US officials announced on Saturday that the United States will begin withdrawing its troops from Niger. This is a setback for Washington and its friends in the area, as it will make it harder to do security missions in the Sahel region. The scheduled leaving happens as US officials are working on a new military agreement.
The leader of Niger and a US official have agreed that they will start planning for American soldiers to leave the country. The decision was made on Friday and announced by the US State Department on Saturday.
An official from the US government said they don’t know when they will leave, but they are going to start talking about what to do next soon. The official talked secretly about the private talks between countries. A group of Americans will be sent soon to work out the plan for leaving.
Niger is very important for the US military in Africa’s Sahel region, which is near the Sahara Desert. Washington is worried about the jihadi violence spreading, as local groups have sworn their support to al-Qaida and Islamic State groups. Niger has a large US air base in Agadez, which is about 920 kilometers (550 miles) away from the capital city of Niamey. The base is used for surveillance flights and other military operations. The US has spent a lot of money to train Niger’s military since they started working there in 2013.
But the relationship between Niger and Western countries has become strained since rebellious soldiers removed the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s leaders told French forces to go away and asked Russia for help with security instead. This month, Russian military trainers came to help strengthen Niger’s air defenses and train them to use Russian equipment.
US officials told the AP that the US tried to change the military agreement with Niger so they could stay longer. But Zeine and Campbell’s agreement shows that the attempt did not succeed.
A high-ranking US State Department official, who didn’t want their name revealed, said that on Saturday, the leaders of Niger decided that they don’t want any foreign troops in their country, including the US. This means that their security partnership with the US is ending, at least for now. The military group told the US that Russia was in Niger to teach the Nigerien people how to use the equipment. The official said that the US was worried about some of the decisions the junta was making, especially about Russian and American troops being in the same place.
The US and its allies are not able to use air bases in Niger anymore, which is a big problem for their security operations in the Sahel region. This is because the location of the air bases was important for their strategy. Peter Pham, who used to work for the US in the Sahel region, said this.
Pham said it will be difficult to find new people quickly. He also said that European Union military might leave Niger after hearing that the US is leaving.
The broken relationship between the two countries will affect the money being given to Niger for its development and humanitarian aid. This is a problem because Niger is not doing well in many areas that measure people’s happiness and health.
Insa Garba Saidou, a local activist who helps Niger’s military leaders with their communication, told the AP that American troops may come back after talks, and that the ruling Niger group, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, wants to keep a good relationship with the US.
The US needs to change how it works with other countries in the Sahel region to fight against terrorism. Hannah Rae Armstrong, who knows a lot about the Sahel, says the US should also keep pushing those countries to be accountable for any human rights abuses they do.
The two leaders said Niger and the US will keep cooperating on things they both care about.
Author: Chris Kodo
-
US military to start removing its forces from Niger
-
Two Japanese navy helicopters crash, leaving one dead and seven missing
Two Japanese navy helicopters with eight crew members crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Tokyo during a training flight at night. It’s possible they collided with each other. The defense minister of Japan said this on Sunday. One person from the crew was found in the water and died. Rescuers are still looking for seven others who are missing.
The two SH-60K helicopters from the Maritime Self Defence Force had four crew members on board each. They lost contact near Torishima island, which is about 600 kilometers south of Tokyo. Defence Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters about this on Saturday.
“We don’t know why the crash happened yet, but it’s possible that the two helicopters ran into each other before they crashed into the water,” Kihara explained.
Rescuers found a device that records flight data, a piece from each helicopter’s blade, and some broken parts that are thought to be from both helicopters in the same place. This indicates that the two helicopters were flying near each other, Kihara explained. Authorities will study the information from the flight to find out what caused the plane to crash.
The MSDF sent eight warships and five aircraft to look for the missing crew and help them if they need it.
The helicopters called Seahawks were made by Sikorsky and then changed and built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. They were practicing finding and stopping submarines at night in the ocean, Kihara said. One person lost their contact at 10:38 pm and a minute later, they sent an automatic emergency signal.
Only one signal for help was heard. This shows that the two helicopters were close to each other because their signals were on the same frequency and couldn’t be told apart, according to Kihara.
One was from an air base in Nagasaki, and the other was from a base in Tokushima prefecture.
The SH-60K helicopter is often used on warships to find and attack submarines.
On Saturday, only the Japanese navy did training. It was not part of a training with other countries, according to defence officials. They said they didn’t see any aircraft or warships from other countries in the area.
Japan is making its military stronger by building up its forces in the islands in the Pacific and East China Sea. They are doing this to protect themselves from China’s growing military actions. In the past few years, Japan has done a lot of practice with its navy, both by itself and with the United States and other friends.
A helicopter crashed last Saturday, one year after another helicopter crashed and killed all 10 crew members off the coast of Miyako island in Japan. In January 2022, a military plane crashed into the sea near the middle of Japan, and two people on board died.
NHK public television in Japan said they did not warn about the weather in the area at the time of Saturday’s crash. -
US consents to removing its soldiers from Niger
American soldiers will no longer be present in Niger and will cease their assistance in fighting against Islamist rebels.
On Friday, the US said it will close its drone base near Agadez in the Sahara desert.
Niger is located in Africa’s Sahel region, which is seen as the new main area for the Islamic State group. The US uses Niger as its main place to watch for terrorists in the area.
A group of Americans is going to Niger’s capital, Niamey, in a few days to plan how to bring back over 1,000 soldiers in an organized way.
On Friday, it was announced that the US deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, had talks with Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine in Washington.
It is considered a setback for President Biden’s administration, which didn’t want the change to happen.
The US and France built a military base in West Africa six years ago for $100 million. It is important for their plan to fight against jihadists in the region.
But Niger had some problems with Western countries after the coup last year. The military leaders want to become closer with Russia for security reasons.
Many Russian military trainers have come to Niger in the last few weeks. They also brought a very good air defence system with them, as reported by state media.
Niger has moved away from local governments and instead made closer ties with other countries in the region that are also led by military groups, like Burkina Faso and Mali.
The three people have left Ecowas, a group in West Africa that didn’t agree with their military takeovers.
They have stopped being part of the G5 Sahel force, which is supported by France, because they think it doesn’t work well and takes away African control. Instead, they have made their own defence pact called the Alliance of Sahel States. -
Explosion destroys pro-Iranian militia’s Iraqi military installation
An explosion at a military base in Iraq that is home to a pro-Iranian militia has killed one person and injured eight others, according to security officials.
Iraq’s army said there were no drones or fighter planes in the area before or during the explosion, and the US said it was not responsible.
At the same time, the militia called the Popular Mobilisation Forces, said they were responsible for the attack. The news comes at a time when Israel and Iran are having more problems with each other.
The fight between the two enemy countries has entered a new stage. It’s believed that Israel attacked near the Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday morning.
The attack was a reaction to a big drone and missile attack that Tehran did on Israel six days ago.
Iran took action because they were upset about an attack on their military leaders in Syria. Many people think Israel was responsible for the attack.
Although the fighting is not too widespread right now, the Iranian foreign minister said Iran will strongly fight back if Israel attacks its interests.
The boom at Kalso military base, around 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad, happened early on Saturday morning, according to the military.
The Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) was using it. It is a group of paramilitaries mostly made up of Shia Muslim militias supported by Iran.
One person from the PMF died in the explosion and eight others were injured.
The PMF said its top assistant, Abdul Aziz al-Mohammedawi, went to the base to check on what investigators had discovered.
The Iraq army is checking what caused the blast and fire at the base.
“The air defence command report used technology and radar to check, and it found that there were no drones or fighter jets in the sky over Babil before or during the explosion,” a statement said.
The US military’s Central Command said that the reports about US airstrikes in Iraq were not true. They posted this on X, which used to be called Twitter. -
NATO promises Ukraine more sophisticated air defences
Nato plans to provide Ukraine with better weapons to defend against air attacks after Ukraine asked for help and Russia attacked. Jens Stoltenberg, head of the military group, announced this.
In a meeting held online, Mr Stoltenberg said that Nato defense ministers agreed to give more military support to Ukraine, including more air defense. Jens Stoltenberg said that after a meeting about the crisis between Nato and Ukraine on Friday.
He said the group of 32 countries has looked at what equipment they have and some of it can be given to Ukraine.
“He said he thinks Ukraine will announce new air defense abilities soon. ”The Nato leader said that Nato countries have advanced air defense systems, like Patriot, that they could give to Ukraine. However, he did not say specifically what Ukraine might receive.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Kyiv needs seven more air defense systems like the Patriot to protect its cities.
Seven people, including two kids, died in Russian missile attacks on Friday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine said they shot down a big Russian plane deep in Russia for the first time. Moscow said that a problem with the plane caused the crash.
After waiting for a long time, the US Congress is getting closer to passing a $60. 8bn (£49bn) aid bill to help Ukraine.
Germany promised to give Kyiv another US-made Patriot battery from their military supplies.
Ukraine has a few Patriot systems, but they need more to protect their cities from big Russian attacks.
Ukraine might lose in 2024. Here is a possible way it could look.
After the meeting, President Zelensky said: “We need at least seven more air defense systems like Patriot to protect our country. ” They can help many people stay alive and make the situation much better. “you [Nato] have those systems. ”
Russia has been attacking Ukraine for three years now, and it doesn’t look like the war will end soon. It’s the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two.
Moscow’s soldiers are slowly moving forward in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv doesn’t have enough weapons.
Mr Zelensky recently said that Ukraine doesn’t have enough weapons and could lose the war without quick help from Western countries.
Ukraine needs help from the US and other Western countries to get advanced weapons in order to keep fighting against Russia, which has a much bigger army and a lot of weapons. -
Man dies after setting himself on fire outside of Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial
A man died after he burned himself outside the Manhattan court where former President Donald Trump‘s trial for hush-money is happening.
37-year-old Maxwell Azzarello poured liquid on himself and then threw conspiracy-theory papers into the air.
It happened after the jury was chosen for Mr. Trump’s trial was completed
He was really sick and had to go to the hospital on Friday. Sadly, he died later at the hospital. This was confirmed by CBS News, which is partners with the BBC in the US.
Donald Trump was at the building to pick people for the jury, and he had bodyguards with him. But he left while the trouble was happening.
The New York City police said on Saturday that Mr Azzarello was pronounced dead by hospital staff, according to NBC.
Security at the court was not broken during the incident on Friday, according to emergency officials. The trial, which had finished choosing the jury, started again in the afternoon. The first statements will start on Monday.
Investigators got a 911 call at 1:30 pm saying that a man set himself on fire.
They found out his name is Maxwell Azzarello, and he came to New York from Florida last week. He is 37 years old. He didn’t do anything wrong in New York, and his family in Florida didn’t know he went there.
New York Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said Mr Azzarello was seen walking around in the park and then taking out a flammable liquid and some pamphlets from a bag.
Chief Maddrey said that the pamphlets were spreading propaganda and conspiracy theories.
There were a lot of police outside the courthouse because of the trial, and they quickly ran into the park yelling for a fire extinguisher. Mr Azzarello was taken on a stretcher because his body was badly burned. The police said he was brought to a special hospital for burn injuries and he is in very bad condition.
Julie Berman told reporters: “It was really hot and didn’t make much sense. ” It all happened really quickly. It took me about 20 seconds to understand what was happening.
NYPD investigators picked up brochures that Mr. Azzarello had dropped before setting himself on fire. They have said that the area is safe.
The police are still talking to people who saw what happened. They said the person who set himself on fire didn’t seem to say anything before doing it.
Three police officers and one court officer got hurt a little while putting out the fire.
Authorities stated they will now review the safety measures outside the court. -
US sanctions fundraisers for West Bank settlers who target Palestinians
The Biden administration imposed constraints on two organizations that fund extremist Israeli settlers and the individual behind an organization that frequently targets Palestinians.The Treasury Department said this as there has been a lot of violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank since the war in Gaza started.
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu don’t get along. Netanyahu’s government is very conservative and has been very upset about sanctions against West Bank settlers.
The Friday sanctions include two groups – Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich – that are accused of collecting money for sanctioned settlers Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai.
Both men were punished by the Biden administration for hurting Palestinians in the West Bank.
The penalties are meant to stop them from using the US financial system and prevent American citizens from doing business with them.
The Mount Hebron Fund raised $140,000 and Shlom Asiraich for Chasdai raised $31,000 according to the US Treasury.
In Levi’s situation, the money approved by the Biden administration is connected to the local council in the area, which gets funding from the state. On Friday, President Biden’s order did not officially punish the council.
Rights groups say that illegal settlements in the West Bank are growing with the support of regional councils and the government of Israel, which is the most far-right in the country’s history.
Biden’s order did not punish fundraising websites like GiveChak and Charidy, where people donate money.
In Chasdai’s situation, a fundraiser was set up on Charidy by Shlom Asiraich to collect money for Jewish extremists who are in prison.
Both internet fundraisers have been removed. One of the fundraisers connected to a settler who was previously punished by the Biden administration, Moshe Sharvit, is still available online. By Friday, the GiveChak page had gathered more than $879,000.
Also, the State Department is identifying Ben-Zion Gopstein as the founder and leader of Lehava, a group whose members have attacked Palestinian people.
Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the groups are making it harder for the West Bank to be peaceful, secure, and stable. We will keep using our tools to make sure the people responsible are held accountable.
In February, Biden made a rule to focus on Israeli people living in the West Bank. They have been accused of hurting Palestinians and peace activists in that area. -
Man sets himself ablaze in front of New York court hosting Trump trial
A man set himself on fire outside a New York courthouse where Donald Trump‘s trial was happening. Officials said he wasn’t trying to hurt Trump.
The man was on fire for a few minutes where everyone could see him on TV, outside the courthouse. This is where they’re holding the very first trial of a former US president.
Authorities said the man lived and was in very serious condition at a nearby hospital.
Onlookers saw the man take some papers out of a bag and throw them in the air. Then he poured a liquid on himself and lit a fire. A brochure talked about “really rich people” being bad, but the part that a Reuters person saw didn’t talk about Trump.
The police in New York said the man, Max Azzarello from St Augustine, Florida, didn’t seem to be trying to harm Trump or anyone else in the trial.
“Right now we are calling him a conspiracy theorist, and we are investigating further,” said Tarik Sheppard, a deputy commissioner with the Police Department, at a press conference.
In a message online, a man said he lit himself on fire and said sorry to his friends, people who saw it happen, and the first people who helped him. The post talks about a very bad takeover by a fascist group and is not happy with cryptocurrency and US politicians. It does not mention Trump specifically.
People who saw what happened said they were troubled by what he did.
“He was burning for a long time,” a person who didn’t want to share their name told the news. “It was really scary. ”
There was a lingering smell of smoke in the plaza after the incident. A person who saw what happened said a police officer used a fire extinguisher on the ground. A backpack was on fire and there was a gas can nearby.
The court in downtown Manhattan had a lot of police guarding it. Many people protested and watched the trial on the first day, but fewer people have come since then.
Jury has been chosen.
The big news came right after the jury was chosen for the trial. This means that the prosecutors and defense lawyers will be able to start making their arguments next week. The trial is about money that was paid to a porn star to keep quiet.
12 people who decide things, along with six backups, will look at evidence in a trial to decide if a former US president broke the law.
The jury has seven men and five women. They mostly have jobs in offices and wear white collared shirts. Some of the jobs include corporate lawyer, software engineer, speech therapist, and English teacher.
Many people are not from New York originally, they come from different places in the United States and other countries like Ireland and Lebanon. The alternates are backup jurors kept in case one of the regular jurors has to leave because they are sick or for some other reason.
Trump is said to have hidden a $130,000 payment his lawyer made to a porn star to keep her quiet about an affair they had before the 2016 election.
Trump says he didn’t do anything wrong. He’s been accused of lying about his business records. He also denies having any dealings with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Trump said he did not commit the crimes in three other cases. This case is the only one that will definitely go to trial before November. The Republican politician wants to run for president against Joe Biden again in the next election.
A conviction would not stop him from holding a government job. -
2 mayoral contenders slain in Mexico, raising death toll to 17
Two people running for mayor in Mexico were killed on Friday, making it a total of 17 candidates killed before the June 2 election.
One person running for office was murdered on Friday in the border state of Tamaulipas in Mexico. Noe Ramos Ferretiz was running for a group that includes two political parties that used to rule Mexico until 2000. He was trying to get elected again as the mayor of the city of Ciudad Mante.
Another person who wanted to be the mayor in Oaxaca, a state in the south, was found dead after he went missing. Alberto Garcia was trying to become the mayor of San Jose Independencia, a town in Oaxaca.
The state’s lawyers in Oaxaca said they found Garcia’s body on an island in a lake near the town. It looks like he was killed by being hit. In the past, groups of people selling drugs were in the area.
The upcoming June 2 national elections are expected to be the most violent in the country’s history.
The prosecutors in Tamaulipas said Ramos Ferretiz was hurt on Friday, but they didn’t give many details and are still looking into what happened.
The news said that he got stabbed and shared pictures of a body covered in blood lying on the ground. Tamaulipas has been affected for a long time by fights over who controls the area between drug gangs. Ciudad Mante is in the south of the state, quite a distance from border cities like Reynosa and Matamoros.
“We won’t let violence influence the election,” wrote PRI party leader Alejandro Moreno on social media, where he confirmed the “cowardly murder” of Ramos Ferretiz.
In Oaxaca, the people in charge of elections are upset about the death of Garcia. He and his wife, who is the mayor of San Jose Independencia, disappeared earlier this week. The wife was discovered to be alive.
The electoral board said that Garcia was killed during the election, and they think that this should not happen during elections.
In the beginning of April, Bertha Gaytan, who was running for mayor, was shot and killed shortly after she asked for help and began her campaign. Gaytan was killed by a gun on a street in a town near Celaya, in the state of Guanajuato. She had just started her campaign to become the mayor of Celaya.
Drug gangs in Mexico try to kill mayors and people running for mayor so they can control the police and get money from the local government.
President Lopez Obrador said that drug cartels try to control who becomes mayor by either putting forward their own candidate or getting rid of their competition.
“They agree that this person will be the mayor and they don’t want anyone else to try to run for mayor. If anyone does, they know what will happen,” he said.
The government is giving bodyguards to 250 candidates because of recent murders. But, candidates running for local government positions are the most at risk and are the last to get protection.
Many politicians in Mexico are regularly targeted and harmed by violent acts. In April, the mayor of Churumuco, a town in Michoacan, was killed at a taco restaurant in Morelia.
In late February, two people running for mayor in a town in Michoacan were shot and killed within hours of each other. -
French police detain man at Iranian Consulate wearing fake explosives vest
A man was arrested by the police outside the Iranian Consulate in Paris on Friday. He was wearing a fake explosives vest and making dangerous threats. The police locked down the area to keep everyone safe. He didn’t have a clear reason.
The incident happened when things were already tense in the Middle East, and Paris is being extra careful because the Summer Olympics are coming soon.
The person was found guilty of starting a fire at the gates of the Iranian Embassy as a way to protest against the Iranian government. This information was given by the Paris prosecutor’s office. The consulate and embassy are in the same place in a fancy part of Paris near the Seine River.
Iranian officials did not say anything in public about what happened.
The man was seen at about 11 am outside the consulate. A person who saw him told the police that he had a grenade and a vest with explosives. This information was given by a Paris police official. The official did not want to give his name because it was against the police rules.
Highly trained police and soldiers blocked off the area and stopped traffic to make it safe.
The man reportedly made threats of violence inside the consulate, but then left the building by himself, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The police arrested him, but they didn’t find any weapons on him or in his car. The bomb vest was not real, the prosecutor’s office said.
The suspect has been caught by the police, and the Paris prosecutor’s office is looking into death threats. Investigators are trying to figure out why the person did what they did.
The police did not give the name of the person they suspect, but they said he was born in Iran in 1963.
The police knew about him and he got a punishment from the court for setting fire to car tires at the Iranian Embassy in Paris. According to the prosecutor’s office, he said it was a protest against the government of Iran.
The prosecutor said that the man cannot carry a weapon and is not allowed to go to the 16th arrondissement for two years. The sentence was put on hold because the defendant appealed. -
800,000 people in Sudan City in “urgent, serious danger” – UN warns
Almost 800,000 people in a city in Sudan are in really serious danger following the violence there is getting worse. The United Nations is warning that the violence could cause fighting between different groups throughout the region of Darfur.
A big fight started in Sudan a year ago between the Sudanese army and a group called Rapid Support Forces. This caused a lot of people to leave their homes and become refugees.
UN political affairs leader Rosemary DiCarlo told a group of 15 countries that there were fights between two groups in North Darfur and it was getting close to the capital city.
“Fighting in El Fasher could cause a lot of violence between different groups in Darfur,” DiCarlo warned, repeating a message from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The UN said that about 25 million people in Sudan need help and 8 million have left their homes. This is half of the country’s population.
“The fighting is very dangerous for the 800,000 people living in El Fasher,” said Edem Wosornu, who leads UN aid efforts.
She said it could cause more fighting in other areas of Darfur, where over 9 million people desperately need help.
An organization supported by the United Nations and focused on food security said at the end of last month that urgent action is necessary to stop many people from dying and ensure that their lives and jobs don’t completely fall apart, and to avoid a major food crisis in Sudan.
At a meeting in Paris on Monday, people promised to give more than US$2 billion to help Sudan, which has been affected by war. -
28 Google workers sacked after demonstrations against significant tech deal with Israel
Google has let go of 28 workers after they protested against the technology Google is giving to the Israeli government during the Gaza war. This has made the situation even more tense around the controversial deal.
The problem at Google is about a project called “Project Nimbus” which is a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 to provide cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli government by Google and Amazon.
The protests are mostly being arranged by a group called No Tech For Apartheid. Google says Nimbus is not being used in weapons or intelligence gathering.
Google said they fired 28 people because their behavior was not acceptable, it stopped other people from doing their work and made the environment scary. The company in Mountain View, California, said it is still looking into what happened during the protests. This means that more employees might still lose their jobs.
No Tech For Apartheid wrote in a blog that Google was lying about what happened during a “peaceful sit-in” in its offices. They said that many other workers who weren’t protesting supported the sit-in.
No Tech For Apartheid says that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the harmful Israeli government and military more than its own workers. This is a clear act of retaliation.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post on Thursday that employees will have to be more careful as the company works harder to make its AI technology better. This is an important time for the industry and for people.
“This is a place for work, not for causing trouble with coworkers or making them feel scared, trying to use the company for personal reasons, or arguing about things that cause problems or talking about politics,” Pichai wrote. “This is a very important moment for our company and we can’t afford to be distracted. ”
Some Google workers are mad about a contract in the cloud computing division. It is managed by Thomas Kurian, a former Oracle executive.
Kurian has been leading Google’s cloud computing team, which is now one of the company’s fastest growing. They made $33 billion in revenue last year, which is 26% more than in 2022. Many different companies and governments from all over the world use Google’s cloud computing services.
Google employees have sometimes protested angrily about the other projects the company is doing and have also expressed worries about how they are making artificial intelligence.
One group of Google workers protested and as a result, Google stopped working with the US military on a project called “Project Maven” in 2018. This project involved helping the military by analyzing videos.
Despite some concerns from within the company, Google has continued to be successful and make money. It makes most of its money from ads on the internet. Its main search engine is a big part of this.
Alphabet Inc, which is Google’s parent company, made a profit of $74 billion last year and now has 182,000 employees around the world. This is 83,000 more employees than in 2018 when it stopped working on Project Maven -
Canada and G7 call on ‘parties’ to defuse growing situation in Middle East
Canada urged all parties to de-escalate the rising tensions in the Middle East following reports of Israel’s drone attack on Iran.
Foreign ministers from the G7 countries, including Canada’s, and the High Representative for the European Union, made a public statement on Friday morning. The G7 countries criticized Iran for launching a direct and unusual attack on April 13. More than 100 drones carrying bombs were intercepted by Western allies as they were heading towards Israel.
Before the Iranian attack, another airstrike, which many think was done by Israel, destroyed Iran’s office in Syria. It killed 12 people, including two top Iranian generals.
“I agree with my G7 colleagues in asking everyone to try to stop things from getting worse,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly in a post on X on Friday.
The group said they completely support Israel and think that Iran attacking Israel is a bad move that makes the region more unstable. It also asked Iran to stop supporting Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and other violent groups.
“We will make sure the Iranian government faces consequences for its bad and disruptive actions, and we are ready to impose more sanctions or do other things,” the statement said.
It did not clearly say what other things the G7 is thinking about. -
3 people killed in severe flooding in the United Arab Emirates
Three people have died in the United Arab Emirates following a heavy flooding from extremely heavy rain this week, officials said on Friday.
According to the Philippine’s Department of Migrant Workers, two women died from suffocation in their car during the flood, and a man died when his car fell into a sinkhole.
We don’t know how many people died in the storm because officials in the UAE haven’t given out any information yet.
The UAE is a country ruled by a royal family and a leader with a lot of power. It’s located on the Arabian Peninsula and doesn’t get much rain because it has a dry desert climate. But, a very big storm that forecasters had been talking about for a few days passed through the seven small countries.
By the end of Tuesday, Dubai had gotten more than 142 millimetres (5. 59 inches) of rain in just one day. On a regular year, it rains about 94. 7 millimetres (373 inches) at Dubai International Airport. Other parts of the country got even more rain.
The CEO of Dubai International Airport said that they hope to be back to normal within 24 hours. The airport is the busiest in the world for international travel.
Emirates announced on Friday that they will stop local check-in for their flights until early Saturday due to bad weather at their hub in Dubai.
FlyDubai, a cheap airline, also had some problems.
At the same time, heavy floods also hit nearby Oman in the last few days. On Thursday, officials said at least 21 people died in the storms. -
Israel issues last-minute warning to US regarding drone attack on Iran
The US has told the Group of Seven countries that it got “last minute” information from Israel about a drone operation in Iran. But it didn’t take part in the attack.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who led the meeting of rich countries’ ministers, said the United States gave the information at a meeting on Friday morning. The information was changed at the last minute to deal with the suspected attack.
On Friday, Iran shot down flying machines near Isfahan. It was a possible Israeli attack in response to Tehran’s big drone and missile attack on the country last weekend.
Tajani said the US told the G7 ministers that Israel had told them about the drones at the last minute. “But the US did not tell anyone about the attack. ” It was just some information.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he didn’t want to talk about the claim, but he made it clear that the US didn’t take part in any attack and wants to reduce the tension in the area.
“I’m not going to talk about that, but I can say that the United States has not been part of any attacks,” Blinken said.
Asked about the relationship between the US and Israel, Blinken said that Israel makes its own choices and the US is dedicated to keeping it safe.
“We promise to support Israel in protecting itself and helping in its defense when needed. We recently helped Israel fend off an attack by Iranian drones and missiles. “
“Israel has made its decisions, and we promise to protect and support them,” Blinken said.
Tajani said the G7 partners shared information on Friday about what they knew about the situation in Iran. He said he talked to the Italian embassies in Tel Aviv and Tehran on the phone and found out that the Italians in Isfahan were all okay.
Tajani said that nobody got hurt or died. “Some Italians in the city where the drones landed are all okay. ” They say life is back to normal, and planes are flying in the skies of Iran again.
“The weather seems nicer today compared to last night,” he said.
After a three-day meeting, the ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States agreed that they want the parties involved to stop things from getting worse.
The statement said it supported Israel’s safety and strongly condemned Iran for attacking Israel in April. It also mentioned the seizure of a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are prepared to use more penalties or do other things to respond to any more attempts to cause unrest,” the document said.
The group told Iran not to give ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia.
In the fighting in Gaza, the group asked Hamas to let go of the people they are holding and told Israel to follow the rules of international law and treat people with kindness.
The G7 countries said they don’t want a big war in Rafah because it would hurt the people who live there. They think more help should be sent to Gaza.
“The G7 has worked and will continue working to reduce tensions,” Tajani said in a press conference at the end. He said that would mean reducing tensions, stopping fighting, freeing hostages, and helping the Palestinian people. -
US vetoes motion with broad support endorsing Palestine’s full UN membership
The United States said no to a UN resolution that would have allowed Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations. Palestine has wanted this for a long time, but Israel has been against it.
The Security Council voted on a decision, with 12 members saying yes, the United States saying no, and the United Kingdom and Switzerland not deciding. France, Japan, and South Korea were in favor of the resolution.
Many countries are recognizing the statehood of Palestinians and supporting them because they are facing a humanitarian crisis due to the war in Gaza.
The resolution wanted the UN General Assembly to approve Palestine joining as the 194th member of the United Nations. “About 140 countries have agreed that Palestine is a country. Many more countries would probably have said yes too. ”
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said to the Security Council that the veto does not show disapproval for Palestine becoming a state. Instead, it shows that it can only happen through talks between both sides.
The United States has always said that taking action too soon in New York won’t make Palestine a state, even if people have good intentions. This was said by Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the State Department.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that even though the resolution did not pass, it will not weaken their resolve. He felt emotional as he spoke.
“He said we will keep trying and not give up. ” Palestine will definitely exist in the future. It’s trueMaybe they think it’s far, but we think it’s close.
This is the second time Palestinians are trying to be full members and it’s happening while there is a war in Gaza. This war has brought a lot of attention to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, which has been going on for over 75 years.
In 2011, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested for the Palestinian Authority to be a member of the UN. It didn’t work because the Palestinians didn’t get enough support from at least nine out of the 15 members of the Security Council.
They went to a meeting and most of the people agreed to give them a higher position in the UN in 2012. This allowed the Palestinian territories to become members of the UN and other international groups, like the International Criminal Court.
Algerian UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama, who is representing Arab countries, proposed a resolution to admit Palestine. He said it is an important step to correct a long-standing unfair situation and believes that peace will only come by including Palestine, not by keeping it out.
Wood said the US veto is because there are still some questions about whether Palestine can be thought of as a state. He said Hamas still has control and influence in the Gaza Strip, which is an important part of the state the Palestinians want.
Wood said that the US is committed to finding a way for Israel and Palestine to live in peace as two separate countries. This is important for the security of both sides and for Israel to have good relationships with its Arab neighbors, like Saudi Arabia.
The United States wants to work more closely with the Palestinians and the rest of the area. They want to help solve the problems in Gaza and work towards a plan that will allow the Palestinians to have their own country and be part of the United Nations.
Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, repeated the promise to have two separate states. He said that Israel thinks that Palestine is a lasting danger to their strategic plans.
“Israel will try very hard to stop the Palestinian state from becoming independent and to keep the Palestinian people from living in their own country, or to always control them. ”
He asked the council and diplomats in the chamber, “What will the world do. What will you do. ”
The talks between Israel and Palestine have not been happening for a long time. The government in Israel is mostly made up of people who are against the idea of Palestine becoming its own country.
Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the resolution is not connected to what is really happening and will only cause more problems in the future. It will make it harder to have conversations and find solutions.
Half a year after the Oct 7 attack by the Hamas militant group, which controlled Gaza, and the killing of 1,200 people in “the most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” he accused the Security Council of seeking “to reward the perpetrators of these atrocities with statehood. ” Six months after the Hamas attack and the killing of 1,200 people, he said the Security Council wants to give statehood to the people who did these terrible things.
Israel’s attack killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, and caused a lot of damage to the territory. Many people criticized the attack on Thursday.
After the vote, Erdan said thank you to the United States and especially President Joe Biden for supporting truth and morality despite hypocrisy and politics.
He said the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank and the US wants to take control of Gaza from Hamas, is a group that supports terrorism.
The Israeli ambassador at the UN talked about the rules for joining the UN, which include following the UN Charter and being a country that wants peace.
Erdan asked how could anyone seriously say that Palestinians are peace-loving. “The Palestinians are giving money to terrorists to kill us. ” None of their leaders speak out against terrorism or the October 7 massacre. Hamas is like a brother to them.
Although Palestinians did not meet the requirements for UN membership, Erdan said that most council members were in favor of it.
“He said it’s really sad because your vote will make it even harder for peace and give more confidence to the Palestinians who reject it. “ -
Iran opens fire on alleged Israeli attack drones near nuclear and air base in Isfahan
A drone attack by Israel on Iran’s air base and nuclear site near the city of Isfahan was met with defense from Iranian troops on Friday morning. This was in response to Iran’s earlier drone and missile attack on Israel.
No Iranian leader said Israel was responsible for the attack, and the Israeli military did not reply when asked for a comment. Tensions have been high since the Saturday attack on Israel, as it is fighting against Hamas in Gaza and targeting Iran in Syria.
Antonio Tajani, the Foreign Minister of Italy, said at the G7 meeting in Capri that the US got new information from Israel about the attack on Isfahan just before it happened.
US officials did not want to talk about it as of early Friday, but American TV networks said that Israel was responsible for the attack, citing unnamed US officials. The New York Times reported that Israeli officials, who did not give their names, said the attack happened on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 85th birthday. Israeli leaders suggested that their country had launched an attack.
“Air defence weapons were fired in many areas because drones were seen in the sky, according to state television. ” The leader of the Iranian army, General. Abdolrahim Mousavi said that the crew aimed at many things flying in the air.
Mousavi said that the explosion in Isfahan’s sky this morning was because the air defense systems shot at a suspicious object, but it didn’t cause any damage. Some people said the drones might be quadcopters – small drones with four rotors that you can buy.
Officials said that the air defenses shot at a large air base in Isfahan. This base has been where Iran keeps its American-made F-14 Tomcats, which were bought before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tasnim shared a video from one of its reporters in Isfahan, showing two anti-aircraft gun positions. The area is near a site in Isfahan where Iran converts uranium, and the details in the video match the features of the site.
We heard gunshots at 4:45. He said that nothing was happening. “It was the air defense, those guys you’re watching, and also over there. ”
In Isfahan, there is a place with three small research reactors from China. They also make fuel and do other things for Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
Isfahan is a place in Iran where important places related to Iran’s nuclear program are located. One of these places is the Natanz enrichment site, which is underground. This site has been attacked multiple times, and it is believed that these attacks were carried out by Israel.The government TV said all nuclear sites in the area are “completely safe. ” The United Nations’ nuclear agency also said there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites after the incident.
The IAEA is asking everyone to be very careful and saying that nuclear facilities should never be attacked in wars.
Iran is making really strong uranium for weapons because their deal with other countries fell apart when Donald Trump stopped it in 2018.
Iran says they are using their program for peace, but Western nations and the IAEA claim that Tehran had a secret military weapons program until 2003. The IAEA is telling us that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make many nuclear weapons if they want to. But the U. Sis also worried about this. The intelligence community says that Tehran is not currently trying to make a bomb.
Two airlines from Dubai, Emirates and FlyDubai, changed their flight paths to avoid flying over western Iran at around 4:30 a. mThe time in the area. They didn’t explain, but warnings to pilots in the area suggested that the airspace may have been closed.
Iran stopped all commercial flights in Tehran and surrounding western and central regions. Iran started offering regular flight service again, the officials said.
During the time of the event in Iran, Syria’s state-controlled SANA news agency reported that Israel launched a missile attack on an air defense unit in the southern part of Syria and caused damage. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Britain said that the strike hit a military radar used by the government forces. “We are not sure if anyone was hurt,” the Observatory stated.
In Iraq, people in Baghdad heard explosions, but they didn’t know where they were coming from. Iran-supported groups have a strong presence in Iraq.
The event in Iran on Friday made people worried that the conflict in the Middle East could get worse. This is because Iranian-backed rebels from Yemen have been attacking ships in the region.
The UK’s naval operation center warned ships in the area that there may be more drones flying in the sky.
“There is no evidence that commercial ships are the planned target,” it said.
The Houthis have attacked ships at least 53 times, taken one ship, and sunk another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have decreased in recent weeks because the rebels are being attacked by the U. Sand other countries in Yemen. Also, fewer ships are traveling through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden because of the danger.The supposed attack scared energy markets for a short time, causing the price of Brent crude to briefly go above $90 before dropping again on Friday.
However, the Iranian government’s media tried to make the situation seem less serious by showing a peaceful morning in Isfahan after the incident. This could be done on purpose, especially because Iranian officials have been warning for days that they would strike back if Israel attacked them first.
Iran is still saying they didn’t do it and if nothing else happens, both sides can calm down for now. Sanam Vakil, from Chatham House, said this. -
G7 threatens further penalties against Iran as the world reacts to Israeli drone strike
The Group of Seven foreign ministers said they might punish Iran with more sanctions for attacking Israel with drones and missiles. They also want Israel and Iran to keep the conflict from getting worse.
At the same time, it seems like Israel attacked Iran with drones. Iranian soldiers shot back to protect an air base and a nuclear site near Isfahan. It came almost a week after Tehran’s surprising drone and missile attack on Israel.
Israel shot a missile at an air defense unit in southern Syria, causing damage. This was reported by the state-run SANA news agency quoting the military statement on Friday.
Israel had promised to react to Iran’s big attack over the weekend, which made people in the area worried that there might be more fighting after months of conflict in Gaza. Allies have told Israel to not react strongly to the attack.
Struggles between neighboring areas have gotten worse since the beginning of the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in October. In 2007, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups supported by Iran, launched an attack across the border that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. Israel attacked Gaza and caused a lot of destruction. More than 33,900 people have been killed, according to local health officials.
Italy’s foreign minister said that Israel warned us at the last moment.
The US told the G7 countries that it got new information from Israel about a drone mission in Iran at the last minute.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the United States gave some information at a meeting, but they had to change it at the last minute to talk about the suspected attack. Tajani said the US told the G7 ministers that Israel informed them about the drones at the last minute. “The US did not share the attack, they just provided information about it. ”
He said all Italians living in Iran were safe and had no issues.
The leader of Germany says that everyone needs to make sure that the situation doesn’t get worse.
German leader Olaf Scholz wants everyone in the Middle East to work together to prevent things from getting worse. But he and his government are not saying much about what happened in Iran last night.
Scholz said at a gathering on the North Sea island of Norderney Friday that there were reports of more “military activity” during the night.
He said, “I don’t want to talk more about it. We all need to make sure the war doesn’t get worse in the near future. ”
Scholz said that Germany will have discussions with “all our friends and allies” about making a situation less tense.
When asked about reports of an Israeli attack, Scholz’s spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said in Berlin that he doesn’t have any information to add.
G7 leaders are talking about imposing more punishment on Iran.
The foreign ministers of seven countries said they might punish Iran for attacking Israel with drones and missiles. They also asked both countries to not make the conflict worse.
Antonio Tajani, the leader of the meeting of rich countries’ ministers, said they had to change the agenda on Friday to talk about the newest things happening.
On Friday, Iran used air defences to protect a big air base and a nuclear site near Isfahan city after seeing drones. They were thought to be involved in an Israeli attack as a response to Tehran’s drone and missile attack on the country last weekend.
Tajani didn’t talk about the incident right away, but he said that G7 ministers were upset by Iran’s attack on Israel and asked both sides to calm down.
“The goal of politics is to reduce tensions,” Tajani said during a news conference at the end of the meeting. -
Sydney Assyrian church bishop says he forgives his assailant
A bishop from an Assyrian church who was stabbed during a church service, has said he is getting better and has forgiven the person who attacked him. The police are investigating the riots that happened after the stabbing.
Two knife attacks happened in Sydney. One at a shopping center near Bondi beach on Saturday killed six people, and the other at a church in Sydney’s west on Monday. This has surprised the people of Sydney.
I am doing well and getting better very fast. “Don’t worry,” Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel said in a message on social media, his first public comments since the attack. I forgive the person who did this. I will pray for you and the person who told you to do this. I also forgive them.
Bishop Emmanuel, who is popular with young people on TikTok and has spoken against homosexuality, COVID vaccinations, and Islam in his church speeches, was hurt in the attack. The attack is believed to be a terrorist act driven by suspected religious extremism.
A young man has been arrested for attacking the bishop, and he is in the hospital under police supervision.
A group of angry people outside the church fought with the emergency workers and demanded that they give them the person they thought was the attacker.
New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said a 19-year-old man, who was not a church member, was charged because of his part in the riot.
“Many people joined in the riot. ” Webb said it is really bad and gross during a news talk.
Additional investigators have been given the job to look into the riot. It hurt around 50 officers and ruined 20 police cars.
Bishop Emmanuel told his church members to stay calm and follow the law.
The police are checking things, and the Bondi mall opened on Thursday so people can go inside to honor the victims. The stores are still closed, and there are flowers laid out on the second floor. Businesses can start trading again from Friday.
“We’ve moved from being very surprised to not believing what happened to feeling very sad, and it will take a long time for people to understand and accept it,” said Paula Masselos, who is in charge of the local council, in an interview with ABC TV.
She said there will be a gathering with candles on Sunday, and there are many flowers and bouquets at a memorial that was made quickly. -
Prince Harry formally states he now resides in the United States
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has officially said he now lives in the US.
Four years after Harry and his wife Meghan Markle moved to a house in Southern California, a travel company he owns told British authorities this week that he now lives in the United States.
The official recognition shows that the prince is becoming more distant from Britain. He and Meghan left their royal responsibilities to make a lot of money from media deals in America. Since then, Harry has kept saying bad things about the royal family, like accusing them of being unconsciously racist in a Netflix series and in his own book, “Spare. ”
Travalyst Ltd, a company mostly owned by Harry and started in 2020 to promote sustainable tourism, submitted their paperwork to Companies House on Monday. This agency oversees the creation of UK companies.
The paperwork makes Harry even more separate from his job as part of the king’s advisors. These advisors can take over the king’s duties if he is sick or away.
Harry is still considered a counselor of state, but the crown told the UK Parliament that only working royal family members will actually take over for the monarch.
Harry and Meghan now live in a rich area called Montecito with their children. But people are also paying close attention to Harry’s move to the US.
The Heritage Foundation, a group that thinks conservatively, has spoken out against the Department of Homeland Security’s choice to give Harry a visa for the US, even though he admitted to using drugs in “Spare. ”
The foundation wants the department to show Harry’s immigration file to the judge. They think Harry may have lied on his visa application or got special treatment because people with a history of drug use are usually not allowed to get a visa. -
Israel strikes back at Iran after pleas from global bodies
Israel has launched an attack on Iran according to an Iranian state media on Friday, after Iran had attacked Israel with drones.
One person told the media that the US was not part of the attack but was told about it by Israel before it happened.
Iran’s Fars news agency said there were three explosions near a military base in the city of Isfahan. An Iranian leader told Reuters that there was no missile attack and the explosions happened because Iran’s defense systems were turned on.
Iranian TV said that three drones were seen in the sky over Isfahan shortly after midnight. The defense system turned on and shot down the drones in the sky.
The person who reports news later said that everything was okay in Isfahan and there were no explosions on the ground.
The Israeli army did not say anything about the reports.
Israel had promised to fight back after Iran launched a big attack over the weekend with lots of drones and missiles. This was in response to Israel’s suspected attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria. Many of the drones and missiles from Iran were shot down before they could reach Israel.
Experts are worried that the fighting between Israel and Gaza could spread to other nearby countries.
The President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, told Israel that if they attacked Iran, Iran would hit back hard.
Iran told the United Nations Security Council that it wants Israel to stop any more military actions against them. The UN secretary-general said the Middle East is in a very dangerous time.
Stocks and bond returns from Asian countries went down on Friday, while safe and secure currencies, gold, and oil prices went up. Brent crude oil prices went up by two percent to $88. 86 per barrelThe dollar also went up by one percent, while S&P 500 futures went down by one percent.
Iran’s TV said that the nuclear sites, where Iran has been working, are safe. Iran says it’s for peaceful purposes, but the West thinks it’s for making a weapon.
The Natanz nuclear site is the main place where Iran works with uranium. It is located in Isfahan province.
The airports in Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan were closed until 7 am GMT. Flights in the western half of Iran have been cleared, according to the FlightRadar24 website. The closures could be extended.
According to FlightRadar24, some flights going to Tehran from Turkish Airlines and Emirates were turning back and going back to where they started. A plane from Iran that was flying from Rome to Tehran had to change course and land in Ankara, Turkey.
FlightRadar24 showed that airlines like Emirates, flydubai, Turkish Air, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, and Belavia were still flying over the part of Iran’s airspace that was still open on Friday morning.
Israel started attacking Gaza because Hamas, a group in Palestine, attacked Israel on October 7 and killed 1,200 people, according to Israel’s count. Israel’s attack on Gaza has caused the deaths of more than 33,000 Palestinian people, as reported by the local health ministry.
“Iran-backed groups from Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq have said they support the Palestinians and have started attacking in their favor. “ -
Oakland dragged to court for having “San Francisco” in name of new airport
San Francisco is suing Oakland after changing the name of their airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. San Francisco thinks this will make things confusing and hurt their airport’s finances.
San Francisco is going to court to stop Oakland airport from changing its name. They say the new name goes against San Francisco International Airport’s trademark.
The Port of Oakland commissioners all agreed to change the name last week. They will vote again on May 9 to make it official. The airport’s name is Oakland International Airport right now.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said they hoped Oakland would agree on a new name, but since they didn’t, they have to sue to protect SFO’s trademark.
Chiu said the renaming plan is meant to confuse people and make them think that OAK has a connection to SFO, even though it doesn’t. This would be especially confusing for travelers who don’t speak or read English.
Officials at the Oakland airport want to change its name and will fight for their right to do it in court.
“The Port of Oakland said that OAK’s planned name change does not break SFO’s trademark. ” “We will strongly fight for our right to keep our place on the San Francisco Bay. “ -
Half of China’s largest cities are sinking – Researchers
Almost half of China’s big cities are sinking into the ground, which could cause flooding for millions of people as the sea levels rise. This information comes from a study that looked at satellite data from all over the country.
The researchers who wrote the article in the journal Science discovered that 45% of China’s cities are sinking at a rate of more than 3 millimeters per year, and 16% are sinking at a rate of more than 10 mm per year. This is happening because the water levels are going down and the weight of the buildings is pushing the land down.
“China has a lot of people living in cities, over 900 million. If the land starts sinking, it could be a big problem for the cities,” said the researchers.
Sinking land in China is causing big problems and costs a lot of money every year. In the next 100 years, about a quarter of the land near the coast could be lower than the sea, putting many people at risk of flooding. This could affect hundreds of millions of people.
“Robert Nicholls at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia said it shows that this is a problem for all of China, not just a few places. ” “And it represents what is happening in the rest of the world in a small way. ”
Tianjin, a city in the north with over 15 million people, was one of the hardest hit. 3,000 people had to leave their homes because of a sudden earth disaster. Investigators said it happened because there wasn’t enough water and because people had been building geothermal wells.
A lot of China’s old coal areas have been damaged because there was too much mining. Sometimes, officials have to put concrete into the falling apart holes in the ground to make the land stronger.
The problem is not just in China. Another research published in February found that about 6. 3 million square kilometers of land around the world could be in danger. Indonesia is one of the countries that has been hit the hardest, with many areas of the capital city Jakarta now underwater.
Nicholls said cities that are at risk could learn from Tokyo’s example. Tokyo used to sink by about 5 meters until it stopped taking water from the ground in the 1970s.
“We need to take subsidence seriously, but we can’t prevent all of it. So, we should also focus on adapting and building dykes,” he said.
In a study from Singapore in 2022, it was found that out of 44 big cities by the coast with a problem, 30 of them were in Asia.
Matt Wei, who is an expert in studying the Earth, said that when more people move to cities and the population grows, there is a bigger demand for water. This can cause the ground to sink. -
Kenyan military commander died in helicopter crash – President
Kenya’s top military leader, Francis Ogolla, died in a helicopter crash in the western part of the country on Thursday, President William Ruto said on TV.
The helicopter crashed and all the people on board, including Ogolla and nine others from the military, died. It happened shortly after take-off on Thursday afternoon. Ruto said this. Two people didn’t get hurt in the accident, he said.
“I feel very sad to say that General Francis Omondi Ogolla, the leader of the Kenya Defence Forces, has passed away,” he said.
Ruto said a group of people who look for answers will go to the place where the crash happened to find out what caused it.
Ogolla left Nairobi on Thursday to go see soldiers in the North Rift region of the country and check on school repairs, the president said.
After the crash, Ruto quickly gathered the country’s National Security Council in Nairobi for a meeting, as reported by presidential spokesperson Hussein Mohamed.
“As the head of the Kenyan military, I am sad for the soldiers and for our country,” Ruto said.
“Our country has lost one of its bravest leaders. ” We also lost brave officers, soldiers, and women,” he said.
Kenya will mourn for three days starting on Friday, Ruto announced.
According to a news report from Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Ogolla is the first military chief from Kenya to die while on duty. The general started working for the Kenya Defence Forces in 1984. In 1985, he became a 2nd Lieutenant and was then assigned to the Kenya Air Force, as stated on the Ministry of Defence website. -
14 people arrested over grandparent scam prey on seniors cross Canada
The police in Ontario have caught 14 people who were involved in a scam that targeted seniors in Canada.
Information about the investigation, called Project Sharp, was announced at a news conference in Scarborough on Thursday morning.
The police in Montreal have arrested all the suspects and have charged them with 56 offenses.
The police found that since January, 126 people were tricked and lost a total of $739,000.
The people who were hurt are between 46 and 95 years old and they all had landline phones, according to the police. Many older people in Ontario were the main victims of the fraud, according to the police.
Detective Inspector from the OPP. Sean Chatland said the police started investigating a group they think is involved in fraud in September 2022.
In February 2023, Chatland announced that the investigation became an official joint forces operation led by the OPP, with police services from Ontario and Quebec working together.
“This crime group carefully and deliberately took advantage of victims,” Chatland said in a press conference in Scarborough on Thursday morning.
“They pretended to be police, judges, lawyers, and family members in order to trick grandparents who thought they were helping their relatives in trouble. “ -
EU official calls on G7 to strengthen air defence for Ukraine
The EU’s top diplomat has asked G7 foreign ministers to quickly give Ukraine more air defence systems. He said taking too long could make the war go in Moscow’s favor.
If we don’t have more Patriot air defense missiles to protect against Russian attacks, Ukraine’s power system will be ruined. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that no country can fight without electricity at home, in the factories, and in the front line.
He was talking at a meeting with G7 foreign ministers on the Italian island of Capri. They were discussing Russia’s war in Ukraine and the growing tensions in the Middle East because of Iran’s attack on Israel.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed with Borrell’s request, and said that he wanted the U. Sto also do the same. Congress has agreed to give money to Ukraine, but other countries also need to help out.
“At this time, it’s really important for all the people who support Ukraine to do everything they can to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Blinken said after talking to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, wants to impose more punishments on Iran for its recent attack and to give real support to Ukraine to defend itself from Russia’s invasion.
“Tajani said that if Ukraine doesn’t win, Putin won’t talk about peace. ”
Foreign ministers from several countries were meeting in Capri to talk about wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas. They wanted to send a united message about these conflicts. On Wednesday, leaders from the European Union met in Brussels and promised to increase punishments on Iran for sending drones and missiles to groups in Gaza, Yemen, and Lebanon.
Borrell said the EU will make the sanctions stronger and add more to punish Tehran and stop future attacks on Israel. He also said that Israel should be careful.
“I don’t want to make it sound worse than it is, but we’re very close to a war in the Middle East. It could have big effects on the rest of the world, especially in Europe,” he cautioned. “Please, don’t do it anymore. ”
Kuleba and NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg were at the Capri meeting as visitors. Kuleba said his country needs important help with military equipment like guns, bullets, and defense systems because Russia is moving closer to the border.
He said thank you to Germany for giving Ukraine a new Patriot battery. He also asked the US Congress to approve some money that has been delayed.
“We will work with other countries to help Ukraine get air defence systems. ” “Kuleba said it’s really important. ”
President Joe Biden approved a plan to give Ukraine $61 billion in aid. This shows that both Democrats and Republicans support the funding bill.
Blinken said he wants the bill to be discussed in the House this weekend and emphasized that the US cares a lot about Ukraine doing well.
“If Putin isn’t stopped, he will not only attack Ukraine but also continue with more aggression,” Blinken said after talking with Kuleba. “Other countries might see this and decide to start their own attacks. ” And there will be a lot of fighting and not a lot of peace and safety.
Borrell agreed and said Europe needs to help Ukraine defend itself, not just rely on Washington.
“He said we need to make clear decisions to send more air defense to Ukraine. ” We have Patriots and anti-missile systems. We need to move them from our base to Ukraine to help in the war that is happening there. I think we will do it, but we need to do it fast. -
9 persons in Japan have minor injuries following powerful earthquake
A big earthquake hit southwestern Japan causing nine people to get hurt a little. It also caused damage like broken water pipes and small landslides, the government said on Thursday. There was no risk of a tsunami.
The earthquake on Wednesday night had a magnitude of 6.6 It happened just off the coast of Shikoku, in an area called the Bungo Channel, which is a narrow stretch of water between Shikoku and Kyushu.
The earthquake happened deep under the sea, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency said there’s no risk of a tsunami.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported on Thursday that six people in Ehime prefecture, one in neighbouring Kochi, and two others in Oita on Kyushu island got hurt, mostly from falling at home.
Pipes broke in Sukumo City and stones fell at a Buddhist temple in Ainan town, according to local news. Roof tiles were falling down too.
The nuclear safety authority said that everything is okay with the four reactors at three nuclear power plants in Shikoku and Kyushu.
Japan is in a place where there are a lot of earthquakes because it is in the “ring of fire” in the Pacific Ocean. In March 2011, a very big earthquake and tsunami hit Japan’s northeast coast. It destroyed a lot of places, killed almost 20,000 people, and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to have meltdowns. -
Mayors of Copenhagen and Paris share insights gained from Notre Dame cathedral fires
The mayor of Copenhagen talked to the mayor of Paris to learn from the rebuilding of Notre Dame cathedral after a fire damaged a 400-year-old building in Copenhagen.
Firefighters were still at the place where a fire destroyed half of Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange, which was built in 1615, and caused its iconic dragon-tail spire to fall down, two days later.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce wants to rebuild the building they own, the Old Stock Exchange, where they are located. Thus far, no one has decided who will pay for a reconstruction project that would be very expensive and take a long time.
Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, the mayor of Copenhagen, talked to the Associated Press. She said she talked to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hildago, about how they are fixing the Notre Dame cathedral after it caught fire in April 2019. It will be finished this year.
Hildago shared helpful advice on how to work fast, how Paris managed donations, and the urgent restoration work that needs to be done, according to Hæstorp Andersen.
We have a big job ahead as we work to rebuild Boersen with the Danish Chamber of Commerce. “But we know this can be done fast,” she said, using the Danish name of the stock exchange building.
She said that Hildago asked a team from Denmark to come and meet the people working on rebuilding the spire of Notre Dame.
The fire on Tuesday started on the roof while the building was being fixed, but the cause is not known yet. The police have not been able to go inside the burned part of the building to find out what happened.
The firefighters are working to make the building safe. They think they will be there for one more day.
Some streets near the burned building, including a big road next to it, will stay closed until at least Monday, according to Danish media.
When the building caught on fire on Tuesday, people nearby, Chamber of Commerce workers, police and firefighters rushed inside to rescue valuable things. A lot of the important things in the building, like valuable paintings and other art, were rescued. One of the paintings was a big one from 1895 called “From Copenhagen Stock Exchange” by a Danish artist named P. SThe Chamber of Commerce said Krøyer.
The building has a green roof and a tall spire shaped like four dragon tails. It’s next to the Danish parliament and is famous for being a place to trade things.
The building is a great example of Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark. The Chamber of Commerce moved into the building after the stock exchange left in 1974. -
Biden receives Kennedy family endorsements
US President Joe Biden will get support from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family at a event in Philadelphia on Thursday. He wants to weaken former president Donald Trump and make the candidacy of Robert F. less important.
Kerry Kennedy is the daughter of the former Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, the daughter of the brother of former President John F. Kennedy’s sister, who is running for president, will say she supports Biden, as his campaign has announced.
The decision to talk about the Kennedy family’s support so early shows that Biden’s team is worried about a potential candidate who might use the Kennedy name to get votes away from Biden.
Both the Democrats and the Republicans are concerned that Kennedy’s decision to run for office could harm the chances of their chosen candidates. Biden was using the event to keep pressure on Trump during his campaign in an important state for his reelection.
“I think my dad, Robert F. , would have been really upset by Donald Trump’s lies and bad behavior. ” Kennedy was proud to be the Attorney General of the United States. He promised to follow the law and keep the country safe. Kerry Kennedy will talk about this in a speech. “Daddy believed in treating everyone fairly and making sure they had the same rights. He also wanted people to be free from poverty and fear. ” Just like President Biden does now.
The prominent Democratic family didn’t surprise anyone when they publicly said that they don’t agree with Robert Kennedy Jr. ‘s political viewsHe originally challenged Biden in the Democratic party primary, but now he’s running as an independent. Biden invited over 30 members of Kennedy’s family to the White House for St. Patrick’s Day last month. Patrick’s Day, with family members taking pictures with the president in the Rose Garden and Oval Office.
After officially supporting him, Biden and the Kennedy family planned to meet with people who support him at a campaign event. The Kennedy family also planned to call voters and go door-to-door to support Biden.
Many important family members did not support, including the United States. Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver, who work in nonpolitical jobs, were chosen as ambassadors to Australia by the Biden campaign.
Robert Kennedy Jr. can simply be stated as the son of Robert F. He has talked about not agreeing with his family on a lot of things in public before. But he thinks it’s possible to disagree in a nice way. Kennedy’s presidency, some critics accused the candidate of using the former president’s legacy for his own benefit. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, and Robert Kennedy Jr. He said sorry to his family on social media, in case the spot caused them any pain.
The Democratic National Committee has hired a group of people to communicate and fight against the popularity of third-party candidates, especially Kennedy. The DNC complained to the Federal Election Commission about Kennedy’s campaign working too closely with a Super PAC to get him on the presidential ballot in some states.
The Trump campaign is worried about Kennedy because they think he could take away Republican voters they need to beat Biden in November. If I was a Democrat, I would vote for RFK Jr. This is what Trump said in a video he released recently. Each time Biden is discussed, he has also criticized Kennedy, saying he is more “extremely left-wing” than the current president.
The Kennedy family’s support is the highlight of three days of campaigning in Pennsylvania.
Biden had a chance to go back to his hometown of Scranton, where he lived until he was 10 years old. He visited his old childhood home, a big house that his family rented. He remembered going to church at St. Paul’s
He didn’t want to leave town the next day, so he stopped to have some coffee before going to the airport. “It’s nice to be back in Scranton,” the president said when a customer greeted him.
Biden went to Pittsburgh and said he wants to increase taxes on steel and aluminum from China to help American companies compete better.
Even that event brought back some happy memories, as Biden remembered when the steelworkers supported him when he was a 29-year-old from Delaware running for US Senate. -
Russia claims to have shot down five military balloons from Ukraine in Kiev
Russian air defenses shot down five Ukrainian balloons overnight, according to the defense ministry in Moscow. The conflict between the two sides continues with long-range strikes playing a big role. This has become a war of attrition.
Russian and Ukrainian officials haven’t given any information about the mysterious balloons that the media in Moscow have reported on the battlefield. Ukraine’s military has been coming up with new ideas since the war started in February 2022. They have been using drones a lot to fight against the larger Russian forces.
Russian news says Ukrainian balloons have a GPS and carry explosives. They are said to be more difficult to find and could carry a larger load than regular small drones. We don’t know if the balloons are filled with helium, hot air, or something else.
The GPS module is probably used to control the release of explosives when the balloon flies over a specific area. This is done to cause fear on the ground and divert Russian air defense attention.
The Russian defense ministry said that three Ukrainian balloons and one drone were shot down over the Voronezh region, which is near the Moscow-occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine. Two balloons were also stopped in the Belgorod region of Russia next to Ukraine.
In addition to the balloons, Russia says it stopped two Ukrainian missiles, 19 rockets from rocket launchers, and 16 drones during the night.
The defense ministry said three drones were destroyed in southern Russia’s Rostov region.
According to Russian news reports, balloons with mortar mines were shot down by Russian air defences earlier this week in the Lipetsk and Kursk regions.
Ukraine is having trouble in the war because its army is smaller and not as well-equipped as the other side. Western help for Kyiv’s military has decreased. More American help is stuck in Congress. Ukraine is getting ready for a big attack from Russia, possibly as soon as next month.
Ukraine has been targeting far-away places behind enemy lines, hitting Russian bases and infrastructure.
Kyiv officials are asking Western countries for more air defense systems because Russian missile and drone attacks are hitting cities and causing power outages.
According to officials, 18 people died and 78 were hurt in a Russian missile attack on downtown Chernihiv, Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President and Foreign Minister are asking European and G7 leaders for more equipment to defend their country’s airspace. They are mainly focused on getting air defense equipment.
Ukraine’s air force shot down 13 drones that Russia launched at Ukraine overnight. -
Farmers in Netherlands demonstrate against EU regulations
In a barn in the flat fields of the northern Netherlands, Jos Ubels is holding a new baby cow called Blonde d’Aquitaine. It is the newest animal to join his group of over 300 dairy cows.
Europe is making farmers like Ubels follow more rules to help with climate change. He spends one day each week dealing with paperwork for the European Union and government officials. They want to decide when farmers can plant and harvest crops, and how much fertilizer or manure they can use.
At the same time, foreign products that are cheaper are lowering the prices for their crops, even though they don’t have to follow the same rules. Mainstream political parties didn’t help farmers with their problems for many years, according to Ubels. Now the extreme right is getting involved.
In many countries in the EU, like Finland, Greece, Poland, and Ireland, farmers are getting more and more upset as the June EU parliamentary elections get closer.
Ubels is the second leader of the Farmers Defence Force, which is one of the most well-known groups to come out of the movement. The FDF started in 2019 and now also exists in Belgium. Its symbol is a crossed double pitchfork. It is linked to similar groups in other EU countries and is leading a planned protest in Brussels on June 4. It wants 100,000 people to come to the EU capital and influence the election results.
Ubels said we should stand up and fight back now. “We’re finished with being quiet and doing as we’re told. ”
Did he stop believing in democracy. “No” I no longer believe in politics. And that is one step away.
The FDF is saying that they are losing confidence in the law.‘Don’t give up’
In March, angry farmers from Belgium caused chaos at a protest outside EU headquarters in Brussels. They set fire to a subway station entrance and threw eggs and liquid manure at the police. In France, people tried to break into a government building to protest.
In a video from another protest, FDF leader Mark van den Oever said he was disgusted by two politicians and that they would soon be the focus of attention. The FDF denies that this was a threat of physical violence.
In the EU, during the winter, groups of tractors stopped ships from coming into ports and blocked big roads. This happened for a few days and was one of the most serious protests by farmers in 50 years.
Farmers and the European Union have not always gotten along well. What’s different now is that people are moving more toward the very conservative side.
After World War II, Europe was very poor and hungry, especially during the winter. They really needed to make sure they had enough food. The EU helped make sure there was plenty of food for the people and helped farmers sell their products to other countries. They also give farmers more than 50 billion euros each year.
However, even though farming is very important, the EU knows that farmers make about 40% less money than people who don’t work on farms. Also, 80% of help goes to only 20% of the farmers who are well-off. Many of the 8. 7 million farm workers in the bloc are poor or almost poor.
The EU wants to make strict rules to protect the environment and farming as part of its plan to stop climate change by 2050. Farming in the EU produces a lot of greenhouse gases, like nitrous oxide from fertilizers, carbon dioxide from vehicles, and methane from cows. These gases make up over 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
Reducing these emissions has made farmers make sudden changes to their usual practices during a time when they are already struggling financially. The cost of things and people’s wages are higher because of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising prices. Farmers are making less money because people are spending less.
And then there is a war happening in the neighboring country. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the EU allowed Ukraine to import agricultural goods without paying tariffs. Some of these goods don’t have to meet the EU’s strict environmental rules. Imports increased a lot from 7 billion euros in 2021 to 13 billion euros the next year. This caused too much of the products and lower prices for farmers, especially in Poland.
Marion Maréchal, a candidate for France’s extreme right Reconquest. party, told farmers at a protest to keep going and not give up. This happened earlier this year. “You have to be outside on the roads. ” You need to speak up and be noticed. “You have to,” she tried to say, but was interrupted by people shouting “Don’t give up. Don’t give up. “ -
Lawyers for Trump claim Stormy Daniels resisted subpoena outside of bar in Brooklyn
Donald Trump’s lawyers tried to give Stormy Daniels a subpoena when she came to an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month. She is supposed to be a witness at the former president’s trial. But she refused to take it and left.
A person delivering legal papers for Trump’s lawyers said he gave the papers to Daniels but had to leave them on the ground because she wouldn’t take them. This was stated in a court document released on Wednesday.
“I told her she was given the papers and told her what they were,” said Dominic DellaPorte, who delivers legal documents. “She ignored me and continued walking into the place, and she had a blank expression. ”
Before a showing of the “Stormy” movie at the 3 Dollar Bill club, there was a fight between Trump’s lawyers and Daniels’ lawyer. This fight has been going on for a month and is still going on this week as Trump’s criminal trial starts in Manhattan.
Trump’s lawyers want Judge Juan M. to do something. Merchan wants Daniels to follow the subpoena. They included a picture that they said DellaPorte took of Daniels as she walked away.
Clark Brewster, Daniels’ lawyer, says they did not get the papers. He said the requests were like looking for something that is not necessary and have nothing to do with Trump’s trial for breaking the law.
Brewster wrote a letter to Merchan on April 9, saying that the process set up before the trial seems like it’s meant to harass or scare a regular witness. Brewster didn’t answer a message from The Associated Press right away.
Trump’s first criminal case that involves paying hush money is now going to trial. Seven people have been chosen to be jurors. The process of choosing the jury will start again on Thursday.
Daniels will talk about getting $130,000 in 2016 from Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she had with Trump years ago.
Cohen got paid back by Trump’s company for the payment. Trump is being blamed for changing his company’s records to keep secret the payment and other things he did to hide bad news during the 2016 election.
Last year, Trump said he didn’t do 34 bad things related to lying about his business records. He says he didn’t have sex with Daniels. His lawyers say that the money given to Cohen was for valid legal costs and was documented accurately.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said that if Trump decides to speak at the trial, they will question him about his recent legal losses to test if he is telling the truth. The documents were filed last month and kept confidential.
Trump has to give $454 million as a punishment because a judge said he lied about how much money he has. In a different court case, a group of people decided that he had to pay $83. 3 million for saying bad things about writer E. Jean Carroll said that he accused him of sexually hurting her.
Merchan said he wants to have a meeting on Friday to decide if it will be allowed.
According to the law in New York, prosecutors can ask witnesses about their past legal issues in some situations. Trump’s lawyers disagree. Trump wants to speak in court, but he doesn’t have to and can decide not to later.
Regarding the subpoena argument, Trump’s lawyers are trying again to get important information about Daniels, who is an important witness for the case.
They want a lot of papers about how the movie “Stormy” was made. The movie is about Stormy Daniels and how she became famous after being linked to Trump. It also talks about her time in the adult film industry.
They also want Daniels to say how much money she was paid for the movie.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the movie’s debut on NBC’s Peacock streaming service last month, a week before the trial was supposed to start, created bad publicity for Trump, making it hard for him to get a fair trial.
Trump’s lawyers say that Daniels is just trying to make money by using her reputation as a witness.
The subpoena asks for messages between Daniels and other people who might be witnesses in the trial, like Cohen and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who says she had a relationship with Trump. It also asks for any messages between Daniels and Carroll.
Earlier this month, Merchan stopped Trump from getting information about the documentary from NBC Universal by using legal power. He said that the subpoena and its demands are like a fishing trip, trying to find something. -
Netanyahu dismisses appeals for moderation
Israel’s leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that his country will make its own decision regarding how to respond to Iran’s recent major air attack and will not heed advice to proceed with caution from allies.
Israel promised to react to Iran’s unusual attack, but didn’t say when or how. This has made the region worried about more fighting after months of problems because of the war in Gaza.
Israel’s friends have been telling Israel not to react in a way that could make the situation worse since the attack. The British and German foreign ministers made the same calls again on Wednesday.
Iran’s president said if anyone tries to invade their country, they will respond with a strong and harsh reaction. Violence got worse on Wednesday between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran. Hezbollah fired a lot of rockets and drones at northern Israel. At least 14 Israeli soldiers were hurt in the attack, with six of them in serious condition, according to the army. The army said it attacked Hezbollah’s bases far inside Lebanon as a reaction.
Netanyahu talked to his Cabinet and said he met with foreign ministers on Wednesday. He thanked them for supporting their countries. He said that Israel will decide what to do by itself, even though it’s getting suggestions from its allies like the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. These countries helped Israel fight off Iran’s drone and missile attack.
I want to make it clear: we will decide for ourselves. Netanyahu said that Israel will do whatever it takes to protect itself.
Even though Israel talks tough, it probably won’t attack Iran without help from the US. Instead, it might use secret tactics like targeting Iranian commanders in other countries or using cyber attacks.
We don’t know how Iran would react, since there is a lot of tension. If either side makes a mistake, it could start a big war in the area.
Joe Biden’s team decided to punish Iran and is trying to get other countries to also criticize the attack. They are asking everyone to calm down and not make the situation worse. Earlier this week, US officials said that Biden told Netanyahu that the US will not join in any attacks on Iran.
During the weekend, Iran attacked Israel with many missiles and drones because they think Israel attacked their embassy in Syria and killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals.
Israel and its friends stopped most of the missiles and drones from reaching their targets. A 7-year-old girl got hurt in the attack, but no one died or got seriously hurt, and there wasn’t much damage.
Israel and Iran have been fighting each other secretly for a long time, but the attack this weekend was the first time Iran directly attacked Israel with its military.
With tensions rising, Israel’s friends have emphasized the need for calm and control. David Cameron from Britain and Annalena Baerbock from Germany both asked for people to stay calm during their visits to the area.
Cameron thinks Israel is planning to do something against Iran. He wants them to be careful and not make the situation worse. He said this after talking to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, who doesn’t have much power.
Baerbock said Germany supports Israel, but wants them to be careful.
“Everyone needs to be careful and make wise choices now. ” I’m not saying to surrender. She said being careful and controlling yourself is actually a sign of being strong. Israel proved that it is strong by winning a defensive battle last weekend.
The leaders said they want to impose more punishments on Iran from other countries.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi told Israel not to attack. He spoke at a military parade that was moved to a different location and wasn’t shown on TV. They did this because they were worried it might be attacked.
In comments reported by Iran’s official IRNA news agency, Raisi said the attack over the weekend was small. He also said that if Iran had wanted to do a bigger attack, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed.
Tensions between different regions have increased a lot since October. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two groups from Palestine that are supported by Iran, launched an attack on southern Israel. The attack caused the death of about 1,200 Israelis, and the militants held about 250 people as hostages. Israel fought back with a very strong military attack that caused a lot of destruction and death. Around 34,000 Palestinians were killed, most of them being women and children. Gaza health officials don’t differentiate between soldiers and civilians in their count.
Israel took most of its soldiers out of Gaza after big attacks that destroyed two of its largest cities, Gaza City and Khan Younis. Israeli leaders say the fighting is not finished and they will send soldiers into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where many people have taken shelter from the violence.
Hamas has about 130 hostages and some of them may have died. The attempts to make peace and free the hostages have not made much progress.
Hezbollah, a friend of Iran, has been shooting at Israel almost every day since the war started. This could lead to a big war. Groups supported by Iran in Iraq and Syria have attacked, and rebels backed by Iran in Yemen have targeted ships in the Red Sea, claiming to block Israel. -
UN Security Council to decide on Palestinian membership this Friday
The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday about whether or not to give full UN membership to Palestine. The United States, a friend of Israel, is likely to say no because it would mean accepting Palestine as a country.
The council of 15 people will vote on Friday at 3 pm on a resolution to recommend that the United Nations accept Palestine as a member. Diplomats said this.
A council decision must have at least nine positive votes and can’t be stopped by the US, Britain, France, Russia or China to be approved. Diplomats think that 13 council members may support the measure, which would make the US use its veto.
The council member from Algeria had asked for a vote on Thursday afternoon to go along with a meeting about the Middle East at the United Nations.
The United States thinks that an independent Palestinian state should be created through talks between the involved groups, not at the United Nations.
“We don’t think making a decision in the Security Council will definitely help us to find a solution. ” “The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on Wednesday that there should be a plan for two separate states in the future. ”
The Palestinians are not a full member of the United Nations, but they are recognized as a state by most countries. This recognition was given by the UN in 2012. An application to be a full UN member must be okayed by the Security Council and then by at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.
Countries that prefer peace.
The UN Security Council supports the idea of two separate countries living next to each other with safe and agreed upon borders. The Palestinians want to have their own country in a part of the Middle East that is currently controlled by Israel.
Not much has happened to create a Palestinian state since Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed the Oslo Accords in the 1990s.
The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has some control in the West Bank and works with Israel under the Oslo Accords. In 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinians are asking to become a full member of the UN. This comes after six months of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and while Israel is building more homes in the West Bank, which they have taken over.
Israel’s UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, said on Wednesday that the Security Council is spending its time supporting the creation of a Palestinian terrorist state.
Erdan said that if the Security Council says the Palestinian Authority can be a full member even though it supports terrorism and can’t control its land, it won’t be seen as legitimate anymore.
A group of 15 council members met twice last week to talk about letting new members join. They discussed the Palestinian application and agreed to make a report about it on Tuesday.
“About whether the application followed all the rules for joining. ” The Committee couldn’t agree on a suggestion to give to the Security Council, the report said. People had different opinions.
Countries who want to join the UN must love peace, follow the rules in the UN Charter, and be ready to uphold them. -
Attorneys of Nassar assault victims struck $100m agreement with Justice Department
The US government is going to give around $100 million to about 100 people who say they were sexually assaulted by sports doctor Larry Nassar.
The agreement is not finished yet and no money has been given, the person who told us this cannot be named because they are not allowed to talk about it until an official announcement is made.
An inquiry found that FBI agents didn’t handle abuse claims by women well over a year before Nassar was arrested in 2016.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report about the settlement. A person from the Justice Department said they didn’t want to talk about it.
Nassar was a doctor for the sports teams at Michigan State University and also worked as a doctor for USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis. He is in prison for many years for hurting female athletes, including Olympic gymnasts, when he pretended to help them.
Lawyers have accused the government of not doing anything about allegations against Nassar that FBI agents knew about for 15 months in 2015 in Indianapolis and Los Angeles. The inspector general of the Justice Department found some big mistakes.
Nassar kept hurting people until he was arrested in the fall of 2016, according to the authorities.
The attack survivors are famous Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.
“I’m sorry that many people have disappointed you so many times,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray to survivors at a Senate hearing in 2021. “I feel really sorry that some people at the FBI could have stopped this bad person in 2015 but they didn’t. ”
The Michigan attorney general’s office took care of the assault charges against Nassar, while federal prosecutors in western Michigan charged him with child sex abuse images.
Michigan State University has agreed to pay $500 million to over 300 women and girls who were hurt by Nassar. They were accused of not stopping Nassar when they had the chance. The organization for gymnastics in the United States and the government The Olympic and Paralympic Committee agreed to pay $380 million as a settlement. -
US Senate revokes Alejandro Mayorkas’ articles of impeachment
The Senate quickly finished with the impeachment articles against Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday. The trial ended before it really started because the Democratic majority ignored the Republican’s attempts to make the process last longer.
House Republicans tried to fire Mayorkas on February 13, but they had to try two times because they didn’t get enough votes the first time. The person chosen by Biden got impeached, which hasn’t happened to a Cabinet member in almost 150 years. The upper chamber had less conflict and finished a few hours after starting. They voted mostly along party lines to declare that the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas were unconstitutional. These articles were for not following the law and for breaking public trust. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican who did not vote yes or no on the first article.
The quick Senate trial was the end of a plan by House Republicans to bring attention to the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border before the election. It didn’t work out very well. However, many people thought that the case they wanted to bring to the Senate didn’t have enough strong points. Some also saw it as taking the focus away from other important messages during the election year. The House GOP accuses Mayorkas, the first Latino and immigrant to have the job, of doing serious wrongs, but constitutional experts say there is not enough evidence to support these accusations.
Chuck Schumer, the person in charge of the majority in the Senate, started the meeting by making a deal with Republicans. The deal would have allowed a set amount of time for discussing and voting on trial resolutions and points of order before deciding whether to dismiss the case.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt from Missouri said he wouldn’t agree to end the impeachment case without a trial, calling it a “unprecedented” step. Many Republicans wanted to make a deal so they could give speeches on the floor criticizing Democrats and the situation at the border. If not for that rule, only people who everyone agrees with could give speeches, which is unlikely because of how important the situation is.
Schumer wanted to stop the first impeachment article because he didn’t think it accused the president of doing something really bad, as the Constitution says it should. After many votes, the Senate voted 51-48 to reject the first article of impeachment, with one person not voting.
After a few more votes, Schumer’s proposal to get rid of the second accusation was also accepted. This means the second accusation of impeachment was stopped by a vote from one party.
The House sent the impeachment charges to the Senate on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the senators were sworn in to be jurors. It is very unlikely that the chamber would vote to find guilty, which would need a two-thirds majority vote – a very difficult thing to achieve.
Democrats are criticizing the impeachment as a political trick. They say that Republicans don’t have a good reason for it and that it’s not right to impeach a Cabinet official just because they disagree on policies.
“We want to solve this problem as quickly as we can,” Schumer said during a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “Impeachment should not be used to solve a disagreement over policies. ”
He said, “That’s a really bad example. ” This would be a bad example for Congress to follow. Whenever the House agrees on a new policy, they send it to the Senate and force them to do an impeachment trial. This is ridiculous. That’s not fair. “That is even more disorder. “ -
Croatia’s conservative government wins parliamentary election
Croatia’s ruling party won the recent election on Wednesday by a large margin, but they still need help from far-right groups to keep their power. The election was about a fight between the president and prime minister.
The election was between the ruling conservative party led by the Prime Minister and an alliance of centrist and left-wing parties led by the President and his party.
The electoral commission said that the HDZ won 60 seats out of 151 in the parliament after counting over 90% of the votes. The SDP won 42 seats. The far-right Statehood Movement won 14 seats, which means it will have a lot of power in deciding the next government.
“Tomorrow we will begin to work on creating a new majority in Parliament to form our third government,” Plenkovic said in his speech after winning. “I want to say good job to the other parties that lost to the HDZ. ”
More than half of the people voted, which was a lot more than before, even before the polls were closed.
Croatia, a country in Europe, had an election. They are also part of the European Union and NATO. Croatia is facing problems like high inflation, not enough workers, illegal immigration, and lots of corruption.
The race for Croatia’s 151-seat parliament was important because it would affect the country’s domestic policies and also the unity of the EU as it deals with instability from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
If the HDZ remains in power like we think they will, the country will keep helping Ukraine in its battle against Russia and stay on a pro-Western path. If SDP does well, it could win the European Parliament election in June and the presidential election in December. It could change the HDZ’s control of politics for a long time and might allow for more pro-Russia influence in the country, like in Hungary and Slovakia.
The HDZ has mostly been in charge since Croatia became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991. The Balkan country joined the European Union in 2013, and recently became part of Europe’s passport-free travel area and started using the euro currency.
In Croatia, the president doesn’t have much power and mostly does ceremonial things. The prime minister has most of the political power. The election was like the last part of a long competition between Plenkovic and Milanovic.
After Milanovic set a date for the election and said he wanted to be the prime minister, he started promoting the SDP. Croatia’s highest court judges said it was against the rules when leaders tried to make the change.
The judges said the president can’t try to become prime minister, or take part in elections or support a political party unless he quits his job first.
Milanovic said no and didn’t listen to the highest court. He kept on supporting the left-wing group.
Milanovic said that Plenkovic and the HDZ have been very corrupt and have stolen a lot of money from the government. He is talking about scandals from the past and present, some of which have gone to court.
Plenkovic has been in charge of the government since 2016. He has said many times that Milanovic, if he becomes the prime minister, would move the country further away from the EU and closer to Russia.
Milanovic has spoken in favor of Russia during the war in Ukraine. He doesn’t want Ukrainian soldiers to be trained in Croatia or weapons to be sent to Ukraine because he thinks it will make the war last longer. He also didn’t like the EU’s rules about Ukraine. -
Russia starts removing its peacekeeping personnel from Karabakh
Russian soldiers are leaving the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. They had been there to keep the peace after a war in 2020. Officials from both countries announced this on Wednesday.
During a phone call with reporters, a spokesperson for the Russian government, Dmitry Peskov, said that they are pulling out their troops, but he didn’t share more information. Hikmet Hajiyev, who is in charge of foreign policy for Azerbaijan’s president, also said that both countries agreed to the withdrawal.
Hajiyev did not explain why the forces were being taken out, but it seemed like they weren’t needed anymore after Azerbaijan got full control of the area last year.
The area called Karabakh was controlled by Armenian people, but there was a war in 2020 and Azerbaijan got back some of the land.
The war ended with a deal made by Russia that called for 2,000 peacekeeping troops to be placed in the parts of Karabakh still held by Armenians. The forces had to make sure that the only road connecting Karabakh with Armenia was open for people to use.
Azerbaijan started to block the road at the end of 2022 because they believed Armenians were using it to transport weapons and smuggle minerals. The Russian forces did not get involved.
After many months of not having enough food and medicine in Karabakh because of the blockade, Azerbaijan quickly attacked in September 2023. This made the Karabakh Armenian leaders give up after just one day of talking, with help from Russian forces.
Almost all of the 50,000 Armenian people who live in Karabakh left the area in just a few days. -
$61K rolex watches, $50k jewelries, GHC28K cash stolen from former 2nd Lady’s home
A self-proclaimed entrepreneur is currently on trial at the High Court in Accra for allegedly masterminding and executing robberies targeting high-profile individuals and elites in their homes.
Among the alleged incidents, Yahuza Osumanu is accused of robbing a 76-year-old woman in Ridge and assaulting the wife of a former Vice President, Matilda Yaaba Amissah Arthur, by strangling her and striking her head with a gun.
During the robbery at the former Second Lady’s residence, he purportedly stole GH₵28,000, £50, and $2,200.
The prosecution claims that Osumanu employed similar tactics in other robberies targeting affluent businessmen and women, resulting in the theft of valuables valued at millions of Ghana cedis.
Items allegedly stolen include two Rolex watches worth $61,000, two Cartier wristwatches worth $19,000, an iPhone 15 Pro Max worth $1,000, jewelry worth $50,000, and more.
Additionally, the prosecution alleges that Osumanu used proceeds from these crimes to purchase luxury vehicles and apartments for himself, including a Toyota FJ Cruiser, Toyota Prado, and Lexus.
Chief State Attorney Frances M. Ansah, leading the prosecution, has charged Osumanu with 26 counts of robbery and money laundering. Despite pleading not guilty, he has been remanded into prison custody pending a reappearance on May 2, 2024.
According to CSA Ansah, the Police CID received numerous complaints of residential robberies during the second quarter of 2023. A police investigation led to the identification of Osumanu, aided by CCTV footage from Kaeela Courts Apartments provided by Dr. Abu Sakara Foster on December 4, 2023. Further incidents reported in December 2023, involving additional victims, contributed to the identification and subsequent arrest of Osumanu in Kasoa on December 15, 2023.
-
BREAKING: Armed robbers attack former Second Lady
A self-proclaimed entrepreneur is currently on trial at the High Court in Accra for allegedly masterminding and executing robberies targeting high-profile individuals and elites in their homes.
Among the alleged incidents, Yahuza Osumanu is accused of robbing a 76-year-old woman in Ridge and assaulting the wife of a former Vice President, Matilda Yaaba Amissah Arthur, by strangling her and striking her head with a gun.
During the robbery at the former Second Lady’s residence, he purportedly stole GH₵28,000, £50, and $2,200.
The prosecution claims that Osumanu employed similar tactics in other robberies targeting affluent businessmen and women, resulting in the theft of valuables valued at millions of Ghana cedis.
Items allegedly stolen include two Rolex watches worth $61,000, two Cartier wristwatches worth $19,000, an iPhone 15 Pro Max worth $1,000, jewelry worth $50,000, and more.
Additionally, the prosecution alleges that Osumanu used proceeds from these crimes to purchase luxury vehicles and apartments for himself, including a Toyota FJ Cruiser, Toyota Prado, and Lexus.
Chief State Attorney Frances M. Ansah, leading the prosecution, has charged Osumanu with 26 counts of robbery and money laundering. Despite pleading not guilty, he has been remanded into prison custody pending a reappearance on May 2, 2024.
According to CSA Ansah, the Police CID received numerous complaints of residential robberies during the second quarter of 2023. A police investigation led to the identification of Osumanu, aided by CCTV footage from Kaeela Courts Apartments provided by Dr. Abu Sakara Foster on December 4, 2023. Further incidents reported in December 2023, involving additional victims, contributed to the identification and subsequent arrest of Osumanu in Kasoa on December 15, 2023.
-
Israeli strike destroys thousands of frozen IVF embryos in Gaza
In December, a shell from Israel hit a big clinic in Gaza following an explosion that knocked the lids off five tanks holding liquid nitrogen in the corner of the unit that deals with making babies.
As the extremely cold liquid turned into gas, the temperature in the tanks went up and ruined over 4,000 embryos, as well as 1,000 sperm and unfertilized eggs stored at Al Basma IVF center in Gaza City.
The explosion had a big effect and showed how much the 2.3 million people in Gaza have been hurt by Israel’s six-and-a-half-month attack.
The tiny babies in the tanks were the only chance for many Palestinian couples who couldn’t have children.
“We understand how important these 5,000 lives were to their parents, whether it was for their future or their past,” said Bahaeldeen Ghalayini, 73. He is a doctor who trained at Cambridge and set up the clinic in 1997.
At least half of the couples who can’t make babies anymore won’t have another chance to have a baby, he said.
“My heart is broken into so many pieces,” he said.
Reuters asked the Israeli military about the incident on Wednesday, and they said they are checking the reports. Israel says they did not mean to damage civilian buildings and accused Hamas of using hospitals for fighting, but Hamas disagrees.
Seba Jaafarawi went through three years of fertility treatment, and it was really tough on her emotions. Getting her eggs taken out of her ovaries hurt a lot, the hormone shots made her feel really sick, and it was really hard to handle the sadness when she couldn’t get pregnant two times.
Jaafarawi, who is 32 years old, and her husband couldn’t have a baby on their own. They decided to try in vitro fertilization (IVF), a method to help people have babies, that is easily found in Gaza.
Many families in the enclave are big, with almost half the people being under 18 years old. The fertility rate is high at 3. 38 births per woman, as reported by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics. The average number of babies a woman has in Britain is 1. 63
Even though many people in Gaza are poor, some couples who can’t have a baby on their own are trying IVF. They are even selling their TVs and jewelry to pay for the treatment, according to Al Ghalayini.
No time for partying or enjoying.
At least nine hospitals in Gaza helped women have babies using IVF. They collect eggs from the woman and fertilize them with sperm in a lab. The fertilized eggs, called embryos, are usually frozen and stored until they are ready to be put into a woman’s uterus at the best time. Many frozen embryos in Gaza were kept at the Al Basma centre.
In September, Jaafarawi got pregnant for the first time with the help of IVF.
“I didn’t even have time to party when I heard the news,” she said.
Hamas attacked on the Oct, just two days before her ultrasound appointment. Seven attacks happened in Israel, and 1,200 people were killed. Also, 253 people were taken hostage, as per Israeli records.
Israel promised to defeat Hamas and started a big attack that has killed over 33,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
Jaafarawi was concerned about how she would go through her pregnancy. She was worried about what would happen to her and to the babies growing inside her womb.
Her ultrasound appointment was cancelled and Ghalayini shut down his clinic, where five more of Jaafarawi’s embryos were kept.
As the Israeli attacks got worse, Mohammed Ajjour, the main scientist at Al Basma, began to worry about running out of liquid nitrogen for the five specimen tanks. Every month, the tanks need to be filled up to keep the temperature below -180C. They don’t use electricity to work.
After the war started, Ajjour got one delivery of liquid nitrogen. But Israel stopped the electricity and fuel to Gaza, and many suppliers closed.
In late October, Israeli tanks went into Gaza, and soldiers surrounded the streets near the IVF center. It became too unsafe for Ajjour to inspect the tanks.
Jaafarawi needed to rest to keep her pregnancy safe, but it was hard because there were dangers everywhere. She had to climb six flights of stairs to her apartment because the elevator wasn’t working. A bomb destroyed the building next door and broke the windows in her flat. It was also difficult to find enough food and water.
Instead of taking a break, she felt anxious.
“I was really scared and it seemed like I might lose the baby,” she said.
Jaafarawi had a small amount of blood come out of her body after she and her husband left their home and moved to the southern town of Khan Younis. The bleeding stopped, but she was still very scared.
‘5,000 people in one place’
But a few days later, she had strong stomach pains, bleeding, and her belly felt different. She got to the hospital, but she was already having a miscarriage.
“I can still hear the sounds of me crying and screaming at the hospital,” she said.
She said only people who have gone through IVF really know how difficult it is, no matter what I imagine or tell you.
Jaafarawi wanted to go back to the place where there is fighting, get her frozen embryos and try to get pregnant again using IVF.
Ghalayini said that one shell from Israel hit the corner of the center and exploded the ground-floor embryology lab. He doesn’t know if the attack was aimed at the lab or not.
“He said 5,000 lives were lost from one bomb. ”
In April, the embryology lab was still a mess with broken walls, damaged lab equipment, and liquid nitrogen tanks scattered among the rubble. This information was gathered by a journalist hired by Reuters who went to the lab.
The covers were off and you could still see a basket at the bottom of one of the tanks. The basket was full of small straws of different colors with damaged tiny embryos inside. -
Copenhagen battles last pockets of 400-year-old landmark’s destruction
Danish firefighters worked to put out the remaining parts of a fire that destroyed a 400-year-old landmark in Copenhagen. They were still working on it a day after the fire started.
Mikkel Jensen, who is 44 years old and works for the government, said, “I feel really sad when I see the damaged scaffolding still attached to the old stock exchange building in the city. ”
The Boersen building was made in 1615 and is called that in Danish. It is famous for its green copper roof and a tall spire in the shape of four dragon tails twisted together. Morten Langager, who runs a business group in Denmark, wants to make the Old Stock Exchange building a better place.
Brian Mikkelsen, who is the head of the Chamber, said on Tuesday that they will rebuild Boersen no matter what, and the board has supported the idea.
We haven’t decided who will fix the building yet. It will cost a lot of money, maybe even billions of dollars. A careful guess said it might take up to 10 years.
Some people in Denmark said the fire on Tuesday was similar to the one at Notre Dame in April 2019 that ruined the 800-year-old cathedral’s tall, pointed structure. It will be finished being fixed this year.
The full amount of damage from the fire and water used to put it out was not yet known.
“Many things were lost in the fire,” said Tim Ole Simonsen from the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department. “The outer walls are not well supported because the wooden structure that was holding them up is no longer there. ”
The fire department is going to put about 40 containers filled with concrete around the outside walls to make them stronger.
The police officer in charge, Brian Belling, said they haven’t been able to go into the building to find out what caused the fire. The fire probably started on the roof while workers were fixing it on Tuesday morning.
“It can be a while before we figure out why the fire started,” Belling said.
On Tuesday, a fire broke out in the building. People passing by, Chamber of Commerce staff, police officers, and members of an army unit all rushed inside to save valuable items.
Mikkelsen, a worker, told a news channel that the building had a plan for what to save if something really bad happened. When it was too dangerous for people to go upstairs, firefighters with special gear went in to get valuable items. Many of the building’s most valuable things, like paintings and art, were saved.
The Chamber of Commerce said they saved a big painting called “From Copenhagen Stock Exchange” by Danish artist P. SKrââyer cannot be simplified as it appears to be a name or title in a specific language or code. Can you provide more context or information.
One hour after the fire started, it quickly spread to the spire and caused it to fall onto the building and the street.
Big clouds of smoke went up over the center of Copenhagen and could be seen from southern Sweden, which is only separated from the city by a small area of water. Ambulances were there, but no one was hurt.
Smoke damage closed the ministries on the street near the Old Stock Exchange. Employees were asked to work from home because the buildings smelled strongly of smoke. Rasmus Brandt Lassen, who is in charge of the Danish Building and Property Agency, said that the buildings need to be very clean and their ventilation systems should be inspected and maybe changed before the ministry staff can come back.
“We told them they have to work from home for the whole week,” said Brandt Lassen.
The building is a great example of Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark. The Chamber of Commerce went into the building after the stock exchange in Copenhagen moved out in 1974.
Copenhagen has many churches and castles with tall spires made of copper. The city is called “the city of spires” because of them. Some examples are the spire of Our Savior’s Church, those of Rosenborg Castle, and the tower of Christiansborg Palace which is home to the Danish parliament.
A big road next to the Old Stock Exchange was still closed on Wednesday. -
Russia’s Kurgan Cross dam reaches “dangerous” water levels
The level of water in the Tobol River near Kurgan in Russia’s southern Urals is higher than the safety level, according to RIA state news agency.
The river in the city in Kurgan, which is an administrative center in Russia, went up by 123 centimeters in one day, reaching 865 centimeters on Wednesday morning.
In the middle of Kurgan, loud sirens are going off every two hours, telling people to leave and go to a safe place. Authorities said the river becomes “dangerous” once it goes over 850 cms (27 feet).
RIA reported that over 660 houses were flooded in the area by Wednesday morning, according to the emergency ministry.
Officials said that people living in 14 areas in Ishim district of the Tyumen region in southwestern Siberia were being moved to safety because the Ishim River was getting higher.
According to officials, the water levels in rivers in parts of Russia’s Ural and southwestern Siberian regions, and nearby areas of Kazakhstan, are still going up quickly.
The disaster happened because the snow melted quickly and there was heavy rain. This made the smaller rivers that flow into Europe’s biggest rivers get bigger.
The number of people forced to leave their homes went up to 200,000 on Tuesday. The governor of Tyumen in Russia told the 65,000 residents of Ishim to leave quickly. -
10 people arrested in massive raid in Germany targeting human smuggling group
German police arrested 10 people, including two lawyers after raiding a big human smuggling gang on Wednesday morning.
Over 1,000 police officers looked in many homes, stores, and offices in western and southern Germany. They arrested 10 people, including two lawyers.
German news agency dpa said that they are looking into 38 people who are believed to be in a gang, and 147 others who paid to be smuggled by them. The federal police in Sankt Augustin think that the two main suspects are lawyers from Cologne, aged 42 and 46. The suspects’ names were not provided because of German privacy laws.
The suspects are accused of breaking the law by using special German immigration rules for skilled workers to help around 350 Chinese people get residency permits, even though they don’t qualify. They allegedly took a lot of money in exchange for doing this.
The two main suspects used their law firms to find rich people from other countries, like China and Arab countries, to help them smuggle things. The police said people gave the law firms between 30,000 and 350,000 euros for illegal help with visas.
The lawyers and their helpers are said to have used the money to create fake companies, pay for fake homes, and pretend to pay wages. They also kept a lot of the money for themselves.
Fake residence permits were acquired from immigration offices in the towns of Kerpen and Solingen, as well as Rhine-Erft and Dueren counties. One of the ten people who were arrested is a city worker from Dueren. It is believed that he was paid to be part of the illegal activity.
Police searched places in different states in Germany and took away things they thought were important for their investigation. They also collected things to use as evidence.
“Authorities have gathered a lot of evidence and a significant amount of money, around 210,000 euros in cash, so far. ”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser thanked the police and prosecutors for their big effort in stopping people from smuggling migrants across countries.
“We need to use strong investigative methods and crack down consistently on smuggling gangs,” the minister said. “We will keep strongly fighting against organized groups that smuggle migrants. ”
The investigation looked at North Rhine-Westphalia, where 10 people were arrested. -
9 individuals apprehended in connection with gold theft at Toronto International Airport
Nine people were arrested for stealing gold from Pearson International Airport last year, according to Peel Regional Police on Wednesday.
The police said they caught the people who stole things during a news conference one year after it happened.
The police have charged the suspects with 19 offenses, and they are looking to arrest three other suspects with warrants across Canada.
At a news conference on Wednesday morning, the police said that on the evening of April 17, 2023, someone stole 6,600 gold bars from Air Canada’s cargo facility. The suspect used a five-ton truck to get to the warehouse.
The police say the suspect got the stolen gold by giving fake paperwork to Air Canada staff.This news story is still being updated. Come back later for more information.
-
Fourteen people killed as Russian missiles strike city in Ukraine
Three Russian missiles hit a downtown area of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday. The missiles hit an eight-floor apartment building and at least 14 people were killed.
At least 61 people, including two kids, were hurt in the attack this morning, according to Ukrainian emergency services. Chernihiv is a city about 150 kilometers north of the capital, Kyiv. It’s close to the border with Russia and Belarus and has about 250,000 people living there.
Russia bombed Ukraine recently, as the war continued for three years. Ukraine is not getting enough help from Western countries, so it is vulnerable to Russia’s larger forces.
During the winter, Russia didn’t make big progress on the 1,000-kilometer front line. They mainly focused on wearing down the enemy through prolonged fighting. But Ukraine doesn’t have enough artillery ammunition, troops, and armored vehicles. This has allowed the Russian military to slowly move forward, according to military experts.
An important thing for Ukraine is that Washington hasn’t yet approved an aid package of about $60 billion for them. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he will try to push the package through this week.
Ukraine really needs help right now, according to a think tank in Washington called the Institute for the Study of War.
“The ISW said that Russia is changing their tactics in battle because they haven’t received enough military help from the United States, and are using more movement in their fighting instead of staying in one place. ”
Ukraine needs help from the U. Sto keep their position secure. “help, especially with air defense and artillery, that only the US can give quickly and in large amounts,” it said.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, asked Western countries to give his country better air protection, like more Patriot missiles. He said the attack in Chernihiv could have been prevented if Ukraine had better air defense and if the world was more determined to stop Russian aggression.
Zelenskyy said in an interview with PBS that Ukraine didn’t have any more air defense missiles left when it was being attacked with missiles and drones. The attack destroyed one of Ukraine’s biggest power plants, and it’s part of Russia’s recent plan to target energy infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the President’s request for more assistance will be repeated as he gets ready to go to a meeting with foreign ministers from the Group of Seven countries in Italy.
“We want to get seven more Patriot batteries to keep our cities and economic centers safe from being destroyed,” Kuleba said in an interview with a German newspaper. “Why is it hard to find seven Patriot batteries. ”
Ukrainian soldiers are making strong defenses and building walls to get ready for a big attack from the Russian army. Officials in Kyiv think the attack could happen as soon as next month.
Ukraine is using far-flying drones and missiles to attack Russian forces and disrupt their war plans.
The Russian army said that they shot down a Ukrainian drone in Tatarstan on Wednesday. In April, Ukraine attacked the same area in Russia that is 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away from Ukraine.
Ukrainian people who make drones have been making the weapons able to go farther.
Another drone from Ukraine got shot down in the Mordovia region, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) east of Moscow, the ministry said. That is 700 kilometers or 430 miles away from the border of Ukraine.
One hour before the Mordovia attack, the civil aviation authority in Russia stopped flights at airports in two big cities, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, because they were worried about safety.
Unconfirmed reports say a Ukrainian missile hit an airfield in Crimea that is controlled by a different country. Russian and Ukrainian officials didn’t say for sure that there was an attack, but the local government closed the road to the airfield for a little while. The local mayor said that an explosion shattered the windows of a mosque and a private house in the region, as reported by Russian news agency Tass. -
Chancellor of Germany presses China about Russia’s incursion into Ukraine
German leader Olaf Scholz told the leader of China, Xi Jinping, to tell Russia to stop its crazy attack in Ukraine. Many European leaders are also asking Russia to stop.
The Chinese side didn’t show any sign of changing its stance. They blame Europe and the US for making the fighting in Ukraine last longer by giving them weapons. They also want peace talks to consider both Russian and Ukrainian concerns.
“China is not part of the Ukraine crisis but has consistently supported peace talks in its own way,” said a statement from China after discussions between Xi and Scholz in Beijing.
Scholz, finishing a three-day trip to China, told reporters that he thinks progress has been made to help discussions on ending the war.
Before, he posted on social media platform X that he talked to Xi and asked him to help with Russia.
China has significant influence in Russia. So I asked President Xi to pressure Russia to make Putin stop the war and bring his troops back.
China has decided not to criticize Russia’s invasion, which is different from the way Western countries are responding. The government says it is not giving military help to Moscow, but it is helping Russia’s economy by trading with them. This is to help Russia deal with the sanctions from Western countries. A recent report from US intelligence found that China has been selling more equipment to Russia in order to help them in their war against Ukraine.
Scholz said the discussions talked about China’s exports of goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
“He said it’s really important to not export any weapons, but we also have to think about items that could be used as weapons too. ” “We can make sure that everything needed is clear and easy to understand here. ”
Scholz said that using nuclear weapons should not even be talked about, according to a German government report of what he said at the beginning of the meeting with Xi.
Last month, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said that his government is prepared to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is in danger. This is the latest time he has made this kind of threat since taking over Ukraine.
The leaders of China and Germany both said they are committed to the UN Charter and do not support using nuclear weapons.
China wants to help solve the crisis peacefully. They support having a peace conference that both Russia and Ukraine agree to. They want everyone to be able to take part and discuss their ideas for peace.
Xi told Scholz that both countries should be careful about protectionism in trade and look at the issue of manufacturing capacity in a fair way, according to a statement.
The leader of Germany’s visit has shown that there are problems with trade between Europe, the United States, and China. They say China is not playing fair in trade and is using subsidies to make a lot of products, like solar panels and electric cars, which is causing tension.
The EU is thinking about charging fees on Chinese electric vehicles to help European producers. Some people are worried that too many cheap Chinese electric vehicles will come into the European market.
Scholz met with the Chinese Premier Li Qiang to ask for German companies in China to have better access to the market, fair competition, protection for their ideas, and a fair legal system.
“He said that these companies need the right conditions to keep going. ”
Despite some problems between them, China was Germany’s number one trading partner for the eighth year in a row in 2023. They exchanged 254. 1 billion euros ($271 billion) worth of goods and services, which was a little more than what Germany traded with the US. However, this was a 15. 5% decrease from the previous year.
This is Scholz’s second time visiting China since he became chancellor in late 2021. This is his first visit since the German government showed its plan for China last year, which China didn’t like. Li, the leader of China, went to Berlin in June. -
House Speaker Johnson continues to advance US assistance to Ukraine
House Speaker Mike Johnson was very determined to defend his aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other allies. Some Republicans were upset about it and wanted him to step down, but he refused to do so.
“I am not quitting,” Johnson said after a difficult morning meeting with other House Republicans at the Capitol.
Johnson called himself a “speaker during a war” and said he would continue to work on a US national security aid plan, even though he would need help from Democrats to pass it, because his own group is not strong enough.
“We are just here doing our work,” Johnson said, calling the idea to remove him “ridiculous . “The information was not useful. ”
On Tuesday, the House Republicans and the speaker’s attitude changed significantly. The leader is trying to gather enough votes to pass the national security aid for Israel, Ukraine, and other overseas allies, even though most of his party doesn’t want to.
Johnson looked more confident after his recent meeting at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump showed his support for Johnson, giving him a boost in his career. During his press conference on Tuesday, Johnson said it was important to make sure that Trump gets re-elected as President while he is on trial in New York for committing a crime.
Johnson talked with President Biden and other leaders in Congress about the new aid package for the US. The plan is to vote on separate bills for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region. He talked to Biden about it again on Monday night.
After Johnson talked to the president, White House officials said they will wait and see what the speaker’s plan is and wait until it becomes more clear how things will be done.
John Kirby, the spokesperson for national security at the White House, said the speaker’s idea seems like it will really help us give support to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region for a lot of different situations.
The person talking is thinking about a difficult way to break up the Senate’s $95 billion aid plan into parts and then vote on each part. Then they would put it back together or send the parts to the Senate for the final approval, and maybe to the White House for the president to sign.
Overall, the speaker would need to gather support from both Republican and Democratic groups in the House to pass each measure.
Also, Johnson is getting ready to propose a new law that includes things Republicans think are important for keeping our country safe. This includes a plan to take some of Russia’s money in American banks to give to Ukraine, and to change the economic help we give to Ukraine into loans instead. It might also have rules to punish Iran for its attack on Israel last weekend, among other things.
The speaker’s new plan does not automatically ruin the chances for Democrats in the House and Senate. Leaders are waiting to see more details before they make a decision. They were supposed to arrive on Tuesday, but as the afternoon went on, it was not certain if they would be able to make it on time.
In a private meeting, Leader Hakeem Jeffries said House Democrats want the full $9 billion in aid that senators included in their package for Gaza. This information was shared by a person who did not want to be named.
Johnson needs help from the Democrats to pass parts of his plan. But the Democrats are not as supportive of Israel anymore because they are upset at the Israeli government for attacking Gaza and causing many deaths. A previous bill from the House GOP reduced the help for Gaza in Israel.
The House Republicans were very angry that Johnson would not be helping with their main goal of making the US Mexico border more secure. Some people thought that Johnson would not be able to go ahead with voting on the package as he had planned for this week.
Rep Debbie Lesko, a Republican from Arizona, said the morning meeting was like a big argument.
The speaker said that the House GOP’s border security bill HR 2 would not be relevant to the package. Rep Chip Roy, R-Texas, who helped create the bill, said it’s up to the House to decide which parts and changes are important.
“Roy said that there are a lot of things that still need to be figured out. ”
The person in charge may be kicked out of their job by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top supporter of former President Trump. She wants to have a quick vote to remove the speaker from their position, like when Republicans removed their previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, last year.
Greene hasn’t said if or when she will push for her plan, and hasn’t got much support after last year’s trouble. But on Tuesday, she got support from at least one important person.
Rep Thomas Massie, who is from Kentucky, stood up in the meeting and said that Johnson should leave his position. He mentioned John Boehner, a former House speaker, who quit his job in 2015 to avoid being removed from office. This information was shared by Republicans who were present in the meeting.
“Speaker Johnson needs to step down and let Republicans choose a new Speaker who will prioritize America and pass a Republican agenda,” Greene wrote on social media, thanking Massie for supporting her motion to vacate.
Johnson did not answer, but told the lawmakers that they have to make a choice between two options.
The speaker said they want to pass the package they are suggesting. If they don’t, Democrats might force a vote on a different package in the Senate. -
UK plans to ban smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government wants to ban smoking in important places to stop young people from starting to smoke. The plan passed the first step in Parliament on Tuesday, even though some people in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party don’t agree with it.
Sunak announced a new law last year that would make it against the law to sell tobacco to people born after January 1, 2009. If the bill is approved, Britain will have some of the strongest laws against smoking in the world. Officials say it will make a new generation of people in Britain who do not smoke.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill says that kids who are 15 or younger will not be allowed to buy tobacco. Officials want to increase the legal age to buy cigarettes in England by one year each year until it becomes illegal for everyone to buy them. They hope to achieve this by 2027.
The law also stops young people from vaping. It makes it illegal to sell cheap throwaway vapes and limits the flavors, so kids can’t get hooked on nicotine.
Selling cigarettes, tobacco products, and vapes to anyone under 18 is against the law in the UK.
On Tuesday, the lawmakers voted 383 to 67 to continue discussing the bill after talking about it all afternoon. Even though many health experts and the Labour Party supported the bill, Sunak faced opposition from some members of his own party who thought the proposals were not conservative.
Conservative lawmakers were allowed to vote however they personally wanted instead of having to follow the rules of their party.
Critics, like the smokers’ rights group FOREST, said the change could make a black market and will make it harder for adults. Some important people in the Conservative Party, like Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said the plans are not in line with conservative values because they limit personal freedoms.
Truss said the bill was trying to show good intentions but didn’t really do much to help adults in the future. She said this during a debate in Parliament on Tuesday.
Other well-known members of the Conservative party, like the business secretary Kemi Badenoch, who is also a Cabinet minister, did not support the bill.
The plans were thought to have been inspired by similar ideas from New Zealand, but the new government in that country cancelled the plans earlier this year.
The government said that smoking will not be made illegal. People who can buy cigarettes now will still be able to buy them in the future.
The number of people who smoke in the UK has gone down by two-thirds since the 1970s. But there are still about 6. 4 million people in the country who smoke, which is about 13% of the population. These are official numbers.
Officials say that smoking leads to around 80,000 deaths each year in the UK, and is still the main reason for death, disability and bad health that can be avoided. -
Head of UN calls for immediate de-escalation in Middle East
UN leader Antonio Guterres wants fighting to calm down quickly in the Middle East.
The UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said that Guterres talked to Iran’s foreign minister on the phone and made the comments after Tehran’s attack on Israel over the weekend. Dujarric said Guterres talked to Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday.
During a meeting about a serious situation, Guterres said that the Middle East is very close to a dangerous situation and we need to be careful.
World leaders have told Israel not to fight back after Iran sent a lot of drones and missiles over the weekend. This made the Middle East get closer to a big war. Less than two weeks after two Iranian generals were killed in a suspected Israeli attack in Syria, the attack happened.
There has been more fighting in the area since the latest Israel-Hamas war began in October. In 2007, two militant groups called Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are supported by Iran, attacked Israel from across the border. They killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others. Israel attacked Gaza and has caused a lot of damage and killed over 33,800 people, according to local health officials.
The UN asks for $2. 8 billion to help three million Palestinians.
The United Nations is asking for $2. 8 billion to help 3 million Palestinians. They need food, clean water, and healthcare in Gaza to prevent a famine.
Andrea De Domenico, who is in charge of helping people in Gaza and the West Bank, said on Tuesday that big efforts are needed to bring back basic services, but it can’t be done while the military is still active.
He said that hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, homes, roads and schools have been destroyed in Gaza. He also said that there are no universities left standing in Gaza.
De Domenico said that Israel is starting to show they want to help Gaza, but the UN keeps asking for more aid.
He said Israel has been saying no and taking too long to let UN aid convoys into Gaza.
The UN person in charge of helping people in need said we need to focus more on preventing famine by making sure people have clean water, bathrooms, and good health care, not just on giving them flour for bread.
The US will make it harder for Iran to do business by adding new penalties, the White House says.
The US will punish Iran with more penalties because Iran attacked Israel from the air for the first time ever on Saturday. This was confirmed by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Sullivan said that the sanctions will focus on Iran’s missile and drone programs, and on groups that support the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and defense ministry.
The US expects that other countries in the Group of Seven will also impose their own penalties.
Sullivan said that these new rules and other actions will keep up the pressure to limit and weaken Iran’s military power and effectiveness and deal with all of its troubling behavior.
Israel says Iran fired more than 300 missiles and attack drones in the attack. Iran said the attack happened because they believed Israel had bombed and killed two Iranian generals in Syria on April 1.