Six In The Morning

 

How a Russian invasion of Ukraine would reverberate around the world

By Rob Picheta, CNN

Updated 0501 GMT (1301 HKT) January 29, 2022

The prospect of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine has heightened alarm in the region, threatening to plunge the country's 44 million inhabitants further into the grips of conflict.

But a move by the Kremlin would also ripple far beyond the two nations' shared border.

Experts fear it could usher in a new era of uncertainty in eastern Europe, disrupt supply chains and the global economy, and force a shift in geopolitical influence that damages the credibility of the West.

 

Myanmar’s junta torching ‘village after village’ in bid to quell opposition

After a year in power, evidence is growing of regime scorched-earth tactics to terrorise the civilian population

Min Ye Kyaw and Rebecca Ratcliffe

Sat 29 Jan 2022 15.00 GMT

On the morning of 6 January, Boi Van Thang set out on a motorbike across the mountainous terrain of Chin state in western Myanmar. He would travel to a nearby village, he told his wife, and bring back meat for her and their seven children.

He never returned. Three days later his wife, Thida Htwe, received a call. Boi Van Thang’s body had been found. The bodies of eight other men and one boy had also been discovered.

Thida Htwe said that her husband’s throat was cut, that he had a knife wound in his chest and as well as several in his back, and that one of his legs was broken.

Peru bans Repsol execs from leaving country after oil spill

A Peruvian judge has banned Repsol’s Peru director and three other executives from leaving the country for 18 months while the government investigates an oil spill at a refinery run by the Spain-based company

A Peruvian judge on Friday banned Repsol's Peru director and three other executives from leaving the country for 18 months while the government investigates an oil spill at a refinery run by the Spain-based company.

Peru authorities are investigating Repsol following the oil spill on Jan. 15, which was reported after surging waves caused by the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga

Peru declared last week an environmental emergency after announcing that 21 beaches on its Pacific coast were contaminated by the spill of 6,000 barrels. Prosecutors also opened an investigation for the crime of environmental contamination.

NATO's on notice in Ukraine crisis: What's next?

Moscow is demanding NATO forces leave eastern Europe — or else. The threats are certainly having an effect, but it could be the opposite one the Kremlin wants.

Romania has long wanted a NATO battlegroup on its territory, similar to those mustered for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

Thanks in no small part to Moscow's renewed massing on Ukraine's border, the Black Sea nation is likely to see such a presence approved when alliance defense ministers meet in mid-February.

France has expressed interest in leading the new deployment, and this week French Defense Minister Florence Parly, on a visit to Bucharest, announced a group of experts was already arriving in Romania to begin mapping it out.

Okinawans file mass lawsuit over U.S. base noise pollution

By SHOGO MITSUZUMI/ Staff Writer

January 29, 2022 at 16:30 JST

In the largest lawsuit of its kind, more than 35,000 residents in Okinawa Prefecture announced Jan. 28 they are seeking 91.6 billion yen ($795 million) for deafening noise pollution from aircraft operating out of the U.S. Kadena Air Base.

It is the fourth lawsuit seeking compensation and an injunction on flights early in the morning and late at night. 

In total, 35,566 residents in eight municipalities in the vicinity of Kadena base signed on as plaintiffs. They range in age from infants not yet 1 year old to a resident who is 106.

Kadena base is situated in the middle of a residential area.

Tennis: Peng Shuai T-shirt campaign resumes at Australian Open

The T-shirts highlight concerns about the wellbeing of the Chinese tennis player, who was absent from public view for three weeks last year after she alleged that a former Chinese vice premier sexually assaulted her.

Activists made the most of the reversal of an earlier ban by giving away hundreds of T-shirts bearing the question “Where is Peng Shuai?” on the day of women’s final at the Australian Open on Saturday.

The T-shirts, highlighting concerns about the Chinese tennis player, were confiscated by security last weekend, but tournament chief Craig Tiley said on Tuesday that they would be allowed as long as fans wearing them were not disruptive.