Latest news with #Avaaz
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Poll: Slim majority of Germans back pausing arms exports to Israel
A narrow majority of Germans support suspending arms exports to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, a survey revealed on Tuesday. The poll found that 58% of respondents favoured a temporary halt to arms deliveries, while 22% were opposed. Another 19% were undecided or declined to answer. The study by polling firm INSA, commissioned by the Avaaz campaign organization, surveyed 1,001 people between May 28 and May 30. Germany's arms exports to Israel have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks in light of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has recently announced a review of shipments to determine whether they comply with international humanitarian law. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, by contrast, has backed continuing the arms deliveries as agreed. Avaaz describes itself as a global campaign network that aims to influence political decisions through citizen mobilization.
The National
05-05-2025
- Business
- The National
It's time for ministers to stop politicking and investigate Trump
He is a habitual liar and political fraudster. With a lifetime of controversies and 34 charges of falsifying records upheld against him last year by a New York court, his business practices have always been controversial. I first began raising questions about Trump in the early 2000s when he was very publicly lobbying then-first minister Alex Salmond's Scottish Government to oppose renewable energy sources and to support his controversial golf course in Aberdeenshire. There were too many red flags, and, right from the start, there were concerns about where the money had come from. READ MORE: Reform rise sees Unionist parties shifting further to the right He didn't like the scrutiny, and, in what wasn't necessarily a high point for either of us, he even tried to have me disciplined for blasphemy in 2012 over a tweet in which I poked fun at one of his egotistical quotes when he appeared at a Holyrood committee hearing. It was 2017 when I first called for an investigation into the purchase of the land for the site, and for the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. I urged the Scottish Government to use an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), a mechanism that allows investigations into 'politically exposed persons' who are suspected of involvement in serious crime. Ministers claimed that they didn't have the power to pursue a UWO even if they wanted to, a point that was contradicted by legal advice sought by campaign group Avaaz which showed that the First Minister could request one. The Scottish Government refused the calls. I even brought a motion in 2021 urging ministers to seek one, which saw the SNP and Tories forming an unlikely alliance in voting it down. Unfortunately my suspicions were well founded. When the New York State Supreme Court found Donald Trump guilty of civil fraud, it included findings that he had falsely inflated the value of assets, including his Scottish golf course. It meant that we now have indisputable and independent evidence in the public domain that Trump's business dealings, including those in Scotland, were linked to fraud. So why won't the Scottish Government confirm if he is being investigated? At long last it seems that he is finally being held to account by the legal system in the US, albeit with the power of the White House to shield him. Yet, even while the wheels in the US are slowly turning, Scotland's Civil Recovery Unit has only gone as far as providing the same comment that they have done since 2021, saying that they cannot 'confirm or deny' whether an investigation has commenced. Stringing out this position is no longer tenable. Following the rulings in New York, there is now urgent public interest in what action is being taken to investigate Trump's business dealings in Scotland. (Image: Allen Eyestone, Allen Eyestone / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) For years, ministers have hidden behind officials and said that they cannot confirm or deny whether Trump is under investigation. In that same length of time, an investigation and a court case have now taken place in New York. Nobody can be above the law. It's a core principle of any legal system that everyone be treated equally, regardless of how rich or powerful they are. If we are to have a credible system then anyone who may have broken the law must be held to account. Donald Trump is a profoundly dangerous man and has shown himself to be utterly dishonest. Every day there is a new mistruth or a lie. From petty claims about the size of the crowds at his rallies to major geopolitical issues, he has proven himself to be completely untrustworthy. There is no doubt that the US president feels an affinity for Scotland, and that he regards his Scottish interests as prized possessions in his global business empire. He clearly wants to expand his family's footprint here, and has a new golf course set to open in the months ahead, with speculation that he will attend the opening. It's no secret that the Scottish Greens are dismayed about the way that the Scottish and UK governments have responded to Donald Trump's re-election. We will never support cosy phone calls and meetings to discuss 'mutual interests', and we don't believe that he should be greeted with the trappings of a state visit. But the call for a UWO is not about his shocking and shameful record in office. It is about his basic integrity and about how our government responds to the wealthy and powerful. The New York courts have exposed a litany of concerns that need to be investigated and acted upon. There is a clear and urgent need to get to the bottom of Trump's finances and the business he runs. It's long past time for the Scottish Government to demonstrate that Scotland is not a country where anyone with the money can buy whatever land and property they want, no questions asked.
The National
05-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Scotland urged to ‘take lead' on investigating Donald Trump's finances
New York-based Avaaz published a report in 2019 which raised questions about the $60 million Trump paid for Turnberry Golf Club amid further questions over the purchase of land for the US president's other golf course in Scotland – the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire. The group have since continually pushed for the Scottish Government to grant an Unexplained Wealth Order, a mechanism that allows investigations into 'politically exposed persons' like Trump suspected of involvement in serious crime. READ MORE: John Swinney stresses 'threat' of Nigel Farage after English elections This included challenging the Scottish Government in the Court of Session in 2021, which determined that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC must decide on whether to seek an Unexplained Wealth Order. The Scottish Greens, notably co-leader Patrick Harvie, have also continually called for an investigation to be launched. It comes after the New York State Supreme Court found Trump and his company guilty of civil fraud in February last year, finding them guilty of falsely inflating the value of Trump's assets – including his golf course in Aberdeen – which he has appealed. The former president was also subsequently convicted by a New York jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Nick Flynn, the legal director of Avaaz, told The National that Scottish ministers can and should still 'take the lead' on investigating Donald Trump's finances by seeking an unexplained wealth order, and pushing the Lord Advocate to do so. 'I am disappointed and surprised that the Scottish Government have avoided the issue for the best part of 6 years,' he said. 'We filed our brief to the Scottish ministers in April of 2019. It's 40 pages and it sets out the case for seeking an unexplained wealth order and points to the unanswered questions about where the money came from and basically says that the threshold for seeking permission for granting the order is easily cleared, and that remains our position.' Flynn added: 'One might assume that the explanation for them not doing it and continually refusing to explain their position is a lack of political will and courage, and, you know, that's disappointing. 'And with Trump now back in the White House, I'm not sure they are going to have a change of heart.' The organisation wrote to Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain in October last year. READ MORE: Pro-independence parties urged to sign electoral pact ahead of Holyrood election After a delay, the Scottish Government eventually responded in December in a letter seen by The National, with the same answer that has been given in past years. 'It remains the position, that given the sensitive nature of civil recovery work, the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) operates a policy that it will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any on-going investigation or, in particular, whether any investigatory orders are being applied for,' the letter read. 'Frankly, I just really think that's not good enough and that the Scottish people are owed some transparency around this. There are serious questions. It is clearly a big issue,' Flynn said. 'There is a cloud of suspicion hanging over the golf course and they have the tools that they need to be able to clear that up, and they seem very reluctant to use it, which is, I think a dereliction of their public duties. 'If President Putin owned some golf course, there would be an unexplained wealth order on it right now. And I don't see a big difference.' He added: 'The Scottish Government has a tool which is designed to shed light on the finances of politically exposed persons like President Trump or President Putin or whomever, and it's a win-win situation for everybody because it allows suspicions to be clarified. "And I think they do have the opportunity to take a lead in using that tool to clear up a matter of huge public interest. I think they're showing a shocking lack of leadership at the moment.'
The Guardian
30-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘It means death': Afghan women's rights activists face deportation from Pakistan
More than 50 prominent female Afghan women's rights activists sheltering in Pakistan are facing deportation home, where they fear they will be imprisoned or killed under Taliban rule. Under a draconian policy, the Pakistan government has pledged to deport millions of Afghan nationals, after relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan severely deteriorated and attacks by militants in the border areas surged. Pakistan government ministers have accused Afghans of being 'terrorists' and 'traitors' who are fuelling crime and militancy in the country. Pakistan began deportations of Afghan refugees in September 2023. According to a recent report by Amnesty International, so far at least 844,499 Afghan nationals have been forcibly deported back to Afghanistan where they are at 'real risk of persecution by the Taliban'. Among those facing the threat of returning to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan are 60 female activists and human rights defenders, who fled persecution after they spoke out for women's rights and education or attended protests. Many have been forced into hiding in recent weeks, as police have been going door-to-door in the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, arbitrarily arresting any Afghans and allegedly demanding huge bribes. Humaira Alim worked as a women's rights and education activist in Afghanistan for seven years before the Taliban came back to power in 2021. After women were deprived of the right to work and then attend university under the group's strict Islamic rule, she was among a group of women who defied the Taliban and helped organise protests on the streets. But after facing 'dire warnings' and then direct threats to her life from the Taliban for her activism when pregnant with her first child, Alim said she had 'no choice' but to flee over the border to Pakistan in December 2022. She has stayed in Islamabad ever since, living with her two young children on a visa that has been given monthly. Alim described her situation as an 'awful nightmare', as all Afghan nationals – even those who had lived in Pakistan for decades – were now facing routine persecution and harassment from the police. She and her children were recently forced to hide on the roof of their home as officers came looking for them. 'If they send me back to Afghanistan, it only means death,' she said. 'The Taliban have records on me and my activism. There is no place for women like me. They only arrest and torture us. I can't go back there with my children.' Alim said she knew dozens of other Afghan women like her, who had worked as activists, lawyers and human rights defenders and faced harassment or torture at the hands of the Taliban, who were now in hiding in Pakistan. Liliana Harrington, senior campaigner for Avaaz, an organisation that has been advocating for the women, said: 'Deporting these people to the Taliban is a death sentence. Pakistan would not only abandon these brave people to their oppressors but also abandon its proud legacy of protecting vulnerable Afghans.' The Pakistan government has given all undocumented Afghan nationals a deadline of 31 March to leave the country, otherwise they will be arrested. Alim said she and other female activists were just asking for more time, to find a third country who might be able to offer them asylum. Currently, they are waiting to see if they get an offer from Brazil or if other countries will offer them a safe haven. The widespread expulsion drew condemnation from Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty's deputy regional director for south Asia. 'The Pakistani authorities are violating the rights of Afghan refugees with impunity, subjecting them to arbitrary decisions that are shrouded in secrecy, totally lacking transparency and accountability,' she said.
Chicago Tribune
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: ‘Dummy in Diaspora' is an immigrant story told with a young and authentic voice
Chicago has seen of late an intriguing clutch of works looking at themes of family, culture and diaspora. Sanaz Toossi's 'English' (seen at the Goodman Theatre) explored a group of Iranian students dealing with the complexities of learning a second language. Michael Shayan's 'Avaaz' (seen at Chicago Shakespeare Theater) looked at life in America from the perspective of an Iranian-Jewish immigrant. And now comes Esho Rasho, a striking figure with a new solo show by Jackalope Theatre called 'Dummy in Diaspora,' a piece about searching for a home in Chicago within the context of an Assyrian immigrant family, filled with stories of the mountains of Iraq and the pleasures of better days spent in the city of Beirut. Rasho, who graduated from DePaul University in 2023, is an early career artist with a long way to go when it comes to universalizing his story and snapping back and forth into different settings. He needs to keep his own aesthetic rules more consistent, especially when it comes to exploring his addiction to nicotine, one of the show's central themes. And he needs work on his temporal pegs. But Rasho is brimming with talent and his 70-minute piece already has enjoyed some acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. It's directed with some pizzazz by Karina Patel. 'My name is Esho,' he says at the start, 'and I think there is something really wrong with me.' Maybe so, but there clearly is a lot more that's right. Much of the piece is about wanting to fulfill family expectations. If you've seen as much autobiographical work as I have, that's a familiar theme. But there was something notably authentic about how Rasho explains that desire in the context of being a young and exploratory gay man, even though your folks were hoping you'd be married off and having kids at age 22. 'There are times when I wish I could give it to them,' he says, eyes shining a little as he speaks of what his Assyrian refuge parents, who met in Chicago, underwent on his behalf. Ergo, this is authentic work about the complexities of identity and Rasho understands that works like this always are better when you embrace paradox and doubt. You're left with a feeling of the performer's immense set of future possibilities and that's always a good feeling to have when you walk out of the theater. Better yet, there's an authentic Chicago flavor to all of this. When a city offers a home for refugees, it is often their children who become part of the repayment for that hospitality, enriching our theaters and understanding. Interestingly, the Broadway Armory Park has of late been a temporary home to a new generation of newcomers to Chicago. Now, with Jackalope returning to its old theater space there, we see the benefit of new Chicagoans with new kids, new stories, old worries we all share. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@ Review: 'Dummy in Diaspora' (3 stars) When: Through March 23 Where: Jackalope Theatre at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway St. Running time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
