DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Australia halts German ship after crew reports mistreatment and food shortages
72/2019 • 28 MARCH, 2019
India shoots down satellite, becomes ʼspace superpowerʼ Such capabilities raise fears of a weaponization of space at a time of rising tension with Pakistan
AGerman-owned cargo shipcalled the "Anna Elisabeth" was detained off the coast of Australia after the crew complained of poor working conditions, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Wednesday. The Liberian-flaggedbulk carrieris owned by the German shipping firm Johann MK Blumenthal, and union inspectors say the reported conditions on the ship are "systemic to this company." The Anna Elisabeth is currently being held at Port Kembla in New South Wales, Australia. Reports of mistreatment The crew — comprised of 17 workers from Sri Lanka and the Philippines — said theyʼd experienced bullying and unsafe conditions on board. They have not been allowed to take shore leave since January 23, when the ship was in South Africa, according to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).
Violence and fraud in Nigeriaʼs gubernatorial elections All Rukayya Abba wanted to do on March 23 was cast her vote. But the scene she came across in the village of Bichi quickly made her change her mind. "There were armed thugs everywhere," she said. "We didnʼt vote because we were afraid of getting killed." There were similar stories from other parts of Kano state, from people who had also wanted to take part in the postponed governorship elections. The two-week postponement affected 128,000 people in 28 administrative districts. It appears that many of them were deliberately prevented from taking part, like Rukayya Abba.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed his forces shot down a low-earth satellite in a pre-planned test. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that his countryʼs forces had shot down a low-orbit satellite as part of a test exercise. Modi said he was proud of his scientists and congratulated those behind the mission. He said the exercise proved India had become a "space superpower," bringing it in line with the US, Russia and China. Although Modi said the test exercise, deemed "Mission Shakti" (Hindi for "power"), was not aimed at any one country, the announcement could inflame tensions with Pakistan just days ahead of a crucial election. Read more: India aerospace: ʼNothing can stop usʼ Pakinstan responded by urging international action against military threats in space. "Space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the
militarization of this arena," Pakistanʼs foreign ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Modi was careful to point out that India opposes the weaponization of space, emphasizing that Wednesdayʼs test did not violate international law. Indian space expert Ajay Lele underscored Modiʼs claim by saying: "India is not placing weapons in space. A ground-based missile defense interceptor system was used to destroy the satellite. If some country or adversary places a satellite for intelligence or for troubling India, India now has the capability to remove such an irritant." Modi praised the effort on Twitter, saying it was important because it was an entirely indigenous effort. India has an ambitious space program, having launched probes to the Moon as Mars, as well as unveiling plans for a manned space mission by 2022.
Nazi-era mass grave site to become luxury homes in Belarus Young soldiers comb through the soil with their gloved hands and with shovels. They pull out blackened bones, skulls, fragments of shoes — and lay them out to be counted. The site opens up like a huge wound in the middle of the city. After around two months of work, the exhumation work here is coming to an end. In total, the special army search battalion has found the remains of 1,190 people, according to authorities in Brest, a Belarusian city on the border to Poland. Builders discovered the first bonesin mid-January, when they began to lay the foundations for an apartment block in the historical center of Brest. From December 1941 until October 1942 this district was a Jewish ghetto. When the site was "cleared," Nazi occupiers shot an estimated 16,000 Jews in a forest to the northeast of the city. Thousands more were executed within the confines of the ghetto.
German government split on Saudi arms ban Germanyʼs government coalition is split on whether to maintain the ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the face of increasing pressure on France. The temporary embargo, imposed in November, is due to expire at the end of this week, but a meeting of the national security council (Chancellor Angela Merkel and her senior ministers) ended inconclusively on Wednesday, according to the DPA news agency.
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