Lee Rigby murderer fighting for life after Covid-19 diagnosis

One of Lee Rigby’s killers is reportedly fighting for life after catching coronavirus.

Michael Adebowale is serving a life sentence for murdering Fusilier Rigby in May 2013 on the streets of Woolwich, south-east London.

The Sun reported that the 29-year-old Islamic terrorist was removed from Broadmoor last week following a deterioration in his condition after he contracted Covid-19.

Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo ran over the 25-year-old soldier close to Woolwich Barracks in May 2013 before stabbing him to death in broad daylight.

The father-of-one died as a result of multiple cut and stab wounds after the attack fuelled by Adebowale and Adebolajo’s extremist beliefs, described as a “betrayal of Islam” at their murder trial in 2014.


Read more: Lee Rigby murder: Murdered soldier is not forgotten, says army colleagues

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Categories: COVID-19, fighting for life, Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolaje, Michael Adebowale, News

Terror watchdog launches inquiry into radicalisation in jails

An inquiry into the way prisons deal with convicted terrorists is being launched by the independent terror watchdog amid concerns of growing radicalisation behind bars.

Jonathan Hall QC said there had been a “steady drumbeat” of terror attacks on prison officers while other inmates were coming under the influence of “high status” terrorist prisoners.

Mr Hall, the Government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said that if terrorist activity was taking place in jails then it had to be dealt with.

“There has been a steady drumbeat over recent years of terrorist attacks against prison officers, and an increasing number of individuals who may well have formed their terrorist intent in prison under the influence of high status terrorist prisoners,” he told The Times.

“If terrorism exists (in prison) then it ought to be dealt with. We need scrutiny of how prisons operate to either contain, or worse encourage, terrorism.”

His comments follow a series of high-profile cases, including the 2019 London Bridge attack when Usman Khan, a terrorist prisoner out on licence, stabbed two people to death.

Khairi Saadallah, who was given a whole life sentence earlier this month for murdering three men in a terror attack in a Reading park, had been befriended by a radical preacher while serving an earlier prison term.

Last year Brusthom Ziamani, who was serving a 19-year sentence for plotting to behead a soldier, was convicted of attempted murder for trying to hack an officer to death in the maximum security Whitemoor jail.

Mr Hall said that he had been amazed at the way terrorist prisoners were looked up to by other inmates.

“I find it astonishing that someone should go to prison for plotting a terrorist atrocity and the concern is not that they themselves are at risk of attack, like a paedophile is often at risk of attack because prisoners generally say what they’ve done is terrible,” he said.

“Terrorists automatically achieve a sort of status.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told The Times that they had trained more than 29,000 prison officers to better spot signs of extremism, increased the number of specialist counter-terrorism staff, and would separate the most subversive prisoners where necessary.

“Our tough measures to stop extremists spreading their poisonous ideologies in prison have been stepped up,” the spokesman said.

“We ended the automatic early release of terrorists and our new legislation means they will also face tougher sentences and monitoring on release.”


Read more: Serving inmates convicted of terrorist murder plot against prison officer

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Categories: Inquiry, jail, Jonathan Hall QC, News, radicalisation, Terror watchdog

Schoolboys in court on ‘terror charges’ linked to far-right extremism

Two schoolboys accused of being part of an online far-right extremist group have appeared in court on terror charges.

It is alleged the teenagers were part of a Telegram chat group which was found to contain images of Adolf Hitler and the white extremist involved in the 2019 Christchurch massacre.

One of the boys, a 16-year-old from Kent, is accused of providing an electronic link that allowed others to access a terrorist publication, namely the “white resistance manual”.

It is alleged he did so with the intention it would encourage others to commit a terrorist act.

He is charged with the dissemination of a terrorist publication on August 28 last year.

His co-defendant, a 15-year-old from South Derbyshire, is accused of possessing a terrorist publication, namely the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000 on or before September 22.

He is also charged with disseminating a terrorist publication on September 18 2020.

The teenagers, who are both white, appeared in person at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, but did not enter pleas.

The 16-year-old was granted conditional bail with restrictions on his internet use and a curfew ordering him to remain at home between 8pm to 6am.

The 15-year-old defendant was remanded in custody.

Both teens are due to return to Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 26.


Read more: Extremists change narrative to attract vulnerable youths

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Categories: News, online far right extremism, schoolboys, Telegram chat group, Terror charges

Full text of Joe Biden’s inauguration speech

Full text of US President Joe Biden’s full inaugural address:

“Chief justice Roberts, vice president Harris.

Speaker Pelosi, leader Schumer, leader McConnell, vice president Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve. Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause. The cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded. We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

So now, on this hallowed ground, where just a few days ago violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.

As we look ahead in our uniquely American way, restless, bold, optimistic and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be. I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here today. I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I know-

And I know the resilience of our constitution and the strength, the strength of our nation, as does president Carter who I spoke with last night who cannot be with us today but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

I’ve just taken a sacred oath each of those patriots have taken. The oath first sworn by George Washington. But the American story depends not in any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us. On we, the people who seek a more perfect union. This is a great nation. We are good people. And over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we’ve come so far, but we still have far to go.

We’ll press forward with speed and urgency for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities. Much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain.

Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we are in now. Once in a century virus that silently stalks the country has taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II.

Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed. A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

The cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy. Unity. Unity.

In another January, on New Year’s Day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. When he put pen to paper, the president said, and quote, “If my name ever goes down into history, it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.”

My whole soul is in it.

Today on this January day, my whole soul is in this. Bringing America together. Uniting our people. Uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the foes we face: anger, resentment, and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness.

With unity, we can do great things, important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward- reward work and rebuild the middle class and make healthcare secure for all. We can deliver racial justice, and we can make America once again the leading force for good in the world.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. I know the forces that divide us are deep, and they are real, but I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonisation have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.

Through Civil War, the Great Depression, world war, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our better angels have always prevailed. In each of these moments, enough of us, enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward, and we can do that now.

History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity. We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbours. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.

For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury, no progress, only exhausting outrage; no nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge and unity is the path forward. And we must meet this moment as the United States of America.

If we do that, I guarantee you we will not fail. We have never ever ever ever failed in America when we have acted together, and so today at this time in this place, let’s start off fresh all of us. Let’s begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another. Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war, and we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this, and I believe America is so much better than this. Just look around here we stand in the shadow of the Capitol dome as was mentioned earlier completed amid the Civil War when the Union itself was literally hanging in the balance.

Yet we endured, we prevailed. Here we stand, looking out on the great mall where Dr King spoke of his dream. Here we stand where 108 years ago, at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote, and today we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, vice president Kamala Harris.

Don’t tell me things can’t change. Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington Cemetery where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace, and here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen; it will never happen, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.

To all of those who supported our campaign, I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us. To all of those who did not support us, let me say this, hear me out as we move forward, take a measure of me and my heart. If you still disagree, so be it, that’s democracy, that’s America. The right to dissent peaceably within the guardrails of our republic is perhaps this nation’s greatest strength. Yet hear me clearly – disagreement must not lead to disunion, and I pledge this to you; I will be a president for all Americans, all Americans.

And I promise you I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

Many centuries ago, St Augustine, a saint in my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love defined by the common objects of their love. What are the common objects we as Americans love that define us as Americans? I think we know. Opportunity, security, liberty, dignity, respect, honour, and yes, the truth.

In recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies, lies told for power and for profit, and each of us has a duty and a responsibility as citizens, as Americans and especially as leaders, leaders who have pledged to honour our constitution and protect our nation, to defend the truth and defeat the lies.

Look, I understand that many of my fellow Americans view the future with fear and trepidation. I understand they worry about their jobs. I understand like my dad they lay in bed staring at the night – staring at the ceiling wondering ‘can I keep my healthcare?’, ‘can I pay my mortgage?’. Thinking about their families, about what comes next. I promise you I get it, but the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like – look like you or worship the way you do or don’t get their news from the same source as you do.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban or conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts if we show a little tolerance and humility and if we are willing to stand in the other person’s shoes as my mom would say, just for a moment stand in their shoes because here’s the thing about life, there’s no accounting for what fate will deal you.

Some days when you need a hand, there are other days when we are called to lend a hand. That is how it has to be, and that is what we do for one another, and if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future, and we can still disagree.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we are going to need each other. We need all of our strength to persevere through this dark winter. We are entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus. We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation, one nation.

And I promise you that this, as the Bible said, weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. We will get through this together, together.

Look, folks, all of my colleagues I have served with in the House and the Senate up here, we all understand the world is watching, watching all of us today, so here is my message to those beyond our borders. America has been tested and we’ve come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again, not to meet yesterday’s challenges but today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

And we’ll lead not merely by the example of our power, by the power of our example.

We’ll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.

Look, you all know we’ve been through so much in this nation. And in my first act as president, I’d like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer, remember all those who we lost this past year to the pandemic, those 400,000 fellow Americans, moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbours, and co-workers.

We will honour them by becoming the people in the nation we know we can and should be. So, I ask you, let’s say a silent prayer for those who’ve lost their lives and those left behind and for our country.

Amen.

Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and on truth, a raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis, America’s role in the world. Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways, but the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with a – one of the gravest responsibilities we had.

Now we’re going to be tested. Are we going to step up, all of us? It’s time for boldness for there is so much to do. And this is certain. I promise you we will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era.

We will rise to the occasion is the question. Will we master this rare and difficult hour? Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world to our children?

I believe we must. I’m sure you do as well. I believe we will. And when we do, we’ll write the next great chapter in the history of the United States of America, the American story, a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me. It’s called American Anthem. There’s one verse that stands out at, least for me, and it goes like this.

“The work and prayers of century have brought us to this day. What shall be our legacy? What will our children say? Let me know in my heart when my days are through America, America, I gave my best to you.”

Let’s add — lets us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our great nation. If we do this, then when our days are through our children and our children’s children will say of us they gave their best. They did their duty. They healed a broken land.

My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath. Before God and all of you, I give you my word I will always level with you. I will defend the constitution. I’ll defend our democracy. I’ll defend America. And I will give all, all of you, keep everything you- I do in your service, thinking not of power but of possibilities, not of personal interest but the public good. And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear; of unity, not division; of light, not darkness; a story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness.

May this be the story that guides us, the story that inspires us, and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history. We met the moment. Democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch but thrived, that America secured liberty at home and stood once again is a beacon to the world. That is what we owe our forbearers, one another, and generation to follow.

So, with purpose and result, we turn to those tasks of our time, sustained by faith, driven by conviction, devoted to one another in the country we love with all our hearts. May God bless America and may God protect our troops.

Thank you, America.”


Read more: Memorial day like no other for Americans under Corona Virus restrictions

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Categories: Biden, Inaugural speech, Joe Biden, News, Vice President Kamala Harris

‘Disproportionate rates’ of premature Covid-19 death in black and Asian patients

There have been disproportionate rates of premature death from Covid-19 among patients of Asian and black ethnicity, a large cohort study has found.

The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, is based on nearly 1,800 patients admitted to five acute hospitals within Barts Health NHS Trust between January 1 and May 13 2020.

The study found that patients from minority ethnic backgrounds were younger and less frail, compared with white patients.

It also showed that black patients were 1.8 times, and Asian patients 1.54 times, more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) and need mechanical ventilation.

Study author Dr Yize Wan, clinical lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and specialty registrar in intensive care medicine and anaesthesia at Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “Our study shows the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on black and Asian groups in the first peak.

“Black and Asian people admitted to Barts Health hospitals with Covid-19 were significantly younger in age, had greater acute disease severity, and higher mortality relative to white patients of the same age and baseline health.

“As the impact of Covid-19 continues to be seen within our community, the importance of responding to the ethnic disparities unmasked during the Covid-19 pandemic is crucial to prevent entrenching and inflicting them on future generations.”

The clinicians looked at the data from 1,737 patients aged 16 and over who were admitted to hospital and had a confirmed Covid-19 diagnosis, 511 of whom died 30 days later.

The cohort comprised 538 (31%) Asian patients, 340 (20%) black patients, and 707 (40%) from white backgrounds.

Black and Asian ethnicity patients were significantly younger – with median ages of 64 and 59 respectively – compared with 73 in the white group, the researchers said.

In addition, both groups were found to be at 50%–80% increased risk of receiving mechanical ventilation in ICU, compared with white patients of a similar age.

After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, obesity, smoking and frailty, the researchers found that, compared with those from white backgrounds, Asian patients were 1.49 times, and black patients 1.3 times, more likely to die from Covid-19.

The experts said that while their study had a large number of patients, they were unable to get a more detailed ethnicity breakdown.

They said further research is needed to understand the reasons why those from Asian and black backgrounds have higher mortality from Covid-19 infection.

First author Dr Vanessa Apea, a consultant physician in sexual health and HIV at Barts Health NHS Trust and honorary senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said: “Authentic community-based participatory research to understand the drivers of these differences, and co-creation of solutions are key to achieving health equity in these communities.”

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Categories: Asian, BAME, COVID-19, Deaths, disproportionality, News, Pandemic

Twitter account of Chinese embassy in US locked after Uighurs post

Twitter has locked the account belonging to China’s embassy in the US after a tweet stated that Uighur women in Xinjiang have been emancipated and are no longer “baby making machines”.

One of the final acts of the Trump administration this week was declaring that China’s policies and actions in regard to Muslims and ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang region constitute “crimes against humanity” and “genocide”.

A main reason for the declaration is widespread forced birth control among the Uighurs, which the Associated Press documented last year.

Another reason cited, Uighur forced labour, has also been linked by AP reporting to various products imported to the US, including clothing and electronic goods such as cameras and computer monitors.

Twitter said the January 7 tweet from the embassy in Washington violated its policy on dehumanisation.

According to that policy, “the dehumanisation of a group of people based on their religion, caste, age, disability, serious disease, national origin, race, or ethnicity”, is prohibited.

There have been no tweets from the embassy’s account since January 8.

In order to unlock the account, the embassy will have to delete the tweet.

The Chinese embassy in the US did not respond to a request for comment.

But on Wednesday, a day after outgoing US secretary of state Mike Pompeo classified China’s actions as “genocide”, China’s Foreign Ministry described Mr Pompeo as a “doomsday clown” and said the designation was merely “a piece of wastepaper”.

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Categories: Chinese Embassy, Locked, News, Uighur, Unites States, Xinjiang

Man charged with assault as worshippers subjected to racist abuse and gun gestures outside mosque

Merseyside Police today (January 21) named a 45-year-old man charged in connection with an assault and a racially aggravated public order offence following the targeting of worshippers when leaving the Al-Rahma Mosque, on Mulgrave Street, in Toxeth last month.

The anti-Muslim and Islamophobic attack occurred on the afternoon of December 11.

In a statement, officers attended the scene following reports of an assault with a bike lock against a 41-year-old man.

The statement added that the victim had challenged the perpetrator who had been shouting racist abuse and making gun gestures at worshippers as they left the mosque.

Following the completion of their investigation yesterday (January 20), Paul Anderson, 45, of Duke Street in Liverpool City Centre, was arrested, taken into custody, and later charged with assault (Section 47) and a racially aggravated public order offence (Section 4a of the Public Order Act 1986).

Paul Anderson is due to appear in court today after being remanded in custody.

 

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Categories: gun, hate crime, Liverpool, mosque, News

Donald Trump pardons former strategist Steve Bannon

US President Donald Trump has pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a late flurry of clemency action benefiting nearly 150 people.

The pardons and commutations for 143 people, including Bannon, were announced after midnight on Wednesday in the final hours of Trump’s White House term.

A statement from the White House said: “Prosecutors pursued Mr Bannon with charges related to fraud stemming from his involvement in a political project.

“Mr Bannon has been an important leader in the conservative movement and is known for his political acumen.”

Bannon had been charged with duping thousands of investors who believed their money would be used to fulfil Mr Trump’s chief campaign promise to build a wall along the southern border.

Instead, he allegedly diverted over a million dollars, paying a salary to one campaign official and personal expenses for himself.

In August, he was pulled from a luxury yacht off the coast of Connecticut and brought before a judge in Manhattan, where he pleaded not guilty.

Mr Trump has already pardoned a slew of long-time associates and supporters, including his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort; Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law; his long-time friend and adviser Roger Stone; and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Besides Bannon, other pardon recipients included Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser who pleaded guilty last autumn in a scheme to lobby the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the looting of a Malaysian wealth fund, and Ken Kurson, a friend of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner who was charged last October with cyberstalking during a divorce.

Bannon’s pardon was especially notable given that the prosecution was still in its early stages and any trial was months away. Whereas pardon recipients are conventionally thought of as defendants who have faced justice, often by having served at least some prison time, the pardon nullifies the prosecution and effectively eliminates any prospect for punishment.

Wednesday’s list also includes rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, both convicted in Florida on weapons charges.

Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, has frequently expressed support for Mr Trump and recently met with the president on criminal justice issues.

Others on the list included Death Row Records co-founder Michael Harris and New York art dealer and collector Hillel Nahmad.

Other pardon recipients include former Representative Rick Renzi, an Arizona Republican who served three years for corruption, money laundering and other charges, and former Representative Duke Cunningham, who was convicted of accepting 2.4 million dollars in bribes from defence contractors. Cunningham, who was released from prison in 2013, received a conditional pardon.

Mr Trump also commuted the prison sentence of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served about seven years behind bars for a racketeering and bribery scheme.

Bannon — who served in the Navy and worked at Goldman Sachs and as a Hollywood producer before turning to politics — led the conservative Breitbart News before being tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign in its critical final months.

He later served as chief strategist to the president during the turbulent early days of Trump’s administration and was at the forefront of many of its most contentious policies, including its travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries.

But Bannon, who clashed with other top advisers, was pushed out after less than a year. And his split with Mr Trump deepened after he was quoted in a 2018 book making critical remarks about some of Mr Trump’s adult children.

Bannon apologised and soon stepped down as chairman of Breitbart. He and Trump have recently reconciled.


Read more: Trump breaks with Bannon, says former White House aid ‘lost his mind’

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Categories: clemency, Donald Trump, News, Pardon, Steve Bannon

Pompeo says China’s policies on Muslims in Xinjiang amount to ‘genocide’

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has imposed new sanctions on China and said its policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang constitute a “genocide”.

Mr Pompeo made the determination just 24 hours before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. There was no immediate response from the incoming Biden team, although several members have been sympathetic to such a designation in the past.

Many of those accused of having taken part in repression in Xinjiang are already under US sanctions, and Tuesday’s move is the latest in a series of steps the outgoing Trump administration has taken against China.

Since last year, the administration has steadily ramped up pressure on Beijing, imposing sanctions on numerous officials and companies for their activities in Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.

Those penalties have become harsher since the beginning of last year when President Donald Trump and Mr Pompeo began to accuse China of trying to cover up the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, Mr Pompeo lifted restrictions on US diplomatic contacts with Taiwanese officials, prompting a stern rebuke from China, which regards the island as a renegade province.

Five days ago, the administration announced it would halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang with Customs and Border Protection officials saying they would block products from there suspected of being produced with forced labour.

Xinjiang is a major global supplier of cotton, so the order could have significant effects on international commerce. The Trump administration has already blocked imports from individual companies linked to forced labour in the region, and the US has imposed sanctions on Communist Party officials with prominent roles in the campaign.

China has imprisoned more than a million people, including Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups, in a vast network of concentration camps, according to US officials and human rights groups.

People have been subjected to torture, sterilisation and political indoctrination in addition to forced labour as part of an assimilation campaign in a region whose inhabitants are ethnically and culturally distinct from the Han Chinese majority.

China has denied all the charges, but Uighur forced labour has been linked by reporting from The Associated Press to various products imported to the US, including clothing and electronic goods such as cameras and computer monitors.

China says its policies in Xinjiang aim only to promote economic and social development in the region and stamp out radicalism. It also rejects criticism of what it considers its internal affairs.


Read more: Anger as China says that it is freeing Uighur women from being ‘baby making machine’

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Categories: Genocide, Mike Pompeo, News, Trump, Uighur Muslims, Xinjiang

Britain’s youngest terrorist can be freed from jail, says Parole Board

Britain’s youngest terrorist – who plotted to murder police officers in Australia on Anzac Day – can be freed from jail, the Parole Board has ruled.

The 20-year-old, from Blackburn, Lancashire, who can only be identified as RXG, sent encrypted messages instructing an Australian jihadist to launch attacks during a 2015 parade.

He was jailed for life in October 2015 after admitting inciting terrorism overseas.

In a document detailing the decision, the Parole Board said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in detention, and the evidence presented at the hearings, the panel was satisfied that RXG was suitable for release.”

At the age of just 14, the teenager took on the role of “organiser and adviser” and suggested beheading or using a car to kill officers during the annual April 25 commemoration of Australians and New Zealanders killed in conflict, which that year marked the centenary of the First World War battle in Gallipoli.

After being recruited online by Islamic State propagandist Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, over nine days RXG sent thousands of messages to 18-year-old Sevdet Besim, instructing him to kill police officers at the remembrance parade in Melbourne.

Australian police were alerted to the plot after British officers discovered material on the teenager’s phone.

The Parole Board cleared him to leave prison at his first review after he became eligible for release in October.

But the body said he will be subject to strict licence conditions, including having to live at a designated address, wearing an electronic tag and attending supervision appointments as well as adhering to restrictions on his movements, contacting people and using technology.

This plan is considered “robust enough to manage RXG in the community”, according to the decision papers.

The Parole Board said it could only direct release if it was “satisfied that it was no longer necessary for the protection of the public that RXG remained confined in prison”.

Two hearings took place, in September and earlier this month, before the decision was made, during which RXG said he hoped he would be freed.

As well as hearing evidence from RXG, the panel also considered submissions from his lawyer, probation officer, other officials, an imam, psychologists and psychiatrists.

According to the Parole Board document, at the time of his offending “risk factors” he displayed included “not coping well with feelings of anger, being manipulative, not being open and honest with people, his lack of maturity, obsessional behaviour, the influence on him of associates, unhelpful beliefs and extremist views, his radicalisation and his affiliation with ISIS”.

He was diagnosed with autism in 2017 and while behind bars has worked to “address his offending behaviour, his understanding of Islam and to develop his level of maturity”.

The document said witnesses had described the “considerable progress that had been made” and had recommended RXG be released, adding: “No one at the hearing considered there to be a need for further time within the custodial estate.”

His identity will remain a secret for the rest of his life after a High Court ruling last year.

Granting RXG lifelong anonymity, Dame Victoria Sharp said identifying him was likely to cause him “serious harm” and it was therefore necessary for the rare step – taken in only a small number of cases.

Only a handful of similar orders have been made, including those granted to Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who murdered Liverpool toddler James Bulger, and child killer Mary Bell.

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