Kremlin says video needs to be authenticated
- A video is circulating online showing suspected Russian soldiers filming themselves beheading a Ukrainian prisoner of war with a knife. The Kremlin said the footage was “awful” and its authenticity needs to be verified.
- The EU and UN condemn and pledge to hold war criminals to account after footage spread online allegedly showing the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
Ukraine rejects Russian claim that it controls 80% of Bakhmut
Ukraine’s military rejects the claim that Russian troops have captured “more than 80 percent” of the city of Bakhmut and says that Kyiv’s forces controlled “considerably” more than 20 percent.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, the spokesperson for the eastern military command, talked to Reuters news agency a day after the head of Russia’s Wagner Group said that his mercenary forces were advancing in the city.
China appears to backtrack over no-fly zone near Taiwan
Taipei says Beijing has confined flight ban north of island to 27 minutes on Sunday after initial three-day plan
China has appeared to backtrack after reports it was planning to declare a three-day no-fly zone in the airspace north of Taiwan next week, reducing the planned duration to just 27 minutes.
A spokesperson from Taiwan’s defence ministry told a press conference the no-fly zone was about 85 nautical miles north of Taiwan, and they believed it could be related to aerospace activities, perhaps satellite launches.
According to Reuters, a senior Chinese official with direct knowledge of the matter said the flight ban would have a significant impact on air traffic, affecting 60-70% of flights between north-east and south-east Asia, as well as flights between Taiwan and South Korea, Japan and North America.
Germany waters down plan to legalize cannabis after EU talks
Germany on Wednesday presented legislation that would allow cannabis possession and private cultivation, but not widespread commercial sales in shops for the time being.
The German government has announced plans to allow the possession of up to 25 grams (just under 0.9 ounces) of cannabis per day and a maximum of 50 grams per month, and the cultivation of a maximum of three plants at home.
The previous plan, which would have allowed cannabis to be sold in licensed stores nationwide, has been revised following concerns from the EU.
The legislation would allow for the commercial distribution of cannabis only under special circumstances, as presented by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir.
"The previous cannabis policy has failed. Now we have to go new ways," Lauterbach said.
Yemen prisoner exchange postponed to Friday: official
An exchange of nearly 900 prisoners from Yemen's civil war will start on Friday, one day later than previously announced, a government official said on Wednesday.
No reason was given for the delay to the three-day exchange, in which prisoners will be flown between cities in Yemen and its oil-rich neighbour, Saudi Arabia.
The biggest prisoner swap since 2020 is taking place after a delegation from Saudi Arabia, which launched a military intervention in 2015, held talks with Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels this week in an attempt to end hostilities.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by direct and indirect causes in a war that left many on the brink of famine in a country which was already the Arabian Peninsula's poorest.
Japan climate group urges more renewable energy, effective carbon pricing
REUTERS
April 12, 2023 at 17:10 JST
Japanese companies and climate groups called on the nation's government on Wednesday to step up the introduction of renewable energy and quickly adopt carbon pricing to tackle global warming.
The Japan Climate Initiative (JCI), an alliance of companies, local governments and NGOs, issued the message ahead of the meeting of climate ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries on April 15-16 in Sapporo, Japan, to discuss efforts to address climate change.
“We urged the Japanese government to overcome climate crisis and energy crisis by accelerating the introduction of renewable energy and early adoption of highly effective carbon pricing,” the JCI said in a statement which was endorsed by 303 organizations.
Screaming people and bodies everywhere: The horrific aftermath of Myanmar junta airstrike that killed 133
Relatives were still recovering the charred bodies and limbs of victims killed in a military airstrike on a village in central Myanmar Wednesday, a day after one of the deadliest attacks since the junta seized power in a coup two years ago.
An eyewitness, who hid in a tunnel during the attack, described a scene of horror as he approached the site of the military airstrike – of children dying, women screaming, and bodies heaped on the ground.
At least 133 people, including women and children, were killed after Myanmar’s military junta bombed Kanbalu township in the central Sagaing region on Tuesday, the human rights minister of the ousted shadow National Unity Government Aung Myo Min told CNN.
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