Wife of Iranian-Canadian who died in jail barred from leaving Iran: son

LONDON (Reuters) - The wife of an Iranian-Canadian environmental activist who died in prison in Tehran last month was barred from leaving Iran, one of her sons said, in an unexplained move that drew an angry response from Canada.

Raam Emami said in an email to journalists that security forces had not allowed his mother Maryam Mombeini to get on a plane to Vancouver with him and his brother on Wednesday night.

Mombeini is the widow of Kavous Seyed-Emami, an environmental activist and sociology professor who was arrested on Jan. 24 and died in prison. Iran's judiciary said Seyed-Emami, 63, had committed suicide.

The family has called for independent probe into his death.

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, said in a message posted on Twitter that she was "outraged" to learn that Mombeini had been barred from leaving Iran.

"We demand that, as a Canadian, she be given the freedom to return home," she added.

Iranian judiciary officials were not immediately available for comment.

Seyed-Emami was the managing director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which seeks to protect Iran's rare animals. Iran's judiciary said he had set up the NGO as a cover to collect classified information on Iran's missile program.

Raam Emami said the family decided to leave Iran after being constantly "harassed".

"The government raided our home and seized all of our valuables (most importantly deeds to our homes), we can no longer stand this state of constant terror," he said.

Raam Emami has previously said that the family was under pressure from authorities not to publicize the case of Seyed-Emami.

"The authorities told our lawyers to tell the brothers 'to shut up or we'll shut them up,' Emami said, adding government agents had told him they were watching him.

Human rights activists have reported that at least six detainees have died in prison in the last two months in Iran. The judiciary has confirmed three deaths in custody but said all three had committed suicide.

Bilateral ties between Iran and Canada worsened in 2003 when an Iranian-Canadian photo journalist, Zahra Kazemi, died in Tehran’s Evin prison while in custody.

Canada cut all diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington, Editing by William Maclean)

Tillerson says African countries should weigh Chinese loans carefully

Faki and Tillerson hold a news conference at African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

African Union (AU) Commission Chairman Moussa Faki, of Chad, and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hold a news conference after their meeting at African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 8, 2018. 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday that African countries should weigh Chinese loans carefully, while adding that Washington was not trying to keep Chinese investment away from the continent.

Tillerson, a former Exxon chief executive, is seeking to bolster security alliances on a continent increasingly turning to Beijing for aid and trade.

The top U.S. diplomat may also seek to smooth relations after U.S. President Trump reportedly dismissed some African nations as "shithole countries" in January. Trump later denied making the comment.

"We are not in any way attempting to keep Chinese dollars from Africa," Tillerson told a news conference in the Ethiopian capital during his first diplomatic trip to the continent. "(But) it is important that African countries carefully consider the terms of those agreements and not forfeit their sovereignty."

Though the United States is the leading donor of humanitarian aid to Africa, China surpassed the U.S. to become Africa's largest trading partner in 2009.

Beijing has pumped billions into infrastructure projects, though critics say there is often little upside for local economies because Chinese firms and labor build the roads and rails.

Tillerson took that line on Thursday, saying that Chinese investments "do not bring significant job creation locally" and criticized how Beijing structures loans to African government.

If a government accepts a Chinese loan and "gets into trouble", he said, it can "lose control of its own infrastructure or its own resources through default." He did not give examples.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, visiting Zimbabwe on Thursday, told reporters he did not think it was appropriate for Tillerson to criticize China’s relationship with African countries.

Tillerson arrived in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, on Wednesday and visited the African Union headquarters on Thursday. The complex was fully funded and built by China and is seen as a symbol of Beijing's thrust for influence and access to the continent's natural resources.

Ethiopia is home to some of Beijing's biggest investments, from a railway to Djibouti that opened last year to factories and industrial parks.

His comments followed a speech earlier this week in which he criticized "China's approach" to Africa which he said encouraged dependency through "opaque contracts" and "predatory loan practices".

"We welcome Chinese participation, but we hope they will follow international rules, international norms and respect the sovereignty of countries," he said on Thursday.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Erhurman and Ozersay on First Official Visit to Ankara

Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman and Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay are on their first official visit to Ankara since being elected to office.
The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister visited Anıtkabir this morning before meeting with the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.

Following the meeting, the two prime ministers will hold a joint press conference.

A lunch will also be hosted in their honour by the Turkish Prime Minister.

Erhürman and Özersay will also be meeting with the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State in Charge of Cyprus Affairs Recep Akdağ.

In the afternoon, the two will be received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Speaking to reporters before his departure for Ankara, Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman said that in addition to following the established practice of conducting the first visit abroad to Ankara, the visit was aimed at discussing with Turkish officials the economic and financial protocols.

“We shall also be discussing as to how we can further develop our relations, how we can move forward and cooperate for the development of the TRNC. Naturally we shall also be discussing the Cyprus Problem, to evaluate the conditions we are currently in. Our foreign minister had launched initiatives on the hydrocarbons issue and so we need to exchange views on that”, he said.

Responding to a question on the economic and financial protocols, Erhürman said that this issue will be taken up as soon as the state budget is passed.

BRT

Las Palmas vs Barcelona: TV channel, kick-off time and team news for La Liga encounter

Ernesto Valverde's side stuttered with back-to-back draws in early February but have since recovered - and can put clear daylight between them and Atletico Madrid with victory here.
It's been a tough season for Las Palmas who are the second lowest scorers in the league, but they are only one point behind Levante in 17th.

Airline staff in furious row with passenger over size of her carry-on bag - even though it fits in measuring rack

A passenger had a heated row with airline staff when they said her carry-on bag was too large – even though it fitted inside their measuring rack.

Natalia Rutkowski, 27, was checking in for a flight from Chicago to New Jersey with her mother Anna, 58, when United Airlines staff told her that her handbag was too big.

The account executive from Lyndhurst, New Jersey was asked to place the piece of luggage into a test rack at O’Hare International Airport.

But even though she managed to fit the bag into the rack, staff tell her it is oversized and that it will have to be checked for a $25 fee.

Video of the incident shows airline staff removing the bag and putting it in sideways before claiming that it does not fit, despite the fact that there appears to be space below it.

After speaking with various staff members, the mother and daughter were eventually allowed to board the flight home to Newark Airport, NJ, with their baggage.

Ms Rutkowski claims the encounter was “like saying a dog is a cat”, and left her and her mother, a Russian-born maid service manager who speaks limited English, feeling humiliated.

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Six Men Jailed for Attack on Afrika’s Office

The six men charged for the attacks last month against Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Afrika’ and the TRNC Legislative Assembly building have been sentenced to between two and six months in prison.

Judge Tacan Reynar who was presiding over the case found all of the six accused guilty of the charges of unlawful assembly, rioting, causing damage to property and inflicting intentional harm.

The accused Mehmet İpek and Ahmet Türkmen were sentenced to six months in prison.

The third accused Abdülhadi Doğan was sentenced to four months in prison while Bayram Ak and Ümit Taş received 3 months and Oktay Güney two months.

The six men were part of a group of angry demonstrators who attacked Afrika’s offices on January 22 after the daily likened Turkey’s Afrin operation in northern Syria to Ankara’s presence in the TRNC.

Protesters threw rocks and eggs at the building smashing windows and brought the newspaper’s sign down causing significant damage. Later some of the demonstrators climbed onto the roof of the TRNC parliament waving flags before being brought down by police.

BRT