Report: China Imposes Collective Punishments on Families of Detained Dissidents

A U.S.-based human rights organization says Chinese authorities have been “collectively punishing” families of human rights defenders in recent years, warning that the persecution appears to be part of a “state policy.”

In a new report, Chinese Human Rights Defenders said authorities have held the children of detained human rights defenders in custody and put them in psychiatric hospitals or orphanages, forced school-age children to drop out of school, imposed exit bans on children of human rights defenders and imprisoned some family members of rights activists.

The collective punishment carried out against families of Chinese human rights defenders “is completely illegal and violates all sorts of international human rights laws and conventions,” Renee Xia, director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said during an online press briefing on April 11.

“The most heartbreaking part is [how the Chinese authorities are] inflicting so much pain on the children of human rights defenders and the experience of watching their parents being mistreated growing up leaves long-term psychological trauma on them,” she added.

VOA has reached out to China’s foreign ministry for comment but has yet to receive a response. During a Universal Periodic Review held by the UN Human Rights Council in January, China’s top diplomat in Geneva said Beijing is dedicated to “safeguarding the rights of specific groups” and “children’s development.”

Philippines Not Planning to Grant US Access to More Bases

The Philippines says it has no plans to give the United States more access to military bases in the Southeast Asian country, putting a cap on the current total number of nine sites.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told foreign correspondents in Manila Monday that the country’s decision last year to increase the number of sites agreed upon under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA was a response to aggressive actions by China in the South China Sea.

China has accused the Philippines of triggering confrontations by encroaching into what China asserts as its territorial waters. The deepening dispute between China and the Philippines has created issues for the Philippines’ exploration of oil and gas in the region, despite an agreement between the two nations to restart discussions on joint exploration.

However, China had previously asserted that the Philippines was “stoking the fire” by allowing the U.S. access to more bases close to potential flashpoints.

“These are reactions to what has happened in the South China Sea, to the aggressive actions that we have had to deal with,” Marcos said.

Hundreds of Georgians Protest as Parliament Set to Advance ‘Foreign Agent’ Bill

Several hundred protesters gathered outside the Georgian parliament on Monday as ruling party legislators on the judicial committee looked set to advance a controversial bill on “foreign agents” criticised by Western countries.

The ruling Georgian Dream party said earlier this month it would reintroduce legislation requiring organizations that accept funds from abroad to register as foreign agents or face fines, 13 months after protests forced it to shelve the plan.

The bill has been criticized by European countries and the United States. The European Union, which gave Georgia candidate status in December, has said the move is incompatible with the bloc’s values.

Georgian critics have labelled it “the Russian law,” comparing it to similar legislation used by the Kremlin to crack down on dissent in Russia.

Russia is widely unpopular in Georgia, due to Moscow’s support for the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia defeated Georgia in a short war in 2008.

Georgian Dream, which says it wants the country to join the EU and NATO even as it has deepened ties with Moscow, says the bill is necessary to combat what it calls “pseudo-liberal values” imposed by foreigners, and to promote transparency.

Opposition parties and civil society organization have called for a mass protest outside parliament on Monday evening.

Once approved by members of the legislature’s legal affairs committee, which is controlled by Georgian Dream and its allies, the bill can proceed to a first reading in parliament.

At UN, Israel Demands Iran Be Punished for Attack

Israel demanded Sunday that the U.N. Security Council act to punish and deter Iran following an unprecedented Iranian military strike on Israel that Tehran said was in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy in Syria earlier this month.

“Today, the council must take action,” Israel’s UN envoy, Gilad Erdan, told the Security Council. “Condemn Iran for their terror; trigger the snap back mechanism and reimpose crippling sanctions; designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terror organization. Action must be taken now — not for Israel’s sake, not for the region’s sake, but for the world’s sake.”

Israel requested the emergency meeting following a direct attack on its territory by Iran that it said included 170 armed drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles. Israel said its air defenses, along with those of the United States and other allies, shot down 99% of them.

Erdan criticised the council for not listening to Israel’s warnings over the years about Iran. He said the international community has been silent on the rise of “a Shiite Islamist Reich,” but with Iran’s direct attack on Israel, the regime has now been exposed.

Saudi Foreign Minister to Visit Pakistan for Talks

Pakistan is hosting high-level meetings with Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday to enhance economic and energy cooperation between the two allied nations.

Officials said that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan will lead his delegation, which will include officials from the ministries of water and agriculture, energy, investment and industry and mineral resources.

“This visit is aimed at lending positive impetus to enhanced bilateral cooperation and mutually rewarding economic partnerships,” according to a Pakistani foreign ministry statement.

The visit comes more than a week after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traveled to Saudi Arabia for wide-ranging bilateral talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A joint statement issued after the visit said that both leaders had “affirmed their commitment to expediting the first wave of the investment package worth $5 billion, which was discussed previously.”

Sunday’s Pakistani statement said that the talks with the Saudi delegation are scheduled “essentially to follow up on the understanding reached” during Sharif’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince on April 7.

2021 Kabul Suicide Bombing That Killed About 200 Not Preventable: Report

The suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed U.S. troops and Afghans in August 2021 was not preventable, and the “bald man in black” spotted by U.S. service members the morning of the attack was not the bomber, according to a new review by U.S. Central Command.

The findings. released Monday, refute assertions by some service members who believed they had a chance to take out the would-be bomber but did not get approval. And, for the first time, the U.S. military is confirming that the bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State militant who had been in an Afghan prison but was released by the Taliban as the group took control of the country that summer.

The Abbey Gate bombing during the final chaotic days of the Afghanistan withdrawal killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, and wounded scores more. It triggered widespread debate and congressional criticism, fueled by emotional testimony from a Marine injured in the blast, who said snipers believe they saw the possible bomber but couldn’t get approval to take him out.

Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews told the House Foreign Affairs Committee last March that Marines and others aiding in the evacuation were given descriptions of men believed to be plotting an attack. Vargas-Andrews, who was injured in the blast but not interviewed in the initial investigation, said he and others saw a man matching the description and might have been able to stop the attack, but requests to take action were denied.

Iraqis Fear Israeli Retaliation After Iran Attack

Iraq, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a hotbed of gallows humour.

But the tired old joke: “Iran and the West will keep fighting here until every Iraqi is dead,” is no funnier now than it was years ago.

Hundreds of missiles and drones soared over the Middle East this weekend from Iran to Israel, turning the region’s “shadow war” into a direct conflict. And while further escalation is not imminent, people inside Iraq say they have long been in the line of fire, and if the conflict continues like this, it will likely rain violence down on them.

“Many people feel insecure, not safe and that there is a danger to their lives,” said Mazin Mohammed, a father of two and a public relations officer for a women’s rights organisation in Baghdad. “Especially that Iraq is considered as one of Iran’s wings.”

Iraq is one of the world’s few Shiite Muslim majority countries, and home to several powerful Iran-backed Shiite militias. But it is also politically, religiously, and ethnically divided, with about 45% of the country being non-Shiite.

Many Iraqi leaders and some entire regions hold strong alliances with the West, particularly with the United States, which operates multiple large military bases in the country.

US Urges Israel to Avoid Escalation of Hostilities Against Iran

The U.S. urged Israel Monday to show restraint and avoid an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East as the Israeli government mulls over how to respond to Iran’s weekend attack with more than 300 missiles and drones.

“We don’t seek escalation, but we’ll continue to support the defense of Israel and to protect our personnel in the region,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the start of a meeting with Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Tamim.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his war Cabinet Monday for the second time in less than 24 hours, a government source said.

Fears grow that Iran’s attack could lead to open warfare between Israel and Iran, and spill over onto the wider region in the Middle East.

President Joe Biden has told Netanyahu the United States will not partake in any Israeli counteroffensive against Iran.

Since the start of the October 7 war between Israel and Hamas, clashes have spread between Israel and Iran proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

World Bank Warns About Poorest Nations’ ‘Historical Reversal’ of Development

Half of the world’s 75 poorest countries are experiencing a widening income gap with the wealthiest economies for the first time this century in a historical reversal of development, the World Bank said in a report on Monday.

The differential between per capita income growth in the poorest countries and the richest has widened over the past five years, according to the report.

“For the first time, we see there is no convergence. They’re getting poorer,” Ayhan Kose, deputy chief economist for the World Bank and one of the report’s authors, told Reuters.

“We see a very serious structural regression, a reversal in the world … that’s why we are ringing the alarm bells here,” he said.

The report said the 75 countries eligible for grants and zero-interest loans from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) risk a lost decade of development without ambitious policy shifts and significant international aid.

Kose said growth in many IDA countries had already begun to taper off in these countries before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it would be just 3.4% in 2020-2024, the weakest half-decade of growth since the early 1990s. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, climate change, increases in violence and conflict also weighed heavily on their prospects.

Deadly Russian Shelling Bombarding Donetsk, Says Ukraine

Ukrainian officials reported deadly Russian shelling in the eastern region of Donetsk, while Russia said it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack in an area near the Black Sea.

Vadym Filashkin, the regional governor of Donetsk, said on Telegram that the Russian shelling killed four people in the town of Siversk.

Russia has repeatedly hit the area since invading Ukraine in early 2022.

Russia’s defense ministry said its air defences destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Krasnodar area, which is located near Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued his latest call for allies to help supplement Ukraine’s air defences to protect from Russia attacks, saying Russia is inflicting “significant damage” every day.

Zelensky pointed to the defence of Israel against Iran’s missile and drone attack late Sunday, saying it demonstrates the effectiveness of modern air defence systems.