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Musings From Abroad

Putin’s Russia takes war to social media, bans Facebook, Instagram, for being ‘extremist’

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Russia has taken its clampdown on the traditional media to the social media, after a court on Monday, placed a ban on Facebook and Instagram, claiming that the two platforms are “extremist.”

The ban on the new media platforms are part of sweeping efforts by Moscow to crack down on social media during the conflict in Ukraine.

Before the ban, the Russian authorities had accused the U.S. tech giant, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, of tolerating what it termed as “Russophobia” since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine on February 24.

The Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court acceded to a request from prosecutors for the two social media platforms to be banned for “carrying out extremist activities” just as the two platforms have been inaccessible in Russia since early March and Instagram was blocked in the country.

In the judgement, the court ruled that Meta’s WhatsApp messenger service would not be prohibited because it is not used to post public statements.

During Monday’s court hearing, Russia’s FSB security service accused Meta of working against the interests of Moscow and its army during the conflict.

“The activities of the Meta organization are directed against Russia and its armed forces,” FSB representative Igor Kovalevsky told the court.

“We ask the court to ban Meta’s activities and oblige it to implement this ruling immediately,” he said.

Meta had announced on March 10 that the platforms would allow statements like “death to Russian invaders” but not credible threats against civilians, but in what appeared to be damage control, Meta’s global affairs president, Nick Clegg, later said the laxer rules would only apply to people posting from inside Ukraine.

In a statement before the ruling, a Meta representative has said that “following public debate” the company had now changed its policy and deemed that “Russophobia and calls for violence against Russian citizens are unacceptable.”

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has come down hard on the media with its regulator, Roskomnadzor, earlier blocking access to euronews.com, the website of the French channel Euronews, and its Russian version, ru.euronews.com, at the request of the prosecutor’s office.

Earlier this month Roskomnadzor also blocked access to the BBC’s main news website, with Moscow’s Foreign Ministry warning of more retaliatory measures against the media.

Before the ban, Facebook and Instagram were widely used in Russia and the latter was the most popular social media platform among young Russians.

Instagram was also a key platform for advertising, processing sales and communicating with clients for small businesses in the country.

Musings From Abroad

UAE’s IRH to consider stake in Zambia’s Lubambe copper mine

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A division of the International Holding Company of Abu Dhabi, International Resources Holding (IRH), has announced that it plans to submit a proposal for a share in Zambia’s Lubambe Copper Mine.

 

The deal has opened up more potential to profit from Africa’s second-largest copper producer, according to IRH, which just acquired a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia.

 

 

Even after Chinese firm JCHX Mining agreed to buy the stake, it was reported on March 22 quoting sources, indicating that IRH, a division of the most valuable company in Abu Dhabi, is interested in purchasing an 80% stake in Lubambe held by EMR Capital.

 

 

“IRH’s commitment (at Mopani), has opened doors for additional investment opportunities in Zambia, including an intention to bid for a stake in the Lubambe Copper Mine,” the company said.

 

Due to the company’s interest in Lubambe, which may be among Zambia’s biggest copper mines, a bidding battle between Shanghai-listed JCHX, a mine maintenance and contracting company, and itself may result.

 

Wealthy oil companies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have recently begun to follow China’s lead and engage in African businesses to acquire resources to diversify their economies and capitalize on the move to electric vehicles (EVs). In addition to making bids for mining projects, IRH stated that it was actively investigating a range of investment prospects.

 

“In the forthcoming years, our goal is to seek diversification opportunities beyond copper… (with) targeted investments in other pivotal energy transition minerals, such as cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements, manganese, graphite, and the 3T minerals – tin, tungsten, and tantalum,” it said.

 

The Zambian government currently plans to increase copper production from approximately 850,000 metric tonnes to 3 million metric tonnes annually by 2032.

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Musings From Abroad

China, Zambia’s major creditor, cooperating on debt rework— Official

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A spokesperson of Zambia’s foreign ministry has stated that one of its major creditors, China, has remained supportive of Zambia’s debt restructuring.

The diplomat did not, however, disclose whether China approved of a planned agreement the country in southern Africa made with foreign bondholders.

On Monday, Zambia and the bondholder group announced that they had come to a fresh understanding to restructure $3 billion in foreign notes. The proposal was given the go-ahead by Zambia’s formal creditors, the largest of which is China.

On Monday, Zambia announced that it has reached a deal with a group of private creditors on the restructuring of $3 billion of its foreign notes, which is a noteworthy achievement that brings the country closer to ending its lengthy debt restructuring.

Being the first nation in Africa to miss payments on its foreign debt during the Covid-19 outbreak, they have expressed a strong desire for the debt to be restructured. Unfortunately, the protracted delays in the process have strained the local financial systems, impeded desperately needed investments, and delayed economic progress.

Zambia defaulted more than three years ago and its debt rework process has hit many obstacles, including in November when the official creditors rejected a previous bond deal because it did not offer comparable debt relief to theirs.

“China, as co-chair of the Zambian Debt Committee, has made concerted efforts with all parties concerned to promote significant progress in the disposal of Zambia’s debt,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a regular press conference.

“China will also continue to coordinate and cooperate with all parties concerned to steadily advance the work related to Zambia’s debt disposal,” he said when asked for China’s response to the latest bondholder deal.

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