Indian assaulted in NZ; told to go back to his country

March 6, 2017

Melbourne, Mar 6: An Indian national in New Zealand was assaulted, subjected to a racist tirade and told to go back to his own country during a road rage incident in Auckland, a media report said today. Narindervir Singh said he was filming from inside his vehicle when the incident happened on a weekday last week.melbrmn

"I gave him a space... that lady gave me the finger. He was driving that car [pointing to a white Holden] and now he's trying to threaten me, giving me bad names," Singh says in a video which was being streamed live onto Facebook. After Singh informed the driver that he's uploading the video live, the situation escalated and Singh was abused, sworn at and told to go back to his own country.

The abuser, who is seen in video wearing a grey Everlast t-shirt, was tail-gating according to Singh, who says he simply pulled over to let him pass. The man also made derogatory remarks about Punjabi people, Newshub reported. As Singh drove off, the abuser exposed himself. "It really shocked me and after he [left], I was really shaken," Newshub quoted Singh as saying.

"I don't know what to do, it really hurts my heart...The first thing in my mind was that he might hurt me with some weapon." When Singh left, he assumed it was all over. But when he parked on a nearby side street, he says the white Holden pulled up once again and the racist rant, including the n word, continued. Another man, Bikramjit Singh, suffered similar abuse last week as he left a Papatoetoe storage facility.

A man who claimed Bikramjit was speeding yelled at him, saying: "Go back to your country - slow down! You know what the speed limit is here." Bikramjit says he wasn't speeding, is a New Zealand citizen and has lived here for more than a decade. The man who hurled abuse in that case ended up apologising in an email, blaming two alcohol beverages he'd consumed earlier that day.

But those who work with migrants say such discrimination does appear to be increasing. "We are seeing it much more openly which is a very serious concern," said Anu Kaloti from the Migrant Workers Association. "I think societies are becoming more and more intolerant, especially since (Donald) Trump was elected President of the US." Both men have filed complaints with police.

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Agencies
July 8,2020

Washington D.C, Jul 8:  US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (local time) announced visa restrictions on some Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, 2018.

"Today I am announcing visa restrictions on PRC government and Chinese Communist Party officials determined to be "substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas," pursuant to the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018," Pompeo said.

"Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the PRC's human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing's failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia's major rivers," he said.

The US Secretary of State pointed out that Beijing has continued "systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas" by U.S. diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while PRC officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States.

"The United States will continue to work to advance the sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian conditions of Tibetan communities within the People's Republic of China and abroad," he said.

Pompeo said US also remains "committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, respect for their fundamental and unalienable human rights, and the preservation of their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity".

"In the spirit of true reciprocity, we will work closely with the U.S. Congress to ensure U.S. citizens have full access to all areas of the People's Republic of China, including the TAR and other Tibetan areas," he said.

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News Network
June 27,2020

LGeneva, Jun 27:: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has risen by over 177,000 in the past 24 hours to 9.4 million and the death toll has topped 480,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday (local time).

On Thursday, the WHO reported 167,056 new cases and 5,336 related deaths.

The fresh daily situation report estimates the number of infections confirmed in the past 24 hours at 177,012. Further, 5,116 virus-related deaths were reported over the same period, taking the toll to 484,249.

The Americas lead the count with over 4.7 million cases, followed by Europe with more than 2.6 million.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Washington, Aug 7: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) signed executive orders halting all transactions with Chinese applications TikTok and WeChat within 45 days, citing national security concerns, further escalating the tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. 

This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to Americans' personal and proprietary information," Trump said in a statement.

Citing reasons for the ban on WeChat, the US President said that the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the US, thereby providing the CCP a mechanism to keep tabs on the Chinese citizens who may be "enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives".

"In March 2019, a researcher reportedly discovered a Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages sent from users in not only China but also the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. WeChat, like TikTok, also reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP. 

These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. The US must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security," he added.

Earlier, Trump had issued an order banning TikTok as it "reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. 

TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP."
US politicians have repeatedly criticised TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

The development comes as China and the US are at loggerheads on a variety of issues including Hong Kong national security law, the South China Sea, the novel coronavirus and trade.

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