Thursday, August 31, 2023
Arming against Putin - NATO in the Baltic Sea | DW Documentary
The Baltic Sea was thrust into the center of geopolitics after Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. Feeling the threat from Russia, Finland joined NATO and Sweden is on the path to be next. That would put the Baltic Sea almost entirely under NATO control.
How did this Baltic frontline look in the past? The fact that the Cold War could have turned hot right here, started to fade from public consciousness after 1990. But Moscow’s aggression in February 2022 presented a stark reminder. Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine sent shock waves across the Baltic region. Finland is now a member of NATO, and Sweden is in the process of accession. This would turn the Baltic into NATO’s "inland sea,” in complete defiance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s imperial aspirations.
Police pull over car with huge bull in passenger seat
Police in Norfolk, Nebraska pulled over a car for having a huge bull standing in its passenger seat.
The car had half of its roof cut off in order to fit the animal.
The man driving the car was given a warning by police, and was ordered to take the bull back home. No-one was injured in the process.
News Channel Nebraska overheard on a police scanner that officers would be attending the scene, so rushed out to capture the moment on camera.
China's Foreign Diplomats Are Full of S**t!
Remember those Chinese overseas police stations? Well according to China's foreign diplomat Wang Wenbin AKA "water cooler diplomat" the police stations never existed!
Six In The Morning Thursday 31 August 2023
At least 73 killed as fire engulfs five-storey building in Johannesburg
Seven children among dozens dead after blaze tears through building in South Africa’s largest city
At least 73 people, including seven children, have died in a fire in a multi-storey building in the centre of Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, emergency services have said.
In one of the country’s worst such tragedies in living memory, emergency management services said a further 43 people had been injured in the blaze, which broke out early on Thursday.
People had been evacuated from the building, and an emergency services spokesperson said a search and recovery operation was under way. It was likely the death toll would rise, Robert Mulaudzi said, and it was not immediately clear what caused the blaze. As of midday on Thursday, authorities had yet to count the casualties on the top two floors of the five-storey building.
Germany: Russian man guilty of Chechen dissident murder plot
A Russian man has been convicted of plotting to kill a dissident on the orders of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The murder was to have taken place in Germany, where the plotter is based.
A German court on Thursday sentenced a Russian man to 10 years in prison for plotting to murder a Chechen dissident in Germany.
The planned killing came as a commission from the regime of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, a key Kremlin ally.
The 47-year-old defendant, named only as Valid D. under German privacy laws, was convicted for "willingness to commit murder and preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state,"a spokeswoman for the Higher Regional Court in Munich said.
Federal prosecutors had called for an 11-year sentence for the murder plot, which was never carried out.
Gabon will ‘respect all commitments’ after coup, says junta
Gabon will respect all its commitments at home and abroad, the junta announced on Thursday, aiming to “reassure all donors, development partners and the state’s creditors” a day after President Ali Bongo was ousted. The country’s main opposition alliance meanwhile urged coup leaders to acknowledge it won the August 26 presidential election.
The general who led the overthrow of the Bongo dynasty, Brice Oligui Nguema, will be sworn in on Monday as transitional president, the army announced on state TV.
General Nguema’s swearing-in would take place at the constitutional court.
The junta also sought to reassure donors they would "respect all commitments" at home and abroad and "phase in transitional institutions", Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, spokesman for Gabon's newly formed Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), said on state TV on Thursday, a day after rebel officers ousted President Ali Bongo.
The country’s coup chief Nguema “wishes to reassure all donors, development partners and the state's creditors that all measures will be taken to guarantee that our country's commitments, both external and internal, will be respected", said Manfoumbi.
U.S. envoy: China's reaction to Fukushima water release is economic coercion
By Chris Gallagher and Sakura Murakami
The U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, visited the Fukushima region on Thursday and told reporters he expected the U.S. to support Japan should China's ban on Japanese seafood develop into a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean last Thursday, prompting China, Japan's biggest trade partner, to impose a ban on Japanese aquatic products.
Japanese officials have signalled the possibility of diplomatic action to urge China to lift its ban, which Japan says is not based on scientific evidence, including filing a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint.
Ecuadorian police arrest six after car bombs explode in Quito
South American nation is grappling with surge in violence as voters prepare for October presidential run-off.
Police in Ecuador have arrested six suspects after a car bombing in a commercial area of the capital, Quito, as the South American nation grapples with a surge in violence that authorities say is linked to drug trafficking.
The explosion late on Wednesday did not cause any casualties, police said.
The vehicle exploded due to the ignition of “two gas cylinders with fuel, a slow fuse and apparently dynamite sticks”, police investigations director Pablo Ramirez told reporters.
Ramirez said agents arrested six people, among them a Colombian national, several kilometres from the site of the explosion hours after the incident. The suspects have a record of extortion, robbery and murder, he said.
Journalist for top Polish paper allegedly denied medication in Belarusian prison
A representative of the Polish community in Belarus says a former correspondent for a top Polish newspaper has been denied life-saving heart medication in a Belarusian prison
A former correspondent for a top Polish newspaper has been denied life-saving heart medication in Belarusian prison, a representative of Belarus’ largest Polish community organization told reporters Tuesday.
Andrzej Poczobut, 50, a former reporter with the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, has been put in solitary confinement with no access to lawyers or medical care, Marek Zaniewski from the Union of Poles in Belarus said at a press briefing.
The country’s largest and most prominent rights group, Viasna, also reported on its website that Poczobut has been transferred to a one-man “punishment cell" at a prison in Navapolatsk, a city in northern Belarus, where he is serving an eight-year sentence.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Riding Japan’s $36 First Class Vending Machine Train | Hinotori
Today we are going to be riding Japan's first-class Hinotori train from Osaka to Nagoya and enjoy the food from the hidden gem of Nagoya.
US firms see China as “uninvestable”, commerce chief warns
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warns that US businesses may pull out of China unless the business environment improves. We speak to China analyst Fraser Howie and our Taipei correspondent Tsou Tzung-Han.
Six In The Morning Wednesday 30 August 2023
Ukraine war: Wave of drone strikes hits several Russian regions
By Paul Adams, diplomatic correspondent, Tiffany Wertheimer & George Wright
BBC News
Moscow has vowed Ukraine will "not go unpunished" after drone strikes hit targets in Russia, while Kyiv saw its heaviest bombardment in months.
The drones hit several Russian regions and damaged two military planes, a fuel depot and a microelectronics factory.
Meanwhile Ukrainian officials said most missiles and drones were shot down but two people were killed.
Kyiv has not said that it was involved in the latest attacks, but it rarely comments on strikes inside Russia.
In recent weeks, however, Ukraine is believed to have increased its use of explosive drones to attack targets in Russia.
Gangs forcing hundreds of thousands of people into cybercrime in south-east Asia, says UN
Organised criminals use threats, torture and sexual violence to coerce victims to work in international scamming operations
Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked and forced to work for online scamming operations in south-east Asia run by criminal gangs, according to a UN report.
Billions of dollars are being generated each year by gangs who coerce victims into cybercrime, where they are subject to threats, torture and sometimes sexual violence, said the report, published by the UN human rights office on Tuesday.
The UN estimated about 120,000 victims are in Myanmar and 100,000 in Cambodia, while tens of thousands more people are being forced to work in Laos, the Philippines and Thailand.
Afghan Taliban accused of destabilizing neighboring states
Two years after taking over power, the Taliban say the security situation in Afghanistan has improved. Most neighboring countries, however, report a significantly increased terrorism threat posed by Taliban-supported groups. A recent UN report warns of destabilization of the region.
Attempted coup in Gabon aims to remove President Ali Bongo from power and end 50-year dynasty
Leading military figures in Gabon announced on Wednesday that they had placed President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest in a bid to remove him from power after 14 years. The attempted coup comes days after Bongo was re-elected as president for the third time – a role he inherited from his father, former president Omar Bongo.
Ali Bongo’s victory in his third election campaign was announced early Wednesday morning by the Gabonese Election Centre amid fears of unrest in the central African country.
Before the results came in, opposition figures were already raising concernes over the transparency and legitimacy of the election – accusations which have plagued Bongo, 64, since he first ran for president in 2009.
The 2009 vote, from which Bongo emerged as the victorious candidate for the Gabonese Democratic Party, came two months after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had founded the party. Omar Bongo ruled Gabon for nearly 42 years and his son had served under him as defence minister.
Johnny & Associates founder Kitagawa sexually assaulted hundreds of teens, investigation finds
By YURI KAGEYAMA
A team investigating sexual assault allegations by the late founder of a powerful talent agency for boy bands has found the charges credible, calling Tuesday for compensation for the victims and the resignation of the current chief executive.
The three-month probe, which included speaking with 23 victims, concluded that Johnny Kitagawa sexually assaulted and abused boys as far back as the 1950s and targeted at least several hundred people.
The investigative panel said Johnny & Associates must apologize, strengthen compliance measures and educate its ranks about human rights. Julie Keiko Fujishima, the chief executive, must resign for not taking action over the years, according to the special team. Kitagawa died in 2019 and was never charged
Iran bans weightlifter for life after he shakes Israeli’s hand on podium
Committee representing veteran weightlifters also dissolved after the two athletes take a photo at weightlifting championships in Poland.
Iran has banned a weightlifter from sports for life and dissolved a sports committee after the athlete greeted an Israeli counterpart on a podium.
Mostafa Rajaei, a veteran weightlifter, finished second in his category in the 2023 World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland and stood on a podium with an Iranian flag wrapped around him on Saturday.
On anther step of the podium stood Maksim Svirsky from Israel, who finished third.
The two athletes shook hands and took a picture together, which led to the Iran Weightlifting Federation banning Rajaei from all sports for life due to what it called an “unforgivable” transgression.
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