Monday, June 2, 2025
Six In The Morning Monday 2 June 2025
Ukraine and Russia working on new prisoner exchange, Zelensky says after Istanbul peace talks
Summary
Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky says he expects more prisoners of war will be exchanged with Russia following today's round of peace talks in Istanbul
Speaking after a Nato meeting in Vilnius, he reiterates support for a new set of sanctions to pressure President Vladimir Putin into agreeing to a ceasefire
The head of the Ukrainian delegation confirms Russia has now handed over a memorandum outlining its negotiations demands, saying a potential meeting between Zelensky and Putin has also been discussed
Russia says they've agreed to return the remains of 6,000 soldiers and offered a two to three day ceasefire on certain parts of the frontline to facilitate the collection of the bodies
Today's talks are unlikely to yield a breakthrough but Russia and Ukraine both want to avoid straining their ties with the White House, writes the BBC's Liza Fokht from Istanbul
Russia and Ukraine remain far apart after second round of talks
Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Istanbul
After a second round of peace talks, Russia and Ukraine remain far apart.
They have agreed to release prisoners of war who are seriously ill and those under the age of twenty-five, but that seems to have been the only achievement.
Speaking in Istanbul, Ukraine’s defence minister said the key points could only be resolved at face-to-face talks between President Zelensky and President Putin, and suggested that such a meeting should happen by the end of the month.
Orbán and Le Pen cheer Karol Nawrocki’s election as Polish president
Far-right leaders congratulate nationalist candidate as result deals blow to Donald Tusk’s pro-EU agenda
Mon 2 Jun 2025 11.54 BST
Far-right leaders in Europe have welcomed the victory of the nationalist opposition candidate, Karol Nawrocki, in Poland’s presidential elections, a result that deals a huge blow to the centre-right prime minister Donald Tusk’s reform and pro-EU agenda.
Nawrocki, a conservative historian and former amateur boxer, won Sunday’s election with 50.89% of the vote, final figures showed on Monday, ahead of his rival, Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal Warsaw mayor and an ally of Tusk, who secured 49.11%.
Militants attack Mali army camp in Timbuktu, sources say
An army camp in the centre of Timbuktu came under attack Monday as suspected jihadist militants launched an assault involving gunfire and a vehicle packed with explosives, military sources and local officials said. The assault marks the latest in a series of attacks in Mali, where Islamist violence has persisted since 2012.
An army camp in the Malian city of Timbuktu on Monday was under attack by "terrorists" and heavy gunfire was heard, military and local officials and residents told AFP.
Junta-ruled Mali has been gripped since 2012 by violence from jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as community and criminal groups.
"We are dealing with terrorists attacking Timbuktu. We are fighting back," a military source said.
Same circuit board used in two bullet train decouplings
By AYATERU HOSOZAWA/ Staff Writer
June 2, 2025 at 16:13 JST
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) has revealed that two recent decouplings of Tohoku Shinkansen mid-journey involved different Komachi trains that used the same electrical circuit board, which may have triggered the malfunctions.
Following the first decoupling in September, JR East determined that a small metal fragment left over from the manufacturing process may have caused a false unlocking signal by entering the coupler’s control switch.
In response, company engineers inspected all 96 train units capable of coupled operations and cleared any metal fragments. They also removed parts behind the control switch for modifications to prevent a recurrence.
How protests over designer handbags threw Mongolia into political crisis
Mongolia has been thrown into fresh political crisis with protesters calling for the resignation of the country’s prime minister over his family’s lavish displays of wealth.
For two weeks, young Mongolians have taken to the streets of the capital putting pressure on Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai who will face a vote of confidence in his government on Monday.
Democratic Mongolia is a landlocked nation of just 3.5 million people sandwiched between authoritarian giants China and Russia, and the latest political crisis has put renewed scrutiny on the stability of the country’s democracy.
Secret Syrian intelligence files show missing US journalist was imprisoned by Assad regime
Top secret intelligence files uncovered by the BBC confirm for the first time that missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the regime of the now-deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Former Syrian officials have also confirmed Mr Tice's detention to the BBC.
The US government has previously stated that it believed he had been held by the Syrian government, but the Assad regime continuously denied this, and nothing was known about the details of his detention.
Sunday, June 1, 2025
“Too little, too late”: The sudden surge of genocide critique over Gaza
As attacks intensify and starvation in Gaza worsens, some of Israel’s allies finally start speaking up.
Six In The Morning Sunday 1 June 2025
31 dead after Israeli forces attack near Gaza aid centre, says Hamas-run health ministry
Summary
At least 31 people have been killed and more than a hundred injured in an incident at an aid distribution centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says
A local Palestinian journalist told the BBC that Israeli tanks opened fire near an aid centre. A medic says he is treating people with bullet or shrapnel wounds
The US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which run the aid centre, says the reports are "fabricated" - the Israeli military says they are unaware of any injuries caused by their fire within the aid distribution site
The Palestinian Red Crescent says 14 people have been injured near another aid distribution centre in the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza
As a reminder: Israel doesn't allow independent access to the territory, making it difficult to verify facts on the ground
A military campaign was launched by Israel in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage
At least 54,418 people have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the territory's health ministry
Cell commander in Hamas's al-Mawasi battalion killed on Friday - Israeli military
The Israeli military says it has killed Khalil Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, a Hamas cell commander in the al-Mawasi battalion, on Friday.
According to a statement on X, Khalil was involved in attacks on buildings where Israeli troops were operating, as well as an attack on an Israeli tank unit in the al-Mawasi area in January, which led to the deaths of 21 soldiers.
"Additionally, throughout the war, he was involved in and advanced numerous terror attacks against IDF troops," the statement adds.
Ukraine launches major drone attack on Russian bombers, security official says
Reported strikes on four airbases in Siberia mark escalation in cross-border incursions before planned peace talks
Sun 1 Jun 2025 15.01 BST
Ukraine has launched a “large-scale” drone attack against Russian military bombers in Siberia, striking more than 40 warplanes thousands of kilometres from its own territory, a security official said.
The claims could not be independently verified. But if confirmed, the attacks would mark Ukraine’s most damaging drone strike of the war to date, amid an escalation in cross-border incursions before planned peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
Bangladesh: Exiled ex-PM Sheikh Hasina on trial
Bangladeshi prosecutors have accused former leader Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in India, of "crimes against humanity" during last year's uprising against her rule.
The trial against Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began in Dhaka on Sunday, with the fugitive former leader being accused of crimes against humanity. Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising last year, with the nationwide unrest ending with her fleeing Bangladesh and finding refuge in neighboring India.
She has since refused an extradition order to return to Dhaka.
The trial against Hasina is being held in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The officials are focusing on her government's crackdown against the protest movement, which marked the end of her 15-year rule.
Two dead, hundreds arrested in France after PSG Champions League win
Two people died and hundreds were arrested in France overnight as football fans celebrated Paris Saint-Germain's stunning Champions League final victory, the interior ministry said on Sunday. PSG stormed to a 5-0 thumping of Inter Milan in a one-sided final in Munich.
The French capital erupted with flares and fireworks, car horns and an Eiffel Tower glittering in blue and red to celebrate Paris Saint-Germain's first Champions League title on Saturday.
The ministry said 491 people were arrested in the capital when crowds converged on the Champs-Élysées avenue and clashes broke out with officers.
Across France as a whole, including Paris, a total of 559 people were arrested, it added.
Candidates’ mudslinging tarnishes presidential campaigns
By Lee Hae-rin
Suspicions, family issues overshadow policy pledges
Korea’s presidential candidates and their parties are going negative to discredit their opponents rather than focusing on their own pledges, as only two days remained until Tuesday's snap presidential election.
They are highlighting their opponents' ethical issues and inappropriate remarks involving candidates’ family members as well as allegations of public opinion manipulation, with formal complaints filed to request police or prosecution investigations into these accusations.
Dozens of Candidates and Rainbow Colors:
Mexico’s Sprawling Judicial Ballots
In a judicial overhaul, Mexican voters are directly electing their judges for the first time in history. But long and complex ballots await.
The plan is simple. Mexicans will vote on Sunday to elect judges across the country, in a vast overhaul that reaches from the Supreme Court to every level of the justice system.
The execution, however, can boggle the mind.
Voters are expected to choose nearly 2,700 judicial positions out of 7,800 candidates across federal and state elections, a huge undertaking whose complexity can be seen in the dizzying variety of color codings, candidate groupings and types of ballots that will be handed out.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Six In The Morning Saturday 31 May 2025
Israel’s ‘violations’ in Gaza make world more dangerous, Norway warns
Low respect for international law and human rights set worrying precedent, international development minister says
Israel is setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that is making the whole world more dangerous, Norway’s international development minister has warned.
Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a celebrated breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state, one of a minority of European countries to do so.
IAEA warns Iran has upped enriched uranium production
The international nuclear watchdog said Iran's stocks of 60% enriched uranium have increased to over 400 kilograms. It also criticized Iran for a "lack of cooperation."
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran has increased its production of enriched uranium in recent months, according to a report seen by multiple news agencies on Saturday.
The news comes amid talks between Iran and the US aimed at curtailing Tehran's nuclear program and preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Vandals target Paris Holocaust memorial, synagogues with paint
Paris’s Holocaust memorial, along with two synagogues and a Jewish restaurant were vandalised with green paint in what appeared to be a coordinated overnight to Saturday, police sources said. France’s Jewish community is among the largest in the world, and has faced a growing number of anti-Semitic attacks since the Gaza war broke out on October 7, 2023.
France’s Holocaust memorial, two synagogues and a restaurant in central Paris were vandalised with green paint overnight, according to police sources on Saturday, prompting condemnation from government and city officials.
“I am deeply disgusted by these heinous acts targeting the Jewish community,” said French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X.
No arrests have been made.
Long lines for cheap stockpiled rice sold directly to retail firms
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 31, 2025 at 18:45 JST
Stockpiled rice sold by the government directly to retail companies hit store shelves on May 31 and long lines of customers were waiting to buy the cheaper grain. Supplies quickly sold out.
Ito-Yokado Co.’s supermarket in Tokyo’s Omori district was one of those outlets.
About 250 customers had lined up an hour or so before the supermarket opened at 10 a.m.
India’s latest coffee hub? Beans and brews offer new hope to Nagaland
More than 40 years after saplings first came to Nagaland, coffee grown in the northeast Indian state is making a formidable name for itself.
With its high ceilings, soft lighting and brown and turquoise blue cushioned chairs, Juro Coffee House has the appearance of a chic European cafe.
Sitting right off India’s National Highway-2, which connects the northeastern states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, the cafe hosts a live roastery unit that was set up in January by the Nagaland state government. Here, green coffee beans from 12 districts in Nagaland are roasted live, ground and served, from farm to cup.
Turkey arrests dozens including opposition party members
Rachel Muller-Heyndyk & BBC Turkish
Turkish authorities have ordered the arrests of dozens of people facing corruption allegations, including opposition party members, in Istanbul and the city of Adana.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued detention orders for 47 people and detained 30. Others detained included local municipal mayors and Istanbul officials.
The operation is the fifth wave of arrests against the government's political opponents, starting with the jailing of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, regarded as President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival in March.