BRUSSELS: Western leaders decried the diversion of a plane to Belarus in order to arrest an opposition journalist as an act of piracy and terrorism. The European Union and others on Monday demanded an investigation into the dramatic forced landing of the Ryanair jet, which was traveling between of the bloc’s two member nations.
The airline said Belarusian flight controllers told the crew there was a bomb threat against the plane as it was crossing through the country’s airspace and ordered it to land in the capital of Minsk. A Belarusian MiG-29 fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane.
Raman Pratasevich, who ran a popular messaging app that played a key role in helping organize massive protests against Belarus’ authoritarian president, was on board and he and his Russian girlfriend were led off the plane shortly after landing. The plane, which began its journey in Athens, Greece, was eventually allowed to continue on to Vilnius, Lithuania.
Western leaders forcefully condemned the move.
A group of the chairs of the foreign affairs committees of several Western countries’ legislative bodies called it an act of piracy.
“This reckless act put the passengers and crew in grave danger. It is a reminder of the illegitimacy of the regime claiming authority in Minsk,” signed by representatives from several EU countries, the United Kingdom and the United States, who called for an inquiry by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the plane’s diversion was “shocking,” while Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called it a “state-sponsored terror act.” He proposed banning Belarusian planes from European Union airports and “serious sanctions” against the Belarusian government.
The US and the EU already have imposed sanctions on top Belarusian officials amid months of protests, which were triggered by President Alexander Lukashenko’s reelection to a sixth presidential term in an August vote that the opposition rejected as rigged. More than 34,000 people have been arrested in Belarus since August, and thousands were brutally beaten.
The 27 EU leaders open a two-day summit later Monday, and the issue immediately shot to the top the agenda.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called it “yet another blatant attempt by the Belarusian authorities to silence all opposition voices.” He called the diversion of the plane an “inadmissible step.”
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry on Monday bristled at what it described as “belligerent” EU statements, insisting that the country’s authorities acted “in full conformity with international rules.”
Flight tracker sites indicated the plane was about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the Lithuanian border when it was diverted. There have been conflicting reports of what exactly happened.
The press service of Lukashenko said the president himself ordered that a fighter jet accompany the plane after he was informed of the bomb threat. Deputy air force commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane’s crew made the decision to land in Minsk.
But Ryanair said in a statement that Belarusian air traffic control instructed the plane to divert to the capital.
“I saw this Belarusian guy with girlfriend sitting right behind us. He freaked out when the pilot said the plane is diverted to Minsk. He said there’s death penalty awaiting him there,” passenger Marius Rutkauskas said after the plane finally arrived in Vilnius. “We sat for an hour after the landing. Then they started releasing passengers and took those two. We did not see them again.”
Pratasevich was a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which played a prominent role in helping organize major protests against Lukashenko. The Belarusian authorities have designated it as extremist and leveled charges of inciting riots against Pratasevich, who could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
EU calls for probe after plane diverted to arrest journalist
https://arab.news/5wy56
EU calls for probe after plane diverted to arrest journalist
- Belarusian flight controllers told the crew there was a bomb threat against the plane as it was crossing through the country’s airspace
- Opposition journalist Raman Pratasevich was on board and he and his Russian girlfriend were led off the plane shortly after landing
Police ban pro-Palestine march near BBC headquarters over ‘disruption’ concerns
- Planned Jan. 18 march was set to pass near a synagogue
- Organizers criticized decision, saying it ‘rejects the implication that our marches are somehow hostile to or a threat to Jewish people’
LONDON: UK police have banned a planned pro-Palestine march from taking place outside the BBC headquarters in London, citing concerns over potential “serious disruption” to a nearby synagogue.
The decision, announced on Friday, prevents the rally — originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 18 — from gathering in the area under the Public Order Act.
The Metropolitan Police said that it consulted with local community and business representatives, including members of the synagogue’s congregation located “very close” to the proposed starting point of the march, before making the decision.
The ban follows an earlier request by authorities for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, or PSC, the march’s organizers, to amend their planned route to avoid disrupting worshippers at the synagogue on Shabbat, the Jewish holy day.
The PSC strongly criticized the move, stating: “The Palestine coalition rejects the implication that our marches are somehow hostile to or a threat to Jewish people.
“The Met police have acknowledged there has not been a single incident of any threat to a synagogue attached to any of the marches.”
In an open letter issued on Friday, more than 150 cross-party MPs, trade union leaders, writers, cultural figures and civil society organizations condemned the police’s actions, accusing them of “misusing public order powers to shield the BBC from democratic scrutiny.”
“The route for the march was confirmed with the Police nearly two months ago and, as agreed with them, was publicly announced on 30 November. This route, beginning at the BBC, has only been used twice in the last 15 months of demonstrations and not since February 2024,” the PSC said in its statement.
“With just over a week to go, the Metropolitan Police is reneging on the agreement and has stated its intention to prevent the protest from going ahead as planned.”
The rally was expected to begin outside the BBC’s headquarters before marching to Whitehall.
Organizers said that the demonstration was intended to protest about the “pro-Israel bias” that they claim dominates the broadcaster’s coverage.
’Real-world harm’ if Meta ends fact-checks, global network warns
- Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this week Meta will loosen content moderation policies in the US, citing bias and excessive censorship
- Announcement sparked international outcry, alarm amid fears of serious consequences
WASHINGTON: There will be “real-world harm” if Meta expands its decision to scrap fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, a global network warned Thursday while disputing Mark Zuckerberg’s claim such moderation amounts to censorship.
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise announcement this week to slash content moderation policies in the United States has sparked alarm in countries such as Australia and Brazil.
The tech tycoon said fact-checkers were “too politically biased” and the program had led to “too much censorship.”
But the International Fact-Checking Network, which includes AFP among its dozens of member organizations globally, said the censorship claim was “false.”
“We want to set the record straight, both for today’s context and for the historical record,” said the network.
Facebook pays to use fact checks from around 80 organizations globally on the platform, as well as on WhatsApp and Instagram.
There could be devastating consequences if Meta broadens its policy shift beyond US borders, to programs covering more than 100 countries, the International Fact-Checking Network warned.
“Some of these countries are highly vulnerable to misinformation that spurs political instability, election interference, mob violence and even genocide,” the network said.
“If Meta decides to stop the program worldwide, it is almost certain to result in real-world harm in many places,” it added.
In Geneva Friday, the United Nations rights chief also insisted that regulating harmful content online “is not censorship.”
“Allowing hate speech and harmful content online has real world consequences. Regulating such content is not censorship,” Volker Turk said on X.
AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking scheme.
In that program, content rated “false” is downgraded in news feeds so fewer people will see it and if someone tries to share that post, they are presented with an article explaining why it is misleading.
Supinya Klangnarong, co-founder of Thai fact-checking platform Cofact, said Meta’s decision could have concrete effects offline.
“Understandably this policy from Meta is aimed at US users, but we cannot be certain how it will affect other countries,” she told AFP.
“By allowing the proliferation of hate speech and racist dialogue could be a trigger toward violence.”
Cofact is not an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network or of Facebook’s fact-checking scheme.
Meta’s policy overhaul came less than two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office and it aligns with the Republican Party’s stance.
Trump has been a harsh critic of Meta and Zuckerberg for years, accusing the company of bias against him and threatening to retaliate against the tech billionaire once back in office.
Zuckerberg has been making efforts to reconcile with Trump since his election in November, meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and donating one million dollars to his inauguration fund.
The Meta chief also named Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) head Dana White, a close ally of Trump, to the company board.
Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, said Tuesday the decision came after “extreme political pressure.”
The move “will hurt social media users who are looking for accurate, reliable information to make decisions about their everyday lives and interactions with friends and family.”
Australia said Meta’s decision was “a very damaging development,” while Brazil warned it was “bad for democracy.”
Meta’s move into fact-checking came in the wake of Trump’s shock election in 2016, which critics said was enabled by rampant disinformation on Facebook and interference by foreign actors, including Russia, on the platform.
Quaker group halts New York Times ads over ‘Gaza genocide’ language dispute
- American Friends Service Committee claims newspaper asked it to replace word ‘genocide’ with ‘war’
- Proposed ad urged US Congress to ‘stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza’
LONDON: An American Quaker group has paused its advertisements with the New York Times after the newspaper refused to allow the use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“The refusal of the New York Times to run paid digital ads that call for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth,” said Joyce Ajlouny, general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that advocates for peace.
“Palestinians and allies have been silenced and marginalized in the media for decades as these institutions choose silence over accountability. It is only by challenging this reality that we can hope to forge a path toward a more just and equitable world.”
The controversy arose after the AFSC submitted an ad with the text: “Tell Congress to stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza now! As a Quaker organization, we work for peace. Join us. Tell the president and Congress to stop the killing and starvation in Gaza.”
The New York Times’ advertising team reportedly requested that the AFSC replace the word “genocide” with “war.” When the AFSC refused, the newspaper’s ad acceptability team said that “differing views on the situation” required adherence to “factual accuracy and legal standards” to ensure compliance with its guidelines.
A spokesperson for the New York Times said in response to questions from The Guardian in the UK: “New York Times advertising works with parties submitting proposed ads to ensure they are in compliance with our acceptability guidelines.
“This instance was no different, and is entirely in line with the standards we apply to all ad submissions.”
However, the AFSC strongly criticized the decision, pointing out that many human rights organizations, legal scholars, and even the UN have described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide or genocidal acts.
“The suggestion that the New York Times couldn’t run an ad against Israel’s genocide in Gaza because there are ‘differing views’ is absurd,” said Layne Mullett, director of media relations for the AFSC.
“The New York Times advertises a wide variety of products and advocacy messages on which there are differing views. Why is it not acceptable to publicize the meticulously documented atrocities committed by Israel and paid for by the United States?”
The AFSC also pointed to The Washington Post’s recent decision to run an Amnesty International ad that also used the term genocide, questioning why the New York Times applied different standards.
The Quaker group has been involved in humanitarian work in Gaza since 1948 and currently operates in Gaza, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. Since October 2023, the AFSC’s staff in Gaza have provided 1.5 million meals, hygiene kits, and other essential aid to displaced individuals. The organization is also lobbying for a permanent ceasefire, full humanitarian access, the release of captives, and an end to US military funding for Israel.
According to The Guardian, the New York Times has previously run advertisements using the term genocide.
In 2016, it published an ad from the Armenian Educational Foundation thanking Kim Kardashian for opposing denial of the Armenian genocide. In 2008, presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain co-signed a letter advertisement in the New York Times calling out the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur.
It also noted that while the New York Times reserves the right to reject ads it deems inaccurate or deceptive, its advertising guidelines state that “advertising space is open to all points of view” and submissions may be subject to fact-checking.
Conde Nast reshapes Arab fashion media with Vogue Arabia and GQ Middle East takeover
- Manuel Arnaut and Amine Jreissati will lead Vogue and GQ respectively
LONDON: Vogue Arabia and GQ Middle East have officially joined Conde Nast’s portfolio of owned operations in Dubai, the media conglomerate announced on Thursday.
The move marks a significant reshuffle in the Arab fashion media landscape, as Conde Nast takes over the licenses from previous publishers Nervora, which launched Vogue Arabia in 2016, and ITP Media, which introduced GQ Middle East in 2018.
As part of the transition, Lebanese fashion designer Amine Jreissati has been appointed head of editorial content for GQ Middle East. Portuguese journalist Manuel Arnaut, who faced criticism for his 2017 appointment to Vogue Arabia due to limited regional experience, will continue to lead the title under the new structure.
“We are fortunate that Manuel and Amine, two incredibly gifted and creative editors, will be leading our titles,” said Anna Wintour, Conde Nast’s chief content officer.
“Their taste, judgment and journalistic experience are a huge benefit and the way they have elevated the contributions of artists and designers in the Middle East to the global stage has been tremendous.”
The acquisition brings Vogue Arabia and GQ Middle East into the same portfolio as Architectural Digest Middle East and Conde Nast Traveller Middle East, both of which became fully owned and operated by Conde Nast in 2023.
Thomas Khoury, Conde Nast’s managing director for the Middle East, oversaw the transition of the two titles, further cementing the company’s commitment to the region’s growing influence in global fashion and media.
New Arab Journalism Award board formed
- Mona Ghanem Al-Marri will lead the board, Dr. Maitha Buhumaid to serve as secretary-general
- Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas selected as member
DUBAI: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, on Thursday approved the newly restructured board of directors for the Arab Journalism Award. The board will be chaired by Mona Ghanem Al-Marri, vice president and managing director of the Dubai Media Council.
The revamped board includes prominent intellectuals, media leaders, and academics from across the Arab world, reflecting a commitment to fostering regional media excellence.
Al-Marri, a key figure in the UAE’s media landscape, is also president of the Dubai Press Club, making her one of the most influential voices in Arab media today.
Dr. Maitha Buhumaid, the Dubai Press Club’s current director, will serve as the award’s governing body’s secretary-general.
Also on the board is Ghassan Charbel, editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat; Ahmed Al-Muslimani, chairman of Egypt’s National Media Authority; Sultan Al-Nuaimi, author and director general of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research; and Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas.
The AJA is scheduled to be held in May, coinciding with the Arab Media Summit, the largest media thought leadership event in the Middle East, which will run from May 26-28 in Dubai.
