuskChina 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently addressed concerns over Chinese attempts to influence the upcoming US elections during an interview following his three-day visit to China. Blinken reiterated President Joe Biden's message to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, urging against interference in the 2024 presidential elections, a commitment reportedly made by Xi during their summit in San Francisco last November. Blinken highlighted evidence suggesting such attempts and emphasized the imperative of halting such actions promptly.

He stressed that any interference by China in the US electoral process is deemed unacceptable and warranted a clear reiteration of this stance during his discussions with Chinese officials. Despite China's repeated assertions of non-interference in US elections, concerns persist over potential efforts to exploit existing social divisions. Blinken's visit underscores ongoing efforts to foster bilateral communication and address areas of cooperation while openly acknowledging and managing differences, with a focus on preventing competition from escalating into conflict.

 #blinken   #joebiden   #chinaus   #worldnews 

The Sicilian island of Ustica on Friday stripped Benito Mussolini of the honorary citizenship of the island he was granted during his 20-year rule in Italy. As well as the late Fascist dictator, also several Fascist 'gerarchi' or high officials were stripped of the honour.

 #mussolini   #italy 

A man on a motorbike has shot dead a social media influencer known as Om Fahad outside her Baghdad home, Iraqi security officials have said.
The unidentified attacker shot Om Fahad in her car in the Zayouna district on April 26 a security official told news agency Associated Press. Another security source said the attacker appeared to have pretended to be making a food delivery.
Om Fahad became known for lighthearted TikTok videos of herself dancing to Iraqi music wearing tight-fitting clothes.
In February last year, a court sentenced her to six months in prison for sharing “videos containing indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.

 #Iraq   #TikTokStar   #TikTok   #OmFahad 

China will host Palestinian unity talks between Islamist militant group Hamas and its rivals Fatah, the two groups and a Beijing-based diplomat said on April 26. A Fatah official told Reuters a delegation, led by the group's senior official Azzam Al-Ahmed, had left for China. A Hamas official said the faction's team for the talks, led by senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk, would be flying there later on April 26. "We support strengthening the authority of the Palestinian National Authority, and support all Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and increasing solidarity through dialogue and consultation," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
 #China .   #Palestine .   #Israel .   #Gaza .    #GazaWar 

A US military contractor wants to repurpose unused oil rigs as mobile bases that would help resupply US Navy vessels in the Pacific and host missile launchers. Gibbs & Cox, a naval architecture subsidiary of Leidos, presented the Mobile Defense/Depot Platform (MODEP) concept at the Sea Air Space 2024 exhibit in Washington. The MODEP concept refers to “a large floating island base” capable of positioning itself “at an ideal distance from shore” and independently operating for almost six months. The US Navy currently lacks the capability to reload its missile launchers at sea. The supply MODEP would solve this by having two cranes capable of lifting 100 tons each. The concept calls for the MODEP to have a range of 4,000 nautical miles without refueling, generate between 6-20 megawatts of power, hold up to 8.7 million litres of fuel and host a maintenance and repair shop for warships.
 #USA .  #USNavy .   #MODEP .   #USMilitary 

Germany's ambassador to Beijing said Thursday she had been summoned by Chinese authorities over the arrests of four Germans on suspicion of spying for China. "After four Germans were arrested this week for
allegedly spying for Chinese secret services, I was summoned to the (ministry of foreign affairs) today," Patricia Flor said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that it was "a quite telling move "Three people arrested in
western Germany on Monday faced accusations of passing information on maritime technology to China.
 #china   #spy   #worldnews 

French servicemen are being promised a golden parachute for participating in fictitious "resignations" to fight in Ukraine said Nicolas Cinquini, a veteran of France's counter-terrorism intelligence service

“These are agents who remain very secretive and are difficult to identify,” the former intelligence officer noted.

“Sources told us that in the ranks of the French army, specialists were given attractive offers: a false resignation, a guarantee of reinstatement upon completion, and an income significantly higher than their usual earnings,” he said.

 #france   #russia   #ukraine   #europe