Uncategorized

Israel blows up historic shrine in southern Lebanon

Spread the love

Original article republished from Memo under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Shrine of Shimon in Chamaa, Lebaon [Ibrahimamirnaeem/Wikipedia]

Israeli occupation forces destroyed a historic religious shrine during their incursion into the village of Chamaa in southern Lebanon on Friday night, Lebanese media have reported. Lebanese sources revealed that the occupation forces deliberately rigged explosive charges on what is known as the Shrine of Shimon in Chamaa and completely destroyed it.

The state-run National News Agency reported that the occupation forces withdrew from the hill where the shrine was located due to significant resistance from Hezbollah. A UN peacekeeping site nearby was hit by artillery fire as a result of the bombardments, according to the report.

The UN peacekeeping forces said on Friday that a live 155mm artillery shell struck their headquarters in the western sector but did not explode. UNIFIL reported that Italian peacekeeping forces stationed there dealt with the shell safely, adding that no peacekeeping personnel were harmed in the strike.

Since the start of its ground incursion into southern Lebanon, the occupation forces have blown up and demolished entire villages, employing a scorched earth policy to prevent Hezbollah from operating in areas near the border with the settler-colonial state.

READ: Israeli warplanes target vicinity of 2 churches, hospital in southern Beirut

Original article republished from Memo under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Continue ReadingIsrael blows up historic shrine in southern Lebanon

Reeves plots mega raid on pensions, union warns

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/reeves-plots-mega-raid-on-pensions-union-warns

MORE than six million workers’ pension pots are at risk under Treasury plans to create so-called “megafunds” to siphon off into national infrastructure projects, GMB warned today.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she wants to pool assets from the 86 separate local government pension schemes (LGPS) into eight funds, worth about £50 billion, by 2030.

She is due to announce her plans, which the government claims will be part of the “biggest pension reforms in decades,” in her inaugural Mansion House speech as Chancellor before City leaders tonight.

Alongside these are plans to combine smaller defined-contribution schemes across the country into pools of £25bn to £50bn.

GMB union has raised “strong reservations” over the annoucements, warning megafunds should not be used as “slush funds” for the Treasury.

The LGPS represents one of the world’s largest defined-benefit schemes, with 6.5 million members and some £360bn in assets.

GMB national pensions organiser George Gergiou told the Morning Star: “Our view is the Treasury have seen that and said we want a bit of that to fund some of our great infrastructure projects.

“This is not spare money, this is not a slush fund for people to dip into.”

…

Read the full article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/reeves-plots-mega-raid-on-pensions-union-warns

Continue ReadingReeves plots mega raid on pensions, union warns

Nine in ten honey samples from UK retailers fail authenticity test

Spread the love

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/nov/09/nine-in-ten-honey-samples-from-uk-retailers-fail-authenticity-test

Call for industry reform as latest results support belief that products are being bulked out with cheaper sugar syrup

The honey industry faces new demands to overhaul its supply chain after more than 90% of sampled products bought from large British ­retailers failed pioneering authenticity tests.

The UK branch of the Honey Authenticity Network sent 30 samples last month from Britain for a novel commercial test based on the DNA profiles of genuine honey. Five were from UK beekeepers and 25 from big retailers, including supermarkets.

The tests found that 24 out of the 25 jars of honey from retailers were considered suspicious.

…

An EU investigation published last year found 46% of imported sampled products were suspected to be fraudulent, including all 10 honey samples from the UK.

The EU is working on advanced testing techniques to detect honey fraud and has passed new legislation to provide improved labelling of country of origin on jars of honey.

…

Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/nov/09/nine-in-ten-honey-samples-from-uk-retailers-fail-authenticity-test

Continue ReadingNine in ten honey samples from UK retailers fail authenticity test

Female student arrested in Iran after stripping off in public on university campus

Spread the love

https://www.euronews.com/2024/11/02/female-student-arrested-in-iran-after-stripping-off-in-public-on-university-campus

Amnesty Iran called for the immediate and unconditional release of the student who reportedly stripped down in protest against the university’s strict dress code law.

An Iranian woman has been arrested after she stripped partially naked on a university campus, reportedly in protest against the strict dress code after she was physically harassed by security officers for wearing her hijab incorrectly, according to Amnesty Iran.

Video circulating on social media platform X, filmed by other university students in a classroom overlooking the Tehran Islamic Azad University campus, has attracted a lot of attention online, with many people applauding the woman for her “boldness” and “courage”.

No further information has been released about the identity of the individual.

In a post on X, Amnestry Iran pressed for her immediate and unconditional release.

The organisation called for the protection of the woman from “torture and other ill-treatment” pending her release and demanded that she must be granted access to family and a lawyer.

…

https://www.euronews.com/2024/11/02/female-student-arrested-in-iran-after-stripping-off-in-public-on-university-campus

Continue ReadingFemale student arrested in Iran after stripping off in public on university campus