Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate al-Shifa Hospital, threatening to blow up the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip if they do not.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds discussions on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a visit to Egypt.
More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the last 24 hours.
At least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139, with dozens taken captive.
Norway wealth fund to probe companies over Gaza war
The ethics council of Norway’s $1.6 trillion fund has said it is investigating whether companies in which it holds shares fall outside its permitted investment guidelines due to the war in Gaza.
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which owns 1.5 percent of the world’s listed shares across 8,800 companies, operates under ethical rules set by the country’s parliament, and over the years has divested from nine companies, all Israeli, over activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Vietnam loses its second president in two years amid concerns for political stability
Vo Van Thuong has resigned after just over a year, as the country continues its ‘blazing furnace’ anti-corruption drive
Vietnam’s government has announced the resignation of its second president in as many years amid an anti-corruption drive, sparking concerns for the country’s political stability.
President Vo Van Thuong’s alleged “violations and flaws have negatively affected public perception, as well as the reputation of the party and the state”, state media reported on Wednesday, citing an announcement from the Central Committee of the Communist party of Vietnam. No further details of any alleged violations were released.
India punishes critics by revoking visas and residency permits
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi often draws crowds of supporters from the Indian diaspora on his foreign visits. But back home, his administration has been revoking visas and residency permits of foreign nationals of Indian origin as well as spouses of Indian citizens. For those denied access or kicked out of India, the experience can be traumatic.
Vanessa Dougnac was at home in her New Delhi apartment on January 18, when she received a hand-delivered envelope that raised her spirits.
The French journalist glanced at the letterhead bearing the insignia of the Indian interior ministry’s Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and immediately thought this meant good news.
“Then I read the letter. It was totally the opposite. It was really, really bad news,” she recounted.
Dougnac, 51, had lived in India for a quarter-century, or most of her adult life. For 23 years, she served as the India-based freelance correspondent for a number of French publications. Along the way, she covered stories across the country, married an Indian national, raised a son, and mastered the ropes in the place she came to call home.
The strange case of the Astellas employee held in China for spying
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
March 21, 2024 at 18:25 JST
Already a year has passed since the arrest of a Japanese expat for spying, a charge that sent shock waves through the tight-knit business and diplomatic community here.
But still next to nothing is known about the crime the man is supposed to have committed, when he will stand trial and how he is being treated.
The Astellas Pharma Inc. employee had worked in China for around 20 years and was well-known in the Japanese community.
The power of the periphery in the Chinese state under Xi
China: the invention of the roadmap to global power
It’s well known that everything in China is determined at the centre by the autocratic head of the CCP in Beijing, who dreams of global power. The only problem is it’s not true.
by Renaud Lambert
There’s a belief which underpins the dominant discourse on China: the country wants to overthrow the ‘international order’ and recreate it in its own image. And to do this (so the reasoning goes), Beijing is patiently deploying a ‘grand strategy’ – what political scientist David BH Denoon calls its ‘roadmap to global power’. Michael Pillsbury, a member of the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation and architect of former president Donald Trump’s China policy, even believes Beijing’s ‘secret strategy’ dates back to 1949, when the People’s Republic was proclaimed, and spans almost a century…
This prospect is especially worrying as it is allegedly driven – or, some say, even devised – by a solitary autocrat: ‘Xi Jinping, the red king’ (Les Échos, 1 July 2021), whose ‘ambitions for global leadership are becoming clearer’ (Nikkei Asia, 16 October 2023). He’s a man, CNN suggests, out to ‘reshape the world’ (10 November 2023), particularly through the New Silk Road, ‘only the first step in China’s strategy for a new world order’ (Nikkei Asia, 16 October 2023).
A plant that’s everywhere is fueling a growing risk of wildfire disaster
A ubiquitous, resilient and seemingly harmless plant is fueling an increase in large, fast-moving and destructive wildfires in the United States.
Grass is as plentiful as sunshine, and under the right weather conditions is like gasoline for wildfires: All it takes is a spark for it to explode.
Planet-warming emissions are wreaking havoc on temperature and precipitation, resulting in larger and more frequent fires. Those fires are fueling the vicious cycle of ecological destruction that are helping to make grass king.
Tonight is the last four play-in teams. Tomorrow the real fun begins with half of the 68 teams in one of elimination games playing in the afternoon and evening over the next two days.
The Women’s games star tonight with the first time Play-in games., post up at 7 PM.
These are the winners of last night’s games:
Time
Network
Seed
School
Record
Score
Seed
School
Record
Score
Region
6:40
TRU TV
16
Wagner
16 -15
71*
16
Howard
18 – 16
68
West
9:00
TRU TV
16
Colorado St.
24 – 10
67*
16
UVA
23 – 10
42
Midwest
#16 Wagner College, four tries has finally made to the First round of 64. They will face off with University of #1 North Carolina On Thursday March 21 at 2:45 on CBS. #16 Colorado State is matched with #7 Texas Long Horns on Thursday March 21 at 6:50 on TNT.
Tonight’s game are:
Time
Network
Seed
School
Record
Region
Score
Seed
School
Record
Region
Score
6:40
TRU
16
Montana St
17 – 17
Midwest
51
16
Grambling
17 – 17
Midwest
88*
9:10
TRU
10
Boise St
20 – 10
West
53
10
Colorado
24 – 10
West
60*
NB: Asterisk and Bold Indicate the winner. All updates will be in the main post
More than 100 aid workers have been killed and dozens wounded over the past week in eight attacks carried out by Israeli forces, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.
Displaced people sheltering at al-Shifa Hospital recount details of Israeli army’s storming and siege of the medical complex in Gaza City.
Palestinians displaced from al-Shifa Hospital recount Israeli raid
Palestinians displaced from the al-Shifa Hospital, where they were sheltering in Gaza City, have told Al Jazeera they were detained for several hours and then instructed to move south.
Saleh Abu Sakran, an elderly man, said he was instructed to take off his clothes and get on his knees. “The Israelis kept the women at al-Shifa but took us to another nearby building where we stayed until the evening,” he said.
Emissions connected to top oil and gas firms may cause millions of heat deaths by 2100, study finds
Global witness analysis suggests 11.5 million deaths could be caused by burning of fuel produced by 2050
The emissions from burning oil and gas produced by the world’s leading fossil fuel companies could cause millions of excess heat deaths before the end of the century, according to a new analysis.
The study from Global Witness found that the combined emissions from fossil fuels produced by Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron up to 2050 could result in 11.5 million excess deaths from heat by 2100.
The findings represent the first attempt to quantify heat deaths resulting from planned oil production by big oil and add weight to calls to drastically reduce fossil fuel extraction.
IOC blocks Russian athletes from Olympic opening ceremony
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, the IOC has said. Moscow said the move “destroyed the Olympic idea.”
Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be allowed to participate in the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said.
The athletes, who will be competing in the Games under a neutral flag, “will not participate in the parade of delegations and teams during the opening ceremony since they are individual athletes,” IOC director James McLeod said after an IOC executive board meeting on Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.
A decision on whether they would participate in the closing ceremony had not yet been made, McLeod added.
Doctors who visited Gaza speak of ‘appalling atrocities’ from Israel’s offensive
The healthcare system in Gaza has essentially collapsed, Western doctors who visited the Palestinian enclave in recent months told an event at the United Nations on Monday, speaking of “appalling atrocities” from Israel’s offensive.
The four doctors from the United States, United Kingdom and France have been working with teams in Gaza to support its healthcare system, which has been reeling since Israel began its military assault there last October.
The Israeli offensive has displaced nearly 2.3 million people, caused a starvation crisis, flattened most of the enclave, and killed over 31,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Nick Maynard, a surgeon who was last in Gaza in January with British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, recalled seeing a child who had been burned so badly that he could see her facial bones.
BASEBALL/ Shohei Ohtani wins over South Korean fans despite rivalry
By NARUMI OTA/ Correspondent
March 20, 2024 at 16:02 JST
Lee Jae-ik overcame his long-held animosity and now warmly welcomes a former “enemy” to South Korea.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres will open the Major League Baseball season with a two-game series in Seoul on March 20 and 21.
Lee, 48, heads a fan club that will cheer for Japanese two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record-breaking deal with the Dodgers in December.
Lee said he belongs to a “generation that grew up with strong anti-Japanese sentiment” stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
History issues have intensified rivalries between the two countries in many fields, including sports.
Pirate ship capture showcases India’s world-class special forces, analysts say
The Indian Navy’s rescue of a commercial ship from pirates off Somalia’s coast last weekend shows how Delhi’s military has developed special forces capabilities on par with some of the world’s best, analysts say.
The navy rescued 17 crew members of the vessel MV Ruen during an anti-piracy operation lasting nearly two days, according to an Indian Navy news release, with no casualties reported. Dozens of pirates were taken into custody, it said.
The operation involved a navy destroyer, a patrol ship, an Indian Air Force C-17 transporter flying more than 1,500 miles to airdrop marine commandos, a naval drone, a reconnaissance drone and a P-8 surveillance jet, the release said.
It’s that time of year again. The NCAA Basketball Tournament begins with the teams vying to make into the First Round of 64 at begins tonight. Our partner and Chief Editor ek hornbeck is no longer with us to work his HTML magic for posts to keep up with all the games, men’s and women’s. It is now left to me and I hate HTML but ek hornbeck was a genius at this and fortunately, he left me an HTML road map.
The Men’s and Women’s Brackets are out. The Women’s games begin Wednesday. Enjoy some March Madness!
Time
Network
Seed
School
Record
Score
Seed
School
Record
Score
Region
6:40
TRU TV
16
Wagner
16 -15
71*
16
Howard
18 – 16
68
West
9:00
TRU TV
16
Colorado St.
24 – 10
67*
16
UVA
23 – 10
42
Midwest
#16 Wagner College, four tries has finally made to the First round of 64. They will face off with University of #1 North Carolina On Thursday March 21 at 2:45 on CBS. #16 Colorado State is matched with #7 Texas Long Horns on Thursday March 21 at 6:50 on TNT
NB: Asterisk and Bold Indicate the winner. All updates will be in the main post
China has attacked a bill going through US Congress that could ultimately see TikTok banned in the States, calling it unjust.
It is the latest move in a years-long row over safety fears about the app which is owned by a Chinese company.
Officials, politicians and security staff in many Western countries have been banned from installing it on work phones.
So what are the three biggest cyber concerns about TikTok, and how does the company respond to them?
1. TikTok collects an ‘excessive’ amount of data
TikTok says the app’s data collection is “in line with industry practices”.
Critics frequently accuse TikTok of harvesting huge amounts of data. A cyber-security report published in July 2022 by researchers at Internet 2.0, an Australian cyber-company, is often cited as evidence.
‘Red alert’: last year was hottest on record by clear margin, says UN report
Records being broken for greenhouse gas pollution, surface temperatures and ocean heat
The world has never been closer to breaching the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating limit, even if only temporarily, the United Nations’ weather agency has warned.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed on Tuesday that 2023 was the hottest year on record by a clear margin. In a report on the climate, it found that records were “once again broken, and in some cases smashed” for key indicators such as greenhouse gas pollution, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rise, Antarctic sea ice cover and glacier retreat.
Andrea Celeste Saulo, secretary general of the WMO, said the organisation was now “sounding the red alert to the world”.
Democracies under threat around the globe
With 63 democracies now outnumbered by 74 autocracies, a new Bertelsmann Foundation report highlights a global shift away from democratic governance, exacerbated by recent geopolitical events and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hard facts are sobering: According to a new study, the quality of democracy has deteriorated over the past 20 years in 137 countries that are considered developing or emerging economies. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation’s “Transformation Index,” there are now 63 democracies compared to 74 autocracies. In other words, states that tend not to have free elections or a functioning constitutional state.
In the last two years alone, shaped by a new geopolitical climate, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the coronavirus pandemic, elections in 25 countries have been less free and fair than they were before, according to the study, which also found that in 39 countries freedom of expression and freedom of the press has been increasingly restricted.
In major shift, BOJ decides it will end negative interest rates
By SHIMPEI DOI/ Staff Writer
March 19, 2024 at 17:57 JS
The Bank of Japan announced March 19 it will end negative interest rates and review other ultra-loose monetary policies that have been in place for more than a decade to buoy the stagnant economy.
At a news conference following a two-day policy board meeting, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the 11-year-long “monetary easing in different dimensions,” adopted by his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda, “has fulfilled its role.”
The BOJ “assessed the virtuous cycle between wages and prices” and decided that the price stability target of 2 percent can be sustainably and stably achieved, it said in a statement.
How Israeli settlers are expanding illegal outposts amid Gaza war
In the secluded hills south of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Abu al-Kabash used to wake up daily to his prized possession: a grove of pomegranate and fig trees that towered over the six different kinds of aloe plants enveloping his home.
That is all gone.
Since Israel started its war on Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 attacks, assaults on Palestinians by Israeli settlers became so violent that the 76-year-old farmer had to abandon the land passed down to him from his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
“It was a choice between life or death,” Abu al-Kabash said.
A dissident in Europe is enraging Beijing. Now Chinese police are coming for his social media followers
For more than a decade, Lee has been able to circumvent China’s internet controls to go on Twitter, now known as X, without getting into trouble with the authorities.
The Chinese lawyer stayed away from politically sensitive topics and rarely engaged with other users, treating the platform mainly as an archive to back up his postings on heavily censored Chinese social media.
He has continued tweeting even as Beijing intensifies efforts to control free speech beyond its Great Firewall of internet censorship, interrogating, detaining and jailing Chinese Twitter users who criticize leader Xi Jinping and his government.
Gaza officials report mounting casualties; Israeli military claims Hamas using medical complex to plan attacks.
Israel’s military forces have stormed al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with tanks and heavy gunfire, resulting in deaths and injuries, Palestinian officials have said.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Monday that it is conducting a “precise operation” at the medical facility. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said about 30,000 people, including displaced civilians, wounded patients and medical staff are trapped inside the complex.
Israel, which wound down many of its operations in northern Gaza some weeks ago claiming to have destroyed Hamas’s military infrastructure, said in the statement that Hamas – which governs the enclave – has “regrouped” inside al-Shifa and is “using it to command attacks against Israel”.
Volkov attack signals Russia’s return to cold war-era spying in Europe
Defence experts say Moscow is rapidly improving its intelligence operations after Ukraine invasion
It was a crude and violent assault, but as a bloody message, it was chillingly effective. An attacker ambushed Leonid Volkov, a close adviser to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Nalvany, outside his home on the outskirts of Vilnius, Lithuania. The time was 10.06pm on Tuesday night as he arrived, after having filmed an anti-Putin video in time for this weekend’s election.
The assailant smashed open the car window and blasted Volkov with teargas, and repeatedly struck him with a hammer – about 15 times – breaking his left arm and bloodying his left leg before fleeing the scene. It was, Volkov said in the aftermath, “an obvious, characteristic, typical, gangster-style greeting from Putin” and the assault reflected an emerging truth: Russian intelligence operations in Europe are back.
Taliban say 8 killed in Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan
The Taliban government says Pakistani airstrikes hit civilian homes, two days after insurgents killed seven Pakistani soldiers in a suicide bombing.
A Taliban government spokesperson said on Monday that Pakistani airstrikes killed at least eight people, including three children, in border regions of Afghanistan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, said Pakistani aircraft struck civilian homes in Khost and Paktika provinces near the border with Pakistan at around 3:00 a.m. local time (2230 GMT).
According to Mujahid, all eight people killed were women and children.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office in Islamabad has also confirmed the strikes. They said that they targeted a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban and described it as “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations in the border regions inside Afghanistan.”
World Recycling Day: Thailand drowning in foreign plastic waste
Smokers bitter as cigarettes banned on all Shinkansen lines
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
March 18, 2024 at 16:23 JST
All smoking rooms were abolished on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen lines on March 16, meaning that smoking is no longer allowed on any bullet train nationwide.
Smoking had already been banned on the Nagano (Hokuriku), Tohoku, Joetsu, Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen lines after the Health Promotion Law, which requires companies to prevent secondhand smoking, took effect in 2003.
On the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, all seats on the N700 series bullet trains have been nonsmoking since their introduction in 2007, as on a subsequent model. But smoking rooms outside the seating areas allowed passengers to take a puff while onboard.
Machete-wielding militias battle gangs in Port-au-Prince as Haiti’s elites vie for power
The wide road that passes in front of Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport has a post-apocalyptic stillness these days. Where cars and crowds of people once massed, only tendrils of smoke rise from smoldering piles of trash, sending a bitter taste into the air.
An armored police vehicle hulks nearby; the few police officers on watch cover their faces with balaclavas. This street looks nearly abandoned, as if in the wake of a disaster – an experience that people in Port-au-Prince know better than most. But leaving the city isn’t an option this time; the airport, under siege by gangs, has been forced to close.
Since the start of the month, criminal groups have been attacking with unprecedented coordination the last remnants of the Haitian state – the airport, police stations, government buildings, the National Penitentiary. The culmination of years of growing gang control and popular unrest, their joint assault forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign last week, a stunning capitulation that has nevertheless proven futile in restoring calm.
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