Uyghur rapper was imprisoned in China for ‘extremist’ lyrics, rights group says

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. A young Uyghur rapper and singer-songwriter not seen since his arrest 20 months ago is imprisoned in China, serving a three-year sentence for composing lyrics that “promoted extremism,” according to the Chinese rights advocacy group Weiquanwang. Yashar Shohret, 26, who previously…

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As Iran tensions build, U.S. military moves warplanes to reinforce Middle East

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reinforced U.S. military capability in the Middle East with more warplanes, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, amid a more than two-week-old U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran. The Pentagon’s brief statement did not specify which aircraft were being deployed or where precisely they were sent….

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