Friday, April 19, 2024
NATO agrees to bolster Ukraine's air defenses |
Six In The Morning Friday 19 April 2024
Three drones downed after explosions heard in Iran’s Isfahan: State media
US media reported Israel launched missile attack on target in Iran, but there has been no official comment from Israel.
Iran’s air defences have brought down three small drones over the central city of Isfahan, state media reported, hours after United States broadcasters, quoting senior US officials, said Israeli missiles had hit an Iranian site.
Iranian state television reported explosions in Isfahan as air defences were activated and flights across several areas, including the capital, Tehran, and Isfahan, were suspended.
Airspace was reopened about four and a half hours after the incident and there were no reports of casualties.
Voting begins in India’s election with Modi widely expected to win third term
First phase in world’s largest democratic exercise begins, with 969 million people eligible to vote over six-week period
Voting has begun in India’s mammoth general election, as Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.
India’s elections are the largest democratic exercise in the world, with more than 969 million voters, amounting to more than 10% of the world’s population. The voting began at 8am on Friday, when polling opened at 102 constituencies across the country, and will continue over the next six weeks, in seven phases, until 1 June. All the results will be counted and declared on 4 June.
The elections have been described by analysts at the most predictable polls India has held in decades, with Modi and his BJP widely expected to win a third term in power.
Finland urges EU to help end migrant influx from Russia
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited the Nordic nations border with Russia, accusing Moscow of weaponizing migration to settle a score with the new NATO member.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo on Friday called on the European Union to help his country stop an influx of migrants via Russia.
The Nordic nation closed its eastern border in mid-December after nearly 1,000 migrants had arrived without a visa through its frontier with Russia since August. Most of them were from the Middle East or Africa.
The two neighbors share a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border and Helsinki has accused the Kremlin of weaponizing migration in response to Finland's accession to NATO, triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
French police arrest suspect after surrounding Iran consulate in Paris
French authorities arrested a man who threatened to blow himself up at Iran's consulate in Paris, a police source said Friday after officers cordoned off the building in the French capital.
Police earlier surrounded the Iranian consulate and asked the public to avoid the area in the 16th arrondissement (district) of the French capital.
A Paris police official said the man was seen at about 11am local time (0900 GMT) entering the consulate, carrying what appeared to be a grenade and an explosive vest.
The man later left the consulate and on being searched was found not to be carrying any explosives, a police source said.
Japan begins release of 5th batch of Fukushima treated water
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Friday it started releasing a fifth batch of treated radioactive water into the sea from the plant, amid opposition from China.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc will discharge 7,800 tons of water through May 7 in the first discharge of the current fiscal year, which began this month.
Before releasing water, TEPCO ensures the radioactivity levels meet the standards set by itself and the government.
Apple deletes WhatsApp, Threads from China app store on orders from Beijing
Apple has removed WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China, following an order from the country’s internet watchdog which cited national security concerns.
“We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” an Apple spokesperson told CNN on Friday. “The Cyberspace Administration of China ordered the removal of these apps from the China storefront based on their national security concerns. These apps remain available for download on all other storefronts where they appear.”
The apps, both owned by Meta (META), were already blocked in China and not widely used. They could be accessed in the country only by using virtual private networks (VPNs) that can encrypt internet traffic and disguise the user’s online identity.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Suspected Russian agents accused of plans to sabotage German military facilities
Six In The Morning Thursday 18 April 2024
Russia pounds Ukraine’s cities and front lines as air defences dwindle
Russia destroys Ukrainian power stations and defences as an expert warns Kyiv’s troops are ‘utterly exhausted’.
Ukraine’s dwindling supply of air defence missiles enabled Russia to devastate its energy infrastructure with ever-increasing effectiveness during the past week, while its artillery shell rationing allowed Moscow’s forces to continue a slow advance on the ground.
Making matters worse, Ukraine recorded no counterattacks against energy or military targets inside Russian territory.
Meanwhile, US congressional Republicans, who have effectively frozen aid to Ukraine since December, mulled over how and when to table a new bill to approve $60bn in aid requested by the administration of President Joe Biden.
Risk of bird flu spreading to humans is ‘enormous concern’, says WHO
Chief scientist voices fears about H5N1 variant that has ‘extraordinarily high’ mortality rate in humans
The World Health Organization has raised concerns about the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which has an “extraordinarily high” mortality rate in humans.
An outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths or killing of tens of millions of poultry. Most recently, the spread of the virus within several mammal species, including in domestic cattle in the US, has increased the risk of spillover to humans, the WHO said.
“This remains I think an enormous concern,” the UN health agency’s chief scientist, Jeremy Farrar, told reporters in Geneva.
German police arrest two suspected of spying for Russia
German police have arrested two men on suspicion of spying for Russia. The German-Russian nationals are accused of acting as agents for sabotage purposes.
German prosecutors on Thursday said police in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth had arrested two men on suspicion of spying for Russia.
The two are accused, among other things, of acting as agents for sabotage purposes and of preparing explosives, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office announced in Karlsruhe.
Germany also summoned Russia's ambassador in Berlin after the arrests were announced.
"We will not allow Putin to bring his terror to Germany," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
UN chief warns Mideast on brink of 'full-scale regional conflict'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiraling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran's attack on Israel could devolve into a "full-scale regional conflict."
Guterres also said Israel's military offensive on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for their unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, had created a "humanitarian hellscape" for civilians trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory.
"The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation -- in words and deeds," Guterres told a high-level Security Council meeting, with several foreign ministers present, including from Jordan and Iran.
"One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable --- a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved," he said, calling on all parties to exercise "maximum restraint."
Hiroshima won’t invite Russia, Belarus to A-bomb event
By AKARI UOZUMI/ Staff Writer
April 18, 2024 at 16:25 JST
Russia and Belarus will not be invited to an Aug. 6 atomic-bombing anniversary ceremony here for the third consecutive year, although Israel will be extended an invitation, sources said.
Russia and Belarus representatives will be persona non grata at the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony on the grounds of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the continuing conflict, the sources said April 17.
“The situation remains unchanged from the past fiscal year, and we decided to respond to it the same way,” a city official said.
Dubai airport struggles to resume flights after heavy rains leave runways underwater
Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs, remained in disarray Thursday after unprecedented heavy rain led to airliners having to negotiate flooded runways.
While check-ins for Emirates and Flydubai, the airport’s two main operators, had reopened, the airport warned that its Terminal 3 was experiencing high volumes of travelers as airlines tried to handle the backlog from cancellations and delays.
“There is currently a high volume of guests in [the] Terminal 3 check-in area,” it said in a statement on its website. “Passengers should only come to Terminal 3 if they have received a confirmation from their airline regarding their flight departure.”