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- Tokyo will not give up its claim that Russia’s southern Kuril Islands in the Pacific Ocean are rightfully Japanese, and wants to reach a deal with Moscow to resolve the dispute, its foreign minister said on Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference, Yoshimasa Hayashi responded to claims by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that Tokyo is refusing to recognize the results of the Second World War, when the Soviet Union took control of the Kuril Islands.
- Prominent airlines from Japan, India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have suspended flights to airports across the United States after expressing concern over the deployment of 5G. Emirates, Air India, Japan Airlines, and All Nippon Airways canceled flights to New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Seattle, among other US cities.
- A new bill before the US Senate that would introduce unprecedented new sanctions against Russia, as well as against top officials including President Vladimir Putin, has soured security negotiations between Moscow and Washington. At present, the measures have been mooted as a potential response to any invasion of Ukraine but, if imposed, they would have a dramatic effect on the Russian economy.
- A Turkish state-run petroleum firm has cut off the flow of oil from the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline following a mysterious explosion and the resulting blaze, with the aftermath reportedly caught in images circulating online. The explosion rocked a section of the pipeline in Turkey’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras on Tuesday night, about 108 miles (175km) from the line’s terminal in Ceyhan, BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation said in a statement. The cause of the blast remains unclear.
- Lone gunman Malik Faisal Akram captured the world’s attention when he held four people hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. Ultimately, though, he proved to be the only casualty as he was shot dead. Akram didn’t randomly choose Colleyville. He flew from the UK to New York City, then made the 2,500-km journey overland to a synagogue that is a mere 30-minute drive from the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, where 49-year-old Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is locked up. She’s serving 86 years for the assault and attempted murder of FBI officers and US soldiers in Afghanistan.
- Alisa Teplyakova is a 9-year-old child prodigy from Moscow, who hit the headlines this year. She’s become the youngest student at Moscow State University. She passed her final school exams and enrolled with the psychology faculty. Her father, Evgeniy, is convinced that his daughter is capable of finishing the entire programme in just two years. Evgeniy Teplyakov has come up with a method for homeschooling all seven of his children. Evgeniy says his programme is a ‘revolution in educational methods and developmental psychology’. Alisa’s story has provoked debate in the Russian media, with many calling it a ‘dangerous experiment’ on a child. Psychology experts warn that pushing children may lead to nervous tics, burnout and trauma.
- Apple says proposed antitrust laws would force it to allow ‘sideloading’ on iPhones. “The bills put consumers in harm’s way because of the real risk of privacy and security breaches,” Apple’s senior director of government affairs, Timothy Powderly, wrote in a letter to the Senate Justice Committee, according to CNBC. If Apple is forced to enable “sideloading,” Powderly added, “millions of Americans will likely suffer malware attacks on their phones that would otherwise have been stopped.” Currently, only Apple-approved programs can be installed on iPhones and iPads via the App Store. The two bills currently under consideration in committee might outlaw the practice, which Apple says increases “consumer welfare” and should be kept. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act seeks to prohibit platforms from favoring their own products over those of rivals. It was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar, (D-Minnesota) and Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa).
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sounded the alarm, saying that Russia could claim that it needs to protect its citizens in the war-torn Donbass as an excuse for military action beyond its borders. “The head of state brought attention to the fact that Russia continues to carry on an active campaign of granting passports to the population of our temporarily occupied territories, in an attempt to create a pretext for escalation under the guise of ‘protecting Russian citizens,’” the statement on the website read.
- A witness who claims she saw Prince Andrew in the company of his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre at a London nightclub 20 years ago is “willing” to provide testimony in the civil lawsuit against the royal. “I am proud to represent Shukri Walker, who has bravely stepped forward as a witness and encourages others who may have information to do so as well,” Giuffre’s lawyer Lisa Bloom said in an email, cited by The Guardian. “She is willing to do the deposition Virginia Giuffre’s team is seeking,” added Bloom. “Because Prince Andrew has denied ever meeting plaintiff or being at Tramp Nightclub during the relevant time period, Ms Walker’s testimony is highly relevant.”
- In an attempt to hide a mobile phone from prison authorities, an inmate in Tihar Jail in India’s national capital Delhi swallowed it. However, doctors later removed it via a successful surgery. An endoscopy was performed at G.B. Pant Hospital in the capital city to extract the 7 cm long, 3 cm wide device. Dr. Siddharth of GB Pant Hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology, said that he has handled ten similar cases in the hospital so far.
- Before the pandemic, in 2018, China hosted 492,000 foreign students (ranking third in the world) from 196 nations, who were enrolled in degree and non-degree courses across its 1,004 universities, as per official figures. While S. Korea sent the largest contingent of foreign students to China, over 28,000 Pakistanis were present there at the time. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has expressed his inability to help out local youngsters who are enrolled at Chinese universities to return to China and continue their studies, as per a video which has emerged on social media.
News Burst 20 January 2022
Rose Rambles... 