LAHORE: A Pakistani man appeared in court Wednesday to face charges of cyber terrorism after allegedly spreading disinformation on his clickbait website thought to have fueled anti-immigration riots in Britain.
Farhan Asif was accused of publishing an article on his Channel3Now website falsely claiming that a Muslim asylum seeker was suspected in a deadly knife attack on children in the United Kingdom.
UK authorities have blamed online misinformation for sparking days of riots which targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers as well as police officers and other properties.
“He is a 31-year-old software engineer with no journalism credentials, apart from running the Channel3Now website, which served as a source of income for him,” a senior official at Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“Initial investigations indicate that his sole intent was to make money through clickbait content.”
Asif appeared at a Lahore district court on Wednesday charged with cyber terrorism and was remanded to custody for one day, the official added.
The article with the false information was published on Channel3Now just hours after the attack and was widely cited in viral social media posts.
More than a dozen English towns and cities saw unrest and riots after the July 29 knife attack that killed three girls during a dance class in Southport.
The man charged with murder and attempted murder over the stabbing spree, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain to parents who hail from Rwanda, an overwhelmingly Christian country.
Officials have blamed far-right elements for helping to stir up the disorder.
Pakistan man faces cyber terror charge over false posts linked to UK riots
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Pakistan man faces cyber terror charge over false posts linked to UK riots
- Farhan Asif was accused of publishing an article on his Channel3Now website
- Article falsely claimed that a Muslim asylum seeker was suspected in a deadly knife attack on children in the UK
Polish FM sees limit on influencing Iran after Russia missiles transfer
“I’m disappointed, because we have a new president of Iran“
WARSAW: Poland’s foreign minister conceded Thursday that there were limits on how to influence Iran, already under heavy sanctions, after Tehran allegedly shipped short-range missiles to Russia to attack Ukraine.
Western powers this week imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector, including state carrier Iran Air, and Ukraine warned it may cut off relations with Tehran.
“The trouble for Poland is that Iran is already under such severe sanctions that there is not that much more that we can do,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said when asked if Poland, a staunch backer of Ukraine, would also sever ties.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Tuesday said that Russia could start firing the Iranian missiles into Ukraine within weeks.
Western powers had warned Iran against the move, and Sikorski noted that it came shortly after Iranians elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, seen as a reformist within the cleric-run state.
“I’m disappointed, because we have a new president of Iran. He’s supposedly not as aggressive as the previous butcher of Tehran,” Sikorski said.
“But the policy of sending missiles and drones to use against Ukraine and also using similar equipment against Israel seems to be continuing.”
Poland enjoys a long history with Iran, which took in thousands of Polish civilians during World War II.
But as a close US ally, it has joined pressure campaigns against Iran, including agreeing to host a 2019 conference encouraged by then president Donald Trump that pressured Tehran.
Russia hit Red Cross vehicles in east Ukraine, killed 3: Zelensky
- “Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said
- The attack took place in the village of Virolyubivka
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian attack on vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday in his country’s east had killed three people.
“Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said.
Artillery shelling killed three Ukrainian citizens working for the ICRC and wounded another two, the Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets said.
The attack took place in the village of Virolyubivka, a dozen of kilometers away from the front line in Donetsk.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which routinely says it only hits military targets.
The UN Humanitarian mission to Ukraine said 50 workers were killed or injured in Ukraine in 2023, including 11 killed in the line of duty.
“Since the beginning of the year, this repeated pattern of attacks appears to have intensified,” the UN humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement in February.
The bells are back at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
- A convoy of trucks bearing eight restored bells pulled into the huge worksite surrounding the monument Thursday on an island in the Seine River
- They are being blessed in a special ceremony inside the cathedral
PARIS: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is getting its bells back, just in time for the medieval landmark’s reopening following a devastating 2019 fire.
A convoy of trucks bearing eight restored bells — the heaviest of which weighs more than 4 tons — pulled into the huge worksite surrounding the monument Thursday on an island in the Seine River.
They are being blessed in a special ceremony inside the cathedral before being hoisted to hang in its twin towers for the Dec. 8 reopening to the public.
Cathedral Rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, wearing a hardhat as he prepared to enter the cathedral and bless the bells, called them ‘’a sign that the cathedral will again resonate, and that its voice will be heard again. A sign of the call to prayer, and a sign of coming together.”
The bells will be raised one by one and tested out, but they won’t ring in full until the day of the reopening, said Philippe Jost, overseeing the massive Notre Dame reconstruction project. He called the bells’ arrival ‘’a very beautiful symbol of the cathedral’s rebirth.”
While construction on the cathedral started in the 12th century, the bronze bells damaged in the fire are from the 21st century. They were built according to historical tradition to replace older bells that had become discordant, to mark the monument’s 850th anniversary.
The cathedral’s roof and spire, which collapsed in the fire, have been replaced, and scaffolding is being gradually removed from the site.
Landmark projects, career prospects draw Filipino architects to GCC
- Some 2,000 Filipino architects are now working in GCC countries
- Saudi Arabia, UAE offer young professionals learning, certification
Manila: When Daryl Anasco moved to Riyadh five years ago, he was drawn by Saudi Arabia’s construction boom under Vision 2030 and its ambitious megaprojects, in which he immediately saw a window of opportunity for his career.
Fairly new to the profession and only 24 at the time, Anasco soon found himself immersed in work and projects he would not have been able to pursue in his native Bohol province in the central Philippines.
“They offer unique opportunities in my field that are not available in the Philippines ... Here in Saudi, it’s only now that I have experienced being involved in big projects. That’s one of the advantages of working here. They entrust us with big projects,” Anasco told Arab News.
There are some 2,000 Filipino architects working in GCC countries, according to data from the United Architects of the Philippines.
“They really have trust in us Filipinos. That’s my experience,” Anasco said.
“From residential I jumped to a giga-project. That’s one of the good things about working here. You’ll get to be part of big-ticket projects.”
This month, he will take the oath as a licensed architect in Riyadh, which is a significant career step that he says gives him greater confidence to seize even more opportunities in the future.
“Hopefully, I can join the biggest project in the world today, which is here in Saudi Arabia — NEOM,” he said, referring to the flagship multibillion-dollar smart city project.
“There’s a lot of job hirings here now in Saudi ... I would like to explore more.”
Cecilio Ebuenga, who left Manila for Saudi Arabia in 2004, said there has always been “room for growth” in the region for architects building their careers.
“We were given the chance to deliver our talent, our skills. We are given more roles here as professionals,” he said.
“You get recognized as a professional and it gave me more confidence.”
Ebuenga has been working with one of the biggest Saudi Arabia companies specializing in home and garden supplies.
“The working environment in Saudi is very professional. They have high regard for us Filipino architects and engineers. You can feel their respect,” he said. “We are given equal opportunity.”
New possibilities for growth have been open for Filipino architects and designers also in the UAE which, like Saudi Arabia, offers young graduates opportunities for learning and certification.
“The industry here is thriving, and there are many opportunities to grow professionally, gain experience, and be part of landmark developments,” said Precious Ann Padaong.
Padaong is a Bataan native who in 2019 found work in Dubai — home to some of the most iconic contemporary infrastructure projects, including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
She was 24 when she moved to the UAE, where she also obtained her professional license.
“Becoming a licensed architect has greatly boosted my confidence and expanded my network,” Padaong said.
“Working here allows me to be part of something big ... I’m exposed to projects and responsibilities I never imagined I could handle. Although there is still much to learn, it’s exciting to see how far I’ve come.”
Russia puts Navalny lawyers on trial
- The trial of the three – Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin – opened in the Vladimir region east of Moscow
- Arrested in October 2023, the trio are accused of participating in an ‘extremist’ organization
PETUSHKI, Russia: A Russian court on Thursday put three lawyers who used to represent the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny on trial over “extremism” charges.
Navalny died in unclear circumstances in an Arctic prison colony in February, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for leading an “extremist” organization.
Since his death, Russian authorities have escalated a campaign against the Kremlin critic’s backers, allies and family — arresting journalists who covered his court hearings and adding his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, to a “terrorists and extremists” blacklist.
The trial of three of his former lawyers — Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin — opened Thursday in a court in the Vladimir region east of Moscow, AFP journalists in the courtroom reported.
The three stood in a metal cage for defendants at the start of the hearing, before the judge granted the prosecution’s request to move the session behind closed doors, ejecting public spectators and journalists from the hall.
Arrested in October 2023, the trio are accused of participating in an “extremist” organization, charges which carry a maximum of six years.
Investigators say they passed messages between Navalny and his associates in the outside world, helping the Kremlin critic continue his outlawed political activity from behind bars.
At the time, Navalny’s team alleged the arrest of the lawyers was an attempt to isolate Navalny even further in prison, where he spent most of the time in solitary confinement.
At a pre-trial hearing, Sergunin pleaded guilty, independent media reported, while Kobzev and Liptser rejected the charges.
The Kremlin has rejected accusations from Navalny’s allies that President Vladimir Putin ordered him killed in jail.
The West and Moscow were in talks about freeing Navalny in a prisoner exchange when he died.
Over a decade of opposing the Kremlin, the charismatic opposition leader drew tens of thousands to anti-government street demonstrations.
He nearly died in 2020 after being poisoned on a campaign trip to Siberia ahead of regional elections.
An investigation by Navalny’s team, Western and Russian media outlets connected the assassination attempt to Russian FSB agents.
Most of his former allies, including his wife Navalnaya who has pledged to continue his work, live in exile.
