News in Brief-2024-06-08
Saturday, 8 June 2024
UN chief says 'deeply concerned' over escalating Myanmar violence
UNITED NATIONS, June 07: UN chief Antonio Guterres said Thursday he was "deeply concerned" by escalating violence in Myanmar, including reports of the military killing scores of civilians as it battles opponents of its rule. "The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the increasing violence across Myanmar and strongly condemns the recent attacks by the Myanmar military that have reportedly killed scores of civilians, including in Rakhine State and Sagaing Region," Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. — AFP
UK's Sunak apologises for skipping main D-Day event
LONDON, June 07: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologised on Friday for leaving the D-Day commemorations in France early to give a domestic television interview, the latest self-inflicted setback to his stuttering general election campaign. Political opponents accused Sunak of "a total dereliction of duty" by skipping a major international ceremony with world leaders on Thursday, while he also attracted criticism from his own Conservative party colleagues. — AFP
Russia alleges US to blame for civilian deaths, Macron for rising tensions
MOSCOW, June 07: Russia has ramped up its rhetoric against the West, blaming the United States for Ukraine's alleged use of US-supplied weapons against civilians on its soil and accusing France of fuelling tensions across Europe. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the US's decision last week to greenlight Ukraine's firing of US-supplied weapons into Russia amounted to "a confession … for the murder of children and women in the Belgorod region". US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on May 31 that President Joe Biden had agreed for the first time to let Ukraine use the weapons so it could defend its northeastern Kharkiv region, which lies adjacent to Belgorod. — Al Jazeera
4 Indian students drown in Russian river
MOSCOW, June 07: Four Indian medical students have drowned while swimming in a river in northwest Russia, officials said Friday. The incident happened on Tuesday in the Volkhov river in the city of Veliky Novgorod, the regional investigative committee said. — AFP