19 June 2019 Iran has announced that it had dismantled a US spy network, after The US deployed 1,000 more troops to the Middle East
Tehran’s announcement came a day after it said its uranium stockpile would on June 27 surpass a limit agreed in the 2015 nuclear deal, a multilateral agreement Washington unilaterally abandoned in May last year. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated ever since, with the US bolstering its military presence in the region, reimposing sanctions and blacklisting Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation. “Following clues in the American intelligence services, we recently found the new recruits Americans had hired and dismantled a new network,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA said, quoting an intelligence ministry official. Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson closer to becoming Britain’s next Prime Minister after winning 40 % of the votes in Parliament
Johnson, the face of the official Brexit campaign in the 2016 referendum, won 126 out of 313 votes and with four other candidates who won 33 votes or more. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt won 46 votes, Environment Secretary Michael Gove won 41, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart 37 and Home Secretary Sajid Javid 33. While Johnson won by far the most votes, he added just 12 from the first round. Stewart, 46, was the biggest gainer from the first round, adding 18 votes. Dominic Raab, a former Brexit minister, was eliminated from the contest as he won just 30 votes. Japan has issued a tsunami advisory after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the country
A wave of one metre is expected to hit the coast of the Sea of Japan, north of Tokyo, the nation’s meteorological agency said. The quake registered six on the Japanese scale, which goes up to a maximum of seven and was felt in the capital, which is more than 300 kilometres away. An official of the disaster management office of Niigata prefecture, the epicentre of the quake, told AFP : “We do not have a precise picture of the impact as we are still collecting information. But so far there have been no report of injuries or casualties.” Separately, a fire department official in the region said two elderly women were sent to hospital following falls but “they were conscious”. The earthquake struck at a late hour in mainly sparsely populated areas so it was not easy to evaluate the damage immediately. A man who shared a video of the Christchurch massacre has been sentenced to 21 months in prison
Philip Arps had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the video, which was livestreamed on Facebook by a gunman on March 15 as he began killing 51 people at two mosques. Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said that when questioned about the video, Arps had described it as “awesome” and had shown no empathy toward the victims.
———————————————————————————————————————— 18 June 2019 Iran will surpass the uranium stockpile limit set under the nuclear deal agreed with world powers as soon as June 27
“Today the countdown to pass the 300 kilogrammes reserve of enriched uranium has started and in 10 days time… we will pass this limit,” Iran’s atomic energy organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said at a press conference broadcast live. “This is based on the Articles 26 and 36 of the (nuclear deal), and will be reversed once other parties live up to their commitments,” he added, speaking from the Arak nuclear plant south-west of Tehran. The United Kingdom has announced a new £170 million ($215 million) 5-year aid package of urgent food, water and medicine assistance for Afghanistan
“The humanitarian need in Afghanistan is severe,” International Development Secretary Rory Stewart said after meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in London. “Fighting and extreme drought have left millions of people hungry and desperately seeking medical help, which is why UK aid is responding with life-saving food, water and basic healthcare, including polio vaccinations.” The United Nations Climate Chief says that, “Climate change is an “existential issue” for humankind, and stepping up efforts to keep warming to globally agreed limits is urgent”
The mid-year climate negotiations are tasked with resolving outstanding issues in setting rules for the 2015 Paris climate accord, ahead of an annual conference in Chile in December. Patricia Espinosa, head of the UN climate change secretariat, said existing country pledges to cut planet-warming emissions would heat the planet by 3 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times. “That is just not possible,” she said, adding it would leave people sicker and result in battles over resources such as water and land, with coastal residents losing homes to rising seas. An Israeli court has convicted the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fraudulently using state funds for meals with business officials
While the ruling cut short a high-profile trial, the Netanyahu family’s legal woes are far from over: the veteran premier himself faces possible indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the coming months. In a deal approved by judge Avital Chen at Jerusalem magistrates’ court, Sara Netanyahu was found guilty of using the errors of government accounting staff to bypass spending restrictions. She was fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800) and ordered to reimburse the state a further 45,000 shekels.
———————————————————————————————————————— 16 June 2019 The Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris will host its first mass exactly two months after the devastating blaze
For safety reasons, the mass led by Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit will be celebrated on a very small scale. Worshippers will be expected to don hard hats but priests will be wearing their ceremonial garb. There will be just some 30 people — half of them clergy — although the mass will be broadcast live on Catholic TV channel KTO. It will take place at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) in the Chapel of the Virgin on the east side of the cathedral behind the choir, which has been confirmed to be safe. Mexico published the document that Donald Trump had earlier said was a secret deal to curb migration
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard underwent a grilling in Mexico’s Congress, where some lawmakers insisted otherwise and demanded more details on what exactly he agreed to in the last-minute deal brokered a week ago to dodge Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods. Angry over a surge of Central Americans seeking US asylum, Trump is pushing Mexico to agree to a deal in which migrants entering Mexican territory would have to apply for refugee status there, not in the United States. The language in the “supplementary agreement” released by Mexico appears to resemble that. However Mexico’s foreign ministry insisted the document — signed by a deputy legal advisor to the ministry and his State Department counterpart — was “not a binding bilateral agreement.” Five Sri Lankans suspected on being involved with the Easter bombings were arrested in Saudi Arabia and extradited
“One of the alleged ringleaders in the April 21 bomb attacks in Sri Lanka has been arrested following the publication of an Interpol Red Notice,” the international police organisation, based in the French city of Lyons, said in a statement. A so-called “red notice” is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. Interpol identified the alleged ringleader as Mohamed Milhan, a senior leader of the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) jihadist group which was held responsible for the April 21 bombings. The United States has urged the newly re-elected Modi government to condemn religious violence and hold extremists accountable
In her remarks before a House subcommittee for foreign affairs on Thursday, the State Department’s acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells also tried to persuade India not to purchase S-400 missile defence systems from Russia. “In our engagements with India, we will continue to highlight the importance of preserving a diverse and inclusive society,” she said in a brief prepared statement on India-US relations, which also addressed the issue of religious discrimination in that country. Noting that India’s constitution provides strong protections for religious freedom, Ms Wells said: “We look to India’s democratically elected leaders and institutions to swiftly condemn acts of violence on the basis of religion and hold perpetrators accountable.”
———————————————————————————————————————— 15 June 2019 Sudan’s ruling military has acknowledged that security forces committed violations when they moved in to disperse a protest sit-in camp
The spokesman of the ruling military council, Gen Shams Eddin Kabashi, told reporters at a news conference late Thursday that an investigation was underway and that several military officers were held in custody for alleged “deviation” from the action plan set by military leaders. Kabashi did not elaborate on the violations beyond describing them as “painful and outrageous”. Over 100 people were killed in the capital and across Sudan in a sweeping crackdown last week, according to protest organisers. Protesters also said more than 40 bodies were pulled from the Nile River in Khartoum and taken away by security forces.
Indian doctors’ association called for a nationwide strike and stepped up protests by medical staff demanding better security at hospitals after an attack on doctors in Kolkata
The move could paralyse hundreds of government-run health facilities across India. Thousands of doctors across the country went on a strike on Friday. The state of West Bengal, of which Kolkata is capital, has been the worst hit by the strike with at least 13 big government hospitals affected. The protests were launched in response to an attack at the NRS Medical College in Kolkata on Monday that left three junior doctors seriously injured after a dispute with a family whose relative had died. Hundreds of thousands of women across Switzerland held a strike to highlight their wealthy nation’s poor record on female rights
In Zurich, the financial capital and the country’s biggest city, tens of thousands of protesters clogged the streets, blowing whistles and banging pots and pans. “Men, go do the ironing,” one sign read. “It’s not just about wages. The equal opportunity is not there. At least for the next generation it needs to be there,” Zurich city councilwoman Karin Rykart said as hundreds of municipal workers and police officers demonstrated. Despite its high quality of life, Switzerland lags other developed economies in female pay and workplace gender equality. Sikh pilgrims staged a protest demonstration against the Indian government after a special train from Pakistan was not allowed to enter its territory to pick them for Jorr Mela
The irritated pilgrims despite carrying visa and travel documents remained stranded at the Attari railway station as they waited for hours for the special train to take part in the Jorr Mela, which is held every year to mark the death anniversary of Guru Arjun Dev. “It is a matter of great displeasure that India once again behaved as it did in 2017,” said an official of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) while talking to Dawn. On Friday, the official said, the special train reached the Wagah railway station at 9am to pick as many as 146 Sikh pilgrims.
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14 June 2019
Boris Johnson won the first round of voting, in the race to replace outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May
The Brexit-backing former foreign minister picked up 114 of the 313 votes cast in a secret ballot of Conservative Party lawmakers in the lower House of Commons. Mark Harper, Esther McVey, and Andrea Leadsom, who came in second to May in the last leadership race in 2016, failed to collect the required 17 votes and were knocked out. “Obviously we’re happy with the results but there’s still a long way to go to winning the contest,” a spokesman for Johnson told reporters. The US is looking for Pakistan’s support in Afghanistan
The United States wants Pakistan to continue supporting the Afghan peace process but also expects Islamabad to end its allegedly “unacceptable support” to militants, say two key US officials, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Assistant Secretary Alice G. Wells. “Under President Trump, we’ve taken our defence cooperation to new heights … and taken a far tougher stand on Pakistan’s unacceptable support for terrorism in the region,” Secretary Pompeo told a gathering of mainly Indian-Americans in Washington on Wednesday. Trump says that he would take foreign information on his 2020 presidential opponent
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would be willing to accept information from a foreign country on his opponent in the 2020 election race. “I think you might want to listen … there’s nothing wrong with listening,” Trump said when asked by ABC News what he would do if a country such as Russia or China offered him such information. He denied the suggestion that that would amount to foreign meddling in a US election. “It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it,” Trump said. There were no survivors of a military transport plane crash last week in a mountainous area near the border with China
A team of rescuers airlifted to a place lower on the mountain in Arunachal Pradesh, India’s northeastern-most state, climbed up to the crash site on foot early on Thursday and confirmed that none of the 13 people on board were alive, the Indian air force said on Twitter. “Our rescue team reached the site at an elevation of 12,000 feet this morning and did not find survivors,” said Indian Air Force Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh.
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13 June 2019
Syria’s parliament ratified a bill that handed management of the country’s largest port to a Russian firm for 49 years
A deal between Damascus and the Russian company Stroytransgaz for the management, expansion and operation of Tartus port was first signed in late April. It is one of many lucrative contracts between Damascus and Moscow, which has a naval base in Tartus and has been a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The bill ratified on Wednesday, which still needs to be approved by the Syrian president, establishes a board of directors to oversee the management and operation of the port, the official SANA news agency said. The EU has warned the British that they will have to pay its outstanding share of the existing EU budget even if it leaves the union without a withdrawal agreement
In a statement on preparations for Britain’s departure, Brussels said it would not enter talks on future trade until London honours “the financial obligations the UK has made as a member state”. Under the Brexit withdrawal agreement agreed last year between outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May and her fellow EU leaders, Britain would owe the union approximately 39 billion (around 44 billion euros). This sum would cover budget commitments up through a transition period at the end of next year, but the British parliament has refused to ratify the treaty and Brexit has been delayed until October 31. Amnesty International calls out India for abusing it’s ‘lawless’ detention act in occupied Kashmir
The Indian government is widely misusing a law allowing for detention without trial in the Indian-occupied Kashmir region, and fuelling animosity with it, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday. The Public Safety Act (PSA) was a “lawless law” under which the authorities hold children, old people and the disabled, and it should be scrapped, the group said. “This act is contributing to inflaming tensions between the state authorities and local populace and must be immediately repealed,” said Aakar Patel, head of Amnesty International India. Extradition clashes plunge Hong Kong into unprecedented violence
Hong Kong was rocked on Wednesday by the worst political unrest since its handover to China, as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who tried to storm parliament and blocked roads in the financial hub. The violent protests were the latest expression of widespread public anger over the government’s controversial Beijing-backed plan to allow extraditions to China. Clashes broke out hours after tens of thousands of people seized key arteries in the morning rush hour and surrounded the city’s parliament, forcing lawmakers to postpone a debate on the proposed law.
12 June 2019
Thai officials said they discovered 65 ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees yesterday, who were shipwrecked and stranded in southern Thailand
The passengers — 28 men, 31 women and five children — were stranded on Rawi island in Tarutao National Park in Thailand’s southern Satun province after the boat suffered engine trouble, a park official said. The chief of Tarutao National Marine Park, Kanjanapan Kamhaeng, said the boat carrying the Rohingya was found after several Thai and Myanmar citizens told park officials their ship had broken down. They initially denied they were transporting Rohingya. Kanjanapan said the boat was found smashed onto a rocky shore and a preliminary check showed it was carrying 65 Rohingya and several Thai and Myanmar citizens who were identified by the Rohingya as in charge of operating the ship. Global carbon emissions grew by an unprecedented 2.0% last year, the highest rate since 2010-2011
“There is a growing mismatch between societal demands for action on climate change and the actual pace of progress, with energy demand and carbon emissions growing at their fastest rate for years,” said BP chief executive Bob Dudley. “The world is on an unsustainable path,” he said. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy is viewed as an energy industry standard, pooling data on everything from the size of countries’ oil reserves to their production of renewable energy and various consumption rates. Russian police said they would drop drug charges against an investigative journalist and free him from house arrest
Ivan Golunov, a 36-year-old reporter with independent media outlet Meduza, was arrested last week on charges supporters said were trumped up to punish him for his investigative work. “Today he will be released from house arrest and charges lifted,” Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said in a statement. Kolokoltsev said he would seek President Vladimir Putin’s permission to sack the head of a Moscow police department and another senior official in charge of drug control in Moscow. Hong Kong Protesters engage in a nighttime vigil outside the city’s parliament, just hours before lawmakers debate a divisive plan to allow extraditions to China
The sudden appearance of around 2,000 predominantly young protesters after 11pm, some carrying tents and supplies, was met by a marked increase in police reinforcements, many of them equipped with riot gear. The financial hub was rocked over the weekend by the largest protest march since the city’s 1997 return to China, as vast crowds called on authorities to scrap the Beijing-backed plan. Many are fearful the proposed law will tangle people in the mainland’s opaque courts and hammer Hong Kong’s reputation as an international business hub. Organisers of the march said more than a million people took to the streets on Sunday.
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11 June 2019
Japan’s military says that pilot disorientation was the likely cause of the F-35 crash in April
Japan’s air force on Monday said spatial disorientation likely caused one of its pilots to fly his F-35 stealth fighters into the Pacific Ocean in April, hitting the water at more than 1,100 kph (683 mph). The Lockheed Martin Corp jet disappeared from radar screens during an exercise with three other F-35s over the ocean near northwest Japan on April 9. The 41-year-old pilot was killed. “It seems highly likely that the pilot was suffering from vertigo and was unaware of his condition,” the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) said in a press release. “The crash was the result of human action, but it doesn’t count as pilot error,” a JASDF official said at a press briefing. “There is no indication that there was a problem with the aircraft.” Germany’s top diplomat reaffirmed his country’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ahead of the US peace plan
“We are still in agreement that reaching a two-state solution throug