Andrey Medvedev: Russian Wagner mercenary who fled to Norway arrested
A former Russian paramilitary commander who claimed asylum in Norway earlier this month has been arrested by police.
Andrey Medvedev is being held under the Immigration Act, police spokesperson Jon Andreas Johansen told the BBC.
His lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, told the BBC that the 26-year-old had been moved to a detention centre in the Oslo area.
Mr Medvedev, who crossed into Norway from Russia's far north two weeks ago, is believed to be the first member of the Wagner Group to defect to the West.
Japan’s ageing population poses urgent risk to society, says PM
Fumio Kishida says country may be unable to function if birthrate does not rise
Staff and agencies in Tokyo
Japan’s low birthrate and ageing population pose an urgent risk to society, the country’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has said, as he pledged to address the issue by establishing a new government agency.
Birthrates are declining in many developed countries, but in Japan the issue is particularly acute because it has the world’s second highest proportion of people aged 65 and over, after the tiny state of Monaco, according to World Bank data.
“The number of births dropped below 800,000 last year, according to estimates,” Kishida told lawmakers in a policy address marking the start of a new parliament session on Monday.
France is still ‘very sexist’ and needs emergency plan to tackle misogyny, watchdog says
‘Alarming’ levels of misogyny, says Paris watchdog – and violence against women ‘getting worse’
Five years into the MeToo movement, French society “remains very sexist in all of its spheres,” a government-established equality watchdog said in a report that also sounded the alarm about double-digit rates of sexual violence reported by women.
The High Council for Equality between Women and Men called for a national “emergency plan” to combat what it described as “the massive, violent and sometimes lethal consequences” of sexism against women.
In a survey commissioned by the council, one-third of women reported having been badgered by their partners into sexual acts that they didn't want. Around one in seven of the survey's women respondents said men had forced sex on them, and a similar number reported having been hit and shoved by their partners, the council said.
Is Hong Kong tightening its grip on foreign journalists?
Hong Kong authorities have barred from entry a Japanese photographer who documented the 2019 protests. Experts worry the crackdown on local media is being expanded to foreign journalists.
Japanese photographer Michiko Kiseki had been planning to celebrate the 2023 new year countdown in Hong Kong, but upon landing in the former British colony, Kiseki was denied entry by the immigration authorities and forced to return to Japan on December 30.
In a thread on Twitter, Kiseki said the police repeatedly asked her questions about a photo exhibition she organized in Japan featuring her photography works on the 2019 anti-extradition bill protest in Hong Kong. "During the questioning in the other room, he mentioned the photo exhibition in Japan several times," she wrote.
"I knew that one day this would come, but it was sooner than I expected. However, I don't have a millimeter of regret for continuing to present my photos in 2019, because they are 'my proof.' I felt clear that 'Hong Kong's freedom is gone' as the end of 2022 will be my last time in Hong Kong," she added.
Burkina Faso confirms demand for French troops to leave country
The Burkina Faso government clarified on Monday that it has asked ex-colonial ruler France to pull its troops out of the insurgency-hit country within a month.
The Burkina Faso government clarified on Monday that it has asked ex-colonial ruler France to pull its troops out of the insurgency-hit country within a month.
France deploys about 400 special forces soldiers in junta-ruled Burkina, but relations have deteriorated and tensions have soared in recent months.
"We are terminating the agreement which allows French forces to be in Burkina Faso," government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo told Radio-Television du Burkina.
"This is not the end of diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and France," he added.
"This termination is normal and is foreseen in the terms of the agreement," the spokesman said.
Why is Britain’s health service, a much-loved national treasure, falling apart?
Most winters, headlines warn that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is at “breaking point.” The alarms sound over and over and over again. But the current crisis has set warning bells ringing louder than before.
“This time feels different,” said Peter Neville, a doctor who has worked in the NHS since 1989. “It’s never been as bad as this.”
Scenes that would until recently have been unthinkable have now become commonplace. Hospitals are running well over capacity. Many patients don’t get treated in wards, but in the back of ambulances or in corridors, waiting rooms and cupboards – or not at all. “It’s like a war zone,” an NHS worker at a hospital in Liverpool told CNN.
No comments:
Post a Comment