New York, Oct 02:  Egyptian authorities swept up the entire editorial team of one of the country’s few independent media, accusing them on Thursday of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

The arrest this week of the six journalists of Matsadaash (Arabic for “Don’t Believe”) sparked an outcry from international and regional rights groups who called it an “alarming escalation on independent media and freedom of expression.”

Authorities accused the six of being members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, alleging they produced fabricated news for an online outlet in exchange for foreign funding.

“The claims are false,” Matsadaash co-founder Abdelrahman Mansour said from outside Egypt.

Founded eight years ago as a fact-checking platform, it has since expanded into investigative reporting in Egypt and other Arab countries.

Mansour said two of the outlet’s editors were arrested in 2023 but were released without charge after State Security investigators found no affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“It’s very difficult for us to understand why this is happening,” he said.

Egypt is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says 26 journalists are now behind bars in Egypt.

The journalists’ whereabouts are unknown

Egypt’s Interior Ministry on Thursday described Matsadaash as an unlicensed page managed from abroad by a “fugitive Brotherhood member” it identified as Mansour.

It said the six people detained were part of a Brotherhood “media committee” that prepared false and fabricated news for Mansour to publish. Only one of the six is a member of the Journalists’ Syndicate, the national press union, the statement said. It said legal measures have been taken but did not specify charges.

The first arrest occurred on Monday night when authorities went to the home of Abdallah Qadry, Mansour said. The other five members of staff were arrested on Tuesday, starting with Mohamed Abu Emaira, who was taken from his home in the early hours. Mansour said Emaira’s library and internet router were destroyed during the arrest.

Omar Helal was arrested in Port Said and Islam Barakat in Gharbia Governorate. Two other members of Matsadaash’s newsroom staff — Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel — were arrested in Cairo.

All had their cellphones and computers confiscated.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said the whereabouts of all six remain unknown. “They have not been allowed to contact their families or legal team,” the advocacy group said. It was the first time an entire newsroom had been arrested in Egypt.

Rights groups call for the journalists’ release

Matsadaash, founded in 2018 as an online platform, has gained credibility and a large following in Egypt, where independent media are stifled and government censorship and oversight over newspapers and TV networks are the norm. The Matsadaash website is blocked in Egypt, but its Facebook page has more than one million followers.

Over 80 international and regional rights groups, civil society organisations and independent media called on the Egyptian authorities to release the journalists, condemning what they called an escalating crackdown on independent media.

“Matsadaash has operated openly for years and has built a reputation for credible and accurate reporting on a range of public interest issues across Egypt,” the petition, signed by groups including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, said. “Egyptian authorities’ failure to allow free expression to thrive flies in the face of a purported commitment to dialogue, transparency, anti-corruption, and regional leadership.”

Accusing critics of membership in the Brotherhood is common in Egypt, which designated the group as a terrorist organisation in 2013, after the military ousted then-President Mohammed Morsi, a senior Brotherhood figure. Since then, authorities have frequently accused journalists and critics of belonging to the group or spreading false news.

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 in Egypt, began as a social and religious movement opposing British colonial rule.

It grew into one of the Sunni Muslim world’s most influential Islamist movements, establishing branches in dozens of countries. Egyptian authorities alternated over the decades between tolerating and repressing the group, which was permitted to field candidates in elections for brief periods.

The Muslim Brotherhood is now banned in Jordan, while its branches are designated terrorist organisations by several countries.

Washington, Oct 02: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is launching an office of religious affairs, the latest of his faith-related reforms at the Pentagon.

He announced in a speech Wednesday that the office will help offer “first-class religious support” and will report directly to him.

“Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armour of God, because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual,” he said.

Hegseth has infused his evangelical Christianity into his leadership of the Pentagon, hosting Christian worship services for employees and often speaking of the United States as a Christian nation.

The Office of Religious Affairs, or ORA, will advocate for military chaplains and religious support “at the highest level of the Department,” according to a Pentagon statement. It will not “compel religious participation, favour one faith, or diminish the rights of personnel of any faith or lack thereof.”

Some criticism of the initiative surfaced quickly.

The Pentagon “owes it to the nation’s service members to defend religious freedom,” said Rachel Laser, head of Americans United for Separation of Church, which has sued the Pentagon over its worship services. “Hegseth’s latest announcement violates that promise by elevating Christianity to an even higher role in shaping US military policy.”

Other federal agencies have had religious or faith-based offices, which were established under President George W. Bush and were continued in different forms under the Obama and Biden administrations. President Donald Trump established a White House Faith Office and had a similar effort during his first term.

Shaun Casey, a religion scholar, led the State Department’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs during the Obama administration. The office did not promote religion or spiritual well-being, he said. “It was there to understand what were the political implications of lived religion in the various hot spots around the world.”

The leader of the new office has not been named. A Pentagon memo said the religious affairs director will coordinate spiritual resources, including “faith-based homeschool support for military families.” Hegseth has also pushed the military school system to introduce more coursework that draws from conservative and Christian influences.

The memo mentions “faith-based initiatives supporting Department-wide suicide reduction.” In recent years, the military has become increasingly dependent on chaplains to help address the growing numbers of troops in mental health distress. Hegseth has said he wants chaplains to focus more on God and less on therapeutic “self-help and self-care.”

The secretary has pushed other changes within the military’s chaplain corps, which provides spiritual care to troops. He ordered chaplains, who are commissioned officers, to no longer wear their rank on their uniform but instead be identified by religious insignia.

The Defence Department also slashed the number of religious affiliations it officially recognises, down to 31 from more than 200 previously recognized traditions. The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.

Hegseth spoke directly to chaplains in his address Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Using Christian-inflected language, he said: “Live your calling. Stand firm. Preach truth. Minister to the flock.”

He then quoted from the Bible: “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?”

Moscow, Oct 02: President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reiterated Moscow’s long-held position that Russia is not planning to attack European countries but will respond to aggression with “all weapons” in its arsenal.

In remarks at a foreign policy forum, Putin accused the West and Europe of escalating tensions by talking about preparing for a war with Moscow in the coming years, conducting military drills in the Baltic Sea, and seizing Russian vessels.

His remarks followed Moscow’s warning to NATO that it would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to defend Kaliningrad should any members of the military alliance try to cut off the Baltic exclave from the rest of Russia.

Several Russian embassies in Europe this week issued statements that said Moscow has “information that NATO is preparing (an) air and naval blockade of Kaliningrad and (the) Kaliningrad region.”

They accused European leaders of “playing a dangerous game” by saying Russia might attack another country or ramp up a campaign of destabilizing attacks with drones and sabotage. Moscow has called the allegations absurd.

“There should be no mistake — Russia would be ready to use all its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory if NATO countries try to isolate (the) Kaliningrad region from the rest of the country,” the Russian Embassy in Ireland said in its statement on Tuesday.

Asked at the Valdai Club forum Thursday whether Russia was on the cusp of a war with NATO or whether both were trying to intimidate each other, Putin said: “It’s not intimidation, it’s a response to an attempt to intimidate us.”

Putin said that “everything is written correctly” in the earlier warning to NATO.

“If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation — in this case we mean Kaliningrad, or maybe some other territories — of course, inevitably and immediately the question of Russian Federation using all weapons at the disposal of our country will appear on the agenda,” he said.

Putin didn’t specify whether Moscow would use nuclear weapons but said it has arms that “no one else has” and would determine which to use in case of an attack.

NATO pushed back against Russian nuclear rhetoric

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed Wednesday that Russia had sent a written message to the U.S.-led military alliance. “We strongly denounce the threat of force, including any irresponsible nuclear rhetoric,” she said in a statement.

Hart insisted NATO is not targeting Kaliningrad and had sent a reply noting that “NATO is a defensive alliance and none of our activities or exercises pose a risk to any part of Russia.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday the bloc’s response to the message was “short and concise.”

“Basically what we said is, Hey, listen, we are defensive alliance, and stop the nuclear threat. This is absolutely not called for and not helpful,’” Rutte told Euronews.

NATO’s response also urged Russia to stop its “unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine,” now in its fifth year.

The Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad sits between NATO members Poland and Lithuania. It is home to Russia’s main Baltic navy base and other military assets, and nuclear-capable Iskander missiles are deployed there.

Western military officers have said that key military installations in Kaliningrad would be a likely first target should Russia ever attack any NATO ally.

NATO allies have conducted military exercises in the Baltic Sea region in recent months. More are planned in October. It launched Operation Baltic Sentry there last year to protect communication cables and pipelines.

On August 18, NATO held an exercise over northern Poland and the Baltic region involving several aircraft, including an EA-37B Compass Call — a sophisticated American plane that can jam communications and radar, the US Air Forces in Europe said.

Defense analysts believe the unannounced, large-scale exercise would not have been welcomed by the Kremlin.

Rutte urges continued focus on supporting Ukraine

European leaders and intelligence services have warned that Russia could be ready to strike at another country within a few years, especially if it wins its war on Ukraine.

Rutte told Euronews that Russia is trying “to divide us and lose the focus” on defending Ukraine.

“We will not,” he said, adding that the best way to respond is to provide Kyiv with more support.

“That’s the message. Calm, carry on, keep the support for Ukraine going. That’s how we deal with it,” Rutte said.