News

British regulator responds to request to ban RT

Published

2 years ago

24/02/2022

MNN

According to Ofcom, the agency will not hesitate to take swift action if it deems necessary.

The UK’s media watchdog has issued a response to calls to review RT’s broadcasting license in the country amid a growing backlash in the West to Moscow’s decision to recognize the two breakaway Donbass republics.

Replying to a request from Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries on Wednesday, Ofcom set out its stance on whether the network should be allowed to stream over the airways in the nation as tensions flare between Ukraine and Russia.

“Recognizing the serious nature of the crisis in Ukraine, we have been keeping the situation under close review and have already stepped up our oversight of coverage of these events by broadcasters in the UK,” the statement read.

According to the agency, “We are expediting complaints in this area as a matter of urgency and we will not hesitate to take swift action where necessary.”

“I am confident that we have the full range of enforcement tools at our disposal and our track record shows that when we find a breach of our rules, we can and do take action,” Ofcom’s Chief Executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, wrote, adding that the regulator would be “fully transparent” about any investigations it opens and their outcomes.

“It is acceptable for broadcasters to present issues from a particular perspective provided that alternative views and opinions are also represented,” the notice read. “It would not be acceptable for any of our licensees to broadcast one-sided propaganda.”

The media watchdog’s statement comes just hours after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that the Culture Secretary had appealed to Ofcom, asking it to consider banning RT from being streamed on TVs in the country.

Dorries insisted in her statement that “RT is demonstrably part of Russia’s global disinformation campaign, as its own editor-in-chief has made clear in the past, who has called the network an ‘information weapon’ of the Russian state.”

RT’s deputy editor-in-chief and head of communications, Anna Belkina, hit out at the move, suggesting that MPs are exposing London’s “self-proclaimed commitment” to free speech as a “sham.”

“Even in the face of undue political pressure, [Ofcom] has continuously found RT to be in line with other UK broadcasters, without a single breach of broadcasting code to be found in the last four years – not something that can be said about many other channels in the country,” she said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also poured scorn on the move, stating that, if Britain goes ahead with its threats, it should expect a response in kind.

“British journalists can ask their German colleagues how it is,” she told reporters. Earlier this month, Moscow said the Russian office of the German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle was to be shut down in response to Berlin’s “unfriendly actions” against RT DE. The Russian foreign ministry added that it would also be blocked from broadcasting in Russia via a satellite or through other means, and that all staff members are to have their press credentials taken away from them.

The move came after Germany’s top media regulator upheld a ban on RT’s German language channel due to the absence of a locally-issued license. The channel previously obtained a valid pan-European permit in Serbia, but Berlin declared this as insufficient.

Resource: RT

News

Technical Chinese team to assist in 5M tree planting programme

Published

2 hours ago

19/05/2024

The Ambassador of China to the Maldives Wang Lixin has affirmed that a technical team of China will visit the Maldives to conduct a soil analysis, prior to the commencement of the five million tree planting programme.

Addressing the media, Ambassador Lixin stated that the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy is engaged in collaborative efforts with the Chinese company, Fujian Forestry Administration regarding the programme. The ambassador further disclosed that the technical team will conduct a comprehensive study on the soil and will identify and elucidate the various types of plants which can be cultivated in the Maldives easily.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has announced the national initiative to plant five million trees across the country at the high-level segment of the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai.

The programme will commence annually on June 5, commemorating World Environment Day. Trees will be planted in all residential islands and resorts under the programme. The administration previously revealed that neighbouring nations will be contributing trees to the initiative.

Source(s): PsmNews

World

Israeli army continues attack on Gaza’s Jabalia camp

Published

2 hours ago

19/05/2024

The Israeli army on Saturday continued its attack on Jabalia in northern Gaza, urging residents in the area to evacuate their homes and head to shelters in western Gaza.

Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on social media platform X that the army eliminated “a sabotage cell in Jabalia after clashes with its members inside buildings, where the saboteurs fled to the roof and opened fire on the army forces.”

Adraee said the troops surrounded the buildings and eliminated the group after an exchange of fire, noting that the army did not suffer any losses during the clashes.

The spokesperson did not provide further details about the identity of the “saboteurs.”

Earlier in the day, Palestinian medical sources said at least 28 people, including women and children, were killed in continuous Israeli raids on the Jabalia refugee camp.

Israeli warplanes targeted several residential houses and a shelter center for displaced people in the camp with missiles, according to Xinhua, citing Palestinian security sources.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 35,386, health authorities in the Palestinian enclave said in a press statement on Saturday.

The raids caused large explosions in the camp, which had been witnessing a military operation for several days.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed more than 130 militants in targeted operations in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

As part of the operations, the Givati infantry brigade killed more than 80 militants in the area and located dozens of rifles, grenades, and ammunition, according to the IDF statement.

Givati’s reconnaissance unit also uncovered significant underground tunnel infrastructure in the area, it said.

Simultaneously, the 401st armored brigade killed about 50 militants in raids on Hamas infrastructure and buildings from which gunfire was shot at IDF troops and located dozens of tunnel shafts and many anti-aircraft guns.

“So far, hundreds of terrorist infrastructure sites have been destroyed by the 401st brigade, including weapons production facilities and ready-to-use launch sites,” the IDF said.

New divisions emerge

New divisions have emerged among Israel’s leaders over post-war Gaza’s governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory, piling pressure onto Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reports.

Netanyahu came under personal attack on Saturday from war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who threatened to resign from the body unless the premier approved a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the week, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant slammed Netanyahu for failing to rule out an Israeli government in Gaza after the war.

The prime minister’s outright rejection of post-war Palestinian leadership in Gaza has broken wide open a rift among top politicians and also frustrated relations with top ally the United States, the AFP report said.

Experts say the lack of clarity only serves to benefit Hamas, whose leader has insisted no new authority can be established in the territory without its involvement.

Gantz said Saturday that the war cabinet needed to draft and approve a broad range of plans within three weeks, including the formation of an “American, European, Arab and Palestinian administration that will manage civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip,” according to the AFP report.

Washington had previously called for a “revitalized” form of the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war. But Netanyahu has rejected any role for the Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza, saying on Thursday that it “supports terror, educates terror, finances terror.”

Instead, Netanyahu has clung to his steadfast aim of “eliminating” Hamas, asserting that “there’s no alternative to military victory.”

Source(s): CGTN

News

Developmental projects of Maldives progressing substantially

Published

1 day ago

18/05/2024

India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar has affirmed that the developmental projects of the Maldives carried out with the assistance of India have been progressing considerably. The remarks were made by the minister during the Confederation of Indian Industry (CIIs) Annual Business Summit.

Speaking at the summit, Minister Jaishankar stated that some developmental projects were slightly politically influenced, hindering the progress. However, he assured that the progress of the projects have propelled at a notable rate.

Following the Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer’s official visit to India at the invitation of Minister Jaishankar, discussions were held highlighting the spectrum of initiatives across the nation has been kickstarted through loans and grants from the Government of India during the previous administration. He emphasised the current government’s commitment to prioritising the resumption and completion of these projects.

Meanwhile, the Government of India has reaffirmed its commitment to the development and prosperity of the Maldives by extending a budgetary support of USD 50 million to be repaid within a term of one year.

Source(s): PsmNews