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☆ Fact Check-No proof Ukraine’s defence ministry tweeted Zelenskiy was ‘naked clown’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A fake screenshot of a Ukrainian Ministry of Defence tweet that criticises Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is being shared online. However, an advanced Twitter search produced no evidence that such a tweet exists on the verified account of Ukraine’s defence ministry (bit.ly/42EgDFv). Media outlets would likely cover the country’s defence ministry posting such strong wording about a prospective president. Reuters also found no evidence of the tweet existing within archived versions of the ministry’s verified Twitter profile (here). Search engines and social media searches produce no proof that Ukraine’s ministry of defence posted the tweet on its verified Twitter account.

☆ Tangaraju Suppiah: Singapore executes man for trafficking two pounds of cannabis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Tangaraju Suppiah, a 46-year-old Singaporean, was hanged early on Wednesday in Changi Prison and the family have received a death certificate, his sister Leelavathy Suppiah told CNN. Tangaraju was first sentenced to death in 2018 for “abetting the trafficking of more than one kilogram of cannabis (1,017.9 grams),” according to a statement from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). The court found he was in phone communication with two other men caught trying to smuggle cannabis into Singapore. “As is the case for many people currently on death row in Singapore, Tangaraju was forced to represent himself to seek a review of the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold his conviction. Singapore has a strong reputation as a rule of law country so this concerning omission is not normal,” Perrett added.

CNN —A panel in Japan’s health ministry has approved the country’s first abortion pill, in a major step for reproductive rights decades after other countries made abortion medication widely available. The ministry’s pharmaceutical board granted approval on Friday to the MeFeego Pack, an abortion pill manufactured by British pharmaceutical Linepharma, according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The medication consists of two types of pill, and can be used within nine weeks of pregnancy, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. In a clinical trial in Japan, 93% of participants had a complete abortion within 24 hours, NHK reported. Kanako Inaba, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, wrote on Twitter that the approval of abortion pills was an opportunity to spread greater sex education and awareness about contraceptive methods.

That man was the military commandant of Balakliia, a key figure in Russia’s six-month occupation of the eastern Ukrainian town. Town residents knew the commandant only by his call sign of “Granit,” the Russian word for granite, as Reuters reported in an October investigation into Moscow’s withdrawal from the town. One of the documents listed Valery Sergeyevich Buslov as among the Russian officers present in Balakliia, stating his role was military commandant. He has served as the Kaliningrad garrison’s military commandant, responsible for maintaining discipline among troops and sailors stationed there, according to a 2019 military newspaper article. By May, the military commandant had arrived in Balakliia, according to Oleksandr, one of the two female residents and another local woman.

☆ Stampede in Yemen’s Capital Kills at Least 78 Seeking Food Aid, Houthis Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

SANA, Yemen — A stampede at an event to distribute financial aid in the Yemeni capital of Sana late on Wednesday left at least 78 people dead and dozens of others injured, a Houthi official said. The crush took place at a school in the Old City in the center of Sana, when hundreds of poor people gathered at an event organized by merchants, according to the Houthi-run Interior Ministry. The ministry’s spokesman, Brig. Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, blamed the disaster on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with the local authorities.

That makes up about 338,000 people across the country, with 40% beginning their isolation in adolescence, according to the ministry. Various factors are thought to be at play, including financial hardship, mental illness, family problems or health challenges. The report also detailed future plans for further action, such as distributing guidelines to local governments, boosting youth social safety nets and early detection systems, and working more closely with youth welfare facilities like shelters or rehabilitation centers. Japan has a similar problem, with nearly 1.5 million reclusive lonely young people, who are known as hikikomori, according to a recent government survey. Of those surveyed, more than a fifth cited the pandemic as a significant factor in their reclusive lifestyle.

☆ As African kids died, doctors fought for ban on toxic Indian syrup
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Maiden Managing Director Naresh Kumar Goyal told Reuters he had "not done anything wrong" and did not respond to further questions. In December, India’s health regulator said it did its own tests and found no toxins in the syrups. Yet even as the doctors’ evidence of toxins mounted, Gambian government officials told Reuters they wanted more proof. “We took their histories and asked them if they took the drugs, and we just knew” that the syrup was the culprit. If tests for toxins had been done in late July or early August, a sales ban could have saved dozens of children, she said.

☆ China's Li Keqiang announces lowest GDP target in decades amid major economic leadership overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s outgoing Premier Li Keqiang has announced the country’s lowest GDP growth target in decades, highlighting the domestic and global challenges the world’s second largest economy still faces despite its decision late last year to ditch draconian anti-Covid measures. It fell well short of the official growth target of “around 5.5%.”“Having declared the end of pandemic, the leaders are sticking to the slowing GDP growth path in the long term by lowering annual GDP target gradually,” said Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank. “Moreover, China has been downplaying the numeric GDP target and shifted to balance the quality since President Xi’s era,” he said. Premier Li also said the government would only raise fiscal spending by 5.6% this year, which is lower than the growth of 6.1% in fiscal spending in 2022. “After three years of pandemic [measures], it could be more than desirable for governments, especially the local governments, to restore fiscal resilience,” said Citi analysts.

☆ Panama not willing to expand First Quantum's copper mine operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Panama will not allow Canada’s First Quantum to expand the area of its existing copper mining operations, the deputy environment minister told Reuters, stressing the government’s opposition to the firm’s request to use more land. FILE PHOTO: A general view of Cobre Panama mine owned by Canada’s First Quantum Minerals in Donoso, Panama December 6, 2022. Panama’s environmental ministry said that, from the $375 million it was requesting First Quantum pay each year, it aimed to use some $11 million on environmental protection around the mine. The government is reviewing requests for mining concessions in the area from other companies, such as Broadway Strategic Minerals Panama and Exploraciones Geologicas. Asked about those requests for concessions, Laguna said the Cobre Panama mine itself was already large enough and authorities needed to concentrate now on mitigating its environmental impact.

Moscow said its forces advanced in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region as Kyiv’s Western allies continued pressuring Berlin to allow deliveries of German-made tanks to Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that Russian troops had advanced in the partially occupied region and taken more advantageous lines and positions. The ministry’s spokesman, Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, didn’t provide further details.

☆ Egg shortage sends New Zealanders rushing to buy their own hens
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In the United States, egg prices have far surpassed the increase in other grocery items, soaring nearly 60% in the 12 months to December compared to the year before. The trend has prompted animal welfare advocates to warn against making impulse buys. “Egg producers had the option to move to colony cages, barns and free-range systems,” added Hyde, the ministry’s acting national manager of animal welfare and national animal identification and tracing compliance. “It’s a significant change for the egg supply industry,” Emma Wooster, the company’s head of public relations, told CNN in a statement. New Zealand is currently undergoing a major egg shortage, squeezing businesses and sparking a rush in demand for pet chickens.

☆ Victory claims over small Ukrainian town expose rift among Russian forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A rare Russian claim of military victory in eastern Ukraine has laid bare a bitter rift between Moscow's military chiefs and the head of a private mercenary group that has been fighting in the region. Two days after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, announced that troops from his irregular private army had seized control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar, Russia's Defense Ministry announced victory in a statement Friday that made no mention of the mercenaries. The lack of praise for his group's role in what would be Russia’s largest battlefield success in months drew a sharp response from Prigozhin. The millionaire former restaurateur and ally of President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in Soledar on Wednesday, and the Wagner Group posted a photo that appeared to show Prigozhin with fighters in one of the town's salt mines. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his late-night video address that the battle “continues.”

☆ Brazil's govt: rioters 'will not succeed' in destroying democracy'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The protesters swarmed into Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace on Sunday. Lula and the heads of the Supreme Court, Senate and Lower House also signed a letter Monday denouncing acts of terrorism and vandalism and saying they were taking legal measures. “They will not succeed in destroying Brazilian democracy. They overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice’s office and vandalized an iconic statue outside the court. A supreme court justice temporarily suspended the regional governor.

☆ Major aid groups suspend work in Afghanistan AS Taliban bar women
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — Four major international aid groups on Sunday suspended their operations in Afghanistan following a decision by the country’s Taliban rulers to ban women from working at non-governmental organizations. Excluding women from schools and NGO work in Afghanistan “can and will lead to catastrophic humanitarian consequences in the short to long term,” the International Committee of the Red Cross warned. Half of Afghanistan’s population, or 24 million people, are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the group. The International Rescue Committee said it was dismayed by the Taliban decision, adding that more than 3,000 of its staff in Afghanistan are women. The Economy Ministry’s order comes days after the Taliban banned female students from attending universities across the country, triggering backlash overseas and demonstrations in major Afghan cities.

ASLAN International was ultimately approved for an $8.4 million loan. Agents escorted Josh Edwards out of the home and into a law enforcement vehicle, his hands cuffed behind his back. Josh Edwards is taken into custody outside the Edwards family’s New Smyrna Beach home on Dec. 14, 2022. The Edwards family did missionary work in Turkey for many years before moving to Florida in 2019. The Edwards family did not challenge the seizure.

☆ Mary Ngugi: How a 'traumatic' death inspired distance runner to change women's sport in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That’s not necessarily her coach – nor her training partners – but a much younger group of runners who have started frequenting Ngugi’s athletics track in the Kenyan town of Nyahururu. After launching Nala Track Club several weeks ago, which she believes is the first all-girls athletics club in Kenya, Ngugi has found added fuel for her own training. “It’s sad we had to experience such a traumatic thing for us to start the Women’s Athletics Alliance,” says Ngugi. Looking beyond athletics, Ngugi points to cultural norms that have created inequality between men and women. Ngugi (right) balances her marathon career with overseeing Nala Track Club.

☆ His power secure at home, China’s Xi Jinping goes on a charm offensive abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | Evelyn Cheng Is A News Associate With Cnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING — Now that he has consolidated power at home, Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping out onto the world stage to strengthen relations with the U.S. and other countries. Most recently, Xi hosted European Council President Charles Michel in Beijing on Thursday. In a speech at the party congress, Xi said the party has “safeguarded China’s dignity” in the face of international changes and warned of “dangerous storms” ahead. The following week, the countries’ military leaders met for the first time since Pelosi’s controversial Taiwan visit in August. Heads of Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia and Italy met with both Xi and Biden in the last several weeks, based on government announcements.

☆ How Reuters measured the impact of French police fines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

For its national analysis, Reuters used department-level immigrant population figures from France’s official statistics agency. This data counts as an immigrant any person born abroad with foreign nationality even if they have since been naturalized. Reuters compared this data with the interior ministry’s counts of pandemic-related fines issued in each department between mid-March and mid-May 2020. There were notable anomalies: Paris’ 8th district, home to the famous Champs Elysees shopping avenue, had the highest rate of fines despite having a relatively small minority population. He said the higher concentration of COVID-related fines in areas with larger populations of immigrant origins could be explained by various factors.

☆ Despite stark gender inequality in South Korea, hostility to feminism is growing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Haeryun Kang | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

SEOUL, South Korea — Lee Yunju has poked her head in the feminism aisle of the library at her university in Daegu, South Korea. President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol. In South Korea, it’s the gender issue.”To some, the gender ministry is a symbol of what they see as the excesses of feminism. The gender ministry was founded in 2001 under the Kim Dae-jung administration, South Korea’s first left-leaning government. The gender ministry aims to protect the marginalized in our society.

☆ UK banks’ Big Bang thankfully looks like big flop
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet, the mooted changes would probably only benefit middling lenders like Santander UK, Virgin Money (VMUK.L) and Banco Sabadell’s (SABE.MC) TSB Bank, according to the FT. And on Wednesday, the BoE’s supervisory body said it planned largely to stick to international bank-capital rules, dubbed Basel 3.1. But the big flop might not be such a bad thing for the country’s financial sector. Separately, the government’s City minister Andrew Griffith said on Nov. 29 that he wanted to relax the so-called ringfencing regime that forces large British lenders to separate their retail and investment banking arms. According to the Financial Times, the ringfencing regime would still apply to the biggest UK banks but there could be exemptions for lenders with limited trading operations including Santander UK, Virgin Money and TSB Bank.

☆ Fact Check-TOGETHER Trial says involvement with FTX began after testing that found ivermectin ineffective
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Amid news surrounding failed cryptocurrency firm FTX, social media users are pointing to FTX having funded the TOGETHER Trial, a research consortium that studied ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment and found it to be ineffective. But FTX did not interact with the research group until after the ivermectin trial was over, a TOGETHER Trial spokesperson told Reuters. An Instagram user shared an image that said, “Holy crap look who funded the trial that said Ivermectin didn’t work” (here). Similar claims surrounding FTX’s involvement with the TOGETHER Trial are viewable (here) and (here). FTX is not named as a contributor to the ivermectin trial because they weren’t involved, according to Mills, who added that the same is true of hydroxychloroquine and the other medications TOGETHER Trial investigated during the pandemic.

A trove of bronze statues that archeologists say could rewrite the history of Italy's transition to the Roman Empire have been discovered in an ancient Tuscan thermal spring. The more than 20 bronze statues dating back over 2,000 years are being hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the region. The bronze statues are more than 2,000 years old and mostly in excellent condition. The figures represent gods, including Apollo and Hygieia, complete with anatomical details, suggesting the site was of great significance to ancient Etruscans. The find is considered to be the most important to antiquities since the discovery of the Riace Warriors, rare full-sized Greek bronze statues found in southern Italy in 1972.

☆ Putin's military chief Shoigu under fire as Russia retreats in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Yuliya-Talmazan-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Yuliya Talmazan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

After weeks of battlefield setbacks, criticism of Moscow’s military leadership has burst into the open — heightening the sense of domestic discontent and posing a rare challenge to the Kremlin. The search for a scapegoat appears to have settled on Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close associate of the man who unilaterally launched the invasion: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Appointed defense minister in 2012, Shoigu, 67, had served as the minister of emergency situations, often dispatched to deal with natural disasters and security emergencies, earning him public approval. With Russian forces on the retreat, its military leadership is under fire. Still, such stinging public rebukes of the country’s leadership are extremely rare in Putin’s Russia, where any dissent, especially against those aligned with the Kremlin, is prohibited.

Putin knew a war would be unpopular and had kept all of his previous military interventions limited before the current invasion of Ukraine. Right now, the Russian military is in no condition to fight NATO, and it is unclear to what extent the partial mobilization will solve Russia’s military problems. Moreover, the finger on the nuclear button is still that of Vladimir Putin rather than Patrushev or other hardliners. At the same time, the Ukrainians, the most likely victims of any tactical Russian nuclear strike, remain committed to fighting despite the risk. The fight is not only about Ukraine alone: For Putin and the hardliners alike, it’s about the West.

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