Six In The Morning Tuesday 17 May 2022

 

Ukraine's security service hunts the spies selling information to Russia

By Mick Krever, CNN

Updated 1055 GMT (1855 HKT) May 17, 2022

On a dusty street in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk, a man in a long-sleeved black shirt and cargo pants smokes a cigarette. He's being watched.

"He's ours," a man says into a radio from his car down the road. "Here he goes."

From the other direction, a van swerves, and two men in combat fatigues and face coverings jump out. The man in black drops to the ground, as if by instinct. The officers -- from Ukraine's security service, or SBU -- pat him down and retrieve their prized evidence: His mobile phone.

North Korea on brink of Covid-19 catastrophe, say experts

Number to have fallen ill reportedly at almost 1.5 million as country grapples with what it calls ‘fever’

Justin McCurry in Tokyo

North Korea stands on the brink of a Covid-19 catastrophe unless swift action is taken to provide vaccines and drug treatments, experts have said, as the number of people reported to have fallen ill rose to almost 1.5 million.

The isolated country reported another big rise in new cases of what it continues to refer to as “fever” on Tuesday, days after it admitted it had identified Covid-19 infections for the first time since the start of the global pandemic.

It recorded 269,510 additional cases and six more deaths, bringing the total number killed to 56 since late last month. About 1.48 million people have become ill with the virus since the first case was reported last Thursday and at least 663,910 people were in quarantine, according to official figures. The outbreak is almost certainly greater than the official tally, given a lack of tests and resources to monitor and treat the sick.

African food prices soaring amid Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine is having a drastic impact on Africa. Prices for wheat, gas and gasoline are at record highs. Crisis regions could see things get worse than they already are.

Every morning, the operators of a small kiosk located in an informal neighborhood in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, bake fresh chapati — a popular flatbread.

Chapatis usually cost around 20 shillings (€0.17/$0.17). However, customers can hardly afford it anymore. "Chapati costs twice as much now. Life has become extremely expensive," one customer at the kiosk complained.

Samuel Mose, who heads the small bakery, told DW, that, though prices for wheat flour and sunflower oil have been rising for some time, things are getting worse because of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Lebanon's Hezbollah, allies lose parliament majority in elections

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies lost their parliamentary majority, according to full legislative results announced by the interior ministry on Tuesday.

The Shi'ite Muslim movement and factions that support its possession of arms won around 62 of parliament's 128 seats in Sunday's election, a reversal of the 2018 result when they secured a majority of 71.

In the first election since Lebanon's devastating economic collapse and the Beirut port explosion of 2020, reform-minded political newcomers won 12 seats, an unexpectedly strong breakthrough into a system long dominated by the same groups.

Libyan rival PM leaves Tripoli after clashes between forces

Bashagha entered Tripoli with some support but was met by opposition from forces aligned with UN-recognised PM Dbeibeh.

Libya’s parliament-appointed prime minister briefly attempted to take over the capital Tripoli before being forced out hours after his arrival triggered fighting between opposing militias.

Clashes erupted early on Tuesday morning as Fathi Bashagha tried to take control of the government from the rival United Nations-recognised administration of Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh, which has refused to cede power.

Bashagha, who was appointed as prime minister by the Tobruk-based parliament in February, entered Tripoli overnight after two months of deadlock between Libya’s rival administrations, but withdrew hours later as fighting rocked the capital “to preserve the security and safety of citizens”, his office said.

Man gambles away huge accidental Covid payment in Japan

By Tiffany Wertheimer
BBC News

A 24-year-old man who was mistakenly paid millions of Japanese yen has already lost the money through online gambling, his lawyer says.

The man received 46.3m yen ($357,400; £287,000) in his bank account - money from a Covid relief fund that was supposed to be shared among 463 people.

He initially said he would co-operate with officials, but has since vanished.

The southern town of Abu in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture is suing the man and also considering criminal action.