Month: April 2023
Deadly Sloviansk strike
Sloviansk and the nearby city of Kramatorsk are both coveted by Russian forces, currently bogged down in nearby Bakhmut, as they push ahead with their invasion of Ukraine.Ukrainian military commanders this week rejected Russian statements that its forces now controlled 80% of the city, saying Moscow’s claims were an exaggeration.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decried Russia as
Germany ends nuclear era
Europe’s largest economy has been looking to leave behind nuclear power since 2002, but the phase-out was accelerated by former chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.The exit decision was popular in a country with a powerful anti-nuclear movement, stoked by lingering fears of Cold War conflict and atomic disasters
AI regulation
The European Commission and Parliament are trying to strike a balance between consumer protection, regulation and the free development of the economy and research. As various EU member states deliberate on whether to ban certain chatbots, legislators argue that the bloc must have clear regulation of artificial intelligence applications but not frighten away developers. What
Iran executions
The execution figure was the highest since 2015, according to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and France’s Together Against the Death Penalty. Most of those executed were convicted of murder or drug charges, but two protesters were hanged in December. Executions in Iran rose by 75% in 2022, with at least 582 people put to
Afghanistan should not be used for geopolitical rivalry
The U.S. and its allies has been accused for the current state of affairs in the country and asked for the immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan and releasing its assets to benefit the people. On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Iran, China, Russia and Pakistan held a quadrilateral informal meeting on Afghanistan in
TikTok faces ban in Montana
Montana’s turn of the screws on TikTok comes as the app faces several hard-hitting, but legally tenuous, proposals of national legislation – including one bill backed by the White House that could pave the way for a ban of the app. Montana’s Republican-dominated lower house overwhelmingly voted for a complete ban on the popular Chinese
Russia beheading video in Ukraine
The footage, which lasts one minute and 40 seconds, appears to show a Russian soldier holding down a screaming Ukrainian soldier and decapitating him. The victim is seen with a Ukrainian trident on his uniform. The video has sparked international condemnation with the UN Human Rights office in Ukraine saying it was “appalled.” Russia is
COVID Isolation patients in Japan
Currently, in accordance with Japan’s infectious disease control law, those with coronavirus symptoms are in principle required to refrain from going out for seven days from the day following the onset of symptoms. The recommended isolation period for COVID-19 patients will be shortened from the current seven days to five starting on May 8, when
The reopening diplomatic missions between Iran and Saudi
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been invited to Saudi Arabia. It will be the first visit of its kind since 1999. The flurry of diplomatic activity follows last month’s landmark, Chinese-brokered announcement that Iran and Saudi Arabia would work towards resuming ties. An Iranian team visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to pave the way for
Brazil to restrict social media access after school attack
Last Wednesday four children between four and seven years old were killed in a preschool in Blumenau, a city in southern Santa Catarina state, when a man carrying a hatchet stormed the facility. The murders shocked the South American country, where two other attacks on schools — neither with fatalities — occurred on Monday and