Six In The Morning Wednesday 11 September 2024

Kyiv presses allies to end limits on long-range missile use

James Landale

Diplomatic correspondent•@BBCJLandale

Reporting fromKyiv

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy have arrived in Kyiv on a joint visit as Ukraine continues to press for the right to use US and British long-range missiles against Russia.

The two men travelled together to the Ukrainian capital after talks in London. They are due to meet President Volodymr Zelensky, who has repeatedly called on Washington to loosen the limits on US-supplied weapons.

Blinken said one of their goals was to "hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership" about their "objectives and what we can do to support those needs".

Afghan women meet in Albania in ‘act of defiance’ against Taliban crackdown

Organisers of international summit hope to create pressure to reverse laws 

Annie Kelly in Tirana

Wed 11 Sep 2024 13.28 BST

More than 130 Afghan women have gathered in Albania at an All Afghan Women summit, in an attempt to develop a united voice representing the women and girls of Afghanistan in the fight against the ongoing assault on human rights by the Taliban.

Some women who attempted to reach the summit from inside Afghanistan were prevented from travelling, pulled off flights in Pakistan or stopped at borders. Other women have travelled from countries including Iran, Canada, the UK and the US where they are living as refugees.

Pakistan: Gunmen kill polio worker and police officer

Pakistan launched an emergency vaccination drive after the first case of polio in 16 years was reported in the capital. As the campaign began, an attack on an anti-polio team killed two people and injured a third.

Gunmen on motorcycles shot a polio worker and one of the police officers escorting him during a vaccination campaign in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, police reported.

The attack took place in Bajaur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

"After completing their duties, a polio team was returning to the local health unit when two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on them," Waqas Rafiq, a senior police officer, told the AFP news agency. Rafiq said a third person was injured.

'The Bibi Files': Documentary reveals the police interrogations behind Netanyahu’s graft trial

Binyamin Netanyahu reaches for a glass of water on the table. He looks relaxed, slouching slightly in his suit and tie, a large map of the Middle East on the wall behind him enhancing the power and prestige of his position as Israeli prime minister.

“Did you ask for it?” questions an unseen police interrogator.

Netanyahu sips the water. “For what?” The prime minister is so nonchalant, he has to be reminded of the topic of discussion during a police investigation.

“A bag,” he’s patiently reminded. 

Mexico’s Senate passes judicial reform after protesters break into chamber

Controversial overhaul that will see judges elected approved 86-41 after debate interrupted by demonstrators arguing changes threaten judicial independence.

Senators in Mexico have approved a judicial overhaul pushed by outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after debate was briefly suspended by protesters who broke into the upper house in a bid to block the vote.

The Senate, dominated by Lopez Obrador’s ruling Morena party and its allies, approved the controversial reform with 86 votes in favour and 41 against in a marathon session on Wednesday, winning the two-thirds supermajority needed to amend the constitution.

Bright lights detected by NASA telescopes lead to a dancing pair of supermassive black holes

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Two telescopes have spotted the closest pair of supermassive black holes to date. The duo, only about 300 light-years apart, were observed in different wavelengths of light using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.

While black holes are invisible against the dark void of space, these two blaze brightly as the gas and dust they feed on is accelerated and heated to high temperatures. Both celestial objects, which circle around one another, are known as active galactic nuclei.

China is looking to make major retirement age change due to shrinking workforce

China has one of the world’s lowest retirement ages for men and women

Shweta Sharma

Chinese policymakers are reviewing plans to delay the retirement age of state employees as the urgency grows over a shrinking workforce within a rapidly ageing population.

China has one of the world’s lowest retirement ages among major economies at 60 for men, 55 for white-collar women, and 50 for women who work in factories. The policy has remained unchanged since the 1950s.

On Tuesday, the National People’s Congress discussed a draft law to “gradually raise the statutory retirement age”, the Xinhua News Agency reported.