france24--2020-01-20--Amid raging wildfires, Australia hit by extreme floods, hail and dust storms

This handout photo taken on January 17 , 2020 and received on January 20 courtesy of Marcia Macmillan shows a child running towards a dust storm in Mullengudgery in New South Wales .
- Dust storms hit many parts of Australia 's western New South Wales as a prolonged drought continues .
( Photo by Handout / Courtesy of Marcia Macmillan / AFP ) / Dust storms , hail and flash floods have battered beleaguered Australian cities in recent days , extreme weather that has diminished the threat from scores of wildfires that continue to blaze across the country ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the national capital Canberra on Monday damaged public buildings , businesses , homes and cars , cut power to some suburbs , brought down trees , caused flash flooding and injured two people , emergency services officials said .
To the west , a 300-kilometer ( 186-mile ) wide cloud of red dust was carried by wind gusts up to 107 kilometers ( 66 miles ) per hour and descended on the drought-stricken towns of Dubbo , Broken Hill , Nyngan and Parkes , local media reported .
Much of the dust is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ farms .
“ It ’ s part and parcel of this record drought we ’ ve got at the moment , ” Dubbo Mayor Ben Shields told Nine Network television .
Hail struck Melbourne , Australia ’ s second-largest city , on Sunday and more hail storms are forecast to return .
The city has been choked by smoke from distant wildfires in Victoria state in recent weeks .
Unusually intense storms over the weekend caused flash flooding in the cities of Brisbane and Gold Coast in Queensland state just north of New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wildfire destruction has occurred .
The fires have claimed at least 28 lives since September , destroyed more than 2,600 homes and razed more than 10.4 million hectares ( 25.7 million acres ) .
The area burned is larger than the U.S. state of Indiana .
Widespread recent rainfall in New South Wales and Victoria have helped but have not extinguished major fires in Australia ’ s two most populous states .
Authorities have warned the fire danger will escalate this week in both states with rising temperatures and drier conditions .

Dust storms, hail and flash floods have battered beleaguered Australian cities in recent days, extreme weather that has diminished the threat from scores of wildfires that continue to blaze across the country’s southeast.
This handout photo taken on January 17, 2020 and received on January 20 courtesy of Marcia Macmillan shows a child running towards a dust storm in Mullengudgery in New South Wales. - Dust storms hit many parts of Australia's western New South Wales as a prolonged drought continues. (Photo by Handout / Courtesy of Marcia Macmillan / AFP) /
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A hail storm in the national capital Canberra on Monday damaged public buildings, businesses, homes and cars, cut power to some suburbs, brought down trees, caused flash flooding and injured two people, emergency services officials said.
To the west, a 300-kilometer (186-mile) wide cloud of red dust was carried by wind gusts up to 107 kilometers (66 miles) per hour and descended on the drought-stricken towns of Dubbo, Broken Hill, Nyngan and Parkes, local media reported. Much of the dust is top soil from New South Wales state farms.
Incredible images captured from our contributor Jason Davies of the dust storm that impacted Parkes NSW Australia. Media licensing via SWA. See Jason's Gallery and Video at https://t.co/Q5NddbiPaZ #duststorm pic.twitter.com/8aTnFON5om — Severe Weather Aus (@SevereWeatherAU) January 19, 2020
“It’s part and parcel of this record drought we’ve got at the moment,” Dubbo Mayor Ben Shields told Nine Network television.
Hail struck Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, on Sunday and more hail storms are forecast to return. The city has been choked by smoke from distant wildfires in Victoria state in recent weeks.
FIRST FIRES, NOW ICE: Severe storms lash parts of Australia, bringing golf ball-sized hail. https://t.co/0jmjbKmRnz pic.twitter.com/TbbkTZbJmg — ABC News (@ABC) January 20, 2020
Unusually intense storms over the weekend caused flash flooding in the cities of Brisbane and Gold Coast in Queensland state just north of New South Wales, where most of the wildfire destruction has occurred.
The fires have claimed at least 28 lives since September, destroyed more than 2,600 homes and razed more than 10.4 million hectares (25.7 million acres). The area burned is larger than the U.S. state of Indiana.
Widespread recent rainfall in New South Wales and Victoria have helped but have not extinguished major fires in Australia’s two most populous states.
Authorities have warned the fire danger will escalate this week in both states with rising temperatures and drier conditions.
(AP)
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france24--2020-01-20--VIDEO: Iraqis split on parliament’s call to expel foreign troops

Following the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil earlier this month , Iraqi lawmakers have called on the government to expel all foreign forces deployed in the country .
While some Iraqis support the call , others see the continued presence of the US-led coalition in Iraq as vital to protecting the country against the Islamic State ( IS ) group and other militia groups .
FRANCE 24 reports .
On January 5 , the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to expel the US-led international coalition in Iraq , saying the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ airport two days earlier had been an unacceptable breach of Iraqi sovereignty .
Not the least because the air strike had also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis , the deputy commander of the Iran-backed militia group the Popular Mobilization Forces .
Ahmed al-Kanani , an MP for the Al Sadiqoun party which is the political wing of an armed Iraqi group that has close ties to Iran , was one of the lawmakers who had called for the resolution with the aim of ending foreign military presence in Iraq .
`` The US and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Soleimani .
We do n't want them anymore .
It was a declaration of war , '' he said .
But on the streets of Baghdad , where demonstrators have spent weeks calling for the government to resign , many believe the parliament is acting under influence of Iran rather than in the interest of the Iraqi people .
`` We want to be free , without the United States and without Iran .
What 's been the benefit of having American troops here over the last sixteen years ?
What 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
, '' one protester told FRANCE 24 .
Other Iraqis , such as Khalid Alrawi who fled the IS group from the Sunni region of Al Anbar in 2015 , see the US-led coalition presence as vital to maintaining security in parts of the country .
`` In Iraqi Kurdistan and all Sunni regions , I would say that 90 percent of us do not want an American departure .
The cities have been liberated from Daesh , but they are still in the desert , '' Alrawi said .
To watch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the video player above .

Following the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil earlier this month, Iraqi lawmakers have called on the government to expel all foreign forces deployed in the country. While some Iraqis support the call, others see the continued presence of the US-led coalition in Iraq as vital to protecting the country against the Islamic State (IS) group and other militia groups. FRANCE 24 reports.
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On January 5, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to expel the US-led international coalition in Iraq, saying the deadly air strike near Baghdad's international airport two days earlier had been an unacceptable breach of Iraqi sovereignty. Not the least because the air strike had also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Iran-backed militia group the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Ahmed al-Kanani, an MP for the Al Sadiqoun party which is the political wing of an armed Iraqi group that has close ties to Iran, was one of the lawmakers who had called for the resolution with the aim of ending foreign military presence in Iraq.
"The US and Pentagon stated explicitly they ordered the strike against Soleimani. We don't want them anymore. It was a declaration of war," he said.
But on the streets of Baghdad, where demonstrators have spent weeks calling for the government to resign, many believe the parliament is acting under influence of Iran rather than in the interest of the Iraqi people.
"We want to be free, without the United States and without Iran. What's been the benefit of having American troops here over the last sixteen years? What's the good of having Iran in Iraq?," one protester told FRANCE 24.
Other Iraqis, such as Khalid Alrawi who fled the IS group from the Sunni region of Al Anbar in 2015, see the US-led coalition presence as vital to maintaining security in parts of the country.
"In Iraqi Kurdistan and all Sunni regions, I would say that 90 percent of us do not want an American departure. The cities have been liberated from Daesh, but they are still in the desert," Alrawi said.
To watch the full report, please click on the video player above.
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france24--2020-01-20--Several killed as protesters battle security forces in Baghdad

Three Iraqi protesters were killed in the capital as thousands of anti-government demonstrators sought to shut streets across the country on Monday , their deadline for authorities to implement long-awaited reforms .
Rallies have rocked Iraq since October but fearing they would lose momentum amid spiralling regional tensions protesters last Monday told the government it had one week to meet their demands or they would escalate their demonstrations .
Protesters sought to ramp up pressure on the government on Monday with pop-up rallies away from their main gathering place in Baghdad 's iconic Tahrir ( Liberation ) Square .
Hundreds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they clashed with security forces who fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse them , an AFP journalist said .
Three protesters were killed , medics told AFP , two of them by live rounds and the third by a tear gas canister that pierced his neck .
More than 50 other people were wounded , the medics said .
Young men wearing helmets and gas masks in an attempt to protect themselves from flying gas canisters erected barricades to try to push riot police back .
Protesters have called for early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an independent prime minister to replace outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi and for all corrupt officials to be held accountable .
Late Sunday young protesters began sealing off highways and bridges across the capital Baghdad and Iraq 's south , torching tyres and setting up makeshift barricades .
They tried to do the same early Monday in the capital but security forces acted fast , with the military saying it had reopened a major Baghdad thoroughfare and arrested nine young men who had attempted to seal it off .
Protests slam 'procrastination ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ southern Iraq announced an official holiday on Monday .
But young people hit the streets in the southern cities of Kut , Nasiriyah , Baqubah , Amara and the holy city of Najaf , setting tyres on fire .
In the protest hotspot of Diwaniyah , they shut key roads both inside and leading out of the city .
`` The procrastination of the government and the political class for more than three months now has prompted us to take escalatory steps to pressure them to meet our demands , '' Mohammad Faeq @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Since October , around 460 people have lost their lives to protest-related violence and another 25,000 have been wounded , according to an AFP count .
Authorities do not provide updated casualty figures .
Demonstrators have feared their movement would be eclipsed by the geopolitical storm brewing between neighbouring Iran and the United States , both close partners of Iraq .
A US drone strike near Baghdad 's airport on January 3 killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani , prompting Iranian rocket strikes on an Iraqi base housing US troops and triggering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political figures have since ramped up their calls for foreign forces -- including some 5,200 US troops -- to leave the country .
UN warns of 'foreign interference ' On Monday , the United Nations ' top official in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said ignoring the demands of protesters would only fuel `` anger and distrust '' .
`` Any steps taken so far to address the people 's concerns will remain hollow , if they are not completed , '' she said in a statement .
`` Domestic unity , cohesion and determination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narrow partisan interests , foreign interference and/or criminal elements which actively seek to hinder Iraq 's stability , '' she added .
Protesters also worry that a mass rally to be organised Friday by firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to demand the ouster of US troops could drown them out .
Last week , Sadr urged Iraqis to hold `` a million-strong , peaceful , unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations '' .
While protesters have criticised the US , they have directly accused Iran of hindering Iraq politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Iraq , building up close ties with a variety of political and military players over decades .
Protesters say Iran 's overreach has contributed to rampant corruption and poor services .
The World Bank says one in five people lives below the poverty line in Iraq , which is OPEC 's second-biggest crude producer .
While the rallies initially railed against the economy , they quickly escalated to demand a total overhaul of government .
Protesters scored one win in December with the resignation of Abdel Mahdi but he has stayed on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have thus far failed to agree on a successor .
Demonstrators have publicly rejected names circulating as possible replacements and are furious that other sweeping reforms have not been implemented .
( AFP )

Three Iraqi protesters were killed in the capital as thousands of anti-government demonstrators sought to shut streets across the country on Monday, their deadline for authorities to implement long-awaited reforms.
An anti-government protester flashes the victory gesture as he stands before flaming tires at a make-shift roadblock during a demonstration in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on January 19, 2020.
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Rallies have rocked Iraq since October but fearing they would lose momentum amid spiralling regional tensions protesters last Monday told the government it had one week to meet their demands or they would escalate their demonstrations.
Protesters sought to ramp up pressure on the government on Monday with pop-up rallies away from their main gathering place in Baghdad's iconic Tahrir (Liberation) Square.
Hundreds descended on nearby Tayaran Square, where they clashed with security forces who fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse them, an AFP journalist said.
Three protesters were killed, medics told AFP, two of them by live rounds and the third by a tear gas canister that pierced his neck.
More than 50 other people were wounded, the medics said.
Young men wearing helmets and gas masks in an attempt to protect themselves from flying gas canisters erected barricades to try to push riot police back.
Protesters have called for early elections under a new voting law, an independent prime minister to replace outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi and for all corrupt officials to be held accountable.
Late Sunday young protesters began sealing off highways and bridges across the capital Baghdad and Iraq's south, torching tyres and setting up makeshift barricades.
They tried to do the same early Monday in the capital but security forces acted fast, with the military saying it had reopened a major Baghdad thoroughfare and arrested nine young men who had attempted to seal it off.
Protests slam 'procrastination'
Fearing widespread rallies, provincial authorities across southern Iraq announced an official holiday on Monday.
But young people hit the streets in the southern cities of Kut, Nasiriyah, Baqubah, Amara and the holy city of Najaf, setting tyres on fire.
In the protest hotspot of Diwaniyah, they shut key roads both inside and leading out of the city.
"The procrastination of the government and the political class for more than three months now has prompted us to take escalatory steps to pressure them to meet our demands," Mohammad Faeq, a 28-year-old protester, told AFP.
Since October, around 460 people have lost their lives to protest-related violence and another 25,000 have been wounded, according to an AFP count.
Authorities do not provide updated casualty figures.
Demonstrators have feared their movement would be eclipsed by the geopolitical storm brewing between neighbouring Iran and the United States, both close partners of Iraq.
A US drone strike near Baghdad's airport on January 3 killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, prompting Iranian rocket strikes on an Iraqi base housing US troops and triggering fears of a wider conflict.
Iraqi political figures have since ramped up their calls for foreign forces -- including some 5,200 US troops -- to leave the country.
UN warns of 'foreign interference'
On Monday, the United Nations' top official in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said ignoring the demands of protesters would only fuel "anger and distrust".
"Any steps taken so far to address the people's concerns will remain hollow, if they are not completed," she said in a statement.
"Domestic unity, cohesion and determination are urgently necessary to build resilience against narrow partisan interests, foreign interference and/or criminal elements which actively seek to hinder Iraq's stability," she added.
Protesters also worry that a mass rally to be organised Friday by firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to demand the ouster of US troops could drown them out.
Last week, Sadr urged Iraqis to hold "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations".
While protesters have criticised the US, they have directly accused Iran of hindering Iraq politically and economically.
Tehran holds major sway in Iraq, building up close ties with a variety of political and military players over decades.
Protesters say Iran's overreach has contributed to rampant corruption and poor services.
The World Bank says one in five people lives below the poverty line in Iraq, which is OPEC's second-biggest crude producer.
While the rallies initially railed against the economy, they quickly escalated to demand a total overhaul of government.
Protesters scored one win in December with the resignation of Abdel Mahdi but he has stayed on in a caretaker role and political parties have thus far failed to agree on a successor.
Demonstrators have publicly rejected names circulating as possible replacements and are furious that other sweeping reforms have not been implemented.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-01-20--Several civilians killed by female suicide bomber in western Chad

Nine civilians died in western Chad after a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives in an area targeted in the past by jihadist group Boko Haram , the army and officials said on Monday .
Chad is one of the countries struggling with the jihadist violence that has spilled over from Nigeria 's decades-long Islamist insurgency .
The attack took place overnight Sunday in the village of Kaiga Kindjiria .
`` A suicide bomber blew herself up yesterday in Kaiga Kindjiria , killing nine people , two women and seven men , '' an army source said .
The toll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Azem Bermandoa .
`` It is Boko Haram , There is no doubt , '' the spokesman said .
Kaiga-Kindjiria , a village of about 7,000 people , is located near the vast Lake Chad region where militants hide out among islets and marshlands to launch attacks on Cameroon , Chad , Nigeria and Niger .
Boko Haram began in Nigeria but its attacks have spread to neighbouring countries .
The group has also split and a faction affiliated with the Islamic State group , ISWAP , is particularly active around Lake Chad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Minister of the Armed Forces , Florence Parly visited the Chad capital N'Djamena , where she met her Chadian counterpart on Monday morning .
In early January , 1,200 Chadian troops , deployed as part of a regional force in Nigeria , returned to Chad to be redeployed around the Lake , where attacks have multiplied in recent months .
( AFP )

Nine civilians died in western Chad after a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives in an area targeted in the past by jihadist group Boko Haram, the army and officials said on Monday.
Soldiers of the Chad Army sit on the back of a Land Cruiser at the Koundoul market, 25 km from N'Djamena, on January 3, 2020, upon their return after a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria. - Chad has ended a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria and withdrawn its 1,200-strong force across their common border, an army spokesman told AFP on January 4, 2020.
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Chad is one of the countries struggling with the jihadist violence that has spilled over from Nigeria's decades-long Islamist insurgency.
The attack took place overnight Sunday in the village of Kaiga Kindjiria.
"A suicide bomber blew herself up yesterday in Kaiga Kindjiria, killing nine people, two women and seven men," an army source said.
The toll was confirmed by Chadian army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa.
"It is Boko Haram, There is no doubt," the spokesman said.
Kaiga-Kindjiria, a village of about 7,000 people, is located near the vast Lake Chad region where militants hide out among islets and marshlands to launch attacks on Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger.
Boko Haram began in Nigeria but its attacks have spread to neighbouring countries. The group has also split and a faction affiliated with the Islamic State group, ISWAP, is particularly active around Lake Chad.
The suicide attack came as French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly visited the Chad capital N'Djamena, where she met her Chadian counterpart on Monday morning.
In early January, 1,200 Chadian troops, deployed as part of a regional force in Nigeria, returned to Chad to be redeployed around the Lake, where attacks have multiplied in recent months.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-01-20--A brief history of impeachment: From Johnson to Trump

Donald Trump , whose trial in the Senate begins this week , is just the third US president to be impeached , while another came famously close .
From Andrew Johnson in 1868 , to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton , we take a look back at the history of impeachment in the US .
Johnson was the first US president to be impeached .
Coming to power after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in the aftermath of the American Civil War , he ran straight into conflict with Congress over his attempts to block legislation to grant civil rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
However , the official charges brought against him were for firing his war secretary , Edwin Stanton , without permission from Congress and thereby violating a contemporaneous law that was in force for only a year .
He survived by one vote .
Richard Nixon came extremely close to being impeached in 1974 in the wake of the infamous Watergate scandal and most likely would have become the only impeached US president to ever be convicted .
However , he resigned before the impeachment process could formally begin .
In 1998 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House intern Monica Lewinsky saw him become just the second impeached president .
After denying the affair during a sexual harassment lawsuit against him , Clinton was charged with lying under oath and obstruction of justice .
But he survived the Senate vote on both counts , with a handful of Republicans even backing the Democratic president .

Donald Trump, whose trial in the Senate begins this week, is just the third US president to be impeached, while another came famously close. From Andrew Johnson in 1868, to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, we take a look back at the history of impeachment in the US.
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Johnson was the first US president to be impeached. Coming to power after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in the aftermath of the American Civil War, he ran straight into conflict with Congress over his attempts to block legislation to grant civil rights to recently freed slaves in the south.
However, the official charges brought against him were for firing his war secretary, Edwin Stanton, without permission from Congress and thereby violating a contemporaneous law that was in force for only a year. He survived by one vote.
Richard Nixon came extremely close to being impeached in 1974 in the wake of the infamous Watergate scandal and most likely would have become the only impeached US president to ever be convicted.
However, he resigned before the impeachment process could formally begin.
In 1998, Bill Clinton’s notorious affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky saw him become just the second impeached president.
After denying the affair during a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, Clinton was charged with lying under oath and obstruction of justice. But he survived the Senate vote on both counts, with a handful of Republicans even backing the Democratic president.
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france24--2020-01-20--Unmasking Indian politician Anil Upadhyay, a ‘man of many faces’

According to the internet , Anil Upadhyay is an elected official from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’ s Bharatiya Janata Party .
Other posts claim he ’ s an opposition politician who happens to like Modi , while others say he ’ s a fierce critic of the government .
He ’ s also said to have committed electoral fraud , tortured people and been cruel to animals .
The France 24 Observers team wanted to find out who this mysterious politician with so many faces really is… and we were surprised by the result of our quest .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ man said to be Anil Upadhyay was in a video posted on WhatsApp and Facebook in early January .
The footage shows Anil Upadhyay , who is said to be an elected official from Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’ s Hindu nationalist BJP party , criticising politicians from his own camp during a speech against a controversial reform of citizenship laws .
This video was posted along with a caption that reads : “ BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly ( MLA ) Anil Upadhyay .
What is Modi going to say about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thrown into chaos since the adoption of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act ( CAA ) in December 2019 , with many taking to the streets to protest the bill that they see as discriminatory .
The CAA would allow refugees from Pakistan , Afghanistan and Bangladesh who are Hindu or Christian , for example , to acquire Indian nationality , but excludes Muslims .
But the man in this video isn ’ t Anil Upadhyay… because , turns out , Anil Upadhyay doesn ’ t exist .
More on that later .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ footage through a reverse image search ( click here to find out how ) and discovered that the video showed a politician named Faruk Ahmed , from a local party called the VBA , giving a speech on December 20 in Maharashtra state .
Faruk Ahmed , a leader from the local VBA party , gave a speech on December 20 in Nanded , Maharashtra .

INDIA
Social media in India is full of videos purporting to show Anil Upadhyay, who they claim is an elected official. The France 24 Observers looked into who he really is. (screengrabs from videos shared on social media)
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According to the internet, Anil Upadhyay is an elected official from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Other posts claim he’s an opposition politician who happens to like Modi, while others say he’s a fierce critic of the government. He’s also said to have committed electoral fraud, tortured people and been cruel to animals. The France 24 Observers team wanted to find out who this mysterious politician with so many faces really is… and we were surprised by the result of our quest.
The most recent online appearance of the man said to be Anil Upadhyay was in a video posted on WhatsApp and Facebook in early January. The footage shows Anil Upadhyay, who is said to be an elected official from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP party, criticising politicians from his own camp during a speech against a controversial reform of citizenship laws.
This video was posted along with a caption that reads: “BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Anil Upadhyay. What is Modi going to say about this speech?”
India has been thrown into chaos since the adoption of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019, with many taking to the streets to protest the bill that they see as discriminatory. The CAA would allow refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who are Hindu or Christian, for example, to acquire Indian nationality, but excludes Muslims.
But the man in this video isn’t Anil Upadhyay… because, turns out, Anil Upadhyay doesn’t exist. More on that later. But Indian fact-checking website BOOM ran this particular footage through a reverse image search (click here to find out how) and discovered that the video showed a politician named Faruk Ahmed, from a local party called the VBA, giving a speech on December 20 in Maharashtra state.
Faruk Ahmed, a leader from the local VBA party, gave a speech on December 20 in Nanded, Maharashtra.
"In these videos, everyone is named Anil Upadhyay!"
This video is not the first purporting to show Anil Upadhyay, who is apparently an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). An MLA is a representative elected directly to the state legislature in one of India’s 29 states. India is the world’s largest democracy.
The journalists who work for BOOM are fairly used to seeing this imaginary politician pop up all over social media and have written dozens of articles about him. Journalist Nivedita Niranjankunmar first came across Anil Upadhyay in April 2019, in the height of the legislative elections:
We were looking into a viral video showing a group of people armed with batons beating up a young man in the middle of the street. Online, people were saying that the video showed a policitian from the BJP beating up a dalit who was seen driving a luxury car [Editor’s note: Also known as an “untouchables”, dalits are the people who fall lowest on India’s caste system and are considered inferior. They often work jobs considered by others to be impure.] The caption read, “What will Prime Minister Modi say about these blows by BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly Anil Upadhyay ?”. Many people shared this video, including a member of parliament from the opposition [Editor’s note: MLAs, like Anil Upadhyay is supposed to be, represent Indians at the state level. MPs are part of the national government].
This video was shared along with the caption: “What will Prime Minister Modi say about these blows by BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly Anil Upadhyay?” Thanks to a reverse image search, we were able to establish what this video actually shows. It was filmed back in 2017 and shows a father beating up his son-in-law after the son-in-law beat up his daughter. The incident was widely reported in the media at the time.
Local TV channel VTV Gujarati broadcast a report about the video back when it was filmed in 2017 and explained that it showed a violent family dispute. Back then, we were happy to verify the video and we didn’t really pay attention to the name of the BJP politician that people had wrongly associated with the video. But we started seeing the name pop up more and more in fake videos that were circulating during the elections. We saw quite a few different videos circulating online that highlighted poor behaviour from MLAs representing states all over India. Sometimes these politicians were from the BJP, other times they were from the main opposition party, the Congress Party… but all of them were named Anil Upadhyay! Violence, fraud and singing Modi’s praises In one video circulating online, Anil Upadhyay was said to be a member of the Congress Party attacking a police officer in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In reality, the video showed a BJP politician named Manish Kumar. Another video circulating online allegedly showed Anil Upadhyay accompanying a woman into a voting booth in Bengal state and tampering with her vote. In some versions, he was from the BJP. In other versions, he was from the Congress Party. In reality, the man in the video is named Hamizuddin and he isn’t a member of either party. He was already subject to a complaint for violation of the electoral code. Back in April, a television channel said to have close links with the BJP party shared a video of a man praising Modi. The video named the man as “Anil Upadhyay, elected to the Legislative Assembly” who was said to be a member of the opposition Congress Party but who was singing Modi’s praises anyway. This report, broadcast on national television channel Republic TV, claims to show "Anil Upadhyay, an elected member of the Legislative Assembly” In reality, this video has been circulating online for a while-- but suddenly, people were sharing it with a caption that said the man was named Anil Upadhyay and that he was an elected official from Uttar Pradesh. But I found the man who actually appears in the video. His name is Mohan Chandra Pandey and he said he didn’t belong to any party, he was just a "big fan of Modi". @republic sir your TV news at 7.14 am shows me as anil upadhaya a Congress m l a in viral videob while I am a common man Mohan Pandey. I admire you and like your channel . I hope you will rectify this mistake and oblige .
Regards M0han PANDEY (@M0hanPandey) April 26, 2019
"Add in someone’s name and suddenly your fake video seems more credible!"
Even after the legislative elections in May, videos allegedly featuring Anil Upadhyay kept popping up. In September, people started sharing a gruesome video showing a man torturing, beating and sexually assaulting another man who was suspended from the ceiling. People said it was Anil Upadhyay again, even though, in reality, it was the owner of a transport company who horrifically abused one of his drivers as a punishment for allegedly misusing funds. In November, Anil Upadhyay was accused of killing a doe in a paddock when, in reality, the culprit was a Bangladeshi farmer.
As received on Whattsapp . Did not have the heart to see the complete video.
This BJP MLA, Anil Upadhyay, is learning to hunt by shooting the deer in a park. Make it viral and let the court punish him.????????????✨⚡@Hope4speechless pic.twitter.com/okxEB08P6b Tinkerbell 11:11 (@tinkerbell9958) December 26, 2019
This BJP elected official, Anil Upadhyay, is learning to hunt by shooting does in a park. Share the video so he’ll be punished in court!
Journalist Niranjankunmar tried to see if an Anil Upadhyay actually existed:
I scoured public lists of all of the members of all of the Legislative Assemblies in every state in India who belonged either to the BJP or the Congress Party. I didn’t find anyone named Anil Upadhyay. There are two mentions of someone named “Anil Upadhyay” in the Myneta database, which has information about the finances and criminal records of electoral candidates [Editor’s note: Myneta is run by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which fights against corruption]. However, neither of these men are members of the Legislative Assembly and neither were candidates in recent elections.
There is no mention of an elected official by that name in the Indian press. There are no politicians who’ve been active in recent years named Anil Upadhyay! People are probably using it because it helps a video go viral-- add in someone’s name, especially a politician’s name, and suddenly your fake video seems more credible!
Where did Anil Upadhyay come from?
The origins of this made-up politician remain foggy. However, the France 24 Observers were able to dig up a reference to him from a few years back-- the earliest mention we’ve seen yet. Back in August 2018, millions of people watched a video showing a man ranting about Hindus who took part in beef exports [Editor’s note: Cows are sacred animals to Hindus]. “What would Modi say about this statement made by Member of the Legislative Assembly Anil Upadhyay?” read the caption.
However, this video has been doctored. The France 24 Observers found the original video, which features the Congress Party logo and pictures of its leaders. In the version shared widely, those images have been replaced with photos of Narendra Modi and the BJP logo. The man in the video isn’t the mysterious Anil Upadhyay-- he’s actually an actor named Satyajit who features in movies made in Kannada [a language spoken in southern India] and regularly shares his political opinions in similar videos.
Article by Pierre Hamdi (@PierreHamdi)


france24--2020-01-21--Donald Trump claims 'spectacular' US economic success in Davos

US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the 50th World Economic Forum ( WEF ) annual meeting in Davos , Switzerland , January 21 , 2020 President Donald Trump sought on Tuesday to sell the United States to the global business community , telling an economic conference in the Swiss Alps that America ’ s economic turnaround has been “ nothing short of spectacular.
” Trump addressed the annual World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland , hours before his historic impeachment trial was to reconvene in the U.S. Senate in Washington .
Trump reminded the audience that when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early in his presidency , “ I told you that we had launched the great American comeback.
” “ Today I ’ m proud to declare the United States is in the midst of an economic boom , the likes of which the world has never seen before , ” the president said .
Trump ’ s participation in the annual gathering of political and business elites in the Alpine ski resort will provide a conspicuous split-screen moment in a presidency familiar with them .
The two-day Swiss visit will test Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being impeached with a desire to project leadership on the world stage .
Speculation had mounted that Trump would cancel the trip due to the Senate trial , but aides said he remains focused on producing results for the American people .
Climate issues were to be a main theme at the forum and “ Act on Climate ” was written in the snow at the landing zone where Trump ’ s Marine One helicopter set down in Davos .
Trump , however , said he was attending the forum to encourage businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is thriving .
America is flourishing and yes , America is winning again like never before , ” Trump said before talking about a newly signed trade deal with China and a pending trade agreement with Mexico and Canada .
Trump also spoke of record low unemployment , stock market gains and millions removed from unemployment .
Trump planned to meet with world leaders and business executives after the speech .
Swooping in for his second appearance at the conference , Trump was set to depart on Wednesday , jetting back to Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial .

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday assailed environmental “prophets of doom”, delivering an uncompromising message in Davos after Swedish teenage campaigner Greta Thunberg slammed government inaction on the climate crisis.
US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 21, 2020
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Thunberg was in the audience in the Swiss Alps to hear a typically bullish speech by Trump, delivered just before the start of his Senate impeachment trial in Washington.
The 50th meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) got under way in the ski resort with an avowed focus on climate change but with starkly different visions over global warming laid bare.
“We must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse,” said Trump, growling that “they want to see us do badly”.
He claimed that “alarmists” had been wrong on previous occasions by predicting population crisis, mass starvation and the end of oil.
Trump branded those warning of out-of-control global warming and other environmental disasters “the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers”.
Trump told reporters later that his Davos trip was devoted to meeting “the most important people in the world and we’re bringing back tremendous business”.
“The other’s just a hoax,” he said of the “disgraceful” impeachment trial.
‘Nothing has been done’
Before Trump’s appearance, Thunberg underlined the message that has inspired millions around the world, saying “basically nothing has been done” to fight climate change.
“It will require much more than this. This is just the very beginning,” the 17-year-old said.
Speaking calmly and with a wry smile, Thunberg acknowledged that her campaign which began with school strikes had attracted huge attention without yet achieving concrete change.
“There is a difference between being heard to actually leading to something,” she said.
While the WEF and individual business leaders have been detailing their own concerns about climate change, Greenpeace complained in a new report that some of the world’s biggest banks, insurers and pension funds have collectively invested $1.4 trillion in fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate deal in 2016.
Trump in his speech reeled off a list of achievements for the American economy and touted the United States as the “number one producer of oil and natural gas”.
Davos showdown?
There are no expectations that Trump and Thunberg, who have exchanged barbs through Twitter, would actually meet, but the crowded venue and intense schedule mean a chance encounter cannot be ruled out.
When Trump and his entourage walked through UN headquarters last year at the annual General Assembly, a photo of the teenager staring in apparent fury at the president from the sidelines went viral.
Although Trump’s Republican party holds a majority in the Senate and is almost sure to acquit him on charges of abusing his power and obstructing Congress, the impeachment adds volatility to an already tense 2020 presidential election.
“We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy,” said Trump, apparently referring to his Democratic party opponents ahead of the presidential election in November.
‘Governments continue to fall’
Sustainability is the buzzword at the Davos forum, which began in 1971, with heel crampons handed out to participants to encourage them to walk on the icy streets rather than use cars, and the signage paint made out of seaweed.
Trump’s opposition to renewable energy, his withdrawal from the Paris accord negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, and the free hand extended to the fossil fuel industry puts him at odds with the thrust of this year’s event.
“People are paying a lot more attention to climate,” Eurasia Group president Ian Bremner told AFP at Davos, adding there was “genuine action by some big players”, after investment titan BlackRock said it was partially divesting out of coal.
“But let’s be clear—a big part of this is because we failed for a very long time and governments continue to fail,” he added.
Business leaders are likely also to be concerned by the state of the global economy whose prospects, according to the International Monetary Fund, have improved but remain brittle.
The IMF cut its global growth estimate for 2020 to 3.3 percent, saying that a recent truce in the trade war between China and the US had brought some stability but that risks remained.
Activists meanwhile will be pressing for much more concrete action to fight inequality, after Oxfam issued a report outlining how the number of billionaires has doubled in the past decade and the world’s 22 richest men now have more wealth than all the women in Africa.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-01-21--Thunberg tells Davos 'nothing has been done' to fight climate change

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday slammed global inaction on climate change in front of the world ’ s top business leaders , as the annual Davos forum faced up to the perils of global warming while bracing for an address from US President Donald Trump .
The 50th meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps resort got under way seeking to meet head-on the dangers to both the environment and economy from the heating of the planet .
Trump , who has repeatedly expressed scepticism about climate change , is set to give the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morning , on the same day as his impeachment trial opens at the Senate in Washington .
But before his appearance , Thunberg underlined the message that has inspired millions around the world—that governments are failing to wake up to the reality of climate change .
“ We are all fighting for the environment and climate .
If you see it from a bigger perspective , basically nothing has been done .
It will require much more than this .
This is just the very beginning , ” she said .
Speaking calmly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acknowledged that her campaign which began with school strikes had attracted huge attention without yet achieving change .
“ There is a difference between being heard to actually leading to something , ” she said .
“ I am not the person who should complain about not being heard , ” she said to appreciative laughter .
“ I am being heard all the time .
But the science and the voice of the young people are not at the centre of the conversation , ” she added .
The forum ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warned that “ climate change is striking harder and more rapidly than many expected ” with global temperatures on track to increase by at least three degrees Celsius ( 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit ) towards the end of the century .
There are no expectations that Trump and Thunberg , who have exchanged barbs through Twitter , will actually meet , but the crowded venue and intense schedule mean a chance encounter can not be ruled out .
When Trump and his entourage walked through UN headquarters last year at the annual General Assembly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in apparent fury at the president from the sidelines went viral .
Tweeting as he headed to Davos , Trump appeared in bullish mood , writing he would “ bring Good Policy and additional Hundreds of Billions of Dollars back to the United States of America !
” “ We are now NUMBER ONE in the Universe , by FAR !
!
he added .
Sustainability is the buzzword at the forum , which began in 1971 , with heel crampons handed out to participants to encourage them to walk on the icy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the signage paint made out of seaweed .
Trump ’ s opposition to renewable energy , his withdrawal from the Paris climate accord negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama , and the free hand extended to the fossil fuel industry puts him at odds with the entire thrust of the event .
Business leaders attending the forum will be keen to tout their awareness on climate change but are likely also to be concerned by the state of the global economy whose prospects , according to the IMF , have improved but remain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growth estimate for 2020 to 3.3 percent , saying that a recent truce in the trade war between China and the US had brought some stability but that risks remained .
“ We are already seeing some tentative signs of stabilisation but we have not reached a turning point yet , ” said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva .
Activists meanwhile will be pressing for much more concrete action to fight inequality , after Oxfam issued a report outlining how the number of billionaires has doubled in the past decade and the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth than all the women in Africa .
Greenpeace meanwhile complained that some of the world ’ s biggest banks , insurers and pension funds have collectively invested $ 1.4 trillion in fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate deal .
Other key priorities will be exploring how to battle biodiversity loss , narrow the digital divide between the internet haves and have nots and step up the fight against pandemics in the face of vaccine hesitancy and drug resistance .
“ I am angry about the state of the world but I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solutions and deliver , ” WWF director general Marco Lambertini told AFP .
“ There needs to be healthy balance between these two sentiments .
”

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday slammed global inaction on climate change in front of the world’s top business leaders, as the annual Davos forum faced up to the perils of global warming while bracing for an address from US President Donald Trump.
Advertising Read more
The 50th meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps resort got under way seeking to meet head-on the dangers to both the environment and economy from the heating of the planet.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed scepticism about climate change, is set to give the first keynote address of Davos 2020 on Tuesday morning, on the same day as his impeachment trial opens at the Senate in Washington.
But before his appearance, Thunberg underlined the message that has inspired millions around the world—that governments are failing to wake up to the reality of climate change.
“We are all fighting for the environment and climate. If you see it from a bigger perspective, basically nothing has been done. It will require much more than this. This is just the very beginning,” she said.
Speaking calmly and with a wry smile, Thunberg acknowledged that her campaign which began with school strikes had attracted huge attention without yet achieving change.
“There is a difference between being heard to actually leading to something,” she said.
“I am not the person who should complain about not being heard,” she said to appreciative laughter.
“I am being heard all the time. But the science and the voice of the young people are not at the centre of the conversation,” she added.
The forum’s own Global Risks report published last week warned that “climate change is striking harder and more rapidly than many expected” with global temperatures on track to increase by at least three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) towards the end of the century.
Davos showdown?
There are no expectations that Trump and Thunberg, who have exchanged barbs through Twitter, will actually meet, but the crowded venue and intense schedule mean a chance encounter cannot be ruled out.
When Trump and his entourage walked through UN headquarters last year at the annual General Assembly, a photo of the teenager staring in apparent fury at the president from the sidelines went viral.
Tweeting as he headed to Davos, Trump appeared in bullish mood, writing he would “bring Good Policy and additional Hundreds of Billions of Dollars back to the United States of America!”
“We are now NUMBER ONE in the Universe, by FAR!! he added.
Heading to Davos, Switzerland, to meet with World and Business Leaders and bring Good Policy and additional Hundreds of Billions of Dollars back to the United States of America! We are now NUMBER ONE in the Universe, by FAR!! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2020
Sustainability is the buzzword at the forum, which began in 1971, with heel crampons handed out to participants to encourage them to walk on the icy streets rather than use cars, and the signage paint made out of seaweed.
Trump’s opposition to renewable energy, his withdrawal from the Paris climate accord negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, and the free hand extended to the fossil fuel industry puts him at odds with the entire thrust of the event.
Business leaders attending the forum will be keen to tout their awareness on climate change but are likely also to be concerned by the state of the global economy whose prospects, according to the IMF, have improved but remain brittle.
The IMF cut its global growth estimate for 2020 to 3.3 percent, saying that a recent truce in the trade war between China and the US had brought some stability but that risks remained.
“We are already seeing some tentative signs of stabilisation but we have not reached a turning point yet,” said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva.
‘Healthy balance’
Activists meanwhile will be pressing for much more concrete action to fight inequality, after Oxfam issued a report outlining how the number of billionaires has doubled in the past decade and the world’s 22 richest men now have more wealth than all the women in Africa.
Greenpeace meanwhile complained that some of the world’s biggest banks, insurers and pension funds have collectively invested $1.4 trillion in fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate deal.
Other key priorities will be exploring how to battle biodiversity loss, narrow the digital divide between the internet haves and have nots and step up the fight against pandemics in the face of vaccine hesitancy and drug resistance.
“I am angry about the state of the world but I am also determined to engage and provide solutions and deliver,” WWF director general Marco Lambertini told AFP. “There needs to be healthy balance between these two sentiments.”
(AFP)
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france24--2020-01-21--Trump impeachment lawyers demand immediate acquittal in legal, political defence

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington , U.S. , before his departure to Davos , January 20 , 2020 .
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday rejected the Democratic-led House of Representatives ' impeachment charges and called for their immediate dismissal by the Republican-led Senate in a memo offering a legal and political case against his removal .
The 116-page Trial Memorandum sought to undercut charges that the Republican president abused his power and obstructed Congress , and constituted Trump 's first comprehensive defence before his Senate trial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Senate should reject the Articles of Impeachment and acquit the president immediately , '' the memo concluded .
Separately , Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell put forward rules that could lead to a quick impeachment trial for Trump , with no guarantee that witnesses or new evidence would be allowed .
Under the resolution , which could face a vote as early as Tuesday , lawyers for Trump could move early in the proceedings to ask senators to dismiss all charges , a senior Republican leadership aide said , a motion that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposal , the Senate would have to vote later on whether to even allow materials collected by the House during its impeachment investigation to be admitted as part of the trial .
Trump , only the fourth of 45 American presidents to face the possibility of being ousted by impeachment , is charged with abusing the powers of his office by asking Ukraine to investigate a Democratic political rival , Joe Biden , and obstructing a congressional inquiry into his conduct .
Democrats say Trump abused his power by withholding U.S. military assistance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign and obstructed Congress by refusing to hand over documents and barring administration officials from testifying , even when subpoenaed by House investigators .
Trump 's defence argued neither charge constituted a crime or impeachable offense , that he was within his rights as president to make decisions about foreign policy and what information to give Congress , and that the House pursued a flawed and one-sided process before impeaching him on Dec. 18 .
The memo 's executive summary asserted that the House Democrats ' `` novel theory of 'abuse of power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and supplanted the U.S. Constitution 's standard of `` Treason , Bribery , or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors . ''
It rejected the obstruction of Congress charge as `` frivolous and dangerous , '' saying the president exercised his legal rights by resisting congressional demands for information , also known as subpoenas .
It also accused the House Democrats of conducting a rigged process , said they succeeded in proving only that Trump had done nothing wrong and argued , as the White House has repeatedly , that this was an effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and to prevent his re-election in November .
While the Senate is highly unlikely to remove Trump from office , it is important for him to try to diminish the Democratic accusations to limit political damage to his bid for a second term .
In part of his legal filing , Trump 's lawyers cast their arguments in unabashedly political terms .
`` They want to use impeachment to interfere in the 2020 election , '' the memo said .
`` Put simply , Democrats have no response to the President 's record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American economy , rebuilding America 's military , and confronting America ’ s adversaries abroad . ''
In their own filing with the Senate on Monday , the seven House impeachment `` managers '' who will make the Democrats case for Trump 's removal to the Senate said he had `` jeopardized our national security and our democratic self-governance . ''
`` President Trump maintains that the Senate can not remove him even if the House proves every claim in the Articles of impeachment .
That is a chilling assertion .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , arguing that despite Trump ’ s `` stonewalling , '' the House had amassed `` overwhelming evidence of his guilt . ''
Trump 's team says he was well within his constitutional authority to press Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last year to investigate Biden and his son Hunter as part of what Trump says was an anti-corruption drive .
The Bidens deny any wrongdoing and Trump 's allegations have been widely debunked .
While Trump 's legal papers laid out extensive arguments as to why he did not commit a crime , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arm of Congress , said last week that Trump did commit a crime by withholding U.S. military assistance to Ukraine , money that was ultimately sent after a brief pause .
Seeking to show he is still conducting presidential business despite the trial , Trump left late on Monday for Davos , Switzerland , to join global leaders at the World Economic Forum .
Some advisers argued against his making the trip , where he will meet Iraqi , Pakistani , Swiss , Kurdish and European Union leaders .
As a result , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Senate on Tuesday engages in a potentially bruising battle over whether witnesses should be allowed to testify in the trial and whether new documents could be introduced , as Democrats wish .
The resolution McConnell unveiled on Monday would give House Democratic prosecutors and Trump lawyers 48 hours , evenly split , to present their arguments over a maximum of four days .
It drew immediate criticism from Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , who accused McConnell of failing to stick to the rules used during President Bill Clinton 's 1998 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a national disgrace . ''
`` It 's clear Senator McConnell is hell-bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through , '' Schumer said in a statement .
While there could be a fast-track trial , Democrats could slow things down by proposing that a series of witnesses testify .
If senators vote to subpoena witnesses , that also would consume time by requiring that the witnesses first be deposed before deciding on whether they actually testify to the Senate .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a direct result of impeachment .
One , Richard Nixon , resigned before he could be removed .
Andrew Johnson and Clinton were impeached by the House but not convicted by the Senate .

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday rejected the Democratic-led House of Representatives' impeachment charges and called for their immediate dismissal by the Republican-led Senate in a memo offering a legal and political case against his removal.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., before his departure to Davos, January 20, 2020.
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The 116-page Trial Memorandum sought to undercut charges that the Republican president abused his power and obstructed Congress, and constituted Trump's first comprehensive defence before his Senate trial begins in earnest on Tuesday.
"The Senate should reject the Articles of Impeachment and acquit the president immediately," the memo concluded.
Separately, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell put forward rules that could lead to a quick impeachment trial for Trump, with no guarantee that witnesses or new evidence would be allowed.
Under the resolution, which could face a vote as early as Tuesday, lawyers for Trump could move early in the proceedings to ask senators to dismiss all charges, a senior Republican leadership aide said, a motion that would likely fail.
Under the Republican proposal, the Senate would have to vote later on whether to even allow materials collected by the House during its impeachment investigation to be admitted as part of the trial.
Trump, only the fourth of 45 American presidents to face the possibility of being ousted by impeachment, is charged with abusing the powers of his office by asking Ukraine to investigate a Democratic political rival, Joe Biden, and obstructing a congressional inquiry into his conduct.
01:15
Democrats say Trump abused his power by withholding U.S. military assistance to Ukraine as part of a pressure campaign and obstructed Congress by refusing to hand over documents and barring administration officials from testifying, even when subpoenaed by House investigators.
Trump's defence argued neither charge constituted a crime or impeachable offense, that he was within his rights as president to make decisions about foreign policy and what information to give Congress, and that the House pursued a flawed and one-sided process before impeaching him on Dec. 18.
The memo's executive summary asserted that the House Democrats' "novel theory of 'abuse of power'" was not an impeachable offense and supplanted the U.S. Constitution's standard of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
It rejected the obstruction of Congress charge as "frivolous and dangerous," saying the president exercised his legal rights by resisting congressional demands for information, also known as subpoenas.
It also accused the House Democrats of conducting a rigged process, said they succeeded in proving only that Trump had done nothing wrong and argued, as the White House has repeatedly, that this was an effort to overturn Trump's 2016 election victory and to prevent his re-election in November.
While the Senate is highly unlikely to remove Trump from office, it is important for him to try to diminish the Democratic accusations to limit political damage to his bid for a second term.
'Chilling assertion'
In part of his legal filing, Trump's lawyers cast their arguments in unabashedly political terms.
"They want to use impeachment to interfere in the 2020 election," the memo said. "Put simply, Democrats have no response to the President's record of achievement in restoring prosperity to the American economy, rebuilding America's military, and confronting America’s adversaries abroad."
In their own filing with the Senate on Monday, the seven House impeachment "managers" who will make the Democrats case for Trump's removal to the Senate said he had "jeopardized our national security and our democratic self-governance."
"President Trump maintains that the Senate cannot remove him even if the House proves every claim in the Articles of impeachment. That is a chilling assertion. It is also dead wrong," they wrote, arguing that despite Trump’s "stonewalling," the House had amassed "overwhelming evidence of his guilt."
Trump's team says he was well within his constitutional authority to press Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last year to investigate Biden and his son Hunter as part of what Trump says was an anti-corruption drive. The Bidens deny any wrongdoing and Trump's allegations have been widely debunked.
While Trump's legal papers laid out extensive arguments as to why he did not commit a crime, the General Accounting Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, said last week that Trump did commit a crime by withholding U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, money that was ultimately sent after a brief pause.
Seeking to show he is still conducting presidential business despite the trial, Trump left late on Monday for Davos, Switzerland, to join global leaders at the World Economic Forum. Some advisers argued against his making the trip, where he will meet Iraqi, Pakistani, Swiss, Kurdish and European Union leaders.
As a result, he will be in the Alps when the Senate on Tuesday engages in a potentially bruising battle over whether witnesses should be allowed to testify in the trial and whether new documents could be introduced, as Democrats wish.
The resolution McConnell unveiled on Monday would give House Democratic prosecutors and Trump lawyers 48 hours, evenly split, to present their arguments over a maximum of four days.
It drew immediate criticism from Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who accused McConnell of failing to stick to the rules used during President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment, calling it "nothing short of a national disgrace."
"It's clear Senator McConnell is hell-bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through," Schumer said in a statement.
While there could be a fast-track trial, Democrats could slow things down by proposing that a series of witnesses testify. If senators vote to subpoena witnesses, that also would consume time by requiring that the witnesses first be deposed before deciding on whether they actually testify to the Senate.
No president has ever been removed as a direct result of impeachment. One, Richard Nixon, resigned before he could be removed. Andrew Johnson and Clinton were impeached by the House but not convicted by the Senate.
(REUTERS)
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france24--2020-01-21--Macron and Trump call a truce in digital tax dispute

French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed it is important to complete successful negotiations on the digital services tax .
Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have agreed to extend negotiations on a dispute over a French tax on digital giants to the end of the year , postponing Washington 's threat of sanctions against Paris , a French diplomatic source said Monday .
The source said the French and US leaders , who spoke on Sunday , had agreed to give negotiations a chance to `` find a solution in an international framework '' and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefit no one '' .
Macron tweeted earlier Monday that he had had a `` great discussion '' with Trump on the issue .
`` We will work together on a good agreement to avoid tariff escalation , '' he said .
The White House said the two men spoke and `` agreed it is important to complete successful negotiations on the digital services tax , and they also discussed other bilateral issues . ''
The dispute began last year when Paris approved a levy on up to three percent of revenues earned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ international efforts dragged on to find a new model for taxing revenues earned via online sales and advertising .
Tech companies often pay little tax in countries in which they are not physically present .
Washington said the tax singled out US companies such as Google , Apple , Facebook , Amazon and Netflix , and threatened duties of up to 100 percent of the value of French imports of such emblematic goods as Champagne and Camembert cheese .
On January 7 , the two sides gave themselves 15 days to reach a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ duties on up to $ 2.4 billion of French goods .
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire , who has been conducting intensive negotiations for the last several weeks , was less sanguine than Macron , describing the talks as `` very difficult '' earlier Monday .
Avoiding sanctions that could be announced as soon as Wednesday is `` far from assured '' , he told French television LCI .
Le Maire is due to meet US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos on Wednesday .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negotiated agreement in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) .
`` France is pursuing its objective of fair taxation on digital companies and finding a compromise within the framework of the OECD , '' the French presidency said on Monday .
France has said it would drop its tax if an international agreement is reached .
After blocking the OECD talks for several years , Washington relaunched them last year only to make proposals in December which France rejected .

Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have agreed to extend negotiations on a dispute over a French tax on digital giants to the end of the year, postponing Washington's threat of sanctions against Paris, a French diplomatic source said Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump have agreed it is important to complete successful negotiations on the digital services tax.
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The source said the French and US leaders, who spoke on Sunday, had agreed to give negotiations a chance to "find a solution in an international framework" and avoid "a trade war that will benefit no one".
Macron tweeted earlier Monday that he had had a "great discussion" with Trump on the issue. "We will work together on a good agreement to avoid tariff escalation," he said.
"Excellent!" replied Trump on Twitter.
The White House said the two men spoke and "agreed it is important to complete successful negotiations on the digital services tax, and they also discussed other bilateral issues."
The dispute began last year when Paris approved a levy on up to three percent of revenues earned by technology companies in France, as international efforts dragged on to find a new model for taxing revenues earned via online sales and advertising.
Tech companies often pay little tax in countries in which they are not physically present.
Washington said the tax singled out US companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix, and threatened duties of up to 100 percent of the value of French imports of such emblematic goods as Champagne and Camembert cheese.
On January 7, the two sides gave themselves 15 days to reach a deal to avert the US threat of duties on up to $2.4 billion of French goods.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who has been conducting intensive negotiations for the last several weeks, was less sanguine than Macron, describing the talks as "very difficult" earlier Monday.
Avoiding sanctions that could be announced as soon as Wednesday is "far from assured", he told French television LCI.
Le Maire is due to meet US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos on Wednesday.
They are expected to continue talks seeking a negotiated agreement in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"France is pursuing its objective of fair taxation on digital companies and finding a compromise within the framework of the OECD," the French presidency said on Monday.
France has said it would drop its tax if an international agreement is reached.
After blocking the OECD talks for several years, Washington relaunched them last year only to make proposals in December which France rejected.
(AFP)
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france24--2020-01-20--France's controversial bioethics bill reaches Senate amid continuing outcry

Thousands of opponents to France 's new bioethics bill , which aims in part to extend medically assisted reproduction , known by the acronym PMA in French , to lesbian couples and single women , demonstrate in Paris on January 19 , 2020 .
France ’ s bioethics reform reaches the Senate floor on Tuesday , three months after lower-house lawmakers passed the controversial legislation .
The bill , which has been considerably amended by senators in committee , could yet change , with the lesbian couples and single women poised to gain legal access to medically assisted reproduction potentially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ withdrawn .
Opponents of the reform staged a fresh demonstration against the measures on Sunday in Paris , with tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets .
The main point of contention is the bill ’ s flagship measure – the extension of legal access to medically assisted procreation to lesbian couples and single women , a measure Emmanuel Macron mooted publicly during his 2017 presidential bid .
The lower-house National Assembly debated the bill at length before passing it on first reading in October and sending it to the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Senate floor on Tuesday , the draft lower-house lawmakers adopted in the fall withstood 136 amendments ’ worth of revisions in committee .
What remains of the initial reform and what does Macron ’ s bioethics plan look like today ?
Medically assisted reproduction not covered in certain cases While amendments submitted demanding that access to medically assisted reproduction “ sans père ” , without a father , not be granted after all were rejected , a number of tweaks the senators did okay considerably reshape the bill ’ s headline Article @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to women regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status remains , it may no longer be systematically covered by social security .
Conservative senator Muriel Jourda , who represents Les Républicains in the upper house , has proposed that medically assisted reproduction be covered for heterosexual couples only when specific medical criteria are met , such as diagnosed infertility or in order to prevent transmission of a serious illness to the child .
As such , lesbian couples and single women would be obliged to foot the full bill for treatment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s against nature , ’ say French protesters opposed to fertility treatments for single women , lesbians In distinguishing between assisting reproduction in order to overcome infertility from providing assistance to meet a desire for children outside a heterosexual couple , the amendment contradicts France ’ s health minister , Agnès Buzyn , who expressed her support for total coverage for medically assisted procreation , regardless of the circumstances .
On Twitter , one senator , Laurence Rossignol , said that the Socialist group she sits with in the chamber voted against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
Rossingnol , a former Socialist minister for Family , Childhood and Women ’ s Rights , said the group plans to submit a new amendment in session in a bid to re-establish full coverage .
Measures concerning the cultivation and storage of reproductive tissue ( gametes ) and embryos were also subject to changes in committee .
The bill initially set the maximum period for cultivating an embryo at 14 days , up from the current seven .
That increase was extended via amendment in committee to 21 days .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is to be prolonged from five to ten years .
Several left-leaning senators submitted , and saw passed , an amendment in committee that would open the task of storing embryos – which had been the exclusive domain of public institutions – to for-profit private facilities .
According to the senators behind the amendment , demand is such that public facilities no longer have the capacity to meet every request , which has led to lengthy delays .
Moreover , authorising medically assisted reproduction for more women will mean further congestion in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that allowing private sector provision of medically assisted reproduction services will also “ diminish , [ or ] end the deregistration of women over 40 on waiting lists and prevent patients , on the basis of financial and age criteria , from turning to private centres abroad.
” Despite fervent conservative opposition , there were no changes to initial text on the establishment of parentage for children born to lesbian couples by medically assisted means .
As agreed in mid-September , the couples will need to officially recognise the child as their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that point , the woman who will not have carried the child will be legally recognised as one of the child ’ s two parents , on an equal footing with her partner , the biological mother .
Provisions that partially lift the anonymity of sperm , egg and embryo donors – whose contributions , incidentally , are unremunerated in France — have also been subject to intense debate .
The rules in place for maintaining the anonymity of reproductive tissue donors , and those regulating access for people born as the result @ @ @ @ @ @ @ genetic origins , stirred yet more debate in committee .
Until now , every donor has had to provide consent for the possible transmission of “ non-identifying data ” ( physical appearance , background or age ) as well as for the release of a donor ’ s identity to a child born as a result of the donation .
An amendment to that provision proposes allowing donors to choose whether they reveal their identity .
But donors will be asked before the donation to accept providing irrevocable access to non-identifying data , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a result of the donation after they turn 18 .
“ This mechanism preserves in a more balanced way the interests of the person born from a donation of gametes ( access to origins ) , those of the donor ( the donor ’ s right to a private life for themselves and their relations ) and the general interest ( to not discourage gametes donors ) , ” the accepted amendment argued .
Children born from donations would now also benefit from the ability , espoused by the senators , to request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a later date .
The National Council for Access to Personal Origins ( Cnaop ) could at that point make contact with donors to ask for their agreement in sharing their identity .
The concept of “ saviour babies ” has been a key point of friction throughout the bioethics debate .
Controversially , it means authorising the conception of a child free of the genetic illness afflicting his or her sibling via embryo selection ; the “ saviour ” child – known in French as a “ bébé-médicament ” or medicine-baby @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that of the afflicted sibling , can then go on to help cure the afflicted child with stem cell-rich umbilical blood .
A previous French bioethics law in 2004 had permitted the technique on an experimental basis , but in October the National Assembly voted to put an end to the practice .
In committee this month , the Senate proposed that it be reintroduced into the current bill .
Meanwhile , the preimplantation diagnosis – analysing embryos in vitro before they are implanted – that is part of the embryo selection process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reform and authorised “ in the search for chromosomal anomalies not compatible with embryonic development ” .
Today , preimplantation diagnosis is authorised only in cases where one parent , or another direct ascendant , carries a genetic illness “ of a particular seriousness recognised as incurable ” .
According to the amendment proposed by the conservative Les Républicains senator Corinne Imbert , the technique could now be allowed for verifying the state of embryos before they are transferred into the uterus when the woman has already suffered repeated miscarriages or implantation failures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failures ” .
The legal framework for the procedure was , however , maintained and the committee issued a reminder : Any research on an embryo must be subject to prior authorisation by France ’ s biomedicine agency .
As for the subject of surrogacy , which is illegal in France and a perennial hot-button issue among demonstrators , there are no changes in sight .
The opposition , which holds the majority in the Senate , continues to block any movement to allow it .
Indeed , Les Républicains senate leader Bruno @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aimed at “ providing full and entire scope to the prohibition of surrogacy in France ” .
Senators are set to debate the bioethics bill through February 4 , after which the reform will shuttle back to the lower house for a second reading .
This article has been translated from the original in French .

France’s bioethics reform reaches the Senate floor on Tuesday, three months after lower-house lawmakers passed the controversial legislation. The bill, which has been considerably amended by senators in committee, could yet change, with the lesbian couples and single women poised to gain legal access to medically assisted reproduction potentially seeing social security coverage for the procedure withdrawn.
Thousands of opponents to France's new bioethics bill, which aims in part to extend medically assisted reproduction, known by the acronym PMA in French, to lesbian couples and single women, demonstrate in Paris on January 19, 2020.
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Opponents of the reform staged a fresh demonstration against the measures on Sunday in Paris, with tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets. The main point of contention is the bill’s flagship measure – the extension of legal access to medically assisted procreation to lesbian couples and single women, a measure Emmanuel Macron mooted publicly during his 2017 presidential bid.
The lower-house National Assembly debated the bill at length before passing it on first reading in October and sending it to the Senate for review.
But before progressing to the Senate floor on Tuesday, the draft lower-house lawmakers adopted in the fall withstood 136 amendments’ worth of revisions in committee. What remains of the initial reform and what does Macron’s bioethics plan look like today?
Medically assisted reproduction not covered in certain cases
Despite opponents’ vocal opposition, the bill’s emblematic elements endure.
While amendments submitted demanding that access to medically assisted reproduction “sans père”, without a father, not be granted after all were rejected, a number of tweaks the senators did okay considerably reshape the bill’s headline Article 1.
But while extending assisted reproduction to women regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status remains, it may no longer be systematically covered by social security.
Conservative senator Muriel Jourda, who represents Les Républicains in the upper house, has proposed that medically assisted reproduction be covered for heterosexual couples only when specific medical criteria are met, such as diagnosed infertility or in order to prevent transmission of a serious illness to the child. As such, lesbian couples and single women would be obliged to foot the full bill for treatment.
>> Read more: ‘It’s against nature,’ say French protesters opposed to fertility treatments for single women, lesbians
In distinguishing between assisting reproduction in order to overcome infertility from providing assistance to meet a desire for children outside a heterosexual couple, the amendment contradicts France’s health minister, Agnès Buzyn, who expressed her support for total coverage for medically assisted procreation, regardless of the circumstances.
On Twitter, one senator, Laurence Rossignol, said that the Socialist group she sits with in the chamber voted against “this punitive and unjust right-wing amendment”. Rossingnol, a former Socialist minister for Family, Childhood and Women’s Rights, said the group plans to submit a new amendment in session in a bid to re-establish full coverage.
Embryos stored for longer
Measures concerning the cultivation and storage of reproductive tissue (gametes) and embryos were also subject to changes in committee.
The bill initially set the maximum period for cultivating an embryo at 14 days, up from the current seven. That increase was extended via amendment in committee to 21 days. The period allowed for embryo storage, meanwhile, is to be prolonged from five to ten years.
Inside France's Black Market for Sperm, a France 24 web documentary. © France 24
Several left-leaning senators submitted, and saw passed, an amendment in committee that would open the task of storing embryos – which had been the exclusive domain of public institutions – to for-profit private facilities. According to the senators behind the amendment, demand is such that public facilities no longer have the capacity to meet every request, which has led to lengthy delays. Moreover, authorising medically assisted reproduction for more women will mean further congestion in an already saturated system. Senators argued that allowing private sector provision of medically assisted reproduction services will also “diminish, [or] end the deregistration of women over 40 on waiting lists and prevent patients, on the basis of financial and age criteria, from turning to private centres abroad.”
A partial lifting of donors’ anonymity
Despite fervent conservative opposition, there were no changes to initial text on the establishment of parentage for children born to lesbian couples by medically assisted means. As agreed in mid-September, the couples will need to officially recognise the child as their own with a notary before birth. At that point, the woman who will not have carried the child will be legally recognised as one of the child’s two parents, on an equal footing with her partner, the biological mother.
Provisions that partially lift the anonymity of sperm, egg and embryo donors – whose contributions, incidentally, are unremunerated in France — have also been subject to intense debate.
The rules in place for maintaining the anonymity of reproductive tissue donors, and those regulating access for people born as the result of a donation to information on their genetic origins, stirred yet more debate in committee. Until now, every donor has had to provide consent for the possible transmission of “non-identifying data” (physical appearance, background or age) as well as for the release of a donor’s identity to a child born as a result of the donation.
An amendment to that provision proposes allowing donors to choose whether they reveal their identity. But donors will be asked before the donation to accept providing irrevocable access to non-identifying data, available upon request to individuals born as a result of the donation after they turn 18.
“This mechanism preserves in a more balanced way the interests of the person born from a donation of gametes (access to origins), those of the donor (the donor’s right to a private life for themselves and their relations) and the general interest (to not discourage gametes donors),” the accepted amendment argued.
Children born from donations would now also benefit from the ability, espoused by the senators, to request access to the donor’s identity at a later date. The National Council for Access to Personal Origins (Cnaop) could at that point make contact with donors to ask for their agreement in sharing their identity.
‘Saviour babies’ reinstated, preimplantation diagnosis broadened
The concept of “saviour babies” has been a key point of friction throughout the bioethics debate. Controversially, it means authorising the conception of a child free of the genetic illness afflicting his or her sibling via embryo selection; the “saviour” child – known in French as a “bébé-médicament” or medicine-baby – whose immune system is compatible with that of the afflicted sibling, can then go on to help cure the afflicted child with stem cell-rich umbilical blood. A previous French bioethics law in 2004 had permitted the technique on an experimental basis, but in October the National Assembly voted to put an end to the practice. In committee this month, the Senate proposed that it be reintroduced into the current bill.
Meanwhile, the preimplantation diagnosis – analysing embryos in vitro before they are implanted – that is part of the embryo selection process could also be broadened in the pending reform and authorised “in the search for chromosomal anomalies not compatible with embryonic development”.
Today, preimplantation diagnosis is authorised only in cases where one parent, or another direct ascendant, carries a genetic illness “of a particular seriousness recognised as incurable”. According to the amendment proposed by the conservative Les Républicains senator Corinne Imbert, the technique could now be allowed for verifying the state of embryos before they are transferred into the uterus when the woman has already suffered repeated miscarriages or implantation failures “in order to avoid several painful failures”.
The legal framework for the procedure was, however, maintained and the committee issued a reminder: Any research on an embryo must be subject to prior authorisation by France’s biomedicine agency.
As for the subject of surrogacy, which is illegal in France and a perennial hot-button issue among demonstrators, there are no changes in sight. The opposition, which holds the majority in the Senate, continues to block any movement to allow it. Indeed, Les Républicains senate leader Bruno Retailleau had an amendment voted in committee aimed at “providing full and entire scope to the prohibition of surrogacy in France”.
Senators are set to debate the bioethics bill through February 4, after which the reform will shuttle back to the lower house for a second reading.
This article has been translated from the original in French.
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france24--2020-01-21--Iran confirms it fired two missiles at Ukrainian plane

Three days after the crash of Boeing Ukraine Airlines in Iran , the Iranian army admitted on 11 January 2020 that the plane had been shot down `` by mistake '' .
Iran has confirmed two missiles were fired at a Ukrainian airliner brought down this month , in a catastrophic error that killed all 176 people on board and sparked angry protests .
The country ’ s civil aviation authority said it has yet to receive a positive response after requesting technical assistance from France and the United States to decode black boxes from the downed airliner .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shot down shortly after takeoff from Tehran ’ s Imam Khomeini International Airport on January 8 .
Iran has come under mounting international pressure to carry out a full and transparent investigation into the air disaster .
“ Investigators ... discovered that two Tor-M1 missiles ... were fired at the aircraft , ” Iran ’ s Civil Aviation Organisation said in a preliminary report posted on its website late Monday .
It said an investigation was ongoing to assess the bearing their impact had on the accident .
The statement confirms a report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video footage appearing to show two projectiles being fired at the airliner .
The Tor-M1 is a short-range surface-to-air missile developed by the former Soviet Union that is designed to target aircraft or cruise missiles .
Iran had for days denied Western claims based on US intelligence reports that the Boeing 737 had been shot down .
It came clean on January 11 , with the Revolutionary Guards ’ aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh accepting full responsibility .
But he said the missile operator who opened fire had been acting independently .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests mainly in the Iranian capital .
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the demonstrations were unrepresentative of the Iranian people and accused the country ’ s enemies of exploiting the air disaster for propaganda purposes .
In its report , the Civil Aviation Organisation said it was “ impossible ” for it to read the flight data and cockpit voice recorders—commonly known as black boxes—because they were so advanced .
But it suggested Iran wants to keep them for now .
“ If devices are provided , the information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be restored and retrieved in a short period of time , ” it said .
The aviation body said it had asked its French and US counterparts , the BEA and NTSB respectively , to provide a list of the equipment required to read the black boxes .
It said it had also sought the transfer of the equipment , but added that neither the BEA nor NTSB had “ so far responded positively ” .
It said it had acquired the list nonetheless , without saying how , and hinted it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The report said that based on passports used to board Flight PS752 , there were 146 Iranians , 11 Ukrainians including nine crew members , 10 Afghans and four Swedes on the ill-fated airliner .
Canada , which says 57 of its nationals were on the plane , has repeatedly asked Iran to hand the black boxes over to Ukraine or France for expert analysis .
The 737 was downed when Iran ’ s air defences had been on high alert hours after its armed forces fired more than 20 ballistic missiles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That was carried out in reprisal for a January 3 US drone strike that killed Iran ’ s most prominent military commander , Qassem Soleimani , near Baghdad airport .
US President Donald Trump had been poised to retaliate for the missile attack , but refrained after the missiles caused no casualties .
It was the second time in little more than six months that Iran and its sworn enemy have been on the brink of war .
In June 2019 , Trump had approved a strike on Iran in response for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gulf , before calling it off at the last minute .
Longstanding US-Iran tensions have soared since May 2018 when Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal that offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons .
Washington says it seeks to rein in Iran ’ s ballistic missile programme as well as its “ destabilising behaviour ” in the region .
It has since slapped crippling sanctions on Iran , which denies it wants to acquire nuclear weapons and has hit back by progressively rolling back commitments @ @ @ @ @

Iran has confirmed two missiles were fired at a Ukrainian airliner brought down this month, in a catastrophic error that killed all 176 people on board and sparked angry protests.
Three days after the crash of Boeing Ukraine Airlines in Iran, the Iranian army admitted on 11 January 2020 that the plane had been shot down "by mistake".
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The country’s civil aviation authority said it has yet to receive a positive response after requesting technical assistance from France and the United States to decode black boxes from the downed airliner.
The Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines plane was accidentally shot down shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on January 8.
Iran has come under mounting international pressure to carry out a full and transparent investigation into the air disaster.
“Investigators... discovered that two Tor-M1 missiles... were fired at the aircraft,” Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said in a preliminary report posted on its website late Monday.
It said an investigation was ongoing to assess the bearing their impact had on the accident.
The statement confirms a report in The New York Times which included video footage appearing to show two projectiles being fired at the airliner.
The Tor-M1 is a short-range surface-to-air missile developed by the former Soviet Union that is designed to target aircraft or cruise missiles.
Iran had for days denied Western claims based on US intelligence reports that the Boeing 737 had been shot down.
It came clean on January 11, with the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh accepting full responsibility.
But he said the missile operator who opened fire had been acting independently.
Black box impasse
The deadly blunder triggered days of student-led protests mainly in the Iranian capital.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the demonstrations were unrepresentative of the Iranian people and accused the country’s enemies of exploiting the air disaster for propaganda purposes.
In its report, the Civil Aviation Organisation said it was “impossible” for it to read the flight data and cockpit voice recorders—commonly known as black boxes—because they were so advanced.
But it suggested Iran wants to keep them for now.
“If devices are provided, the information (on the black boxes) can be restored and retrieved in a short period of time,” it said.
The aviation body said it had asked its French and US counterparts, the BEA and NTSB respectively, to provide a list of the equipment required to read the black boxes.
It said it had also sought the transfer of the equipment, but added that neither the BEA nor NTSB had “so far responded positively”.
It said it had acquired the list nonetheless, without saying how, and hinted it would use it to buy the equipment itself.
The report said that based on passports used to board Flight PS752, there were 146 Iranians, 11 Ukrainians including nine crew members, 10 Afghans and four Swedes on the ill-fated airliner.
Canada, which says 57 of its nationals were on the plane, has repeatedly asked Iran to hand the black boxes over to Ukraine or France for expert analysis.
US-Iran tensions
The 737 was downed when Iran’s air defences had been on high alert hours after its armed forces fired more than 20 ballistic missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq.
That was carried out in reprisal for a January 3 US drone strike that killed Iran’s most prominent military commander, Qassem Soleimani, near Baghdad airport.
US President Donald Trump had been poised to retaliate for the missile attack, but refrained after the missiles caused no casualties.
It was the second time in little more than six months that Iran and its sworn enemy have been on the brink of war.
In June 2019, Trump had approved a strike on Iran in response for the downing of a US drone in the Gulf, before calling it off at the last minute.
Longstanding US-Iran tensions have soared since May 2018 when Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal that offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons.
Washington says it seeks to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile programme as well as its “destabilising behaviour” in the region.
It has since slapped crippling sanctions on Iran, which denies it wants to acquire nuclear weapons and has hit back by progressively rolling back commitments to the nuclear deal.
(AFP)
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