RUSSIA
Putin at drills with China
President Vladimir Putin yesterday attended large-scale military exercises that include several of the nation’s neighbors, as well as Syria, India and key ally China, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told local news agencies. Putin was meeting with Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov at the Sergeevski military range and might observe the final phase of the military exercises later, Peskov was quoted as saying. The military drills, called Vostok-2022, started on Thursday and are due to end today across several training grounds in the Russian Far East and in the waters off its eastern coast. Moscow said that more than 50,000 soldiers and more than 5,000 units of military equipment, including 140 aircraft and 60 ships, would be involved in the drills.
JAPAN
Abe’s funeral to cost ￥1.65m
Tokyo is to spend about ￥1.65 billion (US$12 million) on the state funeral of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the government said in a new estimate yesterday that includes security and reception costs. The government late last month approved a more modest budget of ￥250 million for the funeral, but faced criticism for what was deemed an unrealistic figure that excluded hefty outlays for the security and hosting of VIPs. The government is now estimating that the security fee for the funeral would reach about ￥800 million, while hosting foreign delegations would cost about ￥600 million, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced. About 6,000 guests are expected to attend the ceremony on Sept. 27 at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan hall. Those guests include more than 190 foreign delegations, of which about 50 are expected to include head-of-state level VIPs, Matsuno said.
INDIA
Flooding hits tech hub
Many parts of the tech hub Bengaluru were under water for a second day yesterday as more rain fell in an unusually wet monsoon season, bringing traffic chaos, power cuts and flooded properties. The city, home to global companies as well as local start-ups, has received 162 percent more rainfall than average since the beginning of the wet season on June 1. Many companies have asked their employees to work from home, while some residents struggled to empty out flooded basements and shops, Asian News International showed in video footage. The Bengaluru Urban District, which is home to most of the city’s offices, on Monday received 79.2mm of rain, India Meteorological Department data showed.
CHINA
Nuclear plans ‘can speed up’
There is capacity to build more nuclear reactors than planned through 2025, the nation’s top industry body said in its annual report. The national target is six to eight reactors a year, but that could be raised to 10, the China Nuclear Energy Association said. The agency is also advocating bringing more nuclear power inland, including as a backup to the nation’s massive buildout of wind and solar farms in the west, which can generate power only intermittently. Nuclear approvals have accelerated this year after a surge in global energy prices, and the drought and power crunch in Sichuan Province over the summer has only raised the level of concern over the nation’s energy security.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
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