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Facebook ‘blocks accounts’ of Palestinian journalists

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Account suspensions come on heels of agreement between social media giant and Israel to team up against “incitement”.

Facebook

by Sophia Hyatt, Al Jazeera

Editors from two Palestinian news publications based in the occupied West Bank say their Facebook accounts were suspended last week and that no reason was provided, alleging their pages may have been censored because of a recent agreement between the US social media giant and the Israeli government aimed at tackling “incitement”.

Last week, four editors from the Shehab News Agency, which has more than 6.3 million likes on Facebook, and three executives from the Quds News Network, with about 5.1 million likes, reported that they could not access their personal accounts.

Both agencies cover daily news in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Nisreen al-Khatib, a translator and journalist at the Quds News Network, told Al Jazeera that the publication believes the account suspensions were triggered by an agreement between Facebook and Israel earlier this month, in which they agreed to jointly combat what Israeli claims is “incitement” by Palestinians on social media.

Al-Khatib said that even Quds News Network’s non-political vertical that focuses on “entertainment” and “international news” had been suspended, although access was later restored.

“[Sharek-Quds News Agency] does not publish anything that violates Facebook standards or that could annoy governments. But still, we are targeted,” she said.

Al-Khatib said that the news agency asked Facebook for an explanation on why the accounts had been suspended “for no reason”.

Facebook replied on Saturday with an apology, saying the suspension had been “accidental”.

The three suspended accounts of Quds News Newtork journalists were unblocked over the weekend by the networking site, she said.

Remah Mubarak, manager of Shehab News Agency, said one of four managers’ accounts that had been suspended “with no warning” by the California-based tech company had still not been reactivated as of late Sunday.

“One manager’s account is still suspended,” he told Al Jazeera, adding the other three accounts were unblocked on Saturday.

Al Jazeera contacted Facebook for comment, but it did not respond by the time of publication.

Mubarak, of Shehab News, said that the “agency covers news in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and also inside Israel”.

“Maybe they don’t want this covered, especially in the West Bank, where executions have happened in recent days. Maybe that effects them on social media and they want to stop these pages to hide the proof,” he said.

Al-Khatib said the incident isn’t the first time Palestinian news sites have had issues with Facebook.

“Many other Palestinian network agencies have been shut down by Facebook for no reason actually. There are at least five Palestinian pages that have been shut down. Gaza 24 was [one of them],” she said.

‘Incitement’ crackdown

The Israeli military said on Sunday it has indicted more than 145 Palestinians so far this year for incitement over social media.

Sunday’s announcement comes amid an Israeli campaign to put an end to online postings it says have fuelled a near continuous wave of violence over the past year. Palestinians say the violence is the result of nearly 50 years of Israeli military occupation.

Since October, at least 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to a count by the AFP news agency.

Shortly after news broke earlier this month of the agreement between the Israeli government and Facebook, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said Tel Aviv had submitted 158 requests to the social media giant over the previous four months asking it to remove content it deemed “incitement”. She said Facebook had granted 95 percent of the requests.

Over the summer, an Israeli legal advocacy group – connected to the Israeli army and intelligence agencies -filed a $1bn lawsuit against Facebook claiming the company was violating the US Anti-Terrorism Act by providing services that assist groups in “recruiting, radicalising and instructing terrorists”.

But rights groups and monitors argue that activists and journalists, not “terrorists”, are often the target of incitement charges.

Kohli praises lower-order batting performance against New Zealand

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kohli

Kanpur: Indian Test cricket skipper Virat Kohli on Monday said the teams lower-order batting performance has improved and that is the area they need to keep working on to win more matches.

At the post-match presentation, the Delhi batsman said that those 40-50 runs from that lower-middle order can provide much strength to the team even when they play in overseas conditions.

Ravindra Jadeja scored unbeaten 42 and 50 runs in the first and second innings respectively, while Ashwin contributed 40 runs in the first essay during the opening Test, which India won by 197 runs at the Green Park here.

“They think they can get you out for 300 but you end up getting 340-360 and thus the momentum shifts from the opposition. We have improved in this area and we need to keep working on it because those 40-50 runs will be crucial when we play abroad,” Kohli said.

“One of the most important things in Test cricket is to have a strong lower order who can contribute and this is one area we are working hard with the bowlers, everyone from Ashwin onwards wants to contribute and that puts a psychological dent on the opposition.”

Kohli said, “The boys have applied themselves really well. Few moments we were in a spot of bother. Initially we had momentum with us when we were batting but then couple of soft dismissals and we were on the backfoot. But Jadeja and Ashwin batted really well in the first innings. Umesh also contributed and those 30-40 runs make a psychological difference.”

Kohli, who termed as “memorable” the win in the historic 500th Test, also lauded New Zealand for showing character and guts to fight it out despite being in a tough position when they were set a target of 434 by India.

“It has been a memorable Test match. It has been very good right from the second day onwards when New Zealand were batting really well, and me and Ashwin were chatting that it is going to be an exciting Test and we have to play our best to keep them under pressure,” he said.

“They showed good resilience and resistance and that is something you want to see from opposition. I think credit goes to New Zealand as well, the reason that match went on to the second session on day 5 because of the character and guts that they showed. I am sure the series will get more competitive as we go on,” Kohli added.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said that his side took positives from the Test.

The skipper also lauded his players, especially Mitchell Santner, for efforts with the bat and ball and Luke Ronchi’s 80-run inning.

“There are lots of positives and lessons which we will take from this match to the next one. It is really two sessions where the match slipped out of our hands and India capitalised,” he said.

“They were fantastic, especially today as it is not easy with the ball turning sharply and against a couple of world class spinners. So, the way Mitchell Santner (71) contributed with the bat and ball was impressive and Luke Ronchi (80) also coming into the side and doing well,” Williamson said.

(IANS)

PSLVC-35 with 8 satellites lifts off; SCATSAT injected in orbit

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isro

Sriharikota: In its longest-ever flight, the PSLV C-35, carrying India’s SCATSAT-1 meant for ocean and weather studies and seven other satellites including from the US and Canada, today lifted off from the spaceport, here.

The launch marked PSLV’s longest mission spread over two hours and it is the first time that the rocket is putting its payloads in two different orbits. The 44.4 metre tall PSLV rocket blasted off at 9.12 AM and 17 minutes later injected SCATSAT-1 in orbit.

“SCATSAT-1 has been successfully injected in orbit,” ISRO said. The 371 kg SCATSAT, the primary satellite meant for weather forecasting, cyclone detection and tracking, was first injected in a Polar Sunsynchronous Orbit (SSO) orbit while the seven others will be injected in a lower orbit after over two hours, the first time the rocket is putting its payloads in two different orbits. The total weight of all the eight satellites onboard is about 675 kg.

Besides SCATSAT-1, the PSLV rocket is carrying two Indian university satellites, three from Algeria and one each from the US and Canada. SCATSAT-1 is a “continuity” mission for the Ku-band scatterometer payload carried by SCATSAT-1, which has enhanced features compared to a similar one carried by Oceansat-2 satellite in 2009.

The two academic satellites are PRATHAM, from IIT, Bombay, and PISAT, from BES University, Bengaluru and its consortium. While PRATHAM’s objective is to estimate Total Electron Count, PISAT’s mission is to design and develop a nanosatellite for remote sensing applications.

The foreign satellites onboard the PSLV are ALSAT-1B, ALSAT-2B and ALSAT-1N (all from Algeria) and Pathfinder-1 and NLS-19, from USA and Canada, respectively.

(PTI)

George back in cabinet after clean chit in DySP suicide case

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KJ George

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Minister K J George was today reinducted into the Siddaramaiah ministry, close on the heels of being given a clean chit by the CID in a case related to the alleged suicide of a Deputy Superintendent of Police.

 

George, a close confidant of the Chief Minister, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony held in Raj Bhavan.

George had resigned on July 18, soon after a court in Madikeri in Kodagu district directed police to register an FIR against him and two police officers in connection with the suicide of 51-year-old M K Ganapathy.

Ganapathy was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri on July 7, prior to which he gave an interview to a local TV channel saying the Minister and AM Prasad (now Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety) and Pranab Mohanty (now on central deputation as Additional Deputy Director General of UIDAI) would be responsible “if anything happens to me.”

The court had issued directions based on a private criminal complaint by Ganapathy’s son, Nehal, requesting it to direct police to take up investigation against the minister and the officers for allegedly abetting his father’s suicide.

Karnataka CID, which investigated the case, on September 17 gave a clean chit to George and two senior police officers in its ‘B’ report, filed in a court in Madikeri.

George is likely to retain Bengaluru Development and Town Planning portfolio, which he had held when he stepped down amid a huge political storm in the state with the Opposition gunning for him. He had also held the Home portfolio earlier.

With the reinduction of George, the strength of the Siddaramaiah ministry now stands at 34, the maximum constitutional limit for the state. Siddaramaiah, his cabinet colleagues, Congress legislators and senior government officials were present at the swearing-in.

Both opposition parties BJP and JD(S) have taken exception to the reinduction of George. Earlier this month, Siddaramaiah on September 5 had expanded his Cabinet by inducting M Krishnappa into his Ministry.

In a major revamp of his ministry on June 20, the Chief Minister had sacked 14 ministers and inducted 13 members into his Council of Ministry which had led to discontent within the Congress with several senior leaders openly coming out against the party’s state leadership.

Ahead of the CID filing its report in the Madikeri court, Ganapathy’s father and brother had moved the High Court, seeking a CBI probe into his death for a free, fair and impartial investigation which they said “could not be expected from the CID”.

Ganapathy’s father M K Kushalappa and brother M K Machaiah, who suspected foul play in the death of the police officer, had contended that CID was likely to close the probe with a “B” report by giving a “clean chit” to George and the two police officials.

(Agencies)

No more water for TN: Karnataka tells Supreme Court

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cauvery

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking modification of its September 20 order directing the state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka explained to the court that it is not in a position to release any more water to Tamil Nadu due to low storage in its reservoirs in the Cauvery basin. It said that the 42,000 cusecs of water, should be treated as ‘arrears’ and can be released by the end of December.

The state also brought to the court’s notice the resolution passed by both the Houses of the legislature on September 23, that the existing water in the Cauvery basin reservoirs in Karnataka should be used only for drinking purpose and not for any other needs.

Though the Supervisory Committee headed by Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water from September 21 to September 30, the Court later directed the state to release 6,000 cusecs water till September 27.

(Agencies)

Shoe thrown at Rahul Gandhi during ‘Kisan Yatra’ in UP

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shoe-rahul-gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday faced ire from a local during a road show.

A man hurled shoe at the Congress vice-president during a road show in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur. The shoe missed the mark.

The man who hurled the shoe has been identified as Hari Om Mishra. He is a local journalist.

He has been detained by police.

Reportedly, the shoe attacker was upset with Rahul Gandhi’s Kisan Yatra as he feels that the Congress vice-president is aware of ground reality and plight of farmers in Uttar Pradesh.

Kisan Yatra

Rahul Gandhi is on ‘Kisan Yatra’ in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

BJP had mocked Rahul Gandhi’s Kisan Yatra, dismissing it as “seasonal expression of sympathy in the season of elections” and claimed that while states ruled by it have seen maximum agricultural growth, those by Congress were known for cases of “land-grab”.

(Agencies)

Sania-Strycova win Pan Pacific women’s doubles title

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sania-strycova

Tokyo: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova thrashed Chinas Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang in straight sets to clinch the Pan Pacific womens doubles title here on Saturday.

In a lop-sided affair, the Indo-Czech pair defeated the Chinese 6-1, 6-1.

This is Sania’s 40th doubles title. She had earlier won the same title with Zimbabwe player Cara Black twice.

(IANS)

Over 160 bodies recovered from Egypt refugee shipwreck

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Officials say bodies of 162 people have been pulled from the Mediterranean, amid fears death toll could rise further.

The military said that it had rescued 163 survivors [Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]

The military said that it had rescued 163 survivors [Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

The death toll from a refugee boat sinking off Egypt’s coast has risen to 162, as rescuers recovered more bodies from the Mediterranean Sea.

Survivors have said up to 450 people were on board the overcrowded fishing vessel that was heading to Italy from Egypt when it capsized off the port city of Rosetta on Wednesday.

The bodies of 162 people had been pulled from the waters off the Egyptian coast, Mohammed Sultan, the governor of Beheira  province, where Rosetta is located, told the Associated Press on Friday.

An earlier official toll on Friday had put the number of dead at 148.

The military said that it had rescued 163 survivors, and recovery attempts were continuing.

There are fears the death toll could rise further, with rescuers focusing their efforts on the boat’s hold where witnesses said around 100 people had been when the vessel flipped over.

In a new report on Friday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that “as many as 240 [people are still] unaccounted for or presumed missing” from the shipwreck.

“Normally in such situations, ‘missing’ migrants are presumed drowned, their remains never recovered,” it said.

The IOM said most of those rescued were Egyptians, but also included Sudanese, Eritreans, a Syrian and an Ethiopian.

Authorities arrested four suspected people traffickers on Thursday over the incident, the latest in what the UN refugee agency expects to be the deadliest year on record for the Mediterranean.

The accident comes months after the EU border agency Frontex warned that growing numbers of Europe-bound refugees were using Egypt as a departure point for the dangerous journey.

People-traffickers often use barely seaworthy vessels and overload them to extract the maximum money in fares from desperate refugees.

The IOM reported on Friday that 300,450 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 through 21 September, arriving mostly in Greece and Italy. Some 166,050 people have arrived in Greece and 130,567 in Italy during 2016.

Total arrivals for the entire month of September last year were 518,181 – nearly 50 percent higher than 2016’s totals, with slightly over a week remaining before the start of October.

Deaths, however, are considerably higher than last year’s total of 2,887 on this date.

According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, this year’s deaths stand at 3,501, including the people who died in the latest tragedy off Egypt.

Telugu teachers rescued from IS captivity in Libya return home

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t-gopalakrishna-c-balaramkishan

Hyderabad: Two Telugu teachers, who were rescued last week after over a year-long captivity by Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Libya, returned home on Saturday.

T Gopikrishna and C Balram Kishan reached Hyderabad from New Delhi in the early hours.

They merely said they were happy to reunite with their families, but declined to answer any queries from the media or share their experiences in captivity.

The two teachers of the University of Sirte were abducted by IS terrorists on July 29, 2015 while on their way to Tripoli airport to return to India.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had announced on September 15 that they had been rescued.

Gopikrishna (35), an Assistant Professor at the University of Sirte, belongs to Tekkali in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, while Balram Kishan (52), a Professor at the same university, hails from Telangana’s Karimnagar district.

“I am very happy to reunite with my family. I don’t have any words to express my happiness,” said Gopikrishna talking to media persons at his residence in Nacharam, Hyderabad.

He thanked the Libyan Army and the Government of India, especially the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “Thanks to their efforts, I could safely come back and reunite with my family,” said Gopikrishna flanked by his wife and daughter.

“I am really excited to return home after long captivity. I have already given all information to the MEA as to what happened during my 414-day captivity,” he said.

Gopikrishna declined to speak on how they were freed and how they were treated in captivity.

“I can’t reveal all those details to you. I have given the information to the ministry,” he said.

The two teachers had reached New Delhi on Friday, after which officials of the MEA met and debriefed them.

Balram taught English and Gopikrishna Computer Science at Sirte University. They were among the four Indians kidnapped by IS the same day. Two of them were released a few days later.

Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar, hailing from Karnataka, had returned safely following their release earlier.

(IANS)

KJ George to be sworn into Karnataka Cabinet on Monday

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KJ George

Bengaluru: After the Karnataka CID gave a clean chit to former minister KJ George and two senior police officers in connection with the alleged suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police M K Ganapathy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will reinstated KJ George as minister in the Karnataka Cabinet on Monday.

After his reinstatement, George might be re-allotted the Bengaluru Development portfolio.

The Bengaluru MLA was forced to resign as Bengaluru minister after an FIR was filed against him.

Before hanging himself to death, Ganapathy (51) had given an interview to a local TV channel alleging that George and senior IPS officers Pranob Mohanthy and AM Prasad had harassed him, and that they were responsible for his impending suicide.

The incident had kicked up a huge storm in the state.

Although the government ordered an investigation, George had not stepped down as minister.

Ganapathy’s son Nehal then lodged private complaint with a court in Madikeri, which ordered an FIR to be filed against George. It was after this, that George resigned.

Congress Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao maintained that there had been no need for George to resign. However, George had done so as he did not want to embarrass the party.

Eventually, the CID had filed its B Report to the Madikeri Court stating that there is no clear evidence against three who were named in the case and a clean chit was given.

(Agencies)

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