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Flight MH17 Suspects on Trial
A Russian suspected of downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014 has told Dutch judges that he had “nothing to do with the disaster.”
Oleg Pulatov is one of four men on trial in absentia for allegedly shooting down the jetliner as it passed over eastern Ukraine six year ago. The other three have been named as Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukranian citizen Leonid Kharchenko. Pulatov is the only one of the four with legal representation.
All 298 people onboard the aircraft died in the crash.
The trial is being held in the Netherlands, since the aircraft was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur at the time of the crash, and most of those on board were Dutch.
In a video statement played to the court, Pulatov said, “I am not guilty. I have nothing to do with the disaster of July 17, 2014. I fully took part in the (court) procedure and there is irrefutable evidence that the prosecution did not explain the full circumstances of the crash.”
He added, “It is the prosecution’s main aim to get a conviction by any means. Acquit me.”
Prosecutors have called for life sentences for all four suspects. According to the judges, a verdict is not expected until mid-November at the earliest.
The downing of flight MH17 was Malaysia Airlines’ second aircraft loss during 2014, after the disappearance of Flight 370 on March 8, and is the deadliest airliner shoot-down incident to-date.
England’s Queen Elizabeth II has become history’s second-longest serving monarch, second only to France’s King Louis XIV, who took the throne at age four.
King Louis XIV reigned for 72 years and 110 days, but only started to rule personally in 1661. His official reign lasted from 1643 to 1715.
As of Monday, the Queen had been on the throne for 70 years and 127 days, one day longer than Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016. She was crowned Queen on June 2, 1953.
Last weekend, the Queen marked her Platinum Jubilee with four days of celebrations across the UK.
Queen Elizabeth, who took the throne at age 25, will become the world’s longest-reigning monarch in May 2024, if she is still on the throne then. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth has taken fewer official duties recently, delegating mostly to the Cambridges and to Prince Charles and Camilla.
Truckers Strike in S. Korea
South Korean police have detained dozens of truckers for participating in a protest which obstructed traffic. Participating in the fourth day of a nationwide strike, the truckers blocked traffic and disrupted the movement of goods near factories.
Around 7,500 truckers joined the strike and are pushing the government to provide a minimum wage, especially in light of rising fuel prices. The current minimum freight rates are set to expire at the end of 2022.
Around 30 truckers had been taken into custody by Friday morning, according to the National Police Agency. According to Cargo Truckers Solidarity representative Lee Eung-joo, police released 29 out of 40 truckers who had been detained as of Friday evening.
He added that at least nine truckers were lightly hurt in clashes with the police, but none required hospitalization.
South Korea’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has been negotiating with the truckers regarding minimum wage.
Aside from the traffic that the striking truckers have caused, supply chain issues are at stake. On Tuesday, on the eighth day of the strike, truckers said that they are considering blocking shipments of coal to a power plant if their demands are not met.
The strike has cost key industrial sectors more than $1.2 billion in lost production and unfilled deliveries, the government estimated on Monday, as the damage spreads deeper through Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
It’s a tiny island, but they both want it. This week, Denmark and Canada decided to divide the barren 1.3 square kilometers in the Arctic.
Hans Island is located in the waterway between the northwestern coast of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island. The large rock has no mineral reserves.
“It sends a clear signal that it is possible to resolve border disputes…in a pragmatic and peaceful way, where the all parties become winners,” said Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod.
He said it was “an important signal now that there is much war and unrest in the world.”
Canada and Denmark agreed in 1973 to create a border through Nares Strait, halfway between Greenland and Canada. But they were unable to agree on which country would have sovereignty over Hans Island, which lies about 1,100km (684 miles) south of the North Pole.
In the end, they decided to work out the question of ownership later.
In the following years, the territorial dispute – nicknamed the “whisky war” by the media – made headlines multiple times.
In 1984, Denmark’s minister of Greenland affairs raised a Danish flag on the island, buried a bottle of Danish schnapps at the base of the flagpole and left a note saying: “Welcome to the Danish island.”
Canadians then planted their own flag and left a bottle of Canadian brandy.
Since then, the countries have, in turns, hoisted their flags and left bottles of various spirits in tit-for-tat moves.
Iranian Crew Detained by Argentina
18 plane are not part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Argentina is holding the men temporarily, and has seized their The Jewish Home | JUNE 16, 2022 passports. A judge on Monday ordered their travel documents held for an additional 72 hours after Security Minister Anibal Fernandez said information had been received from “foreign organizations” that some among the crew may be linked to companies with ties to the Guards. The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, is on a U.S. blacklist of foreign “terrorist organizations.” A routine check found “things that were not logical,” Fernandez told Perfil radio on Monday. “They had declared a crew that was smaller than the one that traveled,” he said, adding the matter was “still under investigation.” The Venezuelan Boeing 747 cargo plane reportedly carrying car parts first landed in Cordoba, Argentina, on Monday last week, then tried to travel to neighboring Uruguay but was denied entry and returned to Ezeiza outside Buenos Aires.
The crew also included 14 Venezuelans, who were free to go.
Iran said on Monday that Argentina’s move was part of a “propaganda” campaign against Tehran amid tensions with Western countries over negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, “These recent weeks are filled with propaganda, are full of psychological operations, these wars of words that want to infiltrate the minds and composure of the people. This news is one of those.”
Iran Signs Plan with Venezuela
Iran and Venezuela have signed a 20year “cooperation road map” to improve relations between the two regimes.
The plan was signed during a state visit by Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro to Tehran, during which he met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
In a joint conference following their meeting, the two presidents praised improving bilateral relations to the “strategic” level and agreed to increase cooperation in trade, energy, science and technology, agricultural and tourism.
The agreement was signed by both countries’ foreign ministers, in the presence of their presidents.
Raisi said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy has always been to have relations with independent countries, and Venezuela showed that it has had incredible resistance against threats and sanctions by enemies and imperialism.”
Raisi added that Iran has been successful in breaking the U.S.’s “maximum pressure” policy and has used the sanctions to move the country forward.
Maduro praised his country’s “resistance against sanctions and imperialism” since 2017 and praised Iran’s “miracles” in developing its agriculture sector amid droughts.
In addition, a direct flight route will be established in July between Tehran and Caracas, Maduro announced.
He added, “I believe that our future will be one of the pleasing and solid friendships. The future of the world is one of equality and justice and standing up against imperialism. We must build this future together.”
Last year, Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with China. It is also negotiating the renewal of a 20-year agreement with Russia.
Iraq: Dozens of Lawmakers Resign
bloc resigned on Sunday from Iraq’s parliament at his request.
According to the report, the resignation is in protest of a political deadlock eight months after general elections were held.
Al-Sadr had emerged as the winner in the October 2021 elections, winning him 73 of the parliament’s 329 seats. But he has not been able to garner the support of the required two-thirds of the parliament necessary to elect a new president – a step necessary in order to name a prime minister and select a cabinet.
Parliament Speaker Mohammed Halbousi, who accepted the lawmakers’ resignation, tweeted afterwards that “for the sake of the country and the people, he decided to proceed with this decision.”
Under Iraqi law, a seat in parliament which becomes vacant is filled by the candidate with the second-highest number of votes in their electoral district. This is likely to benefit al-Sadr’s opponents, something which he is not likely to accept.
World’s Ten Most Expensive Cities
Hong Kong is the most expensive city to live in 2022, but if you’re living in Tel Aviv and New York, your money isn’t stretching too far, either.
ECA International’s annual list rates cities based on the average price of household staples, rent, utilities, public transport, and the strength of the local currency. It also places a focus on expats and foreign workers.
Want to know where you should avoid laying down your hat if you want to hold onto your wallet? The top ten most expensive cities in the world are, in order: Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, London, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Zurich, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Seoul.
Five of the ten most expensive cities in the world are in Asia.
Lee Quane, ECA’s regional director for Asia, explained, “The majority of the mainland Chinese cities in our rankings have higher rates of inflation than we are used to seeing, but they are still typically lower than elsewhere in Asia.
Therefore, the main reason for their rise in the rankings has been the continued strength of the Chinese yuan against other major currencies.”
Meanwhile, Paris has dropped out of the top 30, and Brussels, Madrid, and Rome also fell in rank.
Quane noted, “Nearly every major Eurozone city saw a drop in the rankings this year as the euro performed worse in the last 12 months than the U.S. dollar and British pound.”
Ukraine is in danger of losing the besieged city of Severodonetsk. On Monday, a military official in the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk issued a stark warning to the remaining Ukrainian fighters in Severodonetsk: “Surrender or die.”
“Severodonetsk is actually blocked after they blew up the last bridge that connected it with Lysychansk yesterday,” Eduard Basurin, the deputy leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, or the People’s Militia, said. “Therefore, the Ukrainian military units that are stationed there remain there forever.”
He added, “They have two options: either follow the example of their colleagues and surrender, or die. They have no other option.”
On Tuesday, Kyiv said that its forces were still holding out in Severodonetsk and that soldiers were trying to evacuate civilians holed up in the city. Officials have said that more than 500 people are trapped inside Azot, a chemical plant in the city.
The head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center gave soldiers seeking shelter in the chemical plant a chance to surrender until Wednesday morning. According to Interfax, an independent Russian media outlet, Col.-Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said that Ukrainian soldiers should “stop their senseless resistance and lay down their arms.” Any civilians would be allowed leave through a “humanitarian corridor,” he added. Private Rooms with Handicapped Bathrooms, Cable TV, & Efficiencies Daily Minyan & Shiurim, Shabbos Elevator Social Activities, Trips & Live Entertainment On-Site Medical Offices 24-Hour Switchboard & Security Beauty Salon Daily Housekeeping Delicious Glatt Kosher Cuisine
Oleksandr Stryuk, the mayor of Severodonetsk, said that there still remains “communication with the city,” even though bridges to the city have been destroyed.
“Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the military is holding firm,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with Western countries to send more long-range weapons so that Ukraine’s military can help defend Severodonetsk. Speaking to Danish journalists, Zelensky said, “We have enough weapons. What we don’t have enough of are the weapons that really hits the range that we need to reduce the advantage of the Russian Federation’s equipment.”
Ukraine has requested 1,000 drones, 500 tanks and 1,000 long-range howitzers, among other heavy weaponry.
Millionaires Flee Russia
Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than three months ago, millionaires have been fleeing the country.
Almost three times as many Russian millionaires are expected to leave the country this year than in 2019, the year
As Western sanctions make life harder for its elite, Russia is predicted to suffer a net loss of around 15,000 high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) — defined as people with more than $1 million in assets — in 2022, compared to 5,500 in 2019, according to the report. That equates to about 15% of Russia’s millionaire population, it said.
Andrew Amoils, head of research at analytics company New World Wealth, which contributed data to the report, noted that Russia was “hemorrhaging millionaires.”
“Wealth migration figures are a very important gauge of the health of an economy,” he told CNN Business.
“It can also be a sign of bad things to come as HNWIs are often the first people to leave... If one looks at any major country collapse in history, it is normally preceded by a migration of wealthy people away from that country,” he added.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the report, saying the Russian government had not “noticed [a] trend” of millionaires exiting the country.
Russia’s economy is expected to shrink by about 8.5% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“Well before the imposition of sanctions…there was a tsunami of capital leaving the country, largely prompted by the increasingly capricious governing style of President Vladimir Putin and his demands of loyalty made on middle-class and wealthy Russians,” Misha Glenny, an author and journalist, wrote in an analysis for Henley & Partners.
This year, most emigrating Russians are expected to move to countries in southern Europe where many already have second homes. But the United Arab Emirates is rapidly becoming increasingly attractive for the country’s wealthy, in part, because of its zero-tax rate.
The UAE is predicted to overtake the United States and United Kingdom as the top destination for millionaires on the move this year. Henley & Partners predicts the country will welcome 4,000 HNWIs by the end of the year, compared with about 1,000 each year prior to the pandemic.
Migrant Labor Shortage Hits Malaysia
Malaysian companies are refusing orders and forgoing billions in sales due to a shortage of migrant workers. There is a shortage of over a million workers, threatening the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
The scarcity is mainly caused by slow government approvals and drawn-out negotiations with both Bangladesh and Indonesia over worker protections.
Malaysia is an important player in the global supply chain but relies on foreign workers for jobs shunned by locals. Manufacturers comprise nearly one-fourth of the country’s economy.
According to Soh Thian Lai, president of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, “Despite the greater optimism in outlook and increase in sales, some companies are gravely hampered in their ability to fulfil orders.”
Carl Bek-Nielsen, chief executive director of oil palm grower United Plantations, added, “The situation is dire and very much like having to play a game of football against 11 men but only being allowed to field seven.”
Manufacturers say they are short 600,000 workers, and construction companies say they need 550,000 workers. The palm oil industry – which contributes 5% to Malaysia’s economy – reports a shortage of 120,000 workers. Chipmakers are turning down orders, as they lack 15,000 workers. Medical glovemakers say they are looking for 12,000 workers.
More of Fukushima to Open
More than 11 years after Japan’s worst nuclear disaster, the government lifted evacuation orders in a section of a village previously deemed off limits on Sunday, allowing residents to move back into their homes.
On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the country’s coast, triggering a tsunami that caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and a major release of radioactive material. It was the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
More than 300,000 people living near the nuclear plant were forced to temporarily evacuate, and thousands more did so voluntarily.
In the years since, large-scale cleanup and decontamination operations have allowed some residents who once lived in the former exclusion zone to return.
Evacuation orders for most of the village were lifted in June 2016, allowing registered residents to come and go. Most who have returned since 2016 are senior citizens.
Some households, however, are still waiting for their sections of the village to be decontaminated.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said this month the opening would be the first time residents were allowed to live again in Katsurao’s Noyuki district, dubbed the “difficult-to-return” zone, an area with high levels of radiation up to 50 millisieverts.
Before the disaster, Katsurao village had a population of around 1,500 people. Many of those who left have rebuilt their lives elsewhere; most are not returning to Fukushima.
There are about 337 square kilometers of land in seven Fukushima municipalities that are deemed “difficult-to-return” zones. Of those, just 27 square kilometers in six of the same municipalities are specified reconstruction zones.
“This means that more work is needed, and other families are waiting for the areas they used to live in to be decontaminated and restored to normal,” an official said.
Later this month, restrictions are expected to be partially lifted on Futaba and neighboring Okuma – towns home to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant – and a similar easing is scheduled in a further three municipalities in 2023.
“This is one milestone,” Hiroshi Shinoki, the mayor of Katsurao village, said on Sunday. “It is our duty to try and bring things back as much as we can to how they were 11 years ago.”
China: College Grads Should Go Rural
China is encouraging its college graduates to seek jobs in the countryside instead of staying in the big cities.
A joint statement issued last week by the Education, Finance, Civil Affairs, Human Resources, and Social Security ministries called on local governments to attract college graduates to work as village officials.
The statement added that the government will offer tax incentives and loans to college graduates who start businesses to serve rural communities, as well as to existing small businesses in villages which hire college graduates.
Chinese college graduates usually prefer to work high-paying jobs in large cities, and the wage gap between urban and rural areas is significant.
This is not the first such initiative: In July 2020, authorities encouraged college graduates to move to rural areas, instead of congregating in cities and battling for the limited job opportunities available.
Additionally, during the days of leader Mao Zedong, a policy called “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside” moved privileged urban youth to rural areas so they could learn about
