Author: johnmaine

A glamorous Roman tank was found “almost intact” near the buried city of Pompeii in Italy. The archaeological park was announced on Saturday and is known domestically as an “unparalleled” discovery.

A four-wheeled determinant carriage was found at the portico entrance to the stables where the remains of three horses were excavated, including the horses left in the harness in 2018.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Pompeii was buried in boiling lava, killing between 2,000 and 15,000 people.

“A large ceremonial tank with four wheels is almost intact, along with iron parts, beautiful bronze and tin decorations, mineralized wood debris, and traces of organic material (from ropes to floral decoration debris). Was found in, “said the statement. Said it was published by the Archaeological Park.

A four-wheeled procession tank was missed by a predator who dug a tunnel on either side
Pompeii Archaeological Park / Handouts

“This is an exceptional discovery … it is in excellent condition, unparalleled in Italy so far.”

The excavation site is known as Civita Giuliana, a suburban villa just a few hundred meters from the ancient city of Pompeii.

Archaeological excavation is part of a program aimed at combating illegal activity in the region, such as tunneling to reach relics that may be sold in illegal markets.

According to a statement in the park, the looters missed the room in which the tank lay for about 2,000 years and tunneled through both sides.

Experts added that they paid close attention to the excavation of the vehicle, including plastering the voids “to preserve traces of organic matter” that had decomposed.

Some of the tanks are preserved in detail
Pompeii Archaeological Park / Handouts

The park said it was well preserved, even to the traces of the rope, “thus revealing tanks in all of its complexity.”

“Pompeii continues to be amazed by all its discoveries, and it will continue for years, as 20 hectares (50 acres) have not yet been excavated,” said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini. It was.

“It’s an extraordinary discovery for the advancement of knowledge in our ancient world,” added Massimo Osanna, the park’s extroverted director.

“We have ceremonial tanks, and the Pirentum, probably mentioned by some sources, is not for everyday use or agricultural transportation, but for local festivals, parades, and processions. Was used. “

The very well-preserved archaeological site of Pompeii has been slowly discovered by a team of archaeological experts.

It is the third most visited tourist destination in Italy, with more than 3.9 million visitors in 2019.

After the coronavirus attack, the ancient city was closed and reopened on January 18.

Thousands of Russians and Western diplomats paid tribute on Saturday at the Moscow Bridge. Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead there six years ago.

Nemtsov was one of President Vladimirputin’s most noisy critics until he was killed on a bridge near the Kremlin on February 27, 2015.

The sixth anniversary of his murder was shortly after Putin’s current most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny, was sent to exile for an almost three-year term accusing him of political motives.

The move has already heightened tense relations with the West by the European Union’s move to sanction Moscow.

People bloomed on February 27, 2021 at the place where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was deadly shot dead in central Moscow.
AFP / Dimitar DILKOFF

Starting Saturday morning, Russian and Western diplomats took turns blooming at a temporary monument where Nemtsov was killed by four bullets.

“We meet at this place every year on this day to show the authorities what we haven’t forgotten and what we haven’t forgotten,” former Prime Minister and opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov told journalists at the rally.

“I am confident that Boris has fought, that is, the freedom of the Russians, their well-being, and their dignified life will soon be realized,” he said.

Anniversaries are usually marked by opposition marches through central Moscow.

Nemtsov was killed on a bridge near the Kremlin
AFP / Dimitar DILKOFF

However, they chose to rally this year at a temporary monument that is being dismantled regularly by the authorities, as mass rally restrictions are still in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The White Counter Monitor, which aggregates attendance at the rally, said 7,800 people had gathered by 5:30 pm (1430 GMT).

“He told the truth, and because of this you will be killed in our country,” 44-year-old lawyer Irina Drozdova told AFP before putting flowers on the monument.

Navalny’s wife, Julia Navalny, was also there and brought a bouquet of red carnations.

Also, it was the US, British and EU ambassadors to Russia, among other Western representatives, who bloomed on Saturday.

Nemtsov’s family and supporters allege that authorities have failed to bring the mastermind to trial.
AFP / Dimitar DILKOFF

US Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross said US Ambassador John Sullivan paid tribute to a man who was “focused on pursuing a better future for his country.”

“He continues to inspire many who strive for justice, transparency and freedom,” she tweeted.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has issued his statement, saying he “has serious problems” with Russia’s growing intolerance to free speech.

He called Nemtsov the man who “dedicated his life to the construction of free and democratic Russia.”

In 2017, a court convicted a former Chechen security officer for the murder of Nemtsov and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The other four men were found guilty of being involved in the murder.

However, families and supporters of the murdered opposition politicians claim that authorities have failed to bring the mastermind to trial.

More than five years after Nemtsov’s death, Navalny in August suffered an almost deadly poisoning attack by Soviet-era nerve gas Novichok, who accused Putin. The Kremlin repeatedly denied the claim.

After spending several months in Germany recovering from addiction, a 44-year-old opposition politician was arrested when he returned to Russia last month, causing massive protests and detaining about 11,500 demonstrators. ..

The European Union has agreed to sanction four Russian officials for crackdowns on Navalny and his supporters, and Blinken Saturday referred to the attack on him.

“People who speak to defend freedom and democracy in Russia continue to be targeted by attacks and assassinations,” he said.

“Russians are more suitable.”

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina avoided criticism of the government’s rights record as hundreds marched on Saturday on the second day of protests over the death of a prominent writer in prison.

The demonstrators marched at the University of Dhaka with a slogan condemning the government’s treatment of dissident Mustak Ahmed and other journalists and activists.

In another protest at the National Press Club, dozens of people brought the iconic casket to Hasina’s office, demanding the abolition of the Digital Security Act (DSA) in which Ahmed was detained last May.

The protests came after a clash between police and security forces in the capital on Friday night.

Police said six people were arrested and activists injured at least 30.

A wide range of DSAs have been used to crack down on oppositions since it was enacted in 2018.

Hasina, who spoke on Saturday at a rare press conference commemorating the UN’s recommendation to reclassify Bangladesh as a “developing” economy, has been in office for 12 years, dispelling international concerns about law and Ahmed’s death. ..

“I don’t want death, and I don’t want anxiety,” she said.

Protesters went to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on Saturday to demand the abolition of the country’s digital security law.
AFP / Munir Uz zaman

“Whether the law has been abused depends on your point of view. The law is on its own path and I think it will. If someone does not commit a crime, they will not be punished in court.”

Ahmed collapsed and died in Kashinpur High Security Prison late Thursday.

A 53-year-old woman, a crocodile farmer and satirical writer, spread rumors and “anti-state activities” after criticizing the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic on Facebook. I was charged with a crime.

Protesters said his death was a “detention murder” after he was denied bail six times in 10 months.

Authorities say they have ordered the Commission to investigate whether there was any negligence by prison officials.

However, ambassadors from 13 countries, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, have expressed “serious concern” about the case.

“We urge the Bangladeshi government to carry out a swift, transparent and independent investigation into the complete situation of Mushtaq Ahmed’s death,” the delegation said in a statement released late Friday. It was.

They said their country would pursue “wider concerns about the provisions and implementation of the DSA, as well as questions about compliance with Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law and standards.”

Rights groups have also expressed concern about the case and detention of cartoonist Kabir Kishore, who was arrested at the same time as Ahmed.

PEN America said authorities should withdraw the charges against Kishore, but the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at a hearing this week that he had been severely physically abused during his detention. He said he gave the memo to his brother.

Britain said goodbye to Captain Tom Moore, a war veteran who died of the coronavirus, on Saturday.

A huge $ 1.9 trillion package in the United States, including $ 1,400 payments to most Americans and billions of dollars to facilitate vaccine delivery and help school reopening and funding local governments It was passed by the House of Representatives and is now being transferred to the Senate.

“After 12 months of death and despair, America’s recovery will begin tonight,” Congressman Brendan Boyle told the House of Representatives a few days after the death toll in the United States exceeded 500,000.

Tom Moore’s funeral was broadcast live on national television and was honored with a World War II plane flyover.
Pool / Joe Giddens

The bill will be the second-largest US stimulus to date, demonstrating the tremendous effort needed to tackle multiple crises caused by a pandemic that killed more than 2.5 million people worldwide. I am.

Europeans continue to live under the strictest restrictions in the world, and in France they are even more stringent. Two cities, Dunkirk in the north and Nice in the south, were closed over the weekend to stop the spread.

“We have to do something because Covid is getting worse in the area,” Charlie Kentish, a British resident taking an early morning walk in Nice, told AFP. He resigned to spending the weekend playing video games with his teens.

Global deaths and coronavirus cases as of February 19, based on AFP data
AFP / Simon MALFATTO

Regulations have been re-imposed and tightened from Brazil to the Czech Republic.

Even the relatively intact New Zealand, Auckland, the largest city, was pushed back to blockade on Saturday shortly after the three-day closure.

Small clusters are linked to schools, but the country’s case load is still thin compared to the numbers found in Europe and the Americas.

Western countries have been vaccinated tens of millions of times, but many poor countries have just received their first vaccination.
AFP / SIA KAMBOU

In the UK, 100-year-old Tom Moore helped clear the darkness caused by Covid by hosting a fundraising event last year, including completing a backyard length of 100 using a walking frame.

Brazil is once again on the verge of a surge in incidents, with cities and states imposing new regulations
AFP / MICHAEL DANTAS

After his campaign spread, he raised nearly € 33 million ($ 45 million, € 37.4 million) for healthcare charities and became a knight for his efforts.

His funeral, a small family ritual, was broadcast live on national television, and he was honored for a World War II plane flyover.

The deployment of the vaccine has significantly improved the outlook for many older people, and the UK is better at distributing it to vulnerable groups.

In Dunkirk, France, a sunny but deserted beach as the town enters a weekend blockade
AFPTV / Pierre BEAUVILLAIN

But the campaign isn’t going smoothly everywhere, and Canadian campaign participants are calling on their loved ones to get jabs quickly.

“Today I’m 94 years old. I don’t have any presents. I’d like only a vaccine,” reads a handwritten sign outside Nina Rocket’s house in Toronto. Her daughter, Margot, is dissatisfied with the relatively slow pace of deployment in Canada.

“I think everyone should hang such banners outside doors, windows and balconies,” she said.

The virus is not immune to young people.

There is growing concern about “long covid” cases where people suffer from symptoms for months after their first illness.

Aleri Torres, a 31-year-old engineer from Mexico, told AFP that she had been ill for several days last June, but has been suffering from symptoms such as numbness in some parts of her body months later.

“Everything is uncertain. Everything was a test. I met four doctors,” she said. She added that it took seven months to get the correct diagnosis.

This week, the World Health Organization urged the government to prioritize understanding the long-term effects of infectious diseases.

As the health impact prolongs, so does the impact of cultural events.

The pandemic struck a whirlwind of glamorous Los Angeles parties, usually marking the beginning of the Hollywood award season.

The famous Sunset Strip is adorned with the usual gigantic “For Your Consideration” movie sign, but voters are watching a movie nominated from home, and journalists interview actors on their laptops.

“Everyone had to adapt,” added Hollywood Reporter award columnist Scott Feinberg.

Thousands of Russians and Western diplomats gathered in Moscow on Saturday to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

Nemtsov was one of President Vladimirputin’s most noisy critics until he was shot dead on the Moscow Bridge near the Kremlin on February 27, 2015.

The sixth anniversary of his death comes after Putin’s current most prominent critic Alexei Navalny was sent to exile this week for an almost three-year term he accuses of political motivation.

Starting Saturday morning, Russian and Western diplomats took turns blooming at a temporary monument where Nemtsov was killed by four bullets.

“We meet at this place every year on this day to show the authorities what we haven’t forgotten and what we haven’t forgotten,” former Prime Minister and opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov told journalists at the rally.

“I am confident that Boris has fought, that is, the freedom of the Russians, their well-being, and their dignified life will soon be realized,” he added.

Usually characterized by a march through the center of Moscow, this year’s opposition is at the place of his death, which is regularly dismantled by authorities as group rally restrictions are still in place due to the pandemic. Instead, they gathered at a temporary monument.

The White Counter Monitor, which aggregates attendance at the rally, said 3,700 people had gathered by 15:00 (1200 GMT).

Also, it was the US, British and EU ambassadors to Russia, among other Western representatives, who bloomed on Saturday.

People bloomed on February 27, 2021 at the place where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was deadly shot dead in central Moscow.
AFP / Dimitar DILKOFF

US Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross wrote on Twitter that US Ambassador John Sullivan marked Nemtsov’s “brutal murder.” “I devoted myself to pursuing a better future for his country,” she said.

“He continues to inspire many who strive for justice, transparency and freedom,” she tweeted.

In 2017, a court convicted a former Chechen security officer for the murder of Nemtsov and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The other four men were found guilty of being involved in the murder.

However, families and supporters of the murdered opposition politicians claim that authorities have failed to bring the mastermind to trial.

“He told the truth, and because of this you will be killed in our country,” 44-year-old lawyer Irina Drozdova told AFP before putting flowers on the monument.

More than five years after Nemtsov’s death, Navalny in August suffered an almost deadly poisoning attack by Soviet-era nerve gas Novichok, who accused Putin. The Kremlin repeatedly denied the claim.

After spending several months in Germany recovering from addiction, a 44-year-old opposition politician was arrested when he returned to Russia last month, causing massive protests and detaining about 11,500 demonstrators. ..

The European Union has agreed to sanction four Russian officials for crackdowns on Navalny and his supporters.

The kidnappers released 42 people, including 27 children who were robbed of schools in central Nigeria 10 days ago, officials said Saturday the day after shooters kidnapped more than 300 schoolgirls in the northwest. It was.

“The kidnapped students, staff and relatives of the Government Science College Kagara have regained their freedom and have been accepted by the state government of Niger,” Niger Governor Abbakar Sani Bello said on Twitter.

In mid-February, armed groups in military uniform raided the university, killing a student and taking 42 away. They included 27 schoolboys, three teachers, and relatives of other school staff, officials said.

In northwestern and central Nigeria, armed criminal gangs have raided villages, plundered and set fire to their homes, and then killed and kidnapped inhabitants.

On Friday, a gang attacked the government’s girls’ science secondary school in Jangebe, a village in Zamfara.

Police and the military have joined forces to search for the kidnapped people
AFP / Kola Sulaimon

This was the third school attack in the country in less than three months. This is a series that revives the traumatic memory of the “Chibok Girl” who was kidnapped by jihadists nearly seven years ago.

Police spokesman Mohammed Chef said the Zamfala Police Command, which is working with the military, “has launched a joint search and rescue operation to rescue 317 students.”

Angry at the abduction, local parents attacked an official fleet heading to the scene of the attack, seriously injuring journalists.

Kidnapping, conflict, riots in Nigeria
AFP / Gal ROMA

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has accused the recent kidnapping of being “inhuman and completely unacceptable.”

“The administration will not succumb to the threat of robbery targeting innocent school students in the hope of paying huge amounts of money,” he said in a statement on Friday.

“We have the ability to deploy large-scale forces against bandits in the villages in which they operate, but our limits are with innocent villagers who may be used as human shields by bandits. It is a fear of a great victim of hostages. “

“Our main purpose is to keep the hostages safe, alive and unharmed,” he added.

In early December, the gang kidnapped 344 boys from a boarding school in Kankara, northern Katsina, but released them a week later.

Authorities have denied paying the ransom, but many security experts in the region have expressed skepticism. Their fear is that this practice will become more and more common in these poor areas.

Authorities have pardoned Awwalun Daudawa, one of the people behind the mass kidnapping. For Yan Saint-Pierre, who runs the Modern Security Consulting Group of security analysts, it sends a completely wrong message.

Analysts do not have the exact number, but believe that the number of different armed groups is steadily increasing.

The bandits are hiding in a camp in the Lug Forest, which spans the states of Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger. Despite the military deployments in Zamfara and Katsina, deadly attacks continue.

Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) estimates that “bandits” have killed about 8,000 people since 2011 and more than 200,000 have been displaced.

The son of a British man detained in India, a case related to a Dubai princess who claims to have been kidnapped, turned to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for help.

Weapons merchant Christian Michelle, 59, has been detained in India since December 2018 after being handed over from the United Arab Emirates in a helicopter trade.

India rejected the proposal on Saturday that his detention was politically motivated and had no legal basis, and rejected a UN rights expert’s call for liberation.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) said Michelle’s imprisonment had no legal basis.

And it raised concerns that his delivery was a “de facto exchange” for India’s capture of an unknown prominent detainee and its return to Dubai in March 2018.

Michelle’s 26-year-old son, Alaric Michelle, welcomed Friday’s comments by the UN panel and told Sky News that the British Prime Minister now wants to intervene.

“Take into account that he is a British citizen and is a protected British citizen as our Prime Minister,” he said.

He added that his father was detained “in some of the worst situations” and his family was worried about his health.

Christian Michelle states that it was handed over from the UAE to India as part of a deal between the two countries.
AFP /-

Michelle’s detention suspects a connection with Sheikh Latifah, the daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. She was captured by Indian Commando at sea in 2018 after trying to escape the United Arab Emirates.

In a video secretly sent to a friend, she said she had been kidnapped by her family, but her relatives denied that she was being taken care of at home.

Johnson himself expressed concern about the video in a comment on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Sky News has acquired a video of Christian Michelle taken while in detention in Dubai. He associates the pending surrender with the Latifah case.

“In 2018, everything changed. What happened in the Indian Ocean completely changed my life and the procedures I was undergoing,” he said.

“So now I’m facing a transfer to a prison in Dubai, which has nothing to do with me, but for the many meetings that took place in July after Latifah’s return.”

Michelle worked at the UAE as an intermediary and consultant for a subsidiary of the British Italian company AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of the aerospace and defense group Finmeccanica.

He was accused of arranging a kickback with Indian authorities to secure a contract to supply 12 helicopters in 2010.

India canceled the transaction in January 2014 in a bribe claim.

Jihadists in northeastern Nigeria have long offended the world with the mass abduction of school children, but now armed gangsters for income use the same tactics in other parts of the country and are safe. It warns that there is no such school.

More than 300 female students were robbed of their dormitories by shooters in the third mass kidnapping case since December at midnight in northwestern Zamfara on Friday.

Until recently, such attacks were characteristic of jihadists who had fought a decade of rebellion in the northeast, causing global anger in the kidnapping of 276 girls in Chibok in 2014. I did.

However, mass abductions of civilians (including school children) for ransom purposes are increasing in northwestern and central Nigeria.

The consequences of school kidnapping are already felt in the northwest
AFP / Kola Sulaimon

“The easiest way to get money from the government is, It’s about kidnapping school children now. ” ..

Yan St-Pierre, a consultant for the Berlin-based Modern Security Consulting Group, said, “Kidnappers have a good opportunity when they learn that they are not sanctioned and that they are amnesty at a grand ceremony. Will be. “

Map identifying major mass abductions in Nigeria and other regions facing conflict, riots, or threats from criminal groups
AFP / Gal ROMA

He mentioned the case of a gang leader behind the kidnapping of more than 300 schoolboys in northwestern Katsina in December. He gave up himself, said the authorities had made an amnesty arrangement, and denied that the ransom had been paid.

But “no matter what the government says,” Saint-Pierre claimed that “the ransom will be paid, whether by the victim’s family or by the authorities.”

“The government wants to avoid the second Chibok, so it is doing everything it can to facilitate the release of the kidnapped people.”

President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement on Friday that the government “will not succumb to blackmail by bandits in the hope of paying a huge ransom.”

One of the problems is the lack of a coherent strategy, said Nnamdi Obasi, senior analyst in Nigeria at the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Last week, a group of students was taken to Kagara in central Niger.
AFP / Kola Sulaimon

“The president is talking about the crushing of armed groups, but some governors are seeking dialogue and amnesty,” he said.

Another problem is that kidnapping for ransom is already a widespread national problem, with businessmen, officials and the general public being robbed of the streets by criminals in search of ransom.

Between January 2016 and March 2020, kidnappers were paid at least $ 11 million, according to SB Borgen, a geopolitical research consultancy based in Lagos.

According to Obashi, organized gangsters in the northwest may have received kidnapping money from other parts of the country and can purchase weapons and vehicles to carry out large-scale attacks and mass kidnappings. It has become like.

Boko Haram said his group was finally released after kidnapping hundreds of students from schools in Katsina in December.
AFP / Kola Sulaimon

Northwestern Nigeria has been plagued by long-standing anxieties involving armed groups of rival communities clashing over land and resources.

“No one counts these groups accurately,” Obashi said, but “numerically growing.”

Another important factor in the development of the group is “the availability of weapons and cross-border flows from countries experiencing Libya and other violence,” analyst Chitra Nagarajan points out. did.

Nigerian troops were deployed in the area in 2016, and a peace agreement with bandits was signed in 2019, but the attack continues.

Security analysts also warn of possible invasions by Northeastern jihadists, Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa.

The relationship between Zihadists and the Northwest remains uncertain, but Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is behind his group abducting 334 students from a school in Katsina in December. Said.

The consequences of school kidnapping are already felt in the area.

“There is no safe school,” said a history instructor at Gusau University in Zamfara, Murtalalfi, the father of six children in Sokoto.

“More and more students are dropping out of school because of fear … I don’t know what to do next.”

Despite mining resources and economic potential, the northwest is Nigeria’s highest poverty rate, and authorities say recent developments in persuading parents to take their children to school are now at risk. I’m warning you.

According to Ruffai, many parents in the conservative Muslim region are already opposed to “Western education.”

“This gives them (parents) another excuse to take their children out of school, marry girls at an early age and work boys.”

These mass kidnappings could also fall into the hands of jihadists, Obashi warned.

“Now they can point this out and say: Look, nations, democracies can’t protect you, let’s join hands.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered the blockade of New Zealand’s largest city on Saturday as cases of Covid-19 continued to be detected in the community.

The latest restrictions in Auckland last for at least 7 days and will take place within 2 weeks of being closed for 3 days in the city.

Ardern said the new coronavirus case confirmed on Saturday had been a common link to schools in South Auckland, but could not be directly linked to other positive tests over the past two weeks.

Starting Sunday morning, 1.7 million residents of the city must stay home except for shopping and work.

Schools and non-essential shops will be closed and access to the city will be restricted.

The rest of the country is subject to Level 2 restrictions, including restrictions on the size of public meetings.

Ardern said the recent incident had been infected for a week, but there was a “cause of concern” involving people who had not been quarantined.

The latest limits in Auckland occur within 2 weeks of a 3 day shutdown in the city
AFP / DAVID ROWLAND

Since the first outbreak in a family of three, several people have reported symptoms, with schools in South Auckland being the linking factor.

Ardern blamed the creeping spread of community infections for people who were not quarantined at the time they should be.

In recent cases, the person visited a doctor on Friday before going to the gym.

“It’s frustrating,” Ardern said.

Authorities have the ability to take enforcement action against rule violators, which the Prime Minister added must be balanced with ensuring that symptomatic people come forward.

“We always get heavier. Do you create an environment where people are open and honest?” She said.

“We are involved with young people here. What we want from them is to share their entire life with us. People can do it and are willing to do it. It is very important that there is a situation. “

New Zealand is widely admired for its pandemic response, killing only 25 of its 5 million population.