Smoky haze parked over US East Coast with relief days away - CNA

NEW YORK: A smoky yellow haze generated by hundreds of Canadian wildfires hovered over a large swath of the United States on Thursday (Jun 8), threatening to make breathing difficult and disrupt air travel for millions of people until the weekend and beyond.

The US National Weather Service extended air quality alerts for another day for the East Coast from New England to South Carolina, as well as parts of the Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

Health officials in more than a dozen states have warned that spending time outdoors could cause respiratory issues due to the high levels of fine particulates in the atmosphere.

Advised to stay indoors, residents of New York, Washington and other big cities donned masks and rushed to buy air purifiers to protect themselves from the yellow haze that arrived in the region on Tuesday afternoon.

The haze and low visibility prompted aviation officials to halt incoming flights to major airports in New York and Philadelphia from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic region and Ohio for a second day. All flights bound for the airport in Newark, New Jersey, a major New York-area airport, were delayed.

It was the worst outbreak of wildfire smoke to blanket the US Northeast in more than 20 years, according to private forecasting service AccuWeather.

Smoky conditions are likely to persist until Sunday when a new storm system shifts the direction of prevailing winds and brings a chance of rainfall in parts of the country nearing drought conditions, National Weather Service meteorologist Peter Mullinax said.

"We're finally going to start to see more relief by the time we hit the early part of next week when we start to see those southerly winds come in and push that smoke more farther north and out into the Atlantic," Mullinax said.

With an "unhealthy" Air Quality Index reading of 178, New York City's air on Thursday was again more polluted than any major city in the world, topping cities such as Dhaka and Hanoi that are fixtures on the global bad-air list compiled by IQAir, a Swiss technology company.

The US Air Quality Index (AQI) measures five major pollutants, including particulate matter produced by fires. The higher the reading, the more polluted the air. Readings over 100 are classified as "unhealthy" while those exceeding 300 are "hazardous".

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2023-06-08 16:14:16Z
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Mines uprooted in Ukraine dam disaster could pose danger for years to come: Red Cross - CNA

MOSCOW: Mines uprooted and dispersed by floodwaters surging downstream from the breached Kakhovka dam across swathes of southern Ukraine could pose a grave danger to civilians for decades to come, the Red Cross said.

The vast Soviet-era Kakhovka dam, under Russian control, was breached in the early hours of Tuesday (Jun 6), unleashing floodwaters across a swathe of the warzone and endangering the lives and welfare of tens of thousands of people.

Ukraine blamed Russia for blowing it up. Russia said Ukraine sabotaged the dam at the behest of the West to constrict water supplies to Crimea and to distract from a faltering offensive. Some Russian-backed officials said the dam may have collapsed.

The waters have also washed over countless land mines sown during the 15-month war and nobody now knows where they are: They could still be in the minefields or could be stuck in the river mud or in fields, gardens and roads across a vast area.

"In the past, we knew where the hazards were. Now we don't know. All we know is that they are somewhere downstream," said Erik Tollefsen, head of the Weapon Contamination Unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"It is with a certain horror that we look at the news coming out," said Tollefsen in an audio clip, adding that World War Two mines found underwater in Denmark in 2015 were still active.

The war in Ukraine, the largest in Europe since World War Two, has left a vast amount of mines and unexploded ordnances across swathes of the country - risk campaigners have been warning about since Russia sent in troops in February last year.

Besides anti-personnel mines, both sides have used vast amounts of artillery shells and anti-tank mines. The exact number of mines in Ukraine is unclear, said Tollefsen.

"We just know the numbers are massive," said Tollefsen.

Tollefsen said the issue with mines was not necessarily the nominal number of mines but where they were laid - especially in a heavily agricultural country such as Ukraine.

He said that areas downstream of the dam contained minefields of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines laid by parties to the conflict.

During a visit on Wednesday to the city of Kherson, which has been heavily impacted by the disaster, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov also warned of the dangers posed by floating mines and also of the spread of disease and hazardous chemicals in the floodwaters.

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2023-06-08 09:41:55Z
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Indonesia appreciates Malaysia's commitment to protect migrant worker rights: Jokowi - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: President Joko Widodo on Thursday (Jun 8) said that he appreciated the commitment of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to strengthening the protection of Indonesian migrants working in the country.  

“Pak Anwar and I have agreed on a specific bilateral mechanism to solve the problems faced by the Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia,” he said during a joint press conference with Mr Anwar at the Seri Perdana Complex in Putrajaya after a closed-door meeting between the two. 

Mr Widodo added that the mechanism also intended to address issues such as rights to education for Indonesian migrant children.

In a joint statement issued after the press conference, both Mr Widodo and Mr Anwar acknowledged the commitment of both parties to improve the protection of basic rights, welfare, and the livelihood of all Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

According to a report by the Star, there are 399,827 Indonesian foreign workers in Malaysia in the manufacturing, construction, services, agriculture, domestic workers, mining, and quarrying sectors as of January this year.

Mr Widodo arrived in Malaysia for a two-day working trip on Wednesday. He was in Singapore before that where he spoke at Ecosperity Week, an annual conference on sustainable development. 

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2023-06-08 07:59:00Z
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Kakhovka dam collapse: Analysts weigh in on who has more at stake amid Russia and Ukraine blame game - CNA

The Russians, on the other hand, have “mismanaged” the dam, he noted.

“It has had high water levels recently, and there appears to have been some structural damage prior to the possible explosions that caused the breaches. So, it is possible that the Russians, both by mismanagement and purposeful blowing up of the dam, have carried out this act,” he said.

However, Dr Muraviev pointed out that Russia may not have any incentive to destroy the dam given that it was feeding power into its electricity plants. The breach also disrupts water supply to Crimea, he said.

For a long time, Ukraine has denied the supply of freshwater resources to Crimea, a peninsula that Russia invaded and subsequently annexed from Ukraine in 2014, he added. After invading Ukraine, the Russians restored freshwater supply to the peninsula.

However, with the breach, there is a long-term risk of Crimea once again suffering from freshwater shortage.

“Whoever is responsible for the destruction of the dam was pursuing short-term and medium-term gains,” said Dr Muraviev.

SPRING COUNTER-OFFENSIVE

While Kyiv itself has not confirmed that it has launched the much-awaited spring counter-offensive against Russia, Dr Muraviev said that “by the sounds of it, it has”.

“The fact that they used - in my estimate - up to seven brigades, which is a very significant number and they began rolling out weapon armour that they've been receiving since the start of the year, that points out to me that it may actually be at least the initial stage of that offensive,” he said.

However, he said he would not call it a counter-offensive because in the majority of areas where Ukraine launched this operation, the Russians were sitting in defensive positions.

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2023-06-08 02:57:03Z
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Myanmar lawyers face harassment, intimidation in junta courts - CNA

BANGKOK: Myanmar lawyers defending political detainees in junta-run courts are being harassed and even jailed by military authorities, Human Rights Watch said Thursday (Jun 8), warning that intimidation was forcing many to stop taking cases.

Since it seized power more than two years ago and plunged the country into turmoil, the junta has arrested tens of thousands in a sweeping and bloody crackdown on dissent.

Rights groups say the military has used the courts to throttle opponents including democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint, who were jailed for lengthy terms by closed-door courts.

Defence lawyers working in "special courts" set up by the junta to try political crimes face harassment, intimidation and threats from authorities, HRW said in a report based on interviews with 19 lawyers.

"In the courtroom, I now have to worry about not getting myself detained rather than speaking the truth," one Yangon-based lawyer told the watchdog.

"Everyone at the court knows who I am ... The junta can detain me at any time, and they can and will make up any reasons they want."

HRW cited the case of attorney Ywet Nu Aung, who was reportedly detained as she left a hearing where she was representing a former chief minister and member of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

She was accused of helping to provide financial support to anti-junta militias and later sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour.

Lawyers are regularly barred from communicating privately with clients ahead of hearings, HRW said, and in an overcrowded legal system, some had taken on hundreds of cases.

"Sometimes cross-examination doesn't even happen," another lawyer told HRW.

"It's near impossible to challenge what they (the prosecution) present as evidence, and we never get to have a defendant released on bail."

All 19 lawyers told HRW they had experienced "intimidation and surveillance by junta authorities".

"Few have been willing to put themselves at risk of further surveillance and intimidation and many have stopped taking cases," HRW said.

More than 23,000 people have been arrested by the junta since the coup in February 2021, according to a local monitoring group.

Last year, a junta-controlled court ordered the execution of a former NLD lawmaker along with a prominent activist over allegations of "terrorism" - Myanmar's first use of capital punishment in decades.

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2023-06-08 01:25:02Z
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Residents flee in southern Ukraine as floodwaters crest from destroyed dam - CNA

A roof of a house could be seen whisking in the torrent of the Dnipro River.

“If the water rises for another metre, we will lose our house," said Oleksandr Reva, in a village on the bank, who was moving his family's belongings into the abandoned home of a neighbour on higher ground.

Residents blamed the disaster on Russian troops who controlled the dam from their positions on the opposite bank."They hate us," Reva said."They want to destroy a Ukrainian nation and Ukraine itself. And they don't care by what means because nothing is sacred for them."

Russia imposed a state of emergency in the parts of Kherson province it controls, where many towns and villages lie in the lowlands below the dam. Residents there have told Reuters by telephone that Russian troops patrolling the streets in waders were threatening civilians who approached.

A zoo by the riverbank on the Russian side flooded, killing all the animals inside, staff said.

The consequences of the disaster will be felt for decades in southern Ukraine. The huge reservoir behind the dam was one of Ukraine's main geographic features, and its waters irrigated huge swathes of agricultural land in one of the world's biggest grain-exporting nations, including Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014.

The flood "will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine on both sides of the front line through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods," UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council. "The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days."

Targeting dams in war is explicitly banned by the Geneva Conventions. Neither side has presented public evidence demonstrating who was to blame.

"The whole world will know about this Russian war crime," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, calling it "an environmental bomb of mass destruction".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday Ukraine had sabotaged the dam to distract attention from a new counteroffensive he said was "faltering".

Washington said it was still gathering evidence about who was to blame, but that Ukraine would have had no reason to inflict such devastation on itself.

"Why would Ukraine do this to its own territory and people, flood its land, force tens of thousands of people to leave their homes - it doesn't make sense," Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told reporters.

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2023-06-07 09:14:00Z
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Mahathir says 'already old', 'senile' to contest in upcoming Malaysia state elections - CNA

According to The Star, Dr Mahathir also said that all leaders present during the meeting on Tuesday agreed to address issues faced by the Malays.

Among those present at the meeting include Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) president Mukhriz Mahathir who is also Dr Mahathir’s son. 

“This is not to deny the rights of the non-Malays,” he said. 

“Don’t assume that our movement is anti-non-Malays. We are not against non-Malays; anything we do in future, we take into consideration the rights of others.”

He added that it was important for the Malays in the country to unite regardless of the state elections, as disunity will only make them weak.

Dr Mahathir also said that parties which have signed the Malay Proclamation have agreed not to compete with each other at the polls and are also considering contesting together, according to Malaysiakini. 

“All of us agreed on the need to move forward together. This includes during elections, because we cannot do much if we do not hold (political) power,” he reportedly said. 

Last Thursday, Dr Mahathir announced that he is prepared to work with Muhyiddin if the two leaders can reach a consensus on mutual goals, including efforts to champion the Malay cause and to reject those involved in corruption or criminal misconduct. 

"We have split into many parties and we have lost power. When we lose power, we cannot correct the circumstances which are detrimental to the Malays … This is why we need to unite,” he told Malaysia Now. 

Dr Mahathir, who led the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition in the 15th General Election last year, failed to defend his Langkawi seat - his first electoral defeat in 53 years. He lost his deposit after finishing fourth in a five-cornered fight, which was won by PN’s Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah.

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2023-06-07 04:50:53Z
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