Jul 30 2023
Six In The Morning Sunday 30 July 2023
At least 40 people killed in blast at political event in Pakistan – reports
Emergency services say more than 70 injured at gathering of Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
At least 40 people have been killed in an explosion at a political gathering in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Geo News reported, citing local officials.
The report did not specify a cause of the blast that occurred at a gathering of the conservative Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, known for its links to hardline Islamism, in the Bajaur district.
Dangerous LiaisonsThe True Proximity of Germany’s AfD To Neo-Nazis
By Maik Baumgärtner und Ann-Katrin Müller
The organizers long kept the meeting’s location secret – the invitation vaguely stated only the region: “The Nienburg (Weser) area” in the state of Lower-Saxony, located between Hannover and Bremen. The guests arrived inconspicuously. Just over 50 people gathered at the Hof Frien, a farm with a restaurant and event center, in nearby Uchte, Lower Saxony, at the end of February to talk about “The Wild 20s.”
The invitation to the secretive “strategy meeting” had been issued by the youth wing of the extreme right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) from Lower Saxony. Other members of the youth wing of the party, the Young Alternative (JA) traveled from other states including Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse to the event.
ECOWAS gives Niger junta one week to cede power, threatens use of force
West African leaders on Sunday gave the military junta in Niger one week to cede power, warning they did not rule out the “use of force”, and imposed immediate financial sanctions.
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded the “immediate release and reinstatement” of elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held by the military since Wednesday.
“In the event the authorities’ demands are not met within one week (ECOWAS will) take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force. For this effect, the chiefs of defence staff of ECOWAS are to meet immediately,” the bloc said in a statement after its summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday.
ECOWAS announced the “suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger”, which is part of the bloc, as well as halting energy transactions.
Why is the Bangladeshi opposition protesting against Sheikh Hasina’s gov’t?
The prime minister is facing a political crisis as tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand free and fair elections.
Police in Bangladesh have been clashing with supporters of the opposition, firing tear gas and rubber bullets as supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) blocked major roads in the capital Dhaka to demand Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation.
According to the BNP, dozens of its supporters were injured and more than 120 members arrested.
As the economic crisis in the country worsens amid rising inflation and a cost of living crisis, the BNP has held huge protest rallies in recent months with tens of thousands of party supporters taking to the streets.
Antarctica is missing an Argentina-sized amount of sea ice – and scientists are scrambling to figure out why
As the Northern Hemisphere swelters under a record-breaking summer heat wave, much further south, in the depths of winter, another terrifying climate record is being broken. Antarctic sea ice has fallen to unprecedented lows for this time of year.
Every year, Antarctic sea ice shrinks to its lowest levels towards the end of February, during the continent’s summer. The sea ice then builds back up over the winter.
But this year scientists have observed something different.
The sea ice has not returned to anywhere near expected levels. In fact it is at the lowest levels for this time of year since records began 45 years ago. The ice is around 1.6 million square kilometers (0.6 million square miles) below the previous winter record low set in 2022, according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
Ukraine war: Putin says Russia does not reject peace talks
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Published
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he does not reject the idea of peace talks on Ukraine.
Speaking after meeting African leaders in St Petersburg, he said African and Chinese initiatives could serve as a basis for finding peace.
But Mr Putin also said there could be no ceasefire while the Ukrainian army was on the offensive.
In the hours after he spoke, Russia said a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow had damaged two office blocks.
Flights were briefly suspended from Vnukovo Airport, south-west of the city centre, and one person was injured, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported.
Ukraine has not commented on the drone incident.
Jul 29 2023
Six In The Morning Saturday 29 July 2023
Over 100 Wagner fighters move toward border with Poland and Lithuania, Polish prime minister says
From CNN’s Martin Goillandeau, Sharon Braithwaite and Oleg Racz
More than 100 Wagner Group mercenaries have moved toward the Suwałki corridor, a small stretch of NATO territory separating the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad from Belarus, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday.
Morawiecki called it “a step toward a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.”
Poland’s government has used the term “hybrid attack” to describe attempts by the neighboring Belarusian regime to manipulate the flow of migrants through the area, putting pressure on the EU over sanctions against Minsk. Polish officials have said that its ally Russia helps Belarus with this scheme.
“We have an information that more than 100 Wagner Group mercenaries have moved towards the Suwałki corridor, not far from (the Belarusian city of) Grodno. Why did they do it? This is certainly a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory,” Morawiecki said in a speech at a mechanical plant in southern Poland.
‘We’re angry’: Israel tensions mount as army reservists threaten to refuse duty
Conflict over Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul judiciary is leading to new levels of civil disobedience – and potential security risks
Over his many years of service, Zur Allon, 46, a reservist lieutenant colonel in Israel’s artillery special forces, never imagined a day when he would refuse to report for duty.
“Half of my company was blown up in Lebanon. I have given many years of my life defending this country,” said Allon, one of the leaders of Brothers and Sisters in Arms, a pressure group of more than 60,000 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reservists established earlier this year in protest against the government’s proposed overhaul of the judiciary.
“That’s why we are so angry,” he said. “The government is breaking a very simple contract we have – to protect a Jewish and democratic Israel.”
Germany: Far-right AfD picks top EU election candidate
Incumbent EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah was elected with 65.7% of the votes. The AfD’s party congress was in the eastern German city of Magdeburg as it made significant gains in the polls.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)
on Saturday voted for incumbent EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah to lead its 2024 European Union election campaign.
Krah won the vote with 65.7% in favor.
“We are now the most exciting right-wing party in all of Europe,” he was quoted as saying in his candidacy speech.
Several days have been set aside for the choice of candidates, with the party congress scheduled to be continued next weekend.
What do we know so far?
The party, which is gaining in polls of German voters, is holding a first conference in the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg until Sunday. Protests against the AfD have been taking place in the city, as DW’s Thomas Sparrow has reported on Twitter.
Hong Kong public broadcaster cancels LGBTQ radio show
A radio show promoting LGBTQ equality will end its 17-year run at Hong Kong’s public broadcaster on Sunday, with station management citing “changes in programme” as the reason for cancellation.
The axing of “We Are Family” comes after Beijing crushed Hong Kong’s democracy movement and imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020, which critics say has fractured civil society and silenced dissent.
Programme co-host Brian Leung said he was “mentally prepared” for the show to be dropped at the government-funded Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), but was not given a satisfactory explanation when meeting with station management earlier this month.
“For a traditional platform like RTHK, this programme was more or less walking a tightrope,” Leung told AFP in an interview hours before the final show.
Ukraine invasion rewrites paradigm on nuclear security
By ROY K. AKAGAWA/ AJW Staff Writer
July 29, 2023 at 19:14 JST
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the much-derided Group of Seven summit in May, cast a long shadow over an international symposium on the abolition of nuclear weapons held in Hiroshima on July 29.
The International Symposium for Peace, “The Road to Nuclear Weapons Abolition: For Hiroshima and Nagasaki to serve as ‘the check’ on nuclear war,” was jointly sponsored by The Asahi Shimbun, the Hiroshima city government and the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation.
Elayne Whyte, a professor of practice at John Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, delivered the keynote address. She previously served as Costa Rica’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and chaired the 2017 negotiations that led to the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Niger coup: EU suspends security cooperation and budgetary aid
The EU has suspended all security cooperation with Niger after the country’s army took power in a coup.
It comes shortly after the US declared its “unflagging support” for ousted president Mohamed Bazoum – seen as a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants.
On Friday the head of the presidential guards unit Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani declared himself Niger’s new leader.
He said insecurity, economic woes and corruption led him to seize power.
But there are now concerns in the West about which countries the new leader will align with.
Jul 28 2023
Six In The Morning Friday 28 July 2023
Niger general Tchiani named head of transitional government after coup
Self-appointed leader says coup necessary to avoid ‘the gradual and inevitable demise’ of the country.
Abdourahmane Tchiani, head of Niger’s presidential guard, has named himself head of a transitional government in the West African country, two days after his unit overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
He made the announcement on Friday on state-run television, saying he was the “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland”.
The 62-year-old general also said the intervention had been necessary to avoid “the gradual and inevitable demise” of the country. He said while Bazoum had sought to convince people that “all is going well… the harsh reality (is) a pile of dead, displaced, humiliation and frustration”.
Hong Kong judge defies government’s bid to ban pro-democracy protest song
Judge refuses Hong Kong government’s request for injunction against Glory to Hong Kong, saying it could have chilling effect
Hong Kong’s high court has rejected a government attempt to ban a protest song, Glory to Hong Kong, saying an injunction could create a chilling effect and undermine freedom of expression.
The government had sought the injunction banning online publication or distribution of the song, arguing it insulted China’s national anthem and could give people the impression that Hong Kong was an independent country.
The song became an unofficial anthem after the 2019 pro-democracy protests and ensuing government crackdown. Its Cantonese lyrics integrated a key protest slogan – “break now the dawn, liberate our Hong Kong; in common breath, revolution of our times” – and was widely adopted by protesters.
Burning ship off Dutch coast has more e-cars than thought
A freighter carrying thousands of cars is still burning off the Dutch coast, with a spokesperson for the charter company saying there were close to 500 electric cars on board — far more than the 25 initially reported.
A freight ship that caught fire off the Dutch coast and has been burning since, as fire extinguishers try to figure out ways to tackle the incident, has been carrying nearly 500 electric cars, far more than previously reported, the company that chartered the ship said.
Initial reports said that the ship was carrying 25 electric cars.
The Fremantle Highway vessel, which has burning for a fourth day off the Dutch coast, was chartered by Japanese transportation company K Line.
A spokesperson for the company said there were 3,783 vehicles on board, including 498 battery-electric vehicles. The spokesperson declined to comment on the kinds of car brands that were on the ship.
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi moved from prison to govt ‘compound’, says party official
Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup, has been moved from prison to a government building, an official from her party said Friday.
Suu Kyi has only been seen once since she was held after the February 1, 2021 putsch — in grainy state media photos from a bare courtroom in the military-built capital Naypyidaw.
The coup plunged the Southeast Asian nation into a conflict that has displaced more than one million people, according to the United Nations.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to a high-level venue compound on Monday night,” an official from the National League for Democracy told AFP Friday on condition of anonymity.
The party official also confirmed Suu Kyi had met the country’s lower house speaker Ti Khun Myat and was likely to meet Deng Xijuan, China‘s special envoy for Asian Affairs, who is visiting the country.
South Africa’s stance on Russia puzzles many. Could a mine in the desert hold answers?
To many observers, South Africa’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine is puzzling.
While the country professes to be “non-aligned,” Western diplomats and policy experts point to a series of actions that they say proves otherwise.
Their list is long: South Africa abstaining from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations; hosting war games with the Russian Navy; repeatedly, and publicly, criticizing the United States; and even, allegedly loading weapons and ammunition onto a sanctioned Russian cargo ship.
This week, while many African leaders stay away, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is attending a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg along with key ministers.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa has historic ties to the former Soviet Union, but that ideological legacy can generally only go so far.
On the frontline in battle against searing heat
Chief heat officers are a new and rare phenomenon – only three US cities have appointed one – but experts say they are quickly becoming key figures on the frontline of climate change.
In Phoenix, Arizona – where daily temperatures have soared above 110F (43C) every day for nearly a month – David Hondula is working nonstop.
“I’ve been on the phone and sending more text messages than I can remember in my life,” says the city’s first chief heat officer. “There’s this constant coordination and engagement and creativity and brainstorming that’s been a different part of this heat experience.”
This weekend, almost 200 million Americans – 60% of the population – are under severe weather alerts as a heatwave battering the south expands into large swaths of the central and eastern US.
Human-induced climate change has made heatwaves more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting. July is not only likely to be Phoenix’s hottest month, but also Earth’s warmest period since records began.
Jul 27 2023
Six In The Morning Thursday 27 July 2023
Ukraine war: Western armour struggles against Russian defences
The general in charge of Ukraine’s stuttering counter-offensive in the south has said Russian defences are making it difficult for military equipment, including Western tanks and armoured vehicles, to move forward.
Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskyi says his forces are struggling to overcome multi-layered minefields and fortified defensive lines.
“That is why most of the tasks have to be performed by troops.”
He says Russia’s military has displayed “professional qualities” by preventing Ukrainian forces from “advancing quickly”.
“I don’t underestimate the enemy,” he adds.
Latest unconfirmed reports from the US suggest the main thrust of the counter-offensive has begun. The Institute for the Study of War says Ukrainian forces appear to have broken through “certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions”.
‘Era of global boiling has arrived,’ says UN chief as July set to be hottest month on record
Head of World Meteorological Organization also warns ‘climate action is not a luxury but a must’ as temperatures soar
The era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record.
“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” Guterres said. “It is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels], and avoid the very worst of climate change. But only with dramatic, immediate climate action.”
Guterres’s comments came after scientists confirmed on Thursday that the past three weeks have been the hottest since records began and July is on track to be the hottest month ever recorded.
Niger coup bid: What we know so far
Niger has been rocked by what could be its fifth coup since it gained independence from France in 1960. But detained President Mohamed Bazoum has remained defiant. DW has an overview.
Niger’s army command on Thursday officially backed the soldiers in their coup attempt.
A group of soldiers in Niger had claimed on Wednesday to have overthrown the country’s democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane said Niger’s Presidential Guard had detained Bazoum.
“This follows the continued deterioration of the security situation, poor economic and social governance,” the air force colonel-major said in a televised address.
Regional and global leaders swiftly condemned the coup attempt and have called for Bazoum to be released.
Algeria counts costs after deadly wildfires
Algerians in the fire-ravaged northeast were Thursday counting the cost of the blazes that killed 34 people, destroyed homes and reduced vast forest areas to scorched wastelands.
The wildfires raged for days, mainly through the mountain forests of the Kabylia region on the Mediterranean coast, fanned by winds during blistering summer heat.
“Many people are traumatised. Our aim is to provide moral support and psychological care,” said a member of a psychiatrist support unit sent to the disaster area.
Water and electricity remained cut off in wide areas but aid supplies were arriving.
Desperate rescue bid launched for trapped miners in Indonesia
Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies
Search and rescue crews were on Thursday desperately attempting to save eight miners trapped as far as 60 metres underground in Indonesia after their illegal gold mine was flooded.
The miners were working in one of dozens of pits at the facility in the district of Banyumas in Central Java province on Tuesday night, when it suddenly began to fill with water suspected to be from a nearby river.
An urgent effort has been launched to find any survivors, with police and the military joining a rescue team of more than 100 at the site on Thursday.
The incident was only reported to police by the mine’s management on Wednesday morning.
China faces faltering global image, survey finds
Pew Research Center study shows negative views of China across the world, especially in high-income countries.
China may be widely known as the world’s second largest economy, but its international image as an economic powerhouse is faltering across high- and middle-income countries, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
The survey released on Thursday also found largely unfavourable opinions on China overall, with a median 67 percent of respondents expressing negative views about Beijing compared with 28 percent who shared positive ones.
Pew surveyed more than 30,000 adults across 24 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Nigeria, Japan and India. It found that the negative perceptions of China were largely concentrated in high-income countries, such as Australia, Sweden, South Korea and Japan.
Jul 26 2023
Six In The Morning Wednesday 26 July 2023
‘Like a blowtorch’: Mediterranean gripped by wildfires as blazes spread in Croatia and Portugal
‘There is no magical defence mechanism,’ says Greek prime minister as fires burn in northern Africa and southern Europe
Wildfires were burning in at least nine countries across the Mediterranean as blazes spread in Croatia, Italy and Portugal, with thousands of firefighters in Europe and north Africa working to contain flames stoked by high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.
At least 34 people were killed in Algeria, where 8,000 firefighters on Tuesday battled blazes across the tinder-dry north. Fires burned in a total of 15 provinces, leading to the evacuation of more than 1,500 people from their properties.
Niger president’s own guards detain him in ‘coup’ bid
President Mohamed Bazoum said his own guards were detaining him in the presidential palace in Niamey, but that the army remained loyal and had told the rebelling soldiers to stand down.
Soldiers blocked off the presidential palace in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, on Wednesday.
Based on first comments officially and unofficially from President Mohamed Bazoum’s office, a contingent of the presidential guard was trying to detain Bazoum inside the residence.
What’s happening?
Security sources in the president’s office spoke to several news agencies, with one telling AFP that elite troops had suffered a “fit of temper” and that “talks” were underway looking to defuse the situation.
Soon after, Niger’s presidency issued a pair of tweets, the first of which it soon deleted.
The second said that elements of the presidential guard were in effective revolt but that the bulk of the armed forces remained loyal.
“The president of the republic and his family are doing well,” the publication that remained online said. “The army and the national guard are ready to attack the elements of the GP [presidential guard] involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to better feelings.”
Spain’s exiled former king makes third visit home
Spain’s scandal-tinted former king Juan Carlos arrived in Spain on Wednesday for his third visit home since moving to Abu Dhabi in 2020 amid fraud investigations.
The 85-year-old slowly descended the stairs of the private jet which took him to the northwestern city of Vigo, holding on to the railing with both hands, images broadcast on Spanish television showed.
Wearing a navy blue jacket, he then headed by car to the seaside town of Sanxenxo where he also stayed during his two previous visits.
Spanish media reports said the former head of state, who served as monarch between 1975 and 2014, would attend a regatta in which his yacht, “El Bribon” — Spanish for “The Rascal” — is competing.
Cancer patients head for Turkey after border closure protests in NW Syria
Referrals had temporarily stopped earlier in July after UN failed to agree on extension to cross-border aid mechanism.
Cancer patients are once again being allowed to cross the border from northwest Syria to Turkey to access essential medical care, after a vital crossing reopened.
The United Nations had said that the cross-border referral of cancer patients from the opposition-controlled area of Syria to Turkey would resume through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on Wednesday.
The referral system had stopped after the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria in February, but resumed again on June 5.
Colonisation by British ‘luckiest thing’ to happen to Australia – John Howard
Colonisation was “the luckiest thing that happened” to Australia, the nation’s second-longest serving Prime Minister John Howard has said.
His remarks were made in relation to a historic referendum due to take place this year on Indigenous recognition.
If successful, the vote will change Australia’s constitution to give First Nations peoples a greater say over the laws and policies that affect them.
But the debate has seen a surge of divisive commentary.
Speaking to the Australian Newspaper about the upcoming vote, Mr Howard described colonisation as “inevitable”.
Taiwan’s main airport becomes battleground for simulated Chinese invasion
Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport became the scene of a simulated Chinese invasion on Wednesday for the first time ever as the island’s military conducted an anti-takeover drill to fend off any possible attack from Beijing.
The drill was designed to test the Taiwanese military’s cross-branch coordination and emergency response capabilities during a simulated Chinese invasion, the Ministry of National Defense previously said.
With military helicopters in the sky and soldiers on the tarmac, the drill at Taiwan’s busiest international gateway reflects how Taipei is preparing for multiple scenarios in the face of fears over China’s increased military intimidation – concerns which have amplified since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last year.
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