Far-right and neo-Nazi groups are increasingly using major social media platforms to recruit young people, a new report revealed on Monday.

“The British far-right is now digitally-led and reflective of online culture – traditional structures have given way to social media platforms, influencers and ‘citizen journalists’ creating peer-to-peer radicalisation and a global community willing to crowdsource ‘micro-donations of time and effort,” anti-racism group Hope Not Hate (HNH) said in its annual State of Hate report.

Nick Knowles, the chief executive of HNH, said in the report regarding the use of social media platforms that “a fertile recruitment ground for young neo-Nazis has been Instagram – its inadequate moderation and worrying algorithm recommendations are child protection issues that demand urgent action from the platform.”

The British Hand and the National Partisan Movement, two relatively new far-right groups, are known to be actively using Instagram and the messaging app Telegram to recruit members into its ranks.

Three teenage boys, who are allegedly members of The British Hand, are currently facing trial on terrorism charges.

COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns have played an important role in shifting right-wing extremism from the UK street to online platforms. HNH found that younger groups have found it easier to transition from operating in the street to exploring technology for their own collective gain while older and traditional groups have been left behind.

“The lockdown has had a profound effect on every part of our society and it’s no less the case on the far-right. Traditional organisations were already on the decline but lockdown exacerbated their inactivity.” Knowles said, adding that “the new organisations and collectives that are emerging understand how to operate in this decentralised, self-directed environment.”

The study also found that the traditional far-right in the UK is currently at its weakest as a right-wing ideology has shifted into the political mainstream following the election of Boris Johnson as prime minister and Brexit. Mainstream politicians and commentators are now using language and rhetoric that was only used by the far-right in an attempt to embrace such narratives and win support.

Importantly, however, people sympathetic to the far-right cause are more likely to be influenced by certain individuals and figures rather than the actual ideology.

“The far-right has moved from being built around organisations to being built around people, and this has been amplified by our digital age. Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage are examples of a new generation of far-right personalities.”​​​​​​​

HNH described the government’s counter-extremism strategy as outdated and said it is in urgent need of an overhaul. The group has also urged social media giants Facebook and YouTube to take more effective action in banning far-right extremist groups from using their services and that the government proscribe these movements as terrorist organizations./agencies

Saudi Aramco plans to “expand and intensify” cooperation with China on research in areas including hydrogen and ammonia production from natural gas, according to chief executive officer Amin Nasser.

Aramco is looking to work with China on blue hydrogen and ammonia, synthetic fuels and carbon capture utilization and storage, Nasser said at the China Development Forum in Beijing. “All of these are essential to achieving our long-term, low-carbon ambitions,” he said.

The oil major is also sizing up possible investments in Chinese projects despite spending constraints arising from a period of low oil prices as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We see opportunities for further investments in integrated downstream projects to help meet China’s needs for heavy transport and chemicals, as well as lubricants and non-metallic materials,” Nasser said.

Oil companies globally reported losses or falling profit for 2020 as plunging demand due to the coronavirus pandemic led to lower prices and forced producers to shut in output. Aramco, the world’s biggest producer, was no different, reporting Sunday a 44 per cent drop in profit and further investment reductions. Still, some advanced or strategic projects are going ahead.

Domestically, the Jazan refinery is “on stream,” Nasser told reporters on a separate conference call to discuss earnings on Sunday. The planned 400,000 barrel-a-day crude-processing plant on Saudi Arabia’s southern Red Sea coast was set to start running at about half capacity after taking crude in the first quarter this year, Aramco said in August.

Nasser didn’t provide updates on the schedule or capacity for the plant that’s meant to bolster employment in the remote and less-wealthy regions along Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen./aa

Every one of us has a coronavirus story. To some the pandemic has been difficult and hard; to others gruesome and horrible; and to the rest tough and unkind. So what is your corona story? Saby, a middle-aged Indian man, has been working in Kuwait for the last 20 years. He said January 2020 was the hardest, as his father passed away. He couldn’t even be by his side during his hospital ordeal.

“Until now I am mourning the passing of my father. The fact that you cannot travel and be with your loved ones in times of emergency is the hardest part. He was in hospital in October 2020, was placed in the ICU, then got better and went home. But in December he suffered other health-related issues, so he was admitted to the ICU again.

When you want to be with your loved ones but cannot do anything is the most horrible thing. This has been the saddest moment in my life. Until now I feel terribly bad. At that time I wanted to fly back to India, but the timing and reality on the ground were not in my favor. I loved my father so much, but I didn’t have a choice – even if you have money you cannot do anything,” Saby said.

Saby said 2020 and now 2021 have been the cruelest years he has encountered. “These have been horrible years, not just for me, but for the entire planet,” he said. As of yesterday, the world has recorded 2.7 million COVID-19 deaths, with Kuwait’s death toll at 1,215. The coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries around the world and there is no sign the virus is going to subside anytime soon, even as the world is slowly rolling out vaccines.

Family separation
Muhammad Tariq, a 47-year-old logistics coordinator, has a disheartening family separation story. His wife and 9-year-old daughter went home to Pakistan on vacation in early Feb 2020. At that time, reports about the coronavirus were just emerging from China and there was no indication it would spread rapidly throughout the world. The virus reached Kuwait in the middle of Feb 2020, and by early March, lockdowns and curfews has started and many people were stranded outside Kuwait.

Tariq’s family too was stranded in Pakistan. When Kuwait eventually opened, they waited for some more time to avoid quarantining in a third country as direct flights were banned from certain countries. Some were able to enter Kuwait early on, but others like the family of Tariq who waited for new regulations were eventually stuck in Dubai when they finally decided to return to Kuwait.

On Feb 7, Kuwait decided to ban the entry of all foreigners to Kuwait for two weeks, which was later extended indefinitely. Prior to this ban, there was already a ban on the direct entry of passengers from 35 countries – later expanded to 68 – who had to stay 14 days in a third country before flying to Kuwait.

Hope and prayer
“In early January, my wife and daughter landed in Dubai, but due to a series of border closures, my family is still waiting to be allowed to enter Kuwait. I hope and pray that Kuwait reconsiders the entry ban, especially for dependents, and arranges a mercy flight for them. My family is not the only one stranded in Dubai. They are many others. We have been paying for hotel accommodation based on daily rates and are broke. I hope the Kuwait government will do something about our predicament,” Tariq said.

Meanwhile, Raju, an Indian expat, said he was lucky to enter Kuwait just before the coronavirus outbreak. “I returned from vacation before the coronavirus struck Kuwait. A few days after I arrived, they shut the airport. I thought this will be temporary, but my vacation in 2020 was scuppered. The problem I am facing now is that all my part-time jobs were cancelled. I used to earn well from part-time jobs before; now I only have a salary from my regular job. But I am glad that me and my family in India are in good health,” he said.

Melody, a Filipina business owner who had opened a restaurant in Salmiya in late-2019, said she is seriously contemplating closing her business. “I cannot earn anything anymore – no more income from my restaurant business. The amount I am now earning is not even enough to pay my restaurant workers and rent. This business before was very lucrative, but now all my savings are gone and my business is about to collapse. I am picking up the pieces that I can and am trying to sell anything to add to my income. I really pray that we survive this trial, as the only other option is to go back home,” she said.

At least one civilian was killed and two others injured on Sunday in airstrikes by Russian jets in northwestern Syria.

The attack, which an opposition plane observatory claimed was carried by Russia, targeted an area near the M4 highway in the Bab al-Hawa border crossing area between the town of Sarmada in Idlib province on the Syrian side and Reyhanli district of Hatay province in southern Turkey.

A cylinder-filling facility near the crossing was hit in the strikes, as well as trucks carrying commercial materials, areas near to the warehouse of a local humanitarian aid association, mountainous areas and a village on the highway in the south of Idlib.

Meanwhile, according to the observatory, a ballistic missile launched from the Mediterranean Sea landed near the Syrian National Army headquarters located in the village of Qah, 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Idlib's border with Turkey.

Following the attacks, defense teams in Idlib started efforts to extinguish the ensuing fires.

Earlier in the day, at least six civilians, including a child and a woman, were killed and 15 others injured in an attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime forces and Iran-backed terror groups in Idlib.

Idlib is the site of a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings, which have frequently been violated by the Assad regime and its allies.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

More than 5 million civilians have since been displaced./aa

A teenager has been arrested in Bangladesh for making comments against top officials of Bangladesh and India in a video posted online, officials said on Sunday.

The 17-year-old boy was apprehended in the northwestern Thakurgaon district on Saturday evening under the controversial Digital Security Act for “defaming” the prime ministers of Bangladesh and India, along with the foreign minister of Bangladesh.

He was presented in court on Sunday and sent to a juvenile correctional center pending trial, a police official told Anadolu Agency.

“He is a student of Grade 12. He was arrested for posting a video online in which he was defaming Sheikh Hasina, Narendra Modi, and AK Abdul Momen,” said Tanvirul Islam, the officer in charge of the area police station.

Just two days earlier, an 18-year-old boy was arrested in the same area for sharing online a caricature of Prime Minister Hasina.

The teenager remains in jail awaiting trial on charges under the Digital Security Act, a contentious law passed in 2018 that has been widely criticized by people in Bangladesh and international organizations, including the UN, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.

India’s Premier Modi is due in Bangladesh next week on a visit that is being opposed by a segment of the country’s vast Muslim population.

He is among a number of world leaders invited to the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh’s independence and the birth centenary of its founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Tens of thousands of Muslims held demonstrations after Friday prayers this week, criticizing the government for inviting a leader who they accused of persecuting Muslims in India.

Faced with growing calls to cancel Modi’s visit, Dhaka has stood its ground and reiterated that it will ensure full protection for all foreign dignitaries attending next week’s events./aa

Six lions were found dead in one of the country's most famous parks, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said.

This happened in Queen Elizabeth National Park, located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of the country's capital Kampala. The park attracts thousands of foreign tourists every year.

In a statement on Saturday evening, UWA Communications Manager Bashir Hangi said the lions were found dead at the park and that they were shocked by the fact that some of the body parts of the lions were missing.

"Eight dead vultures were also found at the scene, which points to the poisoning of the lions by unknown people. Given that some of the body parts of the lions are missing, we cannot rule out illegal wildlife trafficking," Hangi said.

He said that a UWA investigation team has already been sent to the scene.

"UWA strongly condemns the illegal killing of wildlife because it does not only impact negatively on our tourism as a country, but also revenue generation, which supports conservation and community work in our protected areas," he said.

Hangi said that apart from the government's revenue from tourism, local people, who live near the national park, also get 20% of the money collected from tourists./aa