UK Ministry of Defence says capture of city has become ‘highly challenging’ for the mercenary group
Russian forces have made progress in the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscow’s months-long campaign in eastern Ukraine that has resulted in many casualties, the Associated Press reported.
Their assault , however, will be difficult to sustain without further harsh losses, UK military officials said in an assessment on Saturday.
Continue reading...Deaths of two of four Americans kidnapped in Matamoros place spotlight on cartels’ impunity – and on medical tourism
Latavia “Tay” Washington McGee had scheduled an abdominal operation that many mothers have, and she chose to have the operation done in Mexico, where medical costs are cheaper – and where she had previously gone for other cosmetic procedures.
A cousin and a couple of friends joined her to share the 1,400-mile drive from her home town of Lake City, South Carolina, to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, just south of the US-Mexico frontier.
Continue reading...Prosecutors said Chow Hang-Tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were under foreign influence but refused to say who it was
A Hong Kong court has jailed three former members of a group that organised annual vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in China.
Chow Hang-tung, 38, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was among those convicted by a magistrate’s court. The two others were Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong.
Continue reading...Ukraine decides to fight on in Bakhmut, says Zelenskiy aide; Wagner chief worried about ammunition shortages; Nord Stream blasts ‘carried out by dive team’
Continue reading...Nomination at annual meeting of National People’s Congress confirms replacement of Li Keqiang
‘A defeated person’: sidelined by Xi, Li Keqiang bows out as premier
Xi Jinping has nominated Li Qiang, 63, to become premier during the continuing annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.
Li Qiang will replace Li Keqiang, who became premier in 2013 amid high hopes he would usher in liberal reforms. But his power was curbed by Xi, who increasingly sidelined Li Keqiang and placed allies in key strategic positions over him.
Continue reading...Yevgeny Prigozhin thanks Kremlin for ‘heroic’ production increase but says concerns about shortages remain
Suspilne’s morning news bulletin has been published on its official Telegram channel. Ukraine’s state broadcaster reports:
At night, Russian troops hit the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region with rockets and artillery. As a result of one of the hits, there was significant destruction of the energy facility, three settlements were left without electricity. There are no victims.
Heat supply continues to be restored in Kyiv after yesterday’s shelling: as of this morning, 30% of houses remain without heating, the local authority reported.
Continue reading...Court cites France’s constitution in ruling that only French is allowed in exercise of public office on Corsica
A court in Corsica has prompted outrage by banning the use of the Corsican language in the island’s local parliament.
The court in the city of Bastia cited France’s constitution it its ruling on Thursday that French was the only language allowed in the exercise of public office.
Continue reading...US regulators seize SVB’s assets after a run on the bank, as global institutions monitor situation closely
US regulators rushed to seize the assets of top tech lender Silicon Valley Bank on Friday after a run on the bank, marking the largest failure of such an institution since the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the nation’s 16th largest bank, failed after depositors – mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies – hurried to withdraw their money this week as anxiety over the bank’s situation spread.
Continue reading...Officers with C-IRG accused of ripping off protesters’ masks and pepper-spraying them during protest in British Columbia
Canada’s federal police force has opened an investigation into a controversial unit tasked with overseeing environmental protests, following hundreds of complaints that officers used excessive force, disregarded court orders and violated protesters’ rights.
The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, a watchdog arm of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said on Thursday it would examine the activities of the community-industry response group, or C-IRG, based in British Columbia.
Continue reading...PM announces £500m package to stop people trying to cross Channel, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in Paris
Britain will help fund a detention centre in northern France as part of a £500m package to stop refugees trying to cross the Channel, Rishi Sunak has said, amid continuing criticism of his plans to lock up and deport those arriving in small boats.
After a meeting in Paris, Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said they had agreed joint funding for more French border patrols, including 500 additional officers and new drones.
Continue reading...Officers were told of concerns about mental health of man who went on to shoot dead four men, two women and an unborn baby
A tipoff was received two months ago by the authorities in Hamburg about the gunman who went on to kill seven people including an unborn baby in a Jehovah’s Witness hall, but he had persuaded officials not to take away his gun.
An anonymous letter was received by the weapons control authority in January raising concerns about a man named by German police as Philipp F, 35, saying that he appeared angry with his former fellow church members, but officers had found no reason for concern when they visited him last month.
Continue reading...Embassies to reopen in move that could have wide implications for Iran nuclear deal and Yemen war
Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two great oil-producing rivals of the Middle East, have agreed to restore ties and reopen embassies seven years after relations were severed.
The agreement came after Chinese-brokered talks held in Beijing. “As a result of the talks, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies … within two months,” Iran’s state news agency Irna reported, citing a joint statement.
Continue reading...In his letter, Panuelo openly canvassed the country switching its diplomatic recognition from Beijing to Taipei
China is engaged in “political warfare” in the Pacific, the outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia has alleged in an excoriating letter, accusing Beijing officials of bribing elected officials in Micronesia, and even “direct threats against my personal safety”.
Two months before his term as president expires, David Panuelo’s letter alleged China was preparing for conflict over the island of Taiwan, and that its goal in interfering in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was to render the country neutral in any potential Pacific war.
Continue reading...Gesture may not be civil or polite but ‘it is not a crime’ and is protected under Canada’s constitution, judgment says
Giving your neighbour the middle finger may not be polite but is protected as part of a person’s right to freedom of expression under the Canadian constitution, a judge has ruled.
In a 26-page decision, Dennis Galiatsatos dismissed a case against a man accused of harassing his neighbour in a Montreal suburb.
Continue reading...The disease, which has killed 1,500 people since last March, has been aggravated by heavy rains and an overburdened health system
Malawi’s cholera outbreak is the country’s deadliest on record, claiming more than 1,500 lives, according to the UN.
More than 50,000 cases have been detected in the landlocked country in south-east Africa since an outbreak was declared in March last year, triggered by two devastating tropical storms that hit the region. Almost 200 children have died.
Continue reading...Police believe lone attacker is dead but motive remains unclear after mass shooting in northern city
Seven people have been reported dead and dozens injured in a shooting on Thursday night at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg, Germany. Police said the gunman was believed to be dead and that the motive remained unclear.
“We have no indications of a perpetrator on the run,” a police spokesperson said soon after the attack, which began at around 9pm on Thursday night. Later, police said that they had found a “lifeless person … who we believe could be a perpetrator” at the centre but that investigations were ongoing.
Continue reading...Coronation sets up Xi, who has overseen consolidation of power, to become modern China’s longest-serving head of state
Xi Jinping has been handed an unprecedented third term as president, capping an ascent in which he has become China’s most powerful leader in generations.
In a carefully choreographed ceremony in Beijing, Xi held up his right fist and placed his left hand on a red leather copy of China’s constitution. In the oath – beamed live on state television across China – he vowed to “build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and great modern socialist country”.
Continue reading...Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau stand to benefit as White House warns of Beijing’s intent and ability to ‘reshape the international order’
Alarmed by China’s success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions from its federal budget to keep three of those countries in the US orbit.
President Joe Biden’s spending plan, released on Thursday, includes more than $7.1bn in funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The money is included in the $63.1bn request for the state department and the US Agency for International Development.
Continue reading...Russian missile strikes on Ukraine leave at least nine dead; UN warns urgent action needed to protect Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after power lost in attacks
Russia unleashed its largest missile bombardment against Ukraine in three weeks in the early hours of Thursday, including six hypersonic missiles able to evade air defences. At least nine civilians were reported killed. Critical infrastructure and residential buildings in 10 regions were hit, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. “The occupiers … won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done.”
At least six of the dead were killed in a strike on a residential area in the western Lviv region, 700km (440 miles) from the frontline, Ukrainian emergency services said. Three buildings were destroyed by fire after the missile attack and rescue workers were combing through rubble looking for more possible victims.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 81 missiles in total, alongside eight Shahed drones. It claimed to have shot down 34 cruise missiles and four of the drones.
The attacks also briefly disconnected Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant from the grid. Ukraine said the Zaporizhzhia plant was forced on to emergency diesel power to prevent a meltdown. It was later reconnected to Ukraine’s energy grid, operator Ukrenergo said.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, told his board of governors that urgent action was needed to protect the Zaporizhzhia plant’s safety and security.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had carried out a “massive retaliatory strike” as payback for a cross-border raid last week. It claimed to have hit all its intended targets, destroying drone bases, disrupting railways and damaging facilities that make and repair arms.
Ukrainian authorities insist they will continue to try to hold the eastern city of Bakhmut, despite suffering an estimated 100-200 casualties a day. Ukraine’s national security chief, Oleksiy Danilov, has said that one Ukrainian is killed for every seven Russians, and claimed that Ukrainian soldiers are killing as many as 1,100 Russians a day. Western officials have estimated Russian casualties in Bakhmut at 20,000-30,000.
Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass claims security services in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria have foiled an assassination attempt on its internationally unrecognised leader, Vadim Krasnoselsky. Tass reported Transnistria’s security forces claimed Ukrainian security services were the source of the plans.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reportedly been snubbed by the Oscars for the second year in a row. According to Variety, Zelenskiy had been hoping to appear on this Sunday’s telecast following on from previous cultural appearances but the request has been denied.
Ukraine will take part in a European Union scheme to jointly buy gas in global markets, to procure 2bn cubic metres of the fuel ahead of next winter, the EU energy policy chief said.
Belarus’s authoritarian president has signed a bill introducing capital punishment for state officials and military personnel convicted of high treason. The amendments to the country’s criminal code endorsed by President Alexander Lukashenko envisage death sentences for officials and service personnel who cause “irreparable damage” to Belarus’s national security through acts of treason.
Russia has introduced personal sanctions against 144 government officials, journalists, lawmakers and other public figures from the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – deemed “most hostile” to Moscow.
Continue reading...Alternative für Deutschland leaders were among those lauding Sunak’s bill, while other EU figures raised doubts about its legality
European far-right leaders have praised Rishi Sunak’s illegal immigration bill, after a senior EU official repeated her doubts about the legality of the plans.
“Bravo,” wrote the Alternative für Deutschland party on social media. “Way to go! The current [British] government plans now to deny asylum to illegal immigrants and fly them out to Rwanda,” the party wrote on Facebook, saying Germany should follow this approach. “When will we finally have it?”
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