SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to “turn the heat down” after the US Consulate in Sydney was vandalized on Monday.
Surveillance video showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney after 3 a.m., a police statement said.
Two inverted red triangles, seen by some as a symbol of Palestinian resistance but by others as supporting the militant group Hamas, were also painted on the front of the building.
Albanese urged people to have “respectful political debate and discourse.”
“People are traumatized by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian Occupied Territories,” Albanese told reporters.
“And I just say, again, reiterate my call to turn the heat down and measures such as painting the US consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property,” Albanese added.
The consulate was closed on Monday because of a public holiday in New South Wales state but would reopen on Tuesday, a consulate statement said.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said an overwhelming majority of Australians did not approve of such vandalism.
“We can make our point in this country without resorting to violence or malicious behavior,” Minns said.
The consulate was sprayed with graffiti in April, including the words “Freee (sic) Gaza.” The US Consulate in Melbourne was vandalized by pro-Palestinian activists on May 31.
Australian leader tells activists to ‘turn the heat down’ after US Consulate vandalized over Gaza
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Australian leader tells activists to ‘turn the heat down’ after US Consulate vandalized over Gaza
- Consulate closed on Monday because of public holiday in New South Wales state but would reopen on Tuesday
- NSW Premier Chris Minns said overwhelming majority of Australians did not approve of such vandalism
UK government handed $1.5m rail contract to Canadian company that bribed Libyan dictator’s son
- The Conservative administration chose Montreal-based AtkinsRealis to provide technical and commercial advice to the Department of Transport
- The firm previously admitted bribing the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi with millions of dollars between 2001 and 2011 to win contracts
LONDON: A Canadian company that pleaded guilty to bribing late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s son to win contracts in the North African nation was granted a £1.2 million ($1.5 million) contract by the UK’s Conservative government, The Independent newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Department for Transport documents reveal that AtkinsRealis, a company formerly known as SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. that is based in Montreal, successfully bid for a contract to provide specialist technical and commercial advice to support the department’s oversight of rail fares, ticketing and retailing policy.
The business previously pleaded guilty to bribing dictator’s son Saadi Qaddafi with millions of dollars between 2001 and 2011 to win contracts in the North African nation, the Independent said.
AtkinsRealis won the contract in September 2023 and it is set to run until December 2025. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the company relating to the contract.
“The events in question occurred before 2012,” a spokesperson for AtkinsRealis’ told the Independent. “The company has transformed culturally, operationally and in its governance over the last decade, with a new leadership team and a robust and transparent integrity and compliance program recognized and independently verified by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in ethical business practices.”
The newspaper said that prior to the company’s rebranding, it was linked with historic allegations of bribery and corruption in several countries.
After winning a government contract in India in 1995 to refurbish a hydroelectric power station, it faced accusations of bribery and financial fraud. Several Indian officials were sacked following an official investigation.
More recently, four former employees of SNC-Lavalin who faced corruption allegations over their role in the construction the Padma Bridge in Bangladesh were acquitted by a Canadian Court.
The company pleaded guilty to paying $48 million in bribes to public officials in Libya to win contracts while Muammar Qaddafi was in power. In 2014, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged two former employees of bribing Libyan officials to secure deals over the course of a decade. In 2019, Canadian prosecutors said payments were directed to Saadi Qaddafi in return for him using his influence to secure construction contracts.
In response to questions about the awarding of the rail contract to AtkinsRealis, the Department for Transport told The Independent it is committed to delivering value for money for taxpayers and contracts are awarded through transparent and fair processes. The Conservative Party refused to comment.
AtkinsRealis said the company has been providing technical advice on rail fares and ticketing to the Department for Transport since 2020.
“This specialist advice has been used to support the development of fares strategies for the UK passenger rail network, including the expansion of ‘pay as you go’ ticketing, fares simplification and reform, and ticketing and retail strategies,” the spokesperson added.
UN Security Council condemns attack in Russia’s Dagestan
- Russia’s southern region of Dagestan ended three days of mourning Wednesday following an attack by militants who authorities say killed 21 people, mostly police
MOSCOW: The United Nations Security Council condemned the deadly attack that targeted churches and synagogues on Sunday in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan in Russia, according to a statement on Wednesday.
“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist,” the statement said.
Russia’s southern region of Dagestan ended three days of mourning Wednesday following an attack by militants who authorities say killed 21 people, mostly police, and attacked Christian and Jewish houses of worship in assaults in two cities.
Sunday’s violence in Dagestan’s regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent was the latest that officials blamed on extremists in the predominantly Muslim region in the North Caucasus. It was also the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.
Cable car collapse in Colombia leaves at least 1 dead and 12 injured, officials say
- It was not immediately clear if the person who died was a passenger in the gondola-style car
MEDELLIN, Colombia: A cable car in the Colombian city of Medellin failed and plunged onto a sidewalk next to a station platform Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring 12 others, officials said.
It was not immediately clear if the person who died was a passenger in the gondola-style car, which was part of the city’s public transportation system. Ten people were in the car when it fell, Medellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez said on the social media platform X.
Medellin’s Metrocable runs six lines aimed at serving some of the city’s low-income neighborhoods that are informally built on steep hills.
One of the cable cars hit another cabin during a descending ride and then failed as it approached a station in the city’s northeastern area, Metrocable manager Tomás Elejalde told reporters.
Officials said the accident is under investigation. A cause was not immediately determined.
Indian soldiers kill three suspected Kashmir militants
- Exchange of fire occurs in remote Doda area during search operation, says police
- Latest clash takes place days before a major Hindu festival is to take place
SRINAGAR, India: Three suspected militants were killed Wednesday in Indian-administered Kashmir during a daylong firefight with soldiers, police said, the latest incident in an uptick of attacks in the disputed territory.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.
Indian police said the exchange of fire in the remote Doda area came after security forces launched a search operation based on intelligence about the presence of militants.
Three “terrorists” were killed during the ensuing firefight, police said in a post on social media platform X.
“Arms and ammunition have been recovered from their possession,” the post said.
The latest clash in the forested area, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar, came days before a major Hindu pilgrimage is set to begin.
Two suspected militants were killed in a residential area of northern Kashmir valley last week.
India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full and have fought three wars for control of the Himalayan region.
Rebel groups have waged an insurgency since 1989, demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels.
Nine Indian Hindu pilgrims were killed and dozens wounded this month when a gunman opened fire on a bus carrying them from a shrine in the southern Reasi area.
It was one of the deadliest attacks in years and the first on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir since 2017, when gunmen killed seven people in another ambush on a bus.
Germany moves to ease the deportation of foreigners who glorify terrorist acts
- Under the law, a single comment on social media could provide grounds for kicking people out
- The Interior Ministry said that the law on residence will be changed so that approving or promoting “a single terrorist crime” is grounds for a “particularly serious interest in expulsion”
BERLIN: Germany’s government on Wednesday launched new legislation to ease the deportation of foreigners who publicly approve of terrorist acts.
Under the law, a single comment on social media could provide grounds for kicking people out.
The measure approved by the Cabinet was pledged by Chancellor Olaf Scholz following a knife attack last month on members of a group that describes itself as opposing “political Islam,” an assault that left a police officer dead. It comes as Scholz’s government faces broader pressure to curb migration.
The Interior Ministry said that the law on residence will be changed so that approving or promoting “a single terrorist crime” is grounds for a “particularly serious interest in expulsion.” That means that in future a single comment that “glorifies and endorses a terrorist crime on social media” could constitute a reason for expulsion.
Anyone who publicly approves of an offense “in a manner which is suited to causing a disturbance of the public peace” could also be expelled, and a conviction would not be required. Liking a social media post would not be sufficient grounds for deportation, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
Faeser said that Hamas’ acts during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel have been “celebrated in a repugnant way” on social media in Germany, and the attack in Mannheim “also was glorified on the net by many in the most appalling way.”
“Such brutalization online stokes a climate of violence that can drive extremists to new acts of violence,” Faeser added. “So it’s very clear to me that Islamist agitators who mentally live in the Stone Age have no place in our country. Anyone who has no German passport and glorifies terrorist acts here must, wherever possible, be expelled and deported.”
She said she was confident that lawmakers will approve the change soon, and that she didn’t see it falling foul of freedom of speech laws.
The government faces ongoing pressure to reduce the number of migrants coming to and staying in Germany. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved legislation that is intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers.
At the same time, Scholz’s socially liberal administration is easing the rules on gaining citizenship and ending restrictions on holding dual citizenship. It says the plan will bolster the integration of immigrants and help attract skilled workers, while opposition conservatives have argued that it cheapens German citizenship.
Faeser defended the new naturalization law, which takes effect on Thursday.
The legislation stipulates that people being naturalized must be able to support themselves and their relatives. The existing law requires that would-be citizens be committed to the “free democratic fundamental order,” and the new version specifies that antisemitic and racist acts are incompatible with that.
The government has said that issues such as antisemitism, Israel’s right to exist and Jewish life in Germany are being given a greater weight in the citizenship test applicants have to undergo.
Faeser said that, by that measure, “we have made obtaining German citizenship more difficult.”
