Foreign News
UK PM Faces Parliamentary Grilling after Top Ministers Quit
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is struggling to maintain a grip on power in No 10 Downing Street as ministers and aides continue to quit his government in protest at his leadership.
It has only been weeks since Johnson survived a no-confidence vote sparked by revelations that he had attended parties in government offices at a time when government policy expressly forbade social gatherings.
The forbade gatherings were due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Now he was accused of having ignored concerns about the personal behaviour of Chris Pincher, who went on to take multiple government positions.
Pincher quit as deputy chief whip after allegedly assaulting two men while drunk at London’s Carlton Club.
The outrage about the story has prompted multiple Cabinet resignations, most recently that of Will Quince, who quit as children and families minister.
He said he could not accept being sent out to defend the prime minister on television with inaccurate information in the Pincher row.
Laura Trott quit as a ministerial aide, “saying trust in politics is and must always be of the utmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost.’’
Their resignations early on Wednesday followed a string of departures from the government on Tuesday, led by Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid who delivered broadsides at Johnson as they quit their Cabinet posts.
Sunak’s replacement as chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, hinted at reversing a planned rise in corporation tax as part of the effort to restore trust between the leadership and lawmakers from Johnson’s Conservative, or Tory, party.
But the Cabinet reshuffle did not appear to have persuaded Johnson’s critics to hold fire.
Quince was one of the ministers sent on the airwaves to defend Johnson’s position about Pincher.
The Prime Minister later acknowledged he had previously been informed of allegations against Pincher dating back to 2019 and said he regretted keeping him in government beyond that point.
Quince said he had received a “sincere apology’’ from Johnson for being sent out with an inaccurate briefing about the prime minister’s knowledge of events.
“I have no choice but to tender my resignation as I accepted and repeated those assurances in good faith.’’ (dpa/NAN
Foreign News
Earthquake Shakes Western Greece
A strong earthquake has shaken western Greece on Friday morning, but no casualties reported.
The Greek Geodynamic Institute in Athens, said the 5.8 magnitude quake occurred at 9:12 am (0812 GMT) local time.
The epicentre of the quake was about 20 kilometres below the seabed off the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula near the islet of Stamfani, also known as Strofades.
It was preceded by a smaller quake with a magnitude of 4.
1.Greece’s Civil Defence organisation did not initially say whether there were any casualties or damage to buildings.
A tsunami warning was not issued.
“We felt the tremors very strongly,” a resident of the nearby Olympia region said, adding that
“everyone here is on the streets.
”Local media reported that many schools had been evacuated as the quake was felt throughout western Greece, and on the tourist island of Zakynthos and as far away as Athens, about 300 kilometres away.
The deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea is located between western Greece and Sicily in Italy, with a depth of over 5,000 metres.
The African and European tectonic plates meet in this region, which make it prone to strong earthquakes. (dpa/NAN)
Foreign News
Russian Army Fires Ballistic Missiles at Kiev from Crimean Peninsula
The Russian Army has hit the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with ballistic missiles, injuring four people and damaging an uninhabited three-storey building, according to officials.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that two of the injured people were in a central neighbourhood and had been taken to hospital.
Rocket debris also fell in two other neighbourhoods.
According to the Ukrainian air force, two ballistic missiles were fired at the city of millions, from the Russian-controlled Crimea Peninsula.
Both were shot down.Half a dozen explosions from anti-aircraft missiles had previously been heard in the city centre.
The air raid warning was only triggered a few seconds beforehand, it said.
Ukraine has been facing Russian invasion for over two years.
Since then, the Ukrainian air defence system has been massively reinforced with Western systems. (dpa/NAN)
Foreign News
Cambodia Arrests 2 Foreigners for Smuggling 2.27 kg Narcotics
Cambodian customs police at the Phnom Penh International Airport said they have arrested two South Korean nationals for an attempt to smuggle 2.27 kg narcotics to South Korea.
The duo, a man and woman, were caught Sunday night while they checked in for a ZA215 flight bound for Seoul.
The General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia said in a news release on Monday.
In their body searches, our customs officials found many packs of drugs wrapped around their waists, the news release said.
“As a result, some 1.29 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 0.98 kg of ketamine were seized from the two suspects’ possession.’’
The Southeast Asian country has no death sentence for a drug trafficker.
Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grammes of illicit drugs could be jailed for life.
According to the country’s Anti-Drug Department (ADP), Cambodia nabbed 3,899 drug-related suspects, including 106 foreigners, in 1,659 cases from Jan. 1 to March 3, 2024.
According to the report they confiscated a total of 2.79 tonnes of narcotics.
Most of the seized drugs were ketamine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine tablets, heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine. (Xinhua/NAN)