03 World

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Excerpt from kdal610.com

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland will host a new land command unit of the NATO military alliance, Minister of Defence Antti Hakkanen told reporters on Friday following a meeting of the alliance in Brussels.

After decades of military non-alignment, Finland joined NATO last year in response to neighbouring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I’m pleased to state that today all NATO member states have given their political consent to Finland’s key goals in its NATO integration,” Hakkanen said.

“Finland will host a NATO command and there will be land force presence in Finland,” he added.

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Excerpt from www.mirror.co.uk

Russian president Vladimir Putin has accused the West of pushing him to point of no return and has issued new threats on nuclear World War 3 – he accused NATO leaders of ‘extreme recklessness’

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Excerpt from www.channelnewsasia.com

Battles rage in Rafah as Biden blames Hamas for truce delay

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Excerpt from abcnews.go.com

The United States has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defense of the major port city of Mariupol

KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defense of the major port city of Mariupol, the State Department said on Tuesday.

The Azov Brigade is among Ukraine’s most effective and popular fighting units but it has been dogged by its origins as a volunteer battalion that drew fighters from far-right circles and criticism for some of its tactics. The U.S. had banned the regiment from using American weapons, citing the neo-Nazi ideology of some of its founders.

The current members of the Azov Brigade, which has been absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard as the 12th Special Forces Brigade, reject accusations of extremism and any ties with far-right movements. But the Kremlin has seized on the regiment’s origins in its efforts to cast Russia’s invasion as a battle against Nazi influence in Ukraine.

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Excerpt from apnews.com

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s Vice President Verónica Abad, for now, will not be indicted in a corruption case against her son after lawmakers blocked the move on Friday.

Lawmakers denied the authorization of Abad’s criminal prosecution in a vote prompted by an order from the country’s National Court to decide whether prosecutors could move forward. As a result of the vote, authorities now must postpone prosecuting Abad until after she leaves office in 2025.

Prosecutors have accused Abad of collusion and have claimed to have evidence linking her to the case of her son, Francisco Barreiro. He was arrested in March after authorities unveiled corruption accusations against him.

Authorities have said that a former member of the vice president’s office reported that Barreiro offered him a high-level position with a $3,200 monthly salary, of which the complainant would have to give Barreiro $1,700 per month. Authorities say the complainant signed a promissory note for $30,600 as a guarantee of payment.

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Excerpt from www.reuters.com

Brazil seeks right-wing rioters who fled to Milei’s Argentina  Reuters Canada

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Excerpt from hamodia.com

Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group launched a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, in response to the killing of a top commander. The slain terrorist, Hajj Abu Taleb, was the commander of the Nasr Unit in southern Lebanon and is believed to be the highest-ranking Hezbollah member killed in the war so far.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas backed by Iran, has been trading fire with Israel almost daily since the Israel-Hamas war began eight months ago and demands a Gaza truce to halt its attacks.

Air raid sirens blared across northern Israel as approximately 160 projectiles were launched from southern Lebanon, marking one of the most significant attacks since the conflict began. Although many were intercepted or caused brush fires, there were no reports of casualties.

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Excerpt from nordicmonitor.com

An amendment to the Personnel Law of the Turkish Armed Forces that introduces new restrictions on social media use by soldiers was passed by the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday. The legislation aims to address security concerns following recent incidents of leaks and ambushes.

Under the new regulations, soldiers are now strictly prohibited from using social media platforms. The ban is intended to prevent the dissemination of sensitive information that could compromise military operations and endanger personnel. This move comes in response to several security breaches that have been attributed to the misuse of social media by military personnel.

Previous orders had already prohibited soldiers from using mobile phones capable of taking photos and video during military operations, with disobedience resulting in investigations for insubordination. However, this is the first time the military’s own disciplinary regulations are being amended.

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Excerpt from e.vnexpress.net

The State Railway of Thailand announced it would launch a trial train service connecting Bangkok with Laos’ capital Vientiane from next month to boost tourism connectivity.

The launch of the Thailand-Laos railway service on July 13-14 means it is possible for visitors to travel by train from Bangkok to China via stops in Vientiane and the southern Chinese city of Kunming where there is already semi-high-speed service to Beijing, Bloomberg reported.

China was the biggest sources of visitors to Thailand so far this year.

Thailand and China have been forging their recent tourism ties. In March, both countries permanently waived visa requirements for each other’s citizens.

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Excerpt from www.ecns.cn

In the vast, semiarid region near Postmasburg, in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province, construction of one of the country’s biggest renewable energy power plants is nearing completion.

The Redstone Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Project is expected to begin trial operations soon, eventually generating enough energy to power 200,000 households in South Africa, and thereby greatly alleviating the country’s acute power shortage.

Energy has been a major area of cooperation between China and South Africa over the past years. During President Xi Jinping’s visit to South Africa in August, in the presence of Xi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the two countries signed a number of cooperation deals in Pretoria, including agreements on emergency power, investment in renewable energy and the upgrade of South Africa’s power grids.

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Excerpt from amu.tv

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban has flogged nearly 150 people across various provinces in the past 44 days, according to data collected by Amu. The information, based on statements from the Taliban’s Supreme Court, covers corporal punishments meted out between May 1 and June 4.

The floggings have provoked strong reactions from Afghan citizens and human rights organizations, who condemn the Taliban’s harsh policies as violations of human rights. Legal analysts and human rights defenders argue that these actions starkly contrast with accepted human rights standards.

The Taliban describes those flogged as alleged criminals, justifying the punishments as part of their interpretation of Sharia principles. During the 44-day period, 150 people, including 14 women, were flogged. The province of Sar-e Pul recorded the highest number of incidents, followed by Kandahar, Paktika, Ghazni, Nimroz, Ghor, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Khost, Bamyan, Kabul, Paktia, Parwan, Kapisa, Panjshir, and Jawzjan.

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Excerpt from www.reuters.com

New Zealand to reform of ‘outdated’ firearm laws  Reuters

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Excerpt from www.thehindu.com

 

Pakistani media outlets reported in the past week that the country plans to implement a Chinese-style firewall to block users from accessing social media platforms.

Pakistan Observer and Daily Ausaf claim the government is ready to set up a ‘National Firewall’ to stop people from accessing X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube. These outlets also noted that there are plans for filtering keywords to enforce the policy and block unwanted content. Other media reports claim even those using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access the internet would be hit by this digital firewall.

However, media outlet Samaa on June 10 quoted Pakistan’s Information Minister Atta Tarar as saying that no ‘Chinese-style firewall’ was being set up, though he did speak about the need to crack down on hate speech and misinformation.

Such conflicting reports reveal the lack of clarity regarding the current status of Pakistan’s potential firewall and its implementation. But, it must be noted that Pakistan does have a history of curtailing people’s access to the Internet, either through website or social media blocks. Some examples include a Twitter block in 2017 that was flagged by the company itself, and internet disruptions earlier this year around the time of the country’s elections.

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Excerpt from asiatimes.com

China is securing international military base access agreements to expand the global reach of its armed forces, a counter to America’s extended deterrence strategy for Taiwan while threatening India with encirclement.

This month, RAND released a report detailing how China is advancing its global military reach by negotiating base access agreements to expand its security footprint and enable overseas operations for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police (PAP).

RAND identifies target countries including Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, the Solomon Islands, the UAE and Vanuatu. The report notes China already operates a logistics base in Djibouti and a paramilitary outpost in Tajikistan.

Apart from those countries, Newsweek reported in March 2024 that China is also seeking base access in Cuba, Pakistan, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

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Excerpt from www.aljazeera.com

President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call early parliamentary elections in response to his crushing defeat in a European Union vote is a risky gamble that few could have predicted, observers tell Al Jazeera, as they describe the snap polls as a referendum on the far right.

Yielding a call from the far-right candidate Jordan Bardella, whose National Rally party won 31.5 percent of the vote in the European Parliament elections on Sunday, Macron dissolved the French Parliament and ordered snap elections.

The first round will be held on June 30 and a second on July 7.

Analysts said it is a high-stakes attempt to regain credibility after Macron’s liberal Renaissance party trailed behind National Rally in second place with about half its level of support – just 14.6 percent.

According to Gilles Ivaldi, professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, or Sciences Po, Macron is hoping the votes of his detractors lack substance.

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Excerpt from www.washingtonpost.com

SHENDI, Sudan — The United Nations Security Council passed a near-unanimous resolution demanding the end of a siege of western Sudan’s El Fashir city to avert a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn nation.

The British-sponsored resolution, which passed with 14 nations in support and Russia abstaining, calls for a cease-fire as well as “rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.”

For more than a year, Sudan has been engulfed in a civil war between the military dictatorship and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful militia that has seized huge swaths of the country.

El Fashir, in the vast, arid Darfur region of the country, is the final regional capital still in government hands, and it has been under siege for the past month. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have sheltered there, fleeing RSF advances elsewhere in the country.

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Excerpt from ticotimes.net

A Salvadoran court ordered on Thursday that properties seized from former Defense Minister David Munguía, who is in prison for a truce with gangs, be handed over to the State, as they were obtained illegally with public funds. “The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has managed to have six properties (residences) and $169,000 linked to David Munguía and his family group handed over to the State,” the prosecutor’s office stated on its account on the social network X. The decision was made by a Specialized Court of Domain Extinction in the capital.

Six residences, valued at $4.3 million and whose ownership was “extinguished” from the former minister, are located in different areas in the departments of San Salvador and La Libertad. Munguía acquired the assets “using State funds” in the period 2009-2019, when he served as head of the Ministries of Defense and later of Justice and Public Security, the prosecutor’s office indicated.

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Excerpt from myind.net

According to a media report, the Indian Army has received the first batch of man-portable suicide drones known as Nagastra-1. These drones are capable of accurately targeting enemy training camps, launch pads, and infiltrators, thereby reducing risks to soldiers. The high-tech drones have been completely designed and developed in India by Economic Explosives Limited (EEL), a subsidiary of Solar Industries, based in Nagpur. Reports indicate that these drones have an indigenous content of over 75 percent

The introduction of these drones will significantly bolster the Indian Army’s ability to conduct shallow strikes across the border when required. Drones such as the Nagastra-1, equipped with built-in warheads, are often referred to as kamikaze or exploding drones. According to defense officials, the Indian Army has placed an order for 480 such drones with EEL (Economic Explosives Limited), out of which 120 Nagastra-1s have already been delivered to an Army Ammunition Depot.

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Excerpt from www.hindustantimes.com

 

June 13 – Myanmar’s resistance fighters notched decisive breakthroughs last year by relying on a scattered fleet of drones in battles against one of Southeast Asia’s most feared militaries.

But as the civil war grinds on, the rebels increasingly find their familiar weapons – Chinese-made commercial drones modified to carry arms – in the unfamiliar hands of the country’s ruling junta, according to seven people with knowledge of the matter. “The battle is changing now as drones are being used by both sides,” said a 31-year-old rebel fighter in the country’s southeast, identifying himself by the nom de guerre of Ta Yoke Gyi. He said the junta began using armed unmanned aerial vehicles to attack the rebels at around the turn of the year and that his unit recently shot down a drone, which they identified as Chinese from its components and had been modified for combat. Two rebel fighters in other parts of Myanmar also described similar skirmishes to Reuters.

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Excerpt from buenosairesherald.com

Argentina’s Central Bank renewed a US$5 billion tranche of the currency swap it has with its Chinese counterpart, US$3 billion of which matured in June and the rest in July. Now, Argentina will have to start paying the maturities in 2025 and over 2026.

Media reports cast doubt over the Argentine administration’s ability to renegotiate the swap, as President Javier Milei is facing a diplomatic row with China and Foreign Ministry Diana Mondino’s future in the cabinet is uncertain. If the government had failed to renew the deal, it would have had to pay US$5 billion between this month and the next.

The South American country’s monetary authority released a communiqué on Wednesday stating that, together with the Central Bank of the People’s Republic of China, it had renewed the swap for the next 12 months.

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Excerpt from www.voanews.com

Protesters in Georgia have vowed to continue anti-government demonstrations driven largely by the so-called “foreign agent” law that took effect last week.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, in the past two months to protest the law, which critics have compared to similar measures in Russia. Many of the demonstrators carry European Union and Georgian flags, while others wave the Ukrainian colors in solidarity with Kyiv following its 2022 invasion by Moscow.

Georgia’s protestors vow to stay on streets until government falls