Russia strikes civilian ship in Black Sea port of Odesa – Ukraine

An image from what Ukraine says was a Russian strike on a civilian ship
Image caption,An image from what Ukraine says was a Russian strike on a civilian ship

By Kathryn Armstrong

BBC News

At least one person has been killed after a Russian missile struck a civilian ship entering the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, Ukrainian officials say.

According to the southern defence forces, the Liberian-flagged vessel was struck by an anti-radar missile.

A 43-year-old harbour pilot died, while three Filipino crewmembers and a port worker have been injured.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the incident.

According to Odesa’s Regional Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating, the attack was launched at 16:45 local time (14:45 GMT) on Wednesday. The ship was reportedly moored at the time it was struck.

One of the injured workers was hospitalised.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on social media that the ship was supposed to be transporting iron ore to China.

Vessels entering and leaving the port of Odesa have been at risk of Russian attack since Moscow pulled out of a deal earlier this year that allowed for the safe export of Ukrainian grain.

Ukraine has since opened a temporary corridor to allow vessels to come and go from its ports.

The Russian defence ministry said it regards all cargo ships in the Black Sea bound for Ukraine as potential military targets.

According to Mr Kubrakov, Wednesday’s attack is the 21st targeted assault on port infrastructure since Russia withdrew from the deal in July.

At least eight people were http://masurip.org/ wounded and a historic museum was damaged on Sunday during Russian airstrikes on Odesa, Ukrainian officials said.

Channel deaths: Government orders inquiry into mass drowning

A French volunteer sea rescue organisation boat carrying bodies of migrants arriving at Calais harbour
Image caption,The bodies of those who drowned were taken back to Calais

The government has ordered an independent inquiry into a migrant mass drowning in the English Channel.

At least 27 people including a pregnant woman and three children died when a boat sank in 2021.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said an inquiry would look at the circumstances of the deaths to give victims’ families the clarity they deserved.

It comes after an investigation into the UK’s deadliest migrant boat incident made two recommendations.

A report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said the UK’s emergency response had been hampered by the lack of dedicated aircraft to carry out aerial surveillance of the Dover Strait.

Andrew Moll, chief inspector of marine accidents, said multiple boats had attempted to cross the Dover Strait on the night of the sinking – 24 November – and many had made distress calls.

It had, he said, been “extremely challenging” for the coastguard to understand how many boats were attempting to cross, their locations and levels of distress.

Mr Moll added: “As the pace of dealing with located migrant boats increased, the plight of the stricken craft became masked and, sadly, the victims were not found until spotted by a passing fishing vessel later that day.”

Emergency services at Calais harbour
Image caption,Emergency services took part in the rescue operation on both sides of the Channel

The MAIB’s report also says the Coastguard had insufficient staff at base to correlate the information they were getting from numerous emergency calls made during the night. It said that might have contributed to the wrong assumption that people on board the boat had been rescued by the Border Force.

Mr Moll said the incident had come at a time when the UK’s response to the migrant crisis was evolving, but that the report acknowledged significant changes had been made since.

The MAIB said that by crowding 33 migrants on to the boat, the people who facilitated the attempted crossing had put the occupants at high risk.

The report also found the vessel used by the migrants to make the crossing had been “wholly unsuitable”.

A recommendation has been made for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Border Force to develop procedures to ensure effective surveillance of the Dover Strait is possible when aviation assets are unavailable.

And it was also recommended that the Coastguard should work with the French authorities to improve transfer of information during migrant crossings.

Four people are still missing after the sinking and only two survived.

The transport secretary said: “Every day, hundreds of courageous responders from HM Coastguard and other UK agencies, including volunteers, stand ready to respond around the clock to every search and rescue operation involving small boats in the Channel.

“The inquiry I have announced today will allow a thorough and independent investigation into the circumstances of the deaths to take place, further to the MAIB’s report.”

In a statement, the Coastguard said it worked in http://sayurkana.com/ the most challenging conditions imaginable to save lives and the tragedy was a reminder of the scale of the task it faced.

The French authorities refused to take part in the initial investigation.

French police patrol the beach of Wimereux searching for migrants on November 25, 2021 in Calais, France
Image caption,French police patrolled beaches near Calais after the mass drownin

Belarus musicians behind bars in Lukashenko’s crackdown on dissent

Tor Band musicians
Image caption,A Belarus court found musicians guilty of multiple criminal charges, including creating an “extremist formation” and insulting the president

The songs of Tor Band have become a symbol of mass protests that spread across Belarus like wildfire when authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko remained in power after 2020 elections condemned by the West as fraudulent.

Now, three of the band’s members have been given long jail terms as part of his internal crackdown on dissent.

Tor Band leader Dzmitry Halavach has been given nine years in prison, Yauhen Burlo was jailed for eight years, and Andrei Yaremchyk for seven and half years.

Human rights groups speak of blacklists carrying the names of musicians, bands and artists banned from performing.

Those deemed “disloyal” to the Lukashenko government are often replaced with artists from Russia, says PEN Belarus, part of a worldwide association of writers which focuses on freedom of expression.

“Independent culture has literally returned to the practices of the Soviet era – it went underground,” said the group’s head, Tatyana Nyadbai.

The musicians of Tor Band were convicted in the southern city of Gomel last week of multiple criminal charges, including creating an “extremist formation” and insulting the Mr Lukashenko.

Their sentences have been condemned as “an unprecedented prison sentence for creativity” by Pavel Sapelka of the Viasna Human Rights Centre.

Belarus’s exiled opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, whose own husband is currently serving an 18-year jail sentence, wrote on social media: “Lukashenka’s regime shows its fear. Music can be silenced in courts, but never in our hearts.”

The band members were arrested in October 2022 after the biggest crackdown on protests under Lukashenko’s 30-year rule.

Protests in Belarus in 2020
Image caption,In 2020 Belarus saw the largest anti-government protests in the country’s modern history

Many Belarusians have fled fearing for their lives, after thousands were arrested, assaulted and thrown in jail.

Mr Burlo was on crutches and unable to stand up to hear the verdict, Radio Free Europe’s Belarus Service reported.

It quoted a source saying the trio’s relatives “were crying during the verdict, one of them fainted”.

“They were recognised as an ‘extremist formation’ solely for the lyrics of their songs, but those who listened to these songs know there is nothing there that calls for violence or incites hatred,” Mr Sapelka told the BBC.

Tor Band are but the latest from the culture scene to be targeted since 2020, according to PEN Belarus. Between January and June of this year there have been 925 cases of human rights violations, it has reported. These include censorship and denying the right to a fair trial.

Spouses from the Belarusian band Irdorath
Image caption,Vladimir and Nadezhda from the band Irdorath left Belarus after serving two-year jail sentences for participating in the protests

Last week, well-known singer and TV host Larisa Gribaleva was detained, the Viasna Human Rights Centre reported.

Ms Gribaleva spoke out against violence in 2020, and Viasna says she was included in a “secret list of 80 performers who are prohibited from performing”.

Who else is on the list is unknown.

The artist later wrote on Facebook she was safely back home.

“When the authorities detain yet another cultural figure, they want to send a message to those performers who are still free in Belarus and have not yet expressed their loyalty to the regime,” Mr Sapelka said.

Earlier this year two musicians of the Belarusian band Irdorath left the country after serving two-year jail sentences for participating in the protests.

There was no such escape for artist Ales Pushkin, http://kolechai.com/ who died in prison in July while serving his five-year sentence for inciting hatred and “desecration of state symbols”.

‘No celebration’ for Corbett family in US sentence

Jason Corbett
Image caption,Jason Corbett, who was killed in his North Carolina home in 2015, was originally from Limerick

The sentencing of a woman and her father for the killing of a man from Limerick in 2015 is “not a moment of celebration”, the victim’s family has said.

Businessman Jason Corbett, 39, was killed in his home in Lexington, North Carolina.

On Wednesday, his wife Molly Martens Corbett and his father-in-law Thomas Martens, an ex-FBI agent, were sentenced to between seven months and two-and-a-half years in prison.

They were convicted of second-degree murder in 2017 and appealed the conviction.

The case was quashed by an appeal court in 2020 and a new trial was ordered.

Molly Martens Corbett and her father Thomas Martens
Image caption,Molly Martens Corbett and her father Thomas Martens agreed plea deals

Last month, both agreed plea deals to manslaughter charges.

They never denied killing Mr Corbett, but said they had acted in self-defence.

Mr Corbett was found beaten to death in the main bedroom of his house.

In sentencing, Judge David Hall took into account they had already served just over three-and-a-half years after the 2017 conviction.

In a statement to the media, the Corbett family said they wanted to “find a path to move forward with our lives”.

The family added: “While we may not be satisfied with the sentencing, we would like to acknowledge the dedication and hard work exhibited by the Davidson County Sheriff department and the District Attorney’s office throughout the past eight years.”

The statement http://jusnarte.com/ ended by asking for privacy as the family moved forward “with the comforting knowledge that Jason will forever hold a place in our hearts and memories.”

Apple should pay €13bn Irish tax, argues EU lawyer

Sign in Apple store

A legal adviser to the European Court of Justice has argued a ruling allowing Apple to avoid paying €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes should be overturned.

The move is the latest in the long-running saga between the EU, the US tech giant and the Irish government.

Three years ago, a ruling which found Apple had been given illegal tax breaks by the Irish government was overturned.

But Advocate General Giovanni Pitruzzella at the Court of Justice said the case should be reviewed again.

He argued a series of legal errors had been made and the ruling in Apple’s favour had failed “to assess correctly the substance and consequences of certain methodological errors that, according to the Commission decision, vitiated the tax rulings”.

The legal opinion is not a final verdict and is non-binding, but the court does tend to agree with such opinions in the majority of cases.

In response to the latest twist, an Apple spokesman said that the initial ruling allowing the firm to avoid paying back taxes was “very clear that Apple received no selective advantage and no state aid”.

“We believe that should be upheld,” they added.

In 2016, the European Commission decided Apple had received unfair preferential treatment from the Irish government, allowing it to pay a much lower rate of tax than other companies.

The Commission said this constituted illegal aid given to Apple by the Irish state.

The affair became a symbol of the Commission’s efforts to clamp down on what it saw as massive tax avoidance by multinational giants.

The Irish government has argued that Apple should not have to repay the back taxes, deeming that its loss was worth it to make the country an attractive home for large companies.

Ireland, which has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the EU, is Apple’s base for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Although corporation tax rates for businesses are set nationally, and are not subject to the EU’s jurisdiction, the trade bloc does have extensive powers to regulate state aid and in this case, it argued that by applying very low tax rates to Apple, Ireland was granting it an unfair subsidy.

Two years ago, the lower court, http://kueceng.com/ known as the General Court, ruled that the European Commission’s decision that Apple should pay back taxes was legally flawed and should be set aside, but that ruling itself could now be overturned after the latest twist.