Category World News

Following the tragic death of a motorcycle taxi driver hit by a police car during a demonstration over a range of cost-of-living issues, protests have resumed in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta.

As riot police dispersed crowds of people calling for higher wages, lower taxes, and the elimination of political allowances, Affan Kurniawan was killed on Thursday when an armoured police vehicle struck him outside Indonesia’s House of Representatives.

Students urged protesters to rally after the death of Kurniawan on Friday outside the capital city’s police headquarters, and motorcycle taxi drivers gathered outside Jakarta Mobile Brigade Corps headquarters.

President Prabowo Subianto demanded calm, expressed condolences for Kurniawan’s passing, and set up a thorough investigation of the incident.

In a video message, Prabowo stated, “I am shocked and depressed by the officers’ excessive behavior, and I must hold the officers responsible.”

Police use tear gas

Local media reported that riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators as the protest continued into the night.

Asep Edi Suheri, the police chief in the capital, claimed Kurniawan, who worked for Gojek and Grab, was hit and killed by an armored police vehicle during the clashes.

Kurniawan was not involved in the protests, according to the driver’s family and a motorcycle drivers’ association.

In a late on Thursday news conference, he said, “As police chief and on behalf of the entire unit, I would like to express my deepest apologies and condolences.”

This week, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Jakarta and other cities to protest a new monthly housing allowance for politicians that is 20 times the national minimum wage.

The demonstrators are also protesting the textile industry’s low wages, cuts to government funding, and other issues.

The protests are a “culmination of months of not only economic but also political frustration all over the country,” according to co-founder Abigail Limura of What Is Up, Indonesia?

“We are in the midst of a deteriorating economy, a collapsed job market, and thousands of layoffs. And instead of being compassionate, these people are constantly met with insults, tone-deaf, and indifference, she said.

Protesters were also upset about the ongoing issue of police brutality and the police’s overt response to demonstrations this week, according to Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.

The motorbike taxi driver’s case is just one of many instances of excessive police force. He told Al Jazeera that there are too many cases in Indonesia, including West Papua. “We are constantly getting credible reports about arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing,” the statement continues.

Naomi Osaka claimed that in the midst of the heated argument between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko at the US Open, using the words “no education” and “no class” to criticize a Black tennis player was one of the worst things to say.

In a difficult second-round battle on Wednesday, Townsend, a Black man, defeated 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1.

However, the moment was immediately after the match when the pair verbally threw their fist at the American.

Townsend made a part of the conversation public during an on-court interview, and she later claimed Ostapenko would have to respond if the incident had “racial undertones.”

Ostapenko later claimed on Instagram that Townsend’s refusal to apologize after winning a point, when she claimed the American was “disrespectful” and that the incident occurred at a crucial moment, when the ball clipped the net and stayed in play, was the source of her outrage.

Most players practice apologizing for winning a point without being required to do so.

Osaka claimed Ostapenko’s words during the altercation were offensive despite the Latvian’s repeated claim that she had never been racist in her life.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka remarked, “One of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a sport with a majority of white players.”

She’s the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that because I know Taylor and I know how hard she’s worked and how smart she is.

Osaka, who was born into a Japanese mother and Haitian father, has long been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement both in Japan and the United States. During her campaign campaign for the 2020 Flushing Meadows title, she was a strong supporter.

Before each of her seven matches, the 27-year-old had used her platform to make a different face mask with the name of an African American who had been killed in recent years to draw attention to racial injustice in the United States.

“I don’t think that’s the craziest thing she’s said if you’re like asking me about Ostapenko’s history on the spot.” With a smile, Osaka continued, “I’m going to be honest.”

“I believe it was a bad choice and the worst person you could have ever spoken to,” he said. And I’m not sure if she is familiar with its American history.

She’s never going to say that in her life again, I assure her. But it was absolutely awful, right? That is simply unacceptable.

American Coco Gauff argued that Ostapenko should not have said what she said, but that the discussion was a “heat of the moment”occurrence.

Gauff, a vocal supporter of social issues, including racial justice, said, “I know what was said after the match.”

It was “a heat of the moment situation.” After losing, Elena was probably feeling emotions. Regardless of how you’re feeling, I do believe that shouldn’t have been said. “Because I know Taylor personally, she’s the opposite,” she says.

Gauff praised Townsend as one of the kindest people she knew, and hoped people would now make an effort to learn more about her.

Because of how much more than that, I don’t want Taylor to be the main focus of who she is. Maybe this is when people are hearing who she is.

According to the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office, 33 Colombian soldiers have been freed after three days of confinement in a remote Amazonian village dominated by armed rebel groups and drug crops.

As troops were led out of the rural community in Guaviare province on Thursday, Iris Marin, the head of the Ombudsman’s Office, said, “At this moment, soldiers are withdrawing from the village Nueva York.”

At least ten people were killed in clashes with an armed group on Monday, which led to the soldiers’ arrest.

In what the government of President Gustavo Petro called a kidnapping, villagers then blocked roads, preventing the soldiers from leaving. Marin continued, “We urge people to refrain from stigmatizing the community.”

Negotiations led by government, Ombudsman’s Office, and UN officials resulted in the soldiers’ release. Initial reports indicated 34 troops were detained, but later that number was increased to 33.

In Colombia’s southern regions, where the state has a limited presence and armed groups frequently have control over communities, mass detentions of security forces have become a common practice.

The attorney general’s office has received a formal complaint about the incident from the army. Recontractors were deployed “to prevent any attacks in this hostile environment,” according to military commander Admiral Francisco Cubides, who claimed locals were “being manipulated” by rebel factions.

Ivaan Mordisco, a former leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who spearheaded the dissident group, rejected a 2016 peace agreement that sought to end the nation’s six-decade armed conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 450, 000 people.

In the southwest of Cali, Mordisco-linked fighters detonated a truck bomb last week, injuring more than 60 people and killing six people.

Authorities accuse his organization of recruiting children and using intimidation to thwart state security forces.

The soldiers’ detention area in the Amazonian corridor is a major hub for drug trafficking, with extensive coca plantations being the main ingredient in cocaine production.

Four employees, including two who took part in a sit-in this week at the company’s president’s office, have been fired from the company due to their involvement in protests on company grounds.

No Azure for Apartheid, a protest group, announced in a statement on Wednesday that Anna Hattle and Riki Fameli had received voicemails telling them they were fired.

The company reported on the firings of two more employees, Julius Shan and Nisreen Jaradat, on Thursday.

They were one of the demonstrators who had recently set up camps outside Microsoft’s headquarters to protest its support for Israel in the Gaza war.

According to Microsoft, the terminations occurred as a result of serious company policies violations. It claimed that recent on-site demonstrations had “created significant safety concerns” in a statement released on Thursday.

No Azure for Apartheid demanded that Microsoft’s Azure software be discontinued and Palestinians be compensated. The name refers to Microsoft’s Azure software.

In a statement, Hattle said, “We are here because Microsoft continues to gaslight and mislead its own employees about this reality.”

Seven protesters were detained on Tuesday after occupying company President Brad Smith’s office, including Hattle and Fameli. The remaining five were employees of Microsoft and non-profits.

According to Smith, Microsoft upheld “freedom of expression that everyone in this country enjoys as long as they do it lawfully.”

claims made by Microsoft’s Azure app

A joint media investigation this month discovered that a Palestinian-occupied West Bank and Gaza-based military surveillance agency was using Microsoft’s Azure software to store a sizable amount of phone calls recorded in the region.

According to the investigation, Israel relyed on Microsoft cloud for extensive Palestinian surveillance, which was carried out by The Guardian, + 972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call.

Microsoft responded by requesting a review from law firm Covington &amp, Burling LLP.

Other Microsoft employees have voiced their opposition to the company’s ties to Israel.

An employee who was protesting the company’s ties to Israel during the technology company’s 50th anniversary celebration interrupted the remarks made by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman in April. Following that, that employee and another protesting employee both lost their jobs.

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from Israel’s military assault has grown, and images of starving Palestinians, including children, have sparked outrage worldwide, businesses and educational institutions have been tipped over ties to Israel.

In response to China’s growing military threat, two senior Republican senators have arrived in Taipei to discuss security.

Senators Deb Fischer and Roger Wicker, the head of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, both stated on Friday that their visit was intended to strengthen and emphasize Taiwan’s “great partnership.”

Before meeting with President William Lai Ching-te and other government officials, Wicker told reporters, “We stand here again to reiterate the partnership and the security and friendship that the United States has had with Taiwan for a while.”

The US Senate will consider the nearly $1 trillion bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, as it prepares to consider it next week.

Wicker, who provided no further information, claimed that the NDAA this year would “add to the provisions again” when it came to Taiwan.

Senator Fischer stated in a statement prior to the trip that she was looking forward to the visit “to see firsthand how we can strengthen our posture in the region in order to safeguard American interests and our allies.”

Fischer is also a member of the powerful Armed Services Committee, which oversees US military legislation.

Wicker and other lawmakers were urged by the Chinese Embassy to postpone travel to Taiwan last month.

Beijing frequently denounces any demonstrations of support for Taipei from Washington, which views the island as its own territory.

In recent years, China has increased its military presence in Taiwan, including hosting war games, and Beijing has never abandoned the use of force to enslave Taiwan.

As some members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, expressed concern that US President Donald Trump is underscoring security issues as he works to reach an agreement on trade with China, leading to the senators’ trip.

After Beijing objected, the Trump administration reportedly denied Taiwan’s Lai’s request to transit through New York as part of a planned official trip to Latin America. The trip was then reportedly cancelled by Lai.

Trump’s continued commitment to Asia-Pacific security issues as he pursues his trade agenda, good personal relationships with Xi Jinping, according to administration officials.

Despite having no formal diplomatic ties, the US is Taiwan’s most significant international supporter and supplier of weapons.

In order to strengthen its military supply chains and promote mobility across the Asia Pacific, the US announced on Saturday that it was considering opening new locations in Palau and Australia for the West Pacific’s stockpiling equipment.