(Reuters) – The Wall Street Journal on Saturday demanded the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, a Moscow-based correspondent who was arrested by Russia’s FSB security service on suspicion of spying.
“Evan’s case is a vicious affront to a free press, and should spur outrage in all free people and governments throughout the world, the newspaper said in a statement on Twitter.
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
KYIV (Reuters) – A top Ukrainian cleric from a church with alleged Moscow ties was sentenced to house arrest on Saturday after a hearing into whether he glorified invading Russian forces and stoked religious divisions, the church said.
Kyiv is cracking down on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on the grounds it is pro-Russian and collaborating with Moscow, a charge the church denies.
In a statement, the UOC said a Kyiv court also ordered Metropolitan Pavlo to wear an electronic bracelet. The Interfax Ukraine and Ukrinform news agencies said Pavlo had been given 60 days of house arrest.
“I haven’t done anything. I believe this is a political order,” Pavlo told reporters after the ruling.
Prosecutors said the house arrest and electronic bracelet were precautionary measures, with prosecutor Yevhen Zavistovskyi saying that the case against Pavlo would continue.
Russia’s TASS state news agency said the court ordered Pavlo to live in a village some 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Kyiv. Pavlo said the house was not fit for inhabitation.
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“There is nothing to sleep on, no heat and no light. There is no kitchen, no spoon. But it’s okay, I’ll endure it all,” he said. Pavlo has been living in accommodation in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a 980-year old monastery complex the government says the church must leave.
TASS also said the court had denied Pavlo permission to attend church services.
Pavlo’s court appearance came after he was questioned by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which presented the cleric with a series of accusations.
Sixty-one UOC clergy have had criminal cases opened against them since the start of 2022 with seven found guilty.
Pavlo, a senior UOC official, is the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The church has thus far refused to leave.
The UOC has been accused of maintaining links to the pro-invasion Russian Orthodox Church, which used to be its parent church but with which the UOC says it broke ties in May 2022.
The UOC is Ukraine’s second-largest church, though most Ukrainian Orthodox believers belong to a separate branch of the faith formed four years ago by uniting branches independent of Moscow’s authority.
Moscow said last month that Ukraine was “illegally attacking” the UOC, adding this confirmed the need for its military operations in Ukraine.
Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he signed decrees to impose sanctions on more than 650 individuals and companies who he said “work for Russian aggression.”
Zelenskiy advisor Andriy Yermak said the list includes Russian state and local officials, “as well as enterprises engaged in the maintenance, repair or production of military equipment.”
(Reporting by Max Hunder, Viacheslav Ratynskyi, Nick Starkov and David Ljunggren; Editing by David Holmes, Jonathan Oatis and Franklin Paul)
By Lizbeth Diaz
El PASO (Reuters) – After her husband survived a fire which killed dozens of migrants at a detention center in northern Mexico, Venezuelan Viangly Infante crossed into the United States on Saturday, in search of new opportunities for her three children.
Infante’s husband, Eduard Caraballo, was transferred by ambulance from a hospital in Ciudad Juarez, where the fire happened, to a health center in El Paso, Texas, where he is receiving oxygen for damage to his lungs.
A fire on Monday night broke out at a detention center run by Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM), killing 39 migrants from Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela and pushing Mexican authorities to promise tough consequences for those responsible.
“The storm has passed,” Infante, 31, said while holding back tears as she walked to the vehicle which would take her to a migrant center in El Paso. She carried her infant daughter in her arms and was flanked by her two sons aged 12 and 13 years old.
Like millions of others, the family decided to flee Venezuela’s economic and political crisis, setting off for the United States last October on a journey that took them through the infamous Darien Gap, a tangled jungle separating Colombia and Panama that is known for being one of Latin America’s most dangerous regions.
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The family had arrived in Ciudad Juarez just before the new year, but only Caraballo managed to cross into the United States. He returned to Mexico in February after his daughter fell ill, and then authorities in the city detained him last week and transferred to the center, where he almost died in the fire.
Mexican authorities have shut down the detention center and arrested five people over the migrants’ deaths, including INM staff, a private security agent, and a Venezuelan accused of starting the fire.
In the days following the fire, the U.S government announced it would aid those affected, with Infante’s family the first to receive help.
“For a while I thought we wouldn’t make it, but thanks to the help of God and (international) organizations, we are here,” Infante told Reuters.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian motorist rammed his car into a group of soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Israeli military said, wounding three before another opened fire at the driver who was, according to the Palestinian health ministry, killed.
A Palestinian official said the 23-year-old was a member of the Palestinian security forces.
In Jerusalem, a man detained by Israeli police near a flashpoint holy site grabbed an officer’s gun and fired it, prompting the unit to shoot him dead, the force said, an account doubted by Arab leaders and probed by authorities.
The Jerusalem incident overnight at the edge of the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, an icon of Palestinian nationalism, came at a high point of Muslim attendance for the holy month of Ramadan amid heightened fears of an escalation in violence.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions are simmering after months of violence in areas of Jerusalem and the West Bank. Friction at Al Aqsa has set off violence in recent years.
However, the sacred site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, remained relatively quiet on Saturday.
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The slain man was identified as Mohammad Khaled al-Osaib, 26, a resident of the Bedouin town Hura in south Israel. Mansour Abbas, a lawmaker whose United Arab List party is popular there, said the man was a medical student. Abbas questioned the police account.
“All we demand is the truth,” he said.
The Justice Ministry department for investigating police conduct is looking into the incident, a spokesperson said, adding that the procedure was not a formal investigation.
Asked if the Israeli unit’s response was due to allegations of misconduct, she said: “There are such claims, and that’s why we’re looking into it.”
Reuters could not immediately verify the police account. Police said the incident took place at a spot not covered by security cameras. Footage of similar incidents in the past has usually surfaced within a short time.
Police released CCTV footage showing a person they said was al-Osaib walking across the complex alone right before the incident, which a spokesperson said happened in “seconds,” and denied reports he had intervened in an altercation with a female worshipper.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he backed the officers.
(Reporting by Dan Williams, Maayan Lubell and Ali Sawafta; Editing by Chris Reese, Mark Potter and Paul Simao)
By Rodrigo Campos and Jorgelina do Rosario
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board approved changes to Argentina’s reserves accumulation target set in their $44 billion program, as the agriculture powerhouse faces a severe drought seen pummeling both exports and economic growth.
Easing the reserves accumulation target was part of the fourth review under the country’s $44 billion program, with Argentina looking to soften expectations on its economic performance.
The IMF board “approved modifications to the reserve accumulation targets to partially accommodate the impact of the severe drought,” the fund said in a statement, without detailing the new targets.
The change in the targeted reserves lowers the bar for the South American economy to pass future IMF reviews. The current review, based on targets through December, was “met with some margin,” according to the fund.
But weighing on further forex accumulation, Argentina’s central bank sold in March the largest monthly amount of dollars since October 2019 as it struggles to prop up the local peso currency.
The argentine peso, on a crawling peg to the dollar, is down 15% this year versus the U.S. currency.
On Friday, JPMorgan had further downgraded its view on Argentina’s economic growth this year with its estimate for a 2.3% GDP contraction, citing the even harsher effects of a recent, less-intense drought.
“The most recent revisions suggest more of a plunge in agricultural production than that suffered in 2018,” said the JPMorgan note.
Argentina is the world’s top exporter of soy oil and meal and the No. 3 for corn, exports of which are the main source of its foreign currency income.
A government official said on Thursday the country would roll out a preferential exchange rate for farmers to encourage exports of key cash crop soy and other products starting next month.
The IMF review included “waivers of non-observance associated with the introduction of policy measures that gave rise to new exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices.”
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York and Jorgelina do Rosario in London; additional reporting by Jorge Otaola in Buenos Aires and the Bengaluru newsroom; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Franklin Paul)
NEW YORK, NY – The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is requesting public assistance in identifying an individual connected to a violent assault that occurred in the 75 Precinct. On Monday, March 6, 2023, at approximately 9:25 pm, an unidentified person approached a 32-year-old victim sitting in his vehicle near Cleveland Street and Linden Boulevard.
After a brief exchange of words, the suspect displayed a firearm and fired a round through the vehicle’s front window, striking the victim in the head.
The assailant fled the scene on foot, heading southbound on Cleveland Street. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound. His condition is currently unknown. The suspect is described as a male wearing dark clothing.
The NYPD has released images of the individual in question and is urging anyone with information about the incident or the suspect’s whereabouts to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
NEW YORK, NY – The NYPD is requesting public assistance in identifying two individuals and a vehicle connected to a burglary in the 115 Precinct. On Wednesday, at approximately 11:27 am, two suspects approached a residence near 32 Avenue and 99 Street. One acted as a lookout while the other used a burglar tool to gain entry into the home. Once inside, the second suspect removed approximately $17,400 in cash before both individuals fled the scene.
The suspects then entered a blue Hyundai sedan, which was driven by a third unknown individual, and escaped. The first suspect is described as a male with a light complexion, wearing a navy blue cap, jacket, blue jeans, and black sneakers. The second suspect is described similarly but was wearing a black cap and hooded sweatshirt
. The vehicle is a navy blue Hyundai Sonata with NY plate #KZF5283. The NYPD has released surveillance images of the suspects and the vehicle, urging anyone with information to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline.
NEW YORK, NY – The New York City Police Department is requesting the public’s help in identifying an individual connected to a reckless endangerment incident within the 9 Precinct.
On Friday, March 17, 2023, at around 8:59 pm, police responded to a ShotSpotter activation for multiple shots fired in front of 85 Avenue D. A preliminary investigation determined that an unknown male discharged a firearm numerous times at another unidentified individual.
No injuries or property damage have been reported in connection with the incident. The NYPD has released images of the suspect and is urging anyone with information about the incident or the individual’s identity to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
NEW YORK, NY – The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect involved in a robbery within the 107 Precinct. On Friday, March 24, 2023, at around 9:50 pm, a 52-year-old female was seated on a northbound MTA Bus #Q25 near 83-45 Parsons Boulevard.
The unknown individual snatched the victim’s cell phone from her hand, and when she attempted to retrieve it, the suspect punched her in the face.
The suspect dropped the phone as he fled the bus. The victim was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Queens in stable condition, where she was treated for her injuries.
The perpetrator is described as a 6-foot-tall, 300-pound individual with a light complexion, last seen wearing a light-colored sweatshirt, black shirt, and black pants. The NYPD has released images of the suspect and urges anyone with information about the incident or the individual’s identity to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline.
MONTCLAIR, NJ – Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced yesterday the arrest of Fokam Parfait (DOB: 1/27/1998; single; unemployed) of Montclair, NJ, on charges of aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon. The arrest resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, under Chief Jason Love’s direction, and the Saddle Brook Police Department, led by Officer-In-Charge Captain John Zotollo, Jr.
On Friday, March 24, 2023, the Saddle Brook Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding an alleged robbery and sexual assault. The suspect reportedly brandished a handgun and sexually assaulted the victim before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle. The investigation revealed that Fokam Parfait sexually assaulted multiple victims while in possession of a handgun on more than one occasion in Saddle Brook, NJ. He also kidnapped and sexually assaulted a separate victim in Saddle Brook, NJ on one occasion.
On Friday, Fokam Parfait was arrested in Paramus, NJ, and charged with multiple counts, including first-degree aggravated sexual assault with a weapon, first-degree aggravated sexual assault by physical force, first-degree attempted aggravated sexual assault with a weapon, first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and two counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Parfait was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.
Prosecutor Musella emphasized that the charges are accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Consumer price inflation in Pakistan jumped to a record 35.37% in March from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on Saturday, as at least 16 people were killed in stampedes for food aid.
The March inflation number eclipsed February’s 31.5%, the bureau said, as food, beverage and transport prices surged up to 50% year-on-year.
Thousands of people have gathered at flour distribution centres set up across the country, some as part of a government-backed programme to ease the impact of inflation.
At least 16 people, including five women and three children, have been killed in stampedes at such centres in recent days, police and officials have said. Thousands of bags of flour have also been looted from trucks and distribution points, according to official records.
A spokesman at the statistics bureau said the inflation number was the highest ever year-on-year increase recorded by the bureau since monthly records began in the 1970s.
“This is the highest ever inflation recorded in the data we have,” he said.
The consumer price index was up 3.72% in March from the previous month, the bureau said.
Higher prices of food, cooking oil and electricity pushed up the index, it said.
Annual food inflation in March was at 47.1% and 50.2% for urban and rural areas respectively, the bureau said. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, stood at 18.6% in urban areas and 23.1% in rural areas.
The South Asian nation has been in economic turmoil for months with an acute balance of payments crisis while talks with the IMF to secure $1.1 billion funding as part of $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019 have not yet yielded fruit.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen to cover barely four weeks of imports.
A monthly economic outlook report issued by the finance ministry on Friday projected inflation would remain elevated.
The report cited market frictions caused by relative demand and supply gaps of essential items, exchange rate depreciation, and the recent upward adjustment in fuel prices as reasons behind higher inflation expectations.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Additional Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by William Mallard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Satellite images show a high level of activity at North Korea’s main nuclear site, a U.S. think tank reported on Saturday after the North Korean leader ordered an increase in production of bomb fuel to expand the country’s nuclear arsenal.
The Washington-based 38 North North Korea monitoring project said the activity it had spotted, based on images from March 3 and 17, could indicate that an Experimental Light Water Reactor (ELWR) at the Yongbyon site was nearing completion and transition to operational status.
The report said the images showed that a 5 megawatt reactor at Yongbyon continued to operate and that construction had started on a support building around the ELWR. Further, water discharges had been detected from that reactor’s cooling system. New construction had also started around Yongbyon’s uranium enrichment plant, likely to expand its capabilities.
“These developments seem to reflect Kim Jong Un’s recent directive to increase the country’s fissile material production to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal,” the report added, referring to the North Korean leader.
On Tuesday, North Korea unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads and vowed to produce more weapons-grade nuclear material to expand its arsenal, while denouncing stepped up military exercises by South Korea and the United States.
Its state media said Kim had ordered the production of weapons-grade materials in a “far-sighted way” to boost the country’s nuclear arsenal “exponentially.”
It is unclear whether North Korea has fully developed miniaturized nuclear warheads needed to fit on smaller weapons it has displayed and analysts say perfecting such warheads would most likely be a key goal if it resumes nuclear testing for the first time since 2017.
South Korea and the United States have warned since early 2022 that North Korea may resume nuclear testing at any time.
In a report last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated North Korea had assembled up to 20 nuclear warheads, and probably possessed sufficient fissile material for approximately 45–55 nuclear devices.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Editing by Franklin Paul)
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Almost a third of Brazilians disapprove of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, putting the leftist leader at about the same level of unpopularity as his right-wing predecessor Jair Bolsonaro during the first three months of his presidency, a poll cited by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo showed on Saturday.
Lula, who took office in January after narrowly defeating Bolsonaro in an election last October, has the approval of 38% of Brazilians, with 29% disapproving of his performance, according to a Datafolha survey.
Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019 to the end of 2022, never formally conceded defeat to Lula. On Jan. 8, barely a week after Lula began his third term as president, Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in the federal capital Brasilia to protest the election result.
After about three months in self-imposed exile in the United States, Bolsonaro returned to Brazil this week.
Datafolha interviewed 2,028 people on Wednesday and Thursday in 126 cities. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus two percentage points.
(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Paul Simao)
TOMS RIVER, NJ – Once again, the matter of houses of worship in Toms River is quickly becoming a key election issue as three Republican tickets prepare to square off against each other.
Toms River Mayor Mo Hill is once again in discussions with leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community to further lessen restrictions on houses of worship in the town despite already meeting the township’s obligations under a recent Department of Justice settlement.
That settlement resulted in the township clearly identifying where houses of worship can be built in Toms River.
Now, Jewish leaders are injecting the issue as a campaign issue. Hill, who has had the support of the Toms River Jewish Community Council is at risk of losing that support if he doesn’t push a new ordinance to help house of worship operators get around New Jersey’s strict CAFRA guidelines.
Leaders have met with Hill to ask the mayor to introduce a new zoning ordinance that will seek to expect specific square footage inside a home to circumvent the CAFRA review process. If Hill refuses, leaders have already made public statements that his opponent, Geri Ambrosio is willing to deliver on that request. Ambrosio has also met with leaders from the TRJCC in recent weeks.
A third candidate, Councilman Daniel Rodrick has a track record of voting against land use changes related to special interest groups and developers. Rodrick said he has not met with Jewish leaders on the matter and does not intend to as he does not know the specifics of the requests being made to Hill and Ambrosio.
Rodrick is being accused of being an ‘anti-semite‘ by Jewish leaders and local Jewish media blogs in Ocean County over his past votes against overdevelopment and rejecting plans to allow houses of worship in quiet residential neighborhoods.
“Taxes are out of control, and high-density, multi-family development continues to reshape our town. As homes are converted into houses of worship, quiet residential neighborhoods are being transformed into busy commercial streets,” Rodrick said. “These changes are having a disastrous impact on taxes, traffic, quality of life, and our schools.”
The matters before Ambrosio and Hill have not been discussed in public. Instead, both candidates have met with Jewish leaders behind closed doors about changing the township’s zoning laws to accommodate larger houses of worship in zones where they are not currently permitted.
Under the plan proposed to Hill and Ambrosio, Jewish leaders seek to have the township exempt certain space in homes and building converted to houses of worship in the future. In that plan, a structure 5,000 square feet or larger would be subjected to a CAFRA approval process by the state of New Jersey.
By exempting non-congregational space in those buildings by township code, larger buildings could circumvent New Jersey’s CAFRA process. For example, if a 5,500 foot home is being sought to be converted into a house of worship, the township could exempt non-congregational spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, storage areas and private living space to get the home under the 5,000 square foot state requirement.
Rodrick refused to comment on the matter saying he was not informed by Mayor Hill about the request and has seen no formal township correspondence on the matter.
Art Ghallager, Mayor Mo Hill’s public information officer refused to comment publicly on the matter, stating only, “How did you know?” when contacted this week by Shore News Network.
Multiple credible sources close to the Hill Administration and the TRJCC have confirmed Jewish leaders have been in talks with Hill about the measure.
BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Social media personality Andrew Tate was moved to house arrest late on Friday after a Romanian court overturned prosecutors’ request to keep him in police custody until late April.
Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects have been under police detention since Dec. 29 as prosecutors investigate them for suspected human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
They have denied all accusations.
“We see the court decision as legal, thorough and correct,” Tate’s lawyer Eugen Vidineac told reporters.
He said the brothers were forbidden from contacting witnesses and from leaving the house without approval from authorities. “We do not yet have the court’s motivation, we do not know whether there are other interdictions.”
“I’ve been in one room since last year, so it’s a little bit emotional,” Tate told supporters gathered outside his home late on Friday.
“I truly believe that justice will be served in the end, there is zero percent chance of me being found guilty of something I have not done, I maintain my absolute innocence.”
Earlier this week, the same Bucharest court of appeals denied nL8N3615I2 the Tate brothers’ request to be released on bail.
In previous rulings that extended their stay in police custody, judges have said the Tate brothers posed a flight risk and that their release could jeopardise nL4N35735U the investigation.
“The (court) decision is final, the investigation continues,” Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s DIICOT anti-organised crime unit told Reuters.
Asked whether Friday’s ruling will speed up the investigation, Bolla said prosecutors have until end-June to send the suspects to trial.
Under Romanian legislation, prosecutors have filed charges against the four suspects, but the case is still under investigation and has not gone to trial.
Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited nL4N34F3ZH their alleged victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage. The victims were then coerced to produce [censored]ographic content for social media sites that generated large financial gain.
Tate, who has been based mainly in Romania since 2017, is an online influencer and self-described misogynist who has built up a following of millions of fans, particularly among young men drawn to his hyper-macho image.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie and Alan Charlish; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Giles Elgood, Josie Kao and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
HAMMONTON, NJ – A New Jersey cheerleading coach has been arrested and charged with multiple crimes for assaulting minors while he coached at Rockstar Cheer in Southampton.
According to the New Jersey State Police, Jonathan P. Ryker, 25, of Hammonton, N.J., was charged with sexual assault for allegedly assaulting minors who he coached.
In August 2022, detectives from Troop “C” Criminal Investigation Office, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Medford Township Police Department began investigating explicit content that was sent from Jonathan P. Ryker to a minor via social media. During the 8-month investigation, detectives were able to identify another victim of Ryker who was also a student at Rockstar Cheer.
Ryker was additionally charged with endangering the welfare of a child, and aggravated criminal sexual contact. Ryker was lodged in Burlington County Jail pending a detention hearing.
If you or anyone you know may have been a victim please contact the New Jersey State Police Red Lion Station at 609-859-2282. Anonymous tips are welcomed.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy attended a meeting New York City on Friday, prompting the Chinese military to launch nine aircraft into the Taiwan Strait, crossing the ‘median line’.
The flyover was in response to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and a future meeting with U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy with Taiwaneese officials in New York City, in defiance of China’s demands against the United States.
China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory despite the strong objections of the island’s government, has been angered by what it sees as stepped up U.S. support for Taiwan.
Tsai arrived in the United States on Wednesday, stopping off on her way to Central America.
She is expected to meet McCarthy in Los Angeles on her way back to Taipei in April, and China on Wednesday threatened unspecified retaliation if that meeting were to go ahead.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the nine Chinese aircraft crossed at points in the north, centre and south of the strait’s median line, which used to serve as an unofficial buffer between the two sides.
Taiwan’s armed forces responded using its own aircraft and ships to monitor the situation using the principle of “not escalating conflicts or causing disputes”, the ministry said.
“The communist military’s deployment of forces deliberately created tension in the Taiwan Strait, not only undermining peace and stability, but also has a negative impact on regional security and economic development,” it said in a statement.
The ministry condemned what it called “such irrational actions”.
There was no immediate response from China.
Tsai, on her first U.S. stopover since 2019, told an event held by the Hudson Institute think tank in New York on Thursday that the blame for rising tensions lay with China, according to excerpts of her comments reported by her office.
“China deliberately raises tensions, but Taiwan always responds cautiously and calmly, so that the world can see that Taiwan is the responsible party in cross-Strait relations,” she said.
Nury Turkel, a Hudson senior fellow who attended the event, said Tsai had been clear in her desire to see the U.S. communicate to China that it would stand with the Taiwanese people if Beijing sought to destroy Taiwan’s democracy, by force or whatever means.
“Tsai was very clear in her messaging without being provocative,” Turkel said.
During her stop in New York, Tsai met with Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, according to Punchbowl News, one of many U.S. lawmakers expected to engage with her before she returns to Taipei.
‘ALL PREPARATIONS’
A senior Taiwan official familiar with security planning told Reuters the Chinese aircraft had only “slightly” encroached across the median line, and that no unusual movements by Chinese ships had been stopped.
China staged war games around Taiwan last August following the visit to Taipei of then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and has continued its military activities near Taiwan since though on a reduced scale.
The Taiwan official said China was unlikely to repeat such large exercises as it was in the middle of a “charm offensive” towards foreign political and business leaders, and an escalation of military tension would send “conflicting messages” to the world.
“Having said that, we have made all preparations in case China reacts irrationally,” the source said. “The more the international community pays attention to Taiwan, the more upset they get.”
Speaking to reporters in Taipei earlier on Friday, Premier Chen Chien-jen said Taiwan was a “democratic country” with the right to go out into the world.
“I hope that China will not find pretext to provoke,” he said, when asked about Beijing’s retaliation threat.
“China’s authoritarian expansion will in fact cause unnecessary trouble, so we here again make this call, hoping that China can reduce its provocative actions.”
China has never officially recognised the median line, which a U.S. general devised in 1954 at the height of Cold War hostility, although the People’s Liberation Army had until very recently largely respected it.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Yimou Lee, Michael Martina, Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel and Sandra Maler) Edited by Phil Stilton, Shore News Network.
TRENTON, NJ – On Friday, there were just 300 or so confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey and 1 ‘probable’ confirmed death. Overall, COVID-19 cases are down significantly since January of 2022, but New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is continuing the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency that gives his office special powers.
In May, the federal government will officially be ending the pandemic state of emergency and New Jersey Senator Mike Testa said it’s time for Governor Phil Murphy to do the same.
A day after final congressional approval was given to end the national COVID-19 emergency, Senator Michael Testa said it’s time for Governor Phil Murphy to end New Jersey’s pandemic state of emergency.
“New Jersey’s ongoing state of emergency gives the governor and state departments the authority to keep unnecessary directives in place, and it allows the governor to continue spending billions in federal relief funds with almost no transparency or oversight,” said Testa (R-1). “It also allows the Murphy administration to circumvent the Legislature and diminish our constitutional authority as a co-equal branch of government. Now that the federal emergency is ending, Governor Murphy needs to recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is over and it’s time to give up his emergency powers.”
The United States Senate approved ending the federal pandemic emergency in a bipartisan 68-23 vote. The Biden administration has indicated the president would sign the joint resolution, which was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year.
While New Jersey’s public health emergency was terminated in 2021, the general state of emergency related to COVID-19 that was first declared on March 9, 2020 remains in effect.
“A state of emergency is designed to empower a governor to respond quickly when needed, but the danger is that it allows good government protections to be bypassed,” Testa added. “That’s why we can’t allow declared emergencies to drag on for years without end. Governor Murphy has no excuse to continue clinging to the emergency powers that his administration has abused for far too long.”
TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey military reservists who honorably served their nation will now be eligible for special license plates after a bill sponsored by Senator Edward Durr has been signed into law.
Legislation sponsored by Senator Edward Durr that allows veterans of military reserve units with at least six years of service to retain special license plates that identify their military service has been signed into law.
Sen. Edward Durr’s bill that allows veterans of military reserve units with at least six years of service to retain special license plates that identify their service has been signed into law. (NJMVC)
“I am proud to honor our veterans of the military reserves with the enactment of this law. All military service members should be honored and recognized for the sacrifices that they have made in defense of the freedoms that we enjoy today,” said Durr (R-03). “This law ends a foolish requirement that forced veterans of the military reserves to relinquish license plates that identified their service to our country. Military reserve veterans may now keep these special license plates and proudly display their service to our country.”
Previously, members of a military reserve unit could request a special license plate that identified their military service but were required to surrender their license plate once they completed their military service.
Senator Durr’s bill, S-3081/A-4298, allows veterans, with at least six years of service in the military reserves, to keep their special license plates once their military service concludes.
“Members of the military reserves represent a selfless form of service that embodies the sacrifices made by veterans to protect our nation,” Durr added. “When a member of the military reserves completes their service, they should be allowed to display their service on their license plate just like veterans who served in any other branch of the military. The signing of this law is one way that we can honor their service to our country.”
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies is partnering with more legacy automakers to produce Aito-branded electric cars, the company’s senior executive said on Saturday, in a move to expand its presence in the auto industry.
Huawei will team up with Chery Automobile, BAIC Motor and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group in jointly developing and manufacturing Aito-branded vehicles, Richard Yu, Huawei’s Smart Car CEO, said at the China EV 100 forum in Beijing.
Huawei, which has already a partnership with Seres Group to make Aito cars, plans a series of models including SUVs, sedans and multipurpose vehicles under the Aito brand, Yu added.
“We’d like to fully use the automakers’ resources of production capacity,” Yu said.
Seres sold a total of 80,000 Aito cars featuring Huawei’s HarmonyOS system – developed by the company as an alternative to Android – in 2022, up more than six times from a year ago, according to company filings.
Huawei’s Chairman Eric Xu reiterated at a press conference on Friday that the company doesn’t make cars on its own but only helps other automakers make better vehicles.
Huawei has been hit by a series of export controls by Washington which says it is a security risk, which the company denies. The sanctions have blocked Huawei from buying key components as well as from using Google’s Android operating system.
The sanctions have also affected Huawei’s partnerships with global automakers, who have given up using Huawei’s vehicle connectivity technologies in the past two years, Yu said on Saturday.
Tension with the U.S. saw Meng detained for three years in Canada over alleged efforts to cover up attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Zhuzhu Cui and Brenda Goh; Editing by David Holmes)
TRENTON, NJ – Republicans in Trenton blocked a pair of Phil Murphy nominees to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) in response to what is being described as the governor’s ‘energy extremism” after ignoring calls to halt an offshore wind farm survey project.
That project is being blamed by shore officials and some environmental groups for the unusually high increase in whale and dolphin deaths at the Jersey Shore.
“Governor Murphy dumped two BPU commissioners for having the gall to criticize his extreme Energy Master Plan. There were no Republican votes today to confirm replacements who would be nothing more than a rubber stamp for his dangerous and expensive energy policy,” Senator Anthony Bucco said. “The governor’s energy extremism is on clear display with his failure to pause offshore wind farm survey work as dozens of dead whales and dolphins have washed up on our shores. We need reasonable people in BPU positions who are willing to stand up to the governor in times like these to ensure that we’re not doing more harm than good to the environment.”
Bucco and Republicans objected to allowing Governor Murphy to continue to appoint environmental extremists to the important BPU board.
NEW YORK, NY – Police are investigating a drive-by shooting in Queens that sent a woman to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.
According to detectives with the New York City Police Department’s 105th Precinct, at around 3:30 am, the 21-year-old woman was sitting inside a vehicle at the corner of Springfield Boulevard and South Conduit Avenue when multiple suspects inside a red Dodge Charged pulled beside her and began firing into her vehicle.
She was struck once in the right leg and taken to NYC Health & Hospitals/Brookdale, where she was listed in stable condition.
The shooters fled the scene. No arrests have been made.
NEW YORK, NY – Police in the Bronx are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a Bronx girl who was last seen on Monday leaving her Beach Avenue apartment.
Cashmere Robinson, 16, has not been seen since by her family.
She was last seen at approximately 5 pm leaving her residence. She is described as about 5′ 9″ tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown eyes and long black hair in braids. She was last seen wearing a black The North Face jacket, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers.
Anyone with information in regard to the whereabouts of this individual is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
NEW YORK, NY – Police in New York City are investigating an incident of road rage as a result of minor vehicle damage on the Lower East side.
Last Sunday, at around midnight, a 23-year-old man was driving his vehicle when a man entering a parked Range Rover opened his door, striking the victim’s vehicle.
The unknown operator of the Range Rover became irate and began striking the hood of the victim’s vehicle, claiming the man had struck his vehicle.
The victim exited the vehicle and attempted to resolve the matter by exchanging insurance information and filing a proper police report.
After the suspect took a picture of the victim’s driver’s license, he refused to provide his own personal information and then identified himself as a police officer.
connection with a police impersonation robbery that occurred within the confines of the 7th Precinct. Details are as follows:
“The individual then proceeded to identify himself as a police officer while demanding that the victim give him money. As the individual continued his demands while threatening to harm the victim, the victim decided to drive away from the location and flee to safety,” the NYPD reported. “The individual then entered his vehicle and followed the victim’s vehicle to the intersection of Delancey Street and Chrystie Street. The individual then pulled up next to the victim’s vehicle and displayed a firearm at the victim while continuing to demand money.”
Police said the victim complied and entered a nearby bank. He withdrew $200 and gave it to the individual who then fled the location in his vehicle northbound on 1 Avenue.
No injuries have been reported as a result of this incident.
The individual is described as a male with a dark complexion, approximately 6’0″ in height, approximately 230-250 lbs in weight, approximately 30-35 years of age, with a full beard. The individual was last seen wearing a gray shirt and blue baseball hat.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on Twitter @NYPDTips.
NEW YORK, NY – Detectives with the NYPD’s 78th Precinct are asking the public for assistance in locating a man wanted for groping a young woman outside a New York University and Parsons Institute of Design building on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.
The assault occurred last Sunday at around 7:30 pm as the 19-year-old woman was walking in front of 68 5th Avenue.
“An unknown male individual grabbed the victim between the legs without her consent,” police said. “There were no reported physical injuries as a result of this incident.”
Today, police released a photo of the suspect.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.