Friday, March 24, 2023

BIG Wrap

U.S. decries Russian downing of drone over Black Sea

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The White House has condemned Russia for “unsafe” and “reckless” jet manoeuvres that the United States says led to the downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea. The U.S. military’s European Command said in a statement that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet struck the propeller of the MQ-9 Reaper drone on Tuesday, requiring it to be brought down in international waters and resulting in the loss of the aircraft. The Black Sea borders both...

Saudi Aramco records $161 billion profit in 2022

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Oil giant Saudi Aramco has reported earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists. The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came on the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in western...

More than 1,000 refugees brought ashore in Italy rescues

(Al Jazeera Media Network) More than 1,000 people have been brought to safety at two Italian ports after the overcrowded boats they were on encountered problems in the Mediterranean, the Italian coastguard has said, almost two weeks after at least 76 people died in a shipwreck. The coastguard said on Saturday it had conducted a large rescue operation that began Friday after three boats were spotted drifting off Italy’s coasts. One was south of the Calabrian...

Hundreds of thousands take to streets in Israel

(BBC News) Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in what some are calling the biggest protest in the country's history. Protests against government plans for a radical overhaul of the judicial system have been running for 10 weeks. Record numbers of demonstrators turned out in cities including Haifa, while about 200,000 are reported to have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv. Critics say the reforms will undermine democracy. But Benjamin Netanyahu's government says planned changes...

Mexico cartel turns in own men over kidnapping of U.S. citizens

(BBC News) Reports from the Mexican border city of Matamoros say a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel, called the Scorpions Group, has apologized for kidnapping four U.S. citizens last week, killing two of them, and has turned over the men it says are responsible. On their front pages, many of Mexico's newspapers published a photograph that appears to show five men lying face down on the ground, their hands tied, and their T-shirts pulled...

Malaysian ex-PM’s arrest puts focus on Anwar’s corruption fight

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Addressing an investment forum this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his administration would not tolerate corruption regardless of an official’s rank or political connections, and pledged to tackle misconduct “without fear or favour.” Less than 48 hours later, Malaysia’s former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged with multiple counts of corruption related to directly negotiated government contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The charges against Muhyiddin, announced on Friday following an investigation...

Pro-Ukraine groups behind Nord Stream attacks, according to intelligence report

(Al Jazeera Media Network) New intelligence reviewed by officials in the United States suggests that a pro-Ukraine group attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September, according to the New York Times. The U.S. officials said they had no evidence that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or other Ukrainian government officials were involved in the pipeline bombings, the Times reported on Tuesday. The explosions on the pipelines from Russia to Germany happened on September 26 in the exclusive economic...

China blames protracted Ukraine crisis on ‘invisible hand’

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Ukraine crisis seems to be driven by an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict, according to China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang. The “invisible hand” is “using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas,” Qin said at a press conference on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing. He called for dialogue to begin as soon as possible. “Conflict, sanctions, and pressure will not...

Fire ravages refugee camp in Bangladesh

(Al Jazeera Media Network)  A massive fire raced through a crammed refugee camp for Rohingya people in southern Bangladesh, leaving thousands homeless, a fire official and the United Nations said. At least 2,000 huts were damaged or burned by the fire that broke out on Sunday, officials from the Balukhali fire department told Al Jazeera. The blaze hit Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar, a border district where more than one million Rohingya refugees live, with most...

China boosts military budget, warns of escalating threats

(BBC News) China will increase military spending by more than 7% this year, while warning of "escalating" threats. It was announced at the National People's Congress (NPC), a rubber-stamp parliament, which is due to confirm President Xi Jinping's third term. Beijing's stated military budget of around $225 billion is still dwarfed by that of the United States, which is about four times greater. But analysts believe China downplays how much it spends on defence. Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang...