Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Six In The Morning Wednesday 18 December 2024

Russia detains Uzbek man over general's killing in Moscow

Amy Walker

BBC News


Russia's authorities say a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been detained over the killing of senior general Igor Kirillov and his assistant in Moscow.


Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces, was outside a residential block early on Tuesday when an explosive device hidden in an electric scooter was detonated remotely, the authorities say.


Russia's Investigative Committee (SK) says the suspect - who has not been publicly named - has admitted he was recruited by Ukrainian special services. The SK provided no evidence to back its claim.


More than 140 Kenya Facebook moderators diagnosed with severe PTSD

Exclusive: Lawsuit brought by former moderators against parent company Meta and outsourcer Samasource Kenya

 UK technology editor
Wed 18 Dec 2024 15.00 GMT

More than 140 Facebook content moderators have been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder caused by exposure to graphic social media content including murders, suicides, child sexual abuse and terrorism.

The moderators worked eight- to 10-hour days at a facility in Kenya for a company contracted by the social media firm and were found to have PTSD, generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), by Dr Ian Kanyanya, the head of mental health services at Kenyatta National hospital in Nairobi.

The mass diagnoses have been made as part of lawsuit being brought against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, and Samasource Kenya, an outsourcing company that carried out content moderation for Meta using workers from across Africa.

Dexit? Far-right AfD wants Germany to leave the EU

Germany's far-right AfD has stated in its draft election manifesto that it wants to leave the EU and the euro. Are they serious — and what consequences would this have for Germany and the EU?

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has doubled down on its pledge to take Germany out of the European Union and the single currency, the euro, if it gained power.

In a draft election manifesto sent to its members ahead of a vote in the party conference scheduled for early January, the anti-immigration party repeated a promise from its European election campaign in the summer, saying, "We consider it necessary for Germany to leave the European Union and to establish a new European community."

In place of the EU, the AfD wants to introduce something it calls a "Europe of fatherlands" — an association of states that would include a common market and an "economic and interests community."

Is rebel-stronghold Idlib a model for Syria’s future?

Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has governed in Idlib, northwest Syria, since 2017. Now that the Assad regime has fallen at the hands of the Islamist group, could Idlib be a model for Syria's future governance?

Idlib, in northwest Syria, has long been a stronghold for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that last week toppled the Assad regime. Many people living in Idlib had fled to the town governed by the Islamist group to escape the regime's brutal repression.

Now residents hope their way of living will spread throughout the newly liberated country. “Thanks to God, we won our freedom, and now that's spread to the rest of Syria,” said one market seller.

Nuke evacuees feel betrayed as Japan resumes nuclear reliance

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

December 18, 2024 at 16:31 JST


A significant shift in Japan's energy policy has sparked outrage among evacuees such as Ichiro Suenaga who were forced to flee their homes following the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The draft of a new energy plan has removed the pledge to "reduce dependence on nuclear power as much as possible," a policy that was adopted in response to the triple meltdowns triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

For Suenaga, 68, the removal of this line feels like a betrayal.

Indoctrinated, loyal and well trained: Don’t underestimate North Korean soldiers in Russia, some experts say

Far from their homes in one of the world’s most isolated and secretive states, about 11,000 North Korean soldiers find themselves at the center of Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Little is known about the North Korean troops deployed to support Russia in its devastating yearslong war in Ukraine – or what exactly they will be ordered to do – and their presence hasn’t even been officially acknowledged by Moscow or Pyongyang.

US, Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence says the North Koreans have already engaged in combat operations, joining a Russian force of tens of thousands to carry out an assault on Ukrainian positions in Russia’s western Kursk region. Speculation has been rife about how these troops will fare.


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