International

UN chief calls for restoration of constitutional order in Niger

Published

9 months ago

August 19, 2023

UN chief calls for restoration of constitutional order in Niger

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Friday, called for Niger’s democratically elected officials to be released at once, following their detention in the July coup.

Türk, in a statement, urged the generals to restore constitutional order immediately.

The UN rights chief, however, expressed grave concerns for the people of Niger.

“The people have already been through so much hardship over the years. Now, the very people who they elected to build a pathway to end their destitution have been removed by force,” he said.

Türk also raised concerns about the announced decision by Niger’s military leaders to prosecute President Mohamed Bazoum and others working with him for high treason.

“This decision is not only politically motivated against a democratically elected president but has no legal basis as the normal functioning of democratic institutions have been cast aside.

“The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake. Generals cannot take it upon themselves to defy – at a whim – the will of the people.

“Rule-by-gun has no place in today’s world,” said the High Commissioner.

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The message comes as the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) called for a humanitarian corridor out of Niger to be established urgently, for stranded migrants.

This call was echoed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative on the ground, Stefano Savi.

He called for a reopening of the border so that humanitarian supplies and more urgently needed humanitarian staff could be admitted to meet rising needs.

He said it was imperative to allow in vaccines stranded at humanitarian hubs.

“We have the vaccines just awaiting the reopening of the airspace. You know, those vaccines are essential to carry out vaccine campaigns,” he said.

In the first half of 2023, more than 60,000 migrants travelled through Niger.

IOM said recent border and airspace closures had led to overcrowding in its centres, where thousands of migrants were hosted as many waited to return home.

According to the organisation, in 10 days, departures for over 1,000 migrants, primarily from Mali and the Republic of Guinea, were cancelled or postponed.

Meanwhile, around 1,800 migrants are awaiting assistance outside IOM transit centres, which host around 5,000 people at seven transit points strategically positioned along migration routes.

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From the UN human rights office, (OHCHR), spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani noted that Niger was one of the poorest countries in the world, with nearly half of the population living on less than 2.15 dollars a day and millions reliant on humanitarian assistance.

She deplored that the country’s people had been forced to endure “even more misery” following the coup, which had triggered border closures, trade interruptions and a surge in food prices.

Even before President Bazoum was seized by some of his guards in the 26 July power grab, over three million people were chronically food insecure, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and close to half of all children under five were suffering from chronic malnutrition.

The OHCHR spokesperson reiterated Türk’s call for “full and free access for humanitarian assistance to allow critical food, medical and other relief supplies into the country.”

Shamdasani added that there had been a “very worrying” clampdown on civic space in Niger, which was impacting freedom of expression and public assembly.

This included allegations of intimidation against journalists and bans on international media outlets.

She also noted that recently there had been a “deeply troubling” pattern of unconstitutional changes in government by military forces across West Africa – the Niger putsch being the sixth in the region in the past three years.

UN chief calls for restoration of constitutional order in Niger

(NAN)

International

Scammers steal over $3.4bn from older Americans – FBI report

Published

1 day ago

May 1, 2024

Trends Admin

Scammers steal over $3.4bn from older Americans – FBI report

Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI analysis issued Tuesday, indicating a spike in losses caused by increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics used to deceive the vulnerable into giving up their life savings.

Losses from scams reported by Americans over the age of 60 increased 11% last year compared to the previous year, according to the FBI.

Investigators are warning of an increase in brazen bank account-draining operations that entail deploying couriers in person to collect cash or gold from victims.

“It can have a devastating impact on older Americans who lack the ability to go out and make money,” said Deputy Assistant Director James Barnacle of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “People lose all their money. Some people become destitute.”

Last year, the FBI received more than 100,000 complaints from victims of scammers over the age of 60, with over 6,000 individuals losing more than $100,000.

It comes after a significant increase in reported losses by older Americans in the two years following the 2020 coronavirus epidemic, when people were confined to their homes and easier to reach over the phone.

Barnacle stated that investigators are finding organised, transnational criminal enterprises targeting older Americans through a variety of schemes, such as romance scams and investment frauds.

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Last year, the most common type of fraud reported by older individuals was tech support scams, in which scammers impersonate technical or customer care staff over the phone.

In one such scam, which authorities say is becoming more popular, criminals impersonate technology, banking, and government officials to convince victims that foreign hackers have infiltrated their bank accounts and that they should transfer their funds to a new account that the scammers secretly control.

According to the FBI, between May and December, there was an increase in scammers utilising live couriers to steal money from victims who were fooled into believing their accounts had been hijacked.

In those circumstances, scammers inform victims that their bank accounts have been compromised and that they must sell their possessions for cash or purchase gold or other precious metals to secure their savings. The fraudsters then arrange for a courier to collect it in person.

“A lot of the fraud schemes ask victims to send money via a wire transfer or a cryptocurrency transfer. When the victim is reluctant to do that, they’re given an alternative,” Barnacle said. “And so the bad guy will use courier services.”

According to prosecutors, an 81-year-old Ohio man shot and killed an Uber driver who he believed was attempting to rob him after receiving fraudulent phone calls earlier this month.

The man had been receiving calls from someone claiming to be an officer from the local court and demanding money.

The Uber driver had been instructed to get a package from the man’s residence, a request that officials believe was made by the same hoax caller or an accomplice.

The enormous losses to older Americans are most likely an underestimate. Only roughly half of the more than 880,000 complaints submitted to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre last year included information about the victim’s age.

Scammers steal over $3.4bn from older Americans – FBI report

International

Gaza: Protesters clash at UCLA, police arrest pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University

Published

1 day ago

May 1, 2024

Trends Admin

Gaza: Protesters clash at UCLA, police arrest pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University

Violent skirmishes broke out on Wednesday on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators, a live video coverage by a US broadcaster revealed.

According to the UCLA student publication Daily Bruin, supporters of Israel attempted to knock down a pro-Palestinian protest campsite on campus.

Police were responding to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block’s call for assistance, said Zach Seidl, Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Communications, on X.

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The October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, followed by an Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territory, has sparked the largest outpouring of US student action since the 2020 anti-racism rallies.

Aerial footage from KABC, an ABC affiliate, showed people using sticks or poles attacking wooden planks set up as a temporary barricade to defend pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom held placards or umbrellas.

Late on Tuesday, New York City police detained scores of pro-Palestinian activists holed up in an academic building on Columbia University’s campus in New York and dismantled a protest encampment that the Ivy League school had attempted to destroy for nearly two weeks.

Gaza: Protesters clash at UCLA, police arrest pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University

Reuters

International

UN warns Israel assault on Gaza’s Rafah on ‘immediate horizon’

Published

2 days ago

May 1, 2024

Trends Admin

United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres

UN warns Israel assault on Gaza’s Rafah on ‘immediate horizon’

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Reuters) – The United Nations on Tuesday warned that an Israeli assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip was “on the immediate horizon” and that “incremental” progress by Israel on aid access to the enclave could not be used to prepare for or justify an operation.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for states with influence over Israel “to do everything in their power” to prevent an Israeli assault on Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1.2 million displaced Gaza Palestinians are sheltering.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to go ahead with a long-promised assault, whatever the response by Hamas to latest proposals for a halt to fighting in the nearly seven-month-long war and a return of Israeli hostages.

“The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon,” said U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths in a statement. “The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words.”

Israel pledged nearly a month ago to improve aid access to the enclave of 2.3 million people after U.S. President Joe Biden demanded steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, saying the U.S. could place conditions on support if Israel did not act.

Guterres told reporters that there had been “incremental progress” toward averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in northern Gaza, but much more was urgently needed.

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“These improvements in bringing more aid into Gaza cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah,” Griffiths said.

Guterres specifically called on Israel to follow through on its promise to open two crossings to the north.

“A major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarians and the people we serve. Humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel, and the people in need must not be targets,” Guterres told reporters.

NO ALTERNATIVE TO LAND

A U.N.-backed report in March said famine was imminent and likely by May in northern Gaza, and could spread across the enclave by July. Guterres said the most vulnerable in the north “are already dying of hunger and disease.”

When asked what leverage the U.S. could use over its ally Israel to boost aid access and avert a Rafah assault, Guterres said: “It is very important to put all possible pressure in order to avoid what would be an absolutely devastating tragedy.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he will discuss with Netanyahu on Wednesday measures that Israel still needs to take to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.

“I strongly encourage the government of Israel and the Hamas leadership to reach now an agreement,” Guterres said. “Without that, I fear the war, with all its consequences both in Gaza and across the region, will worsen exponentially.”

The U.N. is in talks with the U.S. about a floating pier it is constructing to allow maritime aid deliveries to Gaza from Cyprus. Guterres said: “We welcome aid delivery by air and sea, but there is no alternative to the massive use of land routes.”

Israel’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Jonathan Miller said last week that Israel continued “to elevate and step up” its aid support and that there had been substantial results with a “dramatic increase” in the volume of aid over the past several months.

Israel is retaliating against Hamas in Gaza over an Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel led by the militant group.

Israel says about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people were taken hostage in the assault. Gaza health authorities say Israel has killed more than 34,000 people in its offensive in Hamas-run Gaza since then.